#took me forever to get a better frame rate ><

[romanreignseater]

Our Reflection.

Jey Uso x Black Female Reader

Rating: 18 +

Warning: Probably my dirtiest story yet. It’s just pure filth. Brace yourself.

“Being two beautiful people in a relationship causes us to look in the mirror quite often. So, why not take a chance and fuck in front of it.”

A/N: They need to stop targeting our Bloodline hero, Mr. Main Event Jey Uso. That’s my man and I got his back. Sorry… I’m in my feeling about NOC 😭. Had to write for my him, but I also got a Jimmy fic coming out soon, so stay tuned. Also, I didn’t forget about my Dean fic it’s still coming out as well.

GIF: @jeysuso

“You really think you could guess my Chipotle order?!”

My husband, Jey, smiled through FaceTime. “I feel the vibes right now, like that telepathic shit.”

I couldn’t even contain my laughter at his remark of us being telepathic. “So, what do I want then baby?!”

“Well, obviously you always want me that’s a given.” I rolled my eyes at slick comment and he cheesed real hard.

“Okay then with yo fine ass, what do I want?!”

“I thought I was handsome.” His hand over his heart as if he were hurt. “You’re actually an idiot.” Jey soon began sniffling like he was going to cry, eyes closed and all.

This boy really in the middle of Chipotle actin a fool.

“Okayyy… handsome.” He peeled one eye open and smirked at me lovingly. “What. Do. I. Want?!”

He opened his mouth, giving me a long and very dramatic pause just to say, “I can’t tell you that mama. But, I know you always get chips and guac, so that’s all you need to know.”

This boy better get my burrito.

——————————————————————————

Roughly about two hours later, I began doing my makeup. My girls invited me out to a quick little lunch.

I’ve been waiting for Jey, but my chipotle STILL… had yet to arrive. I wasn’t gonna sit around and not get me something to eat. So, lunch with my girls it was.

Trin was on her way to pick me up, so I had some time to kill. The 28’ inch jet black silky buss down was laid, and the all black outfit was hugging my curves in all the right places. My top had a heart cutout right at my cleavage showcasing my ample breasts and my leggings were definitely holding my ass tight.

As I looked in the mirror, making sure everything was looking right before I continued my makeup. In the mirror I could see Mr. Main Event Jey Uso standing in the doorway admiring me.

Looking down at his reflection, I could see a Chipotle bag in his hand. But, when looking up I could see his bottom lip sheathed behind his teeth.

Turning back around to the mirror continuing my makeup, “Look who decided to show up.”

I could hear Jey’s heavy size 13 feet nearing me. Looking up from my eyeshadow palette, my husband’s big frame could surround my entire body. He stood behind me with his hat on backwards, gold link chain dancing on his neck, Niu Tat crop top, and black cotton Nike shorts.

“And where yo’ ass think you going looking this fine?!”

Jey pressed himself against my backside, and I could feel his heavy member stabbing me in the ass. The bag of food was placed on the counter and Jey’s hands were placed on the counter in front of me, practically trapping me between the both of them.

“I hope you got what I wanted sir.”

I continued doing my eyeshadow and Jey looked at me with utter confusion. He pushed my hair behind my ear and whispered, “You ain’t answer my question.” (Just imagining this is Jey’s voice 😩).

“And I don’t want to, your ass took forever with my food.”

Jey’s lips soon traveled down my neck, kissing, licking, and sucking at it passionately. I completely ignored his gestures, and he could tell his neck kisses weren’t working.

“I got you a burrito, I felt that telepathic shit.”

“That’s cute babe, but I got plans to go eat out anyways.” Turning around I swiped a little eyeshadow on his cheek. I giggle as his face remained stone cold.

“So… who you got these ‘plans’ with?!”

“Nunya.”

Jey’s face changed from a sly and hard stare, to a completely hard stare.

“So you’re telling me… you going out to eat, looking all good, smelling all good, just to make me upset cause I brought your Chipotle late?!”

I paused brush strokes and looked him in his eyes in the mirror. “I still would’ve went out with the girls, even if you brought the Chipotle earlier. So… I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

“What I’m gonna tell you is what I’m gonna do to you.” Jey begins to sort of pace around me back and forth. He then walks back behind me and bent my back over the counter slowly.

“What are you doing boy?! I got a lunch to go to.”

My breasts were soon pressed against the counter, and Jey’s knees spread my legs apart. His grip on my back arrived to the back of my neck and my breathing became heavier.

He bent down to my level in front of the mirror, looking me in my eyes and said, “Imma eat this pussy real good, fuck you real hard, you finna eat this burrito, and then I’ll think about letting you go out,”

His commands made me very upset, but also really wet.

“I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing, but I gotta finish getting ready.” As I tried to get up from my bent position, I couldn’t. Jey’s strength totally overpowered mine and there was really no way I’d get up.

“Yo’ ass ain’t going nowhere.” I yelped as a smack was placed on my ass. A couple more smacks were laid upon my ass and tears began to well up in my eyes.

“Aww, you crying and I didn’t even fuck you yet. And to think yo’ ass was tryna run from this dick. Tsk tsk tsk.” I looked up at him with fury.

Jey’s hands went from the back of my neck to my clothed, pulsing mound. Massaging it ever so gracefully. Goosebumps arose from my arms and Jey chuckled, practically enjoying the reactions I was trying not to give him.

Jey shocked me by ripping my leggings straight down the middle, panties and all.

“JEY!! WHAT THE FUC-.” His large and bear like hands covered my mouth, nearly my entire face. “Shhhhh.” He placed a kiss on top of my head and his fingers traveled from my neck to my cunt.

Rubbing my slick juices all over the entirety of my pussy. “Unhh, oh my g-.” I moaned through his hand, but I soon stopped moaning as Jey paused his ministrations. Looking at him with pure anger, he took his wet fingers into his mouth and sucked on my juices.

“That shit tasty mama.” Even though, he was pissing me off, he was just so irresistible. “I’m about to go to town on that pussy.”

I watched as his head dipped down and he was at level with my pussy. I felt him spread my lips apart and his hot breath cascading it. His thick thumb traced my pussy lips gently and he pressed it against my clit.

“Gotta taste it before I fuck it huh?!” As I tried to get a word out, he dived right in. He spread his mouth over my center. My hand traveled behind and was placed on the back of his head while he went to work. He drooled all over this pretty little pussy, causing me to whimper and whine for him.

Jey slurped on me a little more before bringing his hand up to meet my ass with a stinging slap. I continued to breathe deeply as he was really eating it from the back.

He feasted wholeheartedly on me, not stopping. This pussy belonged to him all day, everyday, whenever he wanted it, and he damn sure was getting it now. My legs shook as I felt the pressure build up. “Unhhhh, I’m cumming Jey.”

“Cum for daddy mama.” His saliva drooled from my ass to my clit, making even more of a mess. Just absolutely tonguing me down to the max. I came all over his tongue and I shook with pleasure. But, I soon screamed as he didn’t stop.

The overstimulation was getting to me, and I knew I was going to burst. My ears to deaf the other sounds, the only thing I could hear was the gushy noises coming from his filthy mouth.

“Oh my god, I’M CUMMING AGAIN!!”

“Go on baby.” My pussy lips quivered as Jey continually made out with it sloppily. I reached my high and squirted all over Jey’s face.

I had an out of body experience as Jey rubbed me through out the rest of my orgasm. My ass gained a couple more abusive smacks and Jey’s shorts were dropping.

Lifting my head up and arching my back for me, Jey told me his exact plans. “I’m for real about to get balls deep in my shit, ya understand me?!” My eyes lowered and breath staggered as I tried my best to look at him in his eyes.

“Ya understand me princess?!”

Gulping, I accept his orders. “Yes daddy.”

“Don’t be running now.”

I couldn’t really make no promises of that, cause if he got to hitting that spot; which I knew he would, it would be a wrap.

His swollen mushroom tip glided against my cunt savagely, spreading my juices all over his tip. Jey soon pressed his tan brown dick in, gently massaging my walls instantly.

He smacked my ass once more. “That ass juicy just like that pussy.”

“Just fuck me boy.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

He pushed my chest deeper into the counter, getting in a few solid strokes of that monster dick before gradually picking up speed. He starts stroking me so good, and the pleasure is near unbearable. “Okay baby, stop I’m cumming.”

“Already?! I barely started and I’m having fun.”

My little manicured hands were placed upon his rock hard abs trying to get him to stop. “I’m serious STOP!!” My pussy was getting obliterated and Jey had yet to stop. I began squirting all over his cock and my whole body began to convulse.

“Damn girl… I was about to get my leg up on the counter so I could really hit that shit.” My breath was sucked out of my lungs and my heart felt like it had just stopped. Jey held onto the sides of my stomach and waited for my breathing to calm down.

“You better be ready now, cause ain’t no stopping.”

He placed his length back into my cunt, stretching my walls to accommodate his meaty girth. My head was soon lifted and held in place as Jey fixed my vision to him and him only in the mirror.

“I know how much you like to look in the mirror, Imma really give you something to look at.”

Jey’s foot was placed on the counter right beside me and my head nearly fell, but he was quick to catch it. My toes curled and my brows furrowed. “Daddy, you’re so deep.”

“I know baby.”

He plunged into my cunt so devilishly, “It feels like you’re in my stomach.”

Jey plunged forward so his stomach was placed against my back. He cupped my cheeks, “I know, cause I am in your guts.”

His strokes just absolutely brutal, grabbing my hair, and smacking my ass digging off in my pussy. Balls sticking and slapping against my clit, providing an entire new sensation.

Pounding my g-spot like there was no tomorrow. Both of us moaning and watching one another reflections in the mirror. I watched Jey’s stomach tensed admiring my thickness spreading me all the way out, my cunt tightening as he slid in and out of me with ease.

“That pussy so wet baby, that shit talking to me huh?!”

“Yes daddy all for you.”

“I know that’s right.”

My body went limp and my eyes rolled into the back of my head. My knees threaten to give out, but Jey’s vice like grip on my hips lead me to continue to stand upright. “I’m cumming so hard daddy, you’re fucking the shit out of me.”

“Yeah, let the neighbors know my name mama. Scream for me.”

With a loud cry, I squirted all over his length, nearly pushing it out. Jey began to chuckle as he sped up his pace, clutching my ass cheeks for dear life. Moaning sweetly as he released heavy spurt after heavy spurt into the warmth of my sweet little pussy. Pulling out with one final smack to my ass, his cum dribbled out of my hole onto my clit.

Grabbing my cheeks harshly, he kissed me sloppily. Spit all over my lips and around my mouth. “I love you baby.”

“I love you too boy.”

As we looked into each others eyes, we could hear the loud banging of the front door.

“Y/N!! GET YO ASS DOWN HERE!! Are you coming or not?!”

“Tell Trin you already did.”

Rolling my eyes once more at my husband, but his big smile got me every time.

——————————————————————————

THE END.

MY TAG SQUAD: @cyberdejos2 @thesamoanqueen @nayys-world @mzv11 @babybatlover @vogueyonce @harmshake @harlem11680 @seeingstarks @thewarlordsworld @alyyaanna @southerngirl41 @christinabae @pitlissa22 @thealliasylum @fame-ass-ers @iluvthebloodline @jeyusos-girl @ah-fin3sse @solosikoasgf @msbigredmachine @rollinsland @angelicflower2020

[sanctus-ingenium]

u guys wanna see more WIPs... similar to the last post, here are Some WIPs

all of these were started in sai before going on to procreate. before going back to sai again in the case of the strength card

so Blue Sky/Out Of Time... yeah it’s extremely self-explanatory, it’s very obvious what this scene depicts and i’m sure everyone gets it (this is a joke i’ve had multiple people dm me asking wtf this even is). the one element that absolutely NEEDED to be there was the LED digital clock with a bullshit time on it, and i decided to replace it with an AIRE warning sign instead and put the LED readouts in the bg. the warning sign in this setting serves the purpose of informing ppl when there are hostile faeries around. i knew what the colours would be from the beginning, but it took a bit for me to realise what sort of shading style i wanted (it took forever). but i did know i wanted to contrast the very sketchy black void against the cleaner and almost cartoony/comic book style rest of the drawing, to emphasise the fact that the foreground sky and background void are made of two very different things. again i used a colour shifting brush to quickly make all the shards of sky different colours, but originally i planned to have some of the shards be dark or night time (with stars or the moon etc). unfortunately it didn’t work, it was too dark and pascal got lost against it.

My Eyes Are Up Here is pretty obviously the exact same scene with the same character, in the same field, but with a different sort of atmosphere. i sketched this in sai then did the final in procreate. originally it was going to have a black background

i really like this version tbh but the blue works better. i think he looks good against dark backgrounds where it’s kind of hard to see wtf is even happening there

so about the neon signs..... i’m well aware that the sketch has way more promise than what the final ultimately was, and that’s because i found that i didn’t have the technical or artistic ability to pull off the complex neon signs like i wanted to. i couldn’t get it looking good enough so i had to scrap them. but these signs will be back, i want to draw them properly and do them justice. the gif was unplanned too but i thought it would be fun to have the flicker be very intermittent so that if you scrolled past it you might not even realise, or you’d have to stick with it just to catch it looping. i used GIMP to make the gif and change the frame rate, and this actually took a very long time because i had to preview it over and over. anyway if you WERE to get lost in the púca’s field, in this story, you would see neon signs like this encouraging you to follow them.

Strength is actually the last drawing i ever made that ended with a paint-over in sai, and the oldest drawing here. as such i actually don’t think it’s representative of my current ability but i do have a soft spot for it for sentimental reasons lol. the reason for the paint-over in sai was because i drew this at a time when i still did not trust procreate to be able to place the level of finish on it that i wanted

the background took me a thousand years to figure out. literally it was so annoying that i considered scrapping it for something simpler. but the idea was for it to be a kind of fairytale-ish lost in the woods sort of look while also appearing like the blood vessels around the human heart. the branches were also supposed to be heart-shaped in cross-section but i spent so long zoomed in painting them that i forgot to zoom out to see if all those fine details were actually visible, and it turned out they weren’t. i was disappointed that i couldn’t get félix’s tattoos to look right but that’s what i get for making a character with shit tons of both tattoos and body hair. i also got rid of the foreground branches really soon because they weren’t adding anything and muddied up the readability of his pose

the swan is from a daemon au and bears no relation to my other swan characters. i just like swans a lot

[deancasbigbang]

Title: right in the palm of your hand

Author: LoversAntiquities

Artist: JenniferB

Rating: Mature

Pairings: Dean/Castiel, Dean/Others (mentioned)

Length: 39000

Warnings: Suicidal ideation, descriptions of torture

Tags: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Parenthood, Trauma Recovery, Future Fic, Post-Season 12 Finale

Posting Date: October 30, 2023

Summary: Five years after Castiel's death, Dean has built a life in Murphy, North Carolina. A decent life, with a house he built with his own hands, and Jack, now five years old and beginning kindergarten in the fall. Only, after a string of failed relationships and sleepless nights staring at the urn on his windowsill, he makes an unwilling decision--to bury Castiel for good. Only, the night he and Jack bury Castiel's ashes, the unthinkable happens--Castiel rises from the dead, wounded from his time in the Empty, and with his resurrection comes questions Dean never thought he would need answered. Namely, how long will Castiel stay with him--and will the Empty come back for him, once and for all?

Excerpt: On the other end, the phone rings three times—then a fourth, and Dean’s heart sinks. A fifth, and the dial tone ends halfway, the noise replaced with a tired sigh. “Isn’t it a little late for you to be calling?” Dean snorts and tilts his head back, eyes closed. “Jack had a hard day. Swear, the kid’s brain never shuts off.” Mary hums a noise. A metal chair scrapes the concrete floor on the other end, grating in Dean’s ears. Kitchen, then. “When you were three, you used to go on these tangents,” she says, mirthful yet somehow sad. “I couldn't understand what you were saying most of the time, but on the days you talked the most, it took forever to put you to bed.” “I probably gave you hell,” Dean says. He rubs the bridge of his nose, the pressure only furthering the ache behind his eyes. “I’m turning into John.” For a long moment, Mary doesn’t reply. Dean listens to her walk, her socked feet padding lightly through the Bunker; a door opens, then clicks shut. “Don’t talk about yourself like that,” she says, quiet. “What happened?” Nothing, he thinks. In the grand scheme of things, today’s incident was barely a drop in the bucket of Dean’s bad parenting skills, but it still stings all the same. “I’m—The kid scares me to death,” he says with a pained laugh. “I thought I was getting better at this. I thought, if I did everything the opposite of what dad did to me, then I’d finally redeem myself, but I…” A breath. “He scared me today, and I—I scared him.” ���Dean.” Her bed frame creaks. Dean imagines her sitting on the edge of her mattress, dressed in a cotton robe with her hair pulled back, her eyes just as tired as the day he left. “I wish you would’ve let us help.” “I know.” Admittedly, he should have let Mary and Sam take on co-parenting duties, but Jack was Castiel’s son, and for some reason, letting anyone else take responsibility of him felt like betrayal. “I’m not gonna throw a kid in your lap again, especially after you just…” After you came back, he wants to say. “Know it ain’t been easy on you, either.” “It hasn’t,” Mary says, “but it’s getting better.” There’s that, at least.

DCBB 2023 Posting Schedule

[elvisabutler]

gunmetal

summary: elvis loves his guns. you think he loves you. question is are those mutually exclusive. fandom: elvis presley | elvis 2022 pairing: elvis presley x female reader rating: m word count: 3328 not even remotely talking about it. it happened alright? warnings: gun kink. elvis's sexual issues. minor implied food kink maybe? use of a gun in penetrative ways. masturbation ( m and f ). implied future oral ( f ). older/later elvis described/implied. ( i'm not meaning that in a warning re: weight, it's more i do know that some would prefer to not interact with elvis as he was toward the end of his life in ways that are sexual ). minor daddy kink, as in reader calls elvis daddy and he refers himself as daddy. it's not super in your face. minor mommy kink on elvis's part. also unhealthy bdsm practices because you know, no one in this is necessarily fully sober/in good states of mind. just really y'all, this is a...ride. also thigh riding and squirting. author's note: okay. so let me explain myself. this gif is not indicative of the exact time frame for elvis i chose for this though have at it, pick austin elvis and 73ish as ya man here if you want. i definitely did not. so. i read a set of fics that had kinks i don't have in the slightest because i was curious ( because i've been in fandom/the internet too long and i look at dead dove don't eat on some fics and think it's a challenge ) and i faintly regret my choices with it. but it made me basically be like jimmie where i say things like "i don't know what i'm thinking". said fic set has wormed its way into my brain where it lives and tosses me like two pennies and a bit of lint for rent. this is the bit of lint. i am sorry for this. if y'all actually want another gun kink fic from me, i'll probably write it come november but i wanted to do something different with this. i don't know what this is. when i said unhinged, i didn't necessarily mean sexy. watch this be accidentally sexy. also hi, yeah this is day 13 of kinktober, gun kink with elvis. and yes i have had to edit this three times.

Elvis- You love Elvis. God help you and saints preserve you, but you love him. You love him enough that you forget how he can be, how you forget how he slowly is becoming a version of him that you're not sure you want to be with. He's possessive and mercurial on his best days, possessive and terrifying on his worst. Priscilla had warned you, Linda had warned you, they had both told you that Elvis takes and takes and takes and while he gives and gives and gives it's complicated. It's maybe never what you need.

You're giving though, you're the type of girl Elvis needs right now. Someone to keep him in check, to try and slide him into something inching toward health even as his body wants to rebel against him.

But Elvis takes, Elvis has desires that he'd keep unspoken for some girls. But Priscilla took it, Linda took it- his true girls- his girls he wanted to keep would take it. Would take what he wanted to give them. Elvis likes to combine the things he loves into something he figures is better than the two things apart. It's with his food, his music and truthfully his needs and wants in the bedroom. You're his girl and they're his girls and the values them more anything in the world other than little Lisa. They even outrank you and you know it. Girls may come and go but Elvis's guns? Oh those girls are forever, his personal harem to pick and choose from and keep close.

Elvis doesn't sleep well after shows, everyone has told you that from the second you said hello and he said ain't you the prettiest thing this side of the Mississippi. You are always riled up after shows, always a squirming mess he carts off to the bedroom the second he gets to the hotel. Some nights- like this particular night he's not up to the task of fucking you. A sign of his age, maybe a sign of how his body wants to betray him at the one thing he enjoys as much as- well as much he knows things are twisted in his head. He is hungry after the shows though and after this particular show he's got you in his lap, on one of his thighs, your body bouncing and grinding as you use its substantial size to provide pressure to your clit, to your cunt to every part of your body in between your legs. You're facing him and occasionally your hands drift down to his stomach, wanting to feel it, wanting to feel his chest and every part of him. He always gives you a look over his glasses before moving your hand back up to his arm. He can see your face starting to twist like he knows it does when you're heading toward your release, he's impressed tonight. Normally you require his fingers on your clit or pinching at your nipples. Maybe these big thighs were good for something, tonight.

"Make a mess of your Daddy, darlin'. Stain the jumpsuit, hm?" He murmurs into your ear before feeling you shudder against him, your body taking his words to be a command. He places a light kiss against your neck. You find that it feels sticky.

"Are you-" You start and pause, eyeing Elvis, watching him stare at you with those eyes that if nothing else- if all else fails him- would draw in even the strongest of individuals. "Do I need to help you?"

He hums before exhaling, shifting his body to get a little more comfortable on the chair he's sitting in. "Depends on your answer to my question."

"What is it?" You're genuinely curious, Elvis's eyes seem a little brighter today and you have hope tonight might be a good night for both of you.

His hands move to cup your face, pulling you in for a soft kiss. You have to climb up onto him a little from your position but you find you don't mind. From his pleased hum you can feel vibrate against your body you figure he doesn't mind either.

"I wanna see you play with my guns. One of my favorites. I'll take the ammo and everything out just for tonight." He can already picture it, picture you on the bed, him in this chair, his cock in his hand and you- and you on your shared hotel bed writhing as you brushed your clit against the metal. "'m not feeling up to fuckin' ya tonight, but I wanna come watching ya."

You force a smile on your face, it's not that you don't want to do it- it's a strange request, but not unwelcome- it's just you had hoped it would not be a take take take night and instead be a give give give night. "Which one, daddy?" You added daddy to see him smile.

It works.

He chose one with a long barrel, whispering as your ground your ass against him that it was to give you the length he knew you craved. Sure, you enjoyed his girth in more ways than one but sometimes it was just the length you needed. His pajama pants are down by his ankles as he settles into the chair and you allow your fingers to play with yourself, slowly getting yourself prepared for what you're going to do. You're always a little more wet than normal when you have Elvis watching you and tonight is surprisingly no exception. You never used to be like this, never used to be turned on at the thought of someone watching you but Elvis has a way of turning things you thought you knew about yourself on its head. His eyes are zeroed in on your cunt, watching your fingers disappear in and out, glistening ever so slightly with your juices and he can't help the low groan he lets out at it, his hand moving to lazily stroke his cock. Yes, he'd like to get off watching you on his gun, watching you come all over it like you did his thigh not even an hour before, like you have on his cock but he's not in a rush. Next show isn't even for another few days, so if he wants he could lay you out on this bed like the buffet you are and take his time savoring every last morsel and drop of you.

"What are you looking at?" You whisper a little breathlessly, two of your fingers teasing your clit like Elvis had many times before.

"You." He answers simply, his thumb brushing over his tip. "Watchin' how you're preppin' yourself. Thinkin' I oughta help, but there's somethin' about watching ya."

Your lips curl into a lazy smile. "You're always- You know I love it when you do. Maybe tomorrow morning you can play with me like this? Spread my pretty lips open and taste me. Maybe there will be a hint of the metal."

If a growl leaves his throat, if a growl leaves his throat and has him sounding like his Harley revving up, you and him don't comment on it. "Don't be a tease, baby. Think you might be prepped enough. It's thinner than me, 'member that."

You hum before letting out a heavy and mildly overexaggerated sigh. "I guess you're right." Your hand encircles the grip of gun, noting how cold it is with a shiver. Your eyes look up at Elvis before you tilt your head and drag the barrel across your skin, starting from your neck and moving down to your chest, letting the cool metal brush against your overheated skin. "It's cold."

He gulps as he pumps his cock, watching how your npples pebble after the barrel swipes by them. If he could, if he wanted to get up from this chair, he's walk over to you and warm them up, take your nipples in his mouth and suck on them, bite at them, watch you keen and writhe against him. He won't though, because he just wants to watch you.

When you finally reach your cunt, you practically jump at the first brush of the metal against your cunt. You think maybe you should have sucked on it first, given it some warmth before you had it touch you, but it was too late for that. You take a deep breath and look at Elvis unblinking as you slowly shove the barrel of the gun into your cunt. If you were closer to him you'd likely see how the blue of his eyes is completely taken over by the black of his pupil, you'd see how his mouth has dried out from the small pants he can't stop himself from taking and you'd notice how he looks- he looks like he does onstage. He looks completely full of life and ready to strike at the one person he has in his gaze. You.

His breath is shallow the longer he looks, the longer he looks and pumps himself, the precum covering his cock, his jar of lube unused for him. "Goddamn, little one, you should see- drive a man wild, fucking yourself on his gun. Gonna smell like you, won't be able to be at the range without remembering you- won't be able to shoot it without remembering this. Gonna have to explain to the boys why I popped a boner like a fuckin' teenager."

You huff out a laugh, your body letting out a shiver as it tries to adjust to the intrusion of something you're not used to. "Don't wear such tight pants and they won't know. Is this going to be your new favorite?"

He nods. "Gonna have it tucked in somewhere every damn show. Maybe it'll be a good luck charm."

A good luck charm for you and him, a sign that you two will last like him and 'Cilla didn't, like him and Linda didn't. You did this for him, they didn't, they had- your limits are always far more malleable than theirs were. Not a bad thing but it give him some hope.

You pull the barrel out of your cunt and press it against your swollen clit, hissing as you do. "Christ, Daddy, I didn't realize I'd be so sensitive. I'm- how close are you?"

You want to come, but he hasn't and you refuse to be that greedy, not for him right now. Not for him when he's having a good night, not a great night, but a good one and you want to savor it. If you're trying not to move the gun, letting the barrel stay pressed against your clit in order to stave off your impeding orgasm he doesn't say anything.

His hand moves faster, knowing that he is pretty close, he wants to come for you, wants to show you what you've done to him, how you've made him feel. "Talk me through it, Mama."

Your eyes had slipped closed as you lost yourself in the sensations of the metal, the smell of your arousal and sex in the room, the taste of what Elvis had been eating earlier lingering on your tongue. Your eyes had been closed but they shoot open at the word Mama. He was- oh, he was in that sort of mood. Oh, you could oblige.

"Talk you through it, sweetheart? Talk you through how Mama wants to see you come? I worked hard, I took your gun for you. Would have taken it all night for you but your thigh- You let Mama come on your thigh earlier, she doesn't have that many in her tonight." Your voice is practically a murmur but you know Elvis can hear you, can hear how you sound how your voice has an edge of neediness. "I need you to come so I can, sweetheart. You don't need to wait. The sooner you do it, the sooner we can clean up and we can go to sleep. You'd like that, wouldn't you? Us taking care of each other like that tonight. You did good tonight, just like I did. Come for Mama, Elvis, show me how much you appreciate me."

That does it, you asking him to show how much he appreciates you doing this, how much he appreciates you in his life. He comes with a groan, coating his hand and the towel he had put underneath him with his come. He doesn't say anything, doesn't have the energy to, his head lulling to the side a little as he watches you finally move the gun, finally allow it to press against your clit- rub against your clit in a way that has you shivering. You're close and you know that you could likely come without the penetration, you should come without it, but you decide at the last second to slide the gun barrel back inside you as you flutter around it, coming with a hiss because everything is so overwhelming that your throat can't even manage anything else. When you pull the gun out it's covered in your fluids, glistening in the light of the room. You look at the sheets and realize you might have squirted. A bit of shame twists in your gut at that, because this what what made you squirt? Fucking yourself on your boyfriend's gun? What kind of woman were you? Elvis still hasn't gotten up from the chair, his eyes lazily moving between you, the gun and the wet spot. His lips curl into a smirk.

"Ruined the sheets and my jumpsuit. Ain't you a menace to fabrics." He whispers as you stand up and move towards him. You stop and hold out your hand to pull him up from the chair. He eyes it and shakes his head. You keep it there until he takes it with a huff, stepping completely out of his pants as he does.

"I'm your menace, Elvis. Shower?" You hold his hand, linking your fingers together as you lead him to the bathroom.

"Then bed. Gonna let me lay on ya chest tonight?" He asks, pulling you closer to him, his arms wrapping around you like he's that teddy bear he sang about almost two decades ago.

"If it helps you sleep tonight, yeah." A pause. "Love you."

A low hum and a kiss to your temple is the only answer you get back. You'll take it for now.

[yn-ymn-yln]

The Loner and The Freak

Eddie Munson x reader 

Word count: 1247

Summary: After a run in with the high school cheer squad you go to the only person who makes you feel safe. 

*Hurt/Comfort and Fluff* 

*Eddie really got me back on my bullshit huh?*

“Stop running LONER!”

“Yeah! We just want to talk! Come on!”

Prey… that’s what you were.

Tearing through the woods as fast as your feet would carry you, you don’t glance back to your pursuers, knowing the distance between you and them was growing smaller with each labored breath you took. You imagine this is what the gazelles on national geographic must feel like, eyes wide and searching for an escape, minds muddled with lost hope that they could avoid being someone else’s dinner.

Maybe that’s how this was meant to end. The script you couldn’t see would clearly have printed local loser gets mauled by relentless cheerleaders.

Ducking behind a tree, you quiet your presence as much as you can. Sparing one of your hands wrapped around your knees, you clamp it over your mouth, ears listening for any sounds indicating you weren’t alone. The snapping of branches in the distance tells you they’re close, but not close enough to warrant you bolting out of cover.

“You know you can’t hide forever Y/l/n! If we don’t find you now, we’ll just wait for you at school tomorrow!”

“Is this really worth it?” You almost scoff at the bored tone of the teenage girl. Obviously tormenting you wasn’t as entertaining as she thought. “… All I’m saying is we could be doing something better than running through the woods.”

“Fine! God, you both suck.”

The retreating footsteps of pristine white sneakers sends your frantic heartbeat into a some-what more casual rhythm. As silence fills the air around you once more, you finally allow your defenses to crumble. Trembling hands and harsh pants wrack your frame as your fear manifests itself with thoughts of what could have happened. Images of bloody noses and bruised knuckles play through your mind, while taunting voices promising that no one cared enough to come for you were looping endlessly. The cycle only breaks when the chilled February air caresses your frame, reminding you of the slowly sinking temperature. Winter in Hawkins had never been kind, even less so to the unfortunate souls that found themselves sobbing on the damp leaves still present from a season long since passed.

Dragging your sleeve over your eyes, you collect yourself as much as you can, taking off in the direction of the one person you knew would keep you safe.

Eddie.  

Your savior sits on the steps in front of his trailer, cigarette hanging lazily between his lips, face cast towards the last remnants of fading sunlight. You watch from a distance as his eyes close in contentment, soft brown taking a reprieve from the retched world surrounding him. He doesn’t notice your approach at first, fingers drumming on the exposed skin of his ripped jeans, thoughts far away from you and your endless troubles, but when he does? You swear he becomes his own sun.

“There you are! I waited for like an hour, figured you forgot and walked home.” Without acknowledging his words, you slam yourself into his warm embrace. Face pressed so close to his heart you almost don’t detect the worry in his tone. “You okay sweetheart?”

No.

“Y/n?”

What made you so inferior to everyone else?

“I hate them.” Your voice is wrecked, but it’s almost unnoticeable through the fabric of Eddie’s hellfire shirt.

“Hate who? What happened?” He tries to back away from you, wanting distance to get a peak at your face if only to reassure himself that you weren’t hurt. “Baby?” The cracks in your dam deepen, chunks of concrete chipping away until suddenly it collapses, sobs rip through you at such a rate you worry you’ll make yourself sick.

“I H-hate them so m-much.” He tightens his grip then, pulling you as close to his body as he can, shielding you from everything and everyone.

“Hey, shh, shh, you’re okay baby. I’m right here.” He lets you take your time calming down, gently rocking you back and forth until your breathing evens out. “There’s my pretty girl, why don’t we go inside? Maybe lay down for a bit?” you nod your approval, allowing him to lead you towards his room. You swear these four walls are magic, maybe its just the traces of Eddie you can find anywhere you look, or the memories you made here together, pieces of each of you scattered around the messy space.

He sits you down on the edge of his bed, kneeling in front of you to finally get a good look at the person he fell in love with, the concern radiating off of him is palpable.

“Talk to me sweetheart.” You worry your lip as you gaze into his eyes. Words getting stuck in your throat momentarily before your forcing them out.  

“I’m exhausted Eds. I’m so fucking tired of being hated for everything I do. Why can’t they just leave me the hell alone?” Frustration bubbles up within you, causing you to rub at your face roughly. “I know I shouldn’t let it get to me. I know it’ll only feed their fire, but how long am I expected to run without a damn break?” Eddie wasn’t new to the cheerleader’s insistence on nagging you, though it had never gotten you this worked up before, he knows everyone has their limits. At that he brings you closer, noses brushing as his eyes gaze into yours. He doesn’t speak for a moment, instead he lets his closeness soothe some of the ache in your heart.

“I’m always here Y/n, no matter what. When things are too much, come get me. I may not be able to kick the cheer squad’s ass but I sure as shit can egg their houses.” You can’t fight the smile that slowly blooms on your features, the ridiculousness of your boyfriend’s statement mending a piece of your soul.

“Promise?”  

“Oh, baby I’ll go buy a dozen eggs right now if you want.” The infectious happiness that seems to follow Eddie around like a shadow never ceases to amaze you. Especially now, as your thrown back with the force of your laughter, despite crying only minutes ago. He chuckles with you, running his fingers over your forehead from his position on the ground. “I love you. You know that right?” His smile never falters, though you pick up the undertone of guilt at the edge of his voice.

“Edward Munson, no one and I mean no one has ever made me feel as loved as I do with you. and I love you too” Eddie clambers unceremoniously onto the bed then, burrowing into your neck as his arms wrap around you. his hair tickling you as he gets comfortable.

“We’re gonna get out of this shithole soon. Run as far the fuck away from here as we can and never look back.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm, get our own little place, maybe even get a cat.” Your fingers glide over his cheek, pushing his wild locks behind his ear as he continues. “Course we can’t run too far, Henderson would kill me.”

“Oh my god do I have to share custody with Dustin?” You roll your eyes with fake exasperation, your love for the curly haired weirdo just as strong as Eddie’s.

“Afraid so.”

“I guess you’re worth it, though I totally call having you on Christmas.” Manic laughter sounds by your ear as Eddie pulls away, his lips peppering kisses all over your face.

“Good luck with that sweetheart.”

[jadeee]

"Thank you for letting me live my dream."

If you love something set it free.

~ A/N: I planned on posting this after the last chapter of Vendetta, it's been in my drafts for months; but at this rate, the series prob won't be done 'til next year.

Warnings: angst + slight swearing

Word Count: 2.5k

* suggested soundtrack below

You didn’t even have to say anything. He could already tell it was you by the way you bursted into the house. It was eerily quiet until you unlocked the front door.

“I finally made it!” You let out a low laugh as you worked out of your jacket.

The warmth from the fireplace spread throughout the house and heated your cold limbs. 

“I’m sorry it took me forever to get here.”

As you set your jacket and scarf onto the coat rack, you took in a deep breath. Whatever Nicky had made for dinner smelled delicious. Your smile turned into a pout when you didn’t hear his handsome voice. 

“Nicky?”

Your eyes scanned the room for your one and only as you took off your shoes. Then suddenly, there he was.

“Hey, gorgeous.”

“Hey, you!” 

You embraced him tightly the buried your face in his neck.

“Sorry I’m late.”

He rubbed your back “Don’t worry about it.”

When you pulled back, you noticed his eyes. Of course, you’d always noticed them but there was something different, something buried deep down.

“What’s wrong?” Your hands cupped his cheeks.

He gazed into your eyes then took hold of your hand. His lips parted for a moment but closed shortly after. He glanced at the floor before looking back at you.

“I’m just gettin’ lost in my head.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Over an empty stomach?” He gave you a small, goofy smile.

His mood was contagious and it made you light up.

“Absolutely not!” He lightly kissed your knuckles “Let’s eat first.”

He continued to hold onto your hand while walking to the dining room.

~~~~~~

Nicky carried on as usual, asking about your day and even giving anecdotes here and there about his but something was off. There was a certain uneasiness to it all. As if one were attempting to dance with their partner in the dark but couldn’t find them, only to look like fumbling idiots. 

“So,” you poked at the crumbs of your meal with your fork.

He took a sip from his glass while you proceeded to talk.

“What were you thinking about earlier?”

You set your fork down and glanced up at him. His hazel eyes looked right past you. The house was silent … once again. Nicky studied you for a moment.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“What?!” His eyes bulged out of his head.

“You can tell me, we can talk about it!” 

“Amore, no.” A small laugh escaped between his lips as he stood up.

You watched him in awe as he made his way towards you.

“C’mere.”

You glanced up at him without moving.

“C’mon, I wanna show you somethin.” He offered you his hand.

You looked at him in silence before getting up. 

“Okay but you’re sort of scaring me.”

“I’m sorry, amore mio. It’s just,” he let out a short exhale “I can show you better than I can say it.”

You took his hand in yours and he held onto it tightly.

“And don’t be scared, you’ve got me.” He looked back at you and smiled.

“My knight in expensive suits.” You chided.

“Damn straight.” 

You both laughed at the joke as Nicky walked towards his show and tell.

~~~~~~

You furrowed your brows when you entered your bedroom.

“I don’t understand.”

“We’re not there yet.”

You shut your lips as he continued to guide you to his side of the bed.

He sat down and guided you to do the same.

“Is this your way of saying you want dessert?” You knitted your brows.

“No!” Nicky laughed.

You awkwardly chuckled, “Okayy.”

“Do you see that photo right there?” He nodded at the picture of you two on his nightstand. 

“Yeah, of course. I remember when you got it framed and everything.”

“Well,” he grabbed it off the nightstand “that was the happiest day of my life.”

He admired the photo in his hands “So was our wedding day and everyday in between and after.”

Your stomach felt tight as he set the frame back down and looked into your eyes.

“The finest booze can’t compare to every day I’ve spent with you.”

He held onto your hand “And I want you to feel that way too.”

Tears welled in your eyes “What are you saying?”

“Toots,” he fought the tears in his eyes “amore.” 

His hazel eyes glanced up at you without saying another word.

“Nicky.” The tears fell from your eyes as you shook your head.

“Is it because I was late?! I tried really hard to get here and–”

“Amore,” he chuckled in disbelief before holding your face gently in his warm hands. He looked at your face which wasn’t exactly picturesque, there were trails of tears and some snot which started to seep from your nose, but it was the face he had the joy of seeing every morning and night. He kissed your forehead and despite shutting his eyes, he cried. You held onto his forearms and continued to sob.

He didn’t bother to wipe his face, since you’d seen him cry before.

“You deserve the world.” He wiped your tears away with his thumb.

“I want you to be on cloud nine.”

“But I want you.” You pleaded through your tears.

He held you in his arms against his chest “You got me. Now, tomorrow, always.”

Your tears slowed each time he rubbed your back.

“I’ll always be here. I’m not goin’ anywhere but,” he gently leaned back and peered down at you “you’ve got a big, bold world out there waitin’ for you.”

You cowered into yourself.

“I’m only one part of the picture.”

“What if I don’t wanna see the rest of it? The picture I mean.”

“You’ll be missin’ out.”

You racked your brain for a rebuttal then clinched your jaw when you realized he was right in some way.

He reached for your hand and ran his thumb across your fingertips.

“Time’s wastin’ but I’m glad I spent it with you.”

“Me too.” You intertwined your fingers with his.

There was so much said in the silence. Endless “I love you”s, memories of early mornings and late nights, remembering the shared firsts and avoiding the last. This last.

“I don’t know about tomorrow. All I know is that we have now, so whaddaya say?”

He looked at you with tear stained, blotchy cheeks and smiled.

“Let’s go out with a bang?”

A tear fell from your eye as you studied him. With each mole on his face, the curve of his cheeks and chin, you thought of your time together. Your lips formed a smile as you continued to cry. Though you could hardly speak, you nodded your head. 

Nicky’s arms held you close like many times before.

“I know,” he uttered with each caress “I know.”

~~~~~~

“Are you sure this is safe?”

He stared down the flight of stairs.

“Nope.”

You readjusted yourself on the rail of the staircase before giving Nicky a nudge forward. 

He clamped down on the wooden rail, “Wait!”

You let out a small squeak as you pushed up against him.

“Wait, don’t move!”

He disappeared down the hall then returned with two helmets in hand.

He plopped one onto you with a grin, then donned his very own.

“I still don’t know about this m-”

“Just go already!”

You shoved him from behind and the two of you went sailing down the staircase.

Your shrieks echoed throughout the halls as you rode the oak ribbons. They didn’t stop either when you flung off the rails and landed in the mountain of pillows you’d made earlier.

You felt your heart beating in your ears.

Nicky attempted to catch his breath. 

“Are you alright?”

You took off your helmet and patted your head to assess any damage, then worked down your legs. 

“All good! You?”

He examined himself three times over, before laying down with a sigh of relief and giving you a tired grin and a thumbs up.

“Please tell me the next thing isn’t as crazy as this one.”

“Don’t worry, pops.”

Nicky chuckled at your joke as you stood to your feet.

“It’s safe, I promise.”

You held your hand out to him and he pulled himself up.

~~~~~~

“I’m gonna throw my back out!” Nicky peered at you over his shoulder.

“That’s the point!”

You walked towards him with a smile and repositioned his hands to his knees.

“Okay, now what?�� He glanced up at you.

You hunkered down next to him, “Just pop it.”

You moved your body to show him what it should look like.

After a few seconds, he repeated the move hesitantly before trying it once more.

You let out a small laugh at how his body awkwardly moved.

“Alrigh alright” he stood up straight and took note of how you laughed at his pain.

“I’m gonna show you a real dance.”

“What’s that? The hokey pokey?” You raised a brow.

“Ha ha,” he deadpanned while approaching you “and no.”

He gently grabbed your hands in his “it’s called the waltz.”

“Oh, how fancy.” You uttered as you pressed your body close to his like many times before.

Nicky guided you through the steps until you got the hang of it.

He hummed the beautiful melodies of a symphony. 

You almost heard each instrument as you lay your head on his chest.

The room was silent but you heard the violins, harps, and cellos.

“You’re not fallin’ asleep on me, are ya?”

He peered down at you.

“No, I’m just listening.”

“To what?”

“Our song.”

The corners of his lip turned up. He kissed the top of your head, “It’s beautiful.”

~~~~~~

Your bodies were covered every inch of the lounge chair. Legs sprawled about, an arm here and there, but your eyes were fixed on the other. Whether you were painting one last mental picture of your lover or reading the black and white pages in front of you. 

Nicky continued to read from the book you chose earlier, draping an arm across your form. You rested your head on his shoulder as you looked out at the stars, hoping they’d tell you your future. 

He glanced down at you in your state of oblivion then slowly shut the book.

“And it’s true,” he read the words on his heart rather than the ones on the old, yellow pages “In the beginning, I was hopeless. Life had no meaning but then I found a reason to live … or maybe it found me.”

You tilted your head back to look at him and he continued.

“It was better than anything I could’ve dreamed and speakin’ of dreams,” he looked at you fully now “I know you’ve got your own, out there.”

Tears threatened to fall from your eyes once more.

He cupped your cheek in his hand and you leaned into his touch.

“Thank you for letting me live out my dream. Te amo, amore mio.”

The tears you held back released themselves.

Nicky guided you to rest in his lap.

Your cries echoed against his stomach.

Once again, your tears soaked his shirt for the umpteenth time that night.

Every time he caressed your back, a tear escaped from his eyes.

He made his voice small so he could soothe you, and secretly himself.

It didn’t matter what he said.

He knew words couldn’t heal the pain you’d felt. The very same agony was coursing through his body and it was unbearable.

The midnight sky stared back at the two of you while the silence seemed to make its home in once joyous company.

“I want you to promise me something.”

You looked out at the sky without facing Nicky.

“What is it?”

“Promise me,” you paused to gather your breath “promise me you’ll try to be happy without me.”

He uttered your name with a plea.

“I mean it!”

“Only if you make the same promise.”

He extended his pinky towards you and you rolled over.

You hooked your pinky around his. You savored this moment, his touch and his warmth. He brought your hand to his lips and kissed it.

Your fingers found themselves intertwined as you basked in the moonlight, sleepily recanting the memories you created over time. Stolen kisses in public spaces, late night rendezvous, escapades beyond the border, what it was like to make dinner together for the first time, or the day you met his family and the day you became part of it.

“If I’m honest, when I first saw you. You scared the shit outta me.”

“You’ve been in gunfights, chased by cops, in a room filled with ruthless gangsters” you let out a small yawn “and lil ‘ol me scared you?”

Your eyes fluttered as they tried to fight sleep.

“Yeah, lil ‘ol you.” 

He playfully pinched you and you swatted at him, a little too late, with your eyes closed. He grinned at your delayed reaction.

“You wanna know why?”

“Because I’m drop dead gorgeous.” You answered with a low voice.

He turned his head and admired your face as you lightly snored.

“You made me feel somethin’,” he chuckled to himself “I thought it was only in the movies but I was wrong.”

His words fell on silent ears as you rolled over into him.

His cheeks warmed as you cuddled against him. He started to lean back so he could look at you once more but he stopped himself. Instead, he kissed your cheek before holding onto you tightly. 

~~~~~~

When you woke up, you felt different somehow. You couldn’t quite place it and you didn’t have time to since your alarm went off. You got ready for the day ahead without giving any dreams you had much thought.

Once you had time at work, you sat at a table in the break room. You pulled out your phone and started to look through your games.

“Hey!” One of your coworkers entered the room, “Just the person I wanted to see.”

You lifted your head and locked your phone “Oh hey, what’s up?”

“A couple of us are going out to karaoke tonight, you wanna hang?”

“Uh,” you thought it over for a second. Your coworkers invited you out to every function but you didn’t have the time or energy to go until today.

“I promise we won’t make you sing.”

You laughed “Okay, sure. Why not?”

“Woohoo!” 

~~~~~~

“Jenny I got your number, I wanna make you miiiiinnneeee!”

“Eight six seven five three oh niiinneeeinneee!!” 

You laughed at how carefree everyone was and joined in.

This was just the beginning of your new chapter. Sure, the characters were different and who would’ve guessed the plot but it was an enjoyable narrative.

~~~~~~

It had been a while but you started to get back into old hobbies and even tried new ones. You hung out with friends, old and new, made memories with them or either by yourself. You felt yourself smiling more and doing things like singing in the shower or driving with the windows down and doing that thing people do with their hands. I guess you could say you were living.

~~~ A/N: For people falling out of the Fictif fandom and moving on to new ones or just other things. This is for us and thank you for everything.

[multifandomfanfiction]

Sink Your Teeth Into Forever Chapter 13

TITLE: Sink Your Teeth Into Forever Chapter 13 PAIRING: Eric/Elle (OC) RATING: M CHAPTER: 13/? SUMMARY: Eleanor “Elle/Ellie” is a human girl raised by vampires. Godric and his nest to be exact. She was left on Godric’s doorstep as a baby. She’s not quite human though. When Godric goes missing, his mysterious progeny Eric Northman shows up to help. Elle has never met Eric before and Eric has never heard his Maker speak about Elle. Will these two get along? Or will Eric’s jealousy get the better of him?

Elle couldn’t be more happier to be back at home.

Her “date” with Jason had gone well enough, but he had tried to kiss her and she pulled away.

She’d never kissed anyone before and besides, she didn’t have feelings for Jason.

She was…well…she wasn’t technically Eric’s, but he treated her like she was. He treated her like a princess. He was still an asshole sometimes, but that was just his personality.

She was so conflicted!

She wanted to believe what Sookie told her, but she didn’t want to get her heart broken if Eric didn’t return her feelings.

She felt like crying. She wanted Godric to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright, but her body also called out for Eric.

Elle changed out of her dress and wiped her face clean of the makeup. Instead of crawling back in bed with Godric, she ventured down to Eric’s bedroom.

He had a king size bed to fit his tall frame, so there was plenty of room for Elle.

She crawled under the covers and snuggled up to his side. She played with the gold chain around Eric’s neck.

He’d kept his word and never took it off, even while he slept.

Eventually, her eyes drooped and she fell asleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Elle woke up to cold arms wrapping around her. At first she wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or not until Eric spoke.

“This is a nice surprise. If I wasn’t already dead, I’d say I’d died and gone to Valhalla.”

Elle rolled her eyes at his lame joke, before rolling over.

Eric’s blue eyes were open and staring at her. He pouted. “You took the makeup off.”

Eric felt Elle become offended and he laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that. You looked so beautiful.”

Elle blushed.

Eric caressed her burning cheek with a cold hand. “I love seeing you blush.”

That made Elle blush even harder.

The sweet scent of her blood became stronger and Eric sat up.

“You should go,” he told her.

Elle was confused. What had she done wrong?

“Please, Elle.”

Elle sat up and threw the covers back. She ran out of the room, trying to contain her tears.

Maybe Sookie was wrong. Maybe Eric didn’t have feelings for her after all.

Eric could hear her sniffling and a door slam. He sighed.

Her blood smelled so sweet and having her in his bed? It made him want to bite her, but he’d never feed on her without her permission. He cared too much for her.

Eric flopped back in his bed as he picked up his phone, setting her selfie as his phone background. If Godric ever turned her, he wanted to remember her like that.

With bright eyes and rosy cheeks.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Eric was in his office doing paperwork when Elle came storming in.

She was angry.

He didn’t need their bond to tell him that. “Elle? What’s wrong?”

How could she tell him what she wanted? She placed a hand on his arm and showed him Jason almost kissing her.

Eric became angry and stood up.

Elle shook her head. She pointed at him and then back at herself.

“You…you want me to kiss you?” he asked.

Elle nodded. She had hoped he would kiss her earlier, but he shut down for some reason.

Eric hesitated for a moment, before saying, “Okay.” He grasped her chin in his hand and leaned down, lightly pressing his lips to hers.

Elle pressed back into him, clutching onto his leather jacket.

He kissed her gently, not wanting to frighten her.

She tasted like innocence and sunshine with a hint of something darker.

Eric could feel her arousal through their bond.

Elle pulled away to breathe and Eric immediately pulled her back in for another kiss. This one rougher than the first.

One of Eric’s hands buried itself in her hair while another settled on her back.

Elle clutched at Eric’s neck, trying to get closer to him. She let out a squeak when Eric picked her up and set her on his desk.

At some point, Elle felt Eric’s fangs drop and she pulled away.

Eric stepped back, afraid he had scared her.

Elle shook her head. She very carefully and slowly reached out and touched Eric’s fang with her small pointer finger. She’d seen Godric’s fangs before, but never this close up.

Eric stood completely still, staring down at her in wonder. It had been so long since someone had treated him with such a gentle touch. Eric took her hand and kissed her wrist. He felt her heartbeat speed up and his mind was flooded with affection and love. Eric leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

Pam decided at that moment to enter the room. “Well, my, my, my.”

Elle blushed.

“Yes Pam?” Eric asked.

“Vampire daddy was wondering where his baby girl was,” she said.

Godric walked into the office.

Elle suddenly felt very ashamed at being caught with his progeny and Eric could feel her fold into herself.

“Ellie, I was wondering where you got off to,” Godric said. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Godric was hit with immense sadness and guilt. “Elle? What’s wrong, my sweet?”

Elle shrugged his hand off and retreated into the bathroom where the vampires could hear her crying.

Godric looked at Eric.

“Elle came into my office and asked me to kiss her. I…I think she enjoyed it.”

Godric approached the bathroom door. “Ellie?”

The door stayed shut.

“You should not feel ashamed about your feelings for Eric. You share a bond with him and I would never come in between that.”

“She’s still very conflicted,” Eric said, feeling her half of the bond.

“If you want to pursue a relationship with Eric, I won’t stand in the way. All I want is for you two to be happy.”

Eric felt a little uncertainty mixed with fondness.

Elle came out of the bathroom and walked over to Eric. She took his hand in hers and placed it over her heart.

“I don’t understand,” he said.

Godric smiled wistfully. “It’s her way of saying you have her heart.” Godric had taught her that gesture as a small child, so she could quickly express her feelings.

“If I was alive, I’d puke,” Pam said.

“Then you can leave,” Eric told her, not taking his eyes off Elle.

A door slammed and Eric took one of Elle’s hands and placed it over his non-beating heart.

“Du har mitt hjärta också (You have my heart as well).”

[surrealsunday]

1/2

Oh Jaime, you have no idea how much your message meant to me 🥹💞 I think about you and your fics an unhealthy -let's admit it by now lol-amount of time so it truly warms my heart to know sometime little old silly me pops in your mind too 🥺💞

Things are not getting much better if I have to be honest, and I’m constantly feeling like I don’t have enough hours or energy in a day to do all the things I have to do and the shit I need to figure out as soon as possible but *wears a clown mask* somehow I still managed to squeeze some time to reread Hollow Edge 🙈🙊

(paying for a therapist: expensive

reading about all the ways those two idiots had overcome their personal issues and filled each other voids and built a family together: free -you just pay with crying sessions, but i say: a win is win 🤭-)

I don't even remember why or what led me there, probably saw some content on SM that reminded me the vibe or most likely a specific scene or line popped in my brain -it'd be like that- and I just HAD to read it again which of course led to read all the rest of the fic; it’s been super nice cause unlike your other fics, I’ve never got the occasion to read HE again nor recently although one cannot ever forget some of its iconic scene ("Princelinnn, bring me ice cream"), lines ("it's you. it's different.") and how they made you feel.. oh if I could bottle the first time I read "the first time Lucas sees the idiot”.. ‘cause a thing about me is that when I first approached the world of Elu fics, I was careful to dodge any AUs (I know, I KNOW: my loss. you don’t have to tell me 😭) but when I eventually started to run out of fics and I was still on the peak of my fixation, I traced my steps back, took a leap of faith and jumped on the most popular Elu au. which was Tempo. which of course turned out to be the best thing ever happened to me. totally rocked my world overnight, set the bar higher, ruined me for anyone else and altered the chemistry of my brain forever. Reading Tempo was the equivalent of opening a lockbox full of precious gems, the dizzying thrill of being Columbus discovering America in the duality that it felt something new and fresh and never-seen-before, and yet it’s always been there all along, in a corner of the world, long before my eyes set on it. I’m just so fond of it, just think about it feels like a cozy blanket and it makes me quietly hum in content, feeling the same as when you’re getting ready to see your best friend: you know you’re gonna have fun, a marvelous time. I don’t know, I guess.. it’s just such a comfort fic for me, you know? 🌈*aggressively suppress the memory of Lucas curled in the shower, quietly crying, after he had to end things with Eliott. Don’t even get me started on when Eliott allowed himself to grab Lucas before he stepped out of the coffee shop to hold him tightly to his chest with shaky sighs because he thought that was the very last time he could have do it.. that was one of the moments while reading Tempo where I just knew this fic was on a whole other level, I can’t even put it fully into words* 🌈. Just the other day Instagram reminded me through the archive stories that this time last year I was reading it for the first time; I can frame the timing precisely because it was the week of my first trip abroad after covid, and- oh gosh, I remember I purposefully left the ao3 tab with the chapter open on my phone so I could read it during the flight if I wanted to (I hereby state I don’t have the habit to read anything when traveling -it makes me feel sick-, I usually just listen to music or try to sleep a bit, so that alone should tell how far gone I was for ‘Tempo’ already), which I did. or at least, tried to. uhm, the thing is.. it was set on the morning after the press party, when Eliott was so tired he ended up sleeping in Lucas’s bed and- well, I guess we all know what happened the morning after 🤭 funny thing is: I swear until that very moment I wasn’t aware of the rating, I didn’t even notice it when I first dive in the fic and so far the interaction between Elu has been pretty innocent (just like me, one could say AHAHAH. no but truly: I do hope to not make it weird when I say everything I know about queer sex now I owe it to you; for example I’ve read other quite explicit queer fics in another fandom right before Elu and there was certain passages I didn’t quite get back then, so yeah, you and your works are doing a great job in raising an educated chunk of readers lol. I remember a particularly late brunch with my best friend last spring with her asking life advice and me replying “you really shouldn’t look up at me, apparently all I do in life lately is having breakdowns and read erotic explicit queer fics. *sips*. which is now an area where I hold very specific knowledge.”

and she laughed so hard she almost rolled down the chair but I was dead ass serious 💀💀), so really, you have to picture my reaction when I naively unlocked the screen with a satisfied hum in a public space, expecting to read some harmless cute PG13 banter whereas the chapter literally started with a bang. right there and then. Squeezed between two passengers so close to me, they could’ve easily read any word on my screen. On broad daylight. In economic class. Oh sweet jesus. It literally felt like when you’re enjoying a movie whose been pretty chill so far and then one of your parents step in the room and of fucking course suddenly there’s a random sex scene playing on the screen ‘cause that’s my life and god doesn’t exist 🤣 lol I was so worried the passenger sat next to me would look at my screen and read something compromising, in the end I just skipped that scene and tucked it for later 👀🤭 now I definitely know better than open ao3 in public, and I definitely know what to expect from you especially 😂 in fact, as the spoiled spoiled brat I am, towards the ending of 10Things I was like “guys, this is really cute and fun and everything I could ever ask for but where’s my spicy cajun chicken? It should’ve been served by now”: i am what you made me, and now you have to deal with it, Mary Shelley 😭

(And then you served chapter 10, which is one of the best thing i’ve ever read and i do truly shouldn’t be surprise by now but you always know how to amaze me. oh yes. my peri peri chicken. chef’s kiss.)

My friendddddd - I love your asks so much. The way they make me laugh too lmao. You are truly the best. I'm sorry I didn't get to responding before I left on holiday but I wanted to have the time to do so properly! So here we go!

Gonna put your other asks under the cut so everything is in sequence and I can properly reply!

2/2

Anyway, as I was saying, I had a marvelous time that week, but no matter how busy and physically exhausting were the days and the evenings: the nights belonged to ‘Tempo’, and no one could take it away from me. No matter how late was, I’d crawl in bed and read till my eyes gave up. To me, there aren’t a lot of things in life as exquisite as finding the perfect fic, and the thrill of having it there in your hands ready to be read whenever you want to, like a treat tailored for your specific taste. Nothing beats that. To be in your favorite city and do all the things you love the most like go to concerts and see friends and have good food and have a great time, and still a part of you it’s so excited when it’s time to call it a day so you can go back to bed and get comfy, shut the world outside and continue to read that fic that makes you giggle and rip your heart out in the same heartbeat. That was Tempo for me, the perfect fic on top of the perfect week. So imagine my surprise when you said that you had receive some criticism on your works; i’m gonna respond to the tumblr posts as soon as possible, but that part really struck me, mostly because every single time I’ve ever seen someone referring to you in my twt or tumblr timeline is just to say nice things about your works (AS THEY SHOULD 💅🏻👑) so I do truly thought that -I’m speaking factually- we as society collectively acknowledged long time ago that you’re without a doubt the best thing ever happened to skamfr right after the casting of maxel and we all should be eternally grateful for your service to the fandom. I do truly cannot conceive how someone can possibly have anything remotely bad to say about your fics when they’re the most perfect piece of literature a fandom can ever ask 😭 (i’m so serious right now! like, I’m not watching KinnPorsche and yet I envy that fandom for having YOU to write stuff for them like, those guys have truly hit jackpot with you and I hope they know it 😭🎰).

Anyway, as I was saying before all this Tempo digression, is that whenever ‘Hollow Edge’ popped on the top list of ao3, I somehow got the idea it was set during the Dark Age (I’m not much for historical pièce); but of course after ‘Tempo’ I was willing to read anything written by you, even grocery lists, so that led me straight to Hollow Edge. And bam, that opening line: “the first time Lucas sees the idiot [..]” and I knew it. That was it. All it takes was that line and I was immediately sold, I knew I was in for a good ride *insert that meme of the chubby black guy in a yellow suit rubbing his hands with a naughty face behind a tree. that was me. totally me.*

And what a ride. I have to say it, after 10Things it's been quite a shock to get a reminder of how long your chapters used to be, you really poured sweat tears and blood in your works 😭🙇🏻‍♀️💞 Especially considering that Hollow Edge is so pregnant of sociopolitical matters, you must have been doing a lot of research! And I don't think I've ever mention it before but chapeau for Eliott's drawings: | remember the first time I saw them I was like "wow, where did she find those drawings? they fit so well in the narrative!" and then you said they were yours and it was so mind blowing, truly, is there anything you can't do?? 😭🧎🏻‍♀️✨

And by the way, you’re so sweet but I’m absolutely nowhere near being flawless speaking English 😭 it used to be better when I was in high school, now I feel like my brain is leaking and I need to double check every basic word or tense in a structure, and although writing is one of the things I love the most and it brings me pure joy and a sense of fulfillment (chatting and over analyze with no control nor time limits about that specific piece of media my brain is over obsessing about? yup, sounds like me), it also drains me, especially when I’ve just finished to type out a long ass comment or paragraph that took me hours to write down and then it just deletes itself in unexplainable feather touch and I stare at the now blank screen like 👁️👄👁️. one thing about me: I cannot be trusted with technology (technology being: a simple touch screen phone), especially late at night.

I guess there’s always room to improve, and reading your fics helped me a lot, I’ve learned a lot of new ways of speaking and expressions thanks to you ❤️.

Anyway, thanks for all your kindness, I hope life is treating you nicely 💞✨.

So, it's been a while since you send this (I dunno exactly... I live in a time warp and have no sense of time), and I'm hoping things have gotten easier in your life. But I wholeheartedly support reading fic to cope lol. I write fic for the same reason 😂.

And a re-read of Hollow Edge? I love! I was thinking about that one recently because someone else is reading it for the first time and it brings me right back to the story when someone comments on it.

When I first started reading fic I totally didn't understand au's, so I completely get why you wouldn't read them intially. But omg I am so glad you did and found my fics! Truly once you go au, you don't go back (for me anyways... obviously lol). But PLEASE the way you describe reading Tempo for the first time... I'm crying 😭😭😭. It means so much, truly. And as an aside, YOU ARE SO POETIC ABOUT IT I SQUEALED. One of my absolute favourite things is hearing which moments stuck out for readers and I am eating up hearing about those moments in Tempo for you. I have such an emotional connection to that fic, as well, it is unbelievably satisfying to know the moments that meant so much to me when I wrote them, had an impact on you as well.

The way I just DIED imagining you traveling, innocently having THAT chapter of Tempo open and not realizing the rating of the fic was explicit adlfkjalsdkfj. That is so amazing I am laughing and truly love it so much. But I am very glad that the sex scenes work even when unfamiliar with the intricacies or logistics of queer sex. Tbh writing sex scenes will literally always be one of the most challenging things for me because those logistics are important to me. I want it to make sense. There is nothing more frustrating to me than reading a sexy scene and being like, 'Wait... where is his arm? What is happening with that leg?!!!' 😂😂. So those details are important to me, but I would also be bored to tears just writing the sexy bits, if there weren't some emotional gravity to bulk those scenes up. So yeah, they are a labour of love in every way.

You said that to your friend aldjflaksdjf. You are the best omg. That sounds like something I would say to a friend lmao. "i am what you made me, and now you have to deal with it, Mary Shelley" STOP ALSKFJSDLKFJ 😂😂😂😂😂💀💀💀💀. Ok but you knowing I will likely not give a reader cheese without spicing it up with either smut or snark or both is just *chefs kiss* all I could ask for.

(Btw - the gifs you add make me laugh so hard.)

I know just how you feel when you describe curling up with a fic you love. It still feels surreal to me that people are talking about something I wrote when they describe feeling that way. I will never get over how incredible that is to me and the way it makes me feel every time 🥹🥹🥹❤️❤️❤️.

"so I do truly thought that -I’m speaking factually- we as society collectively acknowledged long time ago that you’re without a doubt the best thing ever happened to skamfr right after the casting of maxel and we all should be eternally grateful for your service to the fandom." alsdkf;jalksdfjasdklfjd PLEASE that is so sweet I am both laughing and blushing. When it comes to any mean messages or hate I've recieved (so, not including fair and constructive criticism people may have given me over the years) I never posted the asks. So yes, I think there was definitely an impression I recieved nothing but love, which ironically also made some people angry lolol. I can definitely be sensitive, but thankfully when it comes to stuff like this, I do have my head in the right place. This is fun for me and an outlet and I have literally the most wonderful people who have read my fics (you're included in that!) so I just can't be bothered with anyone being rude or mean without reason. It is what it is but it ain't gonna bring me down!

Ok I actually kinda forgot about the first line of Hollow Edge LOL. The funny thing is that in literally all of my fics, the first line has been immediate. I've never had to think about it which always feels right. And yeah, I won't lie, writing definitely is where I pour a lot of myself. It depletes me entirely, but not in a bad way. I absolutely love doing it and I love what I get out of it. And then on top of already finding so much joy in writing, it brought really lovely, incredible people to me. I'm eternally thankful for that. But the fics that required more work bts (Hollow Edge and Mood Tattoo)... yeah... they were beasts. I cursed my brain for deciding to glom onto topics that required more research endlessly lol.

Omg yes the art in Hollow Edge! Thank you!!!! That was so much fun to create and I honestly can't even remember when or how I suddenly decided I would do it. But I loveddddd including visual art as part of the process.

I forget EVERY TIME that english isn't your first language until you mention it again. HOW?! You are seriously so impressive and freaking POETIC in english, I am amazed. And for the record, you would not believe the amount of time I spend crafting particular sentances because my brain will not provide the words I want... like I'll know they exist in english but they just won't come to me lol. It happens allllll the time. And then - we are very similar this way - I obsess over every sentance when they're written so yeah, I definitely understand what you mean when you say it drains you.

P.S. I have written the longest replies to asks before (like... essays!) and accidentally hit something on my keyboard and closed the browser and when I tell you I nearly cry every time. You should see me replying right now, being so careful about where the mouse is and how I'm typing 😂😂

Anyways, as always you are an absolute delight and I love you endlessly for taking the time to send these thoughts. I can't express the level of joy they give me. I apologize again for taking so long to reply. I'm trying to get back into routine in my life right now so hopefully I won't be so MIA.

Sending you all the love and hugs! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[noviumindia]

The Ultimate Guide to Find The Perfect Corporate Gift 

Where can you locate the ideal present for a business associate? Well! The query may appear to be difficult, but it would not be difficult at all. We have compiled a list of options to assist you in making the best choice. If you remember that you need to have some notion of the recipient's taste when choosing the gift, provide something considered as a present, and remember to perform research before purchasing the item, then the gift you give could be ideal.

The perfect present for someone on your list is a luxury writing instrument

If you're looking for the perfect corporate gift, go no further than a high-end pen. Gold, diamonds, emeralds, platinum, silver, and other precious metals are used to create luxury writing implements that go above and beyond the ordinary. The rare materials used to craft some of them, such as meteorites, set them apart. Muonionalusta was the name given to a meteorite that crashed into Earth several millions of years ago. Novium, a manufacturer of high-end writing instruments, embedded a chunk of the meteorite into the body of their latest and greatest writing instrument. This pen makes a great corporate gift because it makes the recipient feel important.

Furthermore, the pen allows for personalization; the color of the pen can be changed, and if you write the recipient's name on it, it gives the pen even more significance, as the recipient will be reminded of the special occasion and you every time they use the pen.

Laptop stand 

The first useful gift we will suggest you gift is a laptop stand, we will discuss why, a laptop stand is very useful for those who work with their laptop for long hours, and without a laptop stand they might face several health issues, like neck pain and back pain, a  laptop stand will raise their laptop to their eye level and offer them a better ergonomics for typing, it would be a perfect corporate gift for corporate workers. 

Personalized LED photo frame

Give the recipient a personalized LED photo frame, which would be an appropriate gift for them. If you share beautiful times with the recipient, then those moments will be remembered forever. In addition, the recipient can store photos as they want, making this a lovely option for a corporate gift; it can also be used for personal use.

Leather bag for office 

Especially for people who work in corporate environments, a bag is an indispensable piece of equipment; they require a bag to carry vital documents and other items. Any employee who works in the corporate sector would appreciate receiving a leather office bag as a present from their employer. Make a lasting impression with your corporate gift by providing them with a leather office bag.

Presents in the form of technology 

There is not a single person on the face of the earth who will not be delighted to get a present that is tied to some aspect of technology. Give me the name of someone who does not take pleasure in the evolution of technology, you might give your coworkers or boss a wide variety of technological devices as gifts, such as AirPods, smartwatches, and other items of a similar nature, and it is practically guaranteed that they would take pleasure in making use of these products if they were given them. You could give these devices to them as corporate gifts.

These things, which contain cutting-edge technology that streamlines various procedures, could be the most acceptable kinds of gifts. It would be useful for everyone to wear a watch that not only told the time but also tracked the wearer's blood pressure, the number of steps they took, and their heart rate. provides a display of high quality and in a resolution known as HD.

Everyone now can access an altogether new universe of musical possibilities thanks to noise-canceling headphones that connect to their devices through Bluetooth. People who like to exercise while listening to music would benefit immensely from using headphones of this sort since it would free them from the need to worry about getting the cords tangled up while they were exercising. Those who like to exercise while listening to music would benefit enormously from using headphones of this type. 

Conclusion

That's all there is to it guys, the purpose of this article is to find the ideal corporate gift; we have compiled a list of corporate gifts that will assist you in selecting the most appropriate present; however, keep in mind that the recipient's preferences should be taken into consideration when selecting a corporate gift; this is because individuals have varying preferences, and not all items are appropriate for all people. If you want your corporate gifting to be memorable, you should cater to the recipient's preferences.

[outercrasis]

An Easy Explanation

Pairing: Vigilante (Adrian Chase) x F!Reader

Word Count / Rating: 3.7k / T or M (call it PG14?)

Warnings: Alcohol, language, mentions of canon-typical violence, Adrian is bad at expressing emotions (but he gets there). very unbeta'd

Summary: You're trying to drown out a bad week at the bar. The last person you expect to see finds you there.

A/N: So I binged Peacemaker and now I'm in love with Adrian. Don't be surprised if I write more for him lol

It’s been a long week. You’re exhausted and while nothing sounds better than curling up in bed and sleeping forever, your mind won’t quiet long enough to let that happen. So instead you’re here, at the bar, trying to drink your thoughts into silence. It’s not going well. If anything the alcohol is only making them louder. Another might do the trick though.

You flag down the bartender for another drink. Logically you know you should stop, but if this guy isn’t going to cut you off, who are you to say no to another long island? Tomorrow is a mission-free day anyway.

You’re focusing hard on the condensation rolling down your near-empty glass when someone takes the seat next to you. You’re ready to tell this person to fuck off, that despite being drunk you won’t be an easy lay, and that if they try anything they’ll end up with your fist down their throat, but then you turn and your voice catches in your throat.

For a moment you think you’re hallucinating, your drunken thoughts making the main object of them appear before you. Weirder things have happened. But then he’s waving his hand and snapping his fingers in front of your glossy eyes, an exaggerated “Heellooo,” coming from his lips and you know he’s real. Even your brain isn’t that good. Now you just need to figure out why the fuck Vigilante of all people is here in the first place.

Irritation and your overall melancholy get the better of you. “You stalking me or something?”

What you don’t say is that you wouldn’t actually mind if he was. Not that you want to be stalked, it’s just if anyone were to do so, Adrian would be at the top of your list. It’s probably a little fucked up to think that, but then again your job directly involves murdering people so what do you know about normal. He probably wouldn’t be very good at it anyway. He’s terrible at finding cover and actually staying hidden behind it.

Adrian laughs at your suggestion, those stupid cute laugh lines framing his smile. It makes your stomach twist. “No, Harcourt sent me to find you. Wanted to make sure you weren’t off doing something dumb or something like that.”

You snort. Great, so now Harcourt thinks you need a babysitter. You have one bad week and kill one person one time outside of a mission and suddenly that makes you the bad guy. Okay- you can see the point there but still. Bullshit. And sending Vigilante after you? Total bullshit.

“So she sent you?” you ask indignantly.

He glosses right over your hardly disguised insult. You’re not sure he picked up on it. “She was going to send Adebayo but then she didn’t want to, so I said I would, and then they all stared at me a bit, but then Harcourt kinda like, sighed and let me go. I don’t know why they were so weird about it.”

You do. First and most obvious is that if you had gotten into some dumb shit he wouldn’t have stopped you and instead joined in. Sending him to stop violence is like telling Eagly not to fly – it’s against their very nature. Second and more importantly is that as much as Adrian Chase can hate anyone, he seems to hate you.

That fact is a larger contributor to your loud thoughts and drinking tonight than you’d like to admit – it’s just that you don’t understand why and even worse, why you want him to like you so badly.

There had been an adjustment period for everyone when you joined the team. Dynamics had to shift, your skills and personality having to work into an already tightly bonded group. It took a little time, but after a couple missions and chances to prove yourself everyone seemed to think of you as one of them – everyone but Vigilante that is.

From the very first day he’s hardly said a word to you, almost always gets in your way on missions, and has never sought you out one-on-one. In fact, this might already be the longest conversation you’ve had with him. Ever. You hate how much that bothers you.

You’ve seen Adrian angry and annoyed. You’ve seen him hurl insults at people, openly express distaste for them, and gleefully stab people that he doesn’t like. Part of you almost wishes he would just stab you and get it over with instead of the weird freeze-out thing. At least then you would know for certain where you stand with him.

The bartender brings over your fresh long island and you desperately hope this one is as strong as the others. You need the numbing pleasure of alcohol now more than ever. Moving your straw over from your empty glass, you quickly drain half of the drink, eyeing Adrian while you do. Why the fuck is he here?

“Because I wanted to be,” he answers cheerfully. Fuck, you definitely said that out loud then. “Why the fuck are you here?” he tosses back.

“Shit week.”

“Aw come on, it wasn’t that bad. We found out that John still sleeps with stuffed animals, Eagly let me pet him without biting at me, and we took out that gang. And you didn’t even get hurt- I got stabbed instead of you!” Adrian cheerfully lifts up his bandaged arm as he speaks, as though that’s supposed to make you feel better.

That knife should have sliced into you. If you had been paying attention, it never would have come close to you or any other member of your team. Instead you had gotten distracted and Vigilante stepped in like an idiot, his arm getting stabbed before blowing the attacker’s head off. He was lucky the knife missed anything important. Worse was that he didn’t say anything to you about it after it happened, making you feel like a bigger dumbass than you already did for missing the gang member in the first place.

You take another long drink. This still isn’t making sense.

“Are you fucking with me?” you ask.

Adrian looks very confused. You try to not get distracted by how cute of an expression it is for him. “What? No. Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know, man. The fact that I’m the reason you got stabbed?”

He’s really reminding you of a lost puppy now, his eyebrows all knitted together, looking between his arm and you. “But I let that happen on purpose?”

“You what?” Now you’re convinced you drank too much. There’s no way you heard that right.

“Well, I mean, I didn’t want to get stabbed but I didn’t want you to get stabbed more. There weren’t a lot of options in the moment so I stuck my arm out to block you. I really should have turned my arm so it would have hit my armor, ooh wait- maybe I should add more armor to the inside and then I can’t get stabbed there again-” Adrian keeps rambling while your slow, alcohol-soaked brain tries to catch up.

You have no idea where he’s trailed off to when you interrupt him. You speak slowly, more for yourself than him, trying to process the information he just dropped on you. “Hold on, so you let yourself get stabbed. To save me?”

“Yeah, have you not been listening?”

“Why?”

“Because I like you.” He says it like it’s the most obvious fact in the world. As though he’s stating that the sky is blue or that after a mission Chris’ foot stink could clear out an entire room. If he said it with any less honesty or sincerity, you'd be completely convinced he’s fucking with you.

You pinch your arm to be sure this isn’t a dream. Alcohol has numbed the pain, but it’s certainly still there. You pinch Adrian too. Just to be sure. His cheek is really soft.

“Ouch! What the fuck?”

You ignore his complaint. “This is real? You’re serious?”

“How much have you had to drink?” He asks, leaning in to look deeply into your eyes. His sudden proximity should probably make you a little more uncomfortable. All you can focus on is how clean his glasses are and what a nice shade of green his eyes are behind them.

“I thought you hated me,” you reply, very confused by this entire night’s turn of events.

“Why would you think that?”

His question opens the inebriated floodgates. “You never talk to me outside of missions. I’ve watched you deliberately leave rooms when I enter them. You’re always hanging around me on missions, like you think I can’t do my job right. I mean, I guess you’re right or you wouldn’t be injured but still. If I fuck up that should be on me.” Adrian opens his mouth to interrupt, but you keep going. “And then I watch you with everyone else and you joke around and laugh, but not with me and I don’t get it because I didn’t do anything to you but you won’t even give me a chance. You’re really cute when you smile and I don’t know what it’s like to be the cause of it and for some reason I don’t even really understand I really, really want to.”

When you look up at Adrian again, you’re surprised to see him smiling like a lunatic.

“What?”

“You think I’m cute?”

You feel your lip wobble and you know you’ve officially crossed the line from angry confused drunk to sad confused drunk. The latter is significantly less attractive and possibly more volatile than the former. The realization only upsets you more. “That’s all you got from that?”

The grin is wiped from Adrian’s face and he quickly stands, looking wildly uncertain of what to do with himself. “No, no, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry. I’m not good with crying. Let’s go somewhere else, okay? You don’t want to cry in a bar anyway, they're like one of the depressing places to cry.”

You wipe under your eyes, willing tears to not fall while Adrian scoops up your purse. He offers his hand and you hesitantly take it before he leads you to the door. Somewhere behind you the bartender is shouting about your unpaid tab, but you really don’t care about that at the moment. All you can focus on is how warm Adrian’s hand is in yours and not tripping over your own two feet.

Adrian's confession is playing in your mind on a loop as he leads you down the street. Because I like you. Since when? For how long? You still think this might be one big, terrible joke. You’re torn between crying and stabbing him again yourself if it is.

The walk is quiet and you’re not entirely sure where he’s taking you until you’re standing outside of your apartment. You look over at Adrian, confused and slightly amazed. “You know where I live?”

For once in his life, he looks a little sheepish. “Sometimes I follow you home. Just to make sure you’re safe though, not for any weird stalker reason.”

It’s weird for sure and you have half a mind to remind him that you’re more than capable of defending yourself, but it’s touching too. It’s an acknowledgement that he cares about you in the off-hours and not just during work. “Can you open the door?” you ask him. “I don’t think I’m capable of using keys right now.”

Adrian opens the door with ease, helping you stay steady on your feet as you take the two flights of stairs up to your apartment. Stupid always broken elevator. The only positive is that you get to wrap your hand around Adrian’s bicep as you make your graceless climb. You really hope you’ll get to feel those more in the future.

Getting into your apartment, you plop onto the floor, tugging off your shoes. You’re shocked when Adrian toes his sneakers off as well. You must be giving him a very obvious look because he glances down at you and says, “What? I’m not an animal.”

He helps you off the floor, staying quiet as he follows you into the kitchen. You find a plastic cup, not trusting yourself with glass, and pour yourself a drink from the faucet. Adrian is busy looking around your apartment, taking everything in. You don’t have it in you to be embarrassed about any of the mess. You have far more pressing emotional concerns than the dirty dishes you didn’t get to before the last mission.

“So um, I’m still confused,” you tell him.

Adrian stops playing with the Super Mario magnets on your fridge. “I like you. And I guess I’m sorry I made you feel like I didn’t?” he offers. It doesn’t clarify much.

“You’re really going to have to spell this one out for me, Adrian.” The cool nighttime walk and water are helping to sober you up a bit, but you’re still a little too drunk to figure this out yourself. It doesn’t help that you’re pretty sure he’s been operating under his own off-color logic, meaning figuring this out stone-cold sober would already be a huge task in and of itself.

You walk over to the living room, curling up on the corner of the couch. Thankfully, Adrian doesn’t take any prompting to join you on it.

“What part are you confused about?”

“Like all of it, dude.” He looks incredibly lost. Despite your limited personal interactions you’ve been observant enough to notice that emotions aren’t exactly his wheelhouse and you decide to help him out. “You let yourself get stabbed for me, could we start there?”

He looks grateful that you’re leading the way. “Yeah, right. Stabbing. That one is really simple, I didn’t want to see you get hurt so I got hurt instead. Then I killed the asshole who tried to hurt you in the first place.”

That one you’re pretty sure you can follow. It remains a little bit insane, but you can see how he got from point A to B. The next part actually manages to click into place for you on it's own. “Is that why you’re always hanging around me on missions?”

“Yeah, I thought you knew that. Chris does, he’s always making fun of me for it which I told him wasn’t cool but that only made him do it more. He felt really bad about it after the stab wound though so it’s all good now.”

What the fuck? So Peacemaker has some idea of Vigilante’s feelings towards you then. You can’t imagine anyone else on the team does. No one else seems to really understand how Adrian’s head works. With Adrian and Chris being best friends you imagine they share secrets all the time. Chris is going on your shitlist for not saying anything to you though.

“What about you never talking to me then?”

That part has yet to come together for you. From what you’ve seen, Adrian isn’t afraid to speak with anyone about any topic. You’ve watched him chat with an old man about hemorrhoid cream and recommend a new brand, discuss the merits of rule 34 art with John, and once he came out of the bathroom to announce that he was deeply concerned for whoever used and clogged the toilet before him, describing what he'd seen in the toilet and his subsequent WebMD search in great detail. His avoidance of any conversation with you doesn’t make sense.

“Don’t laugh at me.”

"Why would I?"

"I don't know, but I feel like you might so just don't."

You truly have no idea why you would. This isn't something you're taking lightly. "I promise I won't."

"I was nervous to talk to you. I didn't want to say something stupid and have you not like me because of it."

"Why would I-"

Adrian cuts you off. "I weird a lot of people out. It doesn't bother me because I know that I'm like, super cool and they aren't, but I didn't want you to not like me too."

His reasoning is unexpected to say the least. Gun to your head, you would have never guessed that was his reason for never talking to you.

“And what about walking out of the room when I enter it?”

"Uh, would it gross you out if I said I was trying to hide my boner?” Adrian says. That you would like to laugh at, but you keep your promise. Instead you just smile.

"No, actually. I think it's kinda sweet knowing you react to me like a teenage boy."

There's a beautiful flush across Adrian's cheeks, a look of embarrassment you don't think you've ever seen him wear before. He normally deflects when jokes are thrown his way, his silence now acting as admission.

You're still far from sober, but even in your partially-inebriated state you think you get it now. In Adrian's own, weird and incredibly endearing way, everything he was doing was in an attempt to make your life easier. Protecting you on missions and otherwise leaving you alone. It's sweet, but so incredibly misplaced.

You finish your glass of water, setting it down on the coffee table before placing your hand on his knee. Adrian is looking away from you, trying to seem engrossed with the threads of his jeans. His eyes very obviously flicker to your hand, but he makes no move to pull his leg away.

"Hey, Adrian?" you say.

He finally looks back over at you.

"I don't know where you got advice on how to talk to girls, but I want you to throw everything you know out."

"Everything? Because Peacemaker told me-" You cut him off right there.

"Everything." Adrian nods his head in understanding. "I'm going to give you some new advice that won't work on every girl, but I do know at least one girl it will work on."

You stare at him pointedly, making sure he understands who you're talking about. Spelling it out will ruin the effect you're trying to have, but you're willing to do it if you need to. His eyes widen slightly as realization dawns and you know he's on the same page as you.

"What you want to do is go up to her, introduce yourself, flash her that cute little grin of yours, tell her what you like about her, and then ask her on a date."

"That's it?"

"Yeah. That's it."

Adrian suddenly launches himself backwards over your couch, walking towards your door. Your stomach bottoms out, horror-struck as you think you somehow read all of this wrong. Is that not what he meant? Was he just fucking with you this entire time? And then a step from your door he spins on his heel.

"Turn around, you're ruining the effect!" He demands. Your own anxiety got the better of you – he's not leaving at all. He's doing exactly as you instructed.

You turn around, doing your best to hide the ridiculous smile you can feel plastered across your face. This feels absurd, but your heart is thudding, excited at the prospect of finally getting to interact with the Adrian everyone else gets to talk and joke around with. It’s all you’ve wanted for months at this point.

Playing along, you do your very best to act casual. It involves a lot more inspection of your nails than you would typically do, but it’s part of the game.

Adrian jumps back over the couch, bouncing on the cushions as he lands, and wraps his arm around your shoulders with a smoothness you didn’t even know he possessed. It’s surprising to see the cockiness he typically displays more of in his suit so out in the open. You can’t say you don’t like it though.

He offers his other hand out to you. “Hi, I’m Adrian. Super dope people know me as Vigilante.”

You shake his hand, offering your name and codename in return. His hand is still so warm. Right on cue, he grins and your heart melts. There’s a chance it was a mistake letting him know how charming you find it, but that’s a problem for later.

“I saw you from across the living room and I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful you are.” If he asks tomorrow, you’re definitely blaming the giggle that escapes you on the alcohol. “I also noticed how crazy smart you are and how fucking sexy you look when you’re killing people, and how shockingly nice you can be to people. You’re probably the most badass person I know.”

“You noticed all that across the room, huh?”

Adrian bypasses your joke. “I mean, that’s not really all of it, but I still don’t want to freak you out.”

You adjust yourself under Adrian’s arm, throwing your legs over his lap. “Is there anything else you want to ask me?”

“Do you want to go on a date with me? I know a really sick arcade place and I also know how to get the jackpot every time on at least five of the machines.”

There is a small part of you that wants to mess with him. Tell him no just to see his reaction, but with the way he’s looking at you there’s only one possible answer. You lean over slightly, pressing a kiss against his cheek. “I’d really like that. I’ve always wanted one of those top shelf prizes.”

“Babe, I’m going to get you all the top shelf prizes you want.”

You sit there for a little while longer, wrapping yourself further into Adrian’s body. You’re slowly sobering up more, reminding yourself every few minutes that this is real and actually happening. Adrian’s thoughts must be someplace similar.

“Hey, so you’re not going to suddenly deny all of this happening tomorrow, right?”

You pop your head up from his chest, looking at him in surprise. “No. Not if you aren’t.”

“Okay good because I was kinda getting worried there for a minute because you’re drunk and all, but I trust you.”

“Good," you say, settling back against him. "Because I think I like you too."

Tagging people who expressed interest/mutuals that I know like Vigilante: @green-socks @moonlight-prose @pettyprocrastination @skeletonstwins @anaaaispunk

My taglist is updated to include him now, so if you're 18+ and want to be tagged for this character please fill that out <3

[jrob64]

Love Song for a Broken Heart - Chapter 2/2 (Healing Hearts)

Here is the conclusion to the story and I hope it was worth the short wait. The tags promised angst, but also a happy ending, which you'll get...eventually. Thank you for the kind response to this story!

Happy birthday once again to Mary. I hope this is the start of a much better year for you!

Story Summary: After a painful break-up with the love of his life, Killian Jones writes a song for her and sings it every weekend at the bar. One night as he’s playing, he sees her in the crowd with a man he despises, and it leads to an eye-opening discussion between Emma and Killian. 

Rating: M

Words: (Ch. 2 - 6320, Total - 11,100)

Find Chapter 1 on Tumblr here

Also found on Ao3 and ffn

*********

“May…may I come in?” she whispered. 

Killian stepped back to open the door wider and watched her brush past him, every muscle in her body tense. He hurried to move his guitar off the sofa, offering her a seat. She perched on the very edge and kept her eyes on her tightly clasped hands. 

Killian sat also, leaving a cushion’s width between them. “Are you okay?” he asked. 

She shook her head. “No, I’m not. You…you were r-right. Those pictures were fakes. Once I looked at them closer, it was so obvious, but when I first got them, it was…I was…I just couldn’t…” She sucked in a choked breath and exhaled a sob. “How could I be so stupid?” 

“I’m sure they were very realistic if what Belle said about Milah’s work is true.” 

“They were, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that I thought they could be real.” 

“No, it doesn’t. You told me love is built on trust, but…you…you didn’t trust me. When I told you I hadn’t been with any other woman, you should have believed me.”

“I…I know,” she mumbled, casting her eyes down to the floor. “You’re right, but just hearing you were cheating on me, well, it brought up all the memories of when Walsh did that to me and…” 

“Emma, I know he broke your heart, but you believing I would ever cheat on you broke mine. I proved over and over that I wasn’t going to do anything like he did and I never gave you any reason to believe I would.”

He watched a tear make its way down her cheek before she reached up to swipe it away. “I know I was wrong and it disgusts me that I’ve wasted all these months being angry and making both of us miserable. All I can do is tell you that I’ll never doubt you again.” 

“I truly hope you mean that, because I can’t go through something like this again. The last eight months have been a fucking nightmare.” 

More tears spilled over her lashes and he couldn’t restrain himself any longer. Closing the distance between them, he wrapped her up in his arms and held her tightly. He could feel her tears soaking through his shirt as she continued to sob, her body jerking with the force of it. His own hot tears tracked down his face, but at the same time, the pieces of his shattered heart started clicking back into place. His beautiful love was back where she belonged. 

Minutes passed - he had no idea how many - until she took a shuddering breath and pulled away from him just enough to look into his face. “I-I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me, Killian?” 

His fingers reached up to tuck some strands of hair behind her ear. Pressing his forehead to hers, he quietly said, “I forgive you. You reacted like most people would if presented with something like that. I know if it would have been me, I wouldn’t have been able to bear looking at them.” 

“That’s how I felt, and why I didn’t realize they were doctored. Once I saw them, I never wanted to look at them again. I almost deleted them. I really can’t tell you why I didn’t, but it’s a good thing I held onto them. I could have gone the rest of my life thinking you cheated on me and…and lost you…forever. Maybe I already have.” 

“No you haven’t,” he was quick to reassure her. “You’ll never lose me. My heart is yours forever, Emma.” 

She brought her hands up to frame his face, her thumbs finding the scruff which was damp from his tears. “Killian, I love you. I never stopped loving you, even when I repeatedly told myself it was the wrong thing to do.” 

“But it’s not.” 

She hiccuped a giggle, the sound going straight to his healing heart. “No, it’s not. It’s the most right thing in the world.” 

Killian leaned back on the couch, taking her with him, and they sat that way for long moments that grew increasingly more comfortable. He peppered kisses into her hair as her fingers found their way under the hem of his T-shirt to brush against his bare skin, but he could tell it was just to feel connected to him, not to lead to anything more physical. They needed time to process everything that had happened in the last eight months and to clear away the debris in their hearts, so falling into bed together immediately probably wasn’t the best idea, no matter how much he wanted to explore that side of their relationship again.  

“Swan,” he said, breaking the silence, “did it take you a while to bring yourself to look at those pictures again?” 

“No, I looked at them as soon as I ended the call to you.” 

“May I ask why it took so long for you to come over then? It seemed like a bloody eternity.” 

“I, um, I called Mary Margaret to get advice from her on how to handle things with, uh, with Neal and his mother. I knew it probably wasn’t a good idea to go punch both of them in their deceiving, spiteful faces, despite my burning desire to do it.” 

He gave a low chuckle. “No, I don’t suppose it was. So what did you do?” 

“David offered to go with me to confront them. He said he would threaten to arrest them if they gave me any trouble. I went to Neal’s first and lucked out because Milah was there.”

“How did they respond?” 

“At first they both denied everything. Neal tried to sweet talk me and tell me I was just imagining things, but I showed them the proof. They used a picture from my own Facebook photo gallery, the idiots! Then his mother tried to say someone else must have done it, but I told her I knew she did photo manips and that she would do anything to help her spoiled son get what he wanted. Finally, after a lot of yelling and accusations, Neal admitted he’d asked her to do it, but claimed it was only because he loved me and wanted the best for me. The best! Can you believe that? As if he would ever be the best of anything! And to say he loves me? That turned my stomach. He has NO idea what love is! Oh, and get this - it was one of Neal’s buddies and his girlfriend having sex in the picture. Neal asked them to do it outside The Rabbit Hole and he took pictures of it. How sick is that?” 

Killian shook his head in disgust “I knew he was jealous of our relationship, and that he thought he was better for you than I am, but I still can’t believe he would stoop that low to break us up.” 

“It turns my stomach that he succeeded.” 

“The important thing is you found out the truth eventually. Did his mother ever admit to anything?” 

“She caved after her sniveling son did. She acted like I was making too big of a deal out of it, until David stepped in and told her she’ll be lucky if you didn’t sue them for defamation of character. That finally shut her up.” 

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Do you think you will?” 

He looked thoughtful. “Probably not. I just want to put it behind us. Besides, the sooner those two are completely out of our lives, the better.”

“I agree, but I still wouldn’t blame you if you did. For eight months, our friends and I thought you were to blame for breaking my heart, when you were completely innocent.”

“As long as all of them believe the truth now, that’s good enough for me.”

“They will. I’ll make sure of it.”

“I’ll have to call Liam tomorrow. He came to stay with me a few days right after you…right after it happened.” 

“I’m glad you had him to help you. I’m sure he must hate me.”

“He won’t, once he understands the circumstances.” 

Emma was quiet again, until she murmured, “I can’t believe I doubted you.” 

“We can’t undo the past, but we can look towards the future and I very much want that future to be with you.” 

She raised up to look at him. “It will, if I have anything to do with it. I never want to be without you again. I thought it would get easier with time, but it never did.” 

Her lips met his in a kiss that sealed their reunion. They kept it brief; just a slow, sweet promise of things yet to come. When it ended, they maintained contact by resting their foreheads together, then Killian chuckled as Emma’s stomach growled loudly. “Hungry, Swan?” 

“Yeah, I haven’t eaten since…” she paused, her brows furrowing as she thought, “since yesterday, before we went to the bar. Neal’s idea of a nice meal was a burger and greasy fries. He didn’t even order onion rings for me.”

Killian sucked in an exaggerated breath. “Egads! The imbecile didn’t figure out that the way to your heart is through the middle of an onion ring?” She playfully swatted at him, but he caught her hand and held it up, pressing his lips to the inside of her wrist. “Do you want to go out, or order in?” 

“I’d prefer to have it delivered, if that’s okay with you. I don’t really feel like having to deal with other people right now.” 

“Fine by me. What’s your pleasure?” 

“Well, now I’m hungry for onion rings.”

He feigned surprise. “I’m simply shocked!” He reveled in her laughter, his heart lighter than it had been for months. 

*********

While they waited for their meals to be delivered, Emma called Ruby to bring her up to date on everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Just like Mary Margaret, she accepted the explanation immediately, expressing her happiness that the couple was back together, and her outrage at what Neal and his mother had done.  

Once their food arrived, they inhaled it, both of them realizing just how hungry they were when the smell hit their noses. Afterward, they resumed their places on the couch and selected a movie to watch. Neither of them made it even halfway through, the combination of a sleepless night and a myriad of emotions finally put to rest, pulling them into a deep slumber. 

Killian woke up nearly three hours later and found they had shifted in their sleep. He was now pressed up against the back of the sofa with Emma laying beside him, wrapped in his arms, her cheek resting on his chest. He soaked up the feeling of finally having the woman he loved in his arms once again, as he felt her breath ghosting over his throat. 

Emma stirred several minutes later, blinking bleary eyes while she tried to get her bearings. “What time is it?” she asked in a hoarse voice. 

He stretched to collect his phone off the small table at the end of the sofa. “Almost nine o’clock.” 

She yawned widely then moved to sit up. “I should probably get going.” 

Gently caressing her shoulder, he asked, “Do you have to?” 

She turned to look at him. “You want me to stay?” 

His fingers found the fringes of her hair as he answered. “I, uh, I’m afraid if I wake up in the morning and you’re not here, all of this will have just been a wonderful dream.” 

“I know what you mean. It…it feels so good to be in your arms again.” 

“So you’ll stay?” 

She leaned in and kissed him. “Yeah.” 

She’d nearly forgotten how much she’d missed his dimpled grin until it stretched across his face in response to her answer. “Thank you, Love. I’ll be right back.” He pushed himself up from the couch, bent down to plant a kiss on her forehead, then left the room. When he returned, he was carrying a familiar set of clothes. 

“You…kept my pajamas?” she questioned. 

“I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them. I still haven’t washed the pillowcase you always slept on, even though I can’t smell your scent on it any longer.” 

Unbidden tears came to her eyes. “Oh, Killian,” she whispered. “You never gave up on us, did you?” 

He pulled her to her feet and into his arms. “I have to admit there were moments when I despaired of ever being with you again, but I always had hope the truth would eventually come out.” 

She toyed with the buttons on his shirt, not meeting his eyes as she softly said, “I got rid of the stuff you left at my place. All except for one of your old band shirts, which I buried in a dresser drawer. I’m sorry. It just hurt too much to keep everything.” 

Killian swallowed down the pang of pain her admission caused. “It’s okay, Love. We each had to deal with things in our own way.” They swayed together, moving almost like they were dancing; his hands stroking long, soothing caresses down her back, while her fingers traced small circles into his chest. When he spoke again, his voice rumbled against her cheek. “May I ask you something, Emma?” 

“Mmhmm.” 

“You and Cassidy…never mind, I don’t want to know. All that matters is we’re back together.”

“I never slept with him, Killian.” She felt the breath he had been holding whoosh out of his lungs. “He was…well…I thought he was my friend, and I only went out with him as a way of thanking him for being there for me when everything happened. Little did I know, I wouldn’t have gone through any of it, if it wasn’t for him. Despite what he was trying to convey last night, we never had a physical relationship of any kind.” 

“I’m sorry, Love, I just…” 

“I understand.” She looked up at him and moved her hands to cradle his face. “Now, if it’s okay with you, I never want to talk about or even think about him again.” 

“It’s more than okay.”

“Good. I’m gonna go change and wash my face.” 

“All of your things are still in the cabinet under the sink.” She gave him another watery smile before making her way down the hallway. 

While she was in the bathroom, he went into his bedroom and changed into a pair of sleep pants and an old, soft T-shirt he knew was one of her favorites. When she emerged, dressed in her pink pajama pants with yellow ducklings and a loose-fitting V-neck shirt, he simultaneously met her in the hallway. 

“You can have the bed, Emma. I’ll sleep on the sofa.” 

She gave him a puzzled look. “Why can’t we both sleep in the bed?” 

“I, uh, it might be too soon for that. I know it’s going to take time for us to work through everything and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” 

“Nothing has to happen, Killian. I just…I just want to be close to you. Will you be uncomfortable sharing a bed?” 

“Honestly? I would truly love falling asleep with you in my arms, because I haven’t been able to get a good night’s sleep in eight bloody months.” 

“Then it’s settled,” she smiled, and headed into his bedroom. 

After brushing his teeth, he moved around the apartment, making sure the door was locked and flipping off the lights. Then he grabbed a couple of bottles of water out of the refrigerator before entering his room, where his heart warmed, seeing his beautiful love cuddled under the covers; her long, blonde hair fanned out over the pillow. Her pillow. 

Unsure whether she was asleep or not, he set the water on the nightstand and quietly slid between the sheets. Immediately her hands sought him out and he happily obliged by scooting further across the mattress towards her.  

As soon as his arms were firmly wrapped around her, she sighed and melted into him. “I love you, Killian,” her sleepy voice assured him. 

“Love you too, Emma,” he replied, feeling that he was, at long last, whole again, and settled in to get the best sleep he’d had in many months.  

*********

When he awoke the next morning, Emma was still in his arms, though she was turned on her side with her back to him. The effect it had on him was painfully apparent, and he immediately shifted his hips backwards. She mumbled something, but he could tell she was still asleep, so he pressed a kiss to the back of her head and carefully eased out of bed. 

After taking a quick and bracing shower to calm himself, he checked on her once again and, finding her still snuggled under the covers, grabbed his phone off of the nightstand and went into the kitchen to start the coffee machine. 

Noting that it was nearly ten-thirty, he knew it would be a good time to call Liam since his two-year-old daughter would be taking her afternoon nap at that time. He flipped the switch to brew the coffee, then moved to the living room and flopped down onto the couch to place the call. 

“Hello, little brother,” Liam greeted, and Killian gritted his teeth at the moniker, but decided he was in too good of a mood to let it bother him. 

“Hi, Liam. How’s everyone doing?” 

“Just fine.” He went on to bring Killian up-to-date on all the new things his niece was doing and saying. 

After Liam had filled him in for almost five minutes, he asked the question Killian was waiting to hear. “How are things going for you, brother?” His voice held the same note of concern Killian had been hearing ever since Liam went back to England after spending those days with him following the breakup. 

“Incredible!”

“Are you being sarcastic?” 

“Not at all. She’s back, Liam.” 

“Who? Emma?” 

“No, Princess Leia, you dolt. Of course Emma.” 

“Please tell me you didn’t go crawling back to her after what she did to you.” 

“She came to me, actually.” He related the story of what had happened the past two days as Liam listened without commenting. 

Once he brought him up to speed, Killian waited for his brother to respond. There was a long pause on the other end before Liam finally spoke. “She should have believed you from the beginning, Killian. Your word that you hadn’t cheated should have been enough proof for her.” 

Killian sighed. He knew Liam would take the protective big brother stance. “She’s aware of that and she already apologized.” 

“She put you through hell for no reason and you’re just going to forgive her that easily?” 

“We talked things through, Liam. I told her what she put me through, but I also told her that I forgive her. We know it’s going to take a while to build up trust with each other again, and to work through all the hurt we’ve experienced, but it’s worth it. Love is worth it.” 

“What if she breaks your heart again?”

“I won’t,” Emma said firmly, sitting down beside Killian. 

“I’m sorry I woke you, Love. I thought I had the volume turned down low enough.” 

“The call didn’t wake me up. You not being in bed did,” she whispered against his ear. Then she spoke into the phone again. “Liam, I promise I will do everything in my power to never break your brother’s heart again. If I do, you can personally come over here and kick my ass.”

“I want that in writing.”

Emma laughed lightly. “You got it.” 

*********

Despite having spent the night in each other’s arms and the light-hearted mood they enjoyed as they ate breakfast after the call with Liam, the couple found themselves at a loss for words when they sat down on the couch together later that morning. Both of them had thoughts of what happened the previous evening, as well as the past eight months, swirling through their heads and were having trouble expressing them. 

Finally, Killian reached over and took Emma’s hand. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to pick up where we left off, no matter how much I want to do that. I’ve been carrying around the…the pain of your false accusations and how easily you believed the worst of me for months now.” 

“It wasn’t easy, Killian. It just seemed like indisputable evidence.” 

“Your trust in me should have caused you to dispute it.”

“I know, but at the time, I was blindsided and I just…I guess I just wanted to protect my heart from being hurt again.” 

“That’s understandable when you’ve been hurt like that, but I can’t pretend all of this isn’t going to leave some scars behind, too.” He watched her drop her head and nod sadly, before bringing his hand up to cup her cheek. “But I truly believe what I told Liam - love is worth it, and I love you so much, Emma.” 

“I love you, too,” she murmured and he felt the wetness of a tear against his thumb. 

“How about if we start slowly?” 

She raised teary eyes to look at him. “What do you mean?” 

“Will you go out with me tonight, Emma?” 

A smile flitted across her face, chasing away some of the clouds settled there. “I would really like that, Killian.” 

*********

Killian was afraid the date was going to be awkward, but he actually enjoyed getting a chance to take Emma out for what felt like the first time again. They went to a small diner on the outskirts of town, rather than opting for a large, noisy restaurant. Their conversation was easy and relaxed as they caught up with each other, and he took every opportunity to hold her hand or touch the bare skin of her arm. 

He wasn’t sure what she expected, but he had already decided the evening wouldn’t end up in one of their bedrooms. Emma seemed to agree with his philosophy, when he said goodnight to her outside her apartment with a sweet, lingering kiss, and an invitation for a walk on a linear park path the following day. 

The next three weeks saw them spending an increasing amount of time together and Killian found someone to fill in for some of his scheduled weekend gigs to concentrate on rebuilding his relationship with Emma. The raw edges of their emotions were being smoothed over and both of them began to feel like they were approaching the degree of comfort they had with each other before the breakup. 

One Sunday afternoon, when they arrived at Emma’s door, Killian kissed her as usual, forcing himself to end it before they got too carried away. Unwilling to break all contact with her, he pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths. 

“Do you want to come in?” she murmured, slowly stroking her fingers along his jaw. 

His eyes opened slowly and met hers. “I would love to.” 

She gave him a bright smile, unlocked her apartment door and led him inside. He glanced around, taking in the familiar surroundings, then followed her to the couch and sat down beside her. 

He noticed she was fiddling with the chain of her necklace, a habit she had when she was nervous about something. “I, um…I have really…enjoyed our dates, Killian,” she said haltingly. 

“I sense there’s a ‘but’ in there somewhere.” 

She peeked up at him through her lashes, a small grin tugging at the corners of her mouth, which quickly disappeared. “But there are still some things I need to say to you…to clear the air between us.”

“I didn’t realize the air still needed to be cleared.” 

Twisting the chain tightly around her finger, she said quietly, “I-I’m having trouble forgiving myself, because I’ve been thinking about everything that believing Neal’s lies cost us and I just….” 

“Emma, I already told you…”

“No, listen to me, Killian. In the year-and-a-half we were together, you never gave me any reason to believe you were anything but dedicated to our relationship. You always put me first and believed in me and loved me; yet the minute someone told me you were with another woman, I believed him. I was a complete idiot and I’m so very, very sorry I hurt you.”

“Look at me, Love.” He waited until her tear-filled eyes met his. “I can’t pretend I wasn’t hurt and that I don’t regret the time we lost together, but I also know how hard it is for you to trust people because of your upbringing in the foster system, and of course, the situation with Walsh didn’t help. I imagine once you saw those pictures, the trust you had in me crumbled and you felt abandoned again. I just wish you would have given me a chance to explain, instead of cutting off all lines of communication.” He paused to brush the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs before continuing, “I believe all things happen for a reason, and even though this has been a painful chapter in our relationship, we’ll come out of it stronger than ever.”

“I don’t deserve you,” she said quietly. 

He tenderly brushed her hair away from her face, tucking it behind both ears. “Aye, you may be right about that,” he smirked, hoping to lighten the mood. 

She hiccuped a giggle, then allowed him to settle her against his chest. “Anyway, thank you for giving me a second chance. Believe me when I say I won’t make the same mistake again. I trust you completely, Killian.” 

“Good.” 

He held her close, brushing kisses over the crown of her head and humming under his breath. 

“That’s the song you sang at the bar that night, isn’t it?” she asked. “The one you said you wrote for me?” 

“Aye, it is.” 

“No one has ever done anything like that for me before.” 

“That’s because no one has ever loved you as much as I do.” 

She leaned back to look up at him. “Will you sing it for me?” 

“Right now?” 

“Please?” 

He leaned in to kiss her, then began to sing the song softly as she watched him with awe-filled eyes. When he finished, she sighed and pressed her lips against his. “Thank you, Killian. I love you and I promise to never crush your soul.”

*********

The next Friday, she once again invited him in after they returned from watching a movie. “Do you want something to drink?” she asked. “I have wine or rum.” 

“Just water please. I already had a drink with dinner and I need to drive home later.” He saw a flicker of disappointment pass over her eyes before she left the room to retrieve their drinks from the kitchen. 

When they were seated together on the sofa, she took a sip of her water, then twisted the cap on and off several times. He waited for her, knowing she had something on her mind. “How long do you think it will take, Killian?” 

“How long for what, Love?” he asked, although he was pretty sure he knew. 

“Until we’re ready to move forward again, to where we were before all this happened.”

He set his bottle of water on the floor beside the couch and turned to face her, bringing his hand up to caress her cheek. “Every minute we spend together pushes the pain further away. I don’t know about you, but I feel like my heart is well on its way to healing. This isn’t just my decision though, Love; you were hurt, too. What are your thoughts on the matter?” 

She shifted her body to close the space between them on the couch and molded herself to him, sliding her arms around his torso and situating her legs across his lap. “I’m ready to put this whole thing behind us, Killian. I know we said we needed time for our hearts to heal, but I think intimacy is part of that healing process. My body has craved your touch and more times than I care to admit, I wake up aching to feel you inside me. I’ve missed every part of you.” 

That was all the invitation he needed to crush his lips to hers. The kisses they shared up until that night had been sweet, but tentative, apologetic and reassuring. This one was full of the fiery passion that was always characteristic of their love for one another. 

“Should we move this to the bedroom?” he mumbled against her throat. 

“Y-yes,” she managed to utter through the haze of pleasure he was eliciting. 

He started to rise from the sofa and she clung to him, wrapping her legs around him and peppering kisses over every bit of skin she could reach. 

He stumbled into her bedroom, nearly tripping over the pile of clothes laying in the middle of the floor. “I see you haven’t changed, Swan,” he chuckled. 

“Eh, they may get put away someday.” 

He laughed and picked his way across the room to drop her, giggling, onto her mattress. They stretched out beside each other on the bed and looked into each other’s eyes, before they resumed exploring with their lips.

Roaming hands groped for skin under their clothing, which soon found its way to the floor. Fingers, lips, tongues and teeth set to work reacquainting themselves with the body of their love, and the sounds of encouraging moans and murmurs soon filled the room.

“Gods, I missed you, Emma,” Killian gasped hotly into her ear. 

“I missed you too,” she panted between open-mouthed kisses she was placing across his collarbones. 

“I missed kissing you,” he continued, ducking his head to capture her lips. “I missed your deep moans when I run my tongue along your throat,” he added, before doing just that. He began caressing and kissing his way down her body, pausing frequently to tell her more. “I missed your perfect breasts…your soft skin under my fingers…your responsiveness…your wet heat…the smell of your arousal…” By this time, his head was between her legs as his hands pressed her knees down to the mattress. “I missed your taste on my tongue and the way you grab my hair to pull me in closer.” He pushed a finger into her, causing her to buck against him. “I missed this sweet cunt and the way you close your eyes and bite your lip when you’re getting close to the edge.”

He worked a second finger into her and curled them just the way he knew would set her off, then ground down on her bundle of nerves with the heel of his hand. Her grip became painful on his hair as her legs shook and clamped around him, finding her release. “Killiannnn…” she whimpered. 

He slid back up her body, retracing the path his lips had taken earlier. 

“I missed the way you say my name when you climax and the way you…oh, gods…” She rendered him speechless as she found his cock and began stroking it, her hand sliding up and down while using her other hand to grab his ass, coaxing him to move back over her. 

“I…I missed you, too. So much! P-please Killian, I need you!” 

He nestled between her hips and looked down at her, wantonly reaching for him as she squirmed on the bed, her eyes half-closed and her lip caught between her teeth. Leaning down, he brushed a kiss to her throat, dipping his tongue into the hollow of it, before adjusting his body to align himself with her. “I love you, Emma,” he declared, then pushed inside her throbbing heat. 

She wrapped her legs around him, crossing her ankles at the small of his back and opening herself up to him even more. He stilled within her and gulped in some breaths, trying to fend off the orgasm he could already feel building. When he felt like he could move without coming prematurely, he dropped to his elbows and began languidly gliding in and out of her. She was so aroused that there was no friction as he moved, only pure, sensual pleasure. 

“Mmmm…feels so good! Go f-faster, Killian! Harder…and faster!” she urged. 

“Your heart’s desire, Swan,” he grinned, then began thrusting into her with more intensity. 

Their bodies responded to being apart for far too long, and soon they were climbing to the apex together, their gasps and moans spurring each other on. When she shuddered to her second climax, digging her nails into his back and biting down on his shoulder, the sensations she created ended him. He pressed his hips to her tightly and poured his release into her, breathing his love for her into her ear. 

He wrapped a leg around her and rolled them over, until she rested on top of him, completely sated and boneless. 

Neither spoke as they lay together, but after several minutes, Killian heard Emma sniffle and felt the wetness of her tears against his skin. “Swan? Are you alright?” he asked, concern evident in his voice. 

“Yes, I just…I’ve missed you…missed this. Every time with you is perfect, like we were made for each other.”

“I truly think that we were, but why does that make you cry, Sweetheart?” 

“Because it finally feels like I’m back where I belong.” 

“They’re tears of happiness, then?” 

“Mmhmm.” 

“That’s good and you’re right - this is exactly where you belong, in my arms and right next to my heart.” 

“Stay with me tonight?” she implored. 

“I’m not going anywhere.”

*********

Over the following months, they continued to rebuild their relationship and slowly came to realize that it was even stronger than it had been before. They were more open with each other, making sure to discuss anything that concerned them, and sharing their thoughts and feelings. 

When Neal tried to contact Emma several weeks after she found out the truth, she took the call to let him know in no uncertain terms what she thought of him, then ended it and promptly blocked his number. 

A few months after the confrontation at the bar, they heard a rumor that he had run into some severe financial problems. After his mother paid off his debts, the two of them moved to the west coast, leaving Emma and Killian to breathe a sigh of relief that they wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally running into him. 

Six months after getting back together, they went on a vacation to a small beach house one of Emma’s college friends owned. After a full week of spending every second of every day together, Killian asked Emma to move in with him once they returned home. He knew they wouldn’t be able to stand even one night apart any longer. 

They settled into life together very easily, with Killian playfully nagging his girlfriend about her messy habits and Emma teasing him about hanging his clothes in the closet, sorted by color. Neither of them had ever been happier. The months of separation and pain were pushed to the far corners of their minds, crowded out by all the wonderful memories they made together since then. 

Life was good. 

*********

“Do you want to take all of this music with you?” Emma called, straightening the stack of sheet music scattered over the desk in their spare bedroom. 

“Sure, just stick it in the folder and throw it in my guitar case,” Killian answered from the bedroom, where he was changing clothes for his gig that night. His talent and reputation were becoming well known throughout the area, and he was in demand at places much nicer than the bars where he got his start. 

“You really should be more organized, Babe.” 

“Creativity is messy, Swan.” 

His reply made her smile as she sorted through the pile, trying to make sure the pages for each song were together. One that was a handwritten draft caught her attention. As she began reading the lyrics, she realized it was ‘her’ song. Pushing a few papers aside, she found the first page and her heart skipped a beat when she read the title. He always called it the song for the love of his life, but now she saw he had entitled it Love Song for a Broken Heart. 

Just then, he stepped into the room tugging a dark blue henley over his head, and saw her holding the sheet in her hand with an indecipherable look on her face. “What’s that you have there, Swan?” She held it up to show him and his eyes softened. “I guess I should rename it now, yeah?” 

She hesitated. “No. You wrote it when your heart was broken, but it led to us getting back together and helped heal both of our hearts. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a very fitting title.” 

He bent to kiss her, lingering against her lips for several moments. “Killian?” she whispered as soon as their lips parted a hair’s width.

“Mmm?” he hummed.

“Will you write another song for me sometime?” 

“Your heart’s desire, Love.” 

*********

Fourteen months later at their wedding reception, Emma was beginning to wonder where Killian had wandered off to, when suddenly she heard his voice coming through the microphone and looked up to see him onstage in front of their hired band, with guitar in hand. 

“I’d like to sing a song I wrote, and dedicate it to my beautiful bride, who inspires me every day. It’s called Healer of My Heart.” 

Emma couldn’t stop the tears of happiness pouring down her cheeks as she listened to the heartfelt lyrics written just for her, by her new husband. 

Their relationship was never a pre-destined love story, guaranteed a happy ending, but they had fought for their love… 

And they won. 

*********

I know some of you were calling for Neal & Milah’s heads on a platter, but I wanted to concentrate on Emma and Killian in this conclusion. Thank you for reading, liking, reblogging & commenting! 

Tagging: @xsajx​​ @hookedmom​​ @kymbersmith-90​​ @kmomof4​​ @lassluna​​ @pirateherokillian​​ @teamhook​​ @stahlop​​ @elizabeethan​​ @whimsicallyenchantedrose​​ @resident-of-storybrooke​​ @therooksshiningknight​​ @jennjenn615​​ @lfh1226-linda​​ @ilovemesomekillianjones​​ @killianswannn​​ @stories-enchanted​​ @eleveneitherway​​ @withheartfulloflove​​ @kday426​​ @lyssapup27​​ @swanlovato @djlbg​​ @kristi555​​ @laschatzi​​ @xarandomdreamx​​ @lkles08​​ @wyntereyez​​ @bubblegum1425​​ @xhookswenchx​​ @yasbio2015​​ @tiganasummertree​​ @winterbaby89​​ @wefoundloveunderthelight​​ @hollyethecurious​​ @let-it-raines​​ @jonesfandomfanatic​​ @searchingwardrobes​​ @dreamingdreamsalways​​ @oncechicagolove​​​ @andiirivera​​  @gingerchangeling​​​ @everything-person​​​ @klynn-stormz​​​ @qualitycoffeethings​​​ @vampcoffeegyrl23​​​ @enchanted-swans​​ @ohmakemeahercules​​​ @donteattheappleshook​​​ @bluewildcatfanatic​​​ @the-darkdragonfly​​​ @demisexualemmaswan​​​ @lavenderbudd​​​ @grimmswan​​​ @spartanguard​​​ @flslp87​​​ @ultraluckycatnd​​​ @thisonesatellite​​​ @captainswan21​​​ @zaharadessert​​​ @mariakov81​​​ @snowbellewells​​​ @xouatxcs​​​ @kiwistreetswan​​​ @batana54​​​ @nadine200179​​​ @probalicious17​​​ @courtorderedcake​​​ @julesep3026​​​ @jackieorioncat​​​ @whatthehell102082​​​ @jarienn972​​​ @sthonour​​​ @linda8084​​​ @carpedzem​​​ @pirateprincesslena​​​ @daxx04​​​ @winterbythesea​​​ @artistic-writer​​ @cocohook38​​​ @captainswan4life85​​​ @molly958​​​ @kingofmyheart14​​​ @badwolfreturns​​​ @itsfridaysomewhere​​​@fallingforthecaptain  @onceratheart18​​​ @strangestarlighttree​​​ @omgmarvelousmorgan​​​ @justanother-unluckysoul​​​ @mrs-potato-but-likes-tomato​​​ @anothersworld​​​ @deckerstarblanche​​​ @purplehawkcaptain​​​  @superchocovian​​​ @k-leemac​​​ @citygirlscowboy​​​ @laughterandbooks​​​ @sotangledupinit​​​ @apiratewhopines​​​ @huntressandlioness1​​​ @cosette141​​​  @gingerpolyglot​​​ @motherkatereloyshipper​

[foxthefanboi]

photographs

Summary: Eight photographs over the years of Katsuki and Izuku, and Katsuki's reactions to them, showing the evolution of their friendship: The first four he destroys. The fifth triggers a revelation. The sixth marks a change. The seventh forces him to reveal the truth. The eighth is something special.

Fandom: My Hero Academia Pairing: Katsuki Bakugo/Izuku Midoriya Characters: Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku Midoriya, some Eijirou Kirishima, a little Mitsuki Bakugo Word Count: 3,900 Rating: T AO3: Link

Other tags: BNHA #306-322 spoilers, pining bakugo, happy ending

Excerpt:

“It’s us,” Izuku said, looking at the framed photo on Katsuki's nightstand.

“Obviously, dumbass.”

“Why?”

“‘Why’?” Katsuki huffed out a laugh and met Izuku’s eyes. No point in being anything but honest. “Because I like looking at you.”

Izuku hesitated, and then asked again, “Why?”

“Because you’re fucking cute, okay?”

“I’m… what? Why?”

“You really haven’t figured it out yet?”

“Are you making fun of me?” Izuku said, narrowing his eyes.

Katsuki wished that’s all it was. He took a deep breath and admitted what he’d been holding in for years. “Jesus. I’m in love with you, asshole.”

Fic:

“Smile!” Izuku’s mom said, snapping a picture of Katsuki and Izuku where they were all at the park.

Izuku had a huge grin and was holding up a peace sign with his fingers. Katsuki had his arms crossed and was scowling. Why he had to pose for this stupid picture was beyond him, but his mom had insisted he behave, so he would try to hold still for five seconds so Izuku’s mom could get her dumb photo.

Once the Polaroid had printed and dried, Izuku’s mom gave it to Katsuki’s mom to keep.

“This is cute,” Katsuki’s mom said, holding the picture in one hand and ruffling Katsuki’s hair with the other. He let out an audible growl. The disrespect of this woman. “I hope they stay friends forever. Maybe this little gremlin could learn some manners from your kid.”

“Let’s go,” Katsuki said, turning and storming off. Without even looking, his mom grabbed him by the ear. “Hey! Let go!”

“It was nice seeing you again, Inko,” Katsuki’s mom said, ignoring Katsuki struggling to get away from her grasp.

“You as well! Come by some time, all right?”

When they got home, Katsuki’s mom pinned up the photo high on the fridge, out of Katsuki’s reach.

“Take it down,” Katsuki said, arms crossed.The careless grin on Deku’s face, like he was somehow better than everyone else… Katsuki couldn’t stand the thought of seeing it every day.

“No, I like it.”

“It’s cute,” Katsuki’s dad chipped in.

Katsuki jumped to take down the picture but still couldn’t reach it.

“Come on, kid, we have so few pictures of you with your friends. Let us keep this one.”

“Hmph,” Katsuki grunted before storming off.

It took him three days of various techniques of jumping, climbing, throwing things, and moving furniture to take down the picture. He ripped it up over the trash. Good. Thank god it was gone.

Primary School

One of the stupid teachers in their primary school had been taking pictures of the class all year and handed some out to the students at the end of the year.

“This is you showing off your quirk to your friends!” His teacher said, passing him the photograph. In it, Katsuki was setting off small explosions in his hand as his small group of friends crowded around him. Deku included, standing at the edge with a look of awe on his stupid face.

Katsuki looked up at Deku, who was receiving his photograph from the teacher. Just him, working on a piece of art, alone like the pathetic loser he was. Katsuki thought the photo really did nothing but emphasize his lack of popularity. But Deku still accepted it enthusiastically from their teacher with repeated thanks.

Katsuki crumpled his picture in his hand and set of an explosion within his fist. As every person in the room turned to look at the source of the noise, he let the charred ashes of the photograph fall to the ground. He wasn’t much for sentimentality. They should’ve all known that by now.

Middle School

An end-of-school class picture from junior high: all the students lined up in rows in their crisp black uniforms, looking ahead at the camera.

Katsuki received one just like everyone else. It hadn’t been a terrible year, no classmates that were too bad. A lot of morons and extras but nobody who’d really made a point to stand up to him or bother him, except…

Deku. Standing at the edge of the class, with that dumb, wavering smile on his face and his eyes wide. Like he was afraid of even having his picture taken. If he was so scared all the time, then why had he thrown himself at the sludge monster just a couple of months before to save Katsuki? What did he know that nobody else did?

Katsuki’s mom was expecting him to hand over the photograph, but he scribbled over Midoriya’s face in black pen very thoroughly before handing it over.

She raised her eyebrows at his addition. “Seriously, Katsuki, what did he do to you?”

“Shut up,” Katsuki grumbled, storming out of the room before she could ask any more irritating questions.

UA Festival

“Come on, we have to try it!” Kirishima said before pulling Bakugo into the photo booth set up at their first UA festival. First flash. Katsuki scowled as Kirishima switched to a different silly pose. Second flash. Deku poked his head in. “Hey, Kirishima, are you…?” Third flash. With a playful laugh, Kirishima grabbed Deku and pulled him in, crashing him into Katsuki. Fourth flash.

And then some explosions.

Katsuki didn’t want to look at the print, but Kirishima made sure he saw it anyway. “I can’t believe how you kept the same face the entire time!” Kirishima said, his eyes scanning over the four photographs where Katsuki did indeed have an identical scowl and glare in all four pictures. “And look how red Midoriya’s cheeks are in the last one!” He said, pointing at the fourth photograph, where Deku was blushing furiously.

Freak. He couldn’t even take a picture normally.

Katsuki had refused to keep the print, but he still found the picture inside his notebook the next day during class. Kirishima, that sneaky bastard, must’ve put it there when he wasn’t looking, because Katsuki sure hadn’t left it there.

The corner of Katsuki’s mouth turned up in a smile as he looked at the others in the photos - Kirishima making weird faces, and Deku turning red. Okay, even though Deku had been there, it had been kind of fun. Maybe just a little bit. He wasn’t going to hang this picture up or anything, but it might be worth holding on to.

When he stood up after class, the photo slipped out of the notebook and fluttered down to the floor.

Someone stooped down to pick it up.

Shit. Deku.

“Oh, these are those pictures from yesterday!” He said, his face lighting up as he scanned over the photos.

“Yeah, too bad you’re in them,” Katsuki said, snatching back the strip of photos before catching it on fire with an explosion and letting it burn in his hand.

Deku watched it burn, his expression a mix of forlorn and resigned. When there was nothing left but some blackened scraps of paper, Deku looked back up at Katsuki. “It’s okay, we can always take some more next time.”

“Fuck off,” Katsuki mumbled, before grabbing his stuff and storming off, leaving Deku staring after him.

Deku Disappears

“I found these when we were evacuating,” Katsuki’s mom said, passing him an envelope.

Katsuki opened the envelope to glance at the contents. Photographs. He knew what they were from - a couple of the girls of Class A had taken a bunch of pictures at class parties and celebrations that they printed out and distributed to the other students for Christmas. He hadn’t wanted to keep them at school, but something stopped him from throwing them out, so he dropped them off at home on one of his visits back there.

“Okay.” He scowled and looked down. “Hey. I’m glad you’re safe.”

His mom pulled him into a hug, and Katsuki tolerated it. “I’m glad you’re safe too. Stay that way, okay?”

When Katsuki was back in his dorm room, he opened the envelope and flipped through the pictures. There were some of everyone, but a couple of the more central students of Class A showed up again and again. He saw one person stand out in particular. Izuku. Izuku. Izuku.

His eyes caught on a specific photo and he stopped flipping. It was in the dorm common room, during a group dinner. Izuku was smiling, huge and sincere like he always did, looking at his classmates fondly.

Katsuki was next to him in the picture, and the expression on his face as he looked at Izuku was… soft. Relaxed and affectionate. He felt his cheeks burn at the thought that not only had someone seen him looking happy like that, but they had caught it on camera too.

Still, he remembered that night. Thinking about how glad he was that their relationship had changed to something almost like friends, that he was so lucky to have someone like Izuku never had given up on Katsuki. Thinking that Izuku was actually amazing, and that Katsuki couldn’t believe he’d never seen it before.

Katsuki dropped the photos on his desk, tears pricking at his eyes. They’d come so far, and then Deku had just left him behind, just run off to go try to save the world on his own. Katsuki still had so much to tell him, so much to apologize for, and… He missed him. He wanted to talk to him again, he wanted to be near him, to touch him…

Katsuki froze. Touch him? Where had that thought come from? Why would he want…?

It hit Katsuki like a punch.

What they’d had - a rivalry, a tentative friendship - wasn’t enough.

Katsuki wanted more.

He wanted to hold Izuku’s face in his hands, and he wanted to run his thumbs over the light freckles on his cheeks. He wanted to meet those big green eyes and tell Izuku that Katsuki had been such a moron for not seeing what had been in front of him his entire life. He wanted Izuku to smile, for Katsuki and Katsuki alone, and then he wanted to kiss that smile right off his face.

He brought up a hand to cover his mouth, shocked. He couldn’t believe he’d never seen it before. With the amount of time he spent looking at Izuku, thinking about Izuku, why had he never realized his feelings were something more?

He clenched his jaw. No matter how much Katsuki’s feelings towards Izuku had changed, their history never could.

Even if Izuku felt similarly, it would never work out with them, and never should.

Katsuki put the picture back in the envelope and shoved it into a drawer so he wouldn’t have to look at it any longer.

His heart ached as he thought about what was going to happen if - when - they got Deku back. Katsuki would have to deal with this revelation again, with Deku right in front of him but just out of reach.

Deku Returns

They got Izuku back, and now the idiot was sleeping off his month of nonstop work. Katsuki had said what he should’ve said a long time ago, and even if it didn’t change anything between them, he was glad he had.

He took out the envelope of pictures his mom had given him and flipped to one in particular. He’d looked at them a lot while Izuku was gone and he knew exactly which one he was looking for.

There. Izuku with a huge grin and his fingers up in a peace sign. Katsuki scowling with his arms crossed. Almost identical to that picture from when they were kids, the one that he’d torn to pieces but for some reason Katsuki hadn’t been able to forget.

He pinned the photo onto his bulletin board, next to all the blueprints for his gauntlets and notes on fighting tactics. He’d never put up a picture like this before, but the butterflies he got looking at it made him feel nice, even though he would never put that emotion into words, for himself or for anyone else.

Then he frowned. The picture stood out, a strike of color among all the plain notes, so anyone in his room would be able to tell he’d put it there intentionally.

He tacked up a couple more photos to hide its conspicuousness. A picture of all Class A shortly after moving into the dorms; Kaminari and Kirishima arguing in front of Katsuki; Katsuki and Shoto sparring.

There. He could still see Izuku, but now it wouldn’t be quite so conspicuous.

“Aw, Bakubro,” Kirishima when he stopped by Katsuki’s room later. “You finally put up some pictures. Look, that’s me. I made it onto your board.” He mimed wiping away a tear.

Katsuki glared at the board, ready to tear it all down, but he swallowed the anxiety at showing his vulnerability and looked back at Kirishima. “Another word and I’ll blow you into so many pieces that even Recovery Girl won’t be able to put you back together.”

“All right, all right,” Kirishima said, holding up his hands in defense. But his smile towards Katsuki as he left was a gentle one.

Pro Heroes

Katsuki was a pro hero now, number 2 on the charts less than a year after his debut despite his abrasive personality. He was only behind Deku. Katsuki still planned to surpass Deku one day, but despite his continued expression of aggressive rivalry, they were close now after having been through so much together.

Katsuki had finally gotten his own apartment, and it was missing any personalized touches, which he didn’t mind, except… He missed some of the photographs he’d had pinned up when he was at UA.

This is pathetic, he thought as he picked out a photo on his phone. This is humiliating, he thought as he got it printed. I can’t believe I’m such a loser, he thought as he put it in a frame and set it on his nightstand.

It was a photo of Deku and Dynamight talking to the press after their first official debut as pro-heroes a couple of years ago. They’d taken that villain down together, like they had almost every one since. Katsuki was scowling and quiet, but Deku had his hand resting lightly on Dynamight’s arm and a big smile on his face as he explained to the press what had happened. Deku looked adorable in the photo, with the scratches and the messy hair and the optimistic expression and the easy way he spoke to the press.

The photo evoked an embarrassing feeling of warmth and happiness in Katsuki’s chest, and he’d gone back to it again and again on his phone whenever he couldn’t get Izuku off his mind. Now, he thought it was a good addition to his own private space.

That was, until Izuku visited for the first time, a month after Katsuki had moved in.

“Wow, Kacchan, I can’t believe how nice this place is,” Izuku said, running his hand along the marble counters. The place was simple and sparsely furnished, but it had a nice kitchen and a gym. Katsuki didn’t really think much of showing it off. He knew it wasn’t his belongings but rather his abilities that made him exceptional.

Izuku wandered into the bedroom, which was empty except for a bed and a nightstand. The picture frame on the nightstand caught his attention and he wandered over to look at it.

Katsuki froze. It was just a fixture of the room at this point, so he had completely forgotten it was there when he’d invited Izuku over. He cursed himself for leaving it out.

Over the years, he hadn’t felt a strong need to keep his feelings completely secret; nothing would really change if anyone found out. But still, he’d never actually said anything to Izuku, and never had planned to. There wasn’t a point. It could never work out. But hiding the picture would have avoided that unnecessary and undoubtedly uncomfortable conversation, at least for now.

“Kacchan?” Izuku asked, turning to Katsuki, who was leaning on the door frame.

Katsuki kept his expression carefully blank, watching Izuku’s reaction closely. He felt his cheeks heating up and hoped Izuku couldn’t see the color from where he stood across the room. Okay, so maybe Izuku thought it was pretty weird that Katsuki kept pictures of his friend next to where he slept, but he wasn’t about to apologize for it.

“It’s us,” Izuku said.

“Obviously, dumbass.”

“Why?”

“‘Why’?” Katsuki huffed out a laugh and met Izuku’s eyes. No point in being anything but honest. “Because I like looking at you.”

Izuku hesitated, and then asked again, “Why?”

“Because you’re fucking cute, okay?”

“I’m… what? Why?”

“You really haven’t figured it out yet?”

“Are you making fun of me?” Izuku said, narrowing his eyes.

Katsuki wished that’s all it was. He took a deep breath and admitted what he’d been holding in for years. “Jesus. I’m in love with you, asshole.”

“Oh,” Izuku said blankly. And then a moment later, “Oh.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Katsuki said, stepping past Izuku and setting the frame face-down on the nightstand. It was almost a relief to finally have his feelings out in the open after years of not saying anything. Still, Izuku knew now, but so what? Everything would go back to normal soon enough. “My hero work is the only thing that’s important.”

“You’re in love with me?” Izuku said, like his brain was experiencing a serious lag.

“You need to get your ears checked?”

Katsuki turned to go back to the main room but Izuku spoke again.

“How long?”

Katsuki was quiet for a moment. “Since you went off on your own after Shigaraki. I don’t know, something changed when we were working on One For All together. When you left… It made me realize how I felt.” He shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

Tears welled up in Izuku’s eyes. “Years?”

Katsuki didn’t reply, didn’t even meet Izuku’s eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Doesn’t matter.” He started to walk away again but Izuku grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around and meet his eyes.

“Kacchan.” He licked his lips, which was so distracting that Katsuki almost didn’t hear what came next. “I really like you too. So, so much.”

Katsuki hadn’t been expecting that. He knew Izuku cared about him, like he cared about so many people, but Katsuki never would’ve thought Izuku cared about him like that, not after everything Katsuki had put him through.

“What?”

Izuku sounded more unsure when he repeated, “I’m in love with you too.”

“How long?” Katsuki asked, echoing Izuku’s question.

“Always. I’ve always liked you.”

Always.

Katsuki felt like he should’ve seen it coming, the way Izuku had followed him around their entire lives. But whatever complicated motivations he’d ascribed to Izuku’s behavior before, he never would’ve expected it to be this.

“What the hell.”

Izuku gave him a wavering smile. “Sorry.”

“Asshole. Don’t apologize.”

“Sorr—”

“Deku.”

Izuku held back another apology and then asked, “How come you never told me?”

“I couldn’t change anything I’d done.”

“Oh.”

“There’s some things that can’t be forgiven. We get along fine now, but I made your life hell for the longest time.”

“But I’m okay. We’re okay.”

“That’s not the point,” Katsuki said, not even trying to hide his exasperation.

“I don’t get it.”

“Listen, Izuku,” Katsuki said. “Sometimes you’re too nice for your own good. You never take yourself into account. You deserve someone who doesn’t have that complicated history with you. Literally anyone else. I accepted that a long time ago, and—”

Izuku furrowed his brow and scowled, a familiar look of determination coming over his face. “You’ve told me what I couldn’t do my whole life, Kacchan. That I couldn’t be a hero. That I couldn’t go to UA. That I couldn’t keep up with Class A.”

“Exactly, which is why—”

“Shut up, I’m not done,” Izuku said, and Katsuki was shocked into silence at his blunt words. “Now you’re telling me I can’t feel the way I feel about you. Screw that, Katsuki. I know what I want. You can’t tell me what I can’t do anymore.”

“Izuku…” Katsuki’s throat was thick with tears.

It meant something that Izuku was telling him off. It gave him hope, even though he knew it shouldn’t. Maybe Izuku was right. Maybe they could move on from the past. Maybe they had to.

Katsuki cleared his throat to hide his emotion, and asked, his voice very quiet, “So what do you want?”

Doubt clouded Izuku’s features again. “I want… Kacchan, I want you, I mean, if that’s okay…”

Izuku’s soft, sincere voice broke down the last of Katsuki’s reluctance. The firm belief that he couldn’t be with Izuku, that he shouldn’t, cracked and fell apart.

“Fucking idiot,” Katsuki said with a laugh. At the response, Izuku’s eyes went huge and unsure, but Katsuki still took his time to add, “Of course that’s okay, moron.”

“Oh…”

Katsuki wasn’t sure if Izuku kissed him first, or if he kissed Izuku first. But finally, finally, his lips were on Izuku’s, the lips he’d watched and dreamt about for years. The lips whose image had kept him up late at night, wondering how he could turn off the feelings he had for someone he didn’t deserve.

Izuku kissed him back, his hands greedily grasping Katsuki’s shirt. Izuku’s kiss was clumsy and uncertain, but Katsuki didn’t mind. He’d thought about this first kiss so many times, and it was exactly what he expected, exactly what he wanted.

Izuku pulled back, eyes closed, and even this close Katsuki could see he was an endearing shade of red. “Kacchan…” he muttered, burying his face in Katsuki’s shoulder and trying to catch his breath. “Ah… Sorry… I’ve never kissed anyone before, and I just never expected it to be you, and I really like you, I really, really like you, and…”

Katsuki smiled into Izuku’s shoulder. “Idiot,” he muttered. “Stop talking.”

“Okay.”

They held each other close, the last wall between them finally torn down after all these years. Their relationship had shifted a lot since they were kids, and Katsuki was stunned it had turned itself into this. Stunned, but so happy.

“Kacchan.”

“Hm.”

“I want to be with you.”

“You are with me, idiot. You’re in my arms right now.”

“No, I mean… With you. Like… Your boyfriend.”

Katsuki took a step back to look at Izuku. His eyes were pleading and vulnerable. Katsuki thought about it. One, he’d been determined to avoid any type of romantic relationship so he could focus on hero work, though that reason didn’t seem so compelling right now. Two, boyfriend seemed like an inappropriate word for them, not even close to enough to describe their relationship.

Still, it didn’t take long for him to make up his mind.

“Yeah, sure,” he finally said. “You can be my boyfriend.”

Izuku kissed him again, and Katsuki could feel Izuku’s smile against his lips.

Epilogue

Katsuki stood in front of the newly-printed picture Izuku had hung up earlier that day on the wall of their shared apartment. It was the two of them, exchanging vows in front of an altar, both dressed in tuxedos. Katsuki smiled gently at the picture, even though he had thought marriage was a dumb idea, unnecessary and a waste of time and money. But Izuku had really wanted it, so Katsuki said yes.

Katsuki felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and a head rest on his shoulder.

“Admit it, you’re glad we got married,” Izuku murmured.

Katsuki scoffed. “No way. It was just for you.”

“I just saw you smiling.”

“Shut up,” Katsuki grumbled.

“Hey. I love you.”

Katsuki smiled again. “Nerd. I know.”

“Kacchan.”

“Yeah, yeah. I love you too.”

[kcthrine]

The Teasing Scientist

Word count: 1.5k 

Category: Fluff, almost smut. NSFW

Pairing: Spencer Reid/Reader

CW: Use of the nickname “Bunny”

Summary: Reader is minorly injured and has a pulse oximeter. Spencer wants to see how fast he can get her heart rate to go, so he teases her.  ———————

Spencer had walked back into their shared bedroom, watching her chest rise and fall with every long breath she took. He wished they could stay like this forever, watching the love of his life sleep peacefully, safely, without anyone bothering them. But he knew they couldn’t, and he had to wake her up to give her the hourly painkillers she had been prescribed after the accident. 

It had been a grueling case with an unpredictable unsub who had placed a bomb underneath a car, where his victim was locked inside. He watched her run over to the car, smashing the window to get the woman out. Little did the team know, the window smashing had been just enough pressure to set off the ticking time bomb, waiting to explode. Spencer wasn’t exactly sure what had happened, but before he could call out for her to move, there was a deafening crack and he was sent flying backwards, landing on the cold cement. The rest of the night was a blur, but he remembered running into the hospital where she was being held, demanding the nurses to tell him where she was, if she had made it out in time. 

It was a miracle really, but somehow she had heard the ticking and shoved the woman out of the car in time, saving both her and the lucky womans life with nothing more than a few bruises and cuts to show for it. The nurse told her she was to stay for the night for observation, the night went by quickly with no complications and she was sent home to her and Spencer’s small apartment with a pulse oximeter. It was just to be sure that her heart rate stayed beating at a normal pace. The stressful event could have put a strain on her heart, it was more of a safety precaution than anything. 

“Love? Love, you have to wake up, I have your painkillers,” The Doctor gently shook her sleeping frame, touching her like she was a delicate glass vase.

“Ugh, I’m up.” She groaned, obviously annoyed with being woken up every hour. He slowly pulled the blanket off of her, handing her a glass of water and two small pills. 

“Just be quiet and take these, stubborn woman.” He muttered, watching as she swallowed the pills, setting the glass of water on their nightstand. He pulled the woven blanket completely off her body. 

“Spencer, please don’t give me another pat down, I’m fine. I promise, no new bruises or swelling anywhere.” She insisted, curling up in a ball and the cold air hit her like a wave. 

“It isn’t a pat down, and that’s not what I’m doing this time. But you have to tell me how you feel.” He smirked the tiniest bit, grabbing her hand and making sure the pulse oximeter was still on. 

“I feel fine, a lot better after sleeping- but I don’t get it, what are you doing?” She asked, a little suspicious of how vague the brown haired boy was being. 

“Good,” He mused, quickly pulling her ankles down so her legs were flat against the bed. “Because I don’t know if you’ve forgotten, but I think like a scientist. And I have a theory that we’re going to test.” 

She was about to say something when his lips attached to her neck, giving small pecks before he found the spot that made her eyes flutter shut, and he started lightly suckling, leaving a purple mark. She could hear a quiet beeping next to her ear but she hardly noticed, everything sounded a universe away when he was this close to her, clouding any coherent thoughts she may have. And much too soon for her liking, he pulled away with a boyish grin on his face. 

“Hear that?” He took her hand and glanced at her two fingers in the small white machine that had an odd beeping sound coming from it. 

“The beeping? Yeah, but I don’t get what that has to do with anything,” She furrowed her brows as his grin turned into a smug smirk. 

“That beeping is your heart rate going up, and I want to see how fast I can make it beep just by touching you. Think of this as... a science experiment.” He teased her, watching as her face flushed a faint pink color. 

“But you have to tell me if you feel any pain- even a little discomfort anywhere, okay?” He more so told her than asked, with his voice firm. She nodded quickly, just wanting his hands on her again. He grabbed her wrists, holding them above her head as he continued leaving small purple marks on her neck. Beep...Beep...Beep, the tiny machine gradually picked up in speed as he loved farther down her neck, past her collar bones. But he was determined to hear it beep faster. 

He pulled her shirt off, and he was about to continue down her collar bones when he noticed the white lace she wore. 

“Oh sweetheart, did you wear this just for me?” He looked down at her, his voice holding a mocking edge to it. She nodded, almost frantically, not trusting her voice to stay even. He brought his hand to her jaw, lightly grabbing it. He normally would have grabbed her throat, but he didn’t want to push her too far.

“I know you can talk, you’re always so mouthy. Where’s my girl now, hm?” He asked, his words almost degrading, which was just enough for the beeping to grow quicker, the slightest bit louder. Hearing this, he let out a low chuckle. 

“Oh does my good girl like it when I’m just a little mean to you? That’s sort of pathetic, don’t you think?” He laughed again, not only at hearing the beeping get quicker but watching as she rubbed her thighs together. 

“Spence please- just touch me, do something!” She whined. Apparently, this was not what he wanted, his grip on her jaw getting tighter until her lips were puckered and he brought his face down inches to hers. 

“You aren’t in any position to give me orders. Do you understand me?” He brought his face even closer, his lips brushing against hers. He pulled away just as she tried to connect their lips. 

“I understand,” She whimpered, the heat pooling in between her legs distracting her from much else. He glanced up at her hands still bound to the bed by his large one, and he listened for a moment, hearing the beeping come in steady, fast beats. 

Beep, Beep, Beep.

“Oh, I’ve barely even touched you yet. Is it that easy to get you excited, bunny?” His voice dropped an octave as he moved down, yanking her legs to rest on his shoulders. He began leaving slow kisses on her inner thighs, hearing the beeping quicken again. 

“Shut up, I- I’m not easy,” She stuttered out, throwing her head back as his face moved closer to the one place she needed him to be. He surprised her when he bit down on her thigh, smirking at the sound of her high pitched yelp. But his smirk turned into a full blown smile as the beeping turned into an almost erratic beat. 

“Careful love, your masochism is showing.”

“Spencer please, just do something! Anything!” She cried out as he moved her legs off of his shoulders, moving off her. 

“I think if that beeping gets any louder you’ll go into cardiac arrest,” He chuckled again as she threw the pillow behind her head at him, almost hitting him before he ducked. 

“That's not fair! You can’t just leave me high and dry all night!” She argued, desperately wanting to feel his touch again.

“Actually I can, and I am. We aren’t doing anything until your bruises fade, I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.”

“But-”

“Just wait for another week. I promise it’ll be worth it, love.” he cut her off, pulling his shirt off and putting on her, not wanting to search for her shirt he tore off earlier. After he practically stuffed her into the shirt, ignoring her grunts of protest, he pulled her into his chest. 

“So not fair,”  She whispered as they settled down into a comfortable position, with her body lying entirely on Spencer's. He repressed the fond smile fighting it’s way onto his face as he pulled the blanket over them. 

“Be quiet, and I’m waking you up in an hour.” He kissed the top of her head, the sound of her steady breathing comforting him. He grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers and shutting his eyes when he heard a quick beeping. His eyes snapped open, looking down at her.

“Don’t you dare tease me right now.” She tried to sound harsh, her eyes still closed. He hummed, trying not to laugh as he realized just how much of an effect he had on her. And with that, they feel asleep, content and safe. 

[urmomsmainbitch]

wonder woman

requested: yes / no

pairing: max mayfield x fem!reader

warnings: pining, angst, swearing, mentions of death, mentions of school, omg the writing is shit i’m so sorry

a/n: i love lucas so much (based off of i wish you liked girls by abbey glover)

i grew pretty attached to you, like a dog on a lead / thought you were everything i could have ever dreamed of, and more than i could ever need

The phone was cool against her ear, ringing for the third time as she twisted your fingers into the cord, tapping her foot impatiently. This was the second time that she had tried Max that evening; once before dinner, and now once after. She’s probably still eating, one part of her said. No, she’s probably off making out with Lucas, the other said. Nibbling on her lip, Y/N leaned into the doorframe, letting her entire body slump against the wall as she slid down, before landing on the cold hardwood floor. Max had only started taking this long to answer recently – once she and Lucas had become official, and more serious. Ever since high school started, you never saw Lucas without Max, and Max without Lucas.

“C’mon, Maxie,” Y/N murmured, tapping her finger and trying the girl again, looking at the watch on her wrist. She’d even waited half an hour after Max normally ate dinner, hoping to catch her so they could talk to each other. They hadn’t been doing that as often, the redhead never wanting to spend a waking moment away from her boyfriend. Y/N saw it, she supposed, Lucas wasn’t a bad looking guy, and he was nice. But he was nice. That was it. He wasn’t smart, or funny, or entertaining. He was just there. Just a phase, she kept telling herself, Lucas is just a phase. But what after Lucas? What happened when Max finally took notice of Matt Donahue in her math class, who’s always making googly eyes at her? Or, what if she just happened to meet Sam Davis’ eyes in English? What then? Lucas would be forgotten, sure, but he’d be replaced in nearly no time.

On her third attempt, she hung up the phone, slamming it into the receiver. That was the second time this week.

always thought you looked at me differently than any other you’d see / thought you were aching to see me at any, any possibility

“So, what should we do?” Max asked her, bright eyes looking between her and El, who was sitting on the other end of the bed, laying on her stomach as she flipped through a comic book. El didn’t used to come to their sleepovers. Come to think of it, Y/N couldn’t think of the most recent time that she had a sleepover with Max alone. They used to have them all of the time: giggling under the covers into the early hours of the morning, leaning on one another as they flipped through those comic books. Max’s loved copy of Wonder Woman, which used to rotate between her and Y/N’s houses, was now sitting on Lucas’ shelf. “We haven’t seen each other in forever. Especially not you, El!”

Y/N frowned. She saw El last week. She hadn’t spoken to her in two weeks. What happened to the whole, ‘I’m your best friend and you’re mine, Y/N/N!’ and the ‘I love you so much, and we’re best friends! I’d do anything for you, Y/N!’

“I’ve just been so busy, it’s crazy! I haven’t had any time with field hockey and band and everything like that.” Max laughed. Her face got all crinkled up, her freckles blending into one another as her blue eyes teared up with joy. It would have been gorgeous, had it not been a lie. Max used to frequently skip hockey practices to hang out, and since she hadn’t gotten team captain, her practices had decreased. Max used to see her whenever she could, but of course, now she’d spend her time with Lucas, or with El, or with anybody other than her. Max used to put her on a pedestal, but now, it looks like anybody who shows her any attention at all gets all of hers.

i could be your bitch and tell you a million reasons why being with me would be much better than with any other guy / i could tell you I’ll treat you right and never wrong / tell you in my arms is where you belong / but I know that you can’t change someone / so I’ll just leave you alone

The next Friday, Max was back in Y/N’s bed, flipping through a magazine while music played through the radio. Her beautiful red hair was falling into strands in front of her face, framing her gorgeous freckled pale skin, blue eyes piercing through the dimmed overhead lights. She looked like a goddess, her entire lanky body stretched out over the covers in a way that she could stare at for hours – watching the way that her face crinkled up when she read a funny entry, or seeing the way she nibbled on her bottom lip when she was interested.

“I don’t know what I should do for Lucas for our second anniversary.”

Y/N’s heart stopped. Of course she’d talk about Lucas. “Well, what does he like?”

“You know,” she smiled, folding her magazine and sitting up to look at the other girl. Y/N was walking out of the bathroom, tucking her hair behind her ear as she put Max’s next day outfit on the chair, folded neatly. “You know as much as I do about him. We both see him everyday.”

“Yeah, but you see him more than I do,” Y/N grimaced. “I don’t see him that much anymore, and I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“I feel like a shitty girlfriend.” Max avoided her statement. I haven’t seen you in forever – she’d even said it outright and then got ignored! You never talk to me anymore, and it’s always ‘Lucas this and Lucas that! I’m here, too!’

“You’re never a shitty girlfriend.”

“I turned him down to hang out tonight. The weekend of our anniversary, Y/N. You can’t even lie and tell me that’s a good look,” Max said, looking unbelieving. Her brows furrowed together. “I turn him down all of the time when I hang out with you and El. It makes me feel so terrible, especially because I see you so much.”

Y/N knew that she should shut up. She knew that she shouldn’t have said what she did, and she knew that there was absolutely no reason to do what she did. The words came out faster than she ever thought that they ever could, and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into a pit and die once the words left her lips. But,a part of her wanted to scream it from the rooftops, a part of her wanting to shout it again and again. It’d been bottled up for months and months, and it was twenty three months, three weeks, and five days after it had happened in the first place that she realized that it needed to be said sooner or later. “That’s a fucking lie, and we both know it. Don’t bullshit me, Max.”

“I’m not bullshitting you?” It was phrased like a question, and Max looked like she had just been accused of something much worse. “I see you all the time–”

“Yeah, see, that’s what the lie is,” Y/N chuckled, sitting down, putting the pile on her lap. The feeling of rejection that had been sitting in the pit of ehr stomach for nearly two years now was bubbling up and up, and the words were spilling out of her mouth before she could stop them. “He’s just a stupid boy! He’s not funny, he’s not smart, he’s not entertaining, and he’s not worth it! You’ve been blowing me off for months, Max, and I’m so sick and tired of pretending like I don’t notice everything!”

Y/N kept going.

“You ignore me again and again, and we both know that anybody would be so much better than Lucas of all people!”

“Like who?! Lucas is so much better–”

“Like me!” Max finally fell silent, the color draining from her face as she dropped her magazine on the bedspread. Her hands trembled, and her eyes glassed in only a few moments. The ugly monster that had been hiding under the bed, in the closet, and behind her in her own shadow had finally come out; shrouding the entire room in a thick and uncomfortable silence. Every word broke a deeper part of Y/N, and cracked a part of Max. She almost stopped, but at this rate, who knew when she would finally be left alone with her long enough to dare say them again? “Me, Max! You act so insightful, wise one, and then you fucking shit all over anything I say and do, and it hurts me every fucking day that I fall morw and more in love with you when all you do is ignore my fucking existence for some guy who doesn’t even know who Jane Austen is!” Her voice trembled with every word, and as the house fell quieter and quieter, the sheer stupidity of the whole idea grew and grew.

The room remained silent as Max gathered her things. She didn’t bother to take her new change of clothes, now on the floor. They would go in a shoebox in the closet, along with the pictures and notebooks and comics. She ignored the new friendship journal that was sitting on the vanity, untouched and unused by them. It never would be – it would be sold at a yardsale. Y/N met her eyes as Max picked up the Wonder Woman copy that was sitting on the bed, pleading her not to take it. Don’t take this, she begged, please don’t take this. Leave me this, please. Max picked it up, and put it in her bag.

That would be the Mayfield-Sinclair children’s first comic book – the one that would sit in their library until their perfect little house on the cul-de-sac sold.

and i know you don’t swing that way, but that won’t take my feelings away / oh i wish you liked girls; oh i wish you liked girls / girls like me

[taizi]

(I feel like I should finish your prompt first but. These ones are so good....feel free to ignore if you have too many asks but 29 or 33 with chocobros...?

PROMPTS LIST

33. “Are you SURE I can’t punch him in the face?” “Yes.” “What if I just break his nose a little?”

ik i just did this one for natsuyuu but...........chocobros

x

They're somewhere in Duscae, near enough to the coast that each breeze carries a hint of the sea, on another errand for another stranger to scrape together enough gil to eat tonight.

They've stopped at the last little roadside cluster of shops before the countryside stretches far and wide and wild, stocking up on what meager supplies they can afford.

Noctis has never lived this way before. He's never gone to bed hungry before. Neither has Gladio or Ignis, for all their world-weariness and the general practical knowledge and common sense they walk around with that far surpasses Noctis' own.

Ignis can budget with the best of them, and Gladio is willing to eat literally anything at any time, but Prompto is the one who gets it.

He chats at length about all the times he's had to get creative with pasta or rice because it was all that was left in his pantry. Back in high school, when he could only work part-time. When someone should have been taking care of him, and instead he was left to figure out how to stretch a tiny budget much farther than made sense.

"Come on, Iggy," he said once when they were out shopping, half-laughing. Like he thought Ignis was joking. "Fresh produce? We've got like a hundred gil between the four of us and we're totally out of restoratives."

And Ignis paused, and glanced sidelong at him. He put back the crisp, flowery vegetables and pulled out his little notebook and asked for suggestions instead. It took Prompto a few minutes to convince himsef that Ignis was taking him seriously, but now they like, bond over canned fruit.

"I'm gonna kill this catoblepas with my bare hands," Gladio says with feeling, leaning against the car. "I'm so godsdamned sick of pasta. Don't tell Iggy I said that."

Noctis rolls an energy drink between his hands absently, brow furrowed. It's tricky business, and he's not very good at it just yet, but home-made elixirs save them a ton of gil. He feels guilty when they have to spend their money on something he should be able to do himself.

"I'm telling him," he says without missing a beat. "He'll never forget, and he'll give you shit every single time you make cup noodles from now on, forever."

"I can't stand you," Gladio tells him seriously.

The bell above the door of the convenience store rings brightly, and Noctis glances up to see Ignis and Prompto walking out looking a lot more cheerful than they did going in.

Gladio's face does something very subtle and specific when he sees them, there and gone in a second, before Noctis can pin it down and figure it out.

"What are you two chucklefucks up to?" he calls over. Ignis immediately narrows a disapproving stare at him, but Prompto beams.

"I got a commission, sort of!" he says.

"A commission?" Noctis parrots, sending the energy drink back to the Armiger.

"Sort of?" Gladio adds.

"While we were checking out, the store-owner saw my camera, and seemed really into it," Prompto says. "Since, you know. It's unique."

Noctis does know. The digital camera hanging at Prompto's side has been with him since Noctis first bought it for him three years ago. He would rebuild it every so often, bowed over a collection of impossibly tiny parts spread out carefully across a dish towel at the kitchen table in Noctis' apartment. To call it unique is a bit of an understatement.

Gladio frowns, sensing where this is going a split-second before Noctis does. "And?"

"And he offered me money for it! Like, more than it's worth probably. A lot more."

"I don't see how that could be possible," Ignis says smoothly, leaning through the open window of the Regalia to put the shopping bag in the backseat. "Since your camera is clearly priceless. Which is what I explained to the man."

Noctis relaxes, glad that Ignis and Prompto have bonded over shopping to the point that neither of them want to do it unless they can go together-- because if Prompto had been in there by himself, he 100% would have sold his camera. He would have hated to do it, but he would have done it. It's like he thinks he owes his friends something just for letting him exist.

"Good looking out, Specs," Gladio says gruffly. Prompto waffles a bit, looking torn between pleased and embarrassed. Noctis decides to rescue him.

"What commission, though?" he asks.

"Oh, right. Well, he was kind of bummed about the camera, but he asked if he could see some of my photos, and Ignis said we had time-- "

If it were literally anyone else, Noctis thinks, up to and including and especially the Actual Crown Prince, Ignis would have said they were in a hurry and not to show off.

"--and he seemed really impressed! With the photos! I told him we were going to take down a catoblepas, and he asked why, and I said for some cash, I mean, clearly," Prompto adds, gesturing at the four of them and their general road grime. "So he, ah-- well he's never seen a catoblepas up close before, and he said if I could get some good pictures of it, he'd pay me for them. He gave me a figure, and it's, like, better than some of the jobs I've done for Vyv."

He's delighted, clearly. He likes feeling like he's pulling his own weight. Noctis is always so relieved when Vyv calls, not because of the inherent payday, but more because it puts this light in Prompto's eyes that Noctis would easily climb a hundred volcanic mountains for.

"Damn, Prompto, at this rate you'll have funded our whole trip," Gladio says. He doesn't ruffle his hair anymore, because Prompto actually hates that, just sort of scrunches his fingers through it instead. Prompto doesn't hate that at all. It's adorable.

Sometimes in the early morning, when he and Noctis are the last to drag themselves out of the tiny camper, they'll do their affirmations together:

"Gotta be our best today," Noctis will say, and Prompto will put on this absurdly determined expression, bed hair hanging into his eyes and cheek still creased pink from the pillow.

"Gotta get those hair scrunches," he'll reply gravely.

"What else did he say, Prompto?" Ignis says in a pleasant tone of voice that Noctis hasn't trusted since he was seven years old.

"Um! Nothing. Nothing worth repeating, anyway, you know." He is looking completely away from them now, an avoidance tactic if Noctis has ever seen one. "Woah, is that really the time? We better get going if we wanna catch that cow before it gets dark!"

He turns toward the car and runs into Gladio's arm instead.

"He suggested that Prompto's talents would be put to better use in different company," Ignis says, his voice carrying clearly over Prompto's whine of 'nooo, Iggy, let it go.' "He said that if Prompto ever got tired of our lifestyle, his door would be open."

Ah, Noctis thinks, followed by, ouch?

"Oh, fuck that guy," Gladio blurts. "Let me go talk to him."

"No!" Prompto clings to his arm, throwing all his weight into keeping Gladio in place. The Shield, who could bench Prom's entire body weight in one hand, lets himself be detained anyway and pretends to be annoyed about it. "Ignis, why are you causing trouble right now?" Prompto says frantically.

"Transparency is important in a relationship," Ignis replies.

"There's transparency and then there's causing trouble. Noct, tell them."

"I think Gladio should go talk to him," Noctis says immediately. But then Prompto looks betrayed, and it makes Noctis feel awful. "Ugh, okay. Okay. We're leaving. Ignis, Gladio, that's an executive order."

"Are you sure I can't punch him in the face?" Gladio grumbles.

"Am I-- yes, dude!" Prompto half-laughs nervously. "Very sure!"

"What if I just broke his nose a little?"

"Then that would be treason, I guess, cause Noct just said no."

It's with the standard amount of bickering and noise that they climb into the car, the top rolling up over their heads as it starts to drizzle. Ignis pulls smoothly back onto the cracked asphalt road and reaches over to turn the radio on; a peace offering. From the backseat, Noctis can see the corner of Prompto's smile, framed by a flyaway piece of yellow hair.

They live this way now, but they didn't always. Noctis used to have the run of the whole Citadel, had his own penthouse apartment, grew up dodging banquets and lavish dinners. It's not like he likes sleeping on the ground and having nothing to eat. It's not like he chose to lose his home.

But it could be worse. It's not a bad way to live, just Noctis and the people he loves best and these countless hours together. There's a lot of hard work and sometimes he goes to bed hungry but he knows he'll remember these days forever. He knows he'll miss them.

"Hey," he says, over the quiet sound of rain on the windows and the catchy synth-pop crooning out of the speakers. "Don't ever sell your camera, okay?"

Prompto says, "I mean, I wouldn't ever want to."

"Seriously," Noctis presses. He doesn't want to let it go. It feels important. "Your pictures are-- they mean the world to me, Prom. I can't even tell you."

His friend looks bewildered. He's half-turned in his seat, and his eyes stray to Gladio, then jump to Ignis, then settle back on Noctis. Whatever he's looking for, he seems to find it, because he smiles.

"Okay, weirdo," he says, "one fully-documented roadtrip, coming up. I won't leave anything out."

Noctis is counting on it.

[mandoalorian]

Pain Is For The Living [Javier Peña x F!Reader] - Chapter 4 [SMUT]

Summary: Sex work in the heat of 1980’s Colombia was never going to be a walk in the park. Especially not when you had a crush on your number one client, agent Javier Peña. You’d been warned about him and his reputation, but after one very specific incident that would change your life forever, you find yourself attached to him like never before and you’d do anything to make him yours. Even if it means endangering your own life.

Rating: 18+

Warnings: SMUT: fingering, cunnigless, female receiving oral, (loss of virginity kind of), so much sexual tension. And more feelings! Unrequited love... or is it?

Word count: 3300

Pain Is For The Living Masterlist

* Reblogs appreciated and my ko-fi is linked in my bio if you wish to support my writing!

Neither you or Javier could sleep that night. At least, not at first. Javier’s bedroom was, although decently sized, pretty empty. You figured he wasn’t the type of guy to keep momentums anyway. His closet was small and you imagined the rainbow array of shirts that were neatly hung up, one-by-one. Staring at the ceiling at two in the morning doing your damn hardest not to think about what happened back at the brothel was proving to be very, very difficult, and you’d do anything to catch a distraction.

Sleeping in his bed though, meant you could seize the perfect opportunity to get to know him better without exactly confronting him. Everything in Javi’s room was brown, an ugly shade of brown too. He clearly didn’t care much for interior design, although you did find it odd that his front room was majorly decked out in nice furniture, and yet every other room in his small apartment felt… empty. Rolling over, you quietly opened the drawer on his nightstand. It was hard to see, being that all the lights were out and it was the middle of the night, but you could just about make out the contents. Half a pack of cigarettes, two lighters, many many condoms (which was strange since Javi almost always insisted that he go bareback whenever you two were intimate), sleeping pills and a passport.

Javier couldn’t sleep either, even though he’d drunkenly fallen asleep on that couch plenty of times. He was thinking of you; not only replaying the fact he said your name while he was fucking Nina, but also the fact that you wanted to kiss him. And honestly? He wanted to kiss you too. Javier balled his hand into a fist as he felt his chest tighten. He seriously wanted to kiss you too.

His thought process halted when he heard you shuffling down the hallway, your hesitant footsteps tip-toeing into the living room and turning on one of the amber colored lamps. Your shy frame was highlighted perfectly in the shadows and Javier simply couldn’t take his eyes off you, strictly in awe of your beauty.

“Javi?” you asked, tiredly rubbing your eyes. You had spotted him lounging on the couch, shirtless with the same crocheted blanket you had slept in, now draped across his lower half.

“Hermosa,” his voice was rich and rasp. “You’re still awake.” the statement came out as an observation, more so than a question.

You fumbled a little with your words before eventually sighing and nodding your head. “Yeah.”

“Is my bed not comfortable enough?” Javier enquired, leaning over to the coffee table and turning on another lamp, now illuminating his side of the room.

You chuckled lightly. “A lot more comfortable than the beds back at the brothel, that’s for sure.” you replied, and Javier nodded knowingly.

“Something on your mind?” Javier prodded further.

Yeah, him.

When you didn’t reply, Javier extended his arm and ushered you over. You sat down next to him, on the edge of his sofa, and remained silent. But the way you could feel his chocolate coloured eyes bore into you was enough to create a cluster of nervous butterflies in the pit of your stomach. He must’ve been up for a while, because the entire atmosphere stunk of tobacco. It wasn’t bad though, it was just… Javi. His honeyed voice interrupted the silence.

“I’m sorry about earlier, about the uh-- the whole kiss thing.” He said, shuffling upwards awkwardly, his hand remaining clutched on the crocheted blanket.

“Pay it no mind,” You replied maybe a little too quickly. You’d rather just forget about the incident, and not come to terms with just how upset his rejection had made you. “It’s um…” you looked up at the ceiling and then back at Javier. “...hard, to stay distracted, when I’m alone. I was fine with Connie and Steve. I was fine with you. But… sleeping alone is hard.”

Javier nodded understandingly. “I know how it feels to need a bed warmer, believe me,”

You came to the sudden conclusion that being a ‘bed warmer’ was all you ever were to Javier, no matter how much more you yearned for. That’s all you’d ever be.

“Although I suppose that’s not exactly what you meant,” Javier continued. “Is it?”

“I wouldn’t know,” you replied quietly. “I mean guys come to me all the time for that quick release. To feel less lonely. But I’ve never really sought out the same thing, you know?”

“Never?” Javier asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Not even a hook-up?”

You shook your head and scratched the back of your neck. “I uh-- I was a virgin before I moved to Colombia,” you laughed wearily.

Javier’s reaction was priceless. His eyes became apologetic and his jaw loosened. “You haven’t been here long,” he grumbled. “Tell me, have you only slept with the guys from the brothel?”

You looked down at your hands feeling slightly ashamed and nodded your head. Javier’s hand found your chin and he tilted it upwards, forcing your gaze to lock with his.

“I’m sorry.” he muttered.

You furrowed your eyebrows together in bewilderment. “Sorry for what? Working here was my choice.”

“No,” Javi said quickly, placing a hand over your thigh, his dark eyes not diverting from your face once. “I know what the guys are like there,” Javier said, shaking his head. “Hell, I know what I’m like. I had no idea…” Javier paused for a moment before continuing. “Was-- was I your first?”

You smiled at him and shook your head ‘no’, and Javier looked somewhat relieved.

“Tell me cariño, do they make you feel good?”

You thought about the question but practically knew the answer immediately. No. Because sex at the brothel was never for pleasure, it was for rent money. It was to put food on your table and to wear clothes that fit.

“Only you Javi,” you replied softly, your hand finding his as you began to trace circles into his skin. “Only you have made me cum.” you confessed.

It wasn’t necessarily anything he’d done, because you’d only ever given Javier blowjobs and let him put it in you. It was more so the fact you were in his personal company, and you were so deeply attracted to him.

Javier chuckled dryly and shook his head. “That can’t be true hermosa,” he sighed. “I’ve been so selfish with you. If I had known, I would’ve fucked you real good. I would’ve made it good for you. I mean it.”

He sounded mad at himself, even though there was truly no way he could understand your circumstances.

“I can make you feel good. I can… distract you, if that’s really what you need,” he promised. “Just say the word.”

His voice had lowered considerably, and his words alone were enough to create a pool of arousal between your thighs. You were almost scared to think about the wet patch you’d leave on the sofa beneath you as his large hand travelled up your thigh and underneath his shirt that he’d given you to wear.

“Please.” you nodded breathlessly as Javier fiddled with the hem.

“Tell me you want it.” he urged as he tugged at the bottom button.

You swallowed thickly and nodded your head harder this time. “I want it, Javi. Please. I want you.”

“Lay back,” Javier ordered, pushing you into the sofa where he had originally been laying.

Your skin flushed with heat as Javier carefully opened your legs and positioned his head in between your soft thighs. “Your cunt looks so sweet,” Javier praised, a throaty moan escaping his lips as he rubbed his thumb between your soft wet folds. “Have you ever let a man taste you before?”

“No,” you squeaked as his thumb found your clit. He rubbed small and tight circles over your bundle of nerves, but his movements were achingly slow. “No man has wanted to.”

Javier huffed. “That’s not true, I promise,” he replied, tapping his thumb over your clit. You gasped longingly, your entire body tensing up. He drew back from you and looked at you, wanting to make sure that you were okay. He could see the way your nipples had hardened and were poking through the shirt he had given you, and it made his cock twitch with excitement underneath the blanket. “Hey pretty girl, relax. I need you to relax.”

You whimpered understandingly and took a deep breath before closing your eyes.

“Look how wet you are.” Javier said, leaning back down and licking his lips. The richness in his voice alone spread through your body like wildfire. He pressed a kiss into your mound, his mustache tickling your skin before lowering his head even further down. The curve of his nose bumped against your clit and you felt yourself clench around nothing, needing him so desperately.

Then, without warning, Javier slid his tongue in between your wet folds, gliding it up and down. Obscene wet sounds filled the room and if you weren’t already seeing stars, you might have even been slightly embarrassed. Your hands, that were once clenched around the curve of a cushion, had instinctively wormed their way into Javier’s chocolate coloured hair.

Once Javier had you spread open, his tongue became more dexterous and began to flick over your clit; up and down, up and down. He was skillful, to say the least. Occasionally though, he’d stop his movements, bringing you down from your high, only to start again. He was teasing you so much, but he was completely right. No man had ever made you feel this good. No man had ever cared about your own pleasure, other than Javier of course. His lips latched onto your sweet spot and he began to suck on it longingly, groaning wantonly against you and pushing vibrations through your core.

“Taste so fucking good, fuck,” Javier cursed, pulling off your cunt with a pop as he regained his breath. “Better than I imagined.”

And just like that… the nervous butterflies came fluttering back. He’d imagined this.

Javier found the way you shivered adorable and it only spurred him on, wanting nothing more than to bring you to the greatest heights of your pleasure. Your perfect sweetness glossed over his lips as he lapped your wetness up like a starved man, and your writhing beneath him didn’t stop once. You tugged on his hair as you felt your climax build up.

Recognising that you were close, Javier, pushed two of his fingers inside of you, scissoring them and stretching you open. Finally you could clench around something. His mouth didn’t stop though, and his tongue became faster and faster as he pumped his fingers inside of you.

Javier curled his fingers and they pushed against your special spot, your body involuntarily arching with pleasure and a long moan of his name leaving your lips.

“Oh yeah, that’s it, isn’t it?” Javier asked, a wicked smile crossing his lips. “Right there huh? You like that?”

You couldn’t even fathom words, only his name leaving your lips in the form of a chant as he continued his movements. You weren’t going to last, and he knew it too. In fact, Javier was too busy focusing on giving you pleasure, he hadn’t even realised the way his cock was leaking too, desperate for some kind of attention.

It was incredibly erotic, every time you looked down and saw Javier’s fingers get lost inside of you as he ravished your cunt. He was so good at it, you had no doubt he’d done it a million times before. One last thrust of his two fingers sent you into a frenzy as your cunt clenched around his fingers, and you came undone.

You were a heaving, gasping mess, and Javier had left you unlike anyone had ever left you before. As he pulled his hand away from you, your cunt continued to clench around nothing and your thighs were twitching as the pleasure raced through your veins.

Javier’s fingers shone with your wet arousal and he brought them up to your own lips. “Look at the mess you made. Such a delicious mess,” he cooed. “Taste.”

You parted your lips and sucked your arousal from his fingers. “How was that, hm?”

You nodded wordlessly. “Th-thank you,” you mumbled, your eyes feeling heavy with post coital exhaustion. “Let me-- let me return the favour.”

“No sweet girl,” Javier said. “You need to rest.”

The agent pushed your hair out of your face and— fuck, he wanted to kiss you so bad. He wanted to kiss your pretty, swollen lips. But he just couldn’t bring himself to do so. Kissing you might only confirm these feelings he had been trying to push away. “Sleep tight hermosa.”

You mumbled something incoherent before you fell fast asleep, your smile not fading away once. Javier removed his blanket and wrapped it over your body. That was when he realised he’d came too. He hadn’t even done anything… nothing to pleasure himself, but he’d come just from pleasuring you. That had never happened before.

He cursed to himself, reaching for the box of tissues that he kept on the coffee table and wiped himself down. Padding into the kitchen, Javier made you a glass of water and set it down next to you, just in case you woke up thirsty during the night.

He remembered your words. ‘Sleeping alone is hard.’

Javier brought his pillows, duvet and blankets from his bedroom and set them down on the floor so he was laying next to you. The last thing he wanted was for you to wake up alone and be in a panic. He considered just lifting you up and taking you to his own bed, that way he wouldn’t have to take the floor, but he just didn’t want to risk waking you.

Javier barely slept that night, his mind active and his thoughts racing a million times an hour. Did he regret what just happened? No, absolutely not. He’d do it a million times over. But that didn’t make it right. Sure, he’d slept with his informants many times but you were different. He already had a past relationship with you, he already knew you. And he felt like he had some kind of responsibility for you. Romantic relationships never ended well for Javier, so he could only hope that whatever you and him had going on, would remain strictly sexual. No feelings. There was no need for feelings. No time for relationships in the middle of this mess.

———

Javier really didn’t want to wake you, but he had to go to work, and he wasn’t willing to leave you home alone. Besides, you were his informant. And the DEA needed information.

When you woke up, you were fine, much to both yours and Javier’s surprise. The bliss from the night before still hadn’t escaped your memory, and had set you on course for a pretty good day ahead. Javier couldn’t really cook (minus paella), and so you both swallowed down some dry toast and you finished your glass of water.

Javier got a phone call just before the both of you were about to leave. It was brief, and ended just as you threw over one of his denim jackets that he’d loaned you. “DEA sent a couple of guys over to your place to pick up your possessions. You’ll be able to get changed once we arrive at the office.”

You nod your head gratefully, but then stop as Javier heads out the front door. “Wait, I didn’t give anyone my key.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Javier replied. “They will have found another way in.”

You weren’t sure how much you liked the idea of a bunch of strange cops breaking into your tiny apartment but nonetheless, you were just glad to have fresh and clean clothes. Not that you minded living in Javier’s pale yellow button down, but if you were going to be visiting DEA offices and God knows where else, you at least wanted to be dressed appropriately.

Javier told you to wait in the car while he nipped inside to grab your clothes. He handed the duffel bag to you through the car window and waited for you to get changed so the both of you could walk into the office together.

His office was bigger than you imagined, and spacious too. Despite it being pretty early in the morning, all the desks were filled and it seemed like the agents were hard at work.

“This is Luisa,” Javier pointed at the receptionist. “This is where we clock in and out of work. If we ever go out on impulse stake-outs or find the need to follow a lead, we gotta sign our name. It’s dumb, really.”

“Only Agent Peña never signs his name. Neither does Agent Murphy. Both of ‘em are as bad as each other.” Luisa laughed.

Javier rolled his eyes. “Pipe down Luisa,” he replied jokingly, his eyes darting to her hands. “Is that a new nail colour? Hmph, suits you.” he charmed before whisking you to the next station.

“There is Messina’s office,” Javier pointed through a narrow hallway towards an opaque glass door at the very end. “She thinks she runs the place but she’s only just transferred here.”

“Here is where I work,” Javier sighed, tapping his finger on a desk which was stacked high with paperwork. The tapping had clearly alerted the blonde haired man, who you remembered from yesterday. “And this is my partner Steve, sleeping on duty.” Javier tsked and Steve’s tired frown only deepened.

“Olivia been keepin’ us up all night,'' Steve groaned before standing up and shaking your hand. “Nice to see you here,” he said politely. “Has Javier given you a tour of the place?”

You nodded and smiled, already not hating the environment.

“Yeah. Everyone seems nice.”

You must’ve spoken too soon because in that very moment, none other than CIA Agent Bill Stechner came waltzing over, his lips curled into a smug grin.

“Well well well,” he observed, looking you up and down with judgement in his blue eyes. “What do we have here?”

Before you could reply, the man turned to Javier. “Peña, you know we don’t usually allow whores to wander the office.”

You flinched at his comment, your eyes narrowing at the unwarranted attack. Javier though, saw red, his own eyes darting up to look at Bill.

“She’s my informant.” Javier snapped back, trying his damn hardest to keep it together.

“I know who she is,” Bill seethed.

“Get the fuck outta here, Bill.” Steve sighed, standing up, his chair scraping against the floor.

Bill raised both of his hands defensively, almost as if he had done nothing wrong, and laughed darkly. With an innocent shrug of his shoulders he walked away and left you standing there, speechless.

Javier didn’t say a word, only pinched the bridge of his nose and got his head stuck straight into some paperwork.

“Yeah, you don’t wanna fuck with the CIA guys. They’re assholes.” Steve informed, his eyes glancing back over to Bill who was now sitting at his own desk. It was like the confrontation had never even happened.

“Noted.” you gulped.

“Take a seat, grab a coffee. Make yourself at home.” Steve told you.

Home. I guess this was where you’d be staying for the foreseeable future.

-—-—-—♡—-—-—-

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