#unfortunate timing... we talked about this tonight then i found this in my inbox. so. hey <3

[itchose]

finding her like this brought him back to a place he's tried to forget for the last decade, with no real progress  —-   his baby brother dead,  a haunting image that anything can trigger,   especially something like this.    this is someone he’s come to see as a sister—   though he’s never had any real confidence in saying the title out loud,  nor has he ever felt like he deserved her calling him anything similar,   but whenever their relationship changed and turned into something familial,   he made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t lose her the way he lost his brother.   he would do better this time,   he would protect her in ways he failed to do for him,    he would be the kind of brother she could rely on for anything,  even her darkest thoughts,   ones he’s gotten used to from her and from himself,  a harsh similarity they share.

what’s different between finding her like this and his brother the way he did back then is that there’s so much more blood here,   too much that he’s not even sure how to go about cleaning it up just yet—   but their home is far from his concern,   his only real thoughts now focused entirely on her and figuring out how the hell she got like this.

@manslaught said, "i might just die, it would make no difference."

he’s been close to death more times than he could count—  close enough to feel something other than agony,   a relief of some sort that he was desperate to hold onto,  but it never lasted.   he and nat made a promise to each other long ago that they would never let themselves go that far—  but he’s never been certain that mikayla was in on the same deal, too,  and the more she struggled to cope with everything that was taken from her,  the more worried travis got that she would never find any peace   (   he could accept that peace wasn’t for him—-   but she deserved it,  more than anyone he knew.  )   it’s instinct to jump to the worst conclusion— to believe that she did this on purpose,  finally hitting a breaking point he always feared she might,  and her words do nothing to soothe him,  forcing tears from his own eyes as he frantically tries to care to her wounds. 

❝  it would.   it would make a fucking difference,   ❞    he blurts out,  ignoring the blood on his hand that isn’t his as he brings it up to her shoulder,   forcing her to look back at him.   he’s not one for eye contact usually,   but he doesn’t shy away from it now,  locking his eyes with hers in hopes that she can hear him.   ❝  it would make a difference to me.   i can’t—  ❞    he starts,  his jaw clenching as he sniffles,  trying to force his tears away,  because he’s worked so hard for years not to let himself fall apart like this,   but seeing her like this,  remembering the way he’s failed to protect his family before,   he can’t do it.   

❝  no.  okay?  just—  tell me what happened.   tell me what happened,  mikayla,  and we can figure it out together.  ❞    he’s never really been good at that,  but it’s all he can offer—   a chance for her to not be alone,  because she never is,  not when he’s around,   another promise he’s made to himself and to her.   he doesn’t know about her phone call,  doesn’t know about her ex-girlfriend planting roots to her new life;   all he knows is that mikayla could have died if he didn’t walk in when he did,   and it sounds like she’s okay with that.   he can’t blame her— not when he’s had the same thought before,  one he refused to voice,   because it made him feel sick with guilt.

❝  i'm sorry, mikayla, but i'm not letting you fucking die, ❞ he pleads.

[not-so-rosyyy]

I also think a lot of people on here/tomdaya fans react the way they do to Timmy and z because of the ridiculous anti narratives that always pop up whenever they interact. Like look at the asks everyone has gotten tonight after we found out Timmy went to Paris too.. it becomes annoying. and therefore unfortunately, at no fault to Timmy and z, anytime we get content I think people know what’s to follow.

It’s like when you don’t mind a celebrity but their fans are so annoying that you start to get annoyed by the celebrity too lol

I think yesterday was the first time I’ve really brought up Timmy and Z on this blog and my god, if you could only see my inbox…🥴

So, yeah, if I’m being honest this is also one of the biggest reasons why a lot of the blogs around here don’t talk about them much. We know what kind of pandemonium a whisper of their names together would start…and it’s just not worth it bc I’ve said this over and over again, we’re mostly here to have fun.

In my experience tho, Timmy stans generally aren’t the annoying ones (there are a few on stan twt who are just nasty, but hell, every single fandom have those toxic stans anyway). I still maintain that it’s really just the antis pretending to be Timdayas who go around these blogs trying to get a rise out of us everytime. We can always ignore them (like I do 99% of the time), but it’s still better to just avoid bringing that shit up altogether, lmao.

[buttterknifeee]

Date with Destiny- Teen Titans x Aquagirl!Reader

Masterlist

Summary: you guessed it bitches its the prom episode with everyone's fav guy Robin (S2 Ep6)

Pairings: Robin!Dick grayson x reader

Word count: 4218

A/N: hey yall I love writing for this series bfgkfhg so if you want my inbox is always open to request!!! love yallll~

Nights in Jump City are the worst time of the day; the sun is long gone and the wind constantly bites at your skin. But it depends on what you're doing to decide whether you like it or not. Sometimes it’s not as bad; that’s when you’re hanging out with your friends, maybe going to a carnival or out partying all night. Sometimes it’s worse, like you being forced to chase after some villain who decided to only operate AT NIGHT. Unfortunately, the latter is true for you tonight.

You slump over in the backseat of the T-Car while Cyborg and Raven sit attentively at the front.

“Why can’t I sit in the front?” you whine, staring at the two Titan’s heads.

“Because I’m the only one that knows how to drive this car and Raven needs to use her telekinesis so we dont die!” Cyborg yells, focusing on the target, who happens to be a guy with a spider for his head that stole a bunch of jewelry.

You groaned and poked your head out the window. Starfire and Beast Boy were up in the air, Robin close by on his motorbike, and you were all chasing the half-arachnid. You stretched out of the vehicle and made punching movements at the criminal, ocean water from the bay twisting over towards him, mimicking your movements. The jets of water just barely nicked him before crashing into the sides of buildings, the teenage spider continuing to scuttle across the city.

You turn your attention back towards the road as the spider guy created a webbed barrier in front of Cyborg’s car and Robin’s motorcycle. You and Cyborg gasp, but Raven calmly holds her hand up towards the road. It cracks, creating a ramp for the four of you to jump over the webs with.

After making the jump, the half spider looks at the car. He shoots webs at you, and its splats on the car windshield.

“I can’t see!” Cyborg yells, swerving the car over to the side. You lurch forward as you finally come to a stop, thankful that Cyborg had installed heavy duty seat belts.

“I don’t see why you can’t let me drive,” you mumbled, stumbling out of the car. You aimed your hands towards the car and a jet of water sprung out from a fire hydrant, cleaning the silk from the windshield.

“I already said it, I’m the only one who knows the inner workings of the T-car! Besides, you don’t even have your license.” Cyborg said, stepping out of the car calmer than before.

“I do too!- You know what, we’ll talk about this later. Right now we need to find the others.” You say, taking in your surroundings. Then out of nowhere, Beast Boy popped out from behind the car.

“Uh hey guys! Kinda got lost back there!” he grins, dusting off silk strands from his arms.

“I’m going after them!” you tell the other Titans, sprinting off into the direction Robin and Starfire went. You flick your wrist as you run and water from the fire hydrant trickles out and forms a wave that you could ride on, like an aquatic skateboard.

You catch up to the two as Starfire gets shot down by the spider teen’s webbing. You make eye contact as you pass her, unsure whether to help her free.

“Just go!” she yells, already beginning to rip the webs thanks to her brute strength. You nod and race forwards to catch up with Robin. You find his abandoned motorbike and look up to see him chasing after the villain using his grappling hook. I’m trying to help him, but I can barely catch up to him, you grumble as you will the water to shoot you into the air, almost like a hydro-cannon. You bounce from roof to roof, inching closer to the Boy Wonder and his pursuit with the villain.

You were right under Robin when the spider-guy shoots some type of laser at him. Suddenly, he freezes up, and begins to fall, knocking you down with him.

“C-can’t… move,” he grunts, on top of you in mid air.

“YEAH NO SHIT” you yell, still stuck under him. Ok ok, options… you think, time seems to slow down around you. I can’t make a geyser because that’d take too long. I like Robin but not enough to break his fall, hmm…

You notice the grappling hook in his belt. You yank it out and shoot it at the wall you just fell from, wrapping your other arm around Robin. Your arm feels like it was about to fall out of its socket as you abruptly stop, hanging in mid air with Robin safely in your grasp. Starfire catches up with you, having broken free from the webbed trap. She helps you down and brings you to where Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven stood.

“He is okay?” Starfire asks, holding Robin in place while you catch your breath.

“He will be. The venom’s effect is only temporary.” Cyborg says, examining the Boy Wonder, who was still frozen in a climbing position.

“Getting away...we have to...go after him!” Robin musters, but almost falls over doing so.

“You mean, we have to go after him,” Raven corrects him.

“Yeah, you gotta wait until that stuff wears off,” you say, knocking on his frozen arm to prove your point.

“But-” Robin begins, but Beast Boy cuts him off.

“Dude, we can handle it. The guy's got a spider for a head. Not like he's gonna be hard to find.” he said. Robin didn’t say anything, which was code for a reluctant agreement. Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy agreed that they would go after the spider thief, while you, Robin and Starfire return to the Tower to get Robin sorted out.

Later at the Tower, you watched in utter horror and amusement as Starfire shook Robin while holding his feet. He hung upside down, making random yelps of pain as she did… whatever she was doing.

“Um Starfire?” you say. “You know I have healing powers… I could just heal him if we need to.”

“Nonsense Aquagirl!” she chirped as Robin groaned. “There are few problems that Tamaranean acupressure will not solve. Don’t you feel better Robin?”

“Uhhh yeah, thanks.” he said, getting back up to standing position. “Now we can focus on our other issue.” He pulls out his T-communicator.

“Titans! Any luck on finding our jewel thief?”

“We found something worse,” you hear Raven’s voice from the communicator. A live cam of the scene pops up on the living room TV screen. They were at the bridge near Jump City’s Bay; hundreds of cars pass there per minute. You noticed something was near the bridge cables, and upon closer inspection, you realized that it was thousands of moths gnawing at the bridge support. As more cables broke, the bridge grew more and more unstable, cars beginning to slide around.

“Titans go!” you hear Cyborg say, and the three of them run towards the giant cloud of bugs. Unfortunately, they were no match and could barely put a dent in the population.

“Uh, we’re gonna need backup.” Cyborg says to the communicator. You were already out of your chair and adjusting your wrist gauntlets.

“We’re on our way,” Robin says, the three of you making your way to the door. But a familiar voice stopped you in your tracks.

“Don't bother. Even if you defeat a few of my children, you won't be able to stop me from releasing the entire swarm.” the villain you recognized as Killer Moth said, his face appearing on the screen. “Unless you want your city reduced to a moth-eaten wasteland, you'll do exactly as I say.”

“What do you want?’ Robin asked, brows furrowed.

“My demands are simple. The city will declare me ruler, the Teen Titans will surrender, and Robin…” he starts. You flinched at the mention of the Boy Wonder’s name. What could he want to do with Robin? To step down as a hero? Admit defeat? Reveal his identity???

“... will take this lovely young lady to her junior prom.”

Huh?

“Hi Robbie-Poo!” said a girl who appeared on the screen next to Killer Moth. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, was wearing pink pajamas, and although you had just met her, you could already tell that she was a bitch.

“Um… What was that last part again?” he asked, clearly not expecting that demand.

“Um Robin?” you ask. “Who’s this girl and why’d she call you… er, you know.”

“Her name is Kitten,” Killer Moth gloats. “And you will take her to prom.”

“This prom is the matter of a duel, yes?” Starfire asked, not very assimilated in American culture. “Robin eagerly accepts!”

“It’s not a duel, Star. It’s a date.” Robin patiently corrects her.

“Oh”

“Robin! You can’t do this!” you say, looking at him through his masked eyes. “Isn’t that right Starfire?”

“Oh yes!” she agrees. “You mustn't accept!”

“We’re gonna need a minute,” Robin sighs, pulling the two of you away from the center of the room. You stare at him, arms crossed.

“This is so stupid.” you begin. “What kind of villain makes a superhero go on a date with some girl? And what kind of parent names their child Kitten? There’s no way you’re actually going to go to a dance with some random chick!”

Robin doesn’t say anything about your comments, but opens his T-communicator again,

“Cyborg, report. How bad is it?” he asks.

“Bad! We can’t hold 'em much longer!” Cyborg yells through the communicator. “If you’re gonna do something, do it quickly!” You stared at the floor, knowing what he’s gonna have to say to Killer Moth’s demands.

“I have to do it.” he grimaces. You stayed silent as Starfire reacted.

“WHAT?!” she yells.

“It's the only way to save the bridge. The only way to give us enough time to stop Killer Moth.” Robin explains. Starfire looks at you and back at Robin.

“But you do not even have the feelings for her!” she protests, looking straight at you.

“I’m sorry, but I have to, as much as I don’t want to. And I really don’t want to.” Robin says, walking back towards the screen.

“So do we have a deal?” Killer Moth grins, as much as a person with mandibles can.

“I’ll take the girl to prom.” Robin says grimly.

“Don’t tell me. Ask her.” Killer Moth says, referring to the blonde girl still pasted on screen. Even though you couldn’t see Robin’s eyes, you could tell that he was rolling them.

“You’ve got to be-”

“Do it!” the villain yells. Robin sighs.

“Kitten, was it?” he asks.

“Meow,” she replied. You almost threw up when she said that. You could see Robin reacting in the same way.

“Right. Will you...go with me to the prom?” he said, his voice showing his utter disgust.

“Oh, Robbie-poo! I thought you'd never ask!”

I can’t do this you thought, as the screen finally blipped off. Robin calmly pulled out his T-communicator and projected it onto the screen. Raven picked up, Beast Boy and Cyborg crowded around her. You could see in the background that the moths were no longer gnawing at the bridge. He told them that he bought them some time, telling them to find out what he has planned. Then he shows them a picture of Kitten.

“Who is she?” Raven asked.

“She is a manipulative gremlock not worthy of Robin's time.” Starfire pouts.

“Yeah, she's a bitch too.” you add.

“She's got some kind of connection to Killer Moth. Find the connection, and I bet you'll find him.” He said, turning to you and Starfire. “Aquagirl and Starfire will join you to help with the search.” you rolled your eyes; Is he seriously going to do this alone?

“Hey, what about you? Aren’t you going to help us?” Beast Boy asked.

“I can’t. I have a date.”

.

You and Starfire were going to prepare for your mission when she shoved you into her room. You’ve forgotten how pink all her furniture is, from the curtains to her pillows. She whips out her T-communicator.

“Starfire what are you-” you begin, but she shushes you.

“Starfire to Raven,” she says into the communicator. “Please note that I will be the only person joining you, as Aquagirl will provide Robin backup on his date!”

“Um… okay.” Raven says, then hangs up.

“What??? I’m supposed to help you guys, remember?” you protest. “And I thought you had a crush on Robin??” The alien girl took you by your shoulders.

“Aquagirl, my feelings for Robin have long dissipated, but I am sure you still have the feelings for him!” she chirped. “Do not worry, four Titans are more than enough to defeat Killer Moth! You should go to the prom of non-duels!”

“B-but what do I even wear? Prom dresses were not on my shopping list.” you argue.

“Oh do not worry Aquagirl, you may borrow mine!” Starfire opened her closet to reveal a rack of sparkly dresses, all in different colors. You eyes glittered in awe.

“Ok, I’m in.”

You spent the next half an hour getting ready for the prom. You picked out a blue dress with black lace and black gloves that went out to your elbows. Your suit was camouflaged underneath, just in case you needed to ditch the dress.

“Oh you look wonderful!” Starfire cheered. You blushed, looking at yourself in the mirror.

She flew you over to the prom location, which was on a boat. Water, you thought. Perfect. You looked at Starfire.

“Thanks again for, uh, everything.” you said sheepishly. She smiled.

“It is the no problem!” she says. “I will see you afterwards!” And with that, she flew off into the night. You sighed, holding a corsage for Robin in your hand. You hear the sound of a motorbike. Robin appeared in view; he was still wearing his mask, but his usual outfit had been replaced by a tuxedo. He was still stoically frowning, probably due to not wanting to be here, but something about him just makes your heart skip a beat.

You walked over and tapped his shoulder. He flinched at your touch, but calmed down as he realized that it was you.

“Aquagirl?” he asked, eyeing you up and down.

“Um, just call me (y/n) for today, don’t want to raise eyebrows.” you winked. You pinned the flowers onto his lapel. “It’s my first prom, so I got you a corsage.” It’s true; this is your first prom. You were supposed to go to your junior prom this year, but of course, being a superhero kinda distracted you from that.

“Aqu- (y/n)...” he began. “You’re supposed to be helping the others track down Killer Moth.”

“Well, you said that our job was to investigate that b- uh, girl. And there’s no better way to do it than up close.” you grin. “Besides, Starfire insisted that I backed you up, you never know if you need saving, right?”

Just then, you heard a loud honk from a car. You turn to see a pink limousine pull out. Out stepped an even pinker girl, Kitten. Her headband, dress, corsage, and heels were all an obnoxious pink. She scoured the scene until she found Robin, fiercely waving at him.

“Yoo-hoo! Robbie-poo! Your Kitten has arrived! Me-ow!” she yells. You both physically cringe at her words. Robin leans over to you before he leaves.

“On second thought, maybe I will need the savings.”

You purse your lips as Robin leaves, reluctantly linking arms with the girl. You open your T-communicator.

“Cyborg,” you say. “Robin just entered the boat with Kitten. “How’s it looking on your side?”

“Poor guy,” he says sympathetically. “We just reached Kitten’s house. Going in now. Nice dress by the way.” You grin.

“Thanks man. I’ll be watching him just to see if he needs any help.”

“Got it. Cyborg out.” the screen blips to black and you close your communicator with a sigh. Time for prom.

You awkwardly shuffle onto the boat, making sure to stay a few meters behind the two. Luckily, no one noticed that you didn’t go to their school because they were so distracted by Kitten’s yelling.

“OH ROBIN!, YOU’RE SUCH A GENTLEMAN! NOT AT ALL LIKE MY WORTHLESS EX-BOYFRIEND FANG!!!” your fists clenched as she moved closer to the Boy Wonder, all over his arm. Why did we let her take Robin to the prom again? I’d rather see that bridge collapse than whatever this is.

You stationed yourself at the punch table, pouring yourself a drink. The two were talking at the table. You knew Robin didn’t want to be here in the beginning, but what if he changed his mind? What if, somehow, he falls in love with Kitten, and then you are never gonna have a chance with him?

“OF COURSE ROBIN I’D LOVE TO DANCE WITH YOU!!!” Kitten yelled, the two of them moving towards the dance floor. Your cheeks burned with anger, and maybe a little bit of jealousy. You clenched your fist again, and the sickly pink punch from the punch bowl shot into the air. The couple next to you who was about to get some punch slowly walked backwards away from you. But you didn’t care. You stomped away from the punch table.

You were leaning at one of the clothed tables as you glared at Robin and Kitten dancing away. You don’t even know why you felt so angry; maybe it was the fact that they’ve been dancing for 10 long minutes, or the fact that Kitten’s resting her head on his shoulder, or maybe the fact that you’ve never held Robin’s hand before and she is!

You notice him looking at his T-communicator while he was dancing, relieving you of the idea that he was actually enjoying the dance.

“Kiss me,” you hear Kitten say, and you froze.

“Sorry, I don’t like you that way,” he smirks. “As a matter of fact, I just don’t like you.” YES, you thought, smiling from the table.

“WHAT?!” the blonde girl shrieks.

“Killer Moth’s being taken down as we speak. We’re done here.” He pulls away, tucking his T-communicator into his pocket.

“No we are not!” she yells, ripping the corsage off of her dress. The petals fall away to reveal a cylinder, push-button controller. “Daddy’s not calling the shots tonight, I AM!!!”

“Daddy?” you and Robin said at the same time, in shock. So that's why Killer Moth made Robin go to the prom with her.

“And unless you want me to let those bugs out for a late-night snack, you better pucker up!” she makes kissy noises at Robin, her lips inching closer and closer. Robin put his finger out at them as if to shush her.

“Not even if you paid me,” he said, pushing her away and grabbing the controller out of her hand. They fight over it, and you wonder whether to jump in and help. Suddenly Kitten turns her focus away from Robin.

“Fang?” she smiled. You turned to see the jewel thief from before climbing onto the boat, spider head and all.

“That’s your ex boyfriend?” he asked, staring in shock.

“Get your hands off my girl!” he yells, knocking Robin down with his spider leg, Kitten snatching back the controller. Ok, time to act you thought, holding up your hand. A jet of water sprung up from under the boat and hit Fang, sending him flying backwards.

“And keep your legs off my guy!” you yelled, not even sure if you and Robin were on that level yet. “You alright Rob?” you ask as the Boy Wonder stands up.

“Best I’ve felt all day,” he smirked, ripping off his suit to reveal his costume underneath. You smiled; you two seemed to be on the same track in terms of disguise. You ripped your dress off and your costume uncamouflaged, revealing the familiar blue and black swim gear you always wear. You yank off your gloves to show your gauntlets underneath, the spikes swing up into place. You both look back at Kitten and Fang to find them making out; mandibles and all.

“I think I’m gonna throw up,” you mumble, getting into a fighting position.

“You know…” Robin says, bring the couple’s attention back to you two. “You two make a really bad couple.” Fang charges at the two of you, shooting his webs and venom. One of the webs hit you, sending you to the floor. You used the spikes on your gauntlets to cut yourself free while the spider villain goes after Robin. You finally free yourself as Kitten watches the action.

“Isn’t it romantic? They’re fighting over me!” she swoons. Your cheeks burn hot with anger. Now that you're out of disguise, it's the perfect time to beat her up.

“You’re not worth anyone’s time to fight over!” you quipped loudly, causing Kitten to start screaming at you. She tackles you, and the two of you fall onto the table.

“What the-” you grunt, the air knocked out of you as you crash into the food. You roll over and pin her to the table. You try to reach for the controller, but Kitten smacks a cream pie in your face. She pins you down this time, but you extend your leg to her side and swing, sending her flying across the table. She lands flat on her back, stretched lengthwise across the table. You lunge at her, but she grabs you and dunks your head into the punch bowl. You almost burst out laughing; she was trying to drown you, and you could breathe underwater.

Your eyes glow blue from underneath the punch bowl as the beverage explodes in the girl’s hunched over face. She screams, and you push her into the chocolate cake. She lands on the floor, her pink dress now stained with chocolate frosting.

“YOU.. RUINED… MY… DRESS!!!” she screams, clicking the controller. You gasp in horror, she’s crazy. She runs at you again, screaming and you dodge her, using your water powers to shoot the controller out of her hand. The controller rolls away, right towards the bottom of Robin’s foot.

“Consider yourself dumped.” he said, breaking the controller.

“NOOOOOOO!!!” she shrilled. You rolled your eyes and punched her square in the nose, her falling to the ground.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” you grin at the Boy Wonder, who looked at you in awe.

.

The other Titans rejoined you as you watched Kitten, Killer Moth, and Fang get pulled into a police van.

“Nobody dumps Kitten! Nobody! You're going to pay for this, Robbie-poo! YOU'RE GOING TO PASAY!!” the blonde girl screamed while being pushed into one of the vans.

“So, no second date?” Cyborg jokes. Beast Boy was sitting over the edge of the boat holding one of Killer Moth’s moth larvae. According to them, the controller Kitten had allowed them to turn into moths, but when Robin broke it, they all turned back into harmless giant bugs.

“So what becomes of Killer Moth’s larvae population?” Starfire asks.

“You know...now that nobody's making 'em all mutate-y,.these things might actually make good pets.” Beast Boy said, poking at the larvae's belly.

“Don’t even think about it.” Raven says, staring in disgust.

You and Robin walk towards some of the students to apologize for ruining their nights when spotlights turn on, the bright lights moving across the floor. The two of you braced for impact. The announcer began to, well, announce.

“And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...the king and queen of this year's prom are...Robin and (y/n)!” Your eyes widened at the announcement.

“I’m back on duty so it’s Aquagirl now! Sorry!” you yelled awkwardly.

“Well um then Aquagirl-” Robin begins, but you stop him.

“I mean, you can call me (y/n), if that’s what you want,” you offered, slightly blushing. He blushed back.

“Oh! Ok, then (y/n) it is.”

“So how about that dance, Boy Wonder?”

“I guess one more dance wouldn’t kill me.”

.

Robin led you towards the middle of the dance floor. You put your arms around his neck and he put his arms around your waist. His hands were gentle, and was only lightly touching your back, as if he was ready to pull them back at any time.

But he was smiling; something he barely did all night. You both laughed as you awkwardly shuffled across the floor; it's like you had two right feet and he had two left feet so it canceled out. You pulled in a little closer, he hugged you a little tighter. You stared at his masked eyes, imagining them looking back at you.

Suddenly you heard a whistle and whipped your head to see the rest of the Titans nonchalantly watching you two dance. They grinned, waving hello. You rolled your eyes and whipped your hand at them. A small geyser jumped up and landed on the Titans, drenching them. You and Robin laughed, then resumed your dance.

Nights in Jump City are the worst time of day, but with Robin, it’s a whole lot better.

[write-orflight]

Light the Lamp: Chapter 1

**Gif Not Mine**

Prev -  Next

Pairings: Bucky Barnes X Reader (Friends to Lovers, College/Hockey AU

Rating: M

Words: 2.2K

Warnings:  College kids being college kids, drinking, swearing, talk of sex(No smut yet but will be)

Request: OPEN/CLOSED

Summary:  Love and Hockey were kind of the same, everyone’s just rushing to score. So why couldn’t you?

A.N Summary bad but I literally couldn’t focus on writing anything else until I finished at least the first chapter of this. let me know what you think, Message/reply/inbox to be tagged.

  Chapter 1: 1st Quarter

Hockey wasn’t the sport Bucky wanted to play originally. He wanted to play baseball like his old man but when Steve decided he wanted to take ice skating lessons, he made Bucky tag along so he wouldn’t be the only boy in the class. Soon, they found themselves recruited in the junior rec hockey team and had been playing together ever since. It wasn’t a surprise that when recruitment came around that school’s were trying to pick up both of them. People knew better than to separate Cap from the Winter Soldier. Steve’s nickname was easy to figure out. He had a natural authoritative nature that made him the Captain of almost every team he played on. You never knew why they called Bucky the Winter Soldier until you played against him. Bucky was like an assassin on the ice. While everyone was focused on Steve in Center, Bucky was on left wing scoring the goal before you knew what hit you. So both of them getting recruited to play for the Avengers at Wilmington University wasn’t surprising. 

Meeting you was. 

At first, it was a sort of form of hazing. When they were starting their Freshman year so was the Coach’s daughter. He had asked senior members of the team to ‘keep an eye on her’ and make sure she didn’t get herself into any trouble. The seniors’ thinking that was lame, were more than happy to pass the task off to the two eager freshmen trying to make a name for themselves. So that’s how it started, The two boys walking you to classes and home from the library late at night, much to your demise. 

“I should’ve known my dad was going to do something like this.” You complained when you saw the two boys waiting outside your dorm the first week of classes. “Thanks for coming. But you can tell my dad that I’m not going to be the freak being escorted by hockey jocks everyday.” 

“No can do, Doll.” Bucky says. “We leave you, we’re doing drills the rest of practice.” 

“Doll? What’re you? A 40s newscaster?” You say, with an annoyed expression walking passed the boys who just followed suit behind you. “Ugh, this is such bullshit. He literally begged me to go to Wilmington and promised I’d be able to have a ‘normal college experience’. What about this is fucking normal?”  

“I know it’s less than ideal but hey, we can make the best out of this.” Steve smiles. “I’m Steve, by the way.” He says extending a hand. 

You shake it. You couldn’t blame them for your dad not trusting you. “Y/N. You?” You asked the other boy next to you. 

“Bucky.” He provides. 

“Bucky?” You question. 

“Well, it’s James but my friends call me Bucky.” 

“And that’s what we are? Friends?” You ask. 

“Might as well be, since we’ll be seeing each other a lot this semester.” 

And that’s how your semi-unconventional friendship started. Pretty soon, even though your dad had eased up on the 24-hour watch, per your mom's request, you still found yourself walking and getting coffee with the two in the mornings. Even, found yourself waiting in the rinks watching practices so you could hang out afterwards and that became your life for the next two years. Now the three of you we’re entering your Junior year of college. Steve was right back in his title role of Captain, Bucky was now first string Left Wing and you were… still watching from the bleachers. You didn’t mind though, you grew to love the sport due to it being your dad’s profession. Hell, you were on skates before you could even walk. But you never found yourself on the women’s team, Hockey wasn’t something you really wanted to do. You still supported the girls team though, which is why you found yourself watching their practices too. 

“Hey, Y/N!” Carol said, skating to the end of the rink where you were sitting next to her girlfriend, Maria. A position you often found yourself in, entertaining player’s girlfriends while they practiced. Maria was cool though, at least you knew about the sport. 

“Hey, Marvel.” You called her by her nickname. Thing about Hockey is everyone was called by their nicknames. 

“You going to the Sigma Pi party later?” She asks. 

“Uh, no one told me about it.” You say, awkwardly. 

“I’m telling you now.” Carol says like it's obvious. “You never go out anymore and I refuse to let you become a cat lady before you turn 25. Come over ours at 7, we’ll pregame and head over at 9. What do you say?” 

“Fine, I’ll come.” You say. 

“Great!” Carol says, pumping a fist before signalling her girlfriend to come closer to the rink. You look away as they kiss. Couples made you uneasy, especially hockey couples. You wanted that more than anything, for your guy to skate up to the gate just to sneak a kiss from you. Not that dating anyone from the team was even an option with you dad coaching. The team saw you as a little sister and if anyone was caught even looking at you in any way, their ass was grass by either your dad or Bucky, who’d become protective of you over the years. 

“Marvel, stop flirting with your girlfriend and GET BACK ON THE ICE!” You heard your dad scream. 

“Sorry, Couch!” She called. “Sorry, baby i’ve gotta jet. Y/N, don’t forget. 7 o’clock!” She says before skating off. 

“I won’t!” You call after her. 

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

You can’t help but look at yourself in the mirror awkwardly at the tight Satin dress your roommate, Wanda practically forced you in. You were just going to wear a sweater and jeans, your regular wardrobe but Wanda insisted everyone had seen you in that and what they haven’t seen is you in a dress. Especially, with your new body, you had gotten over the summer working at a sports camp. Who knew running after kids would be such a great form of exercise? 

Wanda also did your makeup, something you didn’t typically wear, giving you a natural glow eye, a layer of mascara, and sticky gloss that made your look ‘dewy’ as Wanda described it. You tried to keep your hair in the bun but Wanda insisted you keep your hair down. Saying it made you look hotter, you shrugged knowing you’d have to take her word for it. 

The two of you made your way to Carol and Maria’s apartment. Carol swung the door open and looked at you in surprise. “Woah, Ice Baby, you clean up nice.” 

“Don’t start, Marvel. And you know how I feel about being called that.” You hated the nickname but since you were the coach’s daughter and you stuck around the rink any chance you got, The seniors had started calling you Ice Baby your freshman year and the nickname unfortunately stuck long after they had gone. 

“Right, sorry, I always forget.” Carol said moving out the way for the two of you to come in. 

The four of you drink and play games until it’s time to head to the party. You’ve got a pretty strong buzz going as you enter the party and you regret the strappy heels Maria made you borrow before leaving. You’re sitting in the corner when someone comes to sit way too close to you. You look up to see Brock Rumlow, or Rum as the team liked to call him. 

“I almost didn’t recognize you, Ice Baby. You look good.” 

“My name is Y/N but thank you.” You say, annoyed. 

He holds his hands up in mock surrender “I forgot you hate that nickname. Let me bring you a drink to make up for it. What you want.” 

“Rum and coke, please.” 

“Oh, so you like Rum?” He says, obvious double entendre hanging off his tongue. 

“The drink? Yes.” 

“You’ll like the man soon enough.” He winks, smirking at the flush that spreads across your cheeks. 

The two of you spend the night like that. He brings you drinks and shamelessly flirts with you as you get drunker and drunker. The two of you even dance for a bit in the sea of grinding bodies. Soon you’re telling him a story and a hand drifts to your leg. You turn and he’s much closer to your face than you thought he was. 

“Wanna get out of here?” He asks. You nod but before you can even stand, Bucky is there towering over Brock.

“You can leave, Brock. But I’m taking Y/N home.” He says. 

Brock rolls his eyes. “Forgot you had a Winter Soldier guard dog. No worries, dude. I’m leaving anyway.” He says, before turning to you. “You’ve got my number, call me if you wanna hang this week.” He says, nodding to Bucky before walking away. 

“Ugh, Bucky. What was that for?” You whine, drunkenly. 

“You’re drunk. I’m taking you home.” Bucky says. “Come on, stand up.” 

You shakingly get up and Buck is there immediately under your arm, his arm around your waist helping you walk out. 

The cold breeze hits you as soon as you step foot out the party and take the long trek home. 

“I think I drank too much.” You point out. 

“You think, kid?” Bucky says. “You’re lucky, I was here meeting Sharon otherwise you would’ve been shit out of luck.” 

“Brock would’ve taken me home.” 

“Brock’s a lowlife. Don’t worry about him, I’ve got you.” 

You sigh. “Sorry for ruining your night with your girlfriend.” 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll call her when I make sure you get home so if you could pick up the pace.” 

“My feet hurt.” You complain. 

“Yea, I bet. God, when did you start wearing heels, Doll?” 

“I wanted to look good tonight.” You sigh. 

“You always look good.” 

“Fine, I wanted to look hot.” You provide. “For once, I wanted to be the one guys paid attention to at parties.” 

“You can be yourself for that, Y/N.” Bucky says. “You’re a catch.” 

“If I was, someone would’ve fucked me by now.” You drunkenly admit. That makes Bucky double-take. “I mean, think about it? 3 years into my college career, I turn 21 in a couple months and still it's where no man’s gone before down there.” 

“Y/N, are you saying you’re--” 

“A virgin? Yea, Bucky catch up.” You groan at the pain in your feet. Bucky looks and takes sympathy on you. 

“Here take off your shoes.” He says, toeing his off as well and sliding them over to you. 

“You’re just going to walk barefoot?” You ask, putting on the shoes, holding your heels in your hand. 

“Better than you walking barefoot.” He shrugs. 

“Anyway, I decided over the summer that maybe I was putting too much thought into it. I mean almost everyone loses their virginity in high school and it's never good, no one ever says their first time was good. I just thought maybe I should just, you know, get it over with.” You slur. “Which is what I was trying to do until you chased my date away. God, you always do that, Bucky.” 

“I’m not fighting with you while you’re drunk.” Bucky says, trying to get you to drop the subject but you persist. 

“Every time I try to talk to a guy, you butt in--” 

“Maybe I wouldn’t butt in if you picked the right guys for you.” 

“There’s nothing wrong with the guys I pick! You’re just a cockblock.” 

“That’s not true.” 

“Yea what about Charles? He asked me on a date freshman year and took it back not even an hour later. I had to beg Steve to tell me why and it turned out that you threatened him if he even thought about going out with me.” 

“Y/N, you had just turned 18 and X was a 24 year old senior! I didn’t trust how he was just waiting. So yea, I told him to fuck off. And Rum is an asshole who can’t get a girl to sleep with him unless they’re shitfaced. So yea, I told him to fuck off.” Bucky exclaims as the two of you make it up the stairs to your apartment. “Y/N, you’ll find someone right for you and that right person will make your first time special. I just want you to find someone who’ll make you happy.” 

“And I just want you to remember for next time that if you want to tell a girl who she can and can’t fuck, you have Sharon for that. Not me.” You said, taking off the shoes as you arrived at your front door. 

“Y/N, wait--” You hear him say but you don’t care, you slam the door in his face regardless. 

Who did Bucky think he was? Sure, he was your best friend but so was Steve and he’s not nearly as protective as Bucky was. You honestly couldn’t tell who was worse at this point, your dad or Bucky. You loved both of them but they had the fatal flaw of forgetting you weren’t a kid. You were a woman, a woman with needs. And one particular need you needed to get rid of.   

So you picked up your phone and called Brock. Bucky couldn’t be right about everything.

Taglist: @buckybarneshairpullingkink @riverofcrestmont @babymango-writes @astralsaf @gabi-socio @hereforalongtime512​

[smilexcaptainx]

Can i get a chris when you two acted on a movie together (not as love interest tho cause shes only 22) and became good friends so they decided to quarantined together in readers LA home bc chris was worried about her being alone. Reader got asked to be part of the mv for "stuck with you" and so she asked him to slow dance with her for it (since thats what everyone was doing) & thats when he realized he has very strong feelings for her heheh

request an imagine here

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Warnings: None

A/N: Happy 2021! I’m just cleaning out all the requests from my inbox. You guys are truly amazing, and I love all the sweet messages that are sent to me. I love you guys, and I hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 1.2K

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Chris bit into his folded pizza that you had teased him about earlier. You always found it odd that he ate his pizza that way, but it just gave more of a reason for Chris to make cute remarks back to you. He had been a good friend of yours ever since you starred in the same movie as him. He always claimed that you stole the spotlight from him, but you would just play along and agree with him.

When Quarantine had hit, Chris was more than happy to invite you over to his place and spend as much time with you as needed. Many nights of board games, movies, videogames, and just hanging out talking about life. You had gotten to know Chris on a deeper level. What shocked you the most was that he had gotten an Instagram!

It was like teaching your father how to use technology, but Chris eventually got used to the app. Tonight was one of those nights of a movie night. Chris had bought a pizza for the both of you to share. Chris had paused the movie for you to use the restroom. He was peacefully eating his pizza before he realized that you had been gone for a long time.

Normally, he would start the movie without you, but he knew how much you’ve wanted to see the movie. He wiped his hands onto his blue jeans after taking the last bite of his pizza. His ocean blue eyes scanned the area of the living room as he chewed up his final bite. He swallowed his bite and raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, [Y/N]! Where’d you go?” Chris called out, moving his plate off the couch and onto the little table in front of him. “You still alive?”

Chris lightly chuckled to himself as those words left his mouth. Although he found it humorous, he knew that it wouldn’t be funny if you actually were extremely hurt. Chris cleared his throat and rose up to his feet. He walked around the couch and started to go on a hunt for you through his house. He checked every room, every bathroom, but you weren't present in any of them.

Chris was beginning to worry. He speedily made his way back to the living room, only to see your figure sitting on the couch. Chris released a sigh of relief. He was glad to see that you were safe. If anything bad were to happen to you, Chris knew that he possibly wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. Chris walked up to you from behind.

“BOO!!!”

You shrieked in fear, your phone slipping out of your hand. Luckily, it landed on the cushion beside you instead of the ground. Chris wheezed out his laugh before patting you on the head. 

“That’s what you get for worrying me,” Chris joked, walking around the couch back to his seat. “Anyways, can we start the movie back up?”

You slapped your hand onto his back as he lowered himself down onto the couch. Chris froze as he felt your hand push him back up.

“You almost sat on my phone you fool,” You said, swiping the phone from the cushion. Chris smirked. “There, now you can sit down.”

Chris plopped down onto the cushion beside you, immediately swiping your phone from you. You gasped as you had lost the possession of your phone. You glanced over at Chris who had wide eyes.

“No way, is this the Ariana Grande? As in the girl from that one Nickelodeon show?” Chris asked, swinging his eyes over to meet with yours. You nodded. “What’s the occasion?”

“I-It’s nothing,” You stuttered, retrieving the phone back into your hands. Chris stared at you in disbelief. You sighed in defeat. “Fine. She asked if I could be part of her newest music video. It’s called stuck with you.”

“I don’t see any problem with that.”

“Um, the issue is that I need to find a dancing partner, which I was thinking would be you,” You explained further, his eyes piercing into yours. Your heart skipped a beat. “I’m a terrible dancer Chris, and you know that.”

“Unfortunately, that is true,” Chris said, slowly rising up to his feet. You remained seated as he descended his hand toward you. You shifted your eyes between his hand and his eyes. “But I’m not going to give up on teaching you.”

“I guess you could say that,” You mumbled, sliding your hand into his hand. Chris assisted you off of the couch. “Wait, before we start. I can play the song, you know, so we can get a feel of what it is. She said that she just wanted just a little slow dance sort of thing.”

“Slow dance? That sounds easy,” Chris said with a nod. “I’m ready when you are.”

You quickly pressed the play button. The song blasted through your phone speaker. Chris could already tell what the feel was. As you were focused more on listening to the song, Chris turned your attention from the phone.

“[Y/N], it’s a great song, but I kind of want to dance,” Chris said, pulling you closer to him. “I’ll lead the way.”

Chris kept you close as he began to sway back and forth. Your eyes fluttered shut as you got more into the song. It was romantic in a way, and you couldn’t be anymore happier. Chris was the only one you remotely even planned on slow dancing with, and now that it was happening, it felt like a dream. You gently laid your head against his chest as the song continued.

His presence had never felt so sweet. Chris tightened his grip onto your figure, smiling widely to himself. He couldn’t fight those butterflies that were appearing in his stomach. Never did he think that he was going to fall for someone like you so soon. He knew so much about you, and wanted to continue to learn even more.

He could feel himself falling for you the longer you remained close to him. He felt extremely intimate with you this very moment, and he couldn’t love it even more. Before Chris knew it, the song had come to an end. The sensation of having you this close to him lingered with him. You didn’t even realize that the song was over before Chris stopped moving.

You blinked yourself back into reality. You raised your eyes to meet with his diamond blue eyes.

“And you say you can’t dance,” Chris scoffed, causing you to blush lightly. “Anyways, is it time to start recording?”

“Yeah let me-”

“I want to record it on my phone,” Chris said, sliding his phone out of his back pocket. “I want this video on my phone so I can post it on Instagram afterwards,” Chris said, making you crack a small smile. “I want to show the world how terrible of a dancer you are.”

You acted offended and playfully whacked Chris on the shoulder who just laughed at your response. Chris set up his phone to record as you restarted the song. You two returned to your positions. Chris held tight onto your hand and smiled brightly at you.

“I know that we’re only supposed to do a snippet of us dancing,” Chris said, stepping closer toward you. “But I want to dance with you through the entire dance again. The first time was nice.”

“I agree.”

The moment you smiled up at Chris, that was when he knew. Although he was stuck with you, he was also in love with you.

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Feedback is always welcome!

I do not own this gif.

Credit goes to the owner!

my wattpad

[trexy225]

Three Hearts-Chapter 22: Family Matters

TW!!! Alcohol, Harassment, Homophobia

Summary: Rosie goes on vacation and Olivia has to fend for herself.

See bottom for authors note!

\“Are you sure you don’t want to come and meet my family?” Rosie asked as Olivia parked in front of Jeff Morales’s townhome.

“I’m not ready Rosie,” Olivia muttered.

“Yes, well now that we’re dating I think-”

“Will your family even accept us?” She asked.

“Of course, they will-”

“But what if they don’t? I-I can’t do that again.” Olivia held back tears.

“It’s ok, I-I understand. You can meet them later, maybe when I come back?” Rosie offered.

“I don’t know, I know it’s been 13 years since I’ve been disowned but I-I still haven’t sorted it out and I don’t know if I ever will.” Olivia sighed.

“Ok, I hope you have a good week, I’ll tell them you said hey.” Rosie kissed Olivia one last time, Olivias heart fluttered, she was disappointed when she pulled away to leave the car.

“I love you my Rosette,” Olivia whispered.

“And I love you, babe.” Rosie smiled as she got out of the car.

“Aunt Ro!” A boy ran to Rosie and hugged her.

“Hey Miles! How you doing?” She asked as she tussled his hair.

“Did you get the photos?” He asked.

Rosie smirked as she gave him a stack of photos she took from Graffiti Alley, Miles’s eyes widened and he chattered excitedly as he flipped through the images, Jeff, Rosie's brother stepped out and gave her a hug.

“What do we have here?” He asked.

“Aunt Ro got photos of graffiti! Can I do some?” Miles held up some beautiful graffiti art, Jeff frowned and looked at Rosie.

“I don’t know Miles, we’ll talk about it, ok?” He looked past Rosie and spotted Olivia.

“Is that the famous Olivia I’ve heard so much about?” He asked.

Shit shit shit! Olivia panicked and sped off.

“...” Jeff raised an eyebrow at Rosie.

“She-she’s shy, should we get ready to go?”

“We’re all packed. We just gotta wait for Mom to come back from her shift.” Miles said as he took Rosie's bags.

“What a gentleman!” Rosie laughed as the family walked into the townhome.

Olivia sighed as she headed towards her favorite coffee shop, it was her go-to when she worked at Oscorp and needed time to think. Before she got out of her car she looked at her neck in the rearview mirror… The hickey was still very present. She turned red as she grabbed a grey scarf and wrapped it around her. When she got there she pulled out her laptop with her triple shot espresso and opened up her e-mails, she was going to check her inbox, and then upload the Toronto trip images and plan out the next steps, she really didn’t have anything else to do, she considered visiting Peter and MJ, congratulating them on their engagement, but they probably didn’t want to see her, Oscorp was in the past. As Olivia scrolled through her inbox she found an e-mail from Wilson, or most likely Wilson's assistant, reading Need a Favor she rolled her eyes as she clicked it.

Dr. Octavius,

Unfortunately, there is a gala next week that I will be unable to attend, seeing that you are fully capable of being the face of Alchemex I need you to go in my place, we need to secure funds and boost our reputation after that interview scare. I attached the invitation below, wear something nice.

Sincerely,

Wilson Fisk

Olivia sighed, that gala was tonight, all her nice clothes were at home, well her one nice outfit so she needed to go waste some money on a gala she didn’t give a shit about to kiss some rich peoples boots.

One last thing for Fisk, just until you reprogram the actuators… She thought to herself as she packed up her bags to get something decent to wear.

Olivia arrived at the gala wearing a suit with a deep purple tie, she tried to wrestle her hair into a bun but gave up, and she didn’t even bother with makeup. She managed to find a deep purple scarf to go with it and hoped nobody would ask questions. She fidgeted with the suit, it just wasn’t her, she felt naked without her lab coat.

I wish Rosie was here… She would know just what to do. She thought nervously as she handed the RSVP to the people in the front.

As she walked inside she saw no familiar faces, although it seemed like people knew her.

“Doctor Octavius, right?” An older man in a suit asked, offering her a glass of champagne.

“Umm, yes. Good morning-I mean evening.” Olivia turned red as she took the champagne, she usually didn’t drink, but she didn’t think she would be able to make it through the night without a few glasses. The conversation was very dull, he wanted nothing to do with the collider, and was mostly focused on the strength serum.

“I hear you sold the completed formula to the government for a hefty sum.”

“Yes, it was a process, I needed to change the amino acids and create a new element but I really-”

“Yes, yes very fascinating.” The man waved her off.

“You know Doctor, I was wondering if you could do a favor for me, I have some… problems in Afghanistan that I think your weapons could take care of for me.”

“That’s umm, very flattering but I don’t build weapons.” she downed the glass and gave a strained smile.

“Well, what about the Fisk-”

“Oh, that’s umm, fake news. If you will excuse me I need to get another drink. It was lovely to meet you.” Olivia lied as she shoved past the man to get to the bar.

“Doctor Octavius?” Another man sat next to her.

“Get me the strongest liquor you have,” Olivia asked the bartender.

“You can put it on my tab.” The man stated.

Olivia turned to the man, he was tall and had a beard and a white streak on the side of his hair, he smirked down at her and Olivia immediately didn’t like him.

“Doctor Stephen Strange, the top neurosurgeon in the world.” He offered his hand.

Olivia took a sip of wine instead, it burned, she took another sip.

“You already know my name. Why is your hair grey?” She squinted at the man.

“I’m not sure that we need to-”

“How old are you?” She asked

“35 but-”

Olivia plucked one of his hairs and narrowed her eyes.

“What the hell?!”

“Give me a minute.” Olivia unfolded her microscope.

“Where the hell did you get that?” Strange asked.

“In my pockets, I have my bike in there too,” Olivia muttered as she examined the hair.

“You’re under a lot of stress Doctor Strange…” She muttered.

“Well it’s hard being the best neurosurgeon in the world-” Stephen gloated.

“Uh-huh.” Olivia unfolded the microscope and handed the strand of hair back to Stephen, who awkwardly dropped it.

“Why did you do that Doctor?” He asked.

“I was curious. What were we talking about?” She asked.

“...I was wondering if you are Dr. Octavius.”

“Oh! Yes, I am Dr. Octavius. But my friends call me Liv.” She chuckled.

“Am I now your friend?” he asked.

“No.”

“Oh… Well, I’ve been looking for you, but nobody seems to know who you are. You’re a total enigma in the scientific community, everyone wants to pick your brain, myself included.”

“Really? Well, that’s news to me, I’m flattered, I really am. But I prefer my privacy.” She finished the glass of wine and ordered another one.

“How many glasses have you had?” He asked.

“Not enough.” Olivia chuckled.

“Ok… Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”

“You’re not working for Eddie Brock, are you?” Olivia raised her eyebrow.

“I don’t care about ethics, to be honest Doctor, we do what we must. I want to know why you think the way you do.”

“...Order me another glass and I’m yours for the night.” Olivia drawled.

“For questions or…” He smirked.

“For questions.” She glared as she finished her 4th glass, she was starting to feel disoriented. “Of course, I apologize.” Stephen cleared his throat.

“So, how did you come up with the fusion-”

“Olivia?” A deep voice interrupted.

Olivia turned around to face the voice. Everyone had been calling her Doctor Octavius who would-

Shit. She thought as she stood face to face with her parents.

“Good evening, Raphael, Marcela.” She replied coldly.

“Is that any way to greet your parents Olivia?” Marcela asked.

“Last I remember, you weren’t my parents.” Olivia glared at the two.

“Oh stop that Olivia, that’s in the past.” Marcela snapped.

“It was before our daughter became the most brilliant scientist in the world.” Raphael gloated.

“You two forbid me from learning science I had to-”

“It’s in the past Olivia.” Marcela gave a very fake smile.

“I don’t want to speak to you two.” Olivia turned away before Raphael grabbed her wrist.

“We’re not finished talking.” He growled.

“Get off me.” She hissed.

“Is everything ok over here?” Stephen stepped in between the two and smiled at Raphael.

Raphael and Marcela lit up. “Is this your boyfriend Olivia?” Marcela asked.

Olivia turned red with rage. “Of course not! I just met the man and I do not like men!” She snapped.

“You’re just saying that you don’t mean it-” Raphael said.

“I do mean it. And I do not want to cause a scene in front of all these people so if you could just leave me alone.” Olivia argued.

“Maybe he could change your mind?” Marcela offered.

“That’s not how it works Mrs. Octavius, there is a biological change in the brain if a person is a homosexual, and me sleeping with her would not change it,” Stephen argued.

Marcela scoffed.

Raphael grabbed Olivia's arm and started to drag her aside “We’ll talk in private then, I will not have my associates learn that-”

“That what? Your disowned, disgraced daughter is a lesbo?” Olivia snapped.

“Take that back.” He growled.

Olivia kicked him in the balls and ran away, fighting back tears.

“Olivia wait!” Stephen called out.

“G-Get the hell away from me!” She frantically searched for an exit and ran outside, shoving past groups of people, she eventually found a secluded area, and she cried. She was drunk, she was angry, and she was so, so tired.

“Long day?” A soothing voice asked.

“I won’t build anything for you, or need your sympathy if that’s why you’re here.” Olivia sniffed.

“I just want to talk Olivia.” The woman sat down next to her and took her hand.

Olivia looked up to see none other than May Parker, she gave a warm smile and squeezed her hand.

“I thought you might need some company.” She said.

Olivia leaned on her shoulder and nodded as she sobbed into May's shoulder, desperate for any shred of human affection.

Authors note! Will we ever see Dr. Strange again? No. Why did I add him? Because I can. Also Dr. Strange says gay rights.

[johannstutt413]

(requested by calligomiles; continuing from this)

“Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!” Ptilopsis’ head peered into Olivia’s room as her alarm sounded. “Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!”

“I’m awake, I’m awake.” Not that she particularly felt it, but she was getting out of bed nonetheless.

Tilly giggled to herself. “Ifrit already left for class. She ate all of her breakfast, including the seconds she requested.”

“Impressive.” The drowsier Liberi had found her glasses and now much less blind began to dress for the lab. “Thank you for taking care of her. If I can find the time to learn to cook, I should.”

“Dr. Silence already works so hard to save the world, though. Ptilopsis has no objection to supporting her in that endeavor however necessary.” Although admittedly, it was an element of her daily calculation.

Silence shrugged on her topcoat before hugging the mid-number-crunching analyst. “I’ll be helping Iffy with her project tonight. Saria said she might come by for a bit as well to pitch in, but I won’t be upset if you go home with her.”

“Understood.” Mostly. “Firewall temporarily disabled. I’ve noticed the two of you talk more with each passing day, but this is the first I’m hearing of you allowing Saria to see Ifrit.”

“Her project is more focused on the skeletal system than anything else, and I think Saria’s substantially more familiar with that field of anatomy than I am...Besides, she’s proven herself with how she treats you.”

Ptilopsis blushed. “Oh.”

“I know it’s taken me some time to admit it,” the doctor continued, following her beloved to their waiting breakfast, “but after all the time she spent working for and with Iffy, it’s not fair for me to keep them separated. She did what she thought was best, and regardless of whether I agreed with or agree now with her decisions, they were made with good intentions. Sorry to start the morning like this.”

“It’s fine. Ptilopsis is glad you continue growing as a person.” She hadn’t declared that she’d re-erected her firewall, but it was clear from context.

They ate breakfast after transitioning to talking about their business for the day - patients with scheduled visits, the other Medics on rotation for their shift, their usual morning briefing - but before they left for the office, Olivia pulled her close for another hug. “Thank you. I couldn’t do this without you.”

“‘This?’” Tilly temporarily halted her work protocols. “In what context?”

“Raising Ifrit, attending to Rhodes Island’s Infected, researching Oripathy, deploying on missions...You make my life possible.” She managed to catch herself before crying properly, but a stray tear rolled down her face and onto the analyst’s jacket.

The other Liberi twittered sweetly in her ear. “The same is true for me.”

“It is?...Thank you.” A brief collapsing of the little space between them, a kiss that lasted either seconds or years, and Rhine Labs’ former Oripathy expert was ready to start the day. Work went as expected through lunch, with patients and care plans and the occasional accolade or scolding of some Operator or another. When the Liberi lovers came back from the cafeteria, however, a familiar Vouivre was waiting for them.

“Good afternoon.” Saria was in business mode. “The Doctor needs me to deploy for a mission; I need a pre-deployment exam.”

Silence nodded. “Ptilopsis can take care of you.”

“...If it’s all the same, can we all talk in the exam room in private?”

“Hmm.” The doctor glanced at Tilly, who was rebooting quickly after a momentary blue screen, before nodding. “If you prefer.”

The trio took the nearest open room, and as the analyst performed the exam, the Vouivre got down to business. “I made notes for Ifrit’s presentation, but since I won’t be there to help, I sent them to both of your inboxes. There’s more than enough information for her to ace her assignment.”

“Thank you. I’m sure she’ll be happy to tell you how she did when you come back.” There was no question that she’d be coming back, after all.

“...Which brings me to my other point.” She sighed, taking a moment to collect herself. “When I come back, I’d like to have a full discussion, all parties involved, about setting a schedule for me to spend time with Iffy.”

Silence lived up to her codename as Ptilopsis carried on dutifully with her task, doing her best to ignore the conversation and focus on procedure. “I...I think that’s a good idea.”

“You do?” Saria’s heart rate, as measured by the device her examiner was using to measure it, betrayed her surprise.

“Yes.” Olivia made sure she didn’t respond with the other phrase that came to mind. “I isolated her from you, and the rest of the world, out of a hyperbolized sense of danger. Not that there weren’t genuine concerns for her well-being, but in keeping her under lock and key like I was, there’s a possibility I did more harm than the good I intended. I’m not the only person in her life who’s made rash decisions out of good intentions, and it’s hypocritical of me to keep pretending that my mistakes are justified when others weren’t.”

The Defender sighed. “So it’s still a mistake, then.”

“I think so...but I’m learning to admit when I might be wrong.”

“I see.” This’d turned out better than she’d thought it would. “Tilly?”

The Liberi took a breath before shifting her attention. “Yes?”

“When I said ‘all parties,’ that includes you.” The Vouivre looked her directly in the eye.

“Understood.” Ptilopsis shut down her defenses for a moment. “Why?”

That was a rare question to hear from her; the analyst was much more a ‘how’ and ‘when’ sort of person. “Because you’re part of her family, too. You deserve a say.”

“But I don’t have any concrete opinion on the matter. I’m happy you’ll be able to spend time with her, but the specifics are up to you and Olivia.” It was a good thing she was essentially done with her examination; this was going to eat up most of her processing power, she could already tell.

“Tilly,” Silence interjected, “it does affect you, though. You’re very careful with how you spend your time, and Saria and Iffy spending more time together will affect your calculations.”

She nodded. “It will.”

“So if we set a schedule that makes it harder for you to make those calculations, that’s not fair to you. We know how hard it is for you-”

“No. You don’t.” The analyst looked each of them in the eye in turn. “But that’s okay.”

The room around Olivia and Saria disappeared from their awareness as Ptilopsis reactivated her defenses and continued her work. It wasn’t until she finished that the Vouivre had any kind of follow-up, which was lifting her off her feet in a tight embrace. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for-”

“Oh, cut the bullshit, there definitely is.” The Defender set her down but kept her arms around her. “Every time we get into a fight or try to reconcile, we disrupt your life at a deep emotional level, and even if it’s better for us to try and get along, you get dragged along behind us in the process. We know your condition, but we don’t how it feels - you’re the only one who does. That doesn’t mean you have a right to lash out, but you do have the right to speak up, and we want to hear you.”

Tilly couldn’t keep walls up in the face of that. “Ptil...I know that, love.”

“Then take my apology for springing this on you in the middle of the week.” She held the Liberi’s gaze even as her vision started to blur.

“O-okay.” The analyst sighed before wrapping her arms behind Saria’s neck and pulling down slightly for a kiss. “You’re forgiven.”

The Vouivre let her go. “Thank you.”

“You are too, dear,” Ptilopsis continued, addressing Silence as she walked over to hug her as well.

“Thank you...and I’m sorry.” The doctor squeezed her like she had that morning. “We never explicitly said we would stop making these kinds of changes, but we did imply it a few weeks ago.”

The other Liberi shook her head. “Data changes, people change, and life goes on. Ptilo...I want you both to be your best, your happiest, and if that means chaos, then- Firewall engaging, overriding, halting process- then so be it. I need to be better, too. I’m sorry you had to hear the Other Voice.”

“You’ve held it at bay for years,” Saria noted, walking over to hug her from the opposite side. “That can’t be easy, especially with everything that’s happened.”

Olivia nodded. “Certainly not...I believe the Doctor is expecting you, Saria?”

“Unfortunately. I should probably be on time for the shuttle.” As she let go of Tilly, her hand accidentally touched Silence’s. The doctor said nothing. The Defender said nothing.

Ptilopsis made a note to record that in her diary that evening.

[96harmony96]

Chapter 12

Lauren found me in the shower the next morning. she strode into the master bath gloriously nude, moving with that sleek confident grace I’d admired from the beginning. Her hair framed her face and shoulders in a sexy disheveled mane, a look that screamed a woman had clenched the rough black silk in greedy hands. Watching the flexing of her muscles as she moved, I didn’t even pretend not to stare at the magnificent package between her legs.

Despite the heat of the water, my nipples beaded tight and goose bumps raced across my skin.

Her knowing smile as she joined me told me she knew exactly what kind of effect she had on me. I retaliated by running soapy hands all over her godlike body; then sitting on the bench and sucking her off with such enthusiasm she had to support herself with both palms pressed flat against the tile.

Her raw, raspy instructions echoed in my mind the entire time I dressed for work, which I did quickly—before she had a chance to finish her shower and fuck the hell out of me as she’d threatened to just before spurting fiercely down my throat.

she’d had no nightmares during the night. Sex as a sedative seemed to be working, and I was extremely grateful for that.

“I hope you don’t think you’ve gotten away,” she said when she prowled after me into the kitchen. Immaculately dressed in a black pinstripe suit, she accepted the cup of coffee I handed her and gave me a look that promised all sorts of wicked things. I saw her in her supremely civilized attire and thought of the insatiable female who’d slipped into my bed during the night. My blood quickened. I was sore, my muscles thrumming with remembered pleasure, and I was still thinking about more.

“Keep looking at me like that,” she warned, leaning casually into the counter and sipping her coffee. “See what happens.”

“I’m going to lose my job over you.”

“I’d give you another one.”

I snorted. “As what? Your sex slave?”

“What a provocative suggestion. Let’s discuss.”

“Fiend,” I muttered, rinsing out my mug in the sink and putting it in the dishwasher. “Ready? For work?”

She finished her coffee and I held out my hand for her mug, but she bypassed me and rinsed it out herself. Another mortal task that made her seem accessible, less of a fantasy I’d never have a chance of holding on to.

she faced me. “I want to take you out to dinner tonight, and then take you home to my bed.”

“I don’t want you to burn out on me,Lauren.” she was a woman used to being alone, a woman who hadn’t had a meaningful physical relationship in a long time, if ever. How long before her flight instincts kicked in? Besides, we really needed to stay out of the public eye as a couple…

“Don’t make excuses.” Her features hardened. “You don’t get to decide I can’t do this.”

I kicked myself for offending her. she was trying and I needed to make sure she got credit for that, not discouragement. “That’s not what I meant. I just don’t want to crowd you. Plus we still need to—”

“Camila.” she sighed, the hard tension leaving her with that frustrated exhalation. “You have to trust me. I’m trusting you. I’ve had to or we wouldn’t be here now.”

Okay. I nodded, swallowing hard. “Dinner and your place it is, then. I honestly can’t wait.”

Lauren’s words about trust lingered in my mind all morning, which was a good thing when the Google alert digest hit my inbox.

There was more than one photo this time around. Each article and blog post had several shots of me and Cary hugging good-bye outside the restaurant where we’d had lunch the day before. The captions speculated on the nature of our relationship and some noted that we lived together. Others suggested I was reeling in “billionaire playboy Jauregui” while keeping my up-and-coming model boyfriend on the side.

The reason for the publicity became apparent when I saw the picture of Lauren mingled with the ones of me and Cary. It had been taken last night, while I was watching movies with Cary and Trey—and while Lauren was supposedly at a business dinner. In the photo, Lauren and Magdalene Perez smiled intimately at each other, her hand on her forearm as they stood outside a restaurant. The captions ranged between kudos for Lauren’s “bevy of beautiful socialites” to speculation that she was hiding a broken heart over my infidelity by dating other women.

You have to trust me.

I closed my inbox, my breathing too quick and my heartbeat too fast. Jealous confusion twisted my gut. I knew she couldn’t possibly have been physically intimate with another woman and I knew she cared for me. But I hated Magdalene with a passion—certainly she’d given me good reason to during our bathroom chat—and I couldn’t stand seeing her with Lauren. Couldn’t stand seeing her smiling so fondly at her, especially after the way she’d treated me.

But I put it away. I shoved it into a box in my mind and I focused on my job. Mark was meeting with Lauren tomorrow to go over the RFP for the Kingsman campaign and I was organizing the information flowing between Mark and the contributing departments.

“Hey, Camila.” Mark poked his head out of his office. “Steve and I are meeting at Bryant Park Grill for lunch. He asked if you’d come. He’d like to see you again.”

“I’d love to.” My whole afternoon brightened at the thought of enjoying lunch at one of my favorite restaurants with two really charming guys. They’d distract me from thinking about the conversation I was hours away from having with Lauren about my past.

My privacy was clearly gone. I would have to grow a set of balls and talk to Lauren before we went out to dinner. Before she was seen in public with me any further. she needed to know the risk she was taking by being associated with me.

When I received an interoffice envelope a short while later, I assumed it was a small mock-up of one of the Kingsman ads, but found a note card from Lauren instead.

Noon. My office.

“Really?” I muttered, irritated by the lack of salutation and closing. Not to mention the lack of a request. And who could forget the fact that Lauren hadn’t even mentioned running into Magdalene at dinner?

Had she invited her as her date in my stead? That’s what she was there for, after all. To be one of the women she socialized with outside of her hotel room.

I flipped Lauren’s card over and wrote the same number of words with no signature:

Sorry. Have plans.

A bratty reply, but she deserved it. When a quarter to noon rolled around, Mark and I headed down to the ground floor. When I was stopped by security and the guard called up to Lauren to tell her I was in the lobby, my irritation kicked into a temper.

“Let’s go,” I said to Mark, striding toward the revolving door and ignoring the pleas of the security guard to wait a moment. I felt bad putting him in the middle.

I saw Angus and the Bentley at the curb at the same moment I heard Lauren snap out my name like a whip crack behind me. I faced her as she joined us on the sidewalk with her face impassive and her gaze icy.

“I’m going to lunch with my boss,” I told her, my chin lifting.

“Where are you headed, Garrity?” Lauren asked without taking her eyes off me.

“Bryant Park Grill.”

“I’ll see that she gets there.” With that, she took my arm and steered me firmly toward the Bentley and the rear door that Angus held open for me. Lauren crowded in behind me, forcing me to scramble across the seat. The door shut and we were off.

I yanked the skirt of my sheath dress back into place. “What are you doing? Besides embarrassing me in front of my boss!”

she draped one arm over the back of the seat and leaned toward me. “Is Cary in love with you?”

“What? No!”

“Have you fucked him?”

“Have you lost your mind?” Mortified, I shot a glance at Angus and found him acting like he was deaf. “Screw you, billionaire playboy with your bevy of beautiful socialites.”

“So you did see the photos.”

I was so mad I was panting. The nerve. I turned my head away, dismissing her and her idiotic accusations. “Cary’s like a brother to me. You know that.”

“Ah, but what are you to him? The photos were amazingly clear, Camila. I know love when I see it.”

Angus slowed for a herd of pedestrians crossing the street. I shoved the door open and looked at Lauren over my shoulder, letting her take a good look at my face. “Obviously, you don’t.”

I slammed the door shut and set off briskly, righteous in my anger. I’d fought back my own questions and jealousy with herculean effort, and what did I get for it? An irrationally pissed-off Lauren.

“Camila. Stop right there.”

I flipped her the bird over my shoulder and raced up the short steps into Bryant Park, a lushly green and tranquil oasis in the midst of the city. Just crossing up and over from the sidewalk was like being transported to a completely different realm. Dwarfed by the towering skyscrapers surrounding it, Bryant Park was a garden land behind a beautiful old library. A place where time slowed, children laughed over the innocent joy of a carousel ride, and books were treasured companions.

Unfortunately for me, the gorgeous ogre from one world chased me into the other. Lauren caught me by the waist.

“Don’t run,” she hissed in my ear.

“You’re acting like a nut job.”

“Maybe because you drive me fucking crazy.” Her arms tightened into steel bands. “You’re mine. Tell me Cary knows that.”

“Right. Like Magdalene knows you’re mine.” I wished she had something near my mouth that I could bite. “You’re causing a scene.”

“We could’ve done this in my office, if you weren’t so damned stubborn.”

“I had plans, asshat. And you’re fucking them up for me.” My voice broke, tears welling as I felt the number of eyes on us. I was going to get fired for being an embarrassing spectacle. “You’re fucking up everything.”

Lauren instantly released me, turning me to face her. Her grip on my shoulders ensured I still couldn’t get away.

“Christ.” she crushed me against her, her lips in my hair. “Don’t cry. I’m sorry.”

I beat my fist against her chest, which was as effective as hitting a rock wall. “What’s wrong with you? You can go out with a catty bitch who calls me a whore and thinks she’s going to marry you, but I can’t have lunch with a dear friend who’s been pulling for you from the beginning?”

“Camila.” she cupped the back of my head with one hand and pressed her cheek to my temple. “Maggie just happened to be at the same restaurant where I had dinner with my business associates.”

“I don’t care. You want to talk about a look on someone’s face. The look on yours…How could you look at her like that after what she said to me?”

“Angel…” Her lips moved ardently over my face. “That look was for you. Maggie caught me outside and I told her I was heading home to you. I can’t help how I look when I’m thinking about us being alone together.”

“And you expect me to believe she smiled about that?”

“she told me to tell you hello, but I figured that wouldn’t go over well, and there was no way I was ruining our night over her.”

My arms slid around her waist beneath her jacket. “We need to talk. Tonight,Lauren. There are things I have to tell you. If a reporter looks in the right place and gets lucky…We have to keep our relationship private or end it. Either would be better for you.”

Lauren cupped my face and pressed her forehead to mine. “Neither is an option. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.”

I pushed up onto my toes and pressed my mouth to her. Our tongues stroked and dipped, the kiss wildly passionate. I was vaguely aware of the multitude of people milling around us, the buzz of numerous conversations, and the steady rumble of the ceaseless midtown traffic, but none of it mattered while I was sheltered by Lauren. Cherished by her. she was both tormentor and pleasure, a woman whose mood swings and volatile passions rivaled my own.

“There,” she whispered, running his fingertips down my cheek. “Let that go viral.”

“You’re not listening to me, you crazy stubborn man. I have to go.”

“We’ll ride home together after work.” she backed away, holding my hand until distance pulled our fingers apart.

When I turned toward the ivy-draped restaurant, I saw Mark and Steven waiting for me by the entrance. They made such a pair with Mark in his suit and tie, and Steven in his worn jeans and boots.

Steven stood with his hands in his pockets and a big grin on his attractive face. “I feel like I should applaud. That was better than watching a chick flick.”

My face heated and I shifted on my feet.

Mark opened the door and waved me inside. “I think you can ignore my previous words of wisdom about Jauregui's womanizing.”

“Thanks for not firing me,” I replied wryly as we waited for the hostess to check our reservation and table. “Or at least feeding me first.”

Steven patted my shoulder. “Mark can’t afford to lose you.”

Pulling out a chair for me, Mark smiled. “How else will I give Steven regular updates on your love life? He’s a soap opera addict, you know. He loves romantic dramas.”

I snorted. “You’re kidding.”

Steven ran a hand over his chin and smiled. “I’ll never admit it one way or the other. A man’s got to have his secrets.”

My mouth curved, but I was painfully aware of my own hidden truths. And how quickly time was passing before I’d have to reveal them.

____

Five o’clock found me steeling myself to divulge my secrets. I was tense and somber when Lauren and I slid into the Bentley, and my disquiet only worsened when I felt her studying the side of my averted face. When she took my hand and lifted it to her lips, I felt like crying. I was still trying to adjust after our argument in the park, and that was the least of what we had to deal with.

We didn’t speak until we arrived at her apartment.

When we entered her home, she led me straight through her beautiful, expansive living room and down the hall to her bedroom. There, laid out on the bed, was a fabulous cocktail dress the color of Lauren’s eyes and a floor-length black silk robe.

“I had a little time to shop before dinner yesterday,” she explained.

My apprehension lifted slightly, softened by pleasure at her thoughtfulness. “Thank you.”

She set my bag on a chair by the dresser. “I’d like you to get comfortable. You can wear the robe or something of mine. I’ll open a bottle of wine and we’ll just settle in. When you’re ready, we’ll talk.”

“I’d like to take a quick shower.” I wished we could separate what happened in the park from what I had to tell her so that each issue was dealt with on its own merits, but I didn’t have a choice. Every day was another opportunity for someone else to tell Lauren what whe needed to hear from me.

“Whatever you want, angel. Make yourself at home.”

As I kicked off my heels and moved into the bathroom, I felt the weight of her concern, but my revelations would have to hold until I could compose myself better. In an effort to gain that control, I took my time in the shower. Unfortunately, it made me remember the one we’d taken together just that morning. Had that been both our first and last as a couple?

When I was ready, I found Lauren standing by the couch in the living room. she’d changed into black silk pajama bottoms that hung low around her hips. Nothing else. A small blaze flickered in the fireplace and a bottle of wine sat in an ice-filled bucket on the coffee table. A grouping of ivory candles had been clustered as a centerpiece, their golden glow the only illumination besides the fire.

“Excuse me,” I said from the threshold of the room. “I’m looking for Lauren Jauregui, the woman who doesn’t have romance in their repertoire.”

she grinned sheepishly, a boyish smile so at odds with the mature sexuality of her bared body. “I don’t think about it that way. I just try to guess what might please you, and then I give it a shot and hope for the best.”

“You please me.” I crossed to her, the black robe swaying around my legs. I loved that she’d put on something that matched what she had given me.

“I want to,” she said soberly. “I’m working on it.”

Stopping in front of her, I drank in the beauty of her face and the sexy way the ends of her hair caressed the top of her shoulders. I ran my palms down her biceps, squeezing the hard muscle gently before stepping into her and pressing my face into her chest.

“Hey,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around me. “Is this about me being an ass at lunch? Or whatever it is you need to say to me? Talk to me, Camila, so I can tell you it’ll be okay.”

I nuzzled my nose between her breast, breathing in the reassuring, familiar scent of her skin. “You should sit down. I have to tell you things about me. Ugly things.”

Lauren reluctantly let me go when I pulled away from her. I curled up on her couch with my legs tucked underneath me and she poured us both glasses of golden wine before taking a seat. Leaning toward me, she draped one arm over the back of the sofa and held her glass with the other hand, giving me every bit of her attention.

“Okay. Here goes.” I took a deep breath before starting, feeling dizzy from the elevated rate of my pulse. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so nervous or sick to my stomach.

“My mother and father never married. I really don’t know too much about how they met, because neither of them talks about it. I know my mom came from money. Not as much as she married into, but more than most people have. she was a debutante. Had the whole white dress and presentation thing. Getting pregnant with me was a mistake that got her disowned, but she kept me.”

I looked down into my glass. “I really admire her for that. There was a lot of pressure for her to make the baby—make me—go away, but she went through with the pregnancy anyway. Obviously.”

Her fingers sifted through my shower-damp hair. “Lucky me.”

I caught her fingers and kissed her knuckles, then held her hand in my lap. “Even with a kid in tow, she was able to land herself a millionaire. He was a widower with a son just two years older than me, so I think they both thought they’d found the perfect arrangement. He traveled a lot and was rarely home, and my mom spent his money and took over raising his son.”

“I understand the need for money, Camila,” she murmured. “I have to have it, too. I need the power of it. The security.”

Our eyes met. Something passed between us with that small admission. It made it easier for me to say what came next.

“I was ten the first time my step brother raped me—”

The stem of her glass snapped in her hand. she moved so swiftly she was a blur, catching the bowl of her goblet against her thigh before it spilled its contents.

I scrambled to my feet when she rose to her. “Did you cut yourself? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she bit out. she went into the kitchen and threw the broken glass away, shattering it further. I set my own glass down carefully, my hands shaking. I heard cupboards opening and closing. A few minutes later Lauren returned with a tumbler of something darker in his hand.

“Sit down, Camila.”

I stared at her. Her frame was rigid, her eyes icy cold. she scrubbed a hand over her face and said more gently, “Sit down…please.”

My weakened knees gave out and I sat on the edge of the sofa, pulling the robe tighter around me.

Lauren remained standing, taking a large swallow of whatever was in her hand. “You said the first time. How many times were there?”

I took conscious breaths, trying to calm myself. “I don’t know. I lost count.”

“Did you tell anyone? Did you tell your mother?”

“No. My God, if she’d known, she would’ve gotten me out of there. But Nathan made sure I was too afraid to tell her.” I tried to swallow past a tight, dry throat and winced at the painful sandpapery burn. When my voice came again, it was barely a whisper. “There was a time when it got so bad I almost told her anyway, but he knew. Nathan could tell I was close. So he broke my cat’s neck and left her on my bed.”

“Jesus Christ.” Her chest was heaving. “He wasn’t just fucked up, he was insane. And he was touching you…Camila.”

“The servants had to know,” I went on numbly, staring at my twisted hands. I just wanted to get it over with, to get it all out so I could put it back into the box in my mind where I forgot about it in my day-to-day life. “The fact that they didn’t say anything either told me they were scared, too. They were grownups and they didn’t say a word. I was a child. What could I do if they wouldn’t do anything?”

“How did you get out?” she asked hoarsely. “When did it end?”

“When I was fourteen. I thought I was having my period, but there was too much blood. My mother panicked and took me to the emergency room. I’d had a miscarriage. In the course of the exam they found evidence of…other trauma. Vaginal and anal scarring—”

Lauren set her glass down on the end table with a harsh thud.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, feeling like I might be sick. “I’d spare you the details, but you need to know what someone might dig up. The hospital reported the abuse to child services. It’s all a matter of public record, which has been sealed, but there are people who know the story. When my mom married Stanton, he went back and tightened those seals, paid out in return for nondisclosure agreements…stuff like that. But you have a right to know that this could come out and embarrass you.”

“Embarrass me?” she snapped, vibrating with rage. “Embarrassment isn’t on the list of what I’d feel.”

“Lauren—”

“I would destroy the career of any reporter who wrote about this, and then I’d dismantle the publication that ran the piece.” she was so cold with fury, she was icy. “I’m going to find the monster who hurt you, Camila, wherever he is, and I’m going to make him wish he was dead.”

A shiver moved through me, because I believed her. It was in her face. Her voice. In the energy she exuded and her sharply honed focus. she wasn’t just dark and dangerous in her looks. Lauren was a woman who got what she wanted, whatever it took.

I pushed to my feet. “He’s not worth the effort. Not worth your time.”

“You are. You’re worth it. Damn it. Goddamn it to hell.”

I moved closer to the fireplace, needing the warmth. “There’s also a money trail. Cops and reporters always follow the money. Someone may wonder why my mother left her first marriage with two million dollars, but her daughter from a previous relationship left with five.”

Without looking, I felt her sudden stillness. “Of course,” I went on, “that blood money’s probably grown to considerably more than that now. I won’t touch it, but Stanton manages the brokerage account I dumped it in and everyone knows he has the Midas touch. If you ever had any concern that I wanted your money—”

“Stop talking.”

I turned to face her. I saw her face, her eyes. Saw the pity and horror. But it was what I didn’t see that hurt the most.

It was my greatest nightmare realized. I’d feared that my past might negatively impact her attraction to me. I’d told Cary that Lauren might stay with me for all the wrong reasons. That she might stay by my side, but that I’d still—for all intents and purposes—lose her anyway.

And it seemed I had.

[littlesliceofmarvel]

You’re My Idiot

Request/Synopsis: Reader is Tony’s daughter and her and Bucky have feelings for each other, but haven’t acted on them. Until one day she’s injured on a mission and Bucky confesses, terrified of losing her.

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of blood, violence

Pairings: Stark!Reader x Bucky

A/N: So, first off, thank you for 1,100 followers! Secondly, I’m leaving on a three week trip so I’ll be slightly less active with my posting, as I already mentioned! I’ll be posting as much as I can, but there’ll probably be a couple of days in between, just letting you know once again! As always, gif isn’t mine and inbox is always open!

“You know, he hasn’t taken his eyes off of you in like, 20 minutes,” Wanda smirked, wiggling her eyebrows at you as you sat down between her and Natasha at the bar, the overpowering sound of the music nearly making it impossible for you to hear her.

“Shut up, Wanda,” you blushed, looking down to the floor as the two girls giggled next to you. Your dad was throwing one of his infamous parties, and for once, you were invited. He didn’t usually like having you around when these were happening, but you were now officially good friends with everyone on the team, and they sided with you, forcing him to let you go. 

You weren’t usually a crowd person, wanting to avoid them whenever you could, but there was a certain someone that was here tonight that made you want to be here. You didn’t really tell people, but your feelings for Bucky were blatantly obvious. Natasha and Wanda picked up on it practically right away, trying to play match-makers between you and the brunet soldier. Unfortunately for you, Bucky was incredibly closed off and didn’t really speak to anyone except you or Steve. You loved being one of the people he felt comfortable around, but you knew that he had his limits. He was too busy trying to focus on fixing himself to notice the subtle hints you threw his way.

“We’re just teasing,” Natasha smirked, taking a sip from her drink, “Besides, we know your dad won’t let you near a guy.”

You rolled your eyes, knowing she was right, “He didn’t even let me go with that guy who asked me to prom, he’s insane.” Your dad could be slightly overbearing at times, constantly making sure you’re okay and doing a background check on every friend you had mentioned throughout high school. You understood why he was so over-protective, but a part of you wanted more freedom than you were given.

“He’s protecting you,” Wanda shrugged, “So we can’t wait to see his reaction when you and Barnes start dating,” she finished in a sing song voice, making you giggle slightly. Dating Bucky seemed like a dream, the thought of being in his arms and kissing him, it all felt like it would be magical. Completely surreal, but magical.

“We’re not going to start dating,” you laughed, “Dad doesn’t even like me around you two, imagine how he’d feel if we dated. He can’t grasp the idea that Bucky and The Winter Soldier aren’t the same.”

Natasha nearly choked on her drink, “Excuse me? We’re great, why doesn’t he like you around us?” 

Wanda leaned in, waiting to hear what you had to say, “He doesn’t want me to get influenced, to hang out around people who’ll make me want to become an Avenger, ya know?”

Natasha burst out laughing, “But your dad is the Iron Man!”

You shrugged, not really knowing what else to say. Your eyes scanned the room, landing on Bucky who, as Wanda said, already had his eyes on you. You felt your cheeks warm up, catching the small smile he sent your way. You smiled back, feeling as if you two were the only people in the room. He lifted a finger to Sam, who was in conversation with him, and walked over to you. Wanda and Natasha scurried off when they saw him coming over, and you took a deep breath to calm your nerves.

“Hey, I haven’t really seen you at any of these before,” he smiled shyly, sitting in the seat that was previously occupied by Wanda. 

You shrugged, trying to hide your warm cheeks, “It’s not really my scene.” Your eyes scanned over his body, his blue button down dress shirt matched his eyes, the black slacks just being the perfect finishing touch to his outfit. He looked really good.

“Me neither,” Bucky looked around, eyeing the people dancing and drinking, “I only show up to be Sam’s wingman,” he looked to you, a playful smile on his face making you chuckle slightly.

“Why does Sam need a wingman? He’s an Avenger,” you looked over to Sam who seemed to be chatting it up with a blonde woman wearing a revealing dress. Right up Sam’s alley, you had to admit.

Bucky’s voice had a hint of amusement, “He thinks the hair drags the ladies in,” he shook his head slightly, his soft hair falling into his face to emphasize his statement. You smiled, lifting your hand to brush it out of his eyes. You felt him tense up under your touch, his smile faltering slightly.

Why did you just touch him? You felt like such an idiot.

“The hair is usually a bonus,” you smirked, trying to play it off cool as you pulled your hand away from his face, his eyes softening slightly. You didn’t really think about it, you just put your hand in his hair. 

Why?

“Well,” Bucky smiled, leaning towards you slightly, placing a hand on yours, “It’s a good thing-”

“Barnes, get your hands off my daughter,” Your dad’s voice made Bucky retract his hand faster than you’ve ever seen a person move. You groaned, turning to face your dad who had his arms crossed, a beer in one hand.

Bucky didn’t seem intimidated by him, but you knew he wanted to make things right with everyone, so he complied, “Sorry.” You felt your heart drop at Bucky pulling away, leaning as far from you as he possibly could.

“Calm down, we’re just having fun,” you mumbled, leaning back in your chair, flipping your hair over your shoulder.

He scoffed, “Fun? Fun isn’t sitting here flirting with a man who killed dozens of people with-”

“Dad!” you cut him off, eyes wide - he was totally out of line, “What the fuck, dad?” You looked over to Bucky who seemed to lower himself into his seat even more, avoiding eye contact with the two of you. His eyebrows were furrowed, you knew how much that had affected him.

He shrugged, “I don’t want you to get hurt,” he looked over to see Pepper calling his name and lifted a hand, “I’ll be back, you two keep your distance.”

As he walked away, you turned to Bucky, sadness written all over both of your faces, “Bucky, I’m so sorry, he’s probably drunk,” you placed your hands on his shoulders, making him look up at you, “I’m so sorry.”

Bucky shrugged, looking away from you, “It’s fine, I’m used to it. I actually think I’m going to go to bed.”

He stood up, knocking you back slightly as he walked of the room, not letting you say another word. Your heart completely broke as you watched him leave, the guilt consuming you. It felt like it was your fault. All you wanted was for him to be happy, to push past what he did, but it was thrown in his face once again.

You threw yourself back in your chair, the tears threatening to come as you sat there alone, missing his presence already. You knew your dad had a problem with Bucky - he didn’t exactly hide it. Ever since he found out the Winter Soldier killed his parents, he’s been watching the brunet with harsh eyes every time he was around. You hated it, you just wanted the two of them to get along. 

You sat there for what felt like hours before you stood up, heading to your room for the night where you let your emotions come through, crying yourself to sleep.

-

Two weeks had passed, and you were almost certain Bucky had been avoiding you since your dad snapped. Every time you entered the room, he made a quick exit, saying he had to train or ‘do laundry.’ Whenever you passed by him and greeted him with a smile, he simply gave you a curt nod, continuing on his way like you were a stranger. You hated it. You felt your spirits getting lower and lower every time you briefly interacted with him. Nat and Wanda could feel the awkward tension in the room, trying to help a conversation flow between you two but Bucky dismissed it every time, leaving the room with purpose. 

It was killing you. You were pissed at your dad for what he said, and you hated how Bucky was associating you with it. You cared for him so much, and you never linked Bucky to his past - certainly never throwing it in his face. You just wanted to talk to him again, to let things happen, but he got more and more distant every day.

The day was Friday, and for the first time in a while, your dad was bringing you along on a mission. You had been on missions before, usually to help escort civilians when they were taking down someone in public. You felt useful, like you didn’t have Tony Stark as a dad for nothing. You put yourself to good use, helping to get innocent people safe before the Avengers made a mess. 

You buckled up in the jet, smiling at your dad as he gave the team a quick briefing. Bucky, Sam, Steve and Nat listened to his every word, looking over the map of the building as you sat in silence, fiddling with your thumbs. You couldn’t look away from Bucky. His face held a hard expression, the grip on his gun turning his knuckles practically white as he listened to his instructions. He looked a mixture between sad and pissed, and you didn’t know which was worse. You almost felt embarrassed being in the room. 

You knew that Bucky had told Sam and Steve about what had happened, everyone had noticed his demeanour change and constantly questioned him about it, without response. But Sam and Steve were the two other people who knew him as well as you did, so there was no way they didn’t know about what happened.

“You’re good with that, Y/N?” Your dad’s voice broke your thoughts and your turned to face him.

“Huh?” You sat up, knowing damn well you weren’t paying attention.

“Goddamn it, pay attention, woman,” he rolled his eyes, motioning for you to come over, which you did. You walked over quietly, feeling slightly under pressure when Bucky’s eyes landed on you, his gaze still harsh. You stood next to your dad who pointed to the map.

“So, we’re going in from the top floor, the civilians are between the ground and fifth floor, and our target is on the eighth,” he pulled up a hologram of the building, little white dots showing up to represent people, “So, you’ll go in through the bottom and help evacuate.”

You nodded, “How long do I have?” 

“Less than ten minutes,” Steve answered, looking over to you as he placed his hands on his utility belt, “Please, be careful. We’re led to believe they may have armed men down on the lower floors.”

You crossed your arms, scoffing, “How the hell am I supposed to know who’s good and who isn’t?”

Steve raised an eyebrow, “You don’t. You gotta get everyone out, just don’t make it seem like the Avengers are here.”

You nodded, looking over the scan of the building once again as Natasha handed you a gun. You had shot guns quite a few times before, but you had never shot at people. Bucky sensed your hesitation on grabbing the gun, giving you a small smile as you took it out of Nat’s hand and placed in in your waistband, using your leather jacket to conceal it. 

“I got it, sounds good,” you sighed, nodding to your dad, worry clear in his eyes. He pulled you in for a hug and you tried to wrap your arms around him, the metal of his suit being tough to hug. He pulled away and held onto your shoulders, giving you a nod as he turned away. 

“Dad, I’m not like, fifteen anymore, I can handle myself much more out there,” you said, trying to ease his nerves. It didn’t help him, clearly, but he gave you a forced smile, appreciating the effort. 

The rest of the ride was pretty silent overall. Sam and Bucky bickered slightly, along with Steve and your dad, but the ride felt peaceful, almost. Once you guys landed, you were the first to rush out. You ran out of the jet, making sure not not lose the weapon hidden in your waistband as you made your way towards the building. You weren’t even sure where you were, really. The street seemed partially abandoned, damaged cars sitting in parking spots and small buildings with broken windows being the only thing you could see. 

The building you were supposed to go into came into view, and you made a beeline towards it. Being the only normal-looking building here, it wasn’t hard to spot. The entire building was covered in windows, clean ones at that, and the street in front of it was lined with expensive cars. It seemed like it didn’t belong on this street. 

You made your way in through the front door, placing your finger on your ear, “I’m in, guys.” You walked towards the receptionist’s desk, her fake smile being a little too much for your taste.

“Um, hi, I’m going to need you guys to evacuate the building,” you stuttered, cursing yourself for being nervous at a time like this.

“What?” She asked, her fake nails clicking into the security system to look around the building, “There’s nothing going on, why do we need to do that?”

You placed your hands in your pockets, “Well, uh-”

“Tell her there’s a fire three buildings down and they need to clear the street,” Steve’s voice was faint in your ear.

“There’s a fire not far from here, they need to evacuate the street,” you spoke calmly and her eyes widened as she picked up the phone, entering a number and speaking into it, her voice being heard throughout the building.

“Stay calm, but this isn’t a drill, we need to evacuate the building,” she said and you sighed in relief as people scurried from their desks to head out of the building. You gave the team the OK to enter, and they each thanked you. 

The elevators came to the bottom floor, people shoving their way out to check on their expensive cars. You noticed a man in the corner of the room not looking overly phased, but instead of running out, made his way towards the stairs to go up. Everything in you told you to leave, your task was done, but the Stark part of you chose to run after the man.

You were running up the stairs quietly before you could even process what you were doing, pulling your gun out of your pants and turning off the safety, your finger pressed on the trigger, ready to attack anything that moved.

“I heard you following me, girl,” a cool voice spoke from behind you, the feeling of a gun being pressed against the back of your head made you wish you listened to the logical part of yourself and ran out of the building. But here you were.

“Dad, help-” you started to call for him but before you could finish, a piercing pain shot through your right shoulder, the sound of the gunshot ringing in your ears. 

“Y/N?!” Sam’s voice sounded panicked as he called for you, “Shit, Y/N, are you okay?”

“I-Oh, fuck,” you grit your teeth, placing your hand on your shoulder as the blood gushed out. You cursed yourself for being an idiot. How could you even think of trying to run after a bad guy? Why were you like this?

You threw your head back against the cement wall as the man who shot you took off, muttering something about how he shot Tony Stark’s daughter. You felt your arm going numb as the blood continued pouring out, staining everything on you. Your ears were ringing, your body growing tired.

“Y/N, I need you to let me know if you’re okay,” Bucky’s voice calmed you down, even if it was faint, “Please, please, are you there?”

“I- I’m here, yeah,” You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath, “Shot in the shoulder.”

“Stay where you are, I’m on my way,” His voice was shaky, but you felt yourself sigh in relief. He was on his way to get you. You continued applying pressure to the wound, but you felt weak. Your eyes were getting extremely heavy and you tried to keep them open, hoping to see Bucky.

But before you knew it, everything went dark.

-

“No, you dumbass, it’s not better than the fourth movie!” A soft voice startled your awake, your head pounding like an earthquake as your eyes fluttered open, the pain flowing through your body knocking the breath right out of you.

“Dude, shut the hell up, the third one’s the best,” another voice spoke. 

You had no idea where you were, everything around you was blindingly white and everything in your body felt like it was on fire. You let out a small groan and the two voices stopped arguing, both of them calling out that you were awake.

You eyes started to focus on your surroundings, seeing Sam standing by the doorway calling out for someone, your dad rushing into the room. Bucky sat by your bed, your hand held between his as his eyes were focused on you. You couldn’t focus on anything else but the pain, although the feeling of his touch send a wave of comfort through your body.

“Oh, my baby girl,” your dad’s voice snapped your attention away from Bucky’s, his eyes slightly red as he placed a kiss on your forehead, “You’re an idiot.”

Your eyebrows shot up, “Excuse me?”

He scoffed, running his hands through your hair, “You went after someone when it wasn’t your job. I know you’re a Stark and all, but come on, kiddo.”

“Well, for your information, dad,” you looked up at him, your voice laced with amusement, “I think I’m ready to be an Avenger.”

He laughed, along with Sam who was in the corner of the room, “Bullshit. You ran up three stairs and nearly died.”

You laughed, quickly stopping when the pain roared through your chest once again. Your dad noticed your discomfort, helping you sit up right a little more. You looked over and saw Bucky still sitting right next to your bed, eyes filled with worry.

“Were you guys arguing about Harry Potter?” you asked Bucky, looking over to Sam and back to him, “I could hear you guys.”

Sam laughed, “Damn right we were.”

Bucky still didn’t say anything, his eyes fixed on you and nothing else. You felt slightly embarrassed under his gaze - he probably thought you were an idiot for thinking you could actually be useful in a fight. 

Sam noticed the look he was giving you and turned to your dad, “Hey, um, Tony, I think Fury wanted to talk to us, actually. I’m just remembering this now, you know, out of the blue,” he chuckled awkwardly and walked out. You rolled your eyes, figuring your dad wouldn’t fall for it.

But he did. He placed a kiss on your forehead and told you he’d be back later, trailing behind Sam. You laughed quietly, turning to Bucky.

“Sam couldn’t be more obv-”

You were cut off, once again. But this time, by Bucky placing his lips on yours. It didn’t fully register in your mind what was happening, the feeling of his soft, warm lips on yours being something you had craved for months. Once your brain finally caught up, you closed your eyes, moving your lips gently against his. His kiss was so gentle, as if he were afraid to hurt you. You felt your heart practically burst with joy as he lifted his hand, softly running his thumb along your cheek as he pulled away, a small smile on his face.

“Sorry, I had to,” his cheeks turned slightly pink, a small boyish smile on his lips as he looked to you, worried you might freak out.

“I’m one hundred percent okay with that,” you grinned, “I’ve been waiting a while for that.”

He looked down, and you knew he was going to say something a little more intimate, “I’m sorry about how I’ve been acting recently. Distant, rude, all the above. I just... When Tony said what he said I freaked out. Not at him, but because he was right. You deserve the best, y’know? I was once the most feared assassin, you can do so much better than that and I-”

“Bucky, stop,” you giggled, lifting his hand to place a small kiss on his knuckled, “Don’t ever think you’re less than enough. I’ve had this stupid crush on you for a long time, so to me, you’re pretty damn near perfect. Sure, your past is pretty gruesome, I won’t deny that, but it’s nothing you need to worry about when it comes to me, I promise. I’m also so sorry for what he said to you, once again.”

Bucky’s eyes lit up and a smile came over his face. He had never felt this sort of warmth in his chest before, and looking at you, he knew that what he felt was serious.

“I thought I was going to lose you today,” he admitted, eyes looking towards your bandaged shoulder.

You chuckled, “I know, I’m an idiot.”

“You are,” he nodded, and happiness spread throughout your entire body, “But you’re my idiot.”

You knew your life was going to send you through many, many upside-down spirals, and nothing was ever going to be guaranteed. But sitting here, looking at Bucky, it felt certain that he was going to be there for you, and you for him.

And you wanted nothing more.

[shadowthrone-ammanas]

Prompt: Although powerful, The Snatcher still cannot use his powers forever. Unfortunately for him, his contractually obligated BFF wants to know the extent of his shapeshifting. Hopefully he doesn’t get stuck.

Thank you for the request! Also, 2 drabbles in one day because I wanted to and because I suddenly got 4 more requests today (yesterday by the time this posts, technically yesterday for me too because it’s 2am) one of which is the other drabble I just posted because I was hyped for it. So I wanted to make up a little ground on the massive amount of requests I have in my inbox. Also just because I was looking forward to writing this one today so I did.

Shapeshifting

According to Snatcher’s innate sense of time as well as his pocket watch, it as officially midnight now. Meaning everyone else on the ship except for the night crew should be asleep now so it was safe for him to come out.

He slid out through the cracks in the box, landing in him in the cargo bay. The doors out were locked of course but that was no problem for him. On the other side, he shifted his form to disguise himself as an owl. He’d have preferred to disguise as one of the crew but while he could mimic the seals’ shape, he was still a ghost and thus could only turn himself various shades of purple. So he had to make do with an owl shape and large coat with hood to cover himself.

The moon was full and bright when he finally made his way to the top deck and out into fresh air. The stars were pretty too of course. It had been a long time since he’d been away from the forest and seen the night sky like this… he should really try to do that more. Though it probably wasn’t smart; if Vanessa decided to attack while he was away… She probably wouldn’t, her attacks were few and far between and her most recent attempt was only a couple years ago. So it was probably fine and thus he could enjoy himself.

Except not even five minutes after he’d settled in one of the abandoned lawn chairs to look up at the sky, he sensed someone approaching. He glanced that way and… it was Hat Kid. Of course it was her, who else was insane enough to be up and about after midnight. He glanced away, pretending he wasn’t aware of her.

Thankfully she went right by him. … Or at least for a bit she did because she turned around and came right back after only getting a few feet away. As she stepped up right beside his chair, he pulled his hood down over his face in an attempt to hide his ghostly features. The owls had a tendency to be very anxious, hopefully she’d attribute his behaviour to a stronger version of that.

“Hello?” she said.

“U-uh hi kid,” he replied, perfectly mimicking an owl, layering on the anxiety a bit thicker than normal. He just wanted to be left alone, why was that so much to ask? “W-what are you… doing up so l-late?” That wasn’t too much, was it?

“I’m looking for a friend of mine. I figured he’d probably only come out when it’s dark because he’s a big old grump who doesn’t like people and he snuck abroad illegally.”

“W-well I haven’t seen him so…”

“I don’t need your help finding him because I already have, right Snatcher?” Damn it! “I saw your eyes before you covered them when you glanced my way as I approached. I was already suspecting it was you anyway because I knew you’d be out her tonight. I just wanted to mess with you a little. Your acting is very good though. You should talk to one or both of the directors about getting a role in a movie one day.”

Snatcher sighed as he gave up hiding his face and pulled his hood back up to look at her. “You found me, congrats,” he said in his normal voice but quieter in case anyone else was nearby who might hear.

She smiled at him. “You want to play a game?”

“No, I want you to leave me alone.” Which probably wasn’t going to happen but he could try, right?

“But I want to play.” She pouted at him as if that would ever sway him. “What if I blackmailed you into playing with me? I’ll tell the Captain about you and where to find you and then you’ll be in trouble.”

“You are aware right that I can just kill him if he tries to kick me off or anything else, right?”

“Yep, but you don’t want to bother with all that because then you’re going to have to deal with the whole crew and everyone else on the ship reacting to you in some way. And I know for a fact that at least all the seals would attack you, they’re too loyal to the Captain to not back him up in things. So instead of dealing with all that you can put up with playing with me for a few hours instead, how’s that sound?”

Would she really risk that though? … If it were anyone other than her, he’d have bet on this being a bluff but she was insane, unpredictable even, borderline feral. So… she might be willing to risk the lives of everyone on board in order to get him to play with her. Meaning he had a choice to make, say ‘no’ and deal with all that nonsense, ruining the vacation, or say ‘yes’ and play with her for a few hours.

With a sigh he stood up and discard the coat before morphing to be a clone of her. “Fine, I’ll play with you.” Hopefully the late hour would result in her getting sleepy soon so he wouldn’t have to up with her for long.

“Yes! I knew you’d see reason.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. What game do you want to play?” If it was anything too obnoxious, he’d refuse, peck the consequences.

“Hmm…” Hat Kid lifted hand to tap a finger to her chin in an exaggerated thinking pose. “I was planning on asking you to play ball with me but seeing you shapeshift like that has got me wondering just how much you can shapeshift.”

“That’s not a game.”

“We can make it a game though. We can play with the ball and every time you catch it you have to morph into a new shape, if you repeat one or don’t change, you lose and have to say something nice about me. I lose if I have to use any of my hats to catch the ball and then I have to say something nice about you before leaving you alone to be your grumpy old self. We can change the specifics of the game if we get bored. Sound like fun?”

What would happen if he won sure did, otherwise, no. But if he won fast, it’d be not a problem at all so… “All right fine.”

“Good! And no cheating otherwise you lose by default and we have to play something else after you say something nice about me. Cheating includes, throwing the ball overboard or anywhere that’s impossible for me to catch it, okay?” Well there went that plan.

Oh well, he’d just have to beat her fair and square, it couldn’t be that hard, could it? “Fine, just go get a stupid ball to play with already so we can get this over with.” He wanted to get back to relaxing and doing nothing.

Hat Kid smiled at him before running off. She returned with a purple bouncy ball that had his face on it, she was holding it as if to make sure he saw it. He almost asked her where she got it from but didn’t, mostly because that’s clearly what she wanted but also because he wasn’t in the mood and really didn’t care. He’d find out on his own time later and sue the pants off them for using his likeness without permission.

She tossed it at him and he caught it, morphing into a likeness of Mustache Girl as he did so. This was going to be easy.

 -

Except it wasn’t easy, not as a whole anyway. At the start it was because there were plenty of people he could morph into and just catching the ball was simple. He started running out of people to turn into after a short while though and had to think fast for something new each time the ball was thrown his way. One time he even morphed into a likeness of himself when he was alive, cringing internally as he did so and hating it.

After that was when he really started trying hard to beat her. He was not going to lose to her at a children’s game of catch that eventually turned into basically volleyball, with a pool between them instead of a net. Another reason he was so eager to win though was because shapeshifting was one of the more taxing forms of magic. It took a lot of energy to shift one’s entire shape into something new, especially so quickly. And the more he did it in rapid succession, the more it seemed to take out of him.

Eventually he had the thought to start morphing into fictional beings which saved him and opened a whole slew of new options. That there was no way he had enough energy to last long enough to get through. He needed to win now.

The ball was coming his way. He tried to morph as he moved towards it but… nope, he was out of energy. Instead he stumbled and lost balance, faceplanting into the deck instead. That’s part of the reason he hated walking around on legs, too easy to trip and fall. The ball hit on the head a second later, adding insult to injury. The only thing more humiliating than this moment was when he’d lost to Hat Kid after taking two EX potions. … Ugh, why did all his most humiliating moments involve Hat Kid?

He looked up as the sound of Hat Kid running around to him. She looked… concerned? “Are you okay?” she asked upon reaching him.

He groaned. “You won, please leave me alone now.”

“You fell and aren’t moving anymore, so no, I’m not leaving until you I know you’re okay.”

“I’m fine kid,” he said as he finally pushed himself upright. “I’m just out of energy.” He should not have agreed to that game. If he’d known it would’ve dragged on for about the hour or so it did, he wouldn’t have. “Shapeshifting isn’t easy to do.”

“Oh, sorry but… that means you’ll be okay with some rest?”

“Yes, now leave me be.”

“Still nope, you lost so you have to say something nice to me now. Also, I want to know what your shifted into because you’re adorable.”

Giving into her demands would probably be the quickest way to get rid of her. What could he possibly say that was nice about her though? … “Your top hat is decent as far as top hats worn by feral alien children go.”

“Well… I was hoping for something different but… thank you, I guess.”

“As for what my current form is, it’s Stitch from the movie Lilo and Stitch.” He’d chosen it at random but with Hat Kid being an alien, it was a fitting form to take.

“You’re going to have show me that movie later if it has something as cute as you are now in it. But are you stuck like that? I assume you are because otherwise you would’ve gone back to your normal shape by now, right?”

“Yes, I’m currently stuck and its your fault. So please just leave me alone now.” If he ate the soul of one of the passengers would anyone notice? That’d be the quickest way to regain his strength, he could use his current cuteness to disarm them too.

“Hmm… okay. But you want to go back into my room and rest for a bit. Since you’re like that, we could say you’re my pet, right? Since you look a lot like an animal. That way you don’t have to hide and stuff and no one should care that you didn’t buy a ticket.” That was fitting in a way she didn’t even understand.

“No, thanks. Just let me rest out here.” He’d slink back to his box later when the sun started getting close to rising. Until then he wanted to go back to staring up at the night sky.

“Uh… all right. But sorry about this, I didn’t know it would happen. I wouldn’t have forced you to do it if I had. So… see you later.” She patted him on the head before collecting the ball and finally running off.

For this drabble event.

[sariahsue]

The Open Line - Chapter Nine, Claws and Bugs

Ladybug knows that if it weren’t for Adrien, she would have fallen for Cat Noir, hard and fast. And when Oblivio takes her memory, she does just that. Able to keep her memory after the Oblivio incident but still unaware of Cat Noir’s real identity, Ladybug must deal with her growing feelings for her partner, who is desperately trying to win her over. (Rated PG.)

Read Chapter One Here Reach Chapter Eight Here

***

Adrien was normally quick to hop out of bed in the morning, eager for school and to see his friends, but today he laid in bed for nearly twenty minutes, staring at the picture Ladybug had sent him. (He'd printed it and kept it under his pillow all night. Plagg had made fun of him.) Adrien was determined to have it memorized by the time he left for school.

Ladybug had made sure to hide personal details and belongings from view. There were no hints to her identity, but she hadn't been able to hide the pink wall she'd taped the picture to. Pink. Her room was painted pink. Was that her favorite color? Should he get her pink flowers? She also hadn't hidden her pink bedspread. Her bed! Not only had she hung up his picture, but she'd put it next to her BED. Was it the first thing she saw that morning? Had she been staring at it as she'd fallen asleep last night?

A loud knock on the door gave him a half-second warning to hide the picture under his blanket before Nathalie came marching in. She didn't even look at him before she began listing off his schedule for the day, which was packed. "Your father expects you downstairs promptly. You both will be very busy today, and he doesn't want any delays."

"Yes, Nathalie. I'll be right down." As soon as she left the room, he lunged for the photo. Breakfast could wait, so he sank into his pillows and forgot about Nathalie and her schedules, holding the photo high above his head this time, to get a new angle.

There was light shining directly onto Ladybug's bedroom wall, though he couldn't see its source. That probably meant she had a lamp close by. Did she read before falling asleep? What was her favorite book?

The best part of her message last night was definitely the caption she'd added. "Got to have a picture of my favorite partner on display!" It was silly. It shouldn't make him so happy. He was her only partner, but he had never been called anyone's favorite anything before. He repeated her words to himself as he finally got ready for the day.

He skipped down the stairs, ten minutes late for breakfast, only to be greeted by a scowl.

"Did Nathalie tell you I expected your punctuality?" his father asked. Even from Gabriel's spot at the far end of the table, Adrien could feel the open disappointment, almost anger. But Ladybug's words kept him insulated and safe.

"Yes," Adrien said. "But I didn't know-"

"And you chose to disrespect her direction and my time because?"

"Uh..." Because Ladybug said he was her favorite! She didn't push him away when he kissed her! "I guess I was... tired?"

"I see," Gabriel said, picking up his plate has he rose from the table. "I had hoped to spend some time with my son, but as he places such a low value on me, I will be finishing my meal in my office." Gabriel swept past him and was gone.

"If he'd told me he was going to be here..."

"His loss," Plagg said from his pocket. "Hey, we could always go back to bed. I think there's a certain wheel of cheese calling my name and a certain picture calling yours."

"Nice try." Adrien grabbed his plate and walked toward the front door. It was odd, how bad he didn't feel about his father's behavior. It was unfortunate, but it couldn't damage his good mood. He was Ladybug's favorite! She'd let him kiss her hand like six times last night!

Remembering that got him through a grueling day. Nathalie hadn't been exaggerating when she said he'd be busy. School was full of tests and Chloe's drama, all made harder by his sleep deprivation. Double fencing left him exhausted. Then there was a photoshoot. And finally, piano lessons, where he was berated for his "obvious lack of practice and respect for the piano as an instrument and an art form."

"I'd like to see him work in practicing around all the akumas I have to fight."

"Or all the daydreaming about Ladybug," Plagg added. It was amazing how much of Adrien's pillow he was taking up. Plagg was spread out, basking in a square of sunshine. One eye was cracked open, so he could see what kind of effect his teasing had.

"I'm not that bad."

"You sure?"

"Scoot over." Adrien flopped face-first onto his bed, already reaching for the photo. It was a relief to have his room to himself again. He was nearing his physical limits, and he had past his people limit a long time ago. Well, people that weren't Ladybug. He wished there was a patrol scheduled tonight. Having pictures of her was nice, but nothing could compare to the comfort of her presence.

The door swung open, and Plagg dove out of sight while Adrien scrambled to his feet to face his visitor. Seeing Gabriel twice on the same day was a rare occurrence, and normally Adrien would have been glad for the attention, but his father's face was even more sour than it had been that morning.

"The photographer sent me the raw images of today's shoot, Adrien. Your work was subpar."

Adrien's mouth twitched. He did not have the energy for this. "It's just the raws," Adrien said. "They're going to Photoshop it anyway."

"You can't airbrush failure. Your performance was unacceptable."

"Maybe it shouldn't have been scheduled after two hours of fencing, then. I was tired." His words hung in the air between them, but Adrien wouldn't have taken them back even if he could have. He was too tired. Too tired of being pushed around today, too tired of being everyone's disappointment.

"You will not be practicing with your band on Saturday."

"But they're counting on me to be there! I've missed the last four-"

Gabriel steamrolled over him. "You will be spending your newly freed time to practice your piano. I met your teacher on his way out, and he tells me your skill is quickly deteriorating."

Adrien folded his arms and looked away.

"I can see this is getting too much for you," Gabriel said softly.

Adrien dared to hope that his father was finally understanding him, that he would be removing some of his burdensome lessons or shoots, but he should have known better. It made Gabriel's next words cut deeper.

"If your performance – and your attitude – do not improve, we will be returning to homeschooling."

Even as he left the room, it felt like Gabriel's claws closed in around Adrien. No band on Saturday. That was expected. It seemed like his father would use any excuse to keep him from going. But no school? The last time he'd threatened that had been ages ago. And if he were being monitored by a tutor at home all day, it would be so much harder to slip away if an akuma attacked. No band, no school, no Cat Noir.

Adrien threw himself on the piano bench in frustration and started playing. Let his father hear him practice. Let him think that his son was cooperative and submissive.

"Ah, don't worry," Plagg said, floating over. He'd retrieved Ladybug's picture from underneath the pillow, and it dangled between his paws. "He'll forget about everything in a few days. Just watch." He set the photo on top of Adrien's music.

"Just let me play," Adrien said, shifting the picture aside to see the music. "I want him to think he's won." Plagg was trying to be helpful, and he appreciated the gesture, but he needed to see the real thing. A photo wasn't enough anymore.

"Why?"

"So he won't check on me again." Don't think. Just play. Then see Ladybug.

Don't feel.

This plan only lasted fifteen minutes until Adrien couldn't stand to be in his own house any longer. It would have to be enough. He was jumping through the window before he'd even finished transforming, into the first truly cold night of October. The city was misty and dreary, which didn't match his mood. He wanted a thunderstorm.

Sixteen blocks away from his house, he finally stopped to contact Ladybug. It rang, and rang and rang, until it went to her inbox. Even though he knew there was no point, that she wasn't transformed, he tried again. And again. The weather turned menacing.

When he finally gave up - without leaving a message - he wasn't sure what to do next. There was nowhere he could really go. There was no one who really wanted him around. So he wandered, buffeted by the wind and getting soaked to the bone, trying not to remind himself that because he was Ladybug's only partner, he was also her least favorite.

"She never said that," he told himself firmly. "That wasn't what she meant." Alone and abandoned in the rain, it was hard to believe he'd had a reason to be happy that morning.

Water and wind eventually drove him to find shelter. The Notre Dame was big enough to hide him, tall enough that he wouldn't be able to hear the people and cars below him. The enormous roof was made out of wood and had many eaves and ledges he where he could sit and be alone, but when he sat down, he found that the spot was already taken.

"Figures," he said. A swarm of ladybugs huddled there for warmth. "You're not the one I want right now." He settled down anyway and stayed there, unmoving, for he didn't know how long. Long enough that tourists returned to their hotels and street lights flickered on. Long enough for the bugs to realize he was a much better heat source than the wooden rafters and start to crawl over him instead. His only friends.

"It's a sign," he said, looking down at himself. "Soon she'll want me just as much as you all do."

"Who are you talking to?"

"Ladybug!" She'd come! And just like that, his heart hurt a little less. "Would you like to meet my friends?" He motioned to the little insects crawling over his knees.

Droplets of water hit his legs as she wrung out her hair. "They can't get enough of you," she noted, sitting down next to him. The ledge was wide and sheltered from the wind, just big enough for the both of them.

"So you were jealous and came to get a piece of the action?"

"Ha. Funny. I checked the Ladyblog a few minutes ago and saw reports that you've been up here for hours, sulking."

"Oh, uh..." Should he tell her? Should he try to cover it up? Play it off? He didn't want her to think he couldn't handle something as stupid as a bad day. She would be disappointed in him too, just like everyone else, and he would do anything to avoid that.

But Ladybug saw through his hesitation. "Your dad again?"

Cat Noir sighed and then nodded. "Today's been kind of awful." It was a relief to tell the truth. And an even bigger relief that he didn't have to say it himself.

"I'm sorry," she said, leaning against him, lending him her support with her presence.

They didn't talk much. Ladybug brushed bugs off his shoulders and hands, and stroked his hair whenever she thought he needed a distraction from the gloom that waited for him beyond their island of tranquility.

"I wish I'd gotten here sooner," she said over an hour later. "We're partners. I hate the idea of you facing tough stuff by yourself, even if it's not an akuma."

"You could always give me your number, Bugaboo," he joked. "I tried calling your yoyo earlier, but you weren't transformed."

He expected an eye roll and a lecture on keeping civilian and super lives separate, so he wasn't quite sure what to make of it when she looped her arm through his and hummed thoughtfully. Was she actually considering it? He'd said it as a joke!

But she lapsed back into silence without really answering, and the hope her reaction had ignited was quickly extinguished in the gloom that engulfed the rest of the city. Of course she wasn't going to give him her number. She was more willing to spend time with him, more generous with her touches because she knew he was upset, but that was it. There was no indication that it would ever be more than that, and he shouldn't get his hopes up.

They spent another half hour in silence, until Ladybug got up with a grimace. "We can't stay out late two nights in a row."

"Yeah, I should get back. Before someone misses me." Miss him? Ha. Like that would happen.

"I have an idea," she said, holding a hand out to help him up. "And I think you'll really like it."

"What's that?" Once on his feet, Cat Noir didn't let her hand go. Neither, he noticed, did she.

"I'll tell you tomorrow, if I can figure out the details."

"We don't have patrol tomorrow, though."

"Oh, well, we could- that is..."

She paused and looked shyly away, and Cat Noir felt his feeble hope burn back to life. This was something new. Scheduling to meet up outside of patrols? It was unprecedented. It couldn't be...

"Would you meet me anyway?"

"Of course, LB. I would love to."

"Ten at the Tower?"

"Sure."

It was happening. It was honestly, truly happening. They were planning to meet, not because the city needed them, or because he was having a bad day, or on accident. Just because she wanted to spend time with him.

Ladybug beamed, then pushed herself up on her toes and kissed his cheek before saying in a rush, "Hope you feel better. See you tomorrow. Bye!"

As soon as she was out of sight, Cat Noir did a little dance on the ledge. But the ledge wasn't big enough, and on his second pirouette, he lost his balance and fell off. Laughing, he waited until the very last second to save himself, but even that rush couldn't compare to the high his Lady had just given him.

Read Chapter Ten Here

***

Author's note: This story is officially a "Notre Dame Cathedral Didn't Burn Down" AU. I'm a writer. I can make reality whatever I want, and I want that building to not have burned.

I had a lot of obstacles to getting this chapter done for tonight, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to. I had to push myself to get this done in time, but I'm happy that I did! Next week, back to Marinette. Let's see what SHE makes out of her own behavior!

[mss4msu]

Call Me Doctor. (Steve’s Chapters 7 & 8)

Summary: Fresh out of graduate school, you had somehow landed a spot in the faculty of a prestigious university. The small anthropology department has too many faculty and too few offices; sharing an office does not go as you expected.

Pairing: Professor!Steve x Professor!Reader

Words: 4710

Warnings: Language and ANGST

A/N: I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write more of this. I graduated with my Masters a week ago and have been busy applying to jobs all week. But this chapter is v long to try to make up for it!!

IMPORTANT: THIS IS WRITTEN FROM STEVE’S PERSPECTIVE!!!!!!! THIS DEPICTS STEVE’S VIEW FROM CHAPTER 7 TO CHAPTER 8 OF CALL ME DOCTOR!!

Catch Up On the Story Here

By the third week of the semester, Steve became more smitten with (Y/N) than he had believed possible. While in the past he had actively avoided the departmental lunches in favor of staying in his office and working, knowing that (Y/N) would be there enticed him to attend, despite the comments and looks he received from James about it. Steve found that he could join her for lunch the other two days a week as well, and was thankful that it was just the two of them together in the office. He learned more and more about (Y/N) during each lunch, such as how she loved ketchup but hated tomatoes and couldn’t listen to classical music while working because she got too involved listening to the specific instruments to focus on her tasks. No matter how hungry Steve was, he could talk to (Y/N) for hours and often forgot to eat his lunch, leaving him hastily shoving it into his mouth as he ran off to one of his classes.

Steve was thankful that the third week also brought less students into the office, as they had already done their necessary introductions with (Y/N) during the first two weeks. While in the past he would have taken the quiet to work, he found himself wanting to talk to (Y/N) instead. While they chatted about different things about their lives outside of work, they also talked about various challenges of their jobs. Steve got advice on how to incorporate popular culture into his lectures to make them more appealing to students.

On one afternoon, Steve worked up the nerve to ask (Y/N) how to use Tumblr. Steve told (Y/N) about the year he had spent studying love letters sent during WWII and was curious if he could find fanfictions on Tumblr to relate to them, just as (Y/N) had done with the Egyptian love poems. She helped him set up a username (he chose SteveRogers_UniversityProfessor so he wouldn’t forget it) and then began to search for stories. Steve watched as she pulled up fanfictions about a star-spangled superhero who was incredibly popular with the ladies. Seeing (Y/N) blush at the explicit content appearing on his screen made Steve wonder what sorts of NSFW activities she was in to. He deemed it necessary to continue reading it, even at her requests to exit the page to “get the full experience.” Seeing her embarrassment and how easily she navigated the site, Steve also began to wonder if (Y/N) may have written some of the content herself.

Steve picked up the phone and, to (Y/N)’s chagrin, called James and told him to come into his office. When James came into the room, the three of them huddled behind the computer screen. Steve gently moved the keyboard from under (Y/N)’s fingers and typed in the username that (Y/N) had referenced in her presentation. He quickly found stories of an American turned Russian super-soldier, which James found immensely interesting.

“Steve, click that one, Guys My Age,” James requested.

Steve obliged and opened the story, “Which Part?”

“Part one!” James excitedly replied.

Steve clicked Part One, “Warnings are lap dance and angst.”

“I thought you said these were juicy!” Bucky scoffed, “This just sounds like a typical Saturday night.”

Steve rolled his eyes and clicked on the link to the next part.

“Smut and NSFW gifs? Now we’re talking,” Bucky said, leaning closer to the screen.

“‘Fuck me. Now. You can apologize later.’ This is kinda kinky, (Y/N),” Bucky said, giving her a look.

“‘His hands were roaming everywhere and you couldn’t get enough of the contrast between temperatures,’” Steve read.

“‘Please...please touch me I n-ned to feel you inside me!’” James read, pawing at Steve’s shoulder.

(Y/N) awkwardly cleared her throat from behind the two men, who both began to giggle.

“If you’ll both excuse me, I think I need to go make my own Tumblr account for...research purposes,” James said, as he began to leave the office.

“Don’t forget you share an office with someone, James,” Y/N replied.

“That didn’t stop you two,” James winked as he left the room.

By Friday Steve had been looking forward to going home and searching through Tumblr to see if he could find an account for (Y/N). She was packing up her things to go home when Tony stopped by the office.

“Ah, perfect! (Y/N) and Steve, you’re both still here! Unfortunately, I have an important engagement tonight, Pepper is getting awarded an Excellence in Leadership award, and I of course will be there, so we need faculty to be here for the lecture tonight. Everyone else seems to have gone home already, so it looks like you two are the ones for the job!”

Steve cleared his throat in annoyance, getting ready to snap back, which Tony quickly realized.

“No issues with that I hope?” Tony rhetorically asked, giving (Y/N) a poignet look, “Great, thanks a bunch! (Y/N), the welcome is in your email inbox ready to go!” Tony finger-gunned them both as he left the office smiling.

Steve heard (Y/N) grumbling as she unpacked her bag and sat back down at her desk.

“So typical of Tony,” Steve growled.

“What do you mean, typical?” She asked.

“He is notorious for last minute assignments when he knows people have better things to do. He did it to you your first week by assigning you that lecture and he did it to me with the introduction.” While Steve loved the freedom he had to research by being just a professor, he often regretted not taking the director position because it would have meant that he could be the one bossing Tony around.

Steve heard (Y/N) mutter something to herself, “What was that?” he asked looking (Y/N) straight in the eyes.

“Nothing, just annoyed I have to stay.”

“Why? Big plans this weekend?” Steve’s heart began to race.

“Huge plans. I had a big date,” she replied, to which Steve’s heart sank and he couldn’t help a tense frown appearing on his face, “with my couch, my tv, a pint of ice cream, and a bottle of wine,” she finished.

Steve took a deep sigh of relief and his face relaxed, “That sounds very similar to my weekend, minus the tv and the ice cream.”

“You have a couch?” she teased him, “I imagined you felt most comfortable on a bed of nails.”

Steve was aware of the office jokes about his home, but it stung a bit coming from (Y/N), “Gotta sleep sharp to keep sharp,” he joked back, trying to cover it up.

After sitting in silence a few minutes, Steve felt the need to defend himself further.

“You know my apartment really isn’t full of dangerous furniture, right?” he asked hesitantly, a blush creeping into his cheeks.

“I can’t make any official judgements until I have experience.”

“Well, perhaps I will return the invitation to a dinner in my home,” Steve’s heart was racing.

“I would like that,” she said, quickly adding, “I mean, it would be nice to have a get together of everyone.”

Steve couldn’t tell why she had added the bit about everyone coming over, and simply answered, “Quite.”

They returned to working in silence until (Y/N)’s phone alarm went off to go downstairs to the lecture. They both packed up their things and went down together. Steve placed his things on a seat in the back of the room.

“I should probably sit in the front, since I have to do Tony’s welcome,” (Y/N) said.

Perhaps too eagerly, Steve replied, “I’ll join you,” before picking up his things and walking with her to the front of the lecture hall.

Steve settled into a seat near the podium, next to the one (Y/N) had placed her bag on. After she had finished the welcome, she moved her bag to the floor and sat next to him. Steve couldn’t focus on the lecture, as he thought about the woman sitting next to him instead. 10 minutes into the lecture, Steve noticed (Y/N)’s leg restlessly bouncing up and down. He waited a few seconds, working up his nerve, and then nudged her.

“Worried you’ll be late for your date?” he whispered in her ear.

“Ha. Ha.” she whispered back.

He took a deep breath, and decided to ask, “Wanna get drinks after this?”

“Honestly, we should’ve gotten drinks before,” she replied.

Steve couldn’t help but snort a laugh in agreement.

With drinks to look forward to at the end of the lecture, the event seemed to take even longer than usual. Once or twice, when (Y/N) shifted in her seat, she would accidentally elbow Steve. Although he knew it was an accident due to how close the seats were to each other, he couldn’t help the flutter of his heart each time it happened. Steve began to daydream about the night ahead; getting drinks with (Y/N), maybe going to his or her apartment after for more conversation, leaving before things got too heated...if they even got a little heated at all. Steve snapped back to reality when he felt the seat next to him move as (Y/N) got up to thank everyone for attending.

“Ready?” Steve asked as she came back to her seat and hurriedly picked up her bag.

“Never been more so,” she replied.

“Let’s go then, there’s a good bar a few blocks north. I’ll lead the way.”

Steve resisted the urge to take her hand, and walked out of the auditorium. The walk to the bar was spent discussing how boring the lecture had been. As they entered the bar, they found it noisy and dimly lit. Steve led the way to the only open table in the back of the bar, where there was at least a little reprieve from the sounds of the full bar. (Y/N) sat down, and Steve leaned down to speak into her ear, which gave him a slight flutter in his stomach.

“It’s loud in here, is this ok?” he asked.

“It’s fine!”

“Alright,” he felt relieved, “I’ll get us some drinks. Any requests?”

“Something full of alcohol.”

Steve nodded a reply, and as he turned to the bar he couldn’t help but smile at her response. Despite the bar being full, Steve was able to slide in and have the bartender come right to him.

“Hiya Steve,” the bartender said, pulling out a glass from under the bar, “The usual?”

“Hey Stan,” Steve replied, “two of the usuals this time.”

“Two?” Stan asked. Steve moved slightly so the bartender could look around him and see (Y/N) at the table. “Good for you!” he exclaimed, getting out another glass and filling them both with ice and bourbon.

“Thanks Stan,” Steve said as he slid cash across the bar.

“Have fun tonight,” Stan winked at him.

Steve walked back to the table and handed (Y/N) one of the glasses, taking a drink as he sat down in the chair next to her, “Bourbon on the rocks.”

She took her drink and coughed, and Steve couldn’t help but laugh as he patted her on the back.

“I haven’t had much time to drink lately, so it’s a bit strong!”

“Yeah, sure,” Steve continued to chuckle, he couldn’t help but feel even more attracted to her.

They spent two hours talking about anything and everything, from restaurants in the neighborhood to places they wanted to visit in the city, career goals, and hopes for the future. To Steve, the loudness of the bar disappeared as he focused on (Y/N)’s voice, although after 3 drinks his focus wasn’t as great as he wished.

“So, Steve, are you seeing anyone?” (Y/N) asked.

Steve felt a lump form in his throat, “No, not recently.”

“Oh...that’s interesting.”

Steve noticed a blush spread in her cheeks and he couldn’t help but smile, “I suppose so. Another round?”

“Why not!”

Steve returned to the bar for another round.

“Looks like it’s going well over there,” Stan grinned at Steve.

“I actually think it is,” Steve grinned back. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so happy. “I really like her, Stan.”

“I think the feeling may be mutual,” Stan said, nodding in (Y/N)’s direction.

Steve turned to see her anxiously combing her fingers through her hair and smoothing it down.

“This round is on me,” Stan said, sliding two more drinks across the bar, “Go get her!”

Steve thanked Stan and went back to (Y/N).

“Here you are, Doctor,” he said as he handed her her drink. His eyes wandered to her chest, and he could have sworn her breasts had somehow gotten larger, he quickly looked back up to her face as he sat down.

Steve nervously cleared his throat, dreading the possible answer to the question he was about to ask, but knowing he needed an answer, “Are you seeing anyone?” He took a long drink from his glass as he waited for her answer.

“I am not,” she replied, to which Steve let out a sigh of relief, “I was told in school that I needed to choose between my own academic success or a personal life, and I wouldn’t be here now if I had chosen a personal life.”

Steve didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the encouragement from Stan that made him ask, “Would you be terribly offended if I kissed you?”

“Not in the least,” (Y/N) replied, moving herself closer to him.

Steve set his drink down and moved his hand behind her head, pulling her into him. The moment their lips met, Steve felt a shiver run down his spine and his heart began to pump faster. She moved her hands up to his face and kept her mouth against his. Steve didn’t want to admit how strong his feelings for (Y/N) were before, but after such a passionate kiss, he had to. (Y/N) eventually pulled away, breathing heavily.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“Yeah,” was all Steve managed to gasp out. He took a moment, cleared his throat, and said, “I’m glad you chose academics over a personal life so you’d end up here.”

“Me too.”

“So, who do I owe thanks to for the sage advice?” he asked, still caught up in the moment.

Steve noticed (Y/N) become very hesitant before she answered, “It was actually my advisor, Sharon.”

Steve couldn’t help himself, the alcohol had lowered his ability to keep his emotions in check, although he wasn’t that great at it sober, “That bitch?” he instantly cursed under his breath.

“Steve, what happened between you and Sharon?” Steve could see how tentative (Y/N) was, but he was too blinded by a drunken rage to hold back.

“What didn’t happen? She stole my mentor, she stole my scholarship, broke my heart, stole a grant from me...I finally beat her when I got the position here.” Steve spat out the abridged version of his relationship with Sharon.

“Wait, backtrack a second, she broke your heart?”(Y/N)’s face fell, but Steve didn’t notice.

“We were in our first year of undergrad and I saw her and I developed a crush on her. She always acted like she wanted me back, but she just used me for my notes and my brain and then she took every opportunity I applied for, which she only knew about because my dumb ass would tell her that I was applying for things. I’m sure she fucking plagiarized my applications because she always wanted drafts to look at for examples. I followed her along, having never experienced such an attraction and she quickly lost interest in me as she grew more and more successful, although I’m sure the interest was fake on her side to begin with. Fuck her. I’m surprised you were able to turn out so well with her lying ass advising you. Or maybe you’re just a fake too,” Steve couldn’t keep himself from lashing out, his anger blinding him from any tact. While he had no reason not to trust or believe in (Y/N), his hatred of Sharon was clouding his judgement of her and he was not sober enough to realize it.

“Steve, I think you should go home.”

“Oh, should I? Is that your professional opinion, Doctor?” Steve spat, his rage blinding him from seeing that (Y/N) was on the verge of tears.

“What the actual fuck?”

“Maybe you are a fucking fake. Great, now you can fucking break my heart too,” Steve snarled, getting up and stumbling his way to the door. He pulled out his phone to try to call a ride home, but his eyes struggled to focus due to the alcohol and rage.

“Steve, let me help you,” he heard (Y/N) say from behind him.

“Fuck off, (Y/N),” he yelled, as the car he ordered arrived, “Clear off the bookshelf for Monday, I have a new shipment of books coming in and I need the space.”

Steve got into the car and left (Y/N) on the corner without another word. His eyes began to burn as tears streamed out of them. The further he got from the bar, the louder the little voice in the back of his head telling him he had just made a terrible mistake became. He stumbled out of the car and fumbled with his keys, finally getting into his apartment and collapsing on his bed, shaking with tears of anger towards Sharon and disappointment towards himself. He grabbed his phone and called James, but got no answer.

Suddenly feeling the urge to vomit, Steve crawled his way to the bathroom and arranged himself near the toilet. He lost track of how many times he had thrown up before he passed out.

Steve awoke in the morning to James gently shaking his shoulder and asking him to wake up.

“Buck?” Steve asked groggily, a vile taste in his mouth. As he opened his eyes, he found himself facedown on the floor of his bathroom. “What the fuck happened?” he asked as he hoisted himself into a sitting position with the help of his friend.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” James answered. “I woke up this morning to a call from you, and when I tried to call back I got no answer. I waited at the brunch place for 20 minutes and then came straight here, figuring something was wrong.”

Steve tried to remember what had happened the night before, but everything seemed foggy, “I’m sorry, man. I just can’t think straight right now.”

“Well, let’s get you showered and changed and maybe you’ll remember more later,” James said gently, helping a wobbly Steve stand up. “Can you do this by yourself though, because I really don’t want to sponge bath you.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Steve chuckled weakly.

James left Steve in the bathroom to shower, checking in every minute to make sure he was still upright and ok. Steve finished the shower and found clothes waiting that James had set out for him. He got dressed and went to the living room, where he flopped down on the couch.

“Remember anything else, buddy?” James asked gently.

Steve furrowed his brow as he tried to remember, “I went to the damn lecture because Tony said I had to. (Y/N) was there,” he paused for a moment, “And we went out for drinks afterwards I think?”

“Ok, this is a good start,” James encouraged him.

“Fuck, my head is pounding. Can I take a quick nap and maybe I’ll know more when I wake up?”

“Sure, Steve, get some rest,” James grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and covered Steve with it.

Steve was asleep in seconds, and James quickly grabbed his phone and texted (Y/N). When she didn’t answer he began to text more frantically. When she still didn’t respond, he started to call.

Steve’s began to wake up when he heard James on the phone with someone.

“And I found him slumped over the toilet, passed out and covered in his own vomit. I finally got him in the shower and cleaned up, and now he’s sleeping on the couch. So, what the fuck did you do to him?” he heard James asking.

Steve’s face began to burn when James said, “And I don’t suppose you know why he was cursing out Sharon under his breath.”

There was a pause before James replied, “I gathered as much with Sharon, but if he hates you, why was he also going on about some kiss?”

Steve shuddered as he began to piece the night together. He had been out with (Y/N) after the lecture and everything was going so well and that had been one hell of a kiss. The whole night was perfect until Sharon ruined it. She wasn’t even physically there and she still had the power to ruin his life.

“(Y/N), it’s ok, I’m sure he’ll get over it,” he heard James saying.

Just hearing her name made Steve feel sick. He felt terrible for what he had said last night, although he couldn’t remember exactly what it was.

“Look, (Y/N), I’ll talk to him when he gets up. He’s my best friend and I know a lot about him. I know he thinks too highly of you to keep a grudge,” James said before a pause as he listened to (Y/N)’s response, “Heck yeah, Just, maybe don’t bring up that She-Devil again?” James laughed.

Steve squirmed on the couch as he began mentally beating himself up for how he had reacted, which James saw. Steve tried to hide his head under the blanket, but to no avail.

“Alright, (Y/N), I see movement on the couch. I’m gonna let you go, but don’t worry about what he said to you last night. Steve’s an asshole when he’s drunk. See you Monday,” James said before hanging up his phone and putting it in his pocket.

“Steve. You done fucked up,” James said, coming to the couch and ripping the blanket off Steve.

“Shit,” was all he could manage to say.

“You know, I was in favor of you two getting together, dating, and even with you fucking her. I was not down with you fucking her over. What the hell, man?”

“I don’t know what happened. Everything was going so well and then Sharon got brought up and I just snapped. (Y/N) is the first woman I’ve actually liked like this since Sharon,” he spat out her name, “The first woman I’ve let my guard down for. I think that’s why it happened. We were having the perfect night and the perfect kiss and then Sharon came up and I felt betrayed. Like I had let my walls down for the wrong person.”

James opened his mouth to speak, but Steve shook his head and continued.

“I know, I fucked up. It’s my fault and (Y/N) will probably never want to go out with me again. I feel terrible and I don’t know what to do.”

“You could apologize?”

“I don’t think that is even enough to fix this mess. Maybe I’ll just give her some space?”

“Space could work. I still think an apology is the best route though.”

The two men sat on the couch, each lost in thought. The silence was broken by the rumbling of James’s stomach.

“Ok, I need to eat. Are you still down to brunch or are you too hungover?”

Steve tried to sit up, but felt churning in his stomach, “I think I need to sit this one out,” he said, laying back down.

“Alright, we’ll I’m outta here then. I’ll give you some time to think and see you Monday. Please don’t fuck this up even more,” James said, getting up and leaving.

Steve spent the rest of the weekend trying to think of ways to apologize to (Y/N). He wrote and typed multiple apology letters, but none seemed to truly capture how sorry he was. He arrived to campus on Monday and decided that avoidance was the best option. He took a page from (Y/N)’s book and decided to set up a temporary office in the library.

Steve realized he needed a specific book from his office, and checked his watch. He had a few minutes before she would be back from her class to go get it. He hurried to the office, unlocked the door, grabbed the book, and quickly got out and relocked. He realized too late he had forgotten to turn off the light, as he heard someone coming.

Too embarrassed to face (Y/N), Steve spent the rest of the week working from the library. He went to the small coffee shop across the street to eat his lunches, as he didn’t want to risk an interaction in the staff lounge. He rode his motorcycle to work every day, even through the rain on Thursday, as he couldn’t bring himself to chance meeting (Y/N) on the bus again.

After a successful week of avoidance and intel from James that she had been eating in the office, Steve risked a lunch in the staff lounge on Friday. He walked in and joined James on the couch, nervously taking his sandwich from the container.

“You’re sure she won’t be here?” Steve asked quietly.

“Dude, you seriously need to calm down,” James replied with a deep sigh, “If you had just done what I suggested and apologized, there would be no need for this.”

“I tried. I just can’t find the words to fully encompass how sorry I am.”

“How about, I’m sorry?” James asked.

The two ate their lunches, with James making casual conversation and Steve on edge that (Y/N) would show up. Steve had almost finished his meal when he heard someone walk into the room and looked up. Upon seeing it was (Y/N), his heart raced and his face turned bright red. Despite the fact that their conversation had been about the best flavor of pudding to pair with whipped cream, the men immediately stopped talking.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” James said, patting the seat next to him for her to come join.

Steve could see the hesitation she displayed upon actually taking the seat next to James. She opened her lunch box without looking at him, which made his heart sink.

“So, how’s your week been?” James asked her.

Steve immediately stared into his cup of coffee as he saw (Y/N)’s head lift to look at James.

“It’s been quiet…” she replied.

Steve looked up at her, trying to tell if she meant a good quiet or a bad quiet, but she was intently looking down at her lunch.

“Steve was telling me he’s had a lot of meetings this week,” James said, nudging Steve with his elbow, “This is really the first I’m seeing of you too, buddy.”

“And it’s all you get,” Steve grumbled, grabbing his bag and quickly walking out. He appreciated James’s help, but couldn’t stand how nonchalant he was acting about everything, he just needed to get out of that room before he broke down.

Steve went back to the library and just as he was sitting down, he was joined by James.

“Steve, that was the perfect opportunity for you to make things go back to normal. Why’d you walk away?”

“Because, James, I like her too much. Look at her, she couldn’t even make eye contact with me. I fucked that relationship up too badly. She’d never try again with me, so why even bother to talk to her?”

“That’s not the answer, Steve. Plus, how do you know she wouldn’t try again with you?”

“Because of this,” Steve spat out, showing his phone to James.

The phone was open to a text from Loki which read:

I’m taking out (Y/N) this weekend. Better luck next time sucker

CHAPTER NINE

STEVE’S CHAPTER NINE

Call Me Doctor. Tag List:

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[suzukiblu]

Handmaiden!Anakin got the first vote! I couldn’t find the original ask in my ridiculously stuffed inbox, unfortunately, but it was something along the lines of “Anakin making droidfriends”. 

Definitely a read-more. 

Anaké is missing again. Padmé is beginning to suspect this will be a normal occurrence. Which is fine, of course, but does make her worry a little bit. He’s still so new to Naboo and the palace, after all; she doesn’t want him getting lost or hurt. Naboo is peaceful again now, but there is still no end of places a too-curious boy could get in trouble.

“Is someone with Anaké?” she asks Fé, who looks up from her book with a shrug.

“I don’t think so,” Yané says. “He left pretty early today.” Padmé looks around the room, counting handmaidens. Fé is reading, Yané and Cordé are playing some string-based game and Dormé and Eirtaé are playing chess, and Rabé and Sabé are--of course--off-planet. Only Saché and Anaké are missing, and she isn’t sure if they’d be together or not. Saché likes Anaké as much as any of them do and is just as grateful for what he’s done, but Padmé hasn’t seen them alone together yet. At least, not that she remembers.

She hopes they’re together. She really prefers knowing Anaké is safe with at least one of them, at least until he makes a few friends around the palace.

Perhaps she worries a bit too much about him still, but it’s so hard to forget the way he looked when the Jedi abandoned him, and even harder to forget the way his voice sounded when he called her “Master”.

“I’m going to call Saché,” she says. They really need to get Anaké his own comm, but there’s so much to get Anaké that so far it’s slipped through the cracks. She dials up Saché, and Saché answers promptly, looking out of breath and wearing not the same handmaiden robes as the rest of them, but the fitted costume she dances in. She must have been practicing.

“Your Highness,” she says.

“Saché.” Padmé inclines her head. She doesn’t expect the answer to be yes, if Saché was practicing, but--“Have you seen Anaké today?”

“Not lately, my lady,” Saché says with a shake of her head. “Is he gone again?”

“Yes,” Padmé sighs. “Would you do me a favor and pick up a comm for him after you’re done? I’d like to be able to keep better track of him.”

“Of course, my lady,” Saché says. “I’m almost done anyway. Should I get anything else?”

“I don’t think so, no,” Padmé says, trying to think of anything else Anaké might need that they might’ve forgotten. He already has at least a basic set of tools and parts, and several reading primers, and his robes are still with the tailors for at least another day or two. “Please call me if you see him, though.”

Saché nods, and Padmé thanks her and ends the call. The restless itch under her skin still wants to know where Anaké is, but she knows it’s just her own nerves. Still . . .

“Should we check his room?” Eirtaé asks.

“I will. Don’t let me interrupt your game,” Padmé says, getting to her feet. She won’t be able to concentrate on her paperwork without knowing where he is anyway. Maybe that’s silly of her, but it’s true. Her handmaidens all glance towards each other, and after a beat’s silence Cordé and Yané set down their intricately tangled string and stand up to follow her. It’s only down the hall, but Amidala never goes anywhere alone, even when she doesn’t want to interrupt.

Padmé might protest, but she knows better than to expect them to neglect their duties, and she won’t stop them from performing them. That they are so devoted to those duties is perhaps the most precious honor Padmé has ever experienced, and she would never dismiss or belittle it.

They head down the hall to Anaké’s room. Normally a trainee would be in the barracks, still, but Anaké would’ve been there alone and Padmé simply couldn’t bring herself to send him there. He’s at the very end of the hall, and his door’s been left open. Padmé peers inside, but sees only his neatly-kept primers and scattered machine parts.

His tools are missing, she notes. Hm.

“Perhaps he’s in the hangar again,” she muses. There’s always something to work on down there, and Anaké is still so determined to prove himself valuable.

“We could call down and ask,” Yané suggests. “Or I could run down?”

“If you don’t mind,” Padmé starts, but then she hears a whistling and beeping sound coming from down the hall and blinks in surprise. She looks towards it, and so do Yané and Cordé, and what they find is--”Anaké!” she says in surprise. He brightens at the sight of her and runs up to her, all covered in grease and oil and carrying his tools under one arm.

“Your Highness!” he says, and executes a perfect handmaiden’s bow. The sight of it warms something in Padmé’s chest, but she’s a little distracted.

“Have you been fixing things again?” she asks, looking at the cluster of brightly-polished astromechs beeping and whirring behind him, R2-D2 at the head of the pack.

“Yeah!” Anaké beams up at her. “They were having trouble talking so we found some better voice modulators and I installed them! And I cleaned their parts and charging ports!”

“That’s very thoughtful of you,” Padmé says, because “that really isn’t your responsibility” would probably come across the wrong way. She doesn’t want to discourage Anaké from things that he enjoys, either, and he does seem to enjoy working on machines. 

It’s rather a lot of droids, though. She’d be surprised he’d had time to service them all, but, well--he’s Anaké, of course he had time. He’s one of the most competent people she knows. 

“Where on earth did you find them all?” she asks.

“Oh--I didn’t, they found me,” Anaké says. “R2 brought them. We’re friends!”

“I see,” Padmé says. It wasn’t precisely what she was thinking of when she was wishing he had friends in the palace, but she isn’t going to be choosy about it either. If the astromechs like Anaké, that’s a good thing. A wonderful one, actually. “I’m glad to hear that, Anaké. Did you have a good time with them?”

“Yeah, it was wizard!” he says, nodding enthusiastically.

“That’s wonderful,” Padmé says with a smile, and it really is, but . . . “You may want to clean up for dinner now, though, we’ll be eating with the court tonight.”

“Oh!” Anaké turns pink, putting a grease-stained hand to his face. “Sorry, my lady! Yeah, okay, I’ll do that right now.”

“Thank you,” Padmé says, smile softening. She’s so glad to see Anaké settling in. She knew Naboo would welcome him, but she worried all the same. But every day that goes by shows Anaké a little more comfortable in the palace and his place here, and she cannot be grateful enough for that. She wants him to be happy here, and every piece of proof that he is is a boon.

It’s a little different from the way she feels about her other handmaidens, perhaps, but of course every handmaiden is different.

[toujoursfleurea]

✉ ➟ @opiaism​ // JAMES said:

∟   dear diary...

 a c c e p t i n g  ✓ ✓ ✓  send in " dear diary... " to my inbox for my muse to describe your muse in their diary!

15th September 1976

             I know that I’ve written this somewhere among these pages before, but the universe is a funny, funny creature! In fact, I’m almost certain that it takes particular joy in plaguing me with the punchline of its many jokes. You see, today I learned the proper identity of my mysterious letter writing Slayer. Surprised as we both were, we agreed to be civil and sat down for a cuppa. Dare I say that I didn’t mind the taste as much as I thought I would? It really is a pity he wasn’t someone else - anyone else. I will miss our talks.

1st November 1976

             The entirety of the world has gone mad, myself included! That missing girl, Mathilde Grishawk, has finally been found. Although, I suppose it more apt to say that her dead and naked body, levitating through the merry revelers of the Halloween masque, found all of us instead. I’ve never seen such eyes. Of course, all pandemonium let loose and we Prefects were left to clear the mess of students! Some of them crying. Many of them angry and quick to point a blaming finger at one another. If Dumbledore is as great a wizard as everyone claims, he certainly doesn’t show it in moments of peril. He just looms over everything and leaves it for the children to handle. Thank Circe for McGonagall! I often feel as if she’s the only capable adult in this castle.

             My sisters were both missing through the entire ordeal. I cannot begin to understand what I’m supposed to make of that! They are both of them making themselves scarce these days and for very different reasons, I suspect. Oh, I know that they can both handle themselves, but...acknowledgment would be nice! I don’t think it’s too much to ask for. I shouldn’t worry, I know I shouldn’t worry, but I do! It plagues me to the point where I cannot think of anything else and the only person that seems to understand is - 

             Well, suffice to say that I was very lucky to have found him beneath the mask of my dance partner tonight. He is as surprisingly capable of controlling a chaotic crowd as he is maneuvering his way around a dancefloor! I suppose that I can admit here, at least, that I was thoroughly impressed with him.

15th November 1976

             At this moment, I couldn’t rightly tell you who is the bigger idiot! I gave him my trust and he betrayed it! Of course, I understand the reasons. I do. Everyone wants answers to what happened to that poor girl; everyone wants to keep it from happening again. We Slytherins are the most obvious suspects and he is a brash, reckless, unmitigated ass on even his best of days! I’ve been telling myself that I should know better, that the letters ought to stop and my thoughts shouldn’t be nearly so free...but --

             I am writing this with him asleep on my bed. Which isn’t to say that anything happened! I am not, in fact, that mad quite yet! We just...fell asleep after talking through the night. Oh, there is something wrong with me and I cannot begin to fathom what it is! I should have turned him in! I should have sent him out the door with that stupid cloak of his! In any case, I need to wake him up. I should wake him up before Alecto returns from wherever she spent her night. He’s really quite beautiful when he’s not preening about it.

21st December 1976

             Today, my fiance was not Lucius but a heroic slayer of poor, unfortunate house elves. I do hope the poor creature didn’t have a heart attack! It was incredibly reckless, regardless. It was also very fun; I needed the saving. Andromeda told me to expect fireworks. She said nothing about tidal waves or the taste of cinnamon. I wish I could talk to her about it. I wish I understood anything at all anymore. Mostly, I wish that we were back at the castle. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed having someone to talk to.

             I’ve also thought of an idea for a new concoction. A cologne this time, I think.

14th February 1977

             I truly wish that he would stop wasting his time on someone so...so abominably undeserving! Anyone would be lucky to have him in their lives; to have him love them in any capacity. He remembers things, you know. Small things. Inconsequential things. He remembered my favorite flowers. Of course, I didn’t mean to be so obvious about my joy in receiving them. I should care more about the whispers that they’ve started, but how can I? They’re so vibrant in comparison to the ones Lucius gave me! They cannot help but be the focal point of the room. They’re very like him in that regard and I’m almost certain that he knows it.

             He certainly knows how to get under my skin. It’s not fair to look at me that way when he’s spent the better part of an evening chasing after another flower in the garden. It’s not fair to make Lucius’ name sound so bitter in the same breath. No one else would ever dare speak to me the way that he does. No one would - no one would...

             I really wanted to kiss him again. I think, maybe, there was a part of him that wanted to kiss me too. No one has ever stared at me like that before. I told him that he could call me Cissy instead.

28th February 1977

             It’s frustrating watching whatever it is that’s blossoming between Andy and Lupin. There’s no one that I can talk to it about either. No one has even batted an eye at the thought of them. I don’t understand how it’s so impossibly simple for the two of them to be together in the halls or out in the quad. I mean, there is grumbling. There will always be grumbling, but -

             I’m grateful for our stolen hours together. I just want to know what it would be like to be like them.

7th March 1977

             I haven’t slept since I woke up in the hospital ward. I haven’t eaten anything either. I don’t feel anything that I know I should and it worries me. I’m numb to most things and when I’m not I’ve got this anxious feeling bubbling in the pit of my stomach. It’s like there’s a scream in the back of my throat that wants to claw its way out but I won’t allow it. I can’t allow it. I can’t even write down the words that might help me make more sense of it all. How do you admit that your idol, your own blood, your sister...Bella, what have you done?

            I pretend not to remember, but I do. I do. I remember everything and there’s only one person that I can share that with. He’s here, right now. He’s stretched across my bed with my cat curled into his side. I know that he’s cautious. I know that he’s worried. I know that he keeps glancing over here at me to make certain that I’m really here and awake. He’s stopped asking, but his every action is to make certain that I’m alright. I know that I could tell him the truth of it all and he’d hold me. I could cry and he’d drown right along with me. It’s not even that I’m afraid to be weak around him. I trust him more than anyone now. I just - I don’t know if I could stop once I started. Haven’t I scared him enough already?

             It’s enough for me that he’s here.

2 April 1977

             I love James Potter. I am in love with James Potter. It is as simple and yet so very complicated as that! Of course, the true revelation in all of this is that he loves me too! It’s incredibly juvenile and stupid, but I keep making him repeat it. I just love the way that it sounds. I love to hear him say it. These past few days have been some of the happiest I’ve had in such a long time, I’m not ready to leave them behind. Oh, but there’s so much to do! I’ve never been so certain of anything - of anyone.  

             I think it’s high time I returned Lucius’ ring.

[minyoongijjangjjangmanboongboong]

Privacy - A Yoongi One Shot

Request: heyo! idk if your requests are open but i really loved the way you wrote sweet tooth and i was hoping to request a yoongi x male idol reader. maybe they’re like out in the store or something when a fan recognizes them? something like that? i really love your writing it’s so good 😊

Description: You and Yoongi have a very warm relationship. But unfortunately, they’re forced by circumstance to keep it a secret. Outings together, dates, even trips to the grocery store mean face masks and thick jackets. But what happens when the two of you get caught where you least expect it?

Word Count: 2.5k

Pairing: Yoongi x (male) reader

Genre: Fluff, just straight fluff and a little angst if you squint

Warnings: None!

A/N: Hey guys! This request was so fun to complete, holy cow. Honestly, I loved this prompt and it was a really natural scenario. I liked it! I hope you guys enjoy it too. Ah, and a quick note: my requests are actually super closed! Haha, they have been for a few months, but I’ve been getting a few in my inbox. The ones I’ve received up until now, I’ll definitely complete within the next few weeks, but I’m not taking any more requests for the time being! Thank you for your patience and understanding! Love you guys~

- Mercury

It hadn’t been long since you and Yoongi started seeing each other. Just shy of five months. For normal people, that was plenty long enough to get serious. But not quite for you. Couples in the industry weren’t nearly as rare as the media thought, but nonetheless a same-sex couple was big news around your contemporaries. Nobody particularly minded, of course. Yoongi had said on numerous occasions that gender was never an issue in love, and you’d been rather vocal about your crush on him during interviews. Once word got around to your fellow idols, you’d received an outpouring of support.

But with it, came an outpouring of warnings.

You could still distinctly remember that text from Jackson.

Hey! Congratulations on your relationship! I always knew you guys had a thing for each other lol. A word of advice though, from a veteran…don’t let the fans know. Not everyone is as accepting as we are.

Of course, you understood his point. Not only was your group rather new, but you were only just gaining momentum with the public. Each new MV marked a significant increase in fans. Every comeback saw more faces in the audience, more people cheering for and supporting you.

Perhaps if you were a solo artist you’d have come out properly. Perhaps you would have held Yoongi’s hand proudly as you strolled through the grocery store, no masks, no baseball caps, no oversized clothes, no eyes scanning like surveillance cameras, ready to run at the slightest hint of movement. Perhaps you’d post all those couple pictures you had stored on your phone: you and Yoongi on a beach in Jeju, soaking in the sunlight, Yoongi sleeping on your lap, lashes dusting the apples of his cheeks, Yoongi silhouetted against the lavender sky. Perhaps you’d add a mushy caption, in both Korean and English like those trendy idols did.

But you didn’t have only yourself to worry about. Your group mates, four of the kindest and most hardworking boys you’d ever met, were relying on you too. And one public slip-up could be catastrophic for such a young group. Hadn’t you learned from what happened to E’Dawn and Pentagon? Hadn’t that served as a cautionary tale?

Nonetheless, as you held his hand and he read the back label of a cereal box, you couldn’t help the urge to just…scream it. Take the microphone from one of the cashiers and announce it over the PA system.

“I love Min Yoongi!” you’d shout, alarming middle-aged mothers and startling children as they chased one another through the candy aisle. “I love him and we’re dating!”

But instead you simply smiled and held his hand, your whole body warm beside him. Gently, you leaned into his side and he hummed a little. “What is it?” he asked, voice muffled through the mask.

You shook your head and sighed, resting your head against his shoulder. “Nothing, really.”

“Not nothing,” replied Yoongi, turning to face you seriously, your fingers still laced. His heavy brow was lowered and he watched you with what you were certain was a pout on his lips. “You’re thinking about something.”

You opened your mouth to protest before shutting it with a sigh and rolling the tip of your shoe into the linoleum, trying to find the words. “I’m just…thinking about us.”

“Us?” he asked, then pulled you closer, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “Don’t make a face like that when you think about us.”

You laughed and shook your head. “Not like that, dork,” you said, shoving the side of his head lightly and dislodging his baseball cap. Instead of picking it up, he simply stared down at you, now exposed in the middle of the grocery store. “I mean…aren’t you sick of hiding?” you asked.

He blinked at you for a moment, his brow furrowing. “We aren’t hiding,” he said, gesturing around the aisle with his free hand. “We’re out in public.”

You sighed and tugged on the top of his face mask with your finger. “What’s this then?” you asked, quirking a brow.

“It’s…a precaution,” he said, then shook his head and pulled you flush against his side, watching the rows of cereal like they held the answers. He always did that. Avoiding your eyes when he was about to say something soft. “I don’t want to put our careers in danger.”

You were quiet a moment. You’d had this conversation more times than you could count and the result was always the same. An impasse. You loved your fans, but you couldn’t quite trust them to have a good reaction. You loved each other, but you couldn’t risk your livelihood. Nothing every added up just right.

“E-excuse me?” called a small voice from beside Yoongi.

You peered out across his chest and locked eyes with a young girl, probably around middle-school age, with big brown eyes and cheeks flushed with rose. “Yes?” asked Yoongi quietly.

The girl held in her hand the black baseball cap Yoongi had dropped, her small hands clasped around the bill. She smiled gently. “Is this yours?” she asked.

Yoongi released your shoulders and bent down to retrieve his cap. You could hear the smile in his voice as he responded. “Yes,” he said, placing the hat back on his head. “Thank you for grabbing it.”

She beamed at Yoongi with the fondness of a fan and cleared her throat a little. “Um…I know this is weird, but…are you Min Yoongi?” she asked.

Yoongi’s back went rigid and he spared a look at you. Your eyes were wide and your heart was kicking up in speed with worry. If this girl knew Yoongi, she might say something about him grocery shopping with a guy. She might have even saw the two of you embracing. But…why did she look so happy?

Yoongi rubbed the back of his neck and nodded his head slowly. “Yeah…,” he said, his voice revealing his worry.

The girl clapped her hands and grinned. “I knew it!”

She laughed a little and glanced over her shoulder down the aisle. Only then did you notice another, slightly older girl lingering at the end cap by the bread. She stiffened when she noticed you staring and you thought she might run.

“Hyejin!” called the younger girl, waving her hand excitedly. “I told you! It’s Yoongi and Y/N!”

Yoongi jumped a little and turned to stare at you with round eyes. “U-uh-,” you began, but before you could say anything, the older girl was running down the aisle to join the first and both of them looked up at you as if you had stars in your eyes. “Hello,” you said with a curt bow.

The girls giggled. “You’re my favorite member!” blurted the older girl, Hyejin. She glanced between you and Yoongi and smiled brightly. “I had a feeling you two were dating.”

You stiffened and stared at her, pulling down your face mask and shaking your head. “O-oh, no, uh…we’re not! We’re just-,”

“You’re right,” said Yoongi, pulling his own face mask down to reveal a soft, knowing smile. He turned his tender eyes toward the girl and she blushed. “We’re buying ingredients for dinner tonight. Do you have any recommendations?”

The girl gaped before nodding her head furiously. “I know how to make a really good carbonara!”

The younger girl approached you with a grin, holding out her phone to you with trembling hands. “C-Could I get a picture with you?” she asked gently.

You blinked at it, then looked at Yoongi whose hand had been seized in the older girl’s grip, guiding him down the aisle toward the pasta. You then turned back to the girl and a shy smile crept across your lips. “Um…sure,” you said, taking it from her hands and bending slightly to match her height.

You took a few photos together until the girl found one she liked. “Oh! I’m Mijin by the way,” she said with a smile. “I’m a really, really huge fan! My sister too,” she said, then turned down the aisle to see Hyejin talking animatedly about pasta. She laughed. “Sorry she stole your boyfriend.”

You flushed and rubbed your hands together. Nervous habit. “Ah…s-she can have him. Nobody knows it, and he’d die if he knew I told you, but he makes super bad puns at home.”

She glanced at you slyly and gave you a smirk. “Really?”

You pinched the bridge of your nose and put on an exhausted expression, sighing. “Which country's capital has the fastest-growing population?” you asked.

She giggled. “Hm,” she began, then shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Ireland,” you said, eyeing her. “Every day it’s Dublin.”

Mijin let out a rapturous laugh that captured her sister’s attention. The girl rushed back to us and glanced between us with narrowed eyes. “Did she tell you something embarrassing about me?” she asked.

Yoongi approached at a leisurely pace, smiling. “No! Something embarrassing about Yoongi,” said Mijin, still fighting off laughter.

Yoongi cocked a brow and crossed his arms. “Oh?”

You glanced away, scratching your jaw, and whistled a little. “I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

Yoongi flicked your forehead and the two of you chuckled. Lingering quietly beside you, the two girls exchanged loaded glances. Suddenly, you worried that you’d been too affectionate with Yoongi. Were these two not so accepting after all? Was it really just like Jackson said? You felt your stomach go cold and you watched your hands as they clasped the grocery basket, knuckles straining against your skin. You took a deep breath and mentally prepared yourself for whatever onslaught of anger you’d face.

But, to your surprise, Hyejin simply cleared her throat and rocked back and forth on her heels, a bashful flush in her cheeks. “Um…Y/N?” she asked quietly, standing close to your side.

“Yes?” you managed to choke out, your nerves suffocating.

She scratched her arm and quietly handed you her phone. “Could…could I also get a picture?”

You stiffened and glanced between Hyejin’s downcast eyes and her pale, outstretched hand. “Uh,” you began, then shook your head, returning to your senses with a smile. “Of course.”

She beamed up at you and giggled as she took her spot beside you, holding up a V sign. “Wait!” called Mijin, grabbing Yoongi by the thick sleeve of his black sweater. “Let’s get a group selfie!”

You paused for a moment as Yoongi came to stand behind you. Without saying a word, he wrapped his arms around you from the back, resting his chin on your shoulder. Your heart raced as you strained your neck to meet his smiling eyes.

“Yoongi-,” you began.

But he simply silenced you with a peck to your cheek. “Take the picture. I think it’ll turn out nice.”

Blushing, you obliged and snapped the shot, all four of you smiling in the deserted grocery store aisle. Once the photo was taken, Yoongi settled for simply holding your hand in his, your face masks still wrapped below your chins, revealing your faces in entirety.

Hyejin was about to speak when a shrill voice shouted from all around the large store. “Mijin! Hyejin! Come to the registers right now!” she shouted over the PA system.

You laughed a little, concealing it as a cough, and wondered just what would have happened if you’d followed through with your impulse to use the PA system yourself.

“Aw!” whined Mijin with a pout. “I wanted to stay longer.”

“Right now!” repeated the voice.

Hyejin and Mijin exchanged nervous looks before smiling brightly at the two of you. “We gotta go,” said Hyejin gently as Mijin began jogging in place. “Th-thank you guys for taking the pictures.”

You smiled and patted her head. “Thank you for being our fans,” you said.

She smiled. “Is…um…is it okay if I post it? All of my friends would be so excited,” she said, her eyes round and expectant.

You were about to adamantly refuse, mindful not to allow this breach to spread further, but Yoongi beat you to it. “Please do,” he said, then draped an arm over your shoulders. “And tag us.”

The girls giggled and agreed to Yoongi’s request before running off down the aisle, waving over their shoulders before disappearing. Quickly, you threw Yoongi’s arm off of you and shot him a glare.

“Min Yoongi, do you realize what you just did?” you asked.

He laughed a little, the gummy kind, and shrugged. “Is it so wrong to be proud of my boyfriend?”

You stiffened, struggling to maintain your resolve, and coughed a little, crossing your arms. “Still…what if it turns out bad?”

Yoongi laughed a little, gently cupping your face in his warm hands. “What if it doesn’t?”

The simplicity in his words disarmed you and you could do nothing but stand still, flushed, as his thumbs traced circles into your skin. Without a word, he leaned down and pressed his lips to yours. It was a chaste kiss. The kind you’d wanted to do a million times on your late-night dates to the park, your covert coffee-shop trysts, your early morning walks through the city. The kind you saw couples do every day. His lips were soft and gentle, and revealed the quiet intensity that made you fall for him in the first place.

You sighed into him as he slowly broke away, leaning back to give you a grin. “And besides, that Hyejin girl has a crush on you,” he said with a wink. “Gotta keep my competition in line.”

“Yoongi!” you shouted, giving his chest a big smack.

But there was no malice in it. And as you two continued shopping, masks forgotten, smiling freely, you knew that whatever was to come you could face it together. As cliche as it seemed, you knew that your feelings for each other were strong enough to withstand outside pressure. Your companies would have your heads on a silver platter. Your group mates would give you endless lectures. You may have an army of Yoongi stans checking you out and sizing you up.

But you knew one thing for sure: if Mijin and Hyejin were anything to go by, you could both trust your fans.

And more than anything, you could both trust each other to weather the consequences, whatever they may be.

[the-beastslayers-queen]

A Dangerous Game: Chapter 3

Chapter 3 is here! Tagging: @queenofthearchitect @biforbecky2belts @writtingrose @writtingrose  and @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk If you want to be tagged for this story, hit my inbox. Enjoy!

I was lounging with Finn in his house, having just came back from going with Drew to get my ring. I hated looking at the damn thing. The diamond was huge and prominent on my finger. It was like a giant beacon that screamed I belonged to him, that he owed me.

“I hate this whole damn thing already,” I groaned as I forced my gaze away from my ring, “I don’t like Drew. I don’t like that I had to be the one to make this damn alliance. Why couldn’t it be you that got married into Clan McIntyre I got married into The Authority?”

“Stop being such a child, Catie,” Finn rolled his eyes at me, “The deal has been made and yer going to marry Drew. He’s also comin’ by later to take you out for the evenin’ to a nice dinner. I’m joining the dinner with Bayley. So for the sake of all parties involved, please behave and just get to know the guy.”

“I’m going to back to my place and pick out my outfit for the dinner,” I got up from my seat and waltzed over to Finn and kissed his cheek, “I’ll see you when you come to pick me up for dinner.”

As I walked out, I pulled out my phone and texted Seth. Since I had several hours before the dinner, I was going to be able to spend some time with him.

Cat: Hey Seth, you want to catch up for some coffee? I have a dinner later tonight and I need vent about how much I hate it.

Seth: Yeah sure! I’ll meet you there.

I smiled as I climbed into my car, looking up from my phone to find Gallows looking at me from the driver’s seat. He knew I was up to something.

“Alright I know you’re up to something,” Gallows shook his head as a smile graced his face, “Do you want me to drop you off where you’re going or do you want to go to your place so you can drive yourself with your personal car?”

“You can drop me off at my favorite coffee shop,” I told him, “I’ll get a ride back to my apartment.”

“Alright,” Gallows sighed, “If Finn finds out I left you alone in the open, it’s on you.”

“I’m armed,” I told him, “I’ll be fine. If I get into a snag, I’ll call you or Anderson. Hell I bet Tama or AJ would be willing to pick me up.”

Once I arrived at the coffee shop, I looked around to find Seth in a secluded corner, working away on his laptop. I smiled and walked over to him and took a seat across from him. I went into my purse and set up my iPad to get to work on my own coding project.

“Thank you for meeting with me,” I greeted him as he looked up and smiled at me, “What are you working on?”

“I’m doing diagnostics on Cerberus,” he replied, “I’m trying to find flaws in it so I can strengthen it. When you asked to meet up, I was dealing with someone trying to hack into the network I use this to defend it.”

“Do you want me to help you test it,” I asked him, “I’m pretty good at hacking into servers. I could see if I can beat your program so you can find the flaw.”

“Go for it,” Seth smirked, “I doubt you’ll be able to beat it, but I’ll humor you.”

So I got to work finding the network Seth had his computer connected to and I booted up my invasive program. I cracked my fingers before I started writing in the command code lines to start attacking his program. I had my eyes darting between my screen and Seth, gauging his reactions as I was trying to crack his program. Unfortunately, my program was struggling to crack into his defenses.

But I finally got it. As soon as I did, I set up a picture to display on his screen of a puppy that had destroyed a couch cushion. I smirked and leaned back in my chair, a smug expression on my face as I saw Seth’s jaw drop.

“Boom,” I smirked, “I win.”

“You got lucky,” he shook his head, “But I think I know where the flaw is.”

“Glad I could help,” I replied, “Maybe when you get your program perfected, you could help me create my own. I could use something like yours to protect the servers I work with.”

Seth put his laptop away and I did the same with my iPad. That was when he noticed my ring on my finger.

“Damn,” he grabbed my hand and inspected my ring, “You’re fiancé must be loaded. That is one hell of a diamond on your finger.”

“Yeah tell me about it,” I replied with a sigh and eye roll, “It’s not my taste at all. It’s too damn gaudy and draws why too much attention.”

“Why not just not wear except around him,” Seth replied, “Then you don’t have to look at it every day.”

“You know what,” I decided to slip my ring off and stuffed it into my purse, “I’m not wearing that ugly ring until I have to tonight.”

“Now that we are done with that ring of yours,” Seth got up and walked over to stand beside me, “What would you like to drink? My treat.”

I was sitting with Finn and Bayley at the restaurant, waiting for Drew to arrive. I had my ring on again, as much as I hated the damn thing I had to wear it. If I didn’t, I’m sure Drew would be pissed at me not to mention Finn being mad at me.

“Drew should be here soon,” Finn said as he put his phone away, “Drew got held up with some business.”

“Yet we managed to show up on time and put our business aside for the sake of being polite to him,” I grumbled, “There are so many better places I’d rather be than this dinner.”

“Catriona,” Finn scolded me, “T’at was uncalled for.”

“She didn’t get a choice with her match,” Bayley defended me, “If I was in her place I would react the same way.”

We dropped the conversation as Drew walked into the restaurant and came to greet Finn. After the two of them shook hands, Drew came over to me and kissed my cheek and held onto my shoulders before he took his seat beside me.

“Ya look lovely this evening, Cat,” Drew smiled as he took hold of my hand. I could feel my skin crawl from his forced charm over me. He was trying so hard to woo me into this whole marriage I wanted nothing to do with. I was not attracted to him like I was with Seth.

“I had to make a good impression for you tonight,” I replied with fake pleasantry, “After all you’ll be married to me someday. I have to show you I’ll be a good wife for you.”

“Don’t worry about impressing me,” he replied, “I think yer just fine the way ya are.”

I had to contain my gagging at him laying on the charm. I wanted to run away so badly that I couldn’t describe it.

“So Drew,” Finn took charge of the conversation, “When you and Cat get married, is she going to work for ya or continue working with me?”

“She can continue working for Bálor Club,” he replied as the server came around to pour us all some wine, “I know how important she is to your organization and I don’t want ta cause your group to fold from losing her.”

“Yeah I don’t know how well Finn would run the Club without me,” I smirked, “I’m the Bálor with all the brains and he’s got the brawn and charm.”

“Cat,” Finn warned, “I’m just as smart as ya. I just don’t know how to code and hack into systems like you can.”

The following week from the dinner, Finn and I were going to a meeting with the Authority on their turf. Finn and I were to meet with the higher-ups of the Authority so Finn could announce he and Bayley were going to simply date instead of taking the other two daughters he was offered. I could see how happy Finn has been with Bayley since she has been around Finn every day. If only I could be as happy as Finn was with Bayley while I was with Drew, but I just don’t feel anything for him.

As we entered the night club, Evolution, we made a b-line for the VIP section way off in the club to meet with Hunter and his group. I was nervous for this meeting since Finn and I were only being guarded by Becky and Jordan, which meant being so deep in the Authority’s territory was risky for us if things went south.

“I have a bad feeling about this Finn,” I whispered as we sat down in the VIP booth.

“Just relax,” Finn reassured me, “If t’ings go south, we’ll dip out before bullets fly.”

As we waited for Hunter to come meet with us, I was fiddling with my ring to distract myself. When Hunter came into view, I saw his guards, The Shield following behind him and sure enough there was Seth. Seth and I locked eyes and I saw his eyes go wide at seeing me. His face twisted into one of anger and stormed off instead of following Hunter over to us.

“Finn can you handle this alone,” I asked him, wanting to go talk to Seth.

“Yeah I can handle this I think,” he replied, “Stay close to the club in case I need ya for anything. And please keep your phone on and free.”

“Will do,” with that I took off to find Seth.

When I finally found Seth, he was pacing in the alley behind the club. He looked really pissed and I’m not sure if he was mad at himself or me.

“Seth,” I spoke up, making my presence known, “Come on talk to me damn it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you’re a part of Bálor Club,” he glared at me, “What’s your real name, Cat? Or do you not trust me enough to tell me.”

“I’m Cat Bálor,” I answered him, “I didn’t tell you because I, for once, wanted to just be Cat. I wanted to be free of obligations to my brother and our gang. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“Well sorry doesn’t cut it,” he slammed his fist into the back door of the club in anger, “Cat, you and I have been flirting with each other, and you’ve been leading me on. You’re engaged to McIntyre for fucks sake! You are nothing but a damn tease.”

“I am not a tease,” I protested, “I’ve been flirting and talking to you because I enjoy being around you. I don’t want to marry McIntyre. I’m being set up.”

“Well you should keep your engagement,” Seth looked at me, devoid of all feelings towards me, “Because I am not talking to you anymore. Not after you keeping your allegiance to Bálor Club from me.”

“Seth,” I breathed, trying to not cry, “Don’t do this, please.”

“Well you blew it, Cat,” Seth walked off, “Don’t bother texting me anymore. And if you hack into any of my systems, I will make sure to fry your gear with an EMP that you can’t recover from.”

I fell to my knees as Seth stormed off. I felt my tears streaking down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe that I blew everything from keeping my last name from Seth. He was so open with me, so trusting. Yet, I couldn’t trust him with knowing the full me. I guess I deserved him being mad at me. But I didn’t think I would be this crushed in losing Seth. Maybe I was falling for him. Oh shit.

I am falling for him. I’m going to get in so much trouble because of this. I love Seth, not Drew. I can’t bring myself to love Drew. I could never love Drew because I was smitten with Seth.

I had to let this go for now and go back to Finn. I dried my tears and tried to regain my composure. Once I was good, I went back inside and took my place next to Finn. I tuned out the meeting as I tried to calm the chaos in my mind at the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to have my escape from my engagement now that Seth won’t talk to me anymore.

Once the meeting was over, I got my phone out and texted Anderson. I then looked over to Finn, Jordan, and Becky.

“I’m getting Anderson and Gallows to give me a ride over to Coup De Grace,” I told them, “I’ll see you guys tomorrow at the Club meeting.”

“Be careful alright Cat,” Finn pulled me into a hug, “And are you alright? Your eyes look red and puffy.”

“I’m fine,” I told him, “But I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Gallows and Anderson pulled up and we went to Coup De Grace. I sat silently in the car as we drove, which tipped off Anderson that something was wrong.

“Alright,” Anderson turned around in his seat to look at me, “What’s got you so down, Catie?”

“Karl please don’t ask,” I replied, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Yeah something is wrong if you if you’re not calling me Anderson,” he pushed it.

“I said I don’t want to talk about it,” I snapped at him.

Anderson dropped it and the rest of the ride was quiet. When I got to Coup De Grace, I told Gallows and Anderson I’d bum for a ride from Tama and sent them off. I went inside and saw that Tama was sitting at the bar, going over the supply inventory to work on making orders for more supplies for the bar. I walked over quietly and took a seat on the stool next to him. I let out a heavy sigh before I folded my arms on the bar and laid my head down on them.

“Rough day,” Tama asked without looking up from his work.

“I might have fucked up my chances at getting out of marrying Drew,” I replied as I tried to fight my tears again.

“Let me guess,” Tama put his work aside to look at me, “You didn’t tell Seth who you were and he found out on his own. Then everything blew up in your face.”

“You could have been nice about it,” I grumbled as I looked at him, “What do I do to get him back, Tama?”

“Shoot him a text and explain that you were afraid to tell him,” he replied, “If he doesn’t reply or try to reach out to you, then he’s not worth it and has lost the most amazing girl I’ve ever met.”

“I guess I can try that,” I replied as I pulled out my phone.

Cat: I know I screwed up, Seth. But I need you to know that I was scared about telling you who I was. I guess I thought that if you knew who I was and who I was engaged with, you’d throw me away. But my fears and keeping everything a secret made that happen anyway. If you ever change your mind and want to talk to me again, I’ll be at the Coup De Grace every night. If I don’t see you ever again, I’ll move on and leave you alone.

I sat and stared at my phone, waiting to see if he would at least read my text. After waiting ten minutes and not getting the read receipt, I gave up and put my phone away.

“Alright Tama,” I sighed, “Give me a bottle of your best whiskey. I need to drown my heartbreak.”

“Finn might kill me for letting you drink,” Tama warned, “But I won’t stop you from coping until it gets too intense.”