#they are still in the dryer I should check on them actually. if anyone asks I’ll update but I doubt so woop woop

[is-your-name-anronpa-cause-dang]

HEADCANNON

Tsumugi refers to herself as a perfect Junko copy but I don’t think that’s correct. Tsumugi isn’t a perfect copy of Junko, because she uses her(Junkos) plan, her idea and ‘mind’ as a failsafe but I don’t think junko would use failsafes, shed like the excitement of her plan falling to bits without a net underneath her, cause if there was one it wouldn’t be fun.

Original Enoshima didn’t try to escape nor stop her execution once the decision to vote hope and kill her, -trial wise- had been put in motion, and in the anime, in her purgatory/ little cinema hell that she watches with miss chisa after she dies, the following conversation goes as:

Junko: aww! The story’s already over?

Yukizome: No.

Enoshima: Hm?

Chisa: Bizarre as it sounds, our Hope is just getting warmed up.

Enoshima: Lame.

Enoshima: Huh. As if I even care.

Enoshima: Get over yourself, slut. We're dead!

 (English dub) (future arc episode 12)

I don’t think she cared for continuing her story after she died either. She said something about it being new and not expected,(in a good way) in the future arc season when the next mastermind was revealed.(this is also cinema) She didn’t appear to want to keep her title as a sort of weekly mastermind.

‘but her alter ego carries on her wrath in sdr2!’ I hear you cry. Well even if she claimed she made that by herself, she wasn’t chihiro fujisaki, a programmer, and had to get some sort of help to do so. So there can definitely be some very small differences when she built another her. She could have changed her ideology after her death, but not be able to update her alter ego. also, she’s completely unpredictable and does things by random, (let me remind you that she killed her sister on the bases of boredom) so she could probably have separate ideas to her AI. This means she can plausibly disagree with her alter ego self and this can still sort of make sense

Back to my first point- Tsumugi kept fighting in trial 6/ chapter 6 because it would end danganronpa, and in turn, popularity. (i don’t believe junko would care to make a legacy so long and dragged out all for 53+ seasons, she wanted to die asap and it would be ‘boring’ if there was season after season after season. Please remember she got bored with herself easily)(<-) Also, Junko DID want to bring despair onto its viewers/ survivors of The Tragedy which is the whole reason trigger happy havoc’s game aired. And, in its most roundabout and basic form, that was what kiibo was for, so kudos to tsumugi I guess but it did kind of backfire into hope because she decided to give the walking Twitch-Chat-Plays-Danganronpa sentience so her plan backfired horrifically so no dice. (so ^this WAS my original statement but on further thought I actually think junko does/ would be ok with this, but she would be incredibly bored with her playing mastermind every time. She also wouldn’t like Tsumugis narrative with her playing Junko or the ‘enoshima pops up from the dead afton style in a despairing fashion’ with zero context.[I add this at the bottom instead of the top instead of where it originally was because it got too long.)

ALSO!!! Tsumugi copied the secret entrance idea. Also also she uses timers/deadlines (ha) to fall back on if things fail. Yes, while Junko raised her hand over Sakura to kill someone if things didn’t pan out, she would not directly murder like Tsumugi did. this does raise a concern: does Tsumugi and Junko the 53rd count as the same person? Does Tsumugis actions mean Junko did it too? Or are they separate if they aren’t in cosplay? I’d assume no because it’s just her cosplay and all, but if it is in costume? What happens??

Think about it this way: Tsumugi could only kill and slip up as a junko copycat because she knew about the hidden door, therefore she’s the mastermind, and junko is the mastermind, so she’s junko, but OG Junko cannot kill in the circumstances that were posed, So they aren’t the same person? So there’s two masterminds? That doesn’t make sense, their the same person. And now we’re back at square one. However she’s the same person because as far as I know, tsumugi doesn’t canonly have D.I.D so technically, every cosplay personality is already in her mind from her will. But theres still very clear differences between them. Even so, I still think I have something here

To simplify it, I’ve made four routes I can go down to explain this fuckery:

Tsumugi and Junko are different and it’s a multiple personality situation (if we assume this based off of the little evidence, there would be a whole other seperate kerfuffle but also junko remembers everything tsumugi does so memories are linked, and the outfit changes, and that’s not a very common thing to make people change a character. Oh yeah alSO EVERY OTHER CHARACTER THAT IS CHANGED INTO , YEP THAT WOULD ALSO MAYBE BE A CHARACTER So let’s not go here. There are easier ways to lose your mind)

It’s entirely Junko. Tsumugi is Junkos fake identity. (Does not match up with what has been previously stated.)

It’s entirely Shirogane. Tsumugi and Junko53 are the same people. There isn’t a seperate Junko entity, it’s just Tsumugis will. (The most sense, maybe this was what ‘copycat criminal’ meant?)

Tsumugi and Junko are different people. But not in D.I.D . They’re just two separate entities. (No.)

Conclusion? I lost my damn mind going down this rabbit hole.

The conclusion you are actually interested in: I think Tsumugi is infact not a perfect junko copy, but she’s a danganronpa employee and a fairly convincing copycat with unlimited funding and a spaceship

[nidianddeepspace]

The Tale of the Hoodie Thief

❥ Xavier x OC ❥ An OC remembering loving moments with the Star Baby ❥ stealing your beloved's hoodie, wearing it because it smells like them, FLUFF FLUFFITY FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF ❥ College/University AU, the (my) MC and Xavier as University Students

Hoodies - an essential part of anyone's wardrobe and doubly so for the college student that chooses comfort over everything else. It's a simple garment - you just throw it on, decide if you want to wear the hood or not, and bask in the warm comfort of the fabric before going on with the rest of your day.

I am no stranger to hoodies. Back then, half my closet was filled with them, a range of colors and styles that were sure to impress any and all comfort-focused fashionistas. But there was one particular hoodie I loved more than the others - a pink cashmere hoodie my auntie gifted me last Christmas. I didn't wear it very often, but when I did, I felt like I was the walking epitome of luxury loungewear elegance. Now granted, I didn't know if that was an actual thing, but I didn't care either. I felt what I felt.

So when I realized that it was missing the afternoon I was suppose to hang out with you for a bit, I was exasperated and heartbroken. No matter how many times I rummaged through my closet, I just couldn't find it. I was so upset that my room, usually very neat with everything in it's place, resembled the aftermath of a fashion explosion. I want to curl up into a tiny ball and cry 'til I had no more tears. If I had plans to meet up with anyone else, I would have ghosted them due to my grief. But since it was you, I pressed on.

If there was anyone who could comfort me about my missing hoodie, Xavier, it was you.

As I walked to your dorm, trying to keep it together, it began to rain. But I wasn't about to let some water further ruin my day - I was prepared. As I opened up my umbrella, I started thinking about that night we got caught in a rainstorm on the way home from the arcade. Our good time was washed away by the relentless downpour which neither of us were ready for.

"This is BS! I'm so sorry, Xavier." We rushed through the streets as fast as we could, pelted my the largest droplets of rain I'd ever seen. "At this rate, the both of us are going to get sick."

"It's okay, your dorm isn't that far."

"Yeah, but we're already drenched as it is. This is my fault, I should have checked the weather before we left."

"Don't worry about it, it's fine." Even in the middle of a thunderstorm, you were still so calm and collected. "Try not to worry too much."

Soon, we were rushing into my dorm room, huddling up together to keep warm. You sprung into action, grabbing towels from my closet, helping me to dry off. The rain hadn't washed away the scent of your cologne, and I could smell that faint scent of the forest and the musk as you used one towel to dry off my hair and shoulders. If you wanted to, you could have heard my heart fluttering, so painfully aware of how close we were.

"Y-You don't have to do this," I stammered, looking away. I hoped you didn't see the crimson spreading across my face. "Besides, you need to get that hoodie off you. I wonder if any of the dryers on my floor are free."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"Too late for that." I'm always worried about you. I care about you so much, can't you see that? I didn't dare say those words aloud. "Anyway, aren't you afraid of getting sick. We have that big test next week."

"if I get sick, I just won't go to class. I can study on my own and if I ask you nicely, you're share your notes with me, right?"

"Well yes, but..."

"Then I've got it covered. So please, don't worry." He smiled as he finished dry my hair, tossing the towel side. "I don't like it when you worry."

"Ah...well, you can stay here until it stops raining. In the mean time, at take off your hoodie and grab one of mine from the closet."

You arched an eyebrow. "One of your hoodies? Would they even fit me?"

"Don't look at me like that, of course they will fit you. Most, if not all my hoodies are oversized. Just pick one and give it back to me later. I'll go see if I can wash and dry your hoodie, hopefully the machines are free."

I came to a complete stop just steps away from your door. It was all coming back to me - you'd left before I'd had a chance to see what hoodie you chose. You sent me a text letting know you were really tired so you had to go. I thought nothing of it at the time. I washed and dried your hoodie, I gave it back to you a few days later, and we went back to the arcade the following weekend.

Realization hit me like a freaking bus.

No...you couldn't have done that...right? No, you...wait...did...did you?

Xavier, did you actually grab my pink cashmere hoodie?!

There was only one way to find out.

(To Be Continued)

[lovesosweeet]

KNOW IT ALL x THE BAND CAMINO

part 6

a calum hood songfic

read 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Calum wakes up confused and wickedly hungover. His head is pounding and he feels like he should probably throw up again, but he doesn’t think there’s anything in his stomach to remove. It takes a minute, but he realizes he’s in Tillie’s bed. Had he spent the night?

It’s not his first time waking up in her bed. Naturally, he’s spent countless nights in it, but never without her wrapped around him. He’s shocked when he looks to the bedside table and sees a bottle of Gatorade and two pills he assumes are ibuprofen. He takes the pills instantly, washing them down with the fruit punch flavored beverage Tillie apparently left out for him. 

When he gets out of the bed, he’s a little woozy and takes a few seconds to get his bearings. He’s still wearing his costume. Calum walks out to the living room, where Tillie is already awake and cleaning up the disastrous mess left behind from the party. She’s wearing a muscle tee that was once Michael’s with a pair of striped boxers, her hair messily thrown into a bun. She has bags under her eyes and mascara smeared everywhere.

To anyone else, she’d look like shit, but Cal still thinks she’s prettier than everyone else on the face of the planet. 

She doesn’t see or hear him walk in due to the music she has blaring while she cleans with her back to him. He awkwardly stands there, not sure if he’s supposed to talk to the girl he has only spoken to once in the past year — last night. When she turns around and finds him standing there, she jumps and drops the beer can in her hands.

“Goddamn, Calum. You scared the shit out of me,” she huffs, bending over to grab the can she dropped.

He clears his throat, his mouth feeling wildly dry even though he’s just drank half a bottle of Gatorade. “Sorry.”

Tillie just keeps cleaning, and he doesn’t know what to do, so he follows her lead. He grabs a trash bag from under the sink and starts to collect cups and cans.

“You don’t need to help, Cal. You can go home.”

“I don’t mind.”

She doesn’t say anything further. Since Calum is helping gather the trash now, she grabs the vacuum and switches it on, trying to get rid of at least some of the glitter that’s coating her floors. She didn’t actually drink that much the night before, so she doesn’t have that bad of a hangover, but she was up until 5 am with the last of the party attendees. They were playing a game, Secret Hitler, time and time again, until Michael checked the time and kicked everyone out for Tillie.

She slept on the couch, but barely got any sleep, Calum’s words still echoing in her head on repeat.

The two of them work in a wordless daze, the music Tillie has playing acting as a soundtrack for their awkward dance of grabbing trash, vacuuming, disnfecting, and tidying around each other. Once Tillie’s home is restored to its usual state of organized chaos, Calum’s stomach grumbles loudly.

“Do you want to go grab breakfast? I know you love the place down the street.”

Calum, wide-eyed, is at a loss for words at Tillie’s suggestion. She’s asking him to spend time with her, one on one, despite their very tense, brief conversation last night. 

“I’m buying, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she adds.

He nods, and she nods in response. 

“Do you want something different to wear? I’ve got some of Mike’s stuff in the dryer you can wear instead of being Superman in incognito,” Tillie says while she walks to her bedroom to grab a sweatshirt and shoes. 

Calum follows her. “Uh, yeah, that would be nice.”

Tillie grabs her favorite hoodie and slips on a pair of Birkenstock clogs before she heads to the laundry room. She opens the dryer and fishes around in it for a pair of sweatpants and the long sleeve shirt that Mike somehow left at her house over the past few weeks. When she finds what she’s looking for, she hands the clothes to Calum.

“I’ll be in the living room,” she tells him before she leaves him to change.

When Calum is done dressing in Michael’s stuff, he meets Tillie in the living room. Together, they go downstairs and then leave the building, walking down the street a few blocks to the cafe they used to go to together at least once a week. Tillie hadn’t been since she left Calum that sticky note. It felt weird to go without him, even if she did crave a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich from there all the time. 

They still don’t talk, and without even asking Calum what he wants, Tillie orders the same thing he would get every time in the past. Black coffee, scrambled egg bowl with home fries, side of hot sauce, and a cream cheese danish that she will end up eating half of. 

“Surprised you remember,” he says when they get their ticket number and stand off to the side to wait for their food. 

Tillie shrugs. “We only came here a million times and you ordered the exact same thing every time.”

Calum nods. “Thanks for buying me breakfast. And, um, for letting me sleep in your bed last night.”

“You’re welcome. You’d do the same for me, and I’m glad you had somewhere safe to sleep. Drunk Calum Ubering home sounds like a recipe for disaster.” 

He laughs quietly, staring down at his feet. He’d forgotten how tiny Tillie’s feet are compared to his. They look comically small next to his feet. He’d also forgotten what it’s like to laugh at something — anything — with Tillie. 

“Fair. Still, I know things are… weird,” he says. “Between us, I mean.”

They’re weird because of Tillie. It’s her fault. A lot of things are her fault, and that’s a fact she knows all too well. She’s chewing on her lip while she thinks, feeling guilty about a lot of things, but especially for what she’s done to Calum. 

“It’s about time we are able to interact again, Cal. I miss you.”

Calum’s expression shifts to stone cold in an instant. She misses him? She doesn’t get to miss him. She doesn’t get to miss him when she left the way she did and ignored him for a year. That’s not what someone who misses him would do. Those words would’ve made him melt a few months ago, but right now, it pisses him off.

He doesn’t say anything before he turns around and walks out of the cafe. 

Tillie, confused, takes a minute to process that he’s leaving. Once it settles, she runs after him, mumbling “what the hell” while she tries to catch up with the man who is over a foot taller than her who got a head start.

“Cal! What the fuck?!” She yells after him, but he’s walking quickly and isn’t going to stop. 

She thought they were making progress and things were actually going pretty well, but now that she’s running after him on the sidewalk of a busy street, she realizes she thought wrong. 

“Calum! Wait! What did I say? Why are you leaving!?”

He halts.

Calum turns around, glaring at Tillie. His jaw is clenched and his hands are balled in fists at his sides. He’s livid.

“Why am I leaving?” He asks. His tone is bitter and clipped. “Why did you leave?”

Tillie’s mouth feels like it’s full of cotton. She wasn’t prepared for this to be the conversation they’d have. She thought things were going to be okay between them. She didn’t expect that he’d be so cold so quickly. She’s confused and quickly becoming upset, too.

“I needed—”

“Space, I know. You keep saying that, but you got your space and suddenly it was filled with new people. What about me, Tillie?” He hates the way his voice cracks, giving away the root emotion of his anger: hurt. 

It wasn’t about him. It was never about him. Why didn’t he see that?

“And now, you found somebody new that, apparently, you’re actually happy with. And that shit hurts. I have to watch the girl I love be happy with someone new, even though we were happy. Tills, we were so damn happy. Then you were just gone.”

Tears are forming in her eyes and she digs her fingernails into her palms as she squeezes her hands into fists. She doesn’t realize how hard she’s biting her lip until she tastes blood. She doesn’t know what to say, because Calum isn’t wrong. She was happy with him. She’d never told him, and she’s never told anyone, but she did love him. She does love him. Things were going so well between them, but when shit hit the fan, all she knew how to do was run.

So she ran. 

“Does he even know about me?” Calum asks.

It’s rhetorical. He knows she’s not going to say anything, and he’s honestly a little surprised she’s still standing in front of him. He thought she’d just go home as soon as she realized what conversation they’d be having. She’s so good at running away.

“I mean, he definitely knows who I am, right? The bassist of the band you toured with for a year. Your best friend’s other best friend. He knows I exist, but does he know it all?”

Tillie’s crying now and hot tears are streaming down her cheeks.

“Does he know how we got drunk in Montreal and you told me about the shit you’ve done? How we lived in our own perfect little world for a few weeks? What about the nights we spent on the beach in Australia? Does he know your favorite color is yellow, but you can’t stand to listen to the song? Did you tell him that you told me I was the only person you’d ever met that you’d want to be in a relationship with?”

The questions come pouring out of Calum and he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to stop. It’s partly therapeutic to get to say all of this to her now, after a year of sitting on these thoughts, but it’s also breaking his heart to watch her stand there and cry. 

“I know he doesn’t. You’ve acted like I haven’t existed for a year, Tillie. You can’t even say my name to Michael. You shut down whenever he mentions me.”

She feels betrayed that Michael told him that, but she can’t blame him for it. It wasn’t a secret.

Calum is done talking now, standing there and watching the girl he loves cry on a sidewalk. She looks like a mess. Hell, he looks like a mess. They’re a disaster, just happening for the world to see. He’s hoping there isn’t a paparazzi camera aimed at them right now.

“Are you done?” She asks. Her voice is so quiet and distraught. He’s never heard her like this. He hasn’t ever seen her actually cry. It’s so foreign, and there’s a piece of him that feels horrible for making her cry, but he’s glad he’s finally been able to talk to her about everything.

When she ran away, she didn’t have to face the consequences of her actions. She didn’t have to see how she broke him. 

Calum nods.

“I never wanted to hurt you.”

“Well you did,” he snaps. 

“I was dealing with some shit, Cal, and I didn’t know how to handle it, so I pulled back. I… I’m sorry. I was…” Tillie trails off. Does she tell him? Does she finally say the words? Does she admit the worst facts she’s ever had to come to terms with, out loud, for the first time?

The word sits at the tip of her tongue, but she can’t say it. 

“You were what, Tillie?”

She answers him with silence.

“Figures. Just shut down again.”

Tillie sighs, staring at him through her tears. She wants to tell him. If there’s anyone on this planet she wants to tell, it’s Calum. 

She wishes things were different, and that she didn’t fuck it all up. She wishes she could tell Calum and they could go back to the way they were. She does miss him. She was so happy with him.

The word is right there, but Calum won’t be able to hear it, because he’s walking away, just like she did.

Grieving. Tillie was grieving.

read next part!

my masterlist! :)

[starlitangels]

Somewhere with an Aurora

A couple days ago I asked for Avior one-shot suggestions. This one came from @pinksparkl 1.5k words

—

“Ah crap,” I muttered, shoving the gear shift into Park. “This place used to be open a lot later than this.” I made a face, staring at the abandoned, dark coffee shop.

“Probably because it’s New Year’s Eve.” Avior’s face was still tense, partially screwed up like the emotions from that attack at the academy was still weighing on him. It probably was. He was keeping it in, but that many emotions—that much pain—he had to feel dangerously close to falling apart.

“Maybe. That’s kinda frustrating. I knew I should have checked the hours on Google Maps before we left the academy.”

“It’s alright,” he said.

“But you wanted to come here and get something warm to drink and be able to think through everything that just happened,” I protested.

“I know. But we’ll have plenty of time to come here later. Right now I don’t care where we go.”

I bit my lip. We’d been essentially living together for six months in Hell. I swallowed. “Want to come back to my place?” I offered.

Avior cocked his head to one side. “If you need some space I’ll understand, starlight. What we’ve just gone through—I can go back to Aria for the night. The Hellscape, this Inversion nonsense. It’s a lot and I don’t blame you if you’re feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.”

“I am. Both exhausted and overwhelmed. But I don’t want to be either of those things without you, Avior. I want you with me. Just your presence comforts me.” I reached across the center console of my little sedan and took his hand. “Come home with me?”

His gold gaze bored into me. “You’re sure?”

I tried to remember the state my apartment was in. Had I left anything embarrassing out when I left to head on whatever errand I’d been running? My memories had come back like I’d never lost them, and it felt like I’d last seen my apartment six months ago. Was that pair of underwear that had been draped over the radiator to dry after they missed getting placed in the dryer and ended up still damp? Had I put those away? Were there still papers all over my coffee table? Leftover from grading at the end of the semester?

“I’m sure,” I replied.

Avior knew me better than anyone. My lover. Our relationship literally forged in Hell. He would understand if my apartment was a mess.

“Okay.”

I nodded and pulled the gear shift back into gear. “My place it is then.”

—

Creak!

“I really need to oil that damn hinge,” I muttered as I shoved the front door open. “Sorry it’s not much. I don’t really entertain. I never have guests, actually.”

Avior glanced around. Tension was still coiled in his shoulders and back from the attack—that was centered on the far other side of the city now. “No. No, it’s nice. Homey.” He let go of my hand.

I fidgeted with my keyring, not meeting his eyes. “Let me get you something to drink. I don’t know about you, but months in Hell have left me pretty parched. Even if it wasn’t real. It must be worse for you.” I slipped to my kitchen, bustling around to find a two glasses for drinks. I put them under the fridge’s spout and filled them one by one before returning to the living room.

Avior was standing at my bookshelf, examining several of the knick-knacks I had sitting between two bookends. “What’re these?”

I couldn’t look him in the eye. “That’s, uh… that my amiibo collection,” I admitted.

“What’s an amiibo?”

“They’re little figurines that can interact with certain video games. I… I, uh… I only have ones from The Legend of Zelda because it’s my favorite Nintendo series. I’ve been playing Zelda games since I was a kid and the first couple amiibo were gifts but after that I just started kinda collecting and… what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Avior shrugged and shook his head, grinning slightly. “It’s nothing. Just… your eyes lit up, even as your emotions also tasted embarrassed.” He set the Wolf Link and Midna amiibo back down on the shelf. “You never told me which video games you enjoyed, although I do remember you mentioning you liked to play video games if you ever had enough downtime to do so.”

“Which is rare these days,” I remarked. “But I’ll dink around in Breath of the Wild for a couple hours on a Sunday night when I don’t have any assignments to grade. Sometimes my students ask why I assign less homework than the other professors—like they can’t fathom that I don’t want to grade as much homework as the rest of my colleagues assign.”

Avior snickered. “Amateurs—asking for more homework.”

I laughed. “Well, not exactly. But for any other professor questions like that could lead to more homework. Not for me. I love teaching—I just hate grading. I especially hate busywork. So I don’t bother. And that leaves more time for me to spend doing things I actually enjoy.”

Avior lifted a brow, suppressing a smile. I chose not to press for what was humoring him. I had a guess anyway.

When I didn’t take the bait, he cleared his throat. “Anything else I don’t know about you after living with you for six months?”

I glanced around my apartment. “Well… I collect comic books. Not even particularly valuable ones. I don’t do much with them. People just give them to me because I’m a nerd and I keep them. Because I’m a nerd.”

“Do you read them?”

“I would—but they’re all random issues in the middle of random storylines and none of them make any sense out-of-context.”

Avior chuckled. “Fair enough.”

“What about you? Anything I don’t know about you, living in Hell with you for six months?”

Avior drew me closer to him, resting his chin on my head. “I want to see an aurora one day,” he said. “I could have rifted somewhere with one whenever I wanted in the past thirty-six—thirty-four—years… but I never did. I always wanted to share it with someone who meant something real to me. And… no one ever did. I never figured I’d fall in love but… even a good friend. And I… never had one.”

I smiled. “We’ll do it, then. We’ll go somewhere with an aurora. Probably Alaska. It’s closest.” I reached and cradled his face in both hands. “I’d love to see the lights with you.”

He turned his head and kissed my palm, holding my wrist in his hand. “I’d love to see the lights with you too, my starlight.” He smiled softly. “Though, I fear they will pale in comparison to you.”

I looked away, ears turning hot. “Stop it,” I mumbled.

He hooked a finger under my chin and drew my head back to face him. “Never. I mean it. You are incredible. And I consider myself so lucky to have fallen for you as deeply as I have.”

This was the Avior I remembered. Not the dry, acerbic, sarcastic bastard who welcomed me to Hell after I lost my memories. The sincerity, the gentleness, and the depth of emotion was back in full-force—and I couldn’t have been more grateful. We had each other back after we both lost one another in different ways.

“I love you, Avior,” I whispered.

“I love you too, my starlight.” He leaned close.

We shared a long, slow, tender kiss. Unhurried. Easy.

I remembered desperate kisses in Hell, scrambling to remove clothing like we wouldn’t live to share more affection. I couldn’t be more delighted that urgent feeling was gone.

He pulled back just slightly, both of our eyelids fluttering open to meet each other’s gaze.

“Something else you might not know about me,” he said quietly. “You’re the first person I ever slept with—both literally and euphemistically.”

I choked on trying to suppress a laugh. “Really?”

“Truly.”

“Thirty-four years since you coalesced and you never—”

“Like I said, I never knew anyone well enough to want to try anything like that. And demons obviously have no physical form in Aria so anything that intimate is purely emotional. And I never had that either.”

“Given how smoothly you charm me, I find that a bit hard to believe.”

He kissed me again. “It just came naturally with you.”

I kissed him back.

We stood in my living room, kissing in front of my bookshelf, for quite a while.

Until Avior pulled away again. “So. My people’s ancient gods exist and have a mission for us to save the world. Where do you reckon we’re supposed to start?”

[ne-cropolis]

Long ramble about dog grooming because i got very flustered at work, am still freaking out about it, and need to vent it 🙃

I got a massive tip today from a client with a dobie puppy and im so worried these people didnt actually mean to do it . This puppy came in for his first ever grooming session and he had some kind of dry skin issue that only really showed up after he was brushed. I didnt blow dry him since it was his first experience, and thats usually when i see the extent of most skin issues since the force dryer reveals everything hidden by fur, not to mention itll blow away a majority of skin flakes if the dog has bad dandruff (which this puppy had, i also didnt get to check him in so i didnt get to ask details about him) Im frustrated i didnt get to be as educational as i could have been for his owners. I got so scattered and couldnt get the words out about some solutions they could try alongside talking to their vet, and i would have had them come back for a special bath in a shampoo that specifically helps dry/generally problematic skin to rule out a reaction to the soap i used (which was hypoallergenic and should not cause a reaction, but maybe???) but i completely forgot everything.

I got super flustured because there was a miscommunication about the tip (we dont check people out, the cashiers on the retail floor do it) and they almost gave me $260, which is, absolutely not what they intended. I talked to the cashiers and they went to take care of it with one of the parents while i was with the other one trying to see if i could do anything more for him by trying to blow his coat a little (which, i couldnt actually do because i had to use the lowest setting without a nozzel so it didnt scare the shit out of him, and even that was pushing it close to his threshold) Ultimately, theres not a lot i can do for dry skin without being able to deep scrub, condition, and force dry their coats fully, which is nearly impossible for a puppys first groom without traumatizing them. I got him back to his parents and they seemed happy about everything, im just still upset i couldnt do better for the particular situation, especially because the people were amazing. Just them bringing their doberman puppy in to be groomed makes me love them and want to do everything possible to make it a good experience for them and the pup, but i feel like that didnt happen and im so confused why they still left a massive tip, and if they actually meant to do it.

Most of it is that im super flustered by them still giving me $100 tip, which has never happened in my 4 years of grooming working on massive, hairy, stubborn dogs; the biggest ive ever gotten was $40 from a lady who i was already undercharging for the work her akita was.

I just hope they bring him in again so i can talk to them more thoroughly and maybe help his skin more now that hes been introduced to everything and i could maybe do a better job. Im still really bothered by it because what if they didnt intend to leave that much money and it becomes an issue for them? They already did get it fixed from 260 to 100, and the cashier promised me he asked them for confirmation several times but like...asdfkjshbfkchsbsjfksbfkf im happy to take huge tips but i worry for my clients financial situations and if i dont feel like i did a good job taking a tip makes me feel ashamed, so im still freaking out about how everything went down.

Thank you and sorry to anyone who read this lol, i really just needed to type it out so i could stop losing my mind thinking about it.

Edit: im also wondering after the fact if the laundry detergent the salon uses caused a reaction, its not the usual scentless, hypo soap so that very well could have caused it when drying him with the towel, but i dont know 😩

[young-dumb-and-vaccinated]

Hey 👋

I swear I'm addicted to your writing😁 Thank you for the amazing post❤

Can I request a usually calm reader coming home to Hanni and Wil with n bruise on their cheek and/or blue knuckles from n fight. And when they question reader they find out reader defended their relationship.

Or

Them reacting to reader with cigarette burn scars from childhood or self harm scars.

Sorry if it's specific I had a dream about the first one and I'm insecure about my scars😅 Also if it makes you uncomfy ignore me🤣

Have a wonderful day/night/afternoon💕

Hey anon, sorry it took me a hot minute to get to this. Hope you enjoy!

Gender neutral y/n comes home covered in bruises. Their lovers Hannibal and Will need to know why.

trigger warnings: blood, threats of violence, mention of firearms, stalking

You spit a mouthful of blood into the snow before you even thought about turning the doorknob. Any random passerby would look at you and think you were attempting to rob the place. You couldn't say you disagreed, though: your hood was pulled over your head and you held a tire iron in your singular non-bleeding hand.

You knew it wasn't wise to let the old-money Baltimore socialites catch you in such a compromising position, but you had to double-check your mental map of the house one more time. Hannibal would undoubtedly be cooking; hopefully so in his element that he wouldn't notice you slipping by. Will was the one you had to worry about. When it came to you, he'd become as alert as a German shepherd with protective instincts to match. Where he was in the house was anyone's guess, so you needed to be on guard.

You removed your heavy boots and opted to leave them outside. You then tossed the tire iron behind a nearby planter and slowly, quietly turned the knob. The door creaked as it opened, making you cringe. The sight of neither of your partners immediately running up on you was a bit of a relief; you hadn't been discovered quite yet.

You just needed to make it upstairs so you could barricade yourself in the master bathroom and use that oh-so-rare sliver of privacy to cover up your bruises. Then you could climb down the trellis, grab your shoes and make a proper entrance with hello kisses and whatnot.

"[F/N]?" Hannibal called out before you could even breach the threshold.

With no thought on your mind other than "fuck", you turned your head away from the direction you heard him. "Yeah, I'm home."

"I'd rush to give you a kiss, but I'm a little tied up at the moment." He said, undoubtedly grinning to himself as he trussed a chicken with sturdy cooking wire. "So you'll have to come to me."

"Oh, yeah." You called back. "Let me just get cleaned up first."

"If you insist." He said with a dramatic dip in his voice. "But hurry right back. Dinner is almost ready."

Hurdle one was cleared. Now all you had to do was clear the second, much higher hurdle.

You ascended the stairs, but forgot to skip that one consistently creaky step that always alerted the dogs. A small army of dogs came pouring into the upstairs hallway, blocked only by the baby gate Hannibal had installed as a compromise. Enthusiastic barks filled the foyer as you desperately tried to calm them down from the top step.

"Winston! Max! Harley!" You rattled off as many names as you could remember. "Hush, please!"

"[F/N]?" Will said, turning the corner.

You momentarily considered throwing yourself down the stairs. It would be easier to explain the bruises and you could still soak up that sweet, sweet throuple affection without having to tell a story that even you didn't entirely believe. Common sense, however, kept your feet firmly on the ground.

Will appeared in your line of sight. You pulled the brim of your hat down and stuffed your hands into your pockets. "I, uh- forgot how to open the gate again."

The dogs parted in Will's path and he looked at you with suspicion as he effortlessly opened the gate. "Is everything okay?"

You turned your head to the side. "I'm fine. It's just really cold outside."

"I'm sure those wet clothes aren't helping." Will cocked his head. "We can start by throwing that hoodie in the dryer-"

Before you could pull away, he pushed your hood and your hat off in one fluid motion. He knew what was going on.

"I'm no doctor, but I don’t think busted noses and black eyes are side effects of low body temperature." He said, folding his arms.

You put your hand up, unintentionally revealing the bruises on your knuckles. "You learn something new every day."

You tried to scoot past him, but he grabbed your hand and pulled you back.

"[F/N]--" Will said, a blistering fury beginning to percolate in his chest. "Who did this to you?"

"I ran into a bus stop." You lied, not even trying to make it sound believable.

"That bus wouldn't have happened to be headed to Dacula, would it?"

Your silence spoke louder than any excuse you could think of.

Will sighed. "Right. I think I know what happened."

"Will, I-" you protested.

"Save it for dinner." He scolded. "I'm sure Hannibal would love to hear this."

You'd been found out it was much worse than anticipated. You felt like you were on trial, which, given the circumstances, you could have actually been on trial in a real court of law on the charge of aggravated assault. However, that didn’t make you feel any better.

Hannibal demanded an explanation and couldn't wait until dinner. He was willing to let one of his culinary masterpieces burn in the oven, knowing of course that a much rarer delicacy was in the cards once you gave him a name.

He brushed his finger over an open cut under your eye. A light click of his tongue reached your ears as he examined your face.

"Give us a name, love." Hannibal probed, holding your jaw between his fingers and following the trail of bruises down your neck. "Who did this to you?"

"It's not a big deal, really." You assured him, squirming against his grip. "I started it."

"Now that, I find hard to believe." Hannibal contested. "You're not a preemptive strikes kind of person."

"Nor would you go all the way to Dacula to throw a few punches." Will added, approaching you with an ice pack.

"Okay, so maybe I finished it." You corrected.

Hannibal smiled proudly to himself. "That's more like it."

"What exactly did you finish?" Will asked, gently placing the ice against your bruised knuckles.

You sighed. You mentioned Dacula once and they already knew the answer. They were just waiting to hear you say it.

"My ex-boyfriend, Sidney." You leaned back on your one good wrist. "He was a being a completely irredeemable shit, as usual-"

"Details, darling." Hannibal said in too singsongy of a voice than was really appropriate while wrapping your hand in gauze.

"Acting entitled, talking like I belonged to him-"

"You have no idea how little that narrows it down." Will shook his head.

You were compelled to agree, but couldn't bring yourself to admit that and the fact that you ever dated Sidney in the first place. "Right."

"That isn't out of character for him." Hannibal said.

"And certainly not enough to make you willingly drive back out to cousinfuck nowhere to beat him up." Will finished.

"I didn't go out there with the intent to beat him up!" You contested. "He said that if I could meet him for coffee he'd never speak to me again. I know it's a lot of gas money, but I really was gonna hold him to the whole 'never speaking to me again' bit."

"So what happened?" Will asked, growing impatient.

You looked at the ground, embarrassment stopping the words at the tip of your tongue.

"Somehow, he caught a whiff of our... arrangement." You tightened your hands into frustrated fists. "And he made some really shitty comments about... you."

Hannibal and Will exchanged looks. They let the silence linger, urging you to fill it.

"He went into obscene detail about how mmf threesomes are his favorite category of porn," you tried not to gag as you recalled the disgusting details. "And then said if I 'let him watch', he wouldn't tell the local baptist church that I was a whore-"

"The man is a pig." Hannibal said, matter-of-factually.

"I got up to leave." You continued. "Obviously. Then he said he knew where you lived. Announced it to the whole diner. Started to go through his list of semiautomatic weapons. So to make sure he knew I meant business-"

"You threw the first punch." Hannibal finished the thought for you.

You nodded. "Naturally."

Will smiled to the floor and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I would have loved to see that."

"As much as it pains me to say," Hannibal began, resignedly agreeing. "It's only fair that you stand up for us the way we stand up for you. From time to time."

Will brought your bruised knuckles to his lips. "Though we desperately need to teach you how to dodge. Because the next time you come home covered in scratches, someone will pay."

You took both of their hands. "I should get beat up more often."

[5-seconds-of-bucky]

Kisses

A/N: Okay, so let’s pretend that Bucky didn’t blip 😉 That is the job I am trusting you with as you read this, dear reader (especially during a certain part, but you’ll get there when you get there) Also, please ignore my lack of original concepts, as I am well aware that I used this similar concept for a Shawn fic a while back (I promise this version is quite different and much better written) Anyways, happy reading! :)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem Avenger!Reader

Summary: Different types of kisses throughout you and Bucky’s relationship

Word Count: 4.3k+  (oof, much longer than I intended. Sorry, friends!)

Warnings: Swearing, reader gets stabbed, mentions of blood, mentions of pregnancy, (brief) mention of death (nobody actually dies)

---

The First Kiss

It was quiet as the two of you walked down the hallway, save for the occasional sounds of Bucky’s boots scuffing on the linoleum. Whether it was because you didn’t want to wake up anyone else in the compound this late at night or because there was nothing left to say, you weren’t sure.

After months of longing looks and nervous conversations (and a bit of pushing from Steve), Bucky finally found the courage to ask you out on a date. He made it a whole ordeal, even bringing flowers when he asked if you wanted to grab some sandwiches from a nearby deli and eat them at the park. You would be lying if you said you hadn’t been waiting to hear those words for a while now and told him you’d be happy to. Your shy smile made Bucky’s insides melt and he found himself mirroring one back at you.

Now, your third date--a midnight hike through a trail you suggested--was coming to an end.

“Can I walk you back to your room?” Bucky broke the silence, chewing his lip nervously as he awaited your answer.

“Your room is right across the hall from mine. Aren’t you going that way anyways?” you giggled.

“Let me be a gentleman,” he insisted as you rounded the corner of the hallway that led to your rooms.

“I mean, how can I say no to that?”

“I don’t think you can.” His signature smirk and charm had you melting and you stared at the floor in hopes that he wouldn’t see the obvious ways he affected you.

The two of you arrived at your door almost too soon, and you found yourself wishing that your night together wasn’t over quite yet.

“I had a great time with you, Bucky.” You turned to fully face him, looking up shyly into his eyes.

He took one of your hands with his, bringing it up to his lips. “I did too, Y/N. We should do it again.”

“The date or getting eaten alive by mosquitoes?”

“The mosquitos were endearing but I was more so thinking of another date.”

“I’d like that.” You squeezed his hand before letting go, pushing your door open and taking a step forwards before Bucky’s hand grabbed your wrist. He gently spun you back towards him, his charm suddenly replaced by a more timid look.

“Um, can I . . . would you let me . . .” he glanced down to your lips. “Can I kiss you?”

You didn’t respond, simply placing your free hand on his cheek and leaning towards him. His hands both went to wrap around your waist as your lips brushed and your other hand came to rest on his chest. The kiss was slow and soft. There was no need to rush as you stood there in the hallway at 1:45 in the morning, wrapped around each other like you couldn’t let go.

You finally broke away, feeling Bucky’s chest steadily rise beneath your palm as you calmed your own breathing. You tried to play it cool on the outside, though you were screaming with glee internally.

“Goodnight, Bucky.” You slowly slipped out of his grasp, a twinkle in your eyes that hadn’t been there before.

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

The Welcome Home Kiss

Your eyelids seemed to droop more by the second as you tried to keep yourself awake. The caffeine you had earlier could only do so much to curb the sleepiness that was settling in your bones. The fact that you were sitting in your bed at the moment probably wasn’t helping, but you were too tired to move.

Waiting up for Bucky seemed like a good idea until it was 2:30 in the morning and he still wasn’t back. He would probably scold you when he got back, saying how sleep deprivation didn’t look good on you, but you didn’t care. You hadn’t seen your boyfriend in a week and you missed him. If you had to pull an all-nighter to do so, so be it.

The sound of footsteps outside your door pulled you from your thoughts. It only took a second to recognize the familiar clunking of Bucky’s combat boots, causing you to perk up as you waited for him to peek into your room.

The footsteps paused outside your door for a moment and you held your breath in anticipation. The door didn’t open though, and the footsteps became fainter, presumably walking away from your room.

Does he think I’m asleep? You frowned. Usually, he at least opened the door to check in on you.

You pulled the blanket off your body, getting out of bed and padding out of your room towards Bucky’s. You did your best to stay quiet as you twisted the door knob in case he was already asleep. It wasn’t uncommon for him to pass out as soon as his head met the pillow after a mission. Lord knows he needed the rest.

You were met with an empty room when you peeked your head in. You almost left, assuming that your excited mind had been playing tricks on you, when you caught sight of light peeking out from beneath the bathroom door. A smile crept its way onto your face and you closed the door behind you, sitting on the edge of his bed and waiting for him to come out.

A few more minutes passed and you debated just letting yourself fall asleep there when the bathroom door swung open. Bucky stepped out, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt that you had tried to steal on multiple occasions. He didn’t notice you until he was almost to his bed and lifted his gaze from the floor, jumping back with a “shit!” when he saw you.

“What are you doing up, doll?” he asked once he regained his composure.

“Waiting for you,” you replied simply, pulling him into a hug as soon as he sat down next to you. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

You pulled back just enough to press your lips against his, relishing the languid movements of his lips against yours at the absurd hour of the morning. His arms traveled down to your hips as yours moved to wrap around his neck.

“Welcome home, sergeant.”

The Fevered Forehead Kiss

You were burning up.

The sweat drenched shirt you were wearing was sticking to your body and the fact that Bucky, AKA: the walking furnace, was laying next to you, wasn’t helping in the slightest. His arm was slung over your back, which made your situation that much worse. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully: a rarity with him. Moving out of bed was sure to wake him up but you really needed to change your shirt.

You sighed, deciding that you needed to get into some dryer clothes if you had any hopes of falling back asleep before the sun rose. Prying yourself from Bucky’s grip as carefully as possible, you swung your feet over the edge of the bed and stood up. A wave of dizziness overcame you, forcing you to brace yourself against the wall. A quiet groan escaped your lips when the dizziness started getting worse rather than fading away. Your vision started to tunnel: a surefire sign that you were going to pass out.

A pair of arms wrapped around you and Bucky’s face came into view. He gently eased you back onto the bed, supporting your back as he layed you back down. You felt a hand brush over your cheek as the dizziness faded and your senses returned.

Bucky frowned at how warm your cheek felt beneath his touch. You were feeling a little warm when he carried you to bed after a group game night--of which you had fallen asleep halfway through--but he didn’t think much of it then. He smoothed some hair back from your forehead and rested his lips there to better judge your temperature.

“Shit, doll. You’re burning up,” he murmured.

“It’s really hot in here.” Sleep was clawing at you but you were uncomfortable beyond belief. “I need to change my shirt.”

Bucky silently helped you out of the shirt you were wearing, throwing it in the hamper before shuffling over to the dresser to get you another one. He grabbed the first one he saw, making his way back over to where you were laying and helping you into it.

“Get some sleep, sweetheart,” he said as he pressed his lips to your forehead once more. “I’ll be right here.”

The “Shut Up!” Kiss

The Quinjet was filled with chatter as the team headed back to the compound after a successful mission. You managed to get the intel you needed and nobody got hurt in the process--well, nobody except you, but no one needed to know that.

You managed to get yourself stabbed in the right bicep when you were making your way back to the jet. It wasn’t horribly severe, it just hurt like a bitch. You were quick to take care of the Hydra agent and keep moving, knowing the team was going to want to get back to the compound as quickly as possible to celebrate. Missions without some kind of injury were a rarity with you guys.

You just assumed that you’d wait until you got to the compound and stitch yourself up there without anyone knowing. Seemed easy enough of a plan, right?

“Hey, doll,” Bucky said as he sat down in the seat to your left with a kiss to your cheek.

“Hey, babe.” You leaned your head on his shoulder, snuggling into the warmth radiating off of him.

“I’m so ready to get in bed.”

“You said it.”

You were able to block out the pain coming from your arm for a moment, allowing yourself to relax in your boyfriend’s presence instead. That was, until Bucky’s arm came up to wrap around your shoulders. You winced when his hand brushed over your wound, cursing internally when you felt him stiffen up next to you. Of course he was going to find out.  

He pulled his hand back, seeing it covered in red. “Is that blood?”

“Yes but that doesn’t matter right now. You know what does matter? Getting to bed cause you look-” You sat up, rubbing your hand over the wound yourself, finding that there was significantly more blood there now than there was earlier.

“You are literally bleeding right now!” He raised his voice slightly and you glared at him, not wanting to draw attention to the situation.

“I know but-”

“I love you but if you shut the fuck up right now, Y/N-”

“Buck-”

Bucky grabbed your face, quickly bringing your lips to his. “You are going to stop talking and let me take care of this, okay? No ifs, ands, or buts. I don’t wanna hear ‘em.” His voice was stern but you could see the concern in his eyes.

“Okay,” you sighed, dropping your eyes to your lap.

“Now let me see your arm so we can fix you up.”

The Top of the Head Kiss

“You don’t think it’s too soon, do you?” Bucky asked Steve as they sat in the kitchen. It was early on a Thursday morning, when everyone else was either asleep or doing an early morning workout. The two super soldiers had already finished their daily morning run and decided to enjoy a cup of coffee in the kitchen before the rest of the team showed up.

“Buck, I thought you were going to propose after the fifth date. You’ve been together for almost two years. I think it’s about time,” Steve answered with a chuckle, enjoying the bashful look on his best friend’s face.

“I just wanna do it right, you know?” Bucky bit the inside of his cheek as he contemplated the right way to propose for what was probably the thousandth time. “I know she doesn’t want something that’s so romantic it’s cheesy but I want it to be special.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Steve patted Bucky’s arm as he got up to put his mug in the sink. “You know she’s going to say ‘yes’ no matter what.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just scary trying to-”

“Morning boys.” Your groggy voice rang through the kitchen, causing Steve and Bucky to immediately shut up.

“You’re up early, sweetheart,” Bucky commented as you made your way over to him.

“Thought I’d be productive today.” You ran a hand through his hair, still unruly from his run, before placing your lips on top of his head. “Whatcha’ guys talking about?”

Steve and Bucky shared a panicked look. “Uhh . . . super secret boy band stuff.” Bucky’s hands made their way to your hips, fingers messing with the hem of your shirt.

“Ohh, okay. Let me just grab my breakfast and then I’ll let you plan your little boyband stuff.” You ruffled Bucky’s hair and busied yourself with making a bagel, winking at him before leaving the kitchen.

“You better hurry up,” Steve chuckled. “Cause she’s gonna figure out what you’re doing soon if you don’t.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bucky grumbled. “I’m working on it.”

The Passionate Kiss

“I’m so hungry!” you complained as you took your suit off, having just returned from a mission. You weren’t able to eat lunch earlier and your stomach was making sure you knew just how much it did not appreciate that.

“We stocked up the fridge yesterday so you should be good to go,” Bucky said from his place on the edge of the bed. His eyes stayed glued on you as you slipped on a pair of shorts and one of his Henleys.

You smiled brightly at his words and made your way over to him, giving a quick peck to his temple and grabbing his hand. “Care to join me?”

“Course, doll.” He stood up and followed you out of your shared room, wrapping an arm around you and pulling you into his side as you walked to the kitchen. Everything was going according to plan.

The mission you just came back from? It was fake. You didn’t know that of course, but Bucky had Steve and Tony help him set it up so he could get ready for what he was planning on doing tonight without you either finding out or getting overly suspicious. What was he planning on doing, exactly? Proposing. He was finally going to propose tonight.

You and Steve were sent out on an undercover “mission” in which you had to pretend to be a couple in order to attend a ball and gather intel on a possible new Hydra branch. Bucky wasn’t quite sure how Tony managed to set the whole thing up, but he decided not to bother himself with the logistics. There were more important issues at hand.

He patted his pocket as you parted from his side to grab plates. Yup, the ring was still there.

“Why don’t I get the plates and you grab what you want from the fridge, sweetheart?” he suggested.

“Oh no, I got the plates. You grab whatever you think is good. I’ll eat whatever.” You took two plates out of the cabinet and made your way to the table, your back to the fridge.

This is going to be harder than he anticipated.

In his debate to decide the perfect way to propose to you, Bucky somehow came to the conclusion that the best way to ask you to be his future wife was by spelling out “Will you marry me?” on the refrigerator with a bunch of magnets. A picture of the two of you from when you first started dating was placed next to it with a heart magnet, and Bucky was pretty proud of himself for the idea. He forgot, of course, that you could be a little oblivious sometimes when it came to noticing things.

No need to stress about it. She’ll notice eventually.

Bucky grabbed some things from the fridge, microwaving a few before bringing them over to the table and sitting down in the seat next to yours. “Bon appetit!”

“¡Muchas gracias, señor!” You smiled, already dumping a few things onto your plate and digging in.

“That was a completely different language,” he chuckled.

“And?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Tell me ‘bout the mission.”

“It was alright,” you said through a mouthful of food. You swallowed before continuing. “I don’t know why they sent Steve with me instead of you. You’d think that since we had to pretend to be a married couple, they’d have me go with my boyfriend.” Damn, Tony really didn’t try to be that subtle, did he?

“Yeah, strange . . .”

“Anyways, it was pretty easy. I didn’t even have to go to a debriefing!” You put some more food on your plate, noticing that Bucky had barely touched his. “You okay? You’ve hardly eaten.” You motioned towards his plate.

“Hmm? Oh, I ate before you got home so I’m not that hungry.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. He ate, just not a lot to be considered a meal. Nerves.

“Uh huh.” You gave him a weird look as you took a bite of food. “You’re up to something.”

“Me? Up to something? Never.” He watched you finish your food and sit back with a satisfied groan.

“Okay, sure.” You gave him a playful glare as he took your plates and got up to put them in the sink. You grabbed the leftover food and containers, and put them in the sink, nudging Bucky’s hip with yours.

“You trying to start something, doll?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe I am.” You looked back at him, completely missing the colorful magnets on the fridge yet again as you opened it and put the food back inside. Your hand caught the ‘W’ when you tried to take your hand off of the refrigerator handle, causing it to fall off and clink on the ground.

“Ill you marry me?” you read off the fridge, a confused laugh escaping your mouth. “What?”

Bucky playfully shook his head. He walked over to you, picking up the fallen magnet and putting it back in its place. He leaned against the fridge as he watched you read the phrase again.

“Buck, are you being serious?” Your eyes lit up, though there was a hint of hesitance in your voice.

“I don’t know, you tell me.” He pulled the black velvet case out of his pocket, getting down to one knee.

Your hand slapped over your mouth, trying to contain the squeal of joy threatening to jump out. “Bucky!”

He flipped the lid open. “Y/N Y/L/N, will you marry me?”

You bit your lips together, nodding your head vigorously. “Yeah. I think I’ll marry you, Bucky Barnes.”

Bucky stood up and you grabbed his face, crashing your lips onto his. It was messy but perfect for the moment. Your heart was beating a million times a minute but you paid it no mind as you tried to pull Bucky even closer.

“I love you,” you said once you pulled away for breath. Your eyes watered as you tried to keep tears from falling.

He leaned back in to slot his lips between yours again. “I love you too.”

The Relieved Kiss

Bucky wasn’t sure what exactly to expect when he rushed out with the team to find Captain Marvel lowering down a giant ship in front of the compound, but nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to see.

He’d been a mess since Thanos snapped away half the universe. Unbeknownst to him, you were up in space when the battle happened, leaving him to assume that you had dusted away with the millions of others and left him behind to pick himself up.

While Bucky suffered in his own personal hell down on Earth, you were stranded in a broken spaceship with Tony and Nebula. Up until your rescue, you were sure that you were going to die up there, staring into the void of space. You recorded a message for Bucky after Tony recorded his for Pepper in hopes that it would someday make it back to him. Then Captain Marvel came to save you and bring you back to Earth; to bring you back home.

Bucky ran up with Steve to help Tony, supporting the man who looked like he’d been to hell and back a few times. He stepped aside once Pepper ran up, choking on his own breath when he looked back to the steps of the ship.

You held onto Nebula’s arm as you slowly stumbled down the stairs. Bucky let out a sob at the sight of you, immediately rushing up to help you. You felt so fragile in his arms and it took everything in him to not collapse to the ground in shock, not sure if it was relief that you were alive or horror at your condition

He held you to his chest as tightly as he could once you made it to solid ground, his vibranium arm holding you up by your waist while his flesh hand held your head to his chest.

“Oh my god,” was all he could say as he stood there, body shaking as he cried

“Hey, I’m okay.” Your hand shook as it came up to weakly pat his shoulder. He could tell you were completely out of it: eyes distant and mind barely there. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone approaching, ready to help get you to med bay.

He pressed his lips to the crown of your head, gently rocking you back and forth in his arms. “You’re alive.”

You tried to pull back in his grip, forcing him to loosen it slightly. “I love you.” You leaned up to kiss his lips, though it ended up being more of a brush of your lips than an actual kiss.

“I love you too, sweetheart.” He kissed your hairline, scared that kissing your lips would steal more oxygen away--something you desperately needed more of in your system right now. “You’re gonna be okay.”

The “Holy Shit!” Kiss

You weren’t sure how much longer you could keep it a secret. You were sure he would’ve figured it out by now: the sticks in the trash, the sudden avoidance of certain foods you would usually never pass up, the second heartbeat that now accompanied your own.

It wasn’t that you didn’t want him to know--you had actually been trying for a baby for a while now--you just weren’t sure how to tell him. Is this how he felt before proposing?

The opening of your bedroom door interrupted your thoughts. You were met with the sight of your husband shrugging off his jacket when you turned around. He cut his hair recently. Something about it being “too hot for this shit.”

“Why are you wearing a jacket? It’s June,” you giggled.

“The air conditioning is fucking blasting and I got cold while I was doing my paper work, if you must know,” he said, laying the jacket on the chair you were standing next to. He left a quick kiss on your lips, leaving you craving for more.

“You’re crazy.”

“I’m crazy? I think you have the wrong guy here, doll.”

“No, I don’t think I do.” Your hand caught his, tangling your fingers together. Should I just tell him now?

“You keep thinking that. Steve asked me to help train some agents here in a few minutes so I gotta go now.” Another quick kiss and a wink and he started making his way out the door.

“Wait, Buck!” He turned around, almost out the door. “I need to tell you something real quick.” You motioned for him to come back over.

He took a few steps forward, a confused look on his face as you grabbed both his hands in yours. He could hear your heart rate picking up, which only served to worry him.

“So, I was wondering if you would be free to go to the hospital about eight months from now?” You gave a small smile, hoping he’d catch on quickly. “I’m not sure what the exact date is going to be quite yet but I’d really appreciate it if you could be there.”

Bucky frowned. What business did you have at the hospital that you scheduled nine months ahead of time? “Babe, what are you talking about?”

“I think we’re going to need to find our own place too. We’ll need a lot more space.” He still wasn’t catching on. “I doubt having three people in here would be super pleasant.”

He frowned even more and you simply giggled, bringing his hands to your stomach. “I’m pregnant, Buck.”

“Ohh!” He let out a sigh of relief, glad that that was all you were worried about. “Had me worried for a second there, doll.”

It was your turn to frown. “What?”

“From the way you started, I was worried you were dying and this was some sadistic way of telling me.”

“Nope. Quite the opposite, actually.”

“Was wondering when you were going to tell me.” His thumbs rubbed circles into your belly.

“You knew?!”

“I heard the heartbeat weeks ago. Took me a while to figure out what it was but I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.”  

“Damn your supersoldier hearing.” You leaned your head on top of his shoulder, letting out a small groan.

“Holy shit though,” His voice was soft as he rested his chin on your head. “we’re having a baby!”

“Yeah,” You lifted your head up slowly to see the biggest grin on your husband’s face. “we’re having a baby.”

A hand came up to cup your cheeks as he leaned into your lips, kissing you deeply and trying not to cry. “Holy shit!”

---

Reblogs and feedback are greatly appreciated!! :)

Bucky Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Taglist // Add yourself

@lo-manburg @nialls-flute @spnmarvelsimp

[unfoundhoney]

toe the line ; part two ↠

↠ slimecicle x fem!reader , platonic!jschlatt x fem!reader ; angst , fluff in future chapters

↠ masterlist

↠ part one ; part two ; part three ; part four

↠ @ochabby @nottheotheruser @d0vesatdawn @ashturnedtomist @bloopi @enderhoe @plaguenecromancer

Your clothes are damp and heavy in your hands as you move them from washer to dryer. It’s quiet in the apartment. The silence has been amplified for the last few days, an effect that carries through to now, as you switch your laundry. You’re bent at the waist, feet nearly off the ground as you reach down into the the washer to get the few remaining socks at the bottom of the basin.

You see movement in the doorway and turn your head to check what it is. You find Charlie stood in the doorway to the laundry/storage room looking not unlike a deer in headlights as you lock eyes with him.

You’re quick to look away. “Hey.”

“Hi,” he returns slowly. “Um, sorry, didn’t know you were using the washer.”

“I’m not.”

You pull yourself out of the washer and toss your last few socks into the dryer.

“Anymore,” you add.

As you set and start the dryer, Charlie remains hovering in the doorway as far away from you as possible. He steps out of your way as you leave the room.

“All yours,” you say.

“Thanks,” he calls after you.

You return to your room.

This is how it’s been ever since “the incident” on Friday, four days ago. The fairly spacious apartment you used to love sharing with Charlie now suddenly feels tiny, pushing you into closer vicinity of Charlie than you want to be right now.

You know you should probably talk about what happened, what was revealed, but there’s a part of you that’s still mad at him. There’s another, much bigger part that’s scared that if you acknowledge it again, you’ll never be able to move on from it. That if you actually talk it out like adults, if you tell him any more about how you feel and have felt for him than he already knows, you’ll lose him forever.

But despite your ultimate fear right now being making another wrong move and losing your best friend, the apartment is still suffocating. You text a friend, pack a bag, and tell Charlie you’re spending the night somewhere else.

You’re curled up in the corner of the couch, hugging an empty beer bottle. There are several other bottles in the same state as the one in your hands, a few others on various surfaces near where your drinking partner and host is sat on the ground. Schlatt looks over at you and your vacant expression, watching you for a moment as you stare blankly at the rug ahead of you.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

He’s asked you that multiple times since you arrived at his house a few days ago. You’ve only gone back to the apartment when you absolutely need to and if you’re able, you avoid Charlie entirely during said visits. It’s pitiful, really, the lengths you’re going to to avoid speaking to him.

“It’s weird how much you can miss someone who you haven’t even lost yet,” you answer.

“So, no.”

“No.”

“Alright, well, have you considered the fact that you’re hiding from him and pushing him away?”

“He pushed me away first,” you counter. “It was insufferable trying to live in the same space after what he read. It’s worse than a rejected confession; those were my thoughts, translated and poetic on paper and never supposed to be seen by anyone else. That’s where all the embarrassing emotional stuff I’d never say out loud goes and now everyone has heard it.”

“If I’m not making fun of you for it, no one else will either,” Schlatt tells you. “Yes, it’s cheesy and grossly romantic but it’s not something your friends will make fun of you about.”

“I’m gonna be honest, I don’t really care what anyone else thinks,” you say.

“Bullshit.”

“Okay, yeah, you’re right, I do care, but I care infinitely more about losing my best friend.”

“You haven’t lost him.”

“I’m in the process of losing him. Neither of us knows how to function after my involuntary confession. Like, you can’t just move past that, especially since I didn’t get the opportunity to ease into a gentle ‘I like you’ and just came right out the gate with ‘I long for him with every fiber of my being.’ Think about being in his shoes and hearing your platonic best friend say something like that about you; how do you respond to that?”

Schlatt takes a deep breath, “I don’t know.”

“It sucks,” you say. “It sucks so hard.”

You set your empty bottle on the end table beside the other two you’ve had.

“You want another?”

“No.” You lie down on the couch. “I’m already sad, getting more drunk will only make me more sad.”

“Has he tried to talk to you? Or is ignoring the massive fucking elephant in the room a mutual, silent agreement?”

“The second one.”

“Did he say anything about you staying here?”

“I avoid him most times I got back for anything.”

“And when you haven’t?”

“Hey, you’re home,” Charlie said as you entered the apartment quietly.

Most days around this time, he’s in his office working. When you came, he was sat on the couch watching TV. Because it was Saturday, of course, stupid, stupid Y/N.

“Yeah,” you returned in what you hope was an unbothered tone. “Just gonna grab some clothes and stuff.”

“Oh okay.”

You think maybe just maybe there had been a dit of disappointment in his voice but that’s probably just hopeful thinking. You quickly stuffed your backpack with some things then went to head out again.

“Why have uh... why’ve you been gone so much?” Charlie asked.

You hesitated by the door. Why have you been gone? Why do you think, Charlie?

Instead, you say, “Because Schlatt’s an expensive bitch. His guest bed is better than my regular one.”

“... You’re staying at Schlatt’s?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, cool. See you around, then.”

“See you.”

“But that was a lie, obviously,” you say. “Your guest bed is nice but I just can’t handle how suffocating it is to be in the same space as him and not be able to have things the way they were. I just- I miss being able to joke and laugh with him and how we’d eat breakfast together and our movie nights."

"Ignoring him won't make your feelings go away."

"It might."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder or whatever."

You pick apart the details in the ceiling fan above you. You know he's right. You've spent so long ignoring your problems. Sure, hiding it all from Charlie seemed like the right move, but maybe if you'd been able to confess on your own terms, drop subtle hints and work into a noncommittal "I like you" then maybe- maybe you'd be able to salvage your friendship. But now...

"I miss him," you murmur through tears.

You aren't even sure when you started crying. Mama always said to never cry over a boy. Yet here you are. You like to think Charlie is a bit more than "just a boy"; he's your best friend, one of the most important people in your life. Somehow, that doesn't soften the blow or make you seem less pitiful.

Schlatt definitely knows you're crying at this point. His non-acknowledgement of it is appreciated.

You know you'll have to face Charlie eventually, but for now you sniff and ask, "Do you have anything stronger than beer?"

[jinxxedwammys]

In celebration of 100 followers I present to you

Wammy boys in oddly specific AUs I found on pinterest and stuff.

Warnings: Swearing (mostly in Mello’s part as usual lol)

L

"I mistook you for my best friend and jumped on your back in public and now I'm embarrassed"

🎂🍨🍦🍭🍮🎂🍨🍦🍭🍮🎂🍨🍦🍭🍮🎂🍨🍦🍭🍮🎂🍨🍦🍭🍮🎂

It was during the Kira case when L was closely investigating Light Yagami at To-Oh University that this extremely awkward encounter occurred. The sun was high in the sky, locusts and could be heard and cherry blossom littered the wide walkway leading into the school.

You had your heavy bag slung across your shoulders. It was filled with textbooks and papers (some of which you had forgotten to turn in) as well as a few personal items. You weren't really paying much attention to your surroundings until you spotted one of your male friends!

You hadn't seen him since the beginning of high-school. To say you were excited was an understatement. In your excitement you took a running jump onto his back knocking him to the ground. He let out a yelp and that was when you realized...

This man was NOT your friend.

"Oh my God I'm so sorry I thought you were someone else" you hurriedly said pushing yourself up and on your knees an apparent redness in your face.

He seemed to be unbothered for the most part, he turned to you, crouching in a sort of fetal position.

"It's alright I understand" He replied.

"No, no its not.. I'm an idiot I should have realized" you shoved your face into your hands covering how red your face now was.

"It is alright, I'm uninjured and it was an honest mistake" you frowned a little not entirely trusting his forgiveness, but this time, you took it.

He gave you a polite smile before standing up and helping you to your feet. He wished you a good day, and left, but not before sneaking a note containing his alias and phone number.

Mello

"I lost my little sibling Matt in Ikea and I need your help finding them"

🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫🍫

"Fuck.... Shit... Motherfucker" You heard from the other side of the store shelf as you browsed through various decor items. This mystery person had been spewing profanities for the past five minutes. You sighed with slight annoyance placing the wooden model hand you had been staring at for God knows how long back, making your way to the neighboring isle.

"Hey, you've been cursing up a storm... what's going on?" You asked, hand on your hip awaiting a response. Mello looked up at you with a look of anger and exhaustion on his face.

"I'm looking for my idiot friend. He got hopelessly lost in the chair section and I've been trying to find him for like an hour now" He ran a hand through his hair pushing his bangs to the sides of his face.

"I can help you look for him!" You offered.

"You don't have to"

"I want to! I don't really have anything else to do, so it's fine. To be completely honest I don't know why I came here." He shrugged. "Oh my name's Y/N by the way"

"I'm Mello" He replied before setting off out of the isle leaving you to sprint a but to catch up. His pace was fast and he seemed to have some plan on how to tackle this, but you weren't exactly sure.

After what seemed like an eternity of silently weaving through the labyrinth of shelves and furniture displays, you spoke up.

"So... how old is your friend?"

"We're both 19... His name is Matt." You kept walking until he stopped directly in front of the office showroom section.

"He might be here, so keep an eye out for a tall brunette idiot with goggles." You nodded keeping close to Mello. Again you snaked through isles. Eventually your search devolved into looking into cabinets, drawers, anything that would open, but to no avail.

"Where the fuck is he?" Mello said under his breath as he slammed shut another cabinet.

That was when a tall brunette wearing goggles walked by dual wielding hotdogs... You sighed heavily before approaching Matt.

"Matt?" You called out gaining the attention of both Matt and Mello. Mello stood beside you before going on to scold his friend almost as if he were an unruly child.

"Sorry about that I hope looking for him wasn't that unbearable... would you like to meet up sometime again in the future?" Mello asked. You nodded in response.

"I'd love to! This was quite fun actually. Though let's not go to an ikea next time."

Near

"We both like walking In the park at night and I think you're a stalker so I accidentally attack you"

🤖🎲🃏🪀🤖🎲🃏🪀🤖🎲🃏🪀🤖🎲🃏🪀🤖🎲🃏🪀🤖🎲🃏🪀🤖

It was 2am, the night was calm yet you were restless nothing you tried allowed you to fall asleep. It was like this most nights. You would then go to the park near your house to get some fresh air and tire yourself out... and on a night like this, that seemed like a perfect idea. You didn't even change out of your pajamas before you left. As you entered the park, you felt... odd. As if someone was watching you and sure enough, as you turned your head to look behind you you saw a man following about two yards behind you.

Naturally your thoughts went wild with what ifs and possible escape plans. Yet you calmed your mind opting to check if this guy was really following you. With every corner you turned your heart sank. Panic started to set in and you rushed to get together an improvised weapon.... Your housekey! You gripped it tightly in your hand as if it were a knife and swiftly approached the man going to jab him in the eye, yet he caught your arm with ease, turning it behind you and pushing you to the ground, similarly to how a police officer would apprehend a resistant assailant.

"Why did you attack me" he questioned, plopping down just above your hips.

"Let me go, stalker!!!" You yelled at him thrashing around attempting to escape his grasp.

"What are you talking about? I'm not stalking you." He calmly said.

"That's exactly what a stalker would say! Let me go!" He sighed lifting himself off of you and crouching beside you. You rolled over and sat with your legs crossed.

"I swear to you, I was only out for a walk. I take nighttime walks sometimes, though this was the first time I've been in this park."

"Then how come every time I turned you followed?"

"I did? I'm sorry, I didn't even realize" He stated plainly. You sighed he seemed truthful.

"Fine... I'm sorry too, I probably shouldn't have assumed you were a stalker or something and attacked you" you admitted. He shook his head.

"It's alright, I understand... I can be scary" you snorted and laughed. The light of the nearby streetlamp lit his features. A frail, sweet looking man with long white hair who seemed to be somewhat reserved. You felt a little silly that you thought someone like him would hurt you much.

"You're not scary... In all honesty you're quite cute!" You admitted, reaching out a finger to poke his nose.

"Thanks, you're actually quite cute as well, maybe we could meet up here in the morning?" He suggested.

Matt

"I come here when I want to be alone and I didn't think anyone knew about it so where the hell did you come from"

🎮🚬🥽🎮🚬🥽🎮🚬🥽🎮🚬🥽🎮🚬🥽🎮🚬🥽🎮🚬🥽🎮🚬🥽🎮

This day was aweful. Work was extremely stressful. Your coworker put important documents in the shreader for the 10th time that week and you were the one tasked with rewriting, tracking down, requesting new copies and piecing together ones that couldn't be recovered otherwise. And of course your boss made every minute of it a nightmare. So after work, you drove to your favorite place. An abandoned warehouse off the highway about 5 minutes from your house.

It was virtually untouched by people now that the walls were covered in graffiti and the place had been ransacked for leftover valuable items. You made your way inside noticing something was off... there was a leather couch that wasn't yours, a coffee table... even a TV and game console plugged into a power supply, another handheld game on the coffee table next to an ashtray with a few cigarette butts, one of which was still smoking.

You were beyond confused. From the last time you were here someone had basically moved in... it had only been a week since you last came here. You warily approached the couch. Well... whoever left it here probably won't mind! you thought I just hope they didn't sabotage it or something. You then sat down noting that it was a perfectly normal couch and you were just paranoid.

That was when a guy came in, he was tall and lenky, had brown hair and was dressed in a striped shirt, a frankly hideous vest with fur lining, black pants and goggles atop his head. He had been holding a can of coke and a cigarette, yet those were both dropped as he saw you.

"Who are you?" He half shrieked.

"Who are YOU? You yelled back.

"I asked first!"

"My name is Y/N.. I come here all the time when I'm stressed and want to be alone I didn't think anyone else knew about it"

"S..Same but.. I come here to get away from a friend of mine... he can be quite aggressive and it's scary" He sat down beside you picking up his handheld game. "Oh and my name is Matt!"

"Hmm.. then let's share this space from now on, Matt!" He nodded in agreement.

"Yea! I hope we meet again soon"

Beyond Birthday

"We live in the same apartment complex and I accidentally leave my laundry in the washer for a minute too long and you decide to take out all my wet clothes to put yours in just as I walk in"

🔪🩸🔪🩸🔪🩸🔪🩸🔪🩸🔪🩸🔪🩸🔪🩸🔪🩸🔪🩸🔪🩸🔪

It was late night. You had been putting off laundry for the past week, but now you were down to a pair of underwear and your nightgown, so you had to do your wash.. you reluctantly gathered your clothes and made your way to the communal washer and dryer. You threw your clothes in and put a coin in the coinslot then set the washer to start.

You sighed and made your way back to your room to relax a little while your clothes were still washing. It had been about two hours and your laundry was probably done. The timer you had set went off and you gathered yourself and brought the remainder of your clothes as well as your box of dryer sheets.

The moment you walked in your eyes widened in horror. Some odd man sat frantically pulling your clothes out of the washer onto the dirty floor.

"What the hell are you doing??!!" You yelled rushing over to stop him. He peered up at you from his crouching position.

"You left your clothes in too long, its my turn now" You blinked

"Only for a few minutes... it just got done less than 5 minutes ago.. now my clothes are all dirty again.. damn it"

"Sorry" He said. His beady eyes were wide and innocent looking. "I'll let you do yours again... I'll pay" He said before shoving yours back in and starting it again.

When that was done he pulled a jam jar out of seemingly nowhere and perched on top of the washer dipping his hand inside the jar and licking his fingers clean of jam. It was disgusting... But you decided to not pay any more attention to it than you had to.

The rest of the time you spent with him was in silence, all you heard was the washer and his lip-smacking. When the washer finished you silently transferred your clothes to the dryer.. this time without your oddball fellow tenant interfering much. Though when he got his own clothes in he did crawl away which freaked you out.

[captains-simp]

@tomy5girls

Fhskdhwksnsns I accidently posted this before I was done writing it 🤡🤡🤡

I love Wanda so the first part took me ages to write but writing soft Carol made this either the messiest or best fic I've ever written

"Do I mean that little to you?"

"Was it all a lie?"

"I think I'm inlove with you."

Warnings: cheating and me fucking around with the MCU timeline regarding when characters are introduced

6.7k words

[ masterlist ]

Buy me a coffee ☕

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Your relationship with Wanda had always been far from perfect. It was evenings like that difficult one that made you reflect on just how many red flags you had ignored. You had chosen to live your life with her in blissful ignorance, thinking it would work out.

But as time went on there were things that were harder to ignore. Things that hurt you to notice, both about Wanda and yourself. You thought they would go away. They only ever got worse.

That night was the final straw. You couldn't deny the issues that had been growing like weeds in your relationship for a year when you walked into your appartment to see Wanda's head between another girl's legs.

You didn't feel mad. Or upset. You felt empty. Empty at the long awaited realisation that you had committed to the wrong thing.

You didn't say anything, too shocked to know what to say and not knowing if you would even be capable of stringing a sentence together.

The woman's eyes flickered open and met yours and in that brief moment you saw the familiar look of lust before it turned to fear. She roughly pushed Wanda away as she looked anywhere but you and moved away from your soon to be ex girlfriend.

Wanda gave her a questioning look before whipping her head around to see you after following the woman's uncontaminated glances. She stood up instantly and straightened her shirt while the woman on the couch got dressed.

"You're home." Was the first thing Wanda said. Yeah. You were definetly done.

"I am." Your mouth was dryer than sandpaper but you somehow managed to say that.

"I should..." The woman muttered as she awkwardly glanced between you and Wanda before rushing past you and out the door.

Neither you nor Wanda spoke for a while. You were still looking at her, searching for any signs of...anything. She didn't meet your eye. She made no attempt to defend herself. To defend your relationship. It was downright heartbreaking.

You needed to sit down, but there was no way you were sitting where Wanda had just been. Not that knowing what Wanda had done on that couch had bothered you before.

You left the hallway to wander aimlessly towards your bedroom, knowing you weren't the only one Wanda had fucked in that bed, but you had never had to see that.

She followed you into the room, more trailing really. There was no urgency to her pace and she still didn't speak. Did she really not care?

You sat down on the bed and stared at the floor, mot knowing what to feel. Wanda didn't sit next to you. She made no move to comfort you. You didn't need comfort, not from her. You needed an explanation.

"When did it start?" You wanted to ask how many, but you already knew the truth would hurt too much. The ones you knew about were enough.

"I don't know." Wanda huffed. She sounded frustrated, as though you were wasting her time. That finally pissed you off.

"I deserve an explanation, Wanda." You said clearly, keeping your voice surprisingly steady as you looked up at her. She still didn't look back.

"What's done is done." She said simply.

"Do I mean that little to you?" Tears sprung to your eyes as you said that. Wondering for the first time if Wanda had really ever cared about you.

When Wanda finally looked at you you wished she hadn't. Her eyes were full of pity, watching you like a stray puppy in the rain. She moved forward and sat down next to you on the edge of the bed.

"I loved you." You didn't fail to notice the past tense, it cut through you like a knife. "But I wasn't ready." You had started dating so soon after Ultron. At the time you knew Wanda was grieving badly, you had questioned if it was best for her to dive into a relationship the way she had in that state.

Her self-confidence and driven nature always put your mind to rest. There were red flags before the relationship had even started.

"When you realised that...you didn't have to stay." Your voice wavered slightly.

"I know that." God the pitifulness was even in her voice.

"So why did you?" You held your breath waiting for that an answer. Wanda took a few seconds to consider that, like she wasn't quite sure herself.

"I like being around you." She sounded truthful, but you didn't allow yourself to believe her.

"When you weren't around them." You couldn't help the bitter tone that crept into your voice. Wanda didn't like that. Thinking she actually had any right to be mad at you.

"Oh for the- we had fun, didn't we? It's not like it was a complete waste of our time!" She exclaimed, standing up to face you.

"I wasn't dating you for fun, Wanda. It was so much more than that. I wasn't just someone for you to fuck like all of those girls, I was your girlfriend!" You felt proud at what you had said. You were right. About all of it. You were especially right to use the past tense. Something you didn't think you could manage to do. But that pride was short lived.

"You were a distraction!" You froze. Every fibre of your being turning ice cold from her words. You and Wanda stared at each other for felt like an eternity. She didn't take it back. There was an unreadable expression painted on her face. You knew it wasn't regret.

That's all you ever were to her? A distraction? Everything you thought you had...

"Was it all a lie?" You whispered. You hated the question. You would hate the answer. But you had to know.

Wanda's expression faulted and for a second the pitifulness returned. It was quickly pushed to the side when she spoke again, remaining stoic.

"Call it what you want." You bit the inside of your mouth in an attempt to stop your bottom lip trembling as you finally looked away.

"I'd like you to go. We're done." You whispered, turning away from her.

She left without another word. Her boots thudding against the floor as she walked away in the purposeful way she failed to show you that night.

The door to your appartment clicked shut before you broke down into tears.

*

You had gotten a hotel room that night, unable to stay in your own home. You couldn't lay in your bed without wondering how many people had been in it. Wondering how fewer it would have been if you had just confronted Wanda about it when you first knew. But you didn't, and those months of heartbreak were finally coming to the surface.

You arranged for time off of work once you got back to your appartment. Once that was done you flipped over the couch cushions, retrieved your toasted pop tarts and sat down to watch your comfort show under a bundle of blankets.

It worked for a while. The plates (yes plural) full of pop tarts and the hours of TV took the edge off of the numbness you were feeling. That was until a text from Carol brought you back to reality.

Care Bear: you okay?

You smiled a little. Carol was definetly something that would provide you with comfort, living up to her nickname as always. But she worked with Wanda, and the last thing you wanted was to make her life awkward.

Carol was your best friend. She was Wanda's friend too. That was how you had met. After Ultron Carol had introduced you to Wanda at one of Tony's parties. She had even been a wingwoman for Wanda, you pondered over what Carol would do if she knew Wanda had cheated.

The blonde had always been protective of you. It was sweet. Especially the small acts she never even noticed she did. Like standing closer to you when you were in a room full of self righteous jerks. Always being the one to catch you when you tripped over thin air, even if she was preciously on the other side of the room. Knowing when you were uncomfortable in social situations and casually taking you away from them in the most subtle manner that didn't cause a scene. You had never been able to confide in anyone like you could with her. Not even Wanda, although that was probably because she never shared either.

You: 👍 :)

Care Bear: --_--

Care Bear: Wanda's here

You bit your lip as your thumbs danced over the keyboard; evaluating the best response. You were surprised Wanda was even at the Avenger's headquarters. You had assumed she would be spending her nights with random hookups for a while rather than just one night. She finally had the full freedom to do that but she went back to the Avenger's Headquarters instead?

You: she okay?

Care Bear: I haven't seen her since she went to her room, doesn't seem to be in a talkative mood

Care Bear: you guys okay? 👀

Carol never liked to pry into yours and Wanda's relationship. She always let you confide in her. But in the cases where it was obvious something had happened between you, she checked in on you in the least subtle ways. Carol was smooth in a lot of way, but that was not one of them. It had become a joke between you and Carol ended up embracing it.

You: we broke up

Care Bear: CHSKSBSKSBAMZBMZDBAL

Care Bear: I'm on my way!!

Care Bear: or I can give you space to mope?

You couldn't help but smile at Carol's messages. Your reply was instant. You would love to have Carol binge shows and eat trash food with you.

You: come mope with me :(

Carol confirmed she was on her way less than a minute later and you got up to toast the last of your pop tarts and get a drink.

You weren't sure how soon Carol arrived on your balcony. You were sure very few things had made you happier than the sight of your goofy friend proudly holding up a multipack of poptarts while dressed in her sweatpants and goose t-shirt. The shirt was one you had gifted her for Christmas one year and if she wasn't wearing her Captain Marvel uniform, she was most likely wearing that shirt.

You got up to open the sliding door for her as you suppressed a chuckle. Carol appearing on your balcony without warning had stopped scaring you around the ninth time it happened. That was about the time you stopped trying to convince her to just use the stairs like everyone else.

As soon as she was in your appartment she threw the box to the couch and enveloped you in a bear hug. You wrapped your arms around her middle and closed your eyes as you held onto her. You smiled at the familiar smell of vanilla and cat hairs, being so easily comforted by it.

"Are you okay?" She muttered into your shoulder.

"I am." You said truthfully. You hadn't slept well the previous night, even at the hotel. You had cried for a while. But the next day you had felt better, as though a weight had been lifted from.your chest. You were still hurting, but you would be just fine.

Carol pulled away and rested her hands on your shoulders as she studied you, trying to find any evidence of a lie. Upon finding none she nodded and smiled at you kindly. That was something you loved about Carol. She never pitied you, even when the worst happened. She was sympathetic and supportive and never condescending. 

"What are we watching?" Carol asked as she picked up the box on the couch and took it over to your toaster. She knew you wouldn't want to talk about Wanda yet. She would wait for you to bring it up. Until then, she would act as though you were moping because you were sick rather than the reality.

You replied to her with your comfort show that she had grown familiar with and sat back down on the couch with the blanket over you. Carol soon returned with two plates of pop tarts (it wasn't like you had eaten anything else) and two hot chocolates. What you really craved was some alcohol but you decided to leave that till later on.

Your blonde friend sat back down next to you when you lifted the blanket for her. She instantly brought her legs up under her and put her arm around you. You easily leant into her and rested your head on her shoulder before she leant her own head on yours.

Neither of you spoke for a while. Carol occasionally laughed at something on the TV and you found yourself smiling at the sound of her laughter more than the show. It had always been contagious.

Wait. Should you of been smiling that much for someone who had walked in on their girlfriend cheating less than 24 hours prior? Probably not. But then again. You had seen it coming. All the signs prior had softened the blow.

"You alright?" Carol asked again as a whisper as she pretended to keep most of her focus on the show.

You hummed in response and fiddled with the edge of the blanket for a while until you spoke.

"She cheated." You muttered. You could feel Carol freeze. Her whole body tensed up making her as stiff as a plank. Her shoulder wasn't as comfy when that happened. "But it's okay." You assured.

Carol took ahold of both your empty plates and placed them on the table before turning her body towards you so she could see you better.

"That's never something that can just be 'okay', y/n." Carol said in a gentle tone.

"I know but...I already knew before... before I saw." You could hear Carol breathing heavily as you avoided her gaze.

"Christ, y/n." She whispered. "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"I don't know I just...I guess I thought if I ignored it it would go away." Upon reflection you really weren't sure why you never addressed it.

Carol didn't say anything at that. You glanced up nervously to see her looking deep in thought, trying to understand what you meant. Carol was never one to hope things would go away. Her life as a hero had taught her to comfront every obstacle she faced.

"And you saw her..."

"Yeah, I did. I thought I could handle knowing what she was doing behind my back but actually seeing it...it was hard." Carol breathed out hard as though she had been holding her breath and pulled you into another of her infamous bear hugs. You wrapped your arms around her again and squeezed your eyes shut.

The blonde gently stroked your back in soothing circles until you moved away, not wanting to but knowing Carol wouldn't move away first and Lord knows how long you would have ended up staying like that.

"And you're really feeling okay about it?" Carol asked with a slightly furrowed brow, reading your face for any trace of a lie as you spoke.

"Yeah." You smiled assuringly. You didn't feel like telling Carol the rest. About how you had only ever been a distraction to Wanda. But there was something else you wanted to admit. "It was for the best." You started. Carol could tell something more was coming so she sat up a little straighter to show you you had her full attention. "Even before I figured out I what she was doing things just didn't feel entirely right with Wanda. She was great, but it always felt like something was missing." Carol didn't show any reaction to that. She seemed surprisingly stoic, like she was trying to suppress something. You figured it was probably just that she was thinking about what you had said.

"Enough about all that though." You said when Carol hadn't spoken. "You never got to tell me about your super amazing mission last month." Carol's eyes lit up at the mention of her successful mission.

There were some missions she wasn't allowed to talk about. Some she could. And some she could eventually talk about. Her last one was the latter and once she was clear to tell you about it she did, in great detail and the most animated way. It had been one of her best missions and you were incredibly proud. But you were interrupted by a false alarm at the Headquarters before she could finish.

You loved hearing about Carol's work that she was passionate about. You loved hearing how she could handle herself out there. Recalling some of those missions put your mind to rest when you hadn't heard from her in a long time. And you needed the distraction. Carol knew that.

You listened to Carol intently with a smile but the stress and upset of the previous events had you suddenly feeling very tired. Your eyelids began to feel very heavy and your head became empty as you felt yourself drifting off to sleep.

*

You woke up in your own bed, beyond comfused. You couldn't remember getting into bed or falling asleep. Still in a half asleep state, you tried to recall the events of the night until you remembered Carol. Had she carried you to bed? Had she left?

Your heart ached at the thought that your best friend wasn't there. Refusing to believe it, you wrapped your duvet tightly around you and trudged out of your room.

She was sleeping soundly on your couch with the blanket you had been curled up together under. You smiled at the sight of her looking so peaceful, taking a moment to consider yourself the luckiest person alive to have a friend as caring as Carol.

You came back to your sense when you realised how creepy it felt to be standing over your best friend and staring at her sleep, not to mention how freaked out she would be if she awoke to your duvet covered silhouette. But you didn't want to leave her side.

Carol stirred when she felt you kneeling on the couch. Countless nights of sleeping next to her had taught you she was a fairly light sleeper. You were thankful that she wasn't startled by you kneeling over her as you adjusted your blanket.

"Y/n?" She muttered as she rubbed her eyes to try to see you better.

"Go back to sleep." You murmmered back before laying down on her stomach and holding the duvet over you both.

You felt so at home in her arms. She didn't protest to you and instead wrapped her arms around your back and closed her eyes again with a content smile.

You rested your head in the crook of her neck and soon drifted back to sleep. Carol, on the other hand, struggled to sleep for a while. You had slept in the same bed before, countless times, but you had never been so close together when you did. It had never felt so intimate.

It was making the butterflies that had started arriving years ago whenever you were around dance around happily. As much as Carol tried to ignore them, her feelings for you only ever grew.

*

Over the next few days Carol visited you a lot. You had always been happy to spend time with your friend, but in those days you appreciated her company even more. In fact you were pretty sure you craved it.

She checked in on you often and stayed the night when you asked her to. You tried not to be too clingy with your friend, knowing she had a busy life and a lot of responsibilities to take care of and you didn't want to keep her away from her hero life.

It made the moments you could spend with her even better. You had always had that thought process with Carol, but it was enhanced since the night you slept ontop of her on the couch - something she never commented on.

You mainly spent your time together in your appartment, but on that day Carol had another idea.

"I promise it's safe." Carol grinned at you as you looked over your balcony for the umpteenth time in the last five minutes. You never really realised how high the sixth floor was until your friend was encouraging you to jump off your balcony with her.

"You need to get out of that appartment." Carol insisted.

"I could go on a walk to do that! You know...like a normal person." Carol laughed at your defiance to try what she had offered.

"Just five minutes, you'll love it." Carol said genuinely as she took ahold of your hand. You had never realised how her hands seemed to fit perfectly in your own before. You smiled at the sensation of a slight tingling in your hand upon contact with Carol's.

"Ease off." You giggled, shaking Carol's hand.

"I'm not doing anything." Carol protested earnestly, giving you a comfused look. You gulped and tried not to think about what the feeling was. "If you don't like it I'll bring you right back, you're safe with me - the Strongest Avenger." She said with a cocky grin, she had heard someone say it once and it went straight to her head. You rolled your eyes at her with a smile then paused, biting your lip as you considered the offer properly.

"Okay." You breathed out.

"Okay?" Carol asked with an excited grin.

"What the hell, sure!" You exclaimed. Carol chuckled and went to stand behind you. The material of her suit pressed against your bare arms and made you shiver slightly, you assumed from nerves. Carol had told you you didn't need to wear a jacket or coat, claiming her powers would keep you warm.

She wrapped her arms around your waist to hold you tightly against her and you gripped onto her forearms, not being able to stop yourself smiling.

"You ready?" Carol asked as the yellow swirls started to surround Carol and heat up your back and stomach. Blue and red glimmers occasionally appeared amongst the swirls and you tried not to get too distracted by the beauty of Carol's powers.

The next thing you knew your feet were slowly leaving the ground until the tips of your shoes were an inch away from the floor. You felt weightless and couldn't help but laugh a little at the absurdity that you were floating on thin air.

"Okay?" Carol checked.

"Okay." You confirmed.

As soon as the word left your mouth you felt like you were being catapulted through the air. Wind whipped your hair across your face and everything was a blur. All you could focus on was the whirling colours and Carol's strong grip on your waist.

You were going directly upwards for a few seconds until Carol eased you both forwards slightly, angled so you could finally take in your surroundings.

The speed at which you had been going to get so high in such a short amount of time was insane. It was impossible to know exactly how high up you were, all you knew was the faint clouds in the nighttime sky were closer to you than the ground. A lot closer.

The small gaps amongst the thin layers of clouds gave a glimpse at the stars that shimmered above you. The view below was just as breath-taking.

The city was lit up by the lights emitting from each building, each playing a part in the beautiful display. The lights shimmered and twinkled just as the stars did, the two very different worlds having the same beauty from such a height.

As Carol leveled herself out more you felt your legs drop infront of you and away from Carol. Your grip on the hero tightened in response to the new position.

"Do you trust me?" Carol asked carefully. You nodded, not knowing what your friend was planning but knowing you would go along with whatever she had planned.

One moment Carol had her reassuring grip on your waist, guiding you through the night air, and the next she was gone. You plummeted through the air in an instant, a silent scream escaping your throat. You squeezed your eyes shut tightly, not wanting to see the world spinning as you fell, but as soon as you were falling you were safe again.

You landed on Carol's back surprisingly lightly. You blinked a few times in shock, not understanding what had happened until you realised that Carol was flying horizontally and the position allowed you both to have a much better view and in a better position.

You sighed with a grin as stared down at the city in awe, your eyes occasionally flickering up to the dark sky. You rested your head in the crook of Carol's neck and wrapped your arms around her front, easing into her as easily as you had that night on the couch.

It was the happiest you had felt in such a long time. You felt safe with Carol, even from such a dangerous height and the whole event had you feeling more relaxed and content than you could ever remember.

A warmth spread over your body as the pair of you gently flew over the city. While you wanted to believe it was from Carol's powers, you knew deep down that that wasn't it. Because you had had that warmth for Carol on the coldest nights, you had had it when she was on the other side of the room, it had been there for as long as you could remember. And it was only getting stronger.

*

It didn't take anymore encouragement to get back into your usual way of life without any issues. Thanks to Carol there didn't seem to be much difference. The times that you would have been spending with Wanda you spent with Carol. She knew you were okay and that you didn't need her to mope around with you anymore - not that you had really ended up doing that together much. But you wanted her with you; she seemed to want to be with you too.

While you had slept in the same bed multiple times since you had on the couch, you never cuddled close to her like you did before. You knew that if you did that warmth would return. You knew, deep down, what it meant. However you had no idea if Carol's feelings for you were anything more than platonic, it was a line you weren't willing to cross, so you pushed those feelings to the side as much as you could.

Despite your efforts, those mornings you woke up next to your friend you found that you had your head resting on her shoulder or an arm hooked around her waist or one of your legs tangled with hers. She never seemed to mind, in fact one time you could have sworn you saw her eyes drop when you separated yourself from her. You told yourself you were just seeing things that weren't there.

So one night when Carol casually invited you to an Avenger's party you almost choked on your popcorn. You had always gotten along with the team - ever since the mix up on the mission that had led you to meet them and Carol. You had been to a fair few of those parties in the time you had been friends, but that party would be different.

Carol had assured you that no one else on the team knew exactly what had happened between you and Wanda. Your friend knew you didn't want people knowing and Wanda wasn't about to announce it, all the team knew was that you had broken up.

"You don't have to." Carol said quickly. "Wanda will be there." She informed in unimportant fact kind of way. "I just thought it would be nice for you to see everyone again. They miss you."

"They do?" Even thought you had known the Avengers for years, you still couldn't help but be a insecure before seeing them. You didn't have any powers or training. You always wondered what you could possibly bring to their table. Those worries were always put to rest once you were settled in, the smiles on their faces and laughter they emitted when you saw them was hard to fake. Besides, it wasn't like they had any reason to fake it.

You very quickly stopped being insecure when it came to Carol though. You had spent so much time together and knew each other so well that you never worried what she thought of you. She reminded you often of the traits she loved so much, it had been something you had started.

"I'd love to go." You smiled at Carol then went back to the screen. You never liked to make things awkward with exes. It wasn't like you and Wanda were going to become best buddies any time soon, but you were determined to be civil. You just hoped she would be too.

"Great." Carol concluded after studying you for a bit, wanting to be absolutely sure that it was what you wanted. "I'll pick you up at eight on Saturday."

"It's in two days?" You exclaimed, turning to Carol with a horrified expression.

"It is?" Carol confirmed in a not-too-sure tone, not understanding what the big deal was.

"Jeeze, Carol, give a girl a better warning next time." You huffed as you leant back against the couch. The blonde chucked next to you and muttered an apology.

Carol continued watching the film she had put on while you planned when and where you would get an outfit. You knew the dress code of those parties, that wouldn't be an issue, but part of you wanted to match with Carol.

"What are you going to wear?" You asked casually.

"Haven't decided yet."

Damn. You would just have to wing it.

*

Carol knocked on your door at exactly eight o'clock on the night of the party. You were startled at the sound of it at first, not expecting her to actually use the door for once.

You opened the door with a wide grin on your face but felt as though you had the breath knocked out of you when you saw your friend. She was wearing a tailored dark y/f/c suit with a neat white blouse. Her hair was slightly tossled and hung loose around her shoulders. It all went perfectly with her familiar warm smile. She looked beautiful.

Carol's outfit was strikingly similar to your own y/f/c dress that was a much lighter tone but the similarity was still there.

"H-hey." You stuttered as you continued to take in her outfit.

"Hey yourself." Carol grinned smugly, not oblivious to your stare.

"You look...really...amazing." You couldn't help but say. It was the truth.

"You look really amazing too." Carol said a lot more easily than you did. You giggled and stepped out of your appartment and locked it.

"Milady." Carol said in a terrible English accent as she offered her arm for you to hold.

"Milord." You went along and put your arm easily through hers before you started walking down the hallway, unable to contain your smile at the childish and loveable act.

*

When you arrived at the party you were bombarded with people wanting to talk to Carol. You had grown used to that, but it was still a downer when you wanted to stay by Carol, at least for a while.

Eventually, you were summoned away from your friend by the Avengers who were eager to catch up with you after so long.

"How've you been?" Nat asked with a welcoming hug as she outstretched her arms I'm an open hug.

"I've been pretty great." You replied honestly as you hugged her tightly. There was no one you were closer to than Carol, but Nat was someone you considered a friend without a doubt.

"What about you?" You asked genuinely as you pulled away.

"Same old." Nat smiled in her familiar way she saved for those she knew rather than the strangers in the room she had to play nice with.

You talked to Nat for a while as though nothing had changed. You hadn't seen Wanda and you had no idea where she was and no one mentioned her. You were thankful there wasn't any tension around the group. They all talked to you in the same way they always had with the exception of them asking about Carol more. You kept missing their knowing smiles hidden behind their drinks.

After a while you and Tony had your own convosation and it seemed as though being around the others was the only kind of self control he had when it came to refraining talking about relationships. As soon as you two were left alone he didn't hesitate to start saying what he had been thinking.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, you and Wanda seemed great, but I always thought it would be you and Carol who would end up together." Tony said as though he was voicing a passing thought.

"Me and Carol?" You tried to ask smoothly. Admittedly you had been thinking a lot about what it would be like to date Carol. You couldn't seem to stop your mind wandering at night to imagining scenarios with her in which you were dating. It always made you smile so your cheeks hurt until you reminded yourself it wasn't real. Carol would never see you that way, would she?

"Well I didn't see it until Nat pointed it out. Then we actually all kind of assumed you were dating before you and Wanda became a thing." Tony continued in his casual manner before taking another sip of his drink.

"Really?" You looked over at Nat who was talking to Carol. Nat seemed as though she was trying to convince Carol to do something because the blonde had the conflicked look upon her face that always appeared when she had been thinking long and hard about something.

"You certainly acted like it." Tony snickered as he followed your line of sight. As if on cue, Carol and Nat glanced your way and a heat began to grow along your neck at the feeling of embarrassment at being caught staring.

Nat had a small smirk playing along her lips while Carol mirrored your expression guiltily.

You missed Tony and Nat exchanging knowing smiles. You missed the way Carol's cheeks became tinted pink too.

"Excuse me." Tony said as he put a hand gently below your shoulder before walking off in the direction Nat had also departed too.

You smiled at Carol and wandered towards her place on the balcony, glad that she turned around entirely to face you. Unfortunately the blush on her cheeks had faded by the time you would have been close enough to spot it.

"Enjoying the party?" Carol asked as you stepped out onto the balcony and leant against the railing.

"I am." You said certainly. The blonde turned to copy your position so you could both gaze out at the buildings below you. The view you had gotten with Carol was undefeated, but the Avengers tower provided something special too.

"I told you they missed you." Carol grinned as she nudged your side with her elbow.

"Yeah." You blushed and peered down at the railing.

"I don't know about you but my shoes are killing me and I think I've talked to enough of these guests to bore me to death twice over." Carol sighed with a childish smile. You grinned back and nodded.

"You want to stay at mine tonight?" You asked hopefully.

"I'd love to." Carol's smile grew as you held her arm out for you to link your arm through again.

"Milady." The hero said with the same terrible English accent.

"Milord." You mocked as you put your arm through hers easily.

Maybe Tony was onto something.

*

That night when Carol took the same place she always did in her home that was as much hers as it was yours, you couldn't focus on the movie playing on the screen. You couldn't focus on anything except the blonde beside you.

You had your head resting on her shoulder and everytime you moved to get your drink and turned back to her your eyes instantly strayed to her lips, images of kissing her filling your head.

You remembered the night she moped with you after your breakup and how she had been the best friend you could ask for. Except you didn't want Carol to be just your friend. You wanted her to be more.

Your mind had been racing since since party, considering what Tony had said to you and how true it was. You and Carol really had always acted like a couple. You had never thought anything of it, even when Carol did it considerably less when you were dating someone.

Because you had been in more than just one relationship in the time you been friends with Carol. None of them ever felt right. You always thought there was something missing. Something that the next person would fix. No one ever could though. Because what you had been looking had been right infront of you the whole time.

All those feelings that had come bubbling to the surface the couple of weeks prior, they had been there all along. Christ, you were such an idiot.

"Carol..." You whispered, more afraid of what you were about to say than anything before. You wanted to back out. You didn't want to mess up what you had with Carol, but you had never been so sure of something than you were for your feelings for Carol in your entire life.

"Yeah?" She said softly.

"I think..." You held your breath and you could have sworn Carol did too. "I think I'm inlove with you." The blonde froze for a solid minute. Neither of you spoke. Tears threatened to come to the surface as you realized what you had done.

Eventually, Carol put her bowl of popcorn down and slowly turned towards you. You didn't dare meet her eye, instead playing with the edge of the blanket over you both and hoping it would trigger a sink hole beneath you.

"You do?" She whispered. You nodded and bit your lip in an attempt to hold back your tears. Carol lifted your chin gradually so you were looking at her. She had an unreadable expression.

"I love you too." You half laughed half sighed in relief as a smile spread across your face and the tears finally sprung free.

"Yeah?" You choked out. Carol instantly cupped your face and wiped your tears off of your cheeks as she smiled back at you.

"Yeah!" She giggled. "I've wanted to say that for so long." She admitted in a rush.

"Why didn't you? It could have saved us so much time!" You exclaimed and gently punched her arm.

"I was scared, even with Nat trying to convince me to say something." Carol explained, it was her turn to look away in embarrassment but you quickly pulled her back the way she did.

"That's really sweet, I'm here now." You assured genuinely.

Carol smiled back at you as her eyes glanced down at you lips. You grinned at the obviousness of what she was thinking and bravely closed the gap between you. After that prompt Carol eagerly met you half way and smiled into your long overdue kiss. Her lips were so so soft and moved against like a perfected dance. When you pulled away for air you rested your forehead against hers and breathed heavily with a heart filled smile.

"We have to do that more often." Carol said as her hands landed on your waist.

"We absolutely do." You agreed before pulling her into another kiss, engraving the memory of that night into your mind forever.

[infinityactual]

So, it's been months, but this post has been stuck in my head since September and I'm a petty bitch, so.

Apparently I deleted the screencap I had wherein the fuckhead who capped my tags replied to my fuck you by attempting to accuse me of 'doubling down on refusing to improve' or somesuch bullshit.

Which is not at all what my point was.

My point - and I will die on this hill ten times over - is that when it comes to fanart or personal creativity, let people do whatever. Unless they ask for critique, just leave them alone and let them have fun. Keep your opinions to yourself. And that isn't asking anything unreasonable; it's basic creative courtesy.

HUGE post under the cut.

Before the above assclownery, I had seen a lot of posts from people complaining about artists drawing older men 'wrong'. And I think every single complaint revolved around "You're just drawing a 20 yo and giving him silver hair!! That's not an old man!" and honestly, I didn't think anything of it the first few times I saw this.

But as I saw it more, it started to bother me because it was always in reference to fanart, specifically.

Fanart. Something that fans of a given media draw out of love and appreciation for the characters in said media. Something fun, something not (usually) done for profit. So upon seeing yet another 'stop drawing twentysomethings with silver hair 2021' tag, I reblogged it with my own tags (capped in the linked post) and went about my day.

The thing that just made me instantly angry was the proclamation of "I'm an artist. Calm down and go look at some reference."

Obviously this person didn't bother to check things out before putting both feet in their mouth. I may not have a damn degree from some hoity-toity art school (no shade on people that do, some of the coolest ppl I've met have art degrees) but I'm sure as hell an artist. Creativity does not require a degree.

And guess what. I draw old characters.

The secondary point I'd been hoping to get across in the tags is that aging a face is fucking hard. It takes effort and practice and often doesn't look good with hard lines. A lot of age is shown in shadows and lines too fine to be rendered with any but a .005 pen; and even then, it still tends look off unless you're drawing on a fairly large scale.

And my tertiary point was that people age differently depending on a huge kaleidoscope of factors! How often do they go outside? Do they have any inherited or otherwise chronic health problems, mental or physical? Male, female, intersex or transgender (and how much have they transitioned, if at all?), do they use drugs or alcohol? How often? I could spend hours listing factors that contribute to a person's appearance, and age isn't the biggest factor by far.

Hell, take Lord Hood and Lasky for example:

Most people I ask, including people well outside the Halo fandom, put Hood's age between 70 and 80.

He's 64.

A lot of people put Lasky at around his late 30s, maybe early 40s on the absolute outside.

He's 48 or 49 by the time Halo 5 rolls around, maybe 50 during Infinite.

Hood looks much older than he is bc of all those wrinkles, like someone let him sit in the dryer too long. Meanwhile Lasky looks a lot younger than his actual age. And these are just two examples from a single game series.

So when I draw Lasky, I draw him as is:

The only obvious wrinkles he has are on his forehead, right above his eyebrows. That's also one of his few unique identifying features, and anyone reading this who knows anything about cartooning, caricatures or comics will likely know that you focus on the few unique features that make a person recognizable but still easy to draw.

But unless you're drawing professionally as a career or doing commission work, your primary goal should not be constant improvement; that's a real good way to hit burnout and lose your passion for something. Even professionals take breaks and doodle stupid 'bad' art on their own time for funsies. I can cite countless examples I've seen personally, from the legendary DnD artist Todd Lockwood to commission artists on this beloved hellsite just trying to make the rent.

Fanart and personal work isn't always about improvement or practice. And it shouldn't be!! People need to have the ability to just crank out stupid lil doodles of their beloved older men without fussing over making sure they get every wrinkle right to be certain they convey his exact age 'correctly', or whether they have the skills to do so. If I had a dime for every thing I didn't draw because I don't have the skill, I'd put Jeff Bezoar to fucking shame with my wealth. Creators - amateur and professional alike - should be able to do this without having to see people, especially other fucking creators, bad mouthing them in posts or tags or comments.

Constant improvement should never be a primary goal with any skill. Bad art is still art, every single person who has ever put pen to paper started out drawing 'cringey' art. Fanart and personal work not done as part of a career or for commission should not be subject to the same standards. And lastly

Even 'bad' art, stupid little doodles and fanart still contribute to the learning process.

Otherwise I would not be where I am. All of my skill was developed by drawing personal stuff or making fanart. My skill making vinyl stickers by hand that makes people say I'm talented all started years ago with one sticker that took me five attempts to make because I didn't know jack shit about working with vinyl at the time. I kept making personal stickers for my car sporadically for years, and over time I got better simply because I was doing. I wasn't making stickers with the goal of improving my skill with an Xacto knife. I was making stickers because I couldn't find any designs I wanted and goddammit I wanted unique stickers for my shitty lil Cobalt.

And I'm able to take Giuseppe from this:

to this:

Not because I was trying to improve my skill at rendering faces, but because he's my Short King and I love him, and I love drawing him, and I also love the idea that he gets to live to be an old grandpa.

And no, I did not use reference for this, I just fucking drew it because I wanted to, and pulled from my past experience drawing old men from back when I actually DID sit my ass down and trawl references and guides on how to add age to a face, because I wanted to learn how to draw my 70+ year old Mechwarrior better.

[atlafan]

Office Neighbors - Part Five

a/n: another long one! this won’t be the last part, there will definitely be a part six. There’s some puberty talk towards the end with Andy...

warnings: slight angst, fluff, smut (use of toys)

words: 20K

masterpost

The first faculty meeting of the semester. You officially had been at the university for a year, and it felt incredible. You think back to the morning you got ready last year, waking up in your cozy blanket burrito. This time around you woke up with your new favorite kind of burrito: Harry. You didn’t think you’d like having one of his arms under your neck with the other one wrapped around you, or having his heavy leg over your hip, but it was wonderful. Harry had sent Andy over to Paige’s for his Wednesday with her so Harry spent the night at your place.

Andy had apologized to his mother, who was more than forgiving. He didn’t fully explain himself, but Harry told her just to go with it, and she listened. Andy made her a congratulations card, and it’s been up on the fridge ever since.

You had dinner with them a couple of times, and you were amazed at how talkative Andy was with you. He asked you a ton of questions about anything and everything, and you answered things to the best of your ability. You hadn’t spent the night at Harry’s though. You had never spent the night there. You might have, but since Andy came back early both you and Harry agreed sleepovers would be better at your place for now. Once Andy gets back into the regular rhythm of going to Paige’s every other weekend, then you said you’d consider spending the night at Harry’s.

Your alarm goes off, and you turn it off. Harry peppers kisses to the back of your neck and it makes you giggle.

“Why are we getting up so early? Meeting’s not until two.” He yawns and then kisses your cheek, pulling you closer.

“Shower, breakfast, then office decorating.”

“What’s for breakfast?”

“Pesto toast and fried eggs.” Harry groans happily into you and you giggle.

“That sounds so fucking good.”

“And I bought the bread you really like to make it with too.”

He shifts, and forces you onto your back. He kisses on your neck, down your chest, your stomach, and then dangerously lower.

“Harry, wait!” You yank his head up by his hair and he pouts at you. “Can we shower first? That’s a little…gross first thing in the morning, isn’t it?”

“I don’t particularly think so, but we can shower first if you’re more comfortable with that.”

“I would.” You blush slightly.

“Okay.” He kisses your cheek and gets off of you.

If there was one thing you could look at forever, it would be Harry’s bare ass. It was just so…plump! Who knew doing yoga could help with the booty?

“Are you coming, or are you gonna keep staring?” He smirks.

“Oh, shut up.” You say, frazzled, and get out of bed to join him in your bathroom.

You turn the water on and you both brush your teeth before you get in. You sigh as the warm water hits your skin. You and Harry still fumbled around while taking showers together, not really having learned the full morning routine of one another yet, but it was okay. It caused for some laughs.

“Har?” You say as you lather up your body.

“Yeah?”

“What, um, what are we telling people at work?”

“About what?” He says as he steps aside to let you stand in the water.

“About us.”

“Oh! Well…what do you wanna tell people? We should probably let Lisa know…I’m sure everyone will figure it out the second we walk in together.” He watches as the soap falls down your body.

“So, like, are we just saying we’re together, we’re seeing each other?”

“That’s what we’re doing, so yeah, makes sense to say that.” He shrugs and wraps his arms around your waist. “Can I have now?” He pouts.

You giggle at him and nod. His lips press to yours as your arms wrap around his neck. You don’t stay like that for long though because Harry is kissing down your body until he reaches his knees. He gets one of your legs over his shoulder and you nearly lose your balance.

“Couldn’t we do this on dry land?!” You squeal as you clutch at the walls.

“You’re making things very difficult for me this morning.” He says as he looks up at you. “Would you relax?”

You couldn’t relax. Your period was just around the corner and you were worried about it springing up on you while he was down there.

“Sorry.” You mutter and take a deep breath. “Go ahead.”

Your back arches when you feel his tongue on you. you bite your bottom lip as you feel him lap away at you, and suck on your clit. He sucks harshly, and it has you tugging hard at his hair. He stands up and your mouth falls open to protest, but you’re shut up when you feel two fingers slip inside you.

“Sorry, my knees were starting to hurt.” He grunts as he kisses on your neck.

“S’okay.” You gasp when he curls his fingers up. You reach between the two of you to rub and tug at his hard dick.

His lips find your again, and he sucks your bottom between his teeth. You moan out for him and squeeze around his fingers. His thumb rubs at your puffy clit and you pump him faster.

“Fuck.” He groans. “M’not gonna last much longer.” His other hand come up to knead one of your breasts, and he pumps his fingers in and out of you faster.

“H-Harry!” You cry out as you release around him. You’re in such a daze you barely register his come splashing on your stomach and hand. He kisses your temple and grabs the shower head to clean you off. “Thanks.” You breathe.

He smiles at you as he wipes his mess away and puts the shower head back. You turn the water off, and get a towel wrapped around yourself. Harry follows you out to the bedroom, and goes through his overnight bag to find his boxers. He slips them on as you look through your own dresser.

“Do you know how hot it’s going to be today?” You ask him.

“Let me check my phone.” He says and looks through his weather app. “Um, mid-eighties, babe.”

“Humid?”

“A wee bit.”

“Alright.” You sigh.

You brush out your hair and run your blow dryer through it before putting it up in a messy bun. Harry was just getting his jeans and t-shirt on when you come out. It was a loose pair of jeans with rips at the knees.

“I think you wore those when we first met.” You chuckle.

“I wear them every year, sort of like a good luck for the semester. It’s weird, but it helps me.”

“Not weird at all, we all have our own traditions.” You shrug. “God, I have no idea what I wanna wear.” You groan. “I hate being all sweaty, you know?”

“Why not one of your pretty sundresses?”

“No, I’ll just be uncomfortable in a dress. I wish I could just wear workout clothes, but I think that would be a bit too dressed down.”

You settle on a pair of shorts and a top to tuck into them. You both go into the kitchen, and Harry sits down at your island while you start getting breakfast ready. He was better at cooking dinner, and you were better at breakfast, so you both just took turns making meals for the other. Once it’s all done, his mouth is watering. He takes a big bite and moans.

“Mm, best pesto toast I’ve ever had.”

“Thanks.” You reach forward to snag the bit of yolk that that’s dribbling down his chin. “It’s a bit messy, sorry.” He grabs your thumb before you can wipe it on your napkin, and sucks it into his mouth, letting it go with a pop.

“No worries, I’ve told you, I like it messy.” He winks at you.

“You’re too much.” Your face had to be red. A guy had never made you feel so flustered before.

“So, what exactly does office decorating entail? Aren’t you keeping the same furniture?”

“Oh, sure, but I wanna dust and wipe things down. I have some new things I wanna hang up. Might be night to air it out too. Don’t you wanna get your office in order?”

“I guess that would be the smart thing to do. I’m just feeling lazy today.”

“It’ll be the perfect thing to perk you up before our meeting. Are we getting new faculty?”

“Not this year, just the usual random TL’s that teach the online classes. Why? Hoping to meet someone new?”

“Stop.” You nudge him. “Couldn’t replace you even if I wanted to. I’m really excited to see everyone. I’ve missed Janette.”

“That’s why I’m glad we all usually go to the pub after the meeting so we can all really catch up.”

“And the game nights will start back up.”

“They’ll probably separate us now that we’re together. Not fair to have a couple who wins all the time on the same team.”

“Please, they should keep us together, I’d hate to see what you look like when you lose.”

“Aw.” He says as he gets up to clean the plates. “That’s so cute you think I’d lose a game to you.” He turns to you. “Lose to anyone, really.”

“I can’t wait to see how you are at Andy’s basketball games this season, you must be a backseat coach.”

“I’m actually not too bad, thank you very much. I would never try to embarrass my kid.” He puts his hands on your hips as you stand up. “Are you saying you wanna come to a few games this winter?”

“That’s what I’m saying.” You smile. “I think it would be good for him to know I’m there supporting him, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” He kisses you. “That means a lot to me that you care.”

“Of course I care.” You kiss again before he lets you go. “Come on, let’s go.”

//

Harry doesn’t do as deep of a clean to his office as you do to yours. You had barely been there this summer, opting to go to the library like he had suggested because of the A/C. You open up your window and you hear him curse from his office.

“What is it?”

“My cactus died…” He sighs and shows you the pot. “I don’t know how, I came in to water all of these. Fuck, now I’m gonna have to go get a new one.”

“So…you love plants, but you hate shopping for them?”

“No, I just prefer to go to Lowe’s and the drive is annoying.”

“It’s…twenty minutes south on the highway.”

“Yeah, twenty fucking minutes to get some decent plants, and then it’ll take me god knows how long to find ones I like, then I need to find pots for Andy to paint. He likes painting for me so it adds more decoration.”

“Just when I thought he couldn’t get cuter.” You pout. “Maybe we could have a painting party. We could all decorate some pots, I could do some for my own office.”

“You’d be into something like that?”

“Yeah! I like getting crafty, obviously.”

“I bet he’d paint you something nice for your office. He’ll love it. I have to take him back to school shopping this weekend anyways, so I can go to Lowe’s then.”

“Sounds good to me.” You smile, and just as you lean in to kiss him…

“Oh my god!” Janette squeals, and you both turn towards her. “Look at this! You’re a full on couple, how cute.” She pouts and pinches Harry’s cheek before giving him and you a hug. “I’ve missed you both so much.”  

“Same here.” You say. “How were your travels with Sadie?”

‘Incredible! She gets to go to the coolest places. I always feel well rounded after traveling with her. H, I watched you lecture too since it was recorded, amazing job.”

“Oh, thanks.” He blushes.

“So, this is a thing now?” She grins. “Should have placed bets within the department. I saw this from a mile away, although, I thought it would have happened sooner.” She shrugs. “Oh well.”

“Do we have to make some type of formal announcement?” You ask.

“Please.” She scoffs. “The second you two walk into that meeting everyone will know. It’s written all of your faces.”

“Okay, okay.” Harry says. “Shall we head up then?” He shuffles the both of them out of his office.

You and Janette walk ahead of him, giggling about something. Harry was happy you made such good friends with her, he knew you were lonely when you first moved here. Janette was also someone you could hang out with while he was with Andy.

Lisa was already in the conference room with Mateo when you three walk in. Andre and Sandra come in next. You all find seats and wait for Lisa to get started. She smiles at everyone and squints at you and Harry.

“Well, well, well, how long has this been going on for?”

“Ha! I told you!” Janette laughs, and so does everyone else.

“Did everyone know we liked each other before we did? Is that it?” You also laugh.

“Are you kidding?!” Andre says. “Harry is the least subtle person when he has a crush! I swear I started keeping a tally of every time he popped into your office while I was in mine. Was pretty cute actually.”

“Alright, thank you everyone.” Harry says, chuckling. “It’s still new, it’s only been a month and a half or so.”

“Well, congrats to you both.” Lisa says warmly. “What a great way to start our meeting off. Now, let’s get to the fun stuff like budgets and course design.” She jokes.

After the meeting, just like last year, everyone walks down to the pub for dinner and drinks. Harry sits next to you, and even puts his arm around your shoulders, it’s loose, but it’s there. You get your chicken-less nachos, and a couple of drinks. It’s a lot of fun to reconnect with your colleagues. It’s also a reminder that you really need to get some work done on your doctoral thesis this semester. You had been doing so much research and reading that you felt like you could start writing your actual paper. Well, you felt like you could really start putting a solid outline together.

You and Harry walk back to your car, since you drove together in it this morning.

“That was fun, it was so good to see everyone. School really starts next week, I can’t believe it!” You say.

“I know, it’s wild.”

“I volunteered to help out with the movie on the green during welcome week. Seemed like the easiest thing to get involved in.”

“I signed up for that too. They’re showing Wonder Woman and I wanted to bring Andy since we didn’t get a chance to see it in theaters when it came out. Maybe we could all go together…”

“I’d like that.” You smile. “Am I just dropping you off at yours?”

“Yeah, Paige’ll be bringing him home in an hour or so.”

“Alrighty.” You turn left so you can get on the route to Harry’s house. You pull into his driveway. “So, painting this weekend?”

“Most likely, yeah. I’ll text you.”

“Sounds good.” You both lean over the console to kiss goodbye. You smile into it, just loving his lips on yours.

“What are you so happy about, hm?” He says, also with a big smile on his face.

“Just like you a lot.”

“Like you a lot too.” He gives you one more peck on the lips before getting out and waving goodbye.

That was something the two of had gotten into the habit of saying: I like you a lot. It was less serious than saying I love you, but it also gave that reassurance that the both of you were still happy in the budding relationship.

//

“Dad! I’m home!” Andy says as he comes into the house, bringing his things to his room. Harry was just getting some comfy clothes on.

“Hey, how was Mum’s?” He asks as he leans against the door frame.

“Good.” He shrugs. “She said I was too old to be the ring bearer.” He scoffs.

“You are.” Harry chuckles. “Did she say you could do something else?”

“Well, Noah said I could be in his wedding party, but I told Mum I’d rather be in hers, and they said that was fine. Rachel got all excited because she’s going to walk Noah up to the alter. I don’t really know why this being talked about now. They’re not getting married for another year.”

“Weddings take a lot of planning.”

“But why? It’s all a big hullaballoo for no reason.”

“Hullaballoo?” Harry laughs.

“Yeah! Like, they’re just having a small thing in the backyard, what’s the big deal?”

“You know how Mum’s family is, they like things a certain way. I think it’ll be nice, and you’ll look great in her wedding party, get you fitted for a nice suit.”

“Are you gonna be there.” He says, sitting on his bed.

“I don’t know if I’m in invited yet.”

“Why wouldn’t you be?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “Kind of weird to invite your ex to your wedding, but if Mum wants me there I’ll go.”

“You could bring Y/N.” Andy grins.

“Speaking of her, you and I are gonna go back to school shopping this weekend, and while we’re out we’re gonna pick up some paint and pots, thought she could join us for that.”

“Yeah! That sounds like fun, Dad.”

“Good.” Harry smiles. “Did you want to invite Brandon over too? He had fun with us last year.”

“Sure, I can text him…on my dinosaur phone.” He mumbles.

“Andy.” Harry sighs. “Two more years, I just need you to wait two more years, and then you can have a smart phone, okay? You’re lucky you have a phone at all.”

“Fine.” He rolls his eyes. “Does everyone at school know you’re dating now?”

“Pretty much.”

“When are you going to ask her to be your girlfriend?”

“I don’t know.” He runs a hand through his hair.

“Why not?”

“I just don’t, it’s complicated. Things are good right now, I don’t wanna rock the boat.”

“But…in like every movie we watch it’s always so clear that the girl just wants things to be official, so why not just do that? I bet it would make her happy.”

“This isn’t a movie. Dating someone for a month and a half, I feel, is too soon to really put a label on. It’s a very serious thing to call someone your girlfriend or boyfriend.”

“Ugh.” Andy flops back onto his bed.

“What?” Harry steps into his room more.

“Molly is Brandon’s girlfriend, does that mean things are super serious?”

“Andy…at your age…it really doesn’t mean much, I promise. I thought they just kissed, now they’re boyfriend and girlfriend?” He sits down on his desk chair and Andy rolls onto his side to look at Harry.

“Yeah, he told me the other day.” He sighs. “I don’t really get the appeal, Molly’s nice and pretty, but…” He chews his inner cheek. “I…I think I still think kissing is gross, is that weird?”

“It’s not weird at all. You all are going through different phases right now. You might think kissing isn’t weird this time next year, or even a couple of months from now. You’re only going into sixth grade, it’s okay to not be into girls or…whatever yet.”

“What’s so great about kissing, anyways?”

“Do you want the super high level answer?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, scientifically speaking, when you kiss someone on the lips, especially someone you really like, there’s a chemical reaction in your brain that releases the hormone oxytocin. Sometimes it’s called the love hormone.” Andy blinks at him. “Basically, it just makes you feel really good, and it makes you feel all lovey and attached to the person that makes you feel that way.”

“Do you feel that way with Y/N?”

“Um…well…yeah, I like kissing her.”

“I guess I just won’t understand until it happens to me.”

“Promise me something?” Andy nods at him. “Don’t just kiss someone to get it over with to see what it feels like because then it won’t mean anything. Your first kiss is something you’ll never get back, you know? So…don’t give it away to just anyone, alright?”

“Alright.”

Harry smiles and comes over to give Andy a kiss on the forehead.

“Go wash up and get into bed, it’s getting late.”

//

Harry absolutely detested back to school shopping. Every year he and Paige would take Andy to Staples and let him run wild. Buying new binders and notebooks really got him excited. The thing Harry couldn’t stand was the inevitable argument that Andy would have with Paige, and it was happening now.

“Mum, I’ll look like an idiot! I need a separate notebook for each class.”

“But this is like five notebooks in one! What’s the big deal?!”

“We all decorate each cover differently! No one gets these anymore, ugh, you just don’t get it!” Andy huffs.

“Just let him get the notebooks, Paige, it’s not worth it.”

“I guess I really don’t get it.” She sighs. “Go on, pick out what you want. We’re looking at planners next.”

Andy nods and goes down the aisle with the planners. He furrows his brows as he looks over his options.

“Jesus, these are so expensive.” Paige says.

“I know, it’s a rip-off.” Harry agrees. “You’re just writing your assignments down, it doesn’t need to be fancy, Andy.”

“I can’t decide.” His eyes widen when he sees a planner with blue flowers on it, and he reaches to grab it, but he stops himself and sighs.

“What’s wrong?” Paige asks.

“I’ll get made fun of I pick that one.”

“What? Why?” Harry asks.

“Because…flowers are girly.” Andy says quietly.

“No they’re not, I love flowers! We have like three different gardens in the back. You should get the one you want.” Harry says.

“And if anyone makes fun of you, just…well…fuck ‘em.” Paige whispers and it makes harry and Andy laugh.

Paige and Harry get Andy settled, and she leaves them so they can head to Lowe’s to pick everything out for the plants. Once they’re home, Harry gets everything set up in the garage. He lays some newspapers down so the paint won’t make a mess. Brandon’s mom drops him off, and he runs up the driveway, giving Andy a hug when he gets there.

“Thanks for the invite, my mom loved what I made her last year.”

“Yeah…of course.” Andy says, blushing slightly.

“Right, so, everything’s here that you need. Y/N should be here…oh! There’s her car now.” Harry smiles.

You get out of your car in a cute pair of overall shorts and a t-shirt. You grab some of your own pots out of your back seat and walk up.

“Hi boys.” You smile and kiss Harry’s cheek. “I had some extra potters, so I brought some of my own to decorate.”

“Sounds good, got all the paint we could need here.” Harry says, sitting down and gesturing for you to do the same.

“How was back to school shopping, Andy?”

“Good.” He shrugs.

“What kind of planner did you get?” Brandon asks. “Mine’s got these, like, cars on them, it looks so cool.”

“Oh…it’s got this…um…garden or whatever on it. I just grabbed a random one.” He mutters.

“I used to love getting all of that stuff, I still do.” You say. “Nothing like some new notebooks to get you excited for school.”

“I like the pens, my mom let pick out this pack that had all these different colors, highlighters too.” Brandon says.

It was fun painting the pots with everyone, seeing the different designs. Andy was really talented, you were surprised since he was so young. The detail he was able to get on such a small space was incredible. It was starting to get around dinner time.

“Dad, can Brandon stay for dinner?”

“Sure, but he has to call his parents first to ask.”

“Okay!” Brandon says, taking out his smart phone. He gets up to call his parents.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Harry asks you.

“I’d love to.” You smile.

“They said it’s okay, I just have to be home by eight.” Brandon smiles. “My said he’d come get me so you don’t have to drive Mr. Styles.”

“Alright, that sounds good. You boys work on cleaning this up, and I’ll get the grill started. Make sure you wash your hands before coming out to the deck.”

You help the boys make sure their paint doesn’t get smudged as they put the pots up on the shelves to dry. You wash your hands as well before going out to the deck.

“Where are they?”

“Oh, um, Andy asked if they could play video games until dinner…and I said it was okay…”

“Oh, alright.” He says with a shrug.

“Is that okay? I should have asked you first.”

“He’s been out all day, I say he’s earned some screen time. It’s perfectly fine.” Harry smiles. “I’m making those impossible burgers, they both really like them. Want cheese on yours?”

“Yes, please. Do need help with anything?”

“Nope.” He kisses your cheek. “Just sit, babe.”

Once the food is done, and on the table outside, Harry calls for the boys, and the come right out. The burger tastes amazing, not that you’re surprised. You started to really enjoy watching Harry interact with the boys. He could really carry on a conversation with them, and relate to them. The boys themselves were really interesting. Brandon was animated as he spoke, and Andy was a bit more reserved but he was hilarious. Andy loved having you over for dinner too. You came once in a while, and he liked seeing you interact with his dad. You made Harry happy in a way that he didn’t, and he sort of understood it.

“Can we play more video games until Brandon’s dad comes, please?”

“Sure, we’re gonna stay out here for a bit I think.”

“Thanks, Mr. Styles!” The boys both race inside to go back to their game.

“At least they ask first, right?” Harry chuckles.

“Exactly.” You smile and rub your arms.

“Are you getting cold? I can get you a sweatshirt.”

“That’d be great, thank you.”

Harry brings the plates inside and grabs you a sweatshirt of his to put on. This was the first time you’d be wearing something of his. It was a university pullover and it was huge on you, but it smelled like him so you didn’t care. It made you feel cozy.

“I hope you weren’t too attached this, it’s mine now.”

“That so?”

“Mhm.” You smile.

Harry lights the citronella candle and you both sit in the other chairs on the deck. You both hold hands and sit in a comfortable silence until Brandon’s dad comes to pick him up.

“Well, I guess I should get going.” You say.

“Yeah.” Harry’s hands were in his pockets. He looks back at Andy who was now watching TV. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

“Thanks.”

Harry keeps his hand on the small of your back as you both walk outside. Before you can open up your car door he presses you against it, crashing his mouth to yours. You tug at the collar of his shirt as his tongue enters your mouth. He bites your bottom lip before pressing his forehead to yours.

“It was such a nice day.” You breathe.

“I’m really glad you came over.”

“Me too.”

“See you Monday?”

“Mhm.” He swallows and steps back. “Andy will be with me…school doesn’t start until Wednesday.”

“Maybe we can all have lunch together or something.”

He kisses you again, not really wanting you to leave, but he knows you have to. Even if Andy wasn’t there you probably wouldn’t stay over since you had your period.

“I have to go.” You whisper.

“I know.” One last, good kiss and he lets go of you. “Have a good night.”

“You too.” You stroke his cheek, and then get into your car.

Harry sighs when he gets inside and flops onto the couch.

“What?” Andy giggles.

“Ugh, I just really like her.” He groans into the couch which makes Andy laugh harder.

//

The first few days of classes were going well. Your period ended which was helpful so you weren’t too snippy while meeting with some of your new advisees who needed help switching classes.

“I’d like something Tuesdays and Thursdays, preferably after one.”

“Yeah…I was sort of hoping to not have Friday classes…”

“That doesn’t sound interesting, isn’t there anything else to take?”

“I’d rather just keep pushing off my math class.”

It went on like that and you wanted to scream, but you couldn’t. You couldn’t wait for the add/drop period to be over.

“Y/N?” You look up and see a shy Andy in your doorway. “I know you’re busy, but…can I hang out in here? Dad’s teaching and I’m bored.”

“Sure! Hi, yeah, come on in. I don’t have any more appointments today, and my next class won’t start for another hour.” You smile and he comes in to sit on your couch. “School starts tomorrow, huh?”

“Yup, we have two half days and a full day Friday.”

“That’s good, gets you back into a routine.”

“Mhm.”

“Are you and Brandon in the same class, did you end up on the four teacher team?”

“Yeah!” He beams. “And his girlfriend Molly is on the two teacher team, which he was sad about, but I’m happy about it. Now I don’t have to watch them flirt.” He rolls his eyes.

“You don’t like Molly much, do you?”

“It’s not that I don’t…he just…ugh, we were on the phone last night and you know what he said?”

“What did he say?” Your full attention was on him now.

“He asked if I wanted to go on a double date with him, Molly, and her best friend Alexis at the playground after school Friday.”

“Oh! What did you tell him?”

“I said I couldn’t because I have to go to my mum’s, which isn’t a lie…”

“But if you didn’t need to go to your mum’s…”

“Still wouldn’t have wanted to. Alexis is nice, but I don’t wanna go on a date with her. I don’t wanna date anyone.” He looks away from you for a moment and then back. “How…how did you know you liked my dad?”

“Oh gosh…um…well…I always liked him, we were friends for a while.”

“Yeah, but when did like turn into like like?”

“Gotcha, well, it was a couple of things. I just starting noticing different things about him that I liked more than usual, and then on the camping trip…well…he just made me feel really safe, you know? He helped me sleep better, and I hadn’t even realized it. I started feeling butterflies around him, and…when we first kissed I just sort knew it was supposed to happen.”

“I can’t believe kissing has so much power. He said he likes kissing you. He told me kissing makes your brain explode with this stuff that makes you feel good.”

“Andy?” Harry asks. “What the hell are you talking about in here?”

“Dad, get out! We’re talking!” Andy gets up and slams the door in Harry’s face. You suck your lips into your mouth to keep from laughing. “He’s so nosey.” Andy huffs as he looks at you.

“Perhaps he has a right to be.” You get up. “Would you open the door please?”

Andy sighs and opens the door. Harry was glaring at him.

“Go to my office, now.” Andy does as he says, and Harry looks at you. “I’m so sorry, I know you’re busy, and-“

“It was no problem, we were having a really nice chat until you barged in. You should really learn to knock first, Dad.” You cross your arms and smirk.

“Very funny.”

“Hey, come here.” You whisper and Harry comes closer. “I think he’s really confused about things. He was telling me how Brandon wanted to go on a double date, which, like, wow, kids are growing up way too fast these days, but, anyways, he said he didn’t wanna date anyone. Then he asked me how I knew I liked you as more than a friend.”

“I think he may have a thing for Brandon.” Harry whispers very quietly. “But I don’t he really knows that, or understands what he’s feeling right now, so I’m trying not to push it on him.” You nod your head. “Thank you for telling me what he said, though, definitely helps piece things together.”

“Dad, Brandon just texted asking if I wanna play basketball at the park, can I go?”

“Sure! I just finished my last class, so let me get my things together and we can go.”

“Awesome! Thanks.” He smiles. “Bye, Y/N.”

“Bye, have a nice afternoon.”

“Will you come over for dinner tonight?”

“Andy.” Harry sighs.

“I’d love to, but only if Dad says it’s okay.”

“You…really wanna come over tonight? You won’t be too tired?”

“It’ll help me get out of here at a reasonable hour. As long as I’m not imposing…”

“You wouldn’t be. Come by around six, yeah?”

“Works for me.” You smile.

Harry grabs Andy by the back of his shirt to push him back to his office and it makes you giggle.

//

“I’m so glad they’re in the same class again, Brandon was freaking out about it.” Brandon’s dad says to Harry at the park.

“Glad to know the feeling is mutual.”

“I’ve never seen Brandon with such a good friend before, it’s great. My wife and I adore Andy.”

“That means a lot, thank you. I love having Brandon over, they play really nicely together, and he’s so polite.” He watches as the two of them have fun playing basketball. “So…Brandon has a girlfriend now, huh?”

“Girlfriend.” Ed scoffs. “We’ll see how long that lasts, she’s already getting on his nerves.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, I guess she’s mad because she wanted Andy and Brandon to hang out with her and her friend Alexis Friday, but Brandon said they couldn’t because Andy has to go to his mom’s, and it turned into this whole thing. He’s not talking to her at the moment.”

“Wow, does Andy know that?”

“No, I think B wanted to keep it to himself so Andy wouldn’t feel bad about them fighting.” He rolls his eyes. “I knew he’d start dating at some point, but I didn’t think it would be this early. I should have told him no dating until high school or something.” Ed steps closer to Harry. “You don’t think…I mean…if they did I wouldn’t care, but you don’t think….” He nods towards the two of them.

“I don’t know.” Harry sighs. “I wouldn’t care either. I think Andy’s confused if anything. He’s not quite ready to date or anything, it still grosses him out.”

“See, that seems normal for their age to me.”

“They’re all going through things at different speeds, think we just need to give it time.”

//

You show up to Harry’s around 6:15, you were in the middle of some good work and you just wanted to finish it up. You ring the bell and Andy answers.

“Hi, Y/N.” He beams.

“Hi, Andy, did you have fun playing basketball?”

“Yeah!” He tugs you inside. “We’re having taco salad tonight.”

“Sounds yummy.” You smile and walk into the kitchen with him.

“Hey.” Harry smiles and kisses you on the cheek. “Just getting everything onto the table, have a seat.”

“Thank you, sorry I’m late.”

“You barely are, it’s fine.” Harry and Andy sit down. “Andy, here’s your taco meat.” He passes him the small bowl. “I just made black beans for us, Y/N.”

You nod as Harry uses the salad tongs to put some on your plate. You all add your different fixings and dig in.

“So, how do the half days work? Will you have really short classes and go to all of them, or will you have your first few classes one day and the rest the next?” You ask Andy.

“We have homeroom, and then some big assembly, and then we have our first three classes. Thursday we have our last four classes, and then Friday is normal.”

“What’s your favorite subject?”

“Art.” He says, mouth full. “But I won’t have it until the second half of the school year, I have gym the first half.”

“All kids with last names A through M get art the first half, and then they switch. It helps mix up everyone on the different teacher teams.” Harry explains. “You and Brandon should still be together since his last name is Stewart.”

“Thank god, he and I are the only ones that actually know how to play volleyball.”

“What would that matter?” You ask.

“Every fall the gym classes have a volleyball tournament and the winning teams get to have this big event and the entire class comes, it’s so cool.”

“Oh! We did something similar to that at my middle school when I was kid.” You say.

“I like having gym in the fall, it gets me ready for the winter program.”

“What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s so cool, Y/N.” Harry says. “It’s completely funded by the school, every Friday pretty much once the mountains open up for skiing, they take the kids up for a day of skiing and snowboarding. All the parents have to do is provide snow pants and jackets, we don’t even have to worry about the other gear. Although, if you have your own you can bring it. Sometimes I volunteer to chaperone, it’s a hoot.”

“That is really cool, wow.”

“I had so much fun last year, I was way better on the slopes for our trip last February, right, Dad?”

“You definitely could see the improvement.” Harry smiles and takes a sip of his water.

“So, you ski, you like volleyball, and you play basketball. You’re a pretty active kid, Andy.”

“I love basketball, I don’t know what it is.”

“You sort of had to love it, it’s the only sport Mum and I felt comfortable with you playing.” Harry shakes his head. “He wanted play hockey and football, but we said no.”

“Why?” You ask.

“We were afraid of concussions. I know they can happen with basketball, but they’re less common.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t have him out there playing soccer.”

“I used to play when I was in elementary school, but I didn’t like it as much as basketball.” Andy shrugs.

“So, what makes art your favorite subject?”

“It’s the only time of day you can just do whatever you want. The teacher tells you about what it is they wanna see you make, and whatever tech, um….” He looks at Harry.

“Techniques.” Harry smiles.

“Yeah! Techniques, they show you those, and then they just let you do your thing. And whatever you make is right no matter what. I like painting the best, I think, but I also really liked when we did stuff with clay last year, I hope we do it again.”

“What’s your least favorite subject?” You ask.

“IMEC.” He groans.

“What the heck is that?”

“The Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre funds it.” Harry says. “It’s just for fifth and sixth graders. Andy had to make a birdhouse last year, they learn how architecture works, they learn about robotics.”

“I hated it, it was so boring until they let us build stuff. I also have a typing class this term which is gonna be boring. I already know how to type.” He rolls his eyes.

“Yes, but you still look down at the keyboard.” Harry says. “Gotta learn to not do that so you can type faster.”

“Right, because whatever job I end up applying for someday isn’t going to hire me because of how I type.” He scoffs. “I’m pretty good at math, although I don’t really like it, same for science, but this year we get to dissect squids!”

“Oh, that’s very exciting! I did the same thing in sixth grade, and our school at this science center that was run by this other teacher, and he had all these reptiles and chickens and other animals like that in there, so he came to the class and helped our science teacher with us, and then he made us fresh calamari. And I already liked calamari so I was one of the few kids that actually tried it.”

“That’s so cool!”

“Yeah, I wish the school here had a science center.” Harry says.

“The guy was so nice, and he used to go to all of the elementary schools in the area to bring frogs and snakes, so he knew us well by the time we were in middle school, and we all knew his pets well by then so there was nothing to be scared of. One day, this was also in six grade, we had class in the science center, and we were passing the different pets around, like the frogs and stuff, and I wasn’t afraid of the little garden snake or anything, but it wasn’t the snake we were used to, and the girls next to me got scared, so I was asked to bring the snake back up to the teacher, and the girl next to me accidentally thwacked the snake’s head, and the snake bit me! Right here.” You hold your forearm out and show the spot, not that there was a scar. The boys both gasp. “So, I went up, still holding the snake, and I was like it bit me. And the teacher said no it didn’t, but my arm started spurting out blood so I was like no it did, so it was this whole thing, right? He took the snake and put it away, and he got me something for my arm, and my actual science teacher had to walk me down to the nurse, but before I left he gave me a fresh snake skin to take home with me as a consolation or something.” You take a sip of your water. “It was really funny when I was down at the nurse because while one was wrapping my arm up, the other had to call home, and my mom was in Florida with my grandparents, so my dad answered and I remember the nurse says, ‘I want to preface that Y/N is fine, but she was bit by a snake in the science center’, and I heard my dad yell, so they gave the phone to me and I told him I really was fine and I didn’t need to come home.”

“That’s so wild, are you afraid of snakes now?” Harry asks.

“Not at all, actually. The bite didn’t really hurt, if anything I respect them.”

“Did your mom ever find out?” Andy was fully invested in this story.

“Yes.” You giggle. “I went with my dad to pick her up from the airport, Phil, my brother, was there too. My dad claims he asked me not to tell my mom just because it would add to her nerves, but the second she got in the car I guess I told her all about it, and my dad was not happy.” You laugh. “I’ll never forget that.”

“You always tell the best stories, Y/N.” Andy chuckles and finishes up his dinner.

You help clean up, even though Harry told you that you were a guest and didn’t need to. You fix Andy up with a bowl of ice cream before he plops down in front of the TV.

“Hey, bud, you still need to shower…” Harry says.

“Ugh, fine.” He shovels the rest of his ice cream in his mouth and puts the bowl in the sink.

You and Harry sit down on the couch together.

“Smooth.” You say.

“What?”

“Got me all alone now.”

“He genuinely needed to shower! Played basketball all afternoon, after all.” He puts his arm around you. “But I definitely mind being alone with you right now, even if it’s just a few minutes. We have a fifteen minute shower rule.”

“Smart.” You look up at him and smile.

“He’ll be at his mum’s this weekend.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Would you like to go out Friday night?”

“Um, well, Jan and I were hoping to go out for drinks, but you could come! Or I could come over after.”

“No, I don’t wanna ruin your girl’s night.”

“You wouldn’t! You’ve come so many times before, I’m sure she won’t mind. I can ask her tomorrow if she’s okay with it.”

“Alright, but only if she doesn’t mind.” He kisses your temple.

“I should get going before things get a little too kissy between us.” You sigh. “Might not be able to peel myself away.” You say, ghosting your lips over his and pulling away with a smirk.

“Tease.”

“Sorry, babe.” You pout at him and stand up. “Tell Andy I say goodnight.”

“I will.” He stands up and walks you to the door.

“Thanks for dinner, I had fun as usual.”

“Anytime.” He pecks your lips before you head out and he sighs.

“How come she always leaves?” Andy asks coming out with his hair brush and mouse, sitting on the floor so Harry can sit in the chair behind him to do his hair.

“What do you mean?” Harry asks, taking the brush and mouse from him, sitting down.

“How come she doesn’t just stay over?”

“Um…it’s a little complicated.” He says as he runs the mouse through Andy’s curls.

“Because of me?”

“Not necessarily…it’s a little soon for her to be staying here while you’re here, though. I’m sure she will eventually. Alright, all set.” Andy stands up and plops down on the couch.

“A little TV before bed?”

“I’d rather you go read, you know that. I want you to sleep well before your first day of school.”

“Fine…can we pick out an outfit then?”

“Yeah, let’s go raid your closet.”

//

The next couple of days goes by with you barely seeing Harry. He was in and out because Andy had half days and he needed to pick him up. It gave you a chance to go up to Janette’s office to see if she minded him joining on Friday night.

“Of course I don’t mind! I mean, I was hoping for you to spill some of the juicy details, but that can wait.” She shrugs.

“Jan, there’s nothing juicy to spill.” You chuckle.

“Have you boned?”

“Well…yeah…”

“So there’s plenty to spill.”

“It doesn’t happen that often. It’s been over a week, actually. He’s been busy with Andy.”

“Single dads, they’re hot until the kid gets in the way.”

“It’s alright, we have all weekend to hang out.”

“So why even bother having drinks with me? Just go to his place and get it on.”

“No! I wanna hang out with you, get back into our routine. I just didn’t wanna leave him out.”

“I like hanging out with the both of you, it was a lot of fun last year the few times he joined us. It’s really no problem.”

“Great, thanks for being so cool about it.”

“Oh, please.” She scoffs. “We’re not in high school, I don’t care if you bring your boyfriend with you.”

“He’s…I don’t think he’s my boyfriend yet.” You sit down in one of her chairs and she quickly closes her door.

“What do you mean?”

“We haven’t had a chat about it. We know we’re together, but we haven’t had a talk about what it all means. It’s only been a couple of months.”

“Just like a man, he wants you, but won’t fully commit.”

“To be fair…I’d probably take it slow too if I had a kid.”

“Don’t make excuses Y/N, you two do so many things together, Andy adores you, Harry needs to just tell you he wants you to be his girlfriend.”

“It doesn’t exactly bother me, like, I’m not itching for the label. I’ve liked just going with the flow. It’s not like we’re seeing other people.”

“But you could if you wanted to, and he should know that. He can’t just string you along, Y/N.”

“He’s not…he wants to be with me.”

“Then he should really want to be with you.”

Janette made some good points, that had you wracking your brain around things. It was pretty clear that neither of you were seeing anyone else, but you easily could if you really want to. You would never do that, of course. You never really liked the idea of juggling multiple people at the same time. It was easier to focus your attention on one person.

“Hey!” Harry smiles. “Feel like I haven’t seen you all day. I dropped Andy off at Brandon’s, so he’ll be there until I’m done for the day here.”

“Alright.” You give him a small smile.

“How’s syllabus week been treating you so far?”

“It’s been alright, I’ve been busy with my advisees getting them the correct classes.”

“Oh, right, you got a few of the sophomores this year. Still can’t quite get it together I’m afraid.” You hum your response and nod. “Well, I’m free for a bit if you-“

“Har, I’m kind of busy. I need to prep for my next class and then I need to hunker down on my thesis. I’ll just text you later or something.”

“Oh…um, alright.”

“Jan said you’re more than welcome to join on Friday night, by the way.”

“Okay, I’ll plan for that then.”

“Could you close my door on your way out?”

“Sure.” He does so and you sigh as he leaves.

You didn’t mean to be so cold, but now you were feeling sort of pissed. If he liked you as much as he said, what was the big deal about him calling you his girlfriend? You wanted to be able to refer to him as your boyfriend. He was more than a friend, you were dating, hell, everyone knows you’re dating, so what the fuck was the hold up?

//

Friday after work you go home to change. You had barely spoken to Harry, but to be fair, you were really busy. You had a check in with Lisa that put a lot of your work into perspective. She was such a huge help, and now you two have bi-weekly meetings set up to keep you on track, which you greatly appreciated.

You wanted to look so strikingly good that Harry would get whiplash when he saw you. So, you rummage through your closet and dresser to find something, anything! You end up going with a tight pair of dark blue skinny jeans. You pair it with a black, lace bodysuit and black booties. You certainly weren’t fucking around. After fluffing up your hair, and redoing your makeup, you grab your leather jacket, and head down to your uber.

“Damn, chica, you look good.” Janette says, giving you a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks, I feel good.” You smile and sit. “I’m exhausted, it was a long week.”

“I know, everyone thinks syllabus week is easy, but it’s not. Sometimes I’ve had to redo my entire class structure depending on the caliber in class.”

“It was the advisees for me. I could never not have my schedule together like some of these kids. I’d have too much anxiety.”

“Many of them just haven’t had the lightbulb go off yet, unfortunately, but they well. You could always ask Harry for some pointers, he’s exceptional with his advisees.”

“Of course he is.” You scoff. “He’s exceptional at everything.”

You both get through one drink before Harry shows up. He kisses your cheek and Janette’s, and then sits down next to you.

“Sorry, Andy really wanted Paige to stay for dinner because he didn’t want to have to go through how his first few days of school were twice.”

“No worries, H, glad you’re here now.” Janette says. The waiter comes over to take Harry’s drink order, and then he puts his arm around you.

“You look nice.” He smiles.

“Thanks.” You smile back.

“Feel like I haven’t seen anyone all week, it’s been madness.” Harry says just as his drink comes to the table, and he thanks the waiter. “At least our hiking retreat is coming up soon.”

“I can’t wait! Broke in a new pair of boots over the summer.” Janette says. “And you’re a pro now, right, Y/N?”

“You bet.” You sip your drink, and Harry notices the red lipstick mark left behind. You rarely wore lipstick, and if you did it was more of a nude color. Harry had a weakness for red lipstick, for whatever reason, and with you wearing it, well, he felt especially weak. You look up at him innocently. “What?”

“Nothing.” He swallows and takes a sip of his own drink.

“So, how was Andy’s first couple of days of school?” Janette asks.

“They were good.” Harry shrugs. “Normal first week stuff, learning everyone’s names, getting the schedules together, overview of what they’ll be learning, and I got the usual pink and yellow cards for emergency contact info. Guess it was good Paige was over so we could just fill them out in one sitting.”

During the night, Harry’s hand drifts down to your thigh, and it stays there, squeezing it once in a while. You knew he probably just wanted to take you home, but you were enjoying Janette’s company too much to wanna leave yet. You all were laughing and having a great time, that was until the waiter had slipped you his number under the napkin of your last drink order and winked at you.

“Wow, he’s got some balls on him.” You say as you look at the number.

“I’ll say, I’m sitting right here.” Harry says.

“Well…the three of us have come here plenty of times, he obviously didn’t think anything of you sitting together.” Janette points out.

“I should go set him straight, I’d feel terrible if he was expecting me to call.” You say and look over at him, he was standing behind the bar now. You start to get up, but Harry squeezes your thigh especially hard.

“You can’t be serious, just let it go.” He says.

“Harry, relax.” You slide out of the booth and go up to the bar.

“You don’t own her, you know?” Janette says, sipping her drink.

“I’m well aware, thanks.” He rolls his eyes.

“Perhaps if you were her boyfriend she’d feel less inclined to go let that boy down.”

“We haven’t been dating that long, Jan.”

“So? When you know you know, and I think you know you wanna be serious with her. Don’t let her slip away because you’re scared. I’ve seen it happen one too many times. Usually whatever woman you’re seeing gets fed up with being put second to Andy, but she hasn’t. She completely gets it, so stop being such a baby, and just…define the relationship.”

He huffs at that and they both look over at you and the waiter.

“Hi.” You say shyly. “Did you mean to slip me this?” You show him the napkin with his number on it.

“I did.” He smirks. “You come here a lot, you’re cute, figured I’d shoot my shot.”

“That’s very nice of you, but...” You slide the napkin back to him. “See that guy I’m sitting next to you?” You use your thumb to point behind you. “I’m dating him, and I really like him, so…I’m sorry. I just wanted you to know why I wouldn’t be calling.”

“Oh…well…alright then. Thought you two were just friends, my bad.”

“We were friends, but now we’re more.” You smile. “Hope you have a good night.”

“You too.” He smiles back and you turn around to come back to your booth.

“What?” You ask as they both look at you.

“What did you say to him?” Harry asks.

“Nothing, just…that basically I’m not single, so, no big deal.” You sip your drink and look at him. “That’s the truth isn’t it? I’m not single?”

“Definitely not.” He puts his arm around your shoulders and kisses your temple.

Once you’re all done with your drinks, you each say goodnight, and head to your ubers.

“Did you want to come back to mine?” He asks.

“I don’t have my stuff, come to mine?”

“You know, I have makeup remover wipes and face wash you can use.”

“Harry, I don’t really wanna have to put all of this back on in the morning when I go home.”

“I could give you something to wear, please? You’ve never slept at my place, I really want you to.”

“Spare toothbrush?”

“Yup.”

“Alright.” You sigh. “We can go to yours.”

He perks up, and orders the car to go to his place. You both sit in the back and he holds you close. When you get inside his house he gets you a glass of water. You felt like you were going to boil over, and the alcohol in your system makes you blurt your thoughts out.

“Harry, I know it seems childish, but are you my boyfriend, or what?” You say in one breath and he nearly chokes on his water. “We both really like each other and we’re having fun, and I’d…I’d like to be able to refer to you as such and not just the person I’m seeing.”

“Oh, babe, it’s not childish.” He cups one of your cheeks and rubs his thumb over your cheekbone. You lean into his touch.

“I just wanna know you’re all mine, Harry.”

“I am, I so am.” He wraps his arms around you and pulls you to his chest. “And you’re all mine?”

“Yes.” You say, muffled by his chest. “All yours.” You look up at him and he looks down at you. “Just say it, please?”

“I’m your boyfriend, Y/N.”

You smile at him and pucker your lips so he’ll kiss you. His hands move to cup your jaw, and he sucks on your bottom lip, causing your eyes to flutter closed. He backs you up to one of the kitchen counters, and hoists you up for you to sit on it. Your fingers tug at his hair, but he pulls them away to get your jacket off.

“Look at this.” He says, playing with one of the straps on the bodysuit. “You wore this sexy thing, and you put on such a nice lipstick.”

“Probably all messed up now.” You say giggling at his now red lips.

“Don’t care.” He kisses you again as his hands travel to your breasts. He kisses down your chest, and swirls his tongue around the lace material covering your nipple.

“You tease too much.”

“It’s what you get being such a tease all night to me, making me wait. Wanted to kill you when you got another drink.”

“Aw, I made you wait? That must really suck.” You say sarcastically.

“I didn’t make you wait that long.” You roll your eyes at that. “Are you telling me you would have fucked me on our first date?”

“Maybe not the first, but the night you came to my place to watch that movie I certainly would have been up for it.” You bite your bottom lip. “Sort of missed you since we last got frisky in my shower.”

“I know.” He sighs and presses his forehead to yours. “I’m sorry we can’t just run off whenever.”

“It’s okay, I understand.” You peck at his lips. “But…we’re alone now, so…”

“Right.” He gets his hands under your ass and you wrap your legs around his waist and kiss on his neck as he brings you to his room.

You pull him down with you, but he stops.

“Shoes, babe.” He chuckles, kicking his boots and socks off.

“Oh, right.” You laugh and do the same, then he comes back to hover over you.

“I like how eager you get, makes me feel good.” He mumbles as he undoes your jeans. You lifts your hips to help him tug them down yours legs. “This is really all you were wearing tonight?”

“Not much I can wear under a bodysuit.” You smirk.

“It’s so sexy.” He runs his hand down your body and your covered center. “What are these, snaps?”

“Yeah, it’s so I don’t have to take the whole thing off to go to the bathroom.” You blush.

“How functional.” He smirks and works to take his own shirt and pants off, leaving him in his boxers.

“There’s also a zipper on the back, see.” You roll over and arch your back to give him the perfect view of your ass, and give him a playful smile.

“I literally can’t decide if I want it to stay on or off.” His hands rub over your ass and squeeze. “Off, definitely off.” He reaches for the zipper and drags it down. “Need to see all of you.”

You roll back over and get it the rest of the way off. You cup his cheeks and pull him down on top of you to kiss. He grinds his hard dick against your center and you groan.

“Get these stupid things off.” You grunt and toe at his boxers. They come off and his cock slides between your wet folds. “Fuck, that feels good.”

He kisses down your body and you smile as he works his way to get his head between your legs. His fingers dig into your thighs and he has you put them over his shoulders. He licks a flat stripe up your center before lapping around your folds. Then he swirls his tongue around your clit as his middle finger enters you.

“Fuck, Harry.” You breathe.

He moans against you as he sucks on your clit, and gets a second finger inside you. He pumps them in and out slowly, another way of teasing. Each time he pulls them out you squeeze around him. The tip of his tongue flicks against your clit and you start panting. You clutch at the blankets around you and grit your teeth. He goes back to sucking on your clit, and that’s when you lose it. Your back arches off the bed, and your vision goes hazy.

“Oh my god.” You moan. You watch as he sucks his fingers into his mouth. “Please tell me you have condoms.”

“Course I do.” He smirks and reaches into his side table for them. “And I keep them in a nice, convenient place, unlike you.”

“I told you, I keep other things in my side tables.”

“Yeah?” He says as he gets the foil packet open. “Like what?”

“You’ll find out at some point.” You wink, and pull him down so he’s on his back.

“Got some toys or something?” He grunts as you sink down on him.

“Maybe.” You grin and move your hips in a circle on him. His hands move your ass to hold onto.

“Like what?” He groans when you start to raise and lower yourself on him.

“Maybe I would have shown you tonight if you weren’t so insistent on coming here.”

“Oh, so it’s like that, huh?”

“Yup.”

He grips your hips and thrusts up into you, causing you to make a surprised noise. You let him continue and you scratch down his chest as you bounce up and down on him. He pulls you down to him so he can keep one arm wrapped around you, and the other is snaked between the two of you so he can rub your clit. You bite down on his collar bone.

“Harry.” You whine.

“Gonna come?”

“Y-yeah.” You squeeze at one of his biceps as you gasp from the pleasure. “Christ.” You breathe.

He rolls you both over so he’s on top, and puts both of your legs over his shoulders, going in hard and fast. Your head rolls back into the pillows. He didn’t care that you were sensitive, and neither did you because his tip was hitting your g-spot perfectly from this angle.

“I’ve-I’ve never had sex like this before.” You blurt out.

“Like what?” He grunts as he continues to slam into you.

“Where it just always feel good. I feel…shit, I feel so taken care of.”

His eyes widen as he looks down at you.

“Oh, Y/N.”

He drops your legs and comes down to you, crashing his mouth to yours. He rocks in and out of you as you wrap your legs around his waist. You tug at his hair and mold your tongue to his. You were tightening around him. He knew you were close. He moves to kiss on your neck and nibble son your earlobe.

“Give me another one, babe, know you can do it.”

“H-Harry!” His voice in your ear was just too powerful. Your nails scratch down his back as you come to another release.

He gives you another few hard thrusts before he spills into the condom. He rests his head on your chest for a few moments before pulling out of you and discarding the condom. He pecks at your lips and helps you up, guiding you to his bathroom.

“Let’s see….” He rummages through the cabinets. He grabs a spare toothbrush, the makeup remover wipes, a wash cloth, and his facewash. “Here you go, take your time.” He kisses your cheek and leaves you to do your thing.

You use the toilet first, and then furrow your brows looking for something to tie your hair back. You find one of his scrunchies and use that. You wonder for a moment why he might have makeup remover wipes, but you don’t worry about it for the moment. You wash your face and brush your teeth, and put everything back. You shake your hair out, and come back to the bed.

“All set?” He asks. He had put on a new pair of boxers.

“Mhm.” You slide into the bed as he goes to use the bathroom next. When he’s done he comes right in to spoon you. “Why do you have makeup wipes?”

“Because I wear makeup sometimes if I have a nasty zit or something.” He says honestly.

“Oh.”

“Is that weird?”

“Not at all.” You turn slightly look up at him and smile. “I was just curious if they were…leftover from someone else, but that’s probably a silly thing to think.”

“Would be sort of scummy of me to leave something like that lying around for someone else to use.” He kisses your nose and you settle back down. “I’m really glad you’re spending the night here.”

“Me too, your bed is really comfy.” You sigh.

“Mm.” He hums as he nestles into you.

This was the first time in a long time you actually felt comfortable sleeping over at a guy’s place, and it felt really good.

//

Harry wakes up incredibly hard against you. He couldn’t help it. You slept naked, quite a bit, and he was pressed against you all night. You were still sound asleep, and he didn’t want to wake you, but he just couldn’t settle himself. He slowly detaches from you to lay on his back. You feel a shiver go through you from a lack of warmth. You reach behind you.

“Mm, Harry?” You mumble.

“M’right here.” He chuckles and reaches to squeeze your hip.

You roll onto your other side to rest your head on his chest. Your leg goes over his and your eyes snap open.

“Um, good morning.” You giggle.

“Don’t laugh, it hurts.” He groans, putting his forearm over his eyes.

“I didn’t think morning wood still happened like this the only you got.”

“Nope it does, and it’s just as annoying as when you’re a teenager.”

“Well…” You yawn. “Maybe I can help you out.”

“You’re still tired, it’s fine.”

“No, I wanna take care of you, let’s have sex.”

“I didn’t think you liked it in the morning.”

“Just because I don’t want you tonguing my puss first thing in the morning doesn’t I don’t like morning sex. I love morning sex, actually.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm.” You start kissing on his chest.

“Get on your stomach.”

You grin up at him and does as he says. He gets a condom situated on him, and gets behind you. He slides in slowly, gripping onto your hips.

“God, you feel so fucking good.” He says once he’s all the way in. “Is it okay I didn’t finger you first, it doesn’t hurt?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, go ahead and move, Harry.”

He was so considerate, and you appreciated it so much. You were on all fours in front of him while he made slow, deep thrusts into you. He’d pull almost all the way out and then slam back in. Harry hadn’t realized just how much he missed being in a relationship. Being able to wake up and fuck the person you cared a lot about was so utterly convenient, and yet so incredibly hard to find. He wasn’t sure who to thank for brining you to the White Mountains, but he felt like someone deserved a fruit basket.

With Harry, you felt just as grateful. A year ago, you were thankful for a blossoming friendship, now you were thankful that he was your boyfriend. The guy really knew how to make run down, no other guy had ever made you so wet before, you were almost embarrassed, but he didn’t seem to care. He was probably flattered, if anything.

You feel his hand slide up your back and grip the back of your neck. His other hand slides from your hip to your clit. God, he’s so attentive. He really cares about how good you feel and isn’t concerned with getting his.

“Harry.” You moan as your head falls to your chest.

“S-say it again.” He groans.

“Harry.” You moan louder. He was hitting so deep inside you, and rubbing your clit perfectly. “Harry!” You cry out when you feel your orgasm consume you. You squeeze impossibly tight around him and he moans out your name and spills into the condom.

He pulls out slowly to not hurt you, and then throws the condom into the trash. He comes back over to your quickly and smooches your cheeks rapidly, causing you to giggle. You pull him close to you and he giggles too.

“I could really get used to this.” He says.

“Me too.”

//

You spent most of that day in and out of Harry’s bed. You had sex again in the shower, or, well, he fingered you in the shower, and then he made you breakfast, an egg frittata, and while it was baking he bent you over the kitchen table. You made some joke about it being a family space, so he just smacked your ass and told you to be quiet, and that was that on that. You were going to take a break and watch a movie, but things escalated, and he just brought you back to his bedroom. After scarfing down a pizza for dinner, you thought it might be time to go home.

“I’ve been here all day.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, you can stay another night if you want.”

“That’s sweet of you, but…”

“And you look so cute in my clothes.” He pouts at you. It was true, you looked very cute in his joggers and long-sleeve shirt. “You really wanna go?”

“I just…I mean, what time is Andy coming back?”

“I pick him up on Sundays, so it’s not like they’d just walk in on us. I usually get him around six.”

“Oh…you….you really want me to stick around another night? You’re not sick of me yet?”

“Sick of you?” He chuckles. “Haven’t had enough of you.”

“Okay.” You smile. “I’m too tired to drive anyways.” You press your forehead to his chest.

“Aw, did I wear my baby out?” He asks as he wraps his arms around you.

“Mhm.” You nod and smile bigger. You were his baby.

“What do you say we go get cozy in bed, I’ll turn the TV on, and you can sit in front of me, and I’ll rub your shoulders?”

“You have a TV in there?”

“Yeah, I keep it in the armoire.”

“Oh! That sounds perfect then.”

Harry puts on The Office, and you both get under the blankets, and you sit in front of him between his legs and he massages your neck and shoulders. About ten minutes in, your eyelids starts to droop, and your body fully relaxes into Harry’s. He kisses your temple and holds you tight.

“It’s okay if you fall asleep.”

“No, I feel bad.” You mumble.

“Shh, babe, it’s alright.” He coos.

“Mm’okay.” You could feel yourself really slipping into sleep. “Love you, g’night.” You mumble, and fully pass out in his arms.

His entire body stiffens and he looks down at you. His heart starts beating rapidly. Did you just say you loved him?! He just agreed to be your boyfriend, and now you’re in love with him?! TOO MUCH TOO SOON! He almost wants to wake you to ask, but clearly you said it by accident, in a haze. Would you even remember saying it? He sinks down in the bed, careful to not move you too much. He wasn’t sure how he felt about all this. How could you already love him? You still barely knew him. What was there to love?

//

Harry wakes up with bloodshot eyes on Sunday morning as he’s wrapped around you, his dick much less hard than it was the morning before. You slept peacefully all night, blissfully unaware of what you said, and his inner turmoil. You adjust into him and he holds you tighter, almost out of fear. You roll over to face him and you peck at his lips.

“Morning.” You say, nuzzling into his chest.

“Morning.” He rubs your back.

“I slept so good, I’m glad I stayed again.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I don’t even remember falling asleep. Your hands in every way are magic.” You chuckle into him.

“Yeah? You liked the little massage?”

“Mhm, loved it.” You smile up at him and give him a squeeze before getting out of bed.

You definitely forgot saying what you said. There wasn’t even any recollection on your face. You said it yourself, you didn’t remember falling asleep.

“Hey, do you mind if I wear this home?” You say, coming out of the bathroom, putting the clothes back on that he loaned you yesterday. “Jeans and a bodysuit don’t sound like fun.”

“No, yeah, that’s fine.”

“Thanks.” You smile and crawl back on the bed, straddling him. “You’re too good to me.” You sigh, moving to lay your chest on his, hugging him.

“What can I say…I just…like you a lot.”

“I like you a lot too.” You kiss his cheek. “I’m gonna go home now. I have to go grocery shopping and get ready for the week.”

“Alright.” He puckers his lips and you kiss him again before getting off him.

“Andy won’t have any half days this week?”

“Nope, those are all done.” He says, getting out of bed to walk you to the door.

“Okay.”

“Why?”

“No reason.” You say coyly. “Just…if both are free at the same time, we could…sneak away for a bit.” You bite your bottom lip and look up at him. “Just a thought.”

“I like the way you think.” He kisses you again, and lets you leave. “God, I’m so fucked.” He says to himself and flops onto the couch, grabbing one of the pillows to clutch to his chest. He felt like he was going to collapse in on himself.

//

“You had a dream you said what to him?!” Janette screamed through your phone on Sunday night.

At some point during the day between doing the laundry and doing some meal prep, you had this weird feeling come over you, and you needed to talk about it with someone.

“It felt so real, I can’t exactly remember what was going on in the dream, but I told him I loved him…”

“Do you?!”

“I don’t know! We just really made things official! God, we did have a really nice weekend together too. No work, just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. It’s so weird, I don’t even remember falling asleep. We were cuddling while watching TV, and then I think I just passed out.”

“Why?”

“I was exhausted…we…really enjoyed each other’s company on Saturday.”

“Damn.”

“At least it was just a dream. I’d be mortified if I had said it out loud. I wouldn’t want to scare him off.”

“So, you’re not in love with him?”

“I really don’t know, Jan. I’m falling really hard for him, I feel like I could be in love, but I really don’t know. I think it’s too soon to tell.”  

//

Harry thought about you all day. While doing his own laundry, doing his own grocery shopping, and other chores. Andy could tell right away that something was off.

“Are you alright? You were quiet when you got to the house.” Andy asks from the backseat.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Just a little distracted is all, sorry.”

“Did you get to hang out with Y/N this weekend?”

“Yeah, for most of the weekend, actually. It was nice. She’s, um, officially my girlfriend.”

“Took you long enough! That’s great, Dad.” Andy smiles and leans forward to nudge Harry’s shoulder.

“I’m glad you like her so much.”

“She’s been nice to me since day one, she’s cool. She’s easy to talk to, too.”

“Yeah, she is. Feel like I could chat with her for hours and never get bored.”

“I like when she comes over for dinner, she always tells a funny story. I told Mum and Noah about her snake bite story.”

“What a roller coaster that was, huh?”

“Yeah! Can we go hiking this weekend? Brandon was wondering if we could go again soon, and maybe Y/N could come too…”

“Sure, um, I’ll see how the weather’s looking next Sunday.”

“Awesome! So, guess what?”

“What?”

“Brandon and Molly broke up!”

“You’re kidding?! When did that happen?” Harry wasn’t all that shocked. Middle school relationships never lasted, but he was playing it up for Andy’s sake.

“Over the weekend. He said she was getting too clingy or whatever. He called to tell me right away. I made sure to ask if he was okay, and he said he was fine. He said he didn’t feel sad about it, is that weird?”

“Not really…maybe he didn’t like her as much as he thought, you know? It might have been exciting at camp because it feels good when someone tells you they like you, but maybe he realized he wasn’t that into her.”

“That’s basically what he said, that he just wasn’t that into her. He said even kissing wasn’t that exciting anymore.”

“There you go then.”

“Does it make me a bad person that I’m happy he’s not seeing her anymore?”

“No…but just keep in mind, if you two stay good friends for a long time, you’ll have to get used to you each dating people.”

“I guess.” Andy shrugs. “It feels like I’ll never like a girl enough to wanna date one.”

“You’ve got time to figure all that out…you…may not want to date girls in general, and that’s fine too.”

“I’m not gay, Dad.” Andy scoffs.

“I’m not saying you are, not that it would be a bad thing, I’m just saying you may find as you get older that…ugh…how do I explain this…like, for me? I just like people. I’m attracted to who I’m attracted to, and I don’t read into it more than that.”

“Ew, are you going to tell me that you’ve been with guys?”

“Well…I never have been, but I don’t think it would be gross if I did. I’m attracted to women, but I wouldn’t say I have a type. Y/N looks a lot different than Mum does, you know?”

“Yeah.” Andy ponders for a moment. “How…ow do you know you’re attracted to women?”

“Just do.” Harry shrugs. “I’m sure they’ll start talking to you about all this in health class this year, but when you really start to go through puberty, and your voice starts to crack, and stuff like that, you just sort of start figuring out what you like and don’t like. I’m not sure how else to explain it, but just know you’ve got a ton of time to figure it all out. There are people my age still figuring it out, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself, and no matter what, know that Mum and I love you.”

“You’re so cheesy.” Andy rolls his eyes. “But…thanks.”

//

The second week of classes was less stressful than the first, as far as classes went. You were stressed about your doctoral work. You wished you had done more over the summer, but you had a certain distraction to thank for not doing as much as you should have. This weekend you needed to stay in and hunker down. And you didn’t even need to feel bad about it because you knew Harry would be busy with Andy.

“Hey.” Harry taps on your door Wednesday afternoon before he heads out. He had been sort of distant this week, but you weren’t reading into it. You knew he was still working on a manuscript.

“What’s up?” You say without looking up from your computer.

“Going for a hike Sunday with the boys…would you like to join?”

“Um….” You stop typing and look at him. “I know I should say yes to get outside while it’s still nice out, but I was hoping to get some work done this weekend, so I think I’ll pass, sorry.”

“That’s fine, I get.” He clears his throat. “So…I won’t see you at all this weekend, is that what you’re saying?”

“I’m afraid so, I’m sorry.”

This whole ‘love you’ thing kept ringing in Harry’s ears. He was trying so hard to read you, but you weren’t letting on about any hidden feelings, and it wasn’t like you had said it again. Maybe you had just been so utterly exhausted that you saying ‘love you, g’night’ just felt natural, like you would have said it to anyone. That thought didn’t make him feel better either.

“Um…it’s Wednesday.” He says.

“Yes.” You chuckle.

“Sorry, I just meant, on Wednesdays I pick Andy up from school and shoot him over to his Mum’s for dinner, and then she brings him back around eight, right before bed.”

“Okay…”

“Would you like to have dinner tonight? I could come to your place if that’s more convenient, I could pick up take out.”

“I’ll take you up on the take out, but I’ll come to your place, that way you’ll be home in case he’s back early.”

“Alright.” He perks up. “Anything in particular you’d like?”

“Thai?”

“I’m on it, I’ll see you later.”

You giggle to yourself as he leaves. He was so sweet. You need to make sure you go out of your office at a reasonable time so you’d have a good chunk of time with him.

You did well, you got to Harry’s around six, and he had a sushi platter waiting for the two of you on his kitchen table.

“How much do I owe you?” You ask, sitting down.

“Don’t be silly.” He scoffs.

“Come on, let me give you some money for this.”

“It was pocket change, relax.”

You smile at him and pop a piece of sushi into your mouth.

“Mm, this is so good.”

“I’ve literally never had a bad meal at that Thai place, I feel lucky to have it here.”

“Same here, it’s a hidden treasure.” You take a sip of water and put your hand over his. “Sorry again that I can’t be there for the hike Sunday.”

“I completely understand, really, don’t worry about it.”

He wanted to just bring it up, he wanted to tell you what you said, but he knew bringing it up would open up an entire can of worms. He felt strongly about you, he cared about you, and was definitely falling for you, but he wasn’t entirely sure if he was in love with you yet.

“I love the pots that Andy painted for me, he’s really got a gift.”

“Yeah, he’s really talented.” Harry smiles.

“I…I know you haven’t let a ton of people into this little world of yours, but I’m…happy I’m becoming a part of it. We didn’t have a lot family dinners growing up, so I love how much you’ve been including me in yours.”

Alright, so not only did you adore his son as much as his son adored you, but you were expressing your feelings about becoming part of his world. Fuck, maybe he was in love you.

“You…you make me feel really special, Harry. I’ve never…really felt like this in a relationship before.” You were blushing. You weren’t sure why, over sushi, you felt like telling him all of this, but reassuring someone in a relationship was important.

“You’re so special to me, Y/N, you have no idea. I…I haven’t been this happy in a long time.” He chews his inner cheek and then takes a deep breath. “You…you said something right before you fell asleep the other night.”

“I did? What did I say?”

“You…said something sort of serious to me, and it doesn’t seem like you remember, so I haven’t wanted to bring it up, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

You try to think of what you might have said, and then it hits you and your eyes widen. What you said wasn’t just a dream, you had really told Harry you loved him. It was in a daze, but maybe you actually meant it.

“I think I remember now…I…shit, I thought I just dreamt that because I’ve had other dreams about you, you know?”

“So…it was an accident?”

“I don’t know.” You groan. “I was so sleepy, and you were making me feel so cozy and cared for, and…I guess it just slipped out.” You look away from him for a moment, and then back to meet his gaze. “Did it freak you out?”

“Um…a little at first, but that’s only because-“

“it’s too soon, right? It’s only been a couple of months.”

“That doesn’t matter to me. Sometimes you just know, it’s more…of an internal thing. I…to me, like, I don’t know, what’s there to love about me?”

“Harry…” You get up from your seat and have him skootch out so you can sit in his lap. You take him in for a hug, and press your head into the crook of your neck. He holds you just as close and then you lift your head to look at him. “Baby, it would take me forever to go through a list of things to love about you.” His eyes were intense as they looked into yours. It’s as if he thought you were lying.

“What are you saying, you…”

“I do.” You nod. “I…I’ve fallen in love with you.”

You had only been in love once before, and that love wasn’t even real, it was with your high school sweetheart. You had never been with someone you liked as much as you liked Harry, and it felt scary to feel so strongly about someone, but you felt it.

“Y/N.” He tucks some hair behind your ear, and that’s how you know it’s all okay. His fingers slide to the back of your neck so he can kiss you. It’s tender, and you feel a wetness on your cheeks. When you pull away you see a few tears sliding down his cheeks.

“Don’t cry, Harry.” You say just above a whisper, wiping the tears away with your thumbs.

“I can’ help it, I’m…scared.”

“About what?” You feel his hands grip at your back harder, like he was holding onto you for dear life.

“That…you’ll leave me.”

Your eyebrows raise. Paige had walked out on him, that much you were able to piece together from everything he’s told you. That mixed with the fact he hasn’t really gotten serious with anyone in a while. He clearly trusted you more than others, but you understood his fear.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not…I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You can’t guarantee that.”

“Maybe not, but I’m not the type to just quit on something. I know I walked away when we had that argument last month, but I feel like we’ve been doing well with checking in about our feelings since then. Don’t you agree?” He nods yes. “I want this with you, and everything that comes with it. If I didn’t then I would have never kissed you that night.”

“Well, technically I kissed you.” He jokes through his few tears, and it makes you laugh. “I want this with you too…I…”

“I only want you to say it back if you really mean it. It’s okay if you’re not there with me yet.” You run a hand through his hair to soothe him.

“I’ve fallen in love with you too.”

You smile at him and lean back in to kiss him. It’s soft at first, but he pulls you as close as possible, making it become needy. You both still tasted like dinner, but neither of you cared. He bites harshly on your bottom lip and you moan into him, tugging at his hair. He reaches around you to move the plates to the other side of the table and then lifts you on top of it, pressing your back flat to it, and keep your legs around his waist. He bites down on your neck while his fingers work to undo your pants.

“Is this okay?” he breathes against your neck.

“Yes, fuck, please, Harry.” You were panting with anticipation.

“Dad, I’m home!”

“Jesus!” Harry yelps and jumps back from you, rushing over to the door, checking himself first to make sure the strain in his pants wasn’t too noticeable. You quickly work to get off the table and button your pants back up. “What, uh, what, oh, hi, Paige.” He rambles as Paige comes into the house with Andy.

“Sorry we’re early, Harry, smart guy here left all of his homework here, so…” She blushes when she sees you, frazzled and flushed. “Hi, Y/N.”

“Hi, Paige, Andy.” You clear your throat. “We were just finishing dinner, um, I can get going.” You snatch your bag, and walk towards the door.

“You don’t have to go, Y/N.” Andy says.

“Um.” You heart was racing. You look at Harry.

“I’ll walk you to your car.” He says and puts a hand on your back to lead you out, leaving Andy and Paige confused. “I’m so sorry.” He scream-whispers.

“It’s okay.” You say, and clear your throat. “Um…maybe call me later when he goes to bed?”

“Yeah, definitely.” He kisses you quickly and then goes back into the house. “Where’s Andy?” Harry asks Paige.

“He went to his room to get started on his homework. I hope she didn’t leave because of me…”

“No! It wasn’t that…you both just sort of walked in on us.” Harry blushes and rubs the back of his neck.

“Oh!” She looks over the kitchen table. “In such a public spot?” She laughs. “How old are you?”

“It just sort of…escalated. We had a rather serious talk about our feelings, and…I got excited.”

“I know how that goes.” She chuckles and shakes her head. “So, what are these feelings?”

“We’re…in love.” He mumbles.

“Oh, Harry.” Paige nearly squeals. “That’s so exciting!”

“Shh!” He swats his hands at her. “Do you want nose-bag in there to hear?” He whispers.

“Right, sorry.” She giggles. “Maybe she and I should get lunch sometime since things are getting so serious between the two of you.”

“Paige.” Harry groans.

“Come on, you did the same with Noah. I like her, but I don’t really know her. Just run it by her.”

“Alright.”

She looks him up and down.

“You were really going to fuck her on your kitchen table?”

“None of your business, now is it?” He smirks and she rolls her eyes.

“Have a good night.” She says before leaving and he wishes her the same.

Harry cleans up the kitchen and then goes down to Andy’s room, clearing his throat.

“I swear if you had told me she’d be here, I-“

“Wouldn’t have purposefully left your homework here so Mum would have to bring you back early?”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Little bit. I thought you were feeling a little better about being over there, why would you do that?”

“Because after dinner it’s always wedding talk and I could honestly care less. I just want her to tell me what I’m wearing, and what I need to do, and that’s it. It’s so boring to talk about.”

“That’s fair.” Harry chuckles. “Do you need help with anything?”

“Yeah, actually, this geometry is already tripping me up…”

“Alright.” He cracks his knuckles. “Let’s take a crack at it together.”

Around 9PM, after Harry makes sure Andy’s in bed, and mostly asleep, he tip toes to his own room, and gets ready for bed. Once he’s comfortable, he sits up a bit and calls you. You answer on the second ring.

“Hey.” You say chuckling.

“A bit awkward earlier, yeah? Sure you still want all this?” He chuckles himself.

“Oh stop, that was a complete accident. Course I still want all of it.”

“Good.”

“I feel bad we didn’t get to finish…”

“I’d zip over there in a heartbeat if I could.”

“I know.” You sigh.

“Are you still…riled up?”

“No, I took care of it in the shower.” You say bluntly. “Why, are you?”

“Well, excuse me.” He scoffs. “Not all of us have the luxury of living alone, so no, I was helping a certain sixth grader with his geometry homework.”

“You can still do geometry?”

“I can.”

“Hot.”

“How is that hot?”

“I don’t know, I just find it sexy I guess.”

“Yeah? Using a protractor is sexy to you?”

“God yeah, did you find an irregular angle?” You were giggling now and so was he.

“Mhm, it was obtuse.”

“Fuck.” You moan, over doing it to be playful, and it makes him burst out laughing, clapping a hand over his mouth to wake Andy.

“You’re so fucking funny.”

“Think you bring it out in me, I’m usually not so hilarious.”

“I really can’t see you this weekend?” he nearly whines.

“Please don’t make me feel bad for needing to work. If you promise not to interrupt me all day Saturday, I could potentially take a break for you.”

“Deal.”

//

The weather ended up not being so great by the time the weekend came around. It was supposed to rain all day Saturday, which would make for muddy trails Sunday, and Harry wasn’t going to deal with that, so he tells Andy he’ll take him and Brandon another time. Instead, Saturday turned into a day for Harry to work on his manuscript, only, he had writer’s block. Not to mention Andy’s video games were distracting.

“Andy, can you turn that down, please!” He yells from up in the loft. A moment passes, and he can barely hear it. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t think of much. It was perfect writing conditions.

“Hey, Dad?” Andy says as he creeps up the stairs.

“What’s up?”

“Brandon just texted, he wanted to know if I could sleepover tonight since we’re not hiking tomorrow…”

Harry’s eyes light up. Not that he didn’t want Andy around, but now he could go over to your place without feeling guilty.

“Of course! Yeah, what time does he want you over?”

“He said around 3:30…his mum said she could take us to a movie and stuff for dinner.”

“What a nice way to spend a rainy evening. Here, let me give you some money for the theater.” He takes his wallet out of his pocket and gives Andy thirty dollars.

“Thanks! I’m gonna go get my things together. Will you be able to drop me off there in a bit?”

“You bet.” Harry smiles as Andy races back down the stairs. He knew you didn’t want to be bothered, but he couldn’t help but share the news with you.

Harry: Andy’s been invited to sleep over at Brandon’s tonight

Harry: 😈

At 3:15, Harry zips Andy over to Brandon’s. He still hadn’t heard from you, but he knew you probably put your phone on do not disturb. He gives Andy a hug goodbye, and tells him to call if he needs anything, and off he goes back home. He’s able to get some work done to his manuscript, but not much, he was still too distracted from the prospect of seeing you, and getting his head between your-

You: that’s awfully convenient, sure you didn’t ask B’s parents to take Andy?

It was 6:45, and you finally texted him back.

Harry: I swear, it’s all just a coincidence. Maybe I was manifesting lol

You: come by around 8? I’m almost done with this amazing article I’ve found and I’m just taking notes from what I’ve highlighted

Harry: sounds good, babe. Can I bring anything? Have you eaten today?

You: I’ve eaten plenty, Daddy, thank you

He smirks at the thought of you most likely rolling your eyes at his caring nature.

You: if you happen to have any chocolate though…

Harry: think I can make that happen

You: amazing, see you soon!

Harry felt…giddy! He was so excited to see you, even though he had lunch with you yesterday at school. But this was different. He knew he was most likely going to get laid tonight, and he needed it terribly. He had some pent up energy from Wednesday night, and it was killing him. His own hand just didn’t do you justice. So, he saves what he was working on, and goes downstairs to go take a shower. Once he’s all clean and dried off, he puts on the cologne he knows you really like, and puts on a pair of jeans and a polo. He grabs his keys, and out he goes to the nearest bakery to grab something chocolatey.

“Two whoopee pies please.” Harry says brightly to the woman behind the counter, and she boxes them up for him. Then he’s off to your place.

You unlock your door when you hear the buzzer. You…did not look cute. Well, he probably thought you would look cute, but you didn’t feel cute. Your hair was up in a messy bun, and you were in an oversized t-shirt that had stains on it and a pair of panties and socks. You had wanted to get yourself together, but you lost track of time.

“Babe?” Harry says as he comes in to your place.

“I’m just cleaning my things up, meet you on the couch!” You yell from your office.

He sits down with the box of whoopee pies and waits patiently for you. You run walk quickly down the hall and nearly slide into the couch.

“Hi, sorry, I’m gross, and…oh my god what did you bring?!” You nearly lunge for the box on the coffee table, but he snatches it.

“Now, you told me you ate, which is why you’re getting dessert. Did you lie?” He raises an eyebrow at you.

“It wasn’t a lie! I had some French toast sticks for breakfast, and then I had a smoothie for lunch, one of those green ones that you showed me how to make.” You pout and sit down next to him. “Please, what did you bring?”

“Whoopee pies.” He grins and opens the box.

Your eyes grow wide and you grab one of them stuffing your face and moaning. He eats his a little less aggressively, but he can’t deny that it does taste really good.

“Mm, this is so good, thank you.” You say with a full mouth.

“You’re welcome.” He says, mouth equally as full, and you both laugh. “Come here.” He says after swallowing.”

“Let me go shower really quick, I wanna be fresh for you.”

“You’re killing me, Y/N.” He groans.

“Five minutes, then I’m all yours.” You stand up. “We have all night, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay then.” You wink and go into your room to shower. “Come into the bedroom and wait for me!” You yell before going into the bathroom.

He kicks his shoes off and gets comfortable on your bed. Your things were sort of all over the place, but he didn’t mind.

“Okay!” You say, coming in wrapped in a towel. “So much better. I literally was wearing the same shit all day, it wouldn’t have been fun, Har.”

“I’ll take your word for it, can I have you now?”

You nod and drop your towel. He reaches his arms out and makes grabby motions with his hand. You come over to him, and he lays you on your back, getting on top of you. His lips are on yours and his hand is trailing down your body.

“Needed this, needed you.” He says into your ear as he plants kisses on your neck, his fingers running up and down your slit.

Two of his fingers dip inside you, and at first he pumps in and out slowly. You look up at him as he looks down at you. Your mouth falling open, and moans escaping you every time something feels really good. You reach for his glasses and toss them to the other side of the bed, and run a hand through his hair. He pumps in and out of you faster, and has you panting, and then he slows it down again. You rock your hips with the motion of his fingers.

“H-Harry.” You moan as you look at him. “Take your clothes off.”

“I will, baby, I will.” He could feel you getting closer. “It’s like you said, we have all night.” He grins.

You gasp when you come to your release. His fingers rubbing against your g-spot slowly help you ride it out longer than usual. He pulls his fingers from you and gets further down the bed, opening your legs for him. He licks a few stripes up your center before diving in. Your fingers tangle in his hair as he fucks you with his tongue. His hands grip the backs of your thighs as he groans into you. This is what he wanted all day long, to just get lost between your legs.

“Taste so fucking good.” He mumbles against you and the vibrations rip right through you.

“Feels so good, don’t stop.” You bite your bottom lip as you look down at him. He looks up at you at the same moment and it all becomes too much. “I’m, oh god!” You throw your head back into the pillows as you feel him lap up your second release. “Please, fuck me now.”

“But I wanna keep doing this.” He nips at your inner thigh. “Just a little longer.”

“If I say yes, can we try something afterwards?”

“Like what?”

“Wanna show you what I have in my side table.”

“Let’s just do that now.”

“Nope.” You shake your head and smirk. “You wanna stay there, you go right ahead.”

He bites a little harder on you, but goes along with it. After making you come for two more times, he comes up for air and licks his lips. He looked like a happy puppy or something, it was sweet.

“Okay.” You breathe. “Get naked.” You place his glasses on the night table so they don’t get broken. “Get in the middle of the bed.”

“Why?”

“Because it’ll make it easier.”

“Make what easier.”

“You sure are asking a lot of questions.” You say as you rummage through your night table. “Ah-ha!” You toss a pair of handcuffs on the bed. “See, they’re plush so they won’t hurt your wrists.”

“You…you want to use these on me?”

“I certainly don’t like being restrained.” You scoff. “I have some scarves for your ankles too, but if we can just do your wrists if you feel comfortable with that.”

“I didn’t think you were into this sort of thing.”

“I mean…I don’t wanna whip you or anything like that…I just thought this could be fun, but if you’re not into it we don’t have to.”

“No! I’ll, uh, give it a try. Just the wrists though…”

You smile and grab the handcuffs as you knee onto the bed, inching closer to him. You put them on his wrists and lock them up.

“I thought you’d clip me to the headboard?”

“No, I feel like we should just try it like this first. I think you’d break my bed, you’re so strong.” You grab a condom and rip it open, and slide it onto his hard dick.

“So, is this like a I can’t touch you kind of thing, or…what are the rules?”

“You can touch me all you want, you’re just going to have a little trouble since your wrists are together. You won’t be able to reach around and grab me like you do.”

“So I can’t move you then?”

“Nope, gotta let me do it.” You grin. “Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah.” He nods, and lays on his back.

“Great.” You lean down to kiss him, and then swing a leg over him, but you’re reverse.

“You’re gonna do this like this and not let me touch you?”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t touch me.” You line him up with your center and look over your shoulder at him.

“But I won’t be able to rub your clit or-“

“No, I guess I’ll have to do it. It’s called giving up a little control, Har.”

“Alright, I can do that.”

“Okay.”

You face forward and sink all the way down on him. You both moan out. He wasn’t sure what to do with his hands. He could still reach forward to grab at your ass and hips if he really wanted to, but he knew with the cuffs on he wouldn’t be able to grab at you the way he really wanted, so he just decides to let them rest above his head on the pillows.

You switch from making circles with your hips to raising and lowering on him. His dick felt so good in you like this, and it thrilled you knowing he had just had to let you be in charge. You had a long day focusing your energy on your work, and now you got to focus your energy on him. You had very little control over the requirements for your dissertation. It had to be a certain amount of pages, you had to have a certain amount of resources, and you had little control over who would be on your committee. But this, this you had control over. You could make your boyfriend, who you loved very much, feel amazing. And Harry, poor Harry had to make big decisions all day every day to basically keep his kid alive, like all parents do. You thought maybe breaking out the handcuffs could be a nice way for him to not have to make any decisions.

“Doing okay?” You ask, looking over your shoulder at him.

“Y-yeah.” He looks up at you. “Feels good.”

You smile and bounce up and down on him faster. You had him moaning and groaning every time you’d purposefully tighten around him. You rub your clit as you grind on him.

“Miss your face.” You hear him say. You pout from how cute he is and decide to throw him a bone.

You get off to turn around, and then you sink back down on him.

“Better?”

“Much.” He grins.

In a swift motion, he lifts his arms and gets them around your back, yanking you to his chest. You let out a surprised squeal. His hands cups your ass and he moves you on him.

“Sorry, that just wasn’t working for me.” He grunts. You bury your face in the crook of his neck. “You good?”

“Mhm.” He was able to thrust into you this way anyways, so it did feel better feeling him deeper. “Do you want me to take them off?”

“No, this is actually kinda hot. Sort of a happy medium, yeah?”

“Yeah.” You kiss him as he continues to move you faster on him. “Fuck.”

“Getting close?”

“Shit, yeah.” You were starting to breathe faster. “Harry.” You moan. “Oh my god.”

He feels you pulse and vibrate around him as you release around him, and he slows himself down, giving you deep thrusts.

“Okay, now I want them off.”

You nod and get rid of the handcuffs. He pins you down on your back and smirks at you.

“What else do you have in those drawers, hm?”

“Nothing special.” You blush. “Lube, a couple of vibrators, normal things women would keep in their bedside tables.”

“Can I use one on you?”

“A vibrator?”

“Yeah.”

“But…I already have you inside me, so…don’t really need it.”

“Alright.” He pulls out. “Now you don’t. Let me use one on you for a bit, and then I’ll really give it to you.”

Your face lights up and you nod. He opens the top drawer and his eyes widen.

“Which one do you like best, baby?”

“The purple one.”

He grabs the purple, silicone dildo out of your drawer and closes it. He looks it over, almost confused of how it works.

“You put it in, and then turn it on.”

“Yeah, I get that, but what does this thing do?”

“That’s for my clit, it does everything at once.”

“Oh!” He laughs. “Duh.” He shakes his head. “Should I put some lube on it, or do you wanna-“

“Lube, I’m not deep throating my dildo.” You laugh.

He laughs too and grabs the lube out of the drawer. This was nice, just exploring, taking your time. He gets the lube on the dildo, and slowly inserts it into you. It wasn’t as big as Harry, so you were annoyed that he wanted to tease you like this.

“How often do you use this?”

“Not often, only when I’m really going through a dry spell. It gets the-oh!” He had turned it on its first level.

“How high do you usually turn it up?”

“Five.”

“But it goes up to ten.”

“I know, that’s too much.”

“Can I move it while it’s inside you?”

“Yes.” You grunt as he turns it up higher. “Would rather just feel you again, though.”

“You got to play with me, now I’m playing with you.”

“But you barely even let me do what I really wanted.”

“I know, it’ll take me some time to get used to all that.”

“Next time I’m just gonna tie you to each bed post.” He squints at you and just turns the vibrator up to seven as he moves it in and out of you. “Harry.” You grit your teeth.

“I want to make it so you think about me when you use these things alone.”

The attachment on your clit was going extremely fast, and you knew you had to be soaked from the way he was moving it around inside you.

“I would anyways, you don’t have to worry about that.” Your breath hitches when he turns it all the way up to ten.

“It’s for my own peace of mind, really. Remember, I get jealous easily.”

“Over an obje-oh my god!” Your head thrashes back against your pillows.

“An object that makes you feel like this? Yeah.”

“H-Harry, I can’t-“

“How come you never turn it up this high, doesn’t it feel good?”

“It-it does, but…” You have to swallow to keep yourself from drooling. You can’t even finish your sentence. It’s all too much. You scream as you come around the object.

Harry turns it off and slowly takes it out of you, and places it on top of the side table so could clean it later.

“Now then-“ He was cut off by your hand on his throat. He looks down at you, surprised.

“Not nice.” You breathe.

“You came didn’t you?” He smirks.

“Wanted you.” You furrow your brows at him.

“Can have me now.” He reaches forward to smooth some of your hair away from your face and you release your grip on his neck. “How do you want it?”

“Slow.”

“Alright, baby.”

He slides back inside you, finally, and he gives it to you just the way you want it. Nice and slow. You were too sensitive for him to ram in and out of you, and he knew it. It wasn’t a problem though because it was like…oh…now it was like you were making love. You wrap your legs around his waist, and his arms around his back. He places gentle kisses on your neck.

“I love you.” You whisper.

“I love you too.” He moves to look at you and then he kisses you. His tongue licks into your mouth, and you meet it with yours.

“Come for me, Harry.” You whimper, and you swear you see his eyes darken.

“Fuck, oh my god.” His motions become sloppy and then he’s coming into the condom. You weren’t expecting him to lose it so easily, but all in all you were happy. “Jesus, that was sexy.” He chuckles and pecks your lips before pulling out.

Once you both get cleaned up, you get cozy in your bed together. You both lay facing each other, legs tangled up, soft giggles between the two of you.

“I’m really surprised by you.” He says.

“I told you when we first did it. I’m open to most things. And handcuffs aren’t the weirdest things to keep around.”

“Not at all, and for the record, I didn’t think any of it was weird. I’ve used handcuffs before…just on someone else.”

“Yeah, I don’t like being restrained, like, I’ll never put those on.”

“But you like when other people are?”

“I…I don’t know, I just thought it would be nice for you to not have to make any decision for a little bit. I see you, Harry. You’re a mellow guy, but I see the little crinkles of worry on your face. Sometimes it’s nice to let someone else take over.” You cup his cheek and rub your thumb back and forth. “But if you weren’t into it, that’s totally fine.”

“So…in a way you were trying to take care of me?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s kinda…sweet.” He smiles and squishes his nose to yours. He hooks his arm around your waist and pulls you into his chest.

“I don’t like doing it like that all the time, either, I just thought it might be fun since we had a little more time.”

“I definitely had a good time, no worries about that.” He kisses your forehead. “I really like having sex with you.”

“Gee, thanks.” You chuckle.

“I just mean…I feel like we…fit well together.”

“I agree.” You nuzzle into his chest.

“I like what we have.”

“Me too.” You kiss on his chest. “I’m really happy. I know it must be annoying when I have to work all day, and I appreciate you giving me the space to do so.”

“I remember how it was for me. It’s not easy what you’re doing. I wouldn’t try to do something that would make it more difficult.”

“The whoopee pies you brought earlier were so good too, and it was exactly what I want. It was like you read my mind.” You look up at him. “Always giving me exactly what I need.”

“I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you too.” You kiss him and turn over so her can really wrap himself around you.

Most people may not be able to sleep comfortably with a guy’s heavy leg over their hip, and an arm wrapped over their chest, but you sleep so much better when Harry’s there to be your burrito.

//

The next morning you wake up and decide to make breakfast in bed for Harry. You slide away from him carefully, and put the shirt he was wearing last night on, and do your thing in the bathroom. You crack some eggs into a pan, and whip up some hash browns. You get your coffee pot going as well, and get everything on a tray. You come back into your room and smile at him.

“There you are.” He yawns and sits up. “What’s all this?”

“Made us brekkie.” You get back into bed and balance the tray over his lap.

“Thank you, babe.” He kisses your cheek and takes a sip of the coffee.

“What time do you need to pick up Andy?”

“Like eleven.” He shrugs. “So I’ve got some time.”

“Good.” You take a bite of the hash browns and he digs into one of the eggs.

Harry takes a shower with you after breakfast, and lounges with you for a bit on the couch. You show him part of your outline for your thesis, and he gives you some pretty helpful tips.

“I better get going, I’ll text you later.”

“Alright, I’m really glad you came over last night.”

“Me too, love you.” He pecks your lips.

“Love you too.”

//

Harry was on cloud nine. It had been so long since he felt like this with someone, and he felt so lucky to be with you. He pulls up to Brandon’s house, and Andy comes out right away. He gets into the back with his things, and doesn’t say a word.

“Hey, buddy, did you have a good time?” Harry asks as he pulls onto the street.

“Yeah.” He mutters.

“What did you guys do, did you enjoy your movie?”

“Yup, movie was good, we played video games, stayed up late, you know how it goes.”

Harry helps Andy bring his things into the house when they get home, and he goes right to his room.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m just tired.”

“Okay, take a nap if you want. I’m gonna prep some of your lunches for the week. Turkey and cheese rollups sound good?”

“Yeah, Dad, thanks.”

Andy closes his door and leaves Harry in the hallway. He was a little worries, but he decides to give Andy his space. He makes Andy’s lunches, and some things for himself for the week, and goes up to his office to get some work done. His writers block was definitely gone now.

“Dad?” Andy says, coming up the stairs.

“Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course!” He turns around and gestures to have Andy sit down on the loveseat he keeps up in the loft. “What’s up?”

“I think I sleep like you do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like…you know how you have that body pillow to hold onto?”

“Yeah.”

“I think I need one for myself.”

“Okay, we can go to WalMart to get you one, that’s no problem.” He studies Andy for a moment. “How did you realize you sleep like me?”

“Well…whenever Brandon and I have sleepovers at his house we just share his bed because his is full sized and not a twin like mine…and…god, it was so embarrassing, I woke up holding onto him…and I moved away before he noticed, but he didn’t seem bothered either, like, wouldn’t he have woken up when I grabbed onto him? It’s really confusing, and then…my…” He hides his face in his hands. “I got up and went to the bathroom right away, let’s just say that.”

“Oh…oh!” Harry was trying to think back to when he was Andy’s age. Was eleven when these things started happening to him. “Did you have to, um…”

“No, it went away, but it was really embarrassing! Why does that happen?”

“Um…well…scientific answer?” Andy nods. “Your bladder fills up at night, right? And it ends up…well, it pushes against this thing you have called a prostate, and, uh…your prostate likes it when things push against it, so…it makes other parts of you…happy while you’re sleeping.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Plus, if you were pressed up against Brandon, you may have been-“

“And there’s no way to control it?”

“Not really…”

“I’ll just bring my sleeping bag next time. I was so embarrassed! I’m lucky he didn’t notice, or maybe he did and didn’t say anything?”

“You know, it’s not just happening to you. It happens to all boys around your age. You start going through a lot of changes in middle school. Seems like you’re just starting to…”

“But I don’t wanna go through changes! It’s awkward.” He whines. “What if it happens during class?!”

“Then you put a book or a binder over your lap, and you think about something really gross.”

“What?”

“Yeah, just think of, like, moldy food, or something sad like a dog dying.”

“Dad!” Andy groans. “That doesn’t help while I’m sleeping.”

“Like you said, maybe just start bringing your sleeping bag.”

“He acted completely normal this morning, so maybe he didn’t notice. Like, he was joking around and we played basketball before you came to get me.”

“Should be fine then.”

“And this happens to all guys?”

“Yes.”

“Even you?”

“Even me.” He can tell Andy’s trying to wrap his head around everything. “When does health start up for you?”

“Not until second term, why?”

“I’m gonna get you a book…that has all the information you could need on this…subject, and then if you have questions you can ask me, but if it’s too embarrassing you can consult the book. Just promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“Don’t Google anything. There’s…a lot of weird and wrong information out there.”

“Okay.” He stands up. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He watches as Andy goes down the stairs and sighs to himself.

This was the part of Andy’s life that Harry was dreading, this awkward pre-teen phase. Soon his hormones are gonna start to go crazy, and they may not be pals like they are now. They’ll get into arguments that won’t end in hugs and apologies. At least Andy was still willing to talk to Harry about these things. Harry immediately goes to Amazon, and orders a few books on puberty for Andy. This was going to be a rough ride.

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-valves]

You remember that soft heat rut ask you got a while ago? I’td be SO great to see you write something like that with the construction boys, love me sum good soft smut

Oooh good point there anon, good point. Let's see what I can whip up 👍

Scrapper and Mix had been together for a long, long time. In that amount of time, Scrapper had come to notice how stuff changed. Sari got older, Arcee and Ratchet tied the knot, Bumblebee became a member of the elite guard, etc. One thing that didn't change? His Mixie.

"Aaand...done!"

Scrapper had just finished setting everything up. Their bed was nice and cozy, full of Mix's favorite pillows and blankets. Freshly washed and still warm from the dryer. Pair that with new, fresh towels, and even a basket full of his favorite snacks. Mix and Scrapper grew as bots, but heat cycles were something that never changed. Mix's was bound to hit at sometime today (Scrapper always marked it on the calender), so Scrapper was ready. He took today off from work, and had only JUST started to finish cleaning.

"I think I still have time."

Scrapper hopped into their showers, helping himself to a cleaning. He wasn’t sure if he had time for a nice hot wax like he wanted, but at least he got that soap Mix loved so much. He always liked cinnamon apple. He finished quickly, and was in the middle of drying himself off, when the doorbell rang. Scrapper put the towel on his head, and dashed for the door.

"Mixie! You're home! You were runnin' late, thought I had more time!"

Mix chuckled, lifting up the bag in his hand for Scrapper to see.

"I needed a drive to clear my head, then I decided to pick up somethin' for tonight."

Scrapper peeked into the bag, damn near giddy. Mix got not only oil, but the GOOD oil, stuff that wasn't at all cheap.

"Aw! Well don't you make me feel all special. Come here."

He held onto his cheeks, and smooched his lips. Mix's body couldn't help itself. He was already getting the heat symptoms; a bit more frisky than usual, a bit foggy in the head. It was why Scrapper didn't give him too hard of a time as he grabbed his aft, despite the fact that it made him jump.

"Scrappy-"

"Ah ah ah. You know the rules. Shower. I JUST cleaned, and ya still got cement on your servos."

"Thought you liked that."

"Not enough to wash everything, especially before we get started. Shower time, Mixie cakes."

He swiped the bag from his hand, winking at him ad he made his way into the kitchen. Mix looked at him longily, before he forced himself to hit the showers. Scrapper grabbed a bucket, poured some ice into it, and after grabbing some cups, walked back upstairs. He set the bucket down next to all the snacks, and he wasn't gonna lie, he was impressed with the set up.

"I think I outdid myself this time around. He better like it."

He double checked that he had everything, when Mix walked into the room, towel at his waist. He looked at the set up, lightly shaking his head.

"Ya maroon. You way overdid this shit again. I don't need all of dis."

"You hush. Come on you, get comfy."

Mix rolled his optics, before obeying, laying back and getting comfortable. Scrapper hopped into berth, and sat on top of him, holding onto one of his hands and looking it over.

"You were trying to do it in the shower again, weren't you?"

"...no."

Mix always hated the idea of needing someone to 'coddle' him. Its why every heat cycle, he tried to touch himself beforehand, and everytime it failed.

"Is that why you look so grumpy?"

"I ain't grumpy, I'm pissed."

Mix hated his heat cycle, he really did. Not just because he was super horny, that wasn't new. What was new, was the fact that he didn't want to throw Scrapper around or be choked. He wanted Scrapper to make his valve happy. And when Scrapper opened him up, seeing that soaked, puffy valve of his, he realized he had so much work to do. Scrapper pouted, slowly running his servo in between the folds. Mix wanted to talk, but he was reduced to whimpers when Scrapper covered his mouth. The pheromones from a bot in heat could make anyone horny, even the bot in question.

"Shh. It's okay. It's okay. I got you. I always got you. I'm gonna take care of you, all night long. Your poor little valve."

Scrapper peeled his hand away, and leaned in to kiss him. Mix's lips were hungry, sinking into his kiss ravenously. Then Scrapper introduced a finger to his valve. Mix's hands gripped onto his shoulders, already putty in his hands. He kept his lips locked onto his, letting Mix swear against him as he continued to finger and massage his wet walls.

Then he overloaded. It was a quick one, one that made Mix's valve leak all over his hand. He pulled away from the kiss, grinning at Mix's flushed face. The first one was always quick, and not enough.

"You ready, Mixie cakes?"

"You act like this is the first time I've taken ya before."

"Well no, but I like making sure. You're SUPER sensitive right now, I'd hate to overwhelm you. You remember our first heat."

"You stuck your dick in my unlubed aft, rather than my valve. Yeah, I remember, you dumbshit."

Scrapper chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah...sorry about that. It's just why I'm careful now. I don't wanna hurt my big, precious mech again."

"Don't...say it like that."

"Aw, are you embarrassed? Is it because I talk to you in that voice? The one where I make you feel like a big baby? A big ol' baby who gets lots of kissy wissys?"

He held onto his face, decorating it in smooches, and Mix loved it. He squirmed in his arms, and his breath quickened considerably. Mix in heat was aroused by affection, and Scrapper was VERY equipped to handle his little kink. The little kisses to his face, the stupid baby talk, it left Mix shaking, whimpering on the spot.

"Scrappy, c-come on, been dealin' with this slag for like, a week. Stop teasin', PLEASE."

"Aw...you begging is cute, I don't wanna. But fine, I'm not mean, and I love you so so so much."

Scrapper gave his forehead a kiss, before opening his spike panel, and rubbing his spike against him. Mix ACTUALLY jumped up a bit, grip desperate as he held onto his arms. Scrapper chuckled, trying to not push himself in just yet, despite how tempted he was. His valve was hot, damn near steaming, and his spike wanted to make him feel better.

"Scraps-"

"You okay? You jumped on me, was that too fast?"

"No. N-no, I'm. I'm fine. I just. Fucking shit Scrappy just slide it in, PLEASE!"

There was no proper way to slide in, ultimately. Every single way was overstimulating. So long as it didn't hurt, Scrapper had to just settle for going on in. So, he did just that. He pushed himself inside his big, tight valve, and sat there. Mix's pedes thrashed under them, messing up the blankets below them. He didn't move. He was waiting for the sign, waiting for Mix to silently tell him it was okay.

Then Mix dig his servos into his back, and that was all he needed. He started to thrust into him. It wasn’t slow and soft like how he personally enjoyed, but quick, rough, enough to make the room filled with the sounds of metal and metal, and wet slams of a lengthy spike fucking a big valve. Mix was moaning under him, whining and swearing and begging for more and more. In between the soft, hungry kisses, Scrapper was just as putty in Mix's hands and vise versa.

"You're already close, Mixie."

"Shut...up. No I'm fucking not."

He was such a prideful liar. He nudged his face up, and peppered his neck in kisses, letting Mix whine in his arms.

"You don't gotta act all macho on me, bro. I'm here for you. I wanna make all that itch go away. I don't judge you for how quickly you overload. You're my big, manly mech, no matter what. Come on. Overload around me. I'll fill you up. You like it when you get filled. Go ahead. I'll give you as many many as you need after. Promise."

Mix still clung on to his overload, for just a moment, before he raked his servos down his hack, and overloading. Scrapper was forced to stay put as his valve tightened around him, squeezing the overload right out of him. They sat in each other's embrace, steam rolling out of their frames and condensation staining the sheets below them. Scrapper gave Mix a minute, before he pulled out of him, and sat down right next to his poor, exhausted Mixie.

"I hate you."

"You're just embarrassed. Here."

He smacked his face with his towel, helping himself to one as well. Mix grumbled like the sourpuss he was as he wiped himself down.

"Alright, alright. I am. Just...a bit. But you did good, and I mean that."

Scrapper grinned, reaching over to the basket of snacks. Little oil cakes, Mix's favorite, and peanut butter flavored, just how he liked them.

"I try. You deserve it."

"I...thank you. It means a lot to me."

"Oh its no problem, they're getting to be a pretty common flavors nowadays-"

"No. I mean...for this. All of this. You know this sucks, and you make it suck a little less."

Scrapper leaned in to kiss his forehead, before snuggling into him.

"Anythin' for you, bro."

They sat there, stuffing their faces full of shitty snacks, wrappers thrown onto the floor, to be dealt with later.

"Scraps?"

"Yeah?"

"We should totally fuck again."

"Its been five minutes."

"Your point?"

Scrapper rolled his eyes, trying to hide his smile.

Things were going to get much more heated between them.

[obsidiangst]

Whumptober Day 4 - Taken Hostage

Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

WARNINGS: Paranoia, Home Intrusion, Kidnapping, Held at Gunpoint

Laundry was strewn all over Zelda’s bedroom as she dug through her clean clothes baskets looking for her favorite blouses to wear to work. She didn’t understand where it could have gone, she lived alone and washing machines and dryers didn’t just eat clothes- At least she wasn’t under that impression since this hadn’t been a problem in the past.

“Of course I can’t find my blouse on clean laundry day- Of freaking course!” Zelda sighed exasperatedly as she defeatedly went and grabbed her second favorite blouse instead to wear. At least that one was there.

This wasn’t the first time this week she had looked for something only to not find it. Coffee mugs, clothes, and trinkets or jewelry that meant things to her were all missing from their places and Zelda didn’t really have an answer as to where they could have gone. Nothing was awry, there was no sign of anyone breaking into her home, she just- Was misplacing things? That didn’t seem right, but it was the only logical explanation. If she didn’t believe that, then she’d have to admit that ghosts existed and she didn’t plan on doing that anytime soon.

Zelda went to work, greeting her coworkers as she went in and started away at her job. It was at 9am sharp when Link stopped by her office, like he did almost every morning with a latte for her.

“Here you go, Ms.Hyrule. One caramel latte with an extra shot of espresso.” He set the cup on her desk and she flashed him an appreciative smile.

“Thank you, Link, but I’m pretty sure I told you to just call me Zelda.” She said smiling coyly and he sheepishly grinned and rubbed his neck.

“Right, sorry. I’ll try to remember tomorrow.” He said, and Zelda laughed while shaking her head.

“You say that everyday. Go!” She said, shooing him away with a single hand good-naturedly. He laughed a bit under his breath and went on his way.

“You should ask him out on a date.” Her office partner Impa leaned over and said. Zelda swatted at her shoulder, making her lean back away out of reach with a laugh of triumph.

“It’s inappropriate to ask a coworker out on a date, Impa.” Zelda chastised the Sheikah woman, who rolled her eyes.

“He adores you, it’s so cute. Rules schmules, it’s not a company policy, just do it!” Impa said and Zelda laughed, shaking her head in disbelief.

“If he has the kahunas to ask me first, then I’ll say yes, how about that?” Zelda said, raising an eyebrow at Impa who grinned and winked at her.

“We’ll see about that!”

It went from things going missing to things Zelda had never seen before reappearing in their place. Zelda stared at the little black dress she had just pulled from her closet. She had absolutely no recollection of buying a dress like this from anywhere, yet- There it was in her closet.

Soon more clothes appeared and she knew damn well she had never bought brands like that. She called her dad about it finally and he dismissed the concerns, saying she had a lot on her plate and that it was natural to forget things when you were busy. He was no help and Zelda honestly didn’t appreciate being dismissed, so she didn’t mention it to him again.

Then the coffee mug she had looked for for over two months appeared on her dining room table with a note that had nothing more than a smiley face written on it tucked underneath.

That- Had really unsettled her. She started double checking all the windows and doors being locked at night after that and started looking for security systems because that- That was not her. She knew that 100% was someone else. Someone who had been in her home without her knowing. Someone who she may not have known and they likely were responsible for all of the missing items and new items appearing in her home. The dresses, the shirts, the dishes, her one returned mug- The lacy underwear and bras that had been laid on her bed that one time- It was all too much.

After a night where she had hardly slept for her paranoia of hearing someone or something moving around her house, she had ended up leaving all her lights on so she could better see at a moment's notice. She didn’t walk anywhere in her house now without her taser and she felt like she was going insane. Zelda called out of work for a few days because she was too tired after her unrestful weekend to drive to work. She could hardly keep her eyes open, but every little noise made her bolt awake in fear that someone was there.

She sat at her kitchen table with her forehead in her hand as she stared at her half finished cup of coffee, taser sitting on the table within her grasp. She wanted to cry because she was so tired, but there was nothing she could do to alleviate the paranoia keeping her awake. Her throat tightened and she took a deep breath to calm herself down, closing her eyes to try and focus for just a moment when the horrifically recognizable sound of a handgun being cocked sounded behind her. Her entire body went cold as she froze.

“Good morning, Zelda.”

“Link..?” Zelda questioned, slowly turning her head to the side and seeing the familiar outline of her coworker. Gods, was she hallucinating now? No, his smile was too real and the strange look in his eyes unsettled her greatly.

“We’re going to go somewhere today, Zelda.” He said, stepping into her field of vision, revealing he did indeed have a handgun with him. She couldn’t breathe. Why did he have a gun? How did he get into her house? Was he the one who had been taking her things and leaving her new ones? Could she tase him and manage to get the gun out of his hands? That was probably a bad idea.

“Was it you? All this time?” Zelda asked. Link just smiled at her and gestured with his head for her to get up, which she slowly did, warily watching him.

“We can talk when we’re safe.” Link said, taking her arm when she stood and practically beginning to drag her to her front door.

“W-wait, where- Link- Stop-” Zelda dug in her heels and tried to yank her arm away, but went silent and still when Link put the gun to her side.

“You’re going to go quietly and not make a fuss, understand?” He growled into her ear, his voice dropping from the warm friendly tone he’d been using to something a little bit more intimidating that promised pain. Oh, she was getting murdered today she just knew it-

“O-Okay. Okay.” Zelda promised with wide eyes, feeling her heart rate spike as he removed the gun from her ribs and motioned for her to go forwards. His car was in her driveway and she, as calmly as she could manage since she was a hair's breadth away from having a damn panic attack, went to the passenger’s side and got in.

Link got into the driver's side, handing her a bottle of water and three small pills. “Take those.”

“What are th-”

“I said take them.” He snapped at her and she jumped, nodding and doing what he said. When she put the water down, Link grabbed her chin and forced her mouth open, checking that she had actually swallowed the pills. She lifted her tongue in compliance to get him to let her go, since he was actually hurting her at this point and he did. “Those will help you sleep.”

“Link, why-” Zelda questioned, buckling herself up and gingerly touching her chin where he had roughly grabbed her. He hummed as he turned the car on and backed out of her driveway. It was so quiet, none of her neighbors would even notice anything had happened just now.

“Don’t worry about the why. You’ll be safe when we get home.” He said. Zelda was going to question again when her eyes started to unfocus.

“What- Home? Link…” Zelda blinked and then couldn’t keep her eyes open. The last thing she remembered was the sound of Link whistling a lullaby quietly and her head lolling to the side and hitting the window as she passed out.

[imagine-loki]

Stitching The Wounds, Chapter 18

TITLE: Stitching The Wounds CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 18 AUTHOR: fanficshiddles ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki and Kilgrave are Alphas and feel a spark with the same omega. RATING: M

Leona’s heat lasted near ten days, which was unusual. Usually it was just under a week for omegas in heat, hers had been really intense as well.

Loki and Kilgrave had managed to keep up with her, only just.

They were all exhausted by the end of it. And the poor washing machine and dryer had been on at least twice a day to try and keep up with all the sheets that needed washed on a daily basis.

‘I’ve never known a heat to be so intense.’ Loki hummed when Leona fell asleep, or more… passed out, between them both. She was curled up so cutely in the middle of them.

‘I can’t believe how much slick she produced.’ Kilgrave said in awe as he looked over towards the door at the pile of sheets that were needing to be washed, just waiting their turn. Loki had ended up ordering some more to be delivered, just to help keep up.

‘At least it’s over now, for another four months anyway.’ He chuckled lightly, smoothing his hand down Leona’s side.

‘She’s definitely been at her most vulnerable while in heat.’ Kilgrave hummed.

Loki nodded in agreement. ‘At least we had her trust for the duration of it.’ He smiled.

‘Not going to lie, I’m kind of glad we don’t need to worry about her being pregnant. Going through the whole nesting and rapid hormone changes, then the sleepless nights.’ Kilgrave said with a relieved sigh.

Loki chuckled. ‘I bet you weren’t thinking that during her heat though.’

Kilgrave looked sheepish. ‘True.’ He lay on his back and looked up at the roof while he let his fingers lightly glide through Leona’s hair.

-

Kilgrave was made to eat his words the following day. Leona had gone missing, but they managed to find her in her bedroom wardrobe, at the bottom surrounded by pillows and blankets. And she had also stolen their jumpers too for their scents.

She was nesting.

‘I didn’t think omegas nested unless they had been impregnated?’ Kilgrave said to Loki in the kitchen after they had comforted Leona for a while and made sure she was ok. They had tried coaxing her out, but she wasn’t keen to leave her safe space at all.

Loki tapped his lower lip in thought. ‘She could be having a phantom pregnancy.’

‘What?’ Kilgrave’s eyes widened. ‘Is that actually a thing?’

‘Of course.’ Loki nodded.

‘What can we do for her? I don’t want to see her go through the whole process to then be disappointed at the end.’ Kilgrave said sadly.

‘I know, it wouldn’t be good for her mentally to go through that…’ Loki sighed. ‘There are options, but we’d need a doctor to come and confirm she isn’t actually pregnant first. Then there are drugs she can be given to stop her hormones from tricking her body into thinking she is pregnant.’

Kilgrave slid a hand down his face. ‘I guess we need to make an appointment then. With her not wanting to leave her nest, I suggest we get someone to come to the house.’

Loki nodded. ‘Do you have anyone in mind you’d prefer?’ He asked.

‘Not really. I don’t tend to mix with anyone else in the hospital but the neurology department.’

‘Snooty bastard.’ Loki teased with a grin and went to grab his phone to call someone.

-

By the afternoon, a doctor turned up on the doorstep to help. It was a beta woman, which Loki was relieved for. He had a feeling if an Alpha turned up Kilgrave would have had a fit about letting him near their omega while she was so vulnerable.

Loki and Kilgrave explained everything to the doctor before letting her up to see Leona. She had already looked through her previous medical records so she knew what had happened to her in the past.

‘It does sound like she is experiencing a phantom pregnancy. As from the accident when she was younger, it is impossible for her to be carrying. But I will still take a blood sample just to check, it can be done here and I will get the results within ten minutes. While that’s processing, I will give her a general check over and then we can discuss options with her.’ The doctor explained before going into the room with Leona.

‘Sounds a plan.’ Loki nodded, then opened the door and motioned the doctor in.

Leona was confused and a bit worried when the wardrobe opened and she saw a doctor with her two Alphas. Kilgrave crouched down and put his arm around her.

‘It’s alright, pet. We just wanted to get you checked over, as nesting is usually a behaviour that happens if an omega is pregnant.’ He said softly.

She frowned. ‘I… I can’t be pregnant though… I just, I just feel a need to nest.’ She whispered.

‘I know, darling. That’s why the doc is here to check. Since you are nesting, there’s a chance your hormones are playing a cruel trick on you, making you think you’re pregnant. And we need to get that sorted as soon as we can.’ Kilgrave continued.

‘Hi, Leona.’ The doctor smiled and crouched down. ‘I just need to take a blood sample from your arm, so we can run a test just to confirm that you’re not pregnant first. Is that ok?’

‘No! You’re not taking my blood! Don’t come near me!’ She snarled at the doc.

‘Leona.’ Loki growled in warning.

‘She’s here to help.’ Kilgrave said firmly.

Leona scowled at her Alphas and reluctantly shoved her arm out, but she turned her head away and looked at the back of the wardrobe. The doctor looked at Loki and Kilgrave, they nodded their permission for her to go ahead.

They did warn her that she could be a little feisty sometimes.

The doctor took a blood sample and quickly ran the test, she left it to run while she then checked her over. There was more grumbling and reluctance from Leona, but with a firm look from her Alphas she let the doctor check her temperature, look into her ears, eyes and she listened to her chest. Then the doctor finished with taking her blood pressure.

‘Alright. Everything seems to be perfectly well. Let me go check on the blood sample and then we will take it from there.’ The doctor excused herself out of the room to check.

Loki crouched down and gently gripped Leona’s chin. ‘See, it wasn’t so bad, was it?’

She just glared at him, making him chuckle. He leaned over and kissed her forehead, melting her a little and making her features soften.

The doctor came back in a few minutes later.

‘So, you’re definitely not pregnant. Which means your hormones are completely out of whack, making your body think you are. It is unusual behaviour for an omega to nest unless she is pregnant.’ She sighed a little and glanced at the Alphas, then looked back at Leona. ‘If we allow you to continue with your phantom pregnancy, it might dwindle out within a few days. But there is also a chance it won’t, and that can mess with you mentally as well as physically. If you want to stop it, I can give you an injection that will balance out your hormones and tell your body that you’re not pregnant. It might take a day or two but it’s very effective. Though it’s your decision, Leona.’

Leona looked from the doctor to her Alphas. She was scared now, confused. Unsure what to do. She tried to keep her emotions together, but Loki and Kilgrave could tell she was distressed.

‘You decide… I don’t know.’ She said quietly to her Alphas, her lip wobbling a little as she curled herself up and looked away from them all. Breaking Loki and Kilgrave’s hearts.

The two Alphas stepped outside to speak to the doctor.

‘What’s the best option?’ Kilgrave asked quietly.

‘Honestly, I think giving her the hormone injection is best. It will put a stop to it quickly and effectively. It would be stressful for her to carry on.’ The doctor said calmly.

Loki nodded in agreement. ‘We will go with that then… What about her future heats, will this happen every time?’

‘Well. That’s something you will also need to decide on. It’s highly likely she will go through this after every heat. While we could administer the injection afterwards each time, it wouldn’t be overly healthy in the long run. What I’d suggest would be giving her the monthly injection to block her heats from happening at all. They’re perfectly safe to be on permanently, and from what you told me about how intense her heat was, I would highly recommend it. I can also give you a pack to last for the year, as you will be allowed to administer them yourself.’ She said as she looked at Kilgrave, knowing he was a doctor.

Kilgrave nodded, his hands on his hips. Loki ran his hand down his face. It wasn’t an easy thing to be discussing, but they knew they were going to have to do what was best for Leona.

‘I think we need to go for that option. We need to think of her health first and foremost. She did lose some weight during her heat, which isn’t good as she hadn’t put on enough in the first place since we got her.’ Kilgrave said, looking at Loki.

Loki nodded. ‘I agree.’ He looked at the doc. ‘Go for the injection to stop her phantom pregnancy. And if we can get a year supply of the injections, we will go for that option too.’

‘No problem. I will leave you both to tell her about them in a few days, once she’s not nesting and has a clearer mind. I know she’s distressed right now. She might have a sore arm for a few hours after, if she has any reactions give me a call straight away. And the monthly injections are to be given every four weeks, so pick a day and stick with it.’ She sorted out what was needed, then went back into her room with the Alphas.

Loki sat down next to Leona, half in the wardrobe.

‘Leona. The doctor is going to give you an injection now, to help sort your hormones out. Ok?’ He said softly.

She just nodded in agreement and put her arm out. Loki moved in closer and put his arm around her while the doctor administered the injection. It wasn’t painful and was done quickly.

‘There we go. All done. You should start to feel a difference and have a clearer head within a few hours. It can take anywhere between eight and forty-eight hours to settle completely.’ The doctor said to Leona, but also to the Alphas too.

‘Thank you, doc.’ Loki smiled up at her.

Loki relaxed much more when the doctor left the room with Kilgrave. He had been more antsy than he’d first thought he would be, having a stranger in his home when his omega was so vulnerable.

When Kilgrave saw the doctor out, he thanked her again.

‘No worries. I’ve left my private number on the card with the injections, feel free to call me any time. Night or day, if you have any questions or issues. Your poor omega has been through a lot, it’s nice she has such caring and loving Alphas to look after her now.’ She smiled genuinely at Kilgrave, who felt his heart melt.

‘Thank you. That means a lot.’ He smiled.

[oftenderweapons]

Apple of My Pie — Jin

A Small Town Swoons story

Chapter 1.

Pairing: Kim Seokjin x reader (nicknamed Buttercup)

Wordcount: 3.5k words

Genre: non-idol!AU, Baker/Café owner!Seokjin, University student!reader Flatmates!AU, Friends To Lovers, Fluff, slightest angst.

Rating: suggested 18+ (there are brief apparitions of dirty thoughts, also future episodes will contain NSFW material)

A/N: Hello my sweet poppies! Welcome to the Small Town Swoon Universe! 🥰✨

In this episode: Jin and Buttercup met when she was nothing but a scared, homesick first year student. Four years later, the two share an apartment close to her university and his bakery and café, and are the best of friends, sharing the house, several meals and, most importantly a sacred breakfast ritual. However, as far as sharing goes, Seokjin’s heart has belonged exclusively to Buttercup for four years. Exhausted, Jin finally decides to let go of his unrequited feelings, or at least try.  

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Oh, this is chill. Light swearing, heavy infraction of The Silent Roommate Code (aka don’t do the nasty with your bf when your roommate is sleeping in the bed at the other end of the room. Especially if she’s a virgin, first year and very homesick). Also, there is a quick flash image of breast worship, sorry.  

Remember to vote for next prompt (check the link in my bio) and in case you need it, here’s my masterlist 💜

In case you need it, here is the music companion

Enjoy! ✨💜

Navi: Chapter 1 — Chapter 2 — Chapter 3 — Chapter 4 — Chapter 5 — Chapter 6 — Chapter 7 (7/7)

It was a slow morning at Jin’s café, only a pair of clients sitting at the small table in the corner, two girls who always met there on Sunday morning, at an illegal hour for the weekend. They had outdoor equipment with them, and probably it was just a stop for a quick breakfast before going skiing or trekking, which was strange considering the disastrous downpour outside, but who was he to debate.

Plus the usual early birds were late too, probably because of the university bonfire the night before.

Seokjin yawned and silently cried over his lost hours of sleep. He was ready to sit down, tip the back of his head against the wall and sleep — actually, rest his eyes —, when the bell at the front door dinged, announcing a new customer.

He inhaled and wore his best smile, standing up. “Good morn— Oh my god, sweetie are you alright?” He asked, seeing a drenched young girl stand at the door.

“I might use a friend.”

That girl was you, running away from your roommate and her boyfriend fucking in your dorm room. Right in the bed beside yours. With you there. And they didn’t even bother keeping quiet.

Seokjin was awestruck. You were soaked like a stray kitten left out in the rain, your hair sticking to your face, your eyes wide and your lip trembling, speaking of several degrees of trauma. “Poor thing.” He murmured, “wait, I should have a blanket back here.”

He dashed for the small cot he had in his office, in the back of the shop, gripping the fleece blanket and bringing it back to the counter, jogging around it and opening the blanket wide as he stared at you. “It’s better if you take off your robe. It’s dripping wet.” He said discreetly.

The girls at the front stared at the scene, a bit worried about you but mostly endeared at the cute barista taking care of you.

“May I use the restroom? The shirt underneath is, uh, thin... Oh, god this is so embarrassing.” You hid your face in your hands.

“Of course,” Jin blushed to his ears, offering you the blanket. “Would you like some coffee? Tea? Cocoa?”

Your lip wobbled, eyes watering and not for the rain. “Cocoa?”

“Yes, sweetie. Go get changed, the restroom is over there.” He pointed at the door.

“Thank you so much.” You said, placing the blanket in front of your chest.

Seokjin rushed behind the counter, grabbing a rag to dry up the wet patches you had left on the floor before someone slipped. Next he got your cocoa ready.

In the quiet morning, through the background music and the gentle chatting of the other two clients, he could hear you using the hand dryer, glad that it was set on hot air so that you could hopefully warm yourself in the process. He even thought of bringing you in the actual bakery, where he had a small traditional stove operated by firewood, other than the big oven working for croissants and banana bread and brownies and pies.

You emerged from the bathroom a little more composed, bundled up in his blanket.

It smelled good. Like raw sugar, butter and apples. A tinge of raisins.

It smelled domestic, like your granny.

You missed your granny.

You missed home.

Your lip wobbled again.

“Come sit”, he said, pointing at a chair in a private corner of the room, somewhere you would be a bit protected from the rest of the shop. It was also conveniently close to the counter, so he could check on you and ask you if you wanted to talk about what had happened. His first thought was that you were a teenage runaway with very bad planning skills, considering that you had run out in your pyjamas and a jacket, your shoes definitely inappropriate for the weather outside, holding only a pair of keys and your wallet in your hands, placing them on the counter once you sat.

“I’m Seokjin.” He said kindly, offering you his hand.

You caught his hand and introduced yourself.

“So, what brings you here with this devil weather so early on a Sunday morning.”

“Running away from my roommate and her boyfriend.” You said, hugging the blanket tighter around you.

“What hap— Nevermind, I think I got it.” Seokjin said, blinking repeatedly. Goodness, people were nasty. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked, placing the cup of cocoa in front of you. “Cream? Cocoa powder? Cinnamon? Chocolate sauce? Marshmallows?” He asked.

You teared up. “Marshmallows.”

He poured an abundant amount of them as he pouted, noticing you had become even more upset.

“There you go, Buttercup.” He said, smiling at you so kindly.

“Thank you,” you said, your voice weak and your forehead creased as you desperately tried not to let your tears spill.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked, delicately letting his hands move toward yours, moving slowly to see if you took it away. “May I?” He asked, his fingers hovering over yours.

You nodded. While your left hand held the blanket close to your chest, your right ended pressed between his warm palms, the one on top rubbing your knuckles.

“How old are you?” He asked, worried. He wore a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry, you look very young, I’m just asking to see if I should call your parents or anyone adult.”

“I live at the dorms. I’m in college.” You said, frowning a little.

“As I said, you look very young. And there are some underage students here so...” He explained, his deep, dark eyes breaching through your bad mood.

“I’m a first year. Nineteen.” You said.

“Poor darling, that must be so hard on you.” He said softly, still patting your hand.

You nodded. “I miss my family. My granny.”

“Oh, buttercup.” He cooed.

If you were in a sane state of mind you would have snickered at yourself and at how miserable you looked.

Still, you were grateful for the kind and gentle Seokjin. And how easily he had brought you back home, with the scent of his café, the taste of the cocoa and the specific brand of marshmallow that your grandmother always got for you when you were little.

“It’s a three hour drive. And it’s tough here.” You said, hiding your face as you dried one tear.

“Do you have any friends here?” He asked.

You shook your head. “Not really.”

Seokjin smiled, his eyes becoming even kinder as his cheeks became round and puffy. “From today, I’m your friend.”

Seokjin, you are a strong-willed, honest man. You are a gentleman. You are a good human. He kept repeating in his brain.

You are a polite, friendly, reliable. You are her friend. He repeated as a mantra.

Still, his brain was completely drowned with thoughts of you in the shower.

The two of you had become flatmates in rushed circumstances after you found an apartment ten minutes away from your university, which allowed you to walk there without having to take the bus or end up in the decrepit dorms, sharing a room way too small with someone way too rude or too loud.

Seokjin still didn’t know what had convinced him to share an apartment with you. It was hell. And heaven too, when he didn’t keep reminding himself that you weren’t his girlfriend, that you would never see him like that, and that he shouldn’t be playing house with you.

It was torture and bliss. Bliss on your Sunday mornings, when you could have breakfast together, or random nights when you would have movie marathons together and you would fall asleep against his shoulder, when he would cook for you and you would have dinner together over a glass of wine, laughing and making jokes. The more he spent time with you like that, seeing you drink your morning cup of coffee while still half asleep, on those days when he had someone else doing the morning shift — which was extremely rare — the more he realised you were absolutely perfect for him.

And then torture.

In moments like this, while you were under the shower, when you got out of it and as usual you walked around the house clad in nothing but a towel, absolutely comfortable in your skin, or when you thought he wasn’t home and he could hear your breathy moans and little whimpers, and then again on those two or three nights you had taken somebody home — in those circumstances he felt like he was paying for an ancient crime he didn’t know he had committed.

You had convinced him to move in with you since the apartment — being close to the university — was also incredibly close to his shop, and once he saw your eyes glimmering, your pretty face begging him to accompany you to visit the apartment, he couldn’t really say no.

So, he had said yes.

And once he saw the building, and the warm, domestic ambience, he realised that even if he would never be your lover, the least he could allow himself was to live this small daydream with you.

A week later you and him had signed the papers to rent the place. And everything had escalated from there. You had become the closest of friends, trusting and leaning on each other in every moment, through every difficulty.

However, the more he got to know about the men you dated, the more he realised you would never be attracted to him.

They were all fancy preppy boys who very likely knew the entirety of the Oxford dictionary and could probably recite Shakespeare sonnets impromptu. One of them could easily have been grandson to a duchess or a marquise. And he was pretty sure the first boy you had dated — second year university — had even a trust fund.

It was basically unreal for you to look at him with anything but friendly appreciation.

In an attempt to silence his thoughts, he got out of bed and headed for the kitchen, starting the coffee machine and getting your breakfast ready.

Maybe you would have completely ignored it being January and you would have simply climbed the barstool by the counter wearing your bathrobe, your hair still wet, and the two of you could have had breakfast just like that, without any kind of embarrassment.

As soon as coffee started brewing, your nose appeared from the bathroom door, barely ajar as you slipped out in a soft-looking white t-shirt.

As he threw a glance in your direction he knew immediately that you had very likely stolen the undershirt from his freshly washed laundry.

You slithered out of the bathroom and with stealthy footsteps you occupied your regular spot in the kitchen, watching as he prepared all the necessary material for a respectable breakfast.

“Good morning.” He said as he saw you perched on your favourite seat.

“Morning.” You replied, your feet bare, your toes gripping the small bar connecting the two front legs of the chair. “I thought you were at the café.” You said, pushing your hair away from your face. They weren’t dripping, but they were still a bit damp, especially since you had stopped drying them as soon as the smell of hot coffee reached you in the bathroom.

“Lara is covering the morning shift. I’m doing tea time today. The ladies love me and Lara can’t stand them asking about her boyfriend. I can’t have her kiss and grind on her girlfriend in the middle of my distinguished bakery out of spite.” Jin placed some apple slices on your plate, together with a quite large piece of apple pie.

In a small bowl, he poured some dry fruit before placing it on the table.

“Petty, angsty thing she is.” You said, clicking your tongue. “A true hero.”

He snickered. “Not surprised you’re friends.”

“I am patience made person.” You said, playfully offended.

“Like that one time you smashed a plate on the floor because you had burnt yourself when taking it out of the oven.”

“It was an accident. I dropped it.”

“Like it’s hot.” Seokjin murmured under his breath, lightly swaying his hips as he finished aesthetically placing your food on the plate.

“What?” You asked, comically confused.

“Nothing.” He said, stopping altogether before pouring you some coffee, adding a spray of whipped cream and decorating it with caramel and crushed caramelised almonds.

Jin asked himself how many more times he’d be able to cook you breakfast; how long until he would have to teach someone else, until you would move out with another person and you start your day with crappy industrial food instead of homemade pies and organic apples and his grandmother’s dried hazelnuts and almonds and freshly toasted chestnuts when the season was right.

Whenever he was home, he spoiled you with homemade breakfast. It was the only way he truly allowed himself to show you how desperately in love with you he is. Anytime he cooked, love simply seemed to pour out of his body through the powerful way he kneaded biscuit and pie batter, and the delicate gestures he used to place each part of a dish to form beautiful works of art: crimson red wine risotto on white porcelain plates; juicy cuts of meat, perfectly cooked in that wondrous oven of his, with a deep brown layer on the outside and the most tender dark pink in the middle, laying on the freshest bed of lettuce with a thin dribble of balsamic vinegar and crushed green peppercorn on deep blue rectangular plates.

And every Sunday was sacred. Every Sunday morning he woke up like he had spent all Saturday night courting you and making love to you — minus the obvious relief and satisfaction that come from spending all night on a bed with the person who is your partner and your lover at the same time. Sunday morning was his favourite ritual. Waking you up with the smell of your favourite hot chocolate — the one you seemed to be addicted to, and that he used on you and against you very wisely — and then cake, a different one every week, and again fruit and sometimes, in summer he would go to the closest farm, buy the milk directly from the farmer, a friend of his grandmother, at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning, bring it home, pasteurise it so that it was ready for Sunday morning, when he would use it for the healthiest of smoothies.

He loves you. He has loved you for years. And after two years of living together, losing hope was a possibility.

A possibility a bit too vast at the moment. Actually — hopefully — reality.

Today would be like any other day if it weren’t for one small fact.

Two days ago it had been four years since he first realised he had fallen for you. And two days ago he had decided he would stop chasing after you.

Therefore, he had decided that from then on, he would let go of you, even if that meant losing a part of himself. And today he would actively start walking a new path.

Once the table was ready, he arranged both your and his plate there, without passing you your cup of coffee — as he usually did — and waiting for you to come to the table.

You moved your hair out of the way as you sat down, taking your fork, not even noticing Seokjin’s first sign of petty detachment. You immediately stabbed your fork inside the apple slice and bit into it.

“Do you have lessons today?”

“Romantic Philology in the afternoon.” You replied munching, pushing your hair behind your shoulders, accidentally exposing two wet patches on the front of your t-shirt.

Actually, Seokjin’s t-shirt, but you decided he didn’t need to know that: you had simply forgotten to carry your clothes to the bathroom and once you heard the bustle going on in the kitchen, you managed to find a pair of pyjama pants in the clean laundry, but not a shirt. And you had stolen one of Seokjin’s. Not like it was a big deal.

“Romantic as in love?” He asked.

“No, as in 1830s, German, English and Italian. We’re looking into Byron and Shelley. Sometimes it’s outright boring, but our professor is so hilarious, she sees right through all those pompous arses.” You said, getting started on your masterpiece of a coffee.

“Oh.” Seokjin said. One more point for the preppy kids.

“No, it’s just academic stuff. Nothing that is actually worth something in real life. Some days I just wish I could give up on Goethe and Scott and the Brontes so I could bake cookies without a care in the world.”

And every day he wished he could give you just that. Turn his bakery into your sanctuary, hold you there, half guest, half hostage.

He decided to halt his thoughts there. No more.

“So you have teatime. Do you want me to make dinner tonight?” You asked.

“Actually no.” He said casually.

You stopped munching on your food. “Oh. It’s not Tuesday, though. Are you out with the guys, random meet up? Is Namjoon in town?”

“No.” He glued his eyes to the plate. No, he had not noticed your hardened nipples, a vague halo of dusty pink appearing from underneath the thin, wet white cotton. No. He would not let his mind wander. No, he would smash the thought out of his mind. 

Smash you. 

No! The thought. His mind. Out.

Like the colour didn’t remind him of fresh raspberry ice cream, like he hadn’t imagined dragging frozen raspberries against your oh-so-responsive buds, only to warm them with his mouth afterwards, pinch the small fruits between his fingers, crush them until tiny droplets of ruby juice landed on your lush breasts, his tongue lashing out to collect the liquid and lave your luscious curves.

But this time the thought did not enter his brain. This time he let it wither and dissolve into fine, sterile dust.

“Are you having dinner with your granny? And you didn’t invite me?” You said, pouting. “Her roast-beef is—” You stopped and swooned. “The definition of perfection.”

“I’m out on a date.” He said briefly and simply.

You frowned and quickly lifted your eyebrows, not letting the confusion show. “You sure you still know how those work?”

“It’s not like I’m celibate.” He said shrugging with his humongous shoulders. Lifting all those sacks of flour… And helping at the farm— You frowned again.

“Cinnamon?” He asked, knowing that the spice sometimes bothered you.

“No, no...”

“Do you need assistance, for your date? You sure you don’t mean the exotic, typically Egyptian fruit?”

“I mean I’m going out with a girl.” Seokjin started growing impatient.

“Who is it?” You asked, out of curiosity. In two years he had never brought a girl home. And in four years you had know each other, you had never seen him with a female friend or an actual girlfriend. You didn’t even know what is his type.

“Her name is Grace. She’s been a regular at the café for a few months now. She asked me out and I thought it would be rude to say no.”

Your interest poked, you placed down your fork. “Did she invite you?” You held your coffee in your hands, trying to keep yourself from gesticulating nervously.

“No. I did.” He said, finishing his pie and starting to eat all the hazelnuts in the small cup.

“I mean. Plenty of girls give you their phone number on a weekly basis. I literally find them everywhere. There’s around thirty on top of the washing machine alone, because I can’t do your laundry and have all those pieces of papers disintegrating and infesting our laundry and the drain. Why didn’t you ignore her like all the rest?” You asked, a bit upset.

“Because she seems a nice person,” who could love me back, which you don’t. He replied, leaving half the motivation silent in his brain.

“Cool.” You said, finishing your coffee before standing up and placing the cup in the sink.

“Cool,” he replied, neutral, watching as you left all the almonds and dried banana slices in the cup, the pie on your plate. “You’re not done with breakfast.”

“I’m late with my homework.” Which you weren’t, but you felt like your breakfast had been poisoned. Maybe that’s why you felt sick in your stomach.

Seokjin pouted and finished his food before placing your leftovers in small boxes. He knew you would come back hungry from uni and finish the food you had abandoned.

He didn’t read too much into your reaction. He was done trying to understand you.

Today he was finally done being stuck at a crossroad, and although your path in the woods felt and looked lovely and smelled even better, he opted for the safe, trodden and charted way that led out of the woods, into the uneventfulness of the ordinary.

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Navi: Chapter 1 — Chapter 2 — Chapter 3 — Chapter 4 — Chapter 5 — Chapter 6 — Chapter 7 (7/7)