#we have to keep our bread on the fridge because she can reach the counters and will steal bread if it’s not up high

[belle-of-a-time]

I had to look up if dogs could have banana because I had a PB& banana sandwich and my dog gets the last bite of crust of any sandwich I eat because I love her and…

[ID: safari search result reads “can dogs eat bananas? Are bananas good for dogs?… If you’ve ever asked “can dogs eat bananas?” The answer is yes. Banana…” end ID]

Why so many words just to say Yeh bro dogs can have a bananer hoo-rah!

[moldisgoodforyou]

bahamas (v)

wordcount: 6.2k

warnings: hinting at sexual content

______

Rafe found Colin the next morning, lanky limbs sprawled out on the couch with a blanket haphazardly tossed on top of him, his arm hanging off the edge of the couch as he slept. “Yo.”

“Mmph.” Colin grumbled in reply, stirring. He blinked a few times as he realized Rafe was standing in front of him, looking confused. “Hey.”

“Hey. You got kicked out?”

“James and Julia, they…” Colin trailed off, gesturing toward their rooms. “So I let Allie have my bed, and I’m out here.” A small scowl settled onto his face as a wide grin grew on Rafe’s. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say a thing.” Rafe laughed. “You are down bad, brother. Down bad.”

“Do not breathe a word of this to anyone, or I’ll tell Sophie you’ve been pining after her since high school.” Colin sat up, stretching. “I mean it.”

“Oh, she already knew that.” Rafe shook his head, grinning. “But don’t worry. Secret’s safe with me. You think Allie will remember? Did anything happen?”

“Nothing. Literally nothing.” Colin shrugged. “Does Sophie know about Julia and James?”

“What about us?” Julia asked, James and Allie trailing right behind her as they came down the hall for breakfast. “That we fucked?”

Rafe winced. “Can you not?”

“She doesn’t know?”

“No. And I’d like to keep it that way.” Rafe pointed at everyone, serious. “If any of you tell before we leave tomorrow, I’ll strangle you and leave your body here. I swear.”

“Dibs on telling her when we leave.” Colin said quickly, grinning.

“Be my guest.” James shrugged.

“Okay. Now. You two need to promise to not hook up again, I swear, you’re aging me by years. I’m tired of navigating your sex lives and you both know you’re not good together.” Rafe instructed, arms crossed.

“That’s fair.” Julia nodded, turning to shake hands with James. He nodded too, shaking her hand then kissed the back of her hand just to make her grin. She rolled her eyes, tugging her hand away.

“Thank you. Now. Breakfast?” Rafe gestured toward the kitchen.

“Where’s Sophie?” Allie yawned, stretching as she followed them all in.

“Definitely hungover and she was definitely drooling on the pillow.” He smiled fondly as Sophie came into the kitchen, hair in a messy bun and pillow marks still pressed into her cheek. “Morning, sleeping beauty!”

“You talkin shit on me?” She asked, leaning into his side as he looped his arm around her.

“He said you looked like shit.” James grinned. “He was right.”

“Shut the fuck up, James, I’m still mad at you -”

“Just because your boyfriend prefers my kisses -” He stepped around the kitchen counter, trying to avoid as she came closer.

“Oh my god! I forgot about that! I can’t believe you -”

“Look, he technically kissed me first -“ James gasped, looking way too delighted with himself. “Oh my god! Sophie! We’re spit sisters!”

As she grabbed the wooden spoon from off the counter, Rafe plucked it out of her hand from behind just as quickly. “Whoa! Hey. Can you two please be civil? James, stop antagonizing. Soph, quit arguing with someone that isn’t me.”

Colin wrinkled his nose. “Really? That makes you jealous?”

“It’s our thing.” He frowned, pulling Sophie into his arms again from behind, satisfied when she leaned back against him.

She tilted her head up to catch her lips on the underside of his jaw. “You’re too possessive.”

“Bold of you to talk.” Julia snorted.

“Whatever. What’d I miss?”

Everyone shared a look, Rafe glaring at everyone behind Sophie’s back, until Allie shook her head. “Nothing, we all just woke up too. I think we should go surfing today, it’s our last full day.”

“Only you three can surf.” Julia replied, pointing at Allie and Rafe and Sophie.

“We can teach you.” Rafe suggested, only for Sophie to snort.

“You can’t surf for shit, Rafe.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re excused. I haven’t gone in years, but yeah, we can try.” Sophie pulled out her phone, starting to google board rentals until Rafe poked her in the side.

“I know how to surf.”

“Okay, so your concussion sophomore year of high school wasn’t from a wipeout? Because I’m pretty sure I can still find the video on YouTube, actually, thanks to Wheezie uploading it -”

“Hey, Sophie, no -” He grabbed at her phone, scrambling to get it away, but she just tossed it to James who caught it easily with a grin and pulled up the Youtube app immediately.

“Is it saved? Under...oh, here.” He laughed as Rafe struggled against Sophie’s arms.

“Everyone knows Kooks can’t surf, baby.” She murmured to him, grinning when he scowled and bumped his forehead against hers.

“What’s a Kook?” Colin asked.

“The kind of people Rafe grew up with.” Sophie let him go, moving to his side.

“Didn’t you grow up with them too?”

She laughed, shaking her head right away. “Ha. No. I only went to school with them starting in eighth grade. I’m not...no. That’s not me.”

“It’s not a bad thing.” Rafe interjected, careful. He’d never directly told James and Colin about the environment he grew up in, but they picked up on a lot of things - they didn’t have to go through etiquette classes, or own mansions or attend literal balls every year. He also hadn’t told them about how Sophie wasn’t like that at all, figuring if she wanted to share more, then she could do so on her own terms.

“So you’re a pog?” James cocked his head and Rafe winced, hating the direction the conversation was going in.

“Um...it’s pogue, but no? Not quite?” Sophie answered with a shrug. She’d never found herself fitting in with the rest of the kids on the Cut, especially once she started going to the private academy, but then again, the kooks weren’t exactly her world either. She lived in a weird in-between, working side by side through high school with the pogues, serving all the kook kids, then partying with the kooks on the weekend. It was a strange balance. “I don’t know, it’s hard to explain.”

“I thought there were just two. Rafe, when we came to visit summer after freshman year, didn’t your dad say that we needed to stay away from that one side of the island with the pogues -”

“I don’t remember.” Rafe interrupted quickly, then spared a glance at Sophie and hated the way her face fell. “I don’t think he said that. Can we figure out what to do today?”

Oblivious as ever, Colin furrowed his brow. “No, I think I remember that too, he was joking a lot about it -”

“He wasn’t joking.” Sophie muttered, suddenly sullen as she felt a pit form in her stomach.

“It doesn’t matter.” Rafe replied, firm, and shot both the boys a pointed look.

Julia and Allie had been subjected to Sophie’s worries about money and fitting in with Rafe time and time again, and knew exactly how she felt at the moment. Allie took Sophie’s phone back from James, pulled up the browser, and cleared her throat. “Alright. Three board rentals for $30, I figure we can all pair off? Pick them up at eleven so we have time to eat breakfast?”

“Yeah, I’m starving.” Julia chimed in, slipping past Sophie and squeezed her shoulders in a reassuring gesture before opening the fridge. “James, can we do omelets again? Colin, you’re on toast duty?”

“But I -”

“Colin.” Julia sent him a glare and threw the loaf of bread toward him, narrowly missing his head. “Toast.”

“She gets one embroidered apron in a PR package and suddenly she’s queen of the kitchen.” James quipped, bumping Rafe out of the way with his hip and pulled out the pan, spatula, and whisk, prepared.

“Exactly, I’m glad you understand.” Julia grinned.

Rafe moved closer to Sophie’s side, leaning down to murmur in her ear. “You good?”

“M’ fine.”

He rolled his eyes and took her hand, pulling her out of the kitchen and down the hall to the foyer. “Soph. Talk to me.”

“I said, I’m fine -”

“And I know damn well that means you’re not actually fine -”

She huffed and caught a glimpse of the giant chandelier behind him as she looked up to meet his gaze, and was finding it harder and harder to conceptualize the place as his house rather than just a vacation home of a friend’s. “You haven’t told the boys about The Cut? Pogues, kooks, all that? That I’m not like you?”

“Of course not, Sophie, that doesn’t matter to me.” He frowned, taking both her hands in his. “Besides, I didn’t think it was my place to share.”

“Oh.” She sighed, stepping forward and dropping her head to his chest. “Sorry, I just - I’m trying to be chill.”

“You have been. We’ve been good.” He nudged her chin up, catching her eye. “Haven’t we?”

“Yeah, yeah, just - I took a wrong turn this morning, found myself down some hallway and in some office, and there was this giant painted portrait of your family behind the desk, and -” She forced herself to take a breath. “It’s a lot. You looked like fucking royalty.”

He nodded slowly in understanding. “Oh. Yeah. That’s my dad’s office, uh...there’s a reason I didn’t give everyone the full house tour.” He rubbed the back of his neck, giving her a sheepish smile. “The guys would give me so much shit for that.”

“You’re not, like...embarrassed of me, right? Like how I grew up?” She asked before she could think, uneasy as her stomach twisted in knots.

“Sophie.” He frowned, stroking his thumb over her cheekbone. “You really have to ask that?”

“No, sorry, no. I know you’re not. Just - agh.” She screwed up her face in concentration, frustrated. “It’s me. I’m sorry.”

“Just try not to stress so much about it, okay? You’re the only one worried about it.”

“Oh, that’s easy. Thanks, Rafe, I’m cured.”

He rolled his eyes and pushed at her shoulder gently, making her smile a little. “I want you to be comfortable with me, angel.”

“I am!” She flexed her hands, frustrated. “That’s the thing. I am, with you. Not...you.”

He furrowed his brow. “Now I’m confused.”

“I don’t know how to explain it.”

James rounded the corner, yelling out before he reached them. “Yo! You two done making out yet?”

Sophie sent Rafe an exasperated look before crossing her arms, turning to James. “We weren’t -”

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t care. C’mon, your breakfast is ready and I know Rafe throws up if he has to eat cold eggs.”

“It was one time -”

“One time is enough.” James shuddered, thinking back to freshman year. Rafe had gotten a little too cocky with the pledge masters during their hazing and was forced to eat five cold scrambled eggs in front of the whole pledge class, after he’d already had his fair share of alcohol to drink, and it didn’t end well. He extended his hand to Sophie, grinning. “Sophie, doll, breakfast awaits.”

“I hate you.” She replied with a straight face, but took his hand anyway and let him pull her back to the kitchen.

He laughed, glancing back at Rafe following them and winked at him before kissing the top of Sophie’s head. “Love you too. I need a wingman tonight at the bars, you got me?”

“I thought that was Colin’s position.” She shoved him away, taking her plate and sitting at the bar with the rest of the group.

“Yeah, well, Allie’s the only one that’s been getting some this entire trip, so -”

“But -” Colin started, only for Julia to stomp on his foot under the table, hard. She forced a grin, thankful Sophie was oblivious.

Sophie furrowed her brow but nodded, pouring herself a glass of juice. “Yeah. I got you.”

“Excellent. You know what, everyone should get laid tonight. If they want to.” James declared, shooting a meaningful glance at Colin.

“If you lay a finger on Julia again, I’m cutting off your balls in the middle of the night.” Sophie replied calmly, staring James down over the top of her glass as she took a sip.

Julia pretended not to hear, keeping her eyes intently trained on her plate. She’d considered Sophie’s feelings for the briefest of seconds last night, but then James was kissing down her neck and his fingers were slipping under the waistband of her shorts and - yeah. It may have slipped her mind. She was a little preoccupied.

“Sophie.” Rafe reprimanded, affronted. “Be nice.”

“Yeah, be nice or you’ll be the only one not getting some tonight.” James teased, smirking when Sophie gave him the death glare across the table.

“Jesus Christ, you guys fight like siblings.” Allie mumbled, rolling her eyes. “Let it go already.”

“Thank you.” Rafe affirmed, shaking his head. “I need everyone to be packed tonight, we’ll need to be on the plane tomorrow by 9am.”

“I thought the beauty of having your own plane meant we didn’t have a schedule.” Colin asked.

“...No. You can’t just fly it whenever, you have to tell people. And my dad needs it later tonight, he’s going to New York.”

“I didn’t realize he went there that often. That’s kind of nice though, right? You’ll be able to see him more when you and Sophie move?” Julia asked unknowingly. Sophie had told both the girls that Ward was an asshole, but didn’t say much more, just that Rafe still worked for him a lot. (She figured anything more was Rafe’s business and he could tell them if he wanted.)

Everyone else stayed quiet and Sophie froze, halfway to shoveling a forkful of omelet into her mouth. Rafe was stiff and his smile was forced as he nodded, not daring to look in Sophie’s direction. “Yeah. He does business there sometimes, so. I’ll see him around.”

James pushed away from the table, making everyone wince as the chair squeaked against the floor. “Okay, I’ll dry if someone else washes the dishes. Then I vote we hang out at the beach, last chance before we get to go back to Ohio - and I’m pretty sure it’s only forty-five degrees today back home.”

Julia looked around, confused at the abrupt topic change, and mouthed to Allie - did I say something wrong? - only for Allie to shake her head surreptitiously, glancing toward Sophie.

“Beach sounds good.” Colin nodded, standing and taking everyone’s plates to the sink. “Allie, can you confirm those board rentals?”

“Yeah, I got them.” She stood too, getting up to help with the dishes.

Julia frowned, lowering her voice so only Rafe and Sophie could hear. “Rafe, I didn’t mean to -”

“No, it’s cool. Don’t worry about it.” Rafe shrugged it off easily. “Seriously.”

Sophie exhaled, nudging her knee against Rafe’s under the table before she got up and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, then ruffled his hair. “Love you.” She murmured as she grabbed his plate.

He smiled back, tugging gently at the hem of her (his) t-shirt before she busied herself in the kitchen with the rest of the group.

Julia watched the exchange with a furrowed brow. “Is she good?”

“Hm?” He replied absentmindedly, moving his gaze from Sophie to Julia.

“She’s okay? Earlier, with James and Colin asking…”

“Oh. Yeah, we’re good, I think. Probably just ready to go home to normalcy, you know?” He paused. “Are you gonna tell her about last night?”

“I probably have to...right?”

“Yeah. I think it’s better coming from you, rather than the boys.” He offered a teasing smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll talk her down from homicide.”

Julia groaned, covering her face with her hands. “She’s gonna hate me.”

“She won’t.” He promised. “You two are consenting adults, it’s maybe not the smartest decision you two have ever had, but. She can’t be that mad.”

“Have you met your girlfriend?” She raised her eyebrows back. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her let go of a grudge.”

Rafe smiled, pointing to himself as he shook his head. “Ever?”

“You don’t count. None of those arguments were real.”

“Uh huh.”

“I’m serious. You’d know.” She shook her head, smiling fondly. “Freshman year, this guy was being a little too touchy with me, hanging around a little too much at a frat party - she went and found his big brother and when he didn’t do anything, she threw a drink in the guy’s face.”

Rafe laughed, shaking his head. “She what?!”

“Yeah. I know way too many incriminating details about her.” Julia nodded with a grin.

Sophie came back to the table, curious. “What are you two gossiping about?”

“Nothing.” He dismissed, waving his hand and got up, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “C’mon, let’s go get ready.” He mumbled something in her ear, making her blush.

Julia raised her eyebrows, watching as Rafe tugged her down the hall, hand in hand. “Don’t be late, you two!”

“Never!” Sophie called back, giggling.

______

After an attempt at surfing and hours of lounging in the sun, the group finally made it to dinner. Rafe had insisted they go to the nicer restaurant for their last day, making everyone dress up just a little more, and was happy everyone complied with the dress code he suggested when they had all packed.

When his phone pinged, again, he huffed and fished it out of his pocket. His dad had texted him five times within the last hour, making sure he would remember to be on the runway at a certain time, and that the airport security needed to be paid in cash, like usual, and that he left enough of a tip for the maids before they left, and - yeah. It was a lot. He was surprised when he saw a text from his screenwriting professor from the previous semester instead, with three words - check your email.

“Your dad again?” Sophie murmured quietly, resting her hand on his knee.

“No…” He trailed off as he opened his email and found that his screenplay had been one of two chosen to be produced for their final semester. He had a meeting next week with his professor to start working out logistics, casting and choosing a production team. “Oh. Wow.”

“What is it?”

He smiled, hesitant, and tilted his phone toward Sophie. “Um, the screenplay thing. Mine got picked.” He shook his head, in disbelief as he smiled wider. “Holy shit, mine got picked.”

“Rafe!” She exclaimed, throwing her arms around him and smacking a kiss to his cheek.

James perked up, leaning next to Sophie to read the phone too. “You got it? For real?”

“I got it.” He confirmed, now grinning ear to ear. The phone was passed around the table so everyone could read the email and everyone congratulated him, making his cheeks turn red as he beamed. Julia ordered a round of shots almost immediately. He had made the boys read it over at least five times each, for proofreading before he submitted it, then once he gave a copy to Sophie, she’d made the girls read it too because she was so proud.

“This is the one where you confess your love to her like twelve times over?” Colin asked.

“Yeah, remember, Rafe, the characters hated each other in the first draft? And then you changed the girl’s name to Sloane one day, wherever the fuck that came from -” James added, oblivious to the growing smirk on Sophie’s face.

She leaned closer, raising her eyebrows. “When was that changed?”

Rafe’s blush spread to his ears now, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t remember. It’s not important, anyways -”

“I think it was barely September -“ James supplied helpfully, yelping when Rafe kicked him under the table. “Hey!”

Julia grinned. “You changed it to her middle name in only September? Weren’t you still fighting then?”

“I didn’t know -” He started to defend himself, only for Allie to roll her eyes.

“Oh, okay, you just happened to change it to that of all names. Sure, we believe that.”

Julia laughed once she caught Sophie’s eye and her extremely pleased expression. “She’s had a crush on you since high school, anyways -”

“I did not -” Sophie instantly retorted, ignoring the smug grin Rafe wore. “She’s lying.”

“I’m not. Jesus, Sophie, you two could have saved yourself all that arguing and just been together, you two are dumb.”

“Wait, you’ve liked me for that long?” Rafe cocked his head, oblivious.

“Oh my god, you two are blind.” Allie giggled, accepting the tray of shots from their waitress and passed them around. “Here, everyone - congrats, Rafe.” She lifted her shot and everyone else clinked theirs together, then took it at once.

The rest of the night was a blur for everyone, but especially Rafe. He kept taking other people’s shots on accident and sucked down any drink presented to him with a straw, but absolutely refused to hydrate normally (Sophie resorted to giving him vodka waters at the end of the night just so she could keep him upright). He kept an arm slung around her shoulders or waist the entire night, not letting her out of his sight for a single second.

“Baby, please stop leaning.” Sophie told him with an exasperated tone, pushing at his shoulder for the fifth time that night.

“I love you so much.” He replied, bright-eyed with a grin. “So damn much.”

“Okay. Stand up straight.”

“I am.”

James ambled back to the two of them and ducked in between them so Rafe’s arm was around his shoulders instead, taking the weight off of her for a moment. “Jesus, Cameron, lay off the drinks.”

“He’s fine, he’s celebrating.” Sophie smiled, patting Rafe’s cheek affectionately.

“Enabler.”

She shrugged. “So be it. Where have you been?”

“Trying to talk with some girls.” He supplied, nodding his head toward Colin with the same group. “Apparently they’re more into nerds.”

“The one time in your life you’ve failed to score.” She teased, batting his hand away as he went to flick her.

Rafe leaned into James, resting his head against his. He had a few inches on him, making it just comfortable enough. “James. Guess what.”

“What, bud.”

“I’m gonna marry Sophie.”

“Yeah, dude, we know.”

“No. Tonight.”

James snorted. “Yeah, okay. I feel like you’re gonna be out within the hour.”

Rafe ignored him, eyes scanning across the crowd. “Where are our girls?”

Sophie beamed, loving how he’d adopted her friends as his own. “I think Julia’s just getting guys to buy her drinks and Allie’s hovering around so she can benefit.”

“Julia definitely had some guy’s tongue down her throat earlier.” James confirmed. “I told him to fuck off.”

“Does she need help?” Rafe frowned, handing his drink to Sophie and straightening up like he was going to go hunt for her.

“No, she’s fine.” James nodded toward Colin, Julia and Allie all coming back toward them.

Sophie looped her arm back around Rafe’s waist, taking his weight again, and intercepted a drink that Allie offered to him. “No more. You guys having fun?”

“Yeah, a couple guys might be coming over to join us later.” Julia informed them casually. “Rafe, you good with that? I won’t show them any of your fancy shit.”

“Uh...yeah. That’s fine.” He cocked his head. “Wait, a couple? Just for you?”

“No, me and Al.” At Colin’s affronted look, she shook her head quickly. “Not at the same time!”

“Wait, no, we’re busy tonight.” Rafe shook his head and smacked a kiss to Sophie’s temple. “We’re getting married.”

Colin widened his eyes. “You’re what?”

“We’re not!” Sophie amended quickly, pinching Rafe’s side. “We’re not. He’s hammered.”

“She doesn’t wanna marry me ‘cause she’s scared of my dad.” Rafe informed them, his expression a little too serious for it to be a joke. “It’s true.”

“Okay. I think you need to go home.” She pursed her lips. “Are you guys staying, or…?”

“Family sticks together!” Rafe exclaimed, looping his arm around Colin. “We’re all going home. Did someone pack a white dress?”

“Rafe, we are not getting married.” Sophie sighed, exasperated. “Not tonight.”

“But I have the ring.” He protested, making the whole group stop in their tracks.

Julia nearly choked on her drink, mid-sip. “You what?!”

Rafe held up his hand and slid his pinky ring off his finger, the only one that barely fit Sophie’s thumb. “See? I have a ring.”

“Oh my god.” Allie breathed out, shaking her head. She stepped around him and strode forward out of the club, knowing he’d follow. “Hey! Come on. We’re going home.”

Sophie just stared at Rafe blankly, not following the rest of the group until James gave her a little shove from behind. “Chill out, Flint, I’m not gonna let him propose like that.”

She shook her head to get herself to snap out of it, laughing weakly. “Yeah. Yeah, of course.”

“No panicking.”

“I’m not - just. Jesus. Okay. He says that so easily.” She mumbled, walking out with James behind the group.

He laughed, nodding. “Of course he does. It’s Rafe. He loves hard.”

“Yeah.” She smiled to herself, twisting her ring on her finger. “He does.”

Once they all made it home, after some convincing on Allie’s part with the taxi driver and a little extra cash thrown in from Rafe, James and Colin helped wrestle Rafe into their bedroom. (They made the mistake of looking the other way once and he took off across multiple lanes of traffic, convinced he needed to go rescue the kitten that was on the other side of the road - it was actually a crumpled paper bag.)

“Okay. He’s your problem now.” Colin brushed off his hands for emphasis, swatting Rafe’s hand away as he went to tug on Colin’s shirt. “There’s no way he’s getting anything up, so sleep is probably your best option.”

Sophie blushed, running her hands over her face. “Great, I needed to hear that. Helpful.”

“Fuck you, Colin.” Rafe slurred, flipping him off.

“Mature.” James commented, kissing the top of Rafe’s head, then Sophie’s, before turning to leave. Any other time it would be weird, but she’d gotten used to his drunk affectionate state. “Night buddies!”

“Night! Love you!” Rafe called after him and Colin as they left and shut the door behind them. He turned his gaze to Sophie, smiling goofily at her. “Hi, sweetheart.”

“Hi, baby.” She replied, glad he was compliant as she tugged off his shoes and socks, and shirt too. “Can you take off your shorts for me?”

“You can take ‘em off.” He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

She rolled her eyes, having to shove a little, but finally succeeded to strip him down to his boxers. “Okay. Will you come brush your teeth?”

Without a warning, he grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap, meeting her in a full-force kiss, hands roaming.

“Hey!” She squealed, shoving at his chest out of instinct. “Watch the hands, Rafe.”

He immediately dropped them to her sides, nudging his nose against hers. “I love you.”

“Love you too. I’d love you more if you would brush your teeth.”

“Dental hygiene is that important to you?” He skimmed his palm up her back, teasing his fingers along the zipper down the back of her crop top. “You should be naked right now.”

“Cameron.” She warned.

“Not my name.”

“Rafael.”

“Sophieeeee.” He whined, pouting. “Say my name for real.”

She rolled her eyes and kissed along his neck, resisting a laugh when he so easily melted to putty beneath her. “Rafe. Asher. Clifford. Cameron.”

“Sounds like I’m in trouble.” He mumbled, unzipping her crop top and hummed in satisfaction when she slipped her arms out of the skinny straps, letting him toss it aside. “I don’t like that.”

“Baby?” She murmured, sucking a small spot at the base of his neck before returning to kiss his lips.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

“That’s not nice.” He frowned. “Be nice to me.”

“No.”

“You have to be nice to your boyfriend, angel, it’s the rules.”

“I’ve never heard these rules.” She countered, pushing him back against the bed. “I don’t think I got the rulebook when we started dating.”

“Because you hated me when we started dating.” He argued, flopping back against the mattress. “Are we gonna have sex?”

“Can you stay awake long enough?”

He nodded enthusiastically, reaching up to palm her breast. “Yeah. I got you. I’ll make you come, like, five times.”

She snorted, tugging off her skirt and pushed it aside. “I don’t think you’ve ever made me come five times. Maybe three, but that’s it.”

“What? No. That’s not right. You definitely have - like, in Nice or something -”

“Nope. I would remember.” She rolled off of him to pull off her underwear and toss it on the floor, then laughed as he rolled on top of her, frowning.

“I totally have, Sophie, come on. You’re lying. I can get you off.”

“Yeah, but not five times. That’s so long, Rafe.” She argued, grinning as he ran his hands down both her arms before pushing them above her head, one large hand encircling both her wrists.

“I’ll show you five times.” He argued, glancing around the room, unfocused. “Where’s some string?”

“You are not tying me up with string, Rafe, pay attention.” She arched her back a little, practically shoving her chest in his face to get him back on track. He nodded, dropping his hand down to her hip and skated his teeth across her nipple, loving the moan it elicited from her. She curled her fingers into his hair, sighing when he left open-mouthed kisses across her chest.

He hummed, his head bobbing a little and his eyelids fluttered as he felt her nails rake across his scalp. “More.” He mumbled.

“Yeah?” She replied, scratching his head a little more and had to bite back a laugh when he rested his head on her chest for a moment, then pressed lazy kisses against her skin. “Don’t you dare fall asleep on me.”

“M’not, just...resting.” His breathing slowed and he reached one hand up to cup her breast, though the way he did it felt more like he was holding it for emotional support than to turn her on.

“Rafe.” She whispered, squirming underneath him. “Get off.”

“Shh.” He nuzzled a little closer, relaxing his full body weight into hers. “Nappin.’”

“Are you fucking -” She sighed, pushing him just enough so he rolled onto his back. “I’m gonna go brush my teeth.”

“No, no, I’m ready.” He mumbled without opening his eyes, gesturing loosely to his lap. “See.”

She rolled her eyes and tugged on a pair of underwear and a big shirt of his that she’d packed, then leaned over to kiss his cheek. “You’re not even close to hard.”

“No...what’sit you say?” He squinted one eye open to look at her. “Have at me?”

She just laughed, shaking her head. “I’ll be back.”

“Sophie, baby, Sophie.” Rafe repeated, grabbing at her arm. “You gotta stay.”

“I’m just getting you water, Cameron, I’ll be right back. Promise.” She slipped her arm out of his loose grip and pressed a kiss to his forehead, smiling at the way his lips turned up in a dopey smile back. “Stay here.”

“Okay. Be safe!” He called out.

She shook her head and went out to the kitchen, grabbed two water bottles and returned to the room not five minutes later to see him fast asleep, snoring softly with his phone in his hand, screen still shining bright. She rolled her eyes and pried his phone away, then paused as she saw the screen - he’d just donated $5,000 to the local animal shelter in Columbus. This wasn’t an entire unusual occurrence - she’d seen a couple emails in his inbox here and there thanking him for a donation, but never this much. “Holy shit. Rafe.” She nudged him, trying to wake him up. “Rafe.”

“Mm?” He grumbled, rolling back over.

“Did you mean to do this?” She showed him his phone screen. “Five thousand?”

“Uh huh.” He reached over and wrapped his arms around her waist, trying to pull her into bed. “Come sleep.”

“You’re sure? You didn’t mean, like, $50? Or even $500?”

He pouted, lip wobbling a little as his eyes began to water. “Baby, all those animals are in there on the cold floor, and they don’t have homes -”

“Oh, honey -”

“No, no, listen. They don’t have homes, and it’s not fair, but if they get more money they take away their adoption fee, and then they can have a home.” He stared her down seriously as a couple tears slipped down his cheeks. “They need homes, Sophie.”

She nodded, taking a seat at the edge of the bed and stroked her thumbs over his wet cheeks. “Yeah, sweet boy. They need homes.”

“I hope Josie’s okay.” He yawned, moving to rest his head on her lap.

“Josie?”

“She’s five, and she’s a very sweet yellow lab, and good with other dogs and people, and she’s been at the shelter since July,” he recited from memory. Rafe had checked the website at least every two weeks and had found himself attached to this one dog for reasons he couldn’t explain, even going as far as buying her toys from the shelter’s Amazon wishlist. He absolutely knew he couldn’t visit, because he’d be taking her home in an instant. When he’d been looking for apartments in New York for them, he found himself selecting pet friendly as a search option - just in case.

“Oh. Okay.” She murmured, a little confused as she stroked his hair. “I’m sure she’s alright, Rafe. Will you drink some water for me? Or at least take your contacts out?”

He blinked hard, rubbing his eyes until his contacts popped out, and set them on the nightstand. Sophie resisted a scowl. He slipped his hand under her shirt and held her tight, palm splayed flat against her ribcage. “G’night.”

“Night, baby. I love you.”

“Sophie.”

“Yeah, Rafe?” She settled in against him, pulling the covers over them both.

“Marry me.”

She laughed, rolling back over to nudge her nose against his. “No.”

He yawned, not bothering to open his eyes. “Please?”

“Later. Now we’re sleeping.” She kissed him softly, smiling as she whispered. “Sweet dreams, favorite boy.”

“Love you.” He mumbled back, barely coherent before falling asleep.

____

The next morning, he was all too smug as he woke Sophie up, blindly reaching for her in bed and pulled her close against his chest. “Baby.”

“No.” She grumbled, pulling the pillow over her head as she tried to wriggle away.

“Soph.” He tried again, holding her tight as he pressed kisses against her hair. “Sophieee.”

“I’m tired, Rafe, fuck off.” She sighed, frowning up at him as he grabbed the pillow and tossed it to the floor. “Hey.”

“Tired from last night, huh?” He smirked, trailing a finger down the center of her chest, down her stomach. “Sore?”

Sophie rolled over to look him in the eye, eyebrows raised. “Sore from what?”

“You know.”

“I don’t.”

“C’mon.”

She furrowed her brow at him, confused. “Rafe, you fell asleep holding my boob. You weren’t even hard.”

“Huh?” He cocked his head, sitting up a little. “But we...did I dream that? The navy lace?”

She laughed, loud. “I don’t own navy lace anything.”

“Well, shit, we gotta buy you something.” He ran his hand through his hair, still a little confused as Sophie smiled up at him and fixed his messy hair, sitting up to straddle him. “Really? We didn’t do a thing? I swore, you were, like, having the time of your life.”

Sophie shook her head, placing both hands on his chest as she shifted forward a little. “No. You left me high and dry. Glad dream-me could get something though.”

Rafe quickly picked up on her cues, his hands going to her hips to steady her. “I think I can help fix that.”

“I think you can too.”

Just as she leaned down to kiss him, James pounded on their door, thankfully being smart enough to not barge in. “Yo! We’re leaving in an hour! Do you want breakfast?”

“Fuck off!” Sophie yelled, rocking her hips against Rafe’s. “We’re busy!”

“Busy packing, I hope!” James called back.

“He’s packing!” She replied with a giggle, laughing harder when Rafe quickly clasped his hand over her mouth and shushed her.

“We’re not hungry!” Rafe yelled, pinching Sophie’s side. “Leave us alone!”

She squealed, batting his hand away and couldn’t help but laugh as James’s footsteps faded away. “What, I’m not allowed to brag about you?”

“We don’t have time for you to brag.” He replied, wrapping a strong hand around the back of her neck to pull her into a bruising kiss. “C’mere.”

“How much do you remember of last night?” She asked in between kisses, leaning back just enough to pull off her shirt.

“Not much.” He flipped them over, then leaned down to graze his teeth over her nipple.

“You asked me to marry you.” She breathed out, a little wary of his reaction. “Multiple times.”

“I did? I’m a smart man.” He replied with a smirk, trailing his fingers up her inner thighs.

“You are.” Sophie moaned quietly, then pressed her hips up. “Just get inside me.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive, Rafe, please, I gotta shower and pack.”

He laughed, loud. “Sure we have time?”

“Rafe Cameron, I swear to fucking god -”

He laughed, cutting her off with a kiss. “I got you, baby. Always got you.”

taglist: @drewstarkey @lemur46 @jjmaybanksbaby @edgeofgr8 @quxxnxfhxll @obxtess @hoodpankow @vtgirl802 @outerbankies @messagesinthesky @nicolecarsley @svechnikolan @ilovejjmaybank @obxtess @abbyj1822 @oopsiedoopsie23 @g4bster @jjmaybankzz @freddymaybank @dontjinx-it @illbesafeforyou @moniamaybank @tovvaa @jailcalledlife @sunshineitsfine44 @randomficsandshit @outerbankspreferences @outerbanksbro @karsinner @kkmaybank @whoeveniskendall @lemur46 @outerbankies

[onlydreamofmysoul]

Headlines

A fun cubs come out fic!

Characters and their world by @lumosinlove

@im-oknutzy-trash - here you go!

(Just one last note - there is one scene with a little spicy quip but it doesn’t get in any way explicit :))

“I’m home!” Finn called as he came through the door to their apartment, duffle bag falling off his shoulder and crashing into the door.

“Wow.” Logan commented, coming over to help him. “Home for less than a minute and you’re already trying to wreck the place.”

“Oh hush.” Finn said, dropping his bags and pulling Logan in by the waist. “Hello to you too.”

Logan grinned and went soft, leaning into Finn’s kiss. “How was Alex?”

They moved away from the door to the couch, Logan setting Finn’s bag aside to be dealt with later. 

“Good, Kase and Nat are going out to see him in a few days so he was all excited.” 

Logan laughed, kicking off his shoes to curl his feet under him. “Now that I get.”

Finn smiled and glanced around. “Where’s Leo?”

“He just had to pop out to the shop. We’re out of milk. He should be back soon though.”

Finn nodded, looking down at his hands, fiddling with his fingernails. “Hey Lo?”

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking about… well what if… So like, you know Cap and Loops, right?”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Our teammates? Yeah I think I’m vaguely familiar with them.”

Finn huffed, rolling his eyes. “Wow sassy. You know that’s not what I meant.”

Logan tilted his head to the side in acquiescence, letting Finn continue. 

“I want to be like them.” Finn said quickly. “Can we be like them?”

He watched Logan frown for a moment, trying to figure out the difference between Remus and Cap and them. “Wait,” He murmured, eyes meeting Finn’s. “Do you mean?”

Finn nodded. “Yeah. I think maybe we’re ready?”

Logan opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Leo coming in. 

“Hey Lo!” He said, without even looking around yet. “I got milk and that bread you like. Did Finn message you yet, he definitely should have landed by now.”

Leo reached the counter, putting the milk in the fridge before turning around and finally noticing the two boys in the room.

“I think his flight landed.” Logan said dryly, watching Leo take in Finn’s presence. 

“Hi baby.” Finn said, with a smile, truly grinning when Leo left the shopping bag half-empty and came over to kiss him hello instead. 

“Hi.” Leo said, slipping into the gap between his two boys. “I missed you.” 

Finn heard himself make a pleased noise as he leaned in to kiss Leo again. “Missed you too.”

“So,” Leo said as he pulled away, pulling Logan’s feet onto his lap. “What’re we talking about?”

Finn met Logan’s green eyes, pausing for a moment. “Um, I uh…”

Logan kicked his foot forward to nudge it against Finn’s thigh. “I got it Harzy.” He then turned to Leo. “We were thinking, maybe it’s time for us to come out? It’d be nice I think, not having to hide.”

Finn watched Leo carefully as the younger boy blinked in surprise before a small smile took over his face. 

“Yeah,” He breathed, looking between Logan and Finn. “Yeah that would be nice.” He bit his lip, looking smug and mischievous and Finn thought he might be falling in love all over again. “But I think we should have some fun first.”

****

Logan stumbled off the bus wearily - that four hour bus ride had just seemed to go on forever. Reporters stood outside the door to the hotel, despite the cold and the late hour but Logan leaned into Leo’s side anyways, Leo’s arm around his shoulder, Logan’s hand beneath his jacket. Photographers went wild, cameras shuttering quickly and Logan hid his smile in Leo’s jacket. This was going to be a whole lot of fun. 

****

Leo looked up as Marlene entered the locker room, glancing around to see who might be ready and available for an interview. Leo caught her eye and waved her over. 

“Hey Leo, how about a quick video for social media? I won’t keep you longer than five minutes.”

Leo smiled, he didn’t mind, this was all a part of their plan, the team and the rest of the staff had been made somewhat aware. Plus, he liked Marlene so he never had a problem with the interviews. “Sure.”

“Okay great!” She gave him a thumbs up as she started recording. “So, just last night, pictures of you and Logan Tremblay were released as you got off the bus - have you anything to say about them?”

Leo nodded, grinning. “Don’t forget James photobombing in the background. I think he was going for a ‘bunny ears’ effect but it ended up looking like he was doing it to Kasey instead. I think I need to get a copy framed.”

Marlene laughed, moving on. “So you and Logan are close then?”

Leo looked around the room comically. “What? You mean right now? Cause He’s in the PT room so a lot of the guys are closer.”

Marlene bit her lip, her eyes sparkling. “How do you feel about this game then?”

Leo sat back, finally going to answer a question honestly. “I’m feeling good. We’ve had a great start this season and I’m pretty confident.”

Marlene gave him another thumbs up and headed off to go chat to some of the other guys. A few stalls over, Finn met Leo’s eyes and blew him a kiss. 

*******

“The media seems to have calmed down a bit.” Logan commented as they all sat at home watching a movie. “Think it’s time for our next one?”

“Ooh, yes!” Finn enthused. “I call being in this one.”

Logan laughed and pulled out of the way so he could take a picture of Finn kissing Leo’s cheek, Leo’s face all scrunched up in a smile. 

“There you go, post it.”

Finn grinned, going to Instagram and putting up the picture with the caption ‘Days like this’ before tagging Leo for good measure. 

“That should entertain them for a couple of days.” He said, satisfied as he tossed his phone to another chair and leaned back into Logan’s warmth, kissing the spot just below his ear. 

“You and me next baby,”

****

Leo Knut and Finn O’Hara?

More than one couple in the Lion’s Den?

Knut cheating on Tremblay?

Logan laughed as he scrolled through the headlines and posts from fan accounts, taking screenshots of some of the art of them that had already begun to bubble up. Thomas was on the other side of him, watching a video of a fan analysing the teams interactions, trying to figure out who was actually in a relationship, laughing every few minutes. 

“Knutty,” Logan called, summoning Leo. “Look at this one.”

Leo took his phone and read the caption out loud. “Knut’s betrayal making Tremblay tremble?” He looked up and met Logan’s eyes, his face blank. “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.”

“I do!” Finn interrupted, coming up behind Logan and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. “Okay Lo, you hold up the article, now someone take our picture please!”

Logan ginned and relaxed into Finn as James snapped them together before posting it to his own account. ‘Doesn’t seem to be trembling to me.”

****

“I’m gonna go get some coffee, do you guys wanna come?” Leo said, the three of them still lying in bed. Finn shook his head, still mostly asleep, but Logan perked up.

“From the café down the street?”

Leo nodded, laughing when Logan was up like a shot, pulling on his clothes. 

“We’ll bring you back some, okay sweetheart?” Leo said as he leaned over the bed once more to kiss Finn goodbye. Finn just nodded and burrowed deeper into the duvet. 

“Love you.” He mumbled and the two boys left him to his dreams, slipping out of the room quietly. 

They walked down the street, hand in hand, going mostly unnoticed by the public. It was still early and a Sunday, so there weren’t too many people up and about, but even those that were paid them very little attention. It was easy to forget, in moments like this, that they had entire fan pages dedicated to them and many days they weren’t even recognised on the street. 

They got their coffee and drank it there, holding hands over the table outside the front door, watching the people passing by and chatting idly. Leo thought he spotted someone taking a not-so-discreet picture of them, but they didn’t care. Logan went inside to grab Finn’s cup to go and Leo lounged in the sunshine for a moment, breathing in the cool, sharp air. 

He opened his eyes to find Logan standing over him, looking down amusedly. “D’accord, mon choupinet?"

Leo smiled and stood up, stretching lazily. “Oui.”

They came back home to Finn still in bed, and joined him under the covers while he sipped his coffee.

“Oh, look we’re back in the headlines.” Leo commented as he angled his phone for them both to see. A photo of Leo and Logan from just a half hour ago stared back at them, Logan laughing at something Leo had said. 

“That’s such a cute picture,” Finn noted, putting on his glasses to take a closer look. “You should save that.”

Knut and Tremblay reunited? No news yet on how O’Hara is taking this latest blow.

“O’Hara would be doing fantastic if he had another kind of blow.” Finn grumbled, then blushed when he realised he had spoken out loud. “I mean-”

“Oh, we know what you meant.” Logan said, taking the nearly empty coffee cup from Finn and setting it on the nightstand as Leo eased Finn back, slipping under the covers as Logan captured his lips. “And that can be arranged.”

****

“So when do you guys think you’ll let them know what’s actually happening?” Remus asked Leo as he helped the blond boy with his stretching. 

Leo bit his lip as he thought. “I don't know? Soon maybe though, because this is fun and all but I’m tired of being analysed all the time now. At least if we tell them the truth, they’ll be chasing after us for a couple of weeks but then it’ll all settle down and be nice and quiet again, you know?”

Remus nodded, smirking when Leo took a sharp intake of breath as he pushed his legs a little further apart. “Yeah for sure. It’ll be pure chaos for a bit, but then they’ll quickly move onto the next big thing, I promise.”

Leo nodded, a little lost in thought. “Yeah, I’m ready to have a bit of privacy again. I think I’ll say it to the boys tonight.”

Remus nodded and pushed Leo a little further, laughing when Leo cursed under his breath.

“Fuck, if I’m alive after all this that is.”

****

“Alright, we’re doing this so?” Logan confirmed, making sure everyone was in agreement. 

“Yup.” Leo said, popping the ‘p’.

“It’s time.” Finn confirmed as they all pulled up the same picture they had chosen to post - a photo of the three of them taken at a party at Dumo’s. Logan sitting in Leo’s lap, head tilted up as he kissed Finn who was handing them their drinks. 

“Captions ready?” Finn asked and the other two nodded.  “Okay. Three,”

“Two,” Leo said.

“One.” Logan breathed and they all clicked ‘post’ at the same time. 

The next day, all the headlines were their Instagram captions-

Leo and Logan.

Finn and Leo.

Logan and Finn.

(Three’s not a crowd).

[arrowflier]

i wish you'd write a fic where mickey reluctantly goes on a picnic with ian (maybe with their baby girl and dog?)

This is a great excuse for a little more of my new headcanon where they pick up a couple strays. I have to apologize, though, because this is probably not as fluffy as you imagined—there’s a pretty heavy backstory that’s hinted at. I tried to add some cute things too, though!

For the curious, first mention of their oldest daughter Brit (Mickey calls her Brat) here and of the dog, Basil, here.

---

“You want to go on a what?” Mickey asks incredulously as his husband putters around their small kitchen, putting together sandwiches.

“A picnic, Mick,” Ian replies, his head currently stuck inside the open fridge. He pops out long enough to give Mickey a look. “And don’t act surprised, I told you yesterday.”

Mickey holds out his arms, palms up. “Do I look like I knew this was comin’?” He moves out of the way as Ian closes the fridge and rounds the counter, lunchmeat in hand. “I didn’t know you were serious, man!”

Ian sighs, laying ham on bread and reaching for a knife to spread the mustard. “What’s the problem, huh?” he asks. “You don’t want to have a nice day with us?”

“Hey, don’t you do that,” Mickey commanded, pointing a finger at him. “Excuse me if I don’t want to take a toddler and fucking dog to a damn tourist trap.”

Ian rolls his eyes as he finishes the sandwiches, setting them neatly in a piece of tupperware that Mickey doesn’t remember owning. “It’s not a tourist trap, Mick,” he says patiently, “it’s a park. And your daughter wants to go.”

Mickey scoffs, trying not to soften too noticeably. Ian knew he always gave in when he used the d word. “Yeah, she wants to go cause someone showed her a bunch of pictures yesterday.”

“I was trying to keep her occupied, Mick,” Ian says for what feels like the millionth time. “She just saw her mom in the hospital, she needed a distraction.”

“That bitch has never been her mom,” Mickey starts to respond, and Ian glares at him.

“Told you not to say that shit,” he says lowly, casting his eyes around for their daughter. “She doesn’t need to hear it.”

“Relax, she’s in her room,” Mickey tells him, but he stops anyway. Well, stops the name-calling, at least. “But you know I didn’t agree to lie to her, Ian, that’s all your brilliant idea.”

Returning to the fridge to grab a few cold pops, Ian blows out a breath. “And I told you, we’re not lying. We’re just…,” he stands there for a second with the door open, considering, before finishing with, “we’re just holding back a bit until she’s older.”

Mickey’s mouth is twisted, but when Ian comes closer to put a hand against his face, it relaxes. “Just for a little bit, Mickey, ok?” Ian asks softly. “Just let her think she’s a normal kid for a little longer. Longer than we got to.”

And fine, Mickey could do that. He nods.

Ian smiles, pecks him on the lips and pulls away. “Good,” he says. “I’ll go get Brit, you get Basil, and we’ll get on our way in a few minutes.”

Mickey stands still in the corner of the kitchen for a long moment, listening to his husband call out for their kid. “We’re goin’ on a picnic,” he mutters to himself. “With a kid and fucking dog. How the hell did I end up here?”

He whistles, hears the patter of small paws against tile as said dog comes careening around the corner from the living room. Basil comes to a sudden stop against Mickey’s legs and drops his rear to the floor with a thump, tail whipping rhythmically against the wooden counter. Mickey sighs as he grabs the leash off the hook on the wall behind him and bends down to attach it to the dog’s bright red collar.

“At least you’re not wearing a fucking sweater,” he tells Basil solemnly, and sputters when Basil rewards him with a lick across the face.

—

They’re almost there on the L, Brit clinging to Ian’s leg on the crowded train and Mickey trying not to let on that he has a 40 lb dog hidden in giant fucking tote bag between his feet. Thankfully, Basil is great at playing dead—Mickey taught him that one himself—so the biggest difficulty will be carrying him out without getting a hernia.

The kid tugs at Mickey’s pant leg as the train rounds a corner, and he looks down to see her grinning up at him through wisps of dark hair that escaped her messy pigtails.

“Are we goin’ to see the baby?” she asks excitedly, lisping a bit as her tongue hits the space where her front teeth used to be.

“Uh,” he says, looking to Ian for guidance. Ian is pretending not to listen, though, the bastard. He looks back down into his daughter’s dark eyes.

“Not today, Brat,” he tells her, and keeps going before she can pout. “We told you it’s gonna be a while, yeah? Your sister’s not done bakin’ yet.”

“Like a cake!” she exclaims. Mickey sees a little old woman smiling at them, and wonders if she’d think it was so cute if she knew half the story.

“Yeah, like a cake, kid,” he agrees.

“But where are we goin’?” she asks next.

Mickey absently tucks a longer strand of loose hair behind her ear, and answers, “Remember that place your dad was showin’ ya the other day?”

She gives a delighted gasp just as the announcement is made for Lake Station, and when she sees him bend to hoist up the bag they’ve hidden Basil in, she dashes for the now-open doors.

“Hey, wait!” he calls after her, but Ian beats him to the door with his long, unburdened stride, catching up to her quickly and leaving Mickey to deal with everything else.

Mickey looks down into the open tote, and Basil blinks an eye open to look back from where he’s curled around the container holding their lunch.

“Typical,” Mickey mutters, and hobbles off the train in pursuit.

—

Thankfully, the kid was more interested in seeing the gardens and the lakefront than any of the crowded, no-dogs-allowed areas, so after a few quick pics of her fooling around in front of the Bean, they get settled in with minimal fanfare toward the center of the park.

Mickey is leaning back on his elbows on the ratty blanket they brought, picking at his sandwich and watching his little girl run wild over the grass as Ian and Basil chase her, their own meals half-eaten and forgotten beside him. He watches as Ian catches her, the two of them falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs as Basil’s leash wraps around them, the dog running circles around his humans. Mickey laughs when Ian tries to stand and promptly falls back over, having to stop and free his damn giraffe legs from the leash before he tries again.

Ian kisses their daughter on the head and hands the dog off to her as he gets up, heading back toward Mickey. There’s no need to worry about whether she can handle it—Basil may weigh almost the same as her, but the dog had always been careful with her since she came to stay with them more than a year ago.

“This isn’t so bad, is it?” Ian asks softly as he approaches. He collapses onto the blanket next to Mickey, just close enough to press their legs together. He lets a hand rest between them, and Mickey shifts his weight off one elbow so he can take it, twining their fingers together. His eyes are on their children, the human and the furred, but he can see Ian smile from the corner of his eye.

“Nah,” he murmurs quietly. “Guess not.”

Ian leans in and presses a kiss to the side of his neck, then to his cheek. “Just think,” he whispers into Mickey’s ear, “in a few months we’ll have another one.”

Mickey can’t help but snort. “Yeah, if we can keep her incubator from runnin’ off and overdosing again before then.”

Ian nudges him with his knee, and Mickey looks over with a raised eyebrow. “Hey, I didn’t call her a bitch this time,” he points out, and Ian rolls his eyes.

“It’s progress, I guess,” he relents, settling more firmly into Mickey’s side. They sit together, holding hands, and watch Brit and Basil play under the bright noon sun.

“I want to come back once she’s here,” Ian mentions. “The new baby." He turns his gaze to Mickey, eyes soft. "All of us together, as a family.”

“Fuck no,” Mickey vetoes immediately. “You want to do all this with a noisy infant in a shit-filled diaper, you get to do it yourself.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Ian responds, and Mickey groans.

Because he knows if Ian wants it, he’ll be dragging a 40 lb dog, a hyperactive child, and a newborn around the damn park before he can even threaten divorce.

But as he watches his daughter walk their dog on the green grass, his husband reclining beside him on a soft blanket, the sun shining down on him, he thinks about adding a baby carrier to the picture, just there next to Ian. And he has to admit that it might not be too bad.

[the-broken-truth]

The Strings That Bind Us ~ Servant of House Beneviento

Summary: Vulcan becomes The Servant of House Beneviento. How will he do?

Pairing: Donna Beneviento x Male OC (Vulcan)

[A Few Hours From Sundown]

"And this will be your room." The small puppet said as she pushed open a door that revealed a room. One full-sized bed against the same wall that the door resided in but was placed in the center of the wall. The bed was downed in a blanket with dark grey and blue color schemes with two pillows at the head of the bed in grey pillowcases. Underneath the bed was a decent-sized grey rug that complimented the grey tile floor. On either side of the bed were dark grey hardwood nightstands - the left of which had a lamp and a small alarm clock. Across from the bed - on the other side of the room - was a study workstation with a chair, the dresser was tucked away in the corner, and the main closet was sitting on the adjacent wall of the dresser.

Vulcan walked into the room after Angie stepped away and looked around with a smile on his face, he left his cloak in the entrance hallway where the coatrack was located; revealing the black shirt and jeans he was wearing, along with his black boots and belt - the belt contained two sheathes that held his daggers. Lord Heisenberg wanted so badly to keep them because - in his own words - he was a house servant and house servants are not allowed to keep personal weapons, but Vulcan explained that he crafted those weapons and he was not just going to be one of those house servants that remained at home all the time - he intended to go out and do what he could for his House Mistress and he would need his daggers in case he ran into any...problems. Mother Miranda knew that Vulcan would cause no threat to Donna and demanded Heisenberg return the daggers to their master; which he reluctantly did. After which, Miranda dismissed the meeting and the other lords returned to their lands.

"I'm guessing the room is to your liking?" Angie asked as she levitated to reach Vulcan's eye level. The tall man looked at the possessed doll with a smile.

"It's perfect for me. Thanks for asking, Angie." Vulcan said as he placed his travel back - something else Heisenberg took from him and tried to keep because of the leather and design - against one of the nightstands.

"You're a strange one, ya know? Any sane person who saw a living doll would have run away, screaming for the hills." Angie said with a tilt of her massive head. Vulcan chuckled at those words.

"I may not be a 'sane person' then. Besides, I've spent years looking for you two; there was no way I was going to run away after finding you again." Vulcan said before his gaze turned to the outfit on the bed. "Is this going to be my work outfit?" Vulcan said as he walked over to it.

"Yes. Donna never really expected to have a house servant but just in case she did - she had two outfits said, one for each gender." Angie explained.

"I'm grateful," Vulcan said as he reached out to the suit's upper, his fingers lightly grazing against the House's Crest - The Sun and the Moon. "Angie, do you know what time Donna usually takes her dinner?" Vulcan said, looking back to the doll.

"In an hour or two, I wouldn't try to make too much; it all kinda tastes the same to her." Angie explained.

"What do you mean?" Vulcan asked.

"All the food is just...bland; you know, kinda tasteless but very filling for her." Angie said.

"Oh - don't worry about that. I didn't survive as long as I did on bland food and I refuse to let my mistress eat another bland meal." Vulcan said with a smirk.

"What are you planning to do, Vulcan?" Angie said with a tilt of her head.

"Oh, that would ruin the surprise but I know that she will like it. I need to get to work and you'll know when I'm done with dinner." Vulcan said as he turned back to look at his uniform.

Angie tilted her head again before she left the room, closing the door behind her. Vulcan looked at the black uniform with a smile before he placed the shirt back on the bed and began to undress.

[After Vulcan Got Dressed]

Vulcan looked in the tall mirror with pride in his new uniform - the Beneviento Family Chest proudly resting over his heart. He left his room and walked down the hall, down the stairs until he reached the ground floor; from the tour of the house given by Angie - Vulcan found the kitchen.

The Amber-Eyed Man looked around - there were a few things out of place but that was no challenge. He opened the cabinets and fridge and looked around - there were a few assortments of meats and some grains.

'I can make meat with a bread...Hm...but I need something else to add to it. Does she have any kind of veggie here?' Vulcan wondered as he continued to look around and got lucky when he found some potatoes in a sack. 'Perfect.' The red-haired man smirked as he placed all the items - except for the meat - on a clear table and got cleaning: he washed the few dishes that rested in the sink, swept the floor, wiped down the table and counters, placed any kind of box that wasn't supposed to be out in the open and placed them in a lone closet - that he had the cleanout of cobwebs and dust. Once the kitchen was clean - he jogged back to his room and opened his backpack; digging inside until he found the small wooden box he was looking for and walked back downstairs.

[Around Half An Hour Later]

Donna and Angie were talking in Donna's room - the veiled woman sat on her bed with her hands in her lap as Angie stood on the bed at her creator's right side.

"Mom, you don't have to be so nervous." Angie said as she tried to cheer her mother up.

"It's hard not to be, Angie. I hadn't seen him in years and suddenly he shows up here - he's been looking for you and me for...goodness knows how long and..." She paused for a moment as she wrapped her arms around herself - mimicking Vulcan's hug, still feeling his warmth in her bones. "The way he hugged me - not even Mother Miranda held me like that when she adopted me. It was so...comforting." Donna said in a low voice.

"I'm curious - just what is he to you, Mom?" Angie asked with a head tilt.

"Vulcan...He was the only real person who cared for me, even with the scar. He would stand by my side when others would badmouth or turn away from me; he would hold my hand to keep me grounded when I thought I was going to slip in a sobbing fit. When I introduced him to you - he was just as interested in you as I was. We were like...our own little family." Angie could hear the smile on her mother's lips.

"You loved him, didn't you?" Angie asked.

"Yes, I did." Donna said.

"Do you still love him?" Angie asked.

"I...I believe that I do but it's been so long - I never knew if he felt the same for me and I don't know if he thinks of me as a possible partner for him. I know he cared to me but..." Donna stopped in midsentence when a heavenly scent hit her nose. "Do you smell that?" Donna asked as she rose to her feet and began following the smell.

Donna and Angie followed the smell down the stairs but the longer they descended - they noticed just how clean the house began to look: pictures were dusted and wiped down, the floors appeared to be swept, mopped, and polished, there was even a pleasant smell of pine. When they made it to the ground flood - they entered the dining room and saw the table was...decorated? There was a long black tablecloth on the rectangular table with a candle holder in the center of the table - 3 candles were lit with their flames dancing to their slow beats. On the ends of the table - there were plate mats; when...when did have time to do all this? Where did he get all these items from? Donna and Angie continued to ponder until the kitchen door opened - letting the heavenly smell flood the room - as Vulcan walked out with a serving platter held by his right hand and bottle of wine in his left hand, tucked under his arm.

"Oh, Lady Beneviento and Lady Angie, I was just about to get you both for dinner." Vulcan said as he placed the serving tray, covered by a silver lip, in the center of the table before then retreated to the kitchen and returned with 2 glasses and walked over to Donna. "Please, allow me, Lady Beneviento." Vulcan said as he grabbed Donna's chair and pulled it out, waiting for Donna to sit with a smile on his face. When Donna sat in the chair, he pushed it in for her before walking over to her right and pulled out another chair for Angie; the puppet giggled before taking a seat and was pushed in behind her mother.

"Did...Did you do all of this yourself, Vulcan?" Donna asked in a low voice.

"Of course, Lady Beneviento, as the servant of House Beneviento, I must ensure my ladies and house are taken care of." Vulcan said with a smile of pride - he was happy being the servant of House Beneviento?

"We smelled something incredible on our way down here; just what were you doing in the kitchen?" Angie asked.

"I was prepared dinner for Lady Beneviento. During my travels, I came into some very interesting spices and I did jobs to make sure I had the funds to purchase spices and recipes that I thought Lady Beneviento would love. I would like to think I did this once justice but I would love my lady to tell me if I did." Vulcan said as he moved over to the tray and lifted the tray cover off the food, revealing the tinder-looking steak with toppings of garlic and herbs on top of it with some kind of sauce, a side of mashed potatoes with butter - a touch of pepper with gravy on top, and two bread buns. The smell was enough to get Donna's mouth watering and Angie's - if she had organs to eat.

Vulcan lifted one of the plates and walked over to Donna before setting it down on the plate mat before her; her utensils already on the mat, ready for use. Placing the bottle on the table, he got one of the two glasses he retrieved from the kitchen and placed it near Donna on the mat before opening the bottle of grape wine and poured a good amount for his lady to enjoy with her food. He got his plate and went to his seat before he pours himself a bottle of wine and looked at Donna with a smile.

"Please, tell me what you think, Lady Beneviento." Vulcan's eyes shined with the hopefulness that she would love it. Donna lifted her knife and fork, stabbed the steak with the fork before severing the part she stabbed with her knife. She lifted the meat to her lips, making sure to move her veil as to not touch the meat with the cloth; she took her first bite before she let out a moan of pleasure (NOT THAT KIND, YA NASTIES!).

"This...This is delicious, Vulcan." Donna said as she moved to eat more.

"I'm glad you like it, Lady Beneviento. I have lots of recipes I'm sure you'll love." Vulcan said with a wide toothy smile.

"Enough. When we are here - in House Beneviento - or when I permit you, you are to call me Donna. None of that 'Lady Beneviento' business." Donna said - if her veil was off, Vulcan would have been able to see the light blush on her face.

"As you wish...Donna." Vulcan smiled again before he began to eat his food.

[End]

[silverpaintedstars]

So for my Creative Writing class, we had to make a disaster at a summer camp and write it. I have never had this much fun writing something in a while. 

Bananas and Lake Monsters

“That was exhausting,” Hails muttered, trudging into the food hall. She had just played a key part in losing Capture the Flag, and was ready for dinner. Ren, the small, quiet boy that she had been paired with for the game, sat down across from her. Like Hails, Ren didn’t seem to know anybody at the camp, so naturally the two would sit together. The singled out kids usually tended to do this, she noticed. Hails acknowledged his presence with a nod. 

The campers were called up to get their trays of food, the wooden floor creaking under their muddy shoes as they filed into line, Ren stepping behind Hails. 

“I’m so hungry,” he muttered, pushing his glasses up his nose. Hails didn’t pay him any attention, her own hunger taking most of her concentration. Finally when she reached the window where the trays were, she breathed in the smell of…

Bananas?!

She stared at the tray where the single yellow banana lay there, waiting for more food to be added. All she got was the volunteer at the window telling her to go on because she was holding up the line. 

Numbly, she walked back to where she and Ren were sitting, Ren not far behind. She sat there and stared at the banana as he sat down. 

“Man, I’m hungry,” he said again, picking up the banana and starting to peel it. 

“Me too,” Hails muttered. She sat and watched Ren eat the banana, not touching hers. He stopped mid-bite and looked at her. “What?” she asked.

Mouth full, he asked, “Are you going to eat that?”

Hails pointed to the banana to clarify that that’s what he meant. 

Ren nodded. 

“No, I’m not,” Hails said, sliding the tray at him and standing up. 

“Where are you going?” Ren asked, picking up the banana and holding the half-eaten one in his other hand. 

“To find some real food,” Hails said determinedly. She crossed the hall to the window where the worker stood, taking a tray of bananas from the fridge.

Hails squared her shoulders. “Excuse me?” 

No answer. 

“Excuse me?” Louder this time. 

The lady looked up and sat the tray down on the counter. “Yes?”

Hails rested her hands on the wooden frame of the window. “Are there any other foods than...bananas?” she asked, pointing to the tray. 

“No,” the lady said curtly. “Just bananas. Breakfast, lunch, supper and in-between. Bananas.” 

This would obviously be no help so Hails just walked away, with no less determination, however. 

“Hey.”

The voice startled her. Sitting alone at a table was a boy with a black hoodie over his head. He beckoned at Hails, who pointed to herself to make sure he meant her.  The boy nodded. 

Confused, she sat down across from him. “Do...I know you?” 

“Nah. Heard you were looking for…” he lowered his voice and looked around--”real food.” He acted like they were a forbidden words

“Uh, yeah?”

“Name’s Kyle,” the boy said, leaning back in his chair. “And I can get you food.”

“Really?” Hails said suspiciously. 

“Oh yeah,” Kyle said assuredly. “I got a stash.”

“Of what food?” Hails didn’t quite trust this random stranger popping in with ‘food’. It all seemed random and a tad too convenient. 

“Whatever. Bread, sandwiches, cookies, your...normal summer foods.” Kyle looked at her seriously. “Can you keep a secret?” 

Hails nodded, although she didn’t quite know what she was agreeing to hear.

Kyle dropped his voice again. “All the food you were hoping for--they feed it to the lake.”

Hails snorted. “The lake.” 

“Yeah! So it doesn’t suck anyone or anything in! You have to tame these lakes. Boats, swimmers--it gets on the lake's nerves.” Kyle narrowed his eyes. “So they feed it our food.”

Hails seriously didn’t believe him. She would just get up and walk away but was a tad amused at this point, so she decided to humor him. Hey, maybe, just maybe, he would convince her the more she listened.  “How do you know?”

“I’m what you could call a regular. And most do. This is my fifth year,” Kyle explained. “So I started to notice something...odd going on.”

Hails rolled her eyes, trying not to show she was enjoying his story slightly. “Can you get me real food yet?”

Kyle shrugged. “I can. It’s possible, but is it plausible?”

Hails blinked. “What?”

“Never mind. I need to know I can really trust you. If the lake found out a mere Dry was involved in this…” Kyle shook his head. 

“Dry?”

“Unimportant. Or, at least, I can explain later. Oh, and by the way, that boy you were sitting with?”

Hails glanced across the dining hall. “Ren?”

“Yeah. He’s a--lake creature.” Kyle leaned forward, his hood falling into his face. “Don’t tell anyone.” 

Hails laughed. “A lake creature.”

“To spy on us to make sure we only eat bananas,” Kyle said solemnly. 

“So lake--things look like humans?”

“They can.”

Hails let that sink in. “When exactly do I get food?”

“After dark. I know where they keep it to give to the lake. We’ll sneak down and take what we want,” Kyle said. 

“Whatever.” Hails was too hungry to really care. If there was food--other than bananas--she was on board with whatever ridiculous plan Kyle had. 

“Great,” Kyle said. “Outside this building, two hours. For food, or to die.” He stood up and walked away, leaving Hails.

Two hours later, outside. Hails stood, dusk falling, the sky a spread of purple. She looked over the lake, trying to see it how Kyle did. A vivacious creature--or, entity--that thrived off of all the camper’s food but spared them bananas.

Somehow, she really didn’t see it. 

She wrapped her shaggy blonde hair up in a ponytail, looking around for Kyle. It was the place, it was the time. Where was he?

A figure dropped from the low roof, nailing the landing next to Hails, who jumped, but calmed when she saw it was Kyle. Of course he arrived by roof. She wouldn’t have expected anything else. 

“Hey,” he said, casually leaning against the side. 

She ignored him, which she figured would end up happening a lot. “Food?”

“Ah, of course. This way,” Kyle said, moving to start walking but paused, turning back. “I guess you might be a little confused, hm.”

Hails just deadpan stared at him. 

“Right. Well, no better time than the present, wouldn’t you agree?” Kyle shrugged, crossing back to her by the building. “So, what I’m--we’re--facing up against are the Wets, or, uh, lake monsters. Both terms work.” He waved his hands around as he talked. “They can’t stand bananas, but they’re a vicious people. That’s why we feed them all our food. But they don’t like bananas for some odd reason. Hence us only having bananas.”

Hails squinted at him, somehow seeing the logic in this. 

“That boy--”

“Ren.”

“Yeah. He’s one of the Wets. Probably sent by the Lake to make sure we aren’t uh, doing what we’re going to do.”

Hails frowned. “Which is what exactly?”

“Oh, just stealing all the lake’s food. Probably going to make it mad, but who cares? We’re hungry for other food, and if we’re careful, no one will know.”

“What if we’re not careful?” 

Kyle paused. “Let’s be careful. Oh, and if we need to, you can Dry a Wet up with fire. It’ll melt them, but it doesn’t like, kill it. Just sends them back to the Lake to respawn.” He started walking toward the lake again, Hails following, her head whirling with all these revelations. A lake was never just a lake now. 

The ground sloped down to the lake at the bottom, the dining hall on top of a small hill. They walked in silence, Hails casting side looks at the lake, Kyle not paying it any attention. 

They arrived at the old boathouse, falling down and broken. It was nearly dark by now, just a few rays of light here and there, leaving the full shadow of night nearly there. Kyle peeled open the creaky door and they stepped into the small space. 

Hails coughed as he closed the door, leaving them in pitch dark. “Light?”

There was a switch and then a beam of light illuminated Kyle’s face, the flashlight held firmly. He swept it around, letting Hails see where she was. 

There were a few decrepit kayaks and canoes in there, the main doors that led to the water bolted shut. In the corner was a large cardboard box that looked out-of-place, probably because it was the only thing that wasn’t moth eaten or looked like it’d been there before the boathouse. 

“I think this is what we need,” Kyle said, hopping nimbly across the boats to the box and opening it. Hails peered in and gasped. 

Inside was food. All the food she was probably missing out on. Sandwiches, cookies, melted popsicles, apples, chicken nuggets...man, she was hungry. She reached and grabbed an apple, bringing it up to her mouth. 

“Put the apple down.”

And she nearly did, almost dropping it in shock. Ren stood in one of the canoes, a fierce look on his wet face. 

Kyle sighed. “Great, I was expecting this, but that didn’t mean I wanted it.”

“Expecting what?” Hails hissed. 

“Having to Dry him up,” Kyle said. 

“Move away from the food,” Ren said, holding what was hard to tell in the dim, but looked like a hose. 

Kyle saw it too and slowly backed away. 

“Sheesh, it’s just water,” Hails said. 

“This is no water,” Ren said. “It’s water for you Drys.” 

“And I don’t even know what that is,” Hails reminded him. “Well, mostly.” 

Kyle coughed. “Us.”

Hails looked around at what she could see of the boathouse. Kyle still held the flashlight, but that was it. And she had no idea what that hose would do--Kyle seemed worried by it--but she also didn’t know what to do. Kyle had said that fire melted a Wet, but she didn’t see anything to make fire...never mind. A small bit of matches lay on the floor by her feet. 

And she came here for this food--she wasn’t leaving it for anything. 

“Kyle,” she hissed. “Grab that stick by your feet.”

Kyle looked down. He snatched the small, uneven stick and tossed it to her.

“Careful,” Ren said, aiming the hose at them. “I may let you leave. Unless you try anything.” 

Hails nudged the handful of matches she’d seen on the floor with her foot, hoping they hadn’t been used or wet. She didn’t look away from Ren as she bent down and grabbed the four of them. 

“What is that?” Ren demanded. 

“Nothing,” Hails said sweetly, holding both the stick and the matches behind her back. 

“Don’t,” Kyle said, catching on. “No food is worth Drying him up.”

“I’m hungry,” Hails snapped. 

Ren narrowed his eyes. “If you leave now and leave the food, you can.”

“Hard pass,” Hails said, discreetly striking the match and lighting the tip of the stick and tried not to think what she was about to do. 

Kyle shook his head fervently, but she threw the stick as hard as she could, the burning tip just catching Ren. 

Ren screamed, dropping the hose. He batted at the fire, but it stuck to his sleeve. 

“So--to double check, this won’t full on kill him, correct?” Hails asked nervously, watching Ren slowly melt at the feet, his face furious. 

“Yeah,” Kyle answered, not at all sounding sure of that. 

And as she watched, Ren melted more and more, until there was just a puddle in the bottom of the canoe. Cautiously, Hails crept over, half expecting Ren to pop up out of the puddle, but it stayed still. The stranger part was how there wasn’t a reflection, just dark water, even when Kyle shined his flashlight on it. 

“Well,” Kyle said briskly. “Now that our little water problem is taken care of, you still hungry?” 

“Did we--like, take care of the whole Lake problem?” Hails asked. 

Kyle paused. “I doubt it. Maybe for now, but they’ll always send more Wets to watch over the camp on the inside. There’s always some, every year. At least, every year that I’ve been here.” 

“Oh,” Hails said, which, considering how they just low-key semi killed a lake monster, probably wasn’t the right thing to say. But she didn’t really know what else she could say. So she left it at that.

“Anyway,” Kyle continued, “we got a whole feast ahead of us now. Hungry?” 

“Very,” Hails agreed, crossing over the canoes to the huge box of food. Ah, what those poor, unobserved, banana-complying campers were missing out on. She dug out a peanut-butter-jelly sandwich, discarding the apple from earlier, which had been dropped on the filthy floor. 

“And, uh, if this happens next year, would you be willing to Dry more lake creatures with me?” Kyle asked slowly, picking up a melted popsicle. 

Hails considered this. “More near death?”

Kyle nodded. 

“More weird explanations by you that could be better with explaining in them?”

Another nod.

“More burning kids?” 

“Oh yeah,” Kyle said animatedly. 

“Then it sounds like a blast,” Hails snorted. “Better than losing all the games or making useless crafts.”

“Who even uses those picture frames?” Kyle agreed, tossing the popsicle aside. “Seems like next year will be easier--than me trying to melt a bunch of lake monsters.” 

[hotpinkrathian]

Kyalin Week Day 6

Prompt Chosen- Modern AU

Now, I know people are tired of hearing about the pandemic, however when I saw Modern Au as an option on there I just had to write Kyalin during quarantine... it was too tempting.

"We have to quarantine at home for two weeks, its mandatory." Kya explained.

"I want even at the hospital, how could I have gotten it?"

"Because I was at the hospital, I could have it, and spread it to you." Lin crossed her arms, releasing a dramatic groan.

"Come on Lin, I know it's not ideal, and I'm sorry, but look on the bright side. We get two weeks off, just the two of us. We could, you know, try that thing you mentioned the other night."

"That was you who mentioned that."

"Well you didn't shoot it down, so its both our ideas now." Lin sighed, pursing her lips and Kya wrapped her in a hug.

"Alright, but as soon as my two weeks are up I'm going back to work."

"Of course." Kya kissed her on the cheek, watching as Lin disappeared into the bedroom. Her eyes panned the apartment, it looked like it could use a clean, so she got to work.

"What are we going to do for food?" Lin asked, staring into the empty fridge.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Kya, we have no food in here." Kya came up behind her, placing her chin in the nook of her neck, frowning at the sight of the fridge light that illuminated nothing but the shelves.

"We eat out too much. I can call Tenzin maybe he can bring us some supplies."

"No, Tenznin will bring us a very selective diet and If I'm going to be in here for two weeks then I need real food. You know Kya, these abs don't feed themselves." Kya raised an eyebrow, moments away from kissing Lin, when the earthbender pulled out her phone.

"Mako? Okay... okay... look, I'm out for two weeks. Try not to start a gang war while I'm gone. I need you to do something for me."

"Tell him to get KitKat!" Kya said, Lin raised a finger, telling Mako to get a pen and paper.

"You ready?" Lin asked him, and began to fill him in on their grocery desires.

"Pretzels too! I could use pretzels right about now..." Lin added pretzels to list of demands. Finally when they were satisfied with the list, they hung up the phone.

"He says he'll be around in an hour. He went to get Asami because he's never gotten groceries on this scale before."

"Smart."  Kya smiled up at Lin, who was checking her phone. "So..." Kya said, drumming her fingers on the counter, "what should we do for an hour?" Lin looked up, putting her phone face down on the counter.

"Well you're practically undressing me with your eyes."

"Am not!"

"Oh yeah?. What color bra do I have.on today?" Kya pursed her lips, thinking.

"White."

"Wrong, black."

"What? No.I remember this morning you-" she stopped as Lin pulled open her flannel, revealing the black bra she was indeed wearing.

"You tricked me." Lin smirked, walking around the counter and planting a kiss on Kya's lips.

"I have some paperwork to get done, call me when Mako gets here." Lin smirked as she walked off, and Kya glared at her, running her tongue over her teeth. Thinking about how there's no one else she'd rather be quarantined with.

Mako knocked, letting them know their things were outside their door, as per standard, they waited until the two kids had left before picking up their things, Lin put four bags on her arms, gesturing for Kya to take the remaining two. She put the stuff on the counter, and watched as Kya took the time to wipe everything with Lysol.

"Kya," Lin said seriously, "are you worried at all? About this whole thing?"

"Like being quarantined? No not all."

"No, not that, I mean more like the pandemic in general."

"Oh. I haven't really thought about it, but yeah, I guess I am. I'm worried about mom, I know she's safe as she could be in the south pole, but this isn't how I want her to go. Are you worried about Toph?"

"Are you kidding me? The woman couldn't die if she tried!" They laughed, and Lin put her hands behind her, gripping the edge of the counter. "In all serious, I'm more worried about the people, the news says the unemployment rate has sky rocketed in the last few days."

"Lin?" Kya asked, putting the wipes down. "We're good right? Financially?"

"Oh dear, of course. I've been working for thirty years, saved up as much as I could not to mention my share of the Beifong fortune... its not me I worry about."

"Mako?"

"Yeah."

"He'll be alright, we won't let anything happen to him. I bet Asami and Korra already have a plan for him that he's completely unaware of in case things go south." Lin smiled and Kya lifted her lips to Lin's scarred cheek.

"Come on," she said, "help me put this stuff away."

The two of them cooked together for supper, and Lin almost forgot what it was like to be home for supper, let alone to cook it.

"Okay I think I got it," Kya said, lifting the spoon to her mouth.

"Kya, that's the stirring spoon you can't lick it and put back."

"Oh yeah? Watch me." Kya drew her tongue over the spoon, maintaining eye contact with Lin and causing her to blush. Lin gulped, breaking the eye contact and Kya returned the spoon to the pot, stirring the sauce again. Lin went for the sink, grabbing Kya's butter as she went past.

"Lin!" She yelped, swatting her girlfriend playfully on the shoulder.

"I didn't do anything!"

"Yeah right!"

"I swear!" Kya narrowed her eyes, seeing through Lin's weak attempt to hide a smile.  Lin set the salad and the bread on the table, ordering the plates and glasses across form each other, lighting a candle in the center.

"Whats going on?" Kya asked, looking at Lin's arrangement.

"I figure, since we're here, I might as well make up for all the date nights I've had to reschedule, or cancel, and never got around to it." Kya looked at her thoughtfully, putting her pot on the table.

"You're telling me I've been on a date this whole time and didn't know?"

"Yep. Surprise," Kya stifled a laugh and sat across from Lin, staring at the other girl lovingly.

"Well, you should know I don't usually go home with someone on the first date."

"Well good thing its not the first date then." Kya raised her eyebrows, her eyes still locked with Lin as she brought a piece of food to her mouth. Lin caught Kya up on everything in her life, the abnormally quiet Pice Chief talked on and on, and Kya listened, absorbing every word of it.

"Kya?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you finished?"

"Oh, yeah,' she said, sitting up. Lin took her plate, and Kya admired her from behind.

"Lin," she said, "put the dishes down."

"What?"

"We'll do them tomorrow. Please, just kiss me already."

"What if you have Covid?" Kya chuckled.

"Then we'll both have it anyway." She pushed herself off her chair, meeting Lin halfway across the kitchen, their lips meeting in an epic dance. Kya jumped, wrapping her legs around Lin's waist and the metalbender's hands found places underneath Kya's thighs to hold her. Lin set her on the kitchen counter, pushing her abdomen in between Kya's legs.

"Been a while since we've done this," Lin admitted between breaths.

"We haven't had time."

"Well, now we have two weeks to make up for it." Kya smiled as Lin's lips clashed with hers again.

"I love you," Kya whispered.

"I love you too."

1 week of quarantine

"Wait so what happened in the last movie?" Kya asked, just to get a rise out of Lin.

"Kya, were you even paying attention? Qui Gon and Obi-wan, master and Padwan head to the desolate planet of Tattooine where they-"

"Lin, I'm kidding." Lin rolled her eyes and Kya cuddle in close, reaching her arm over into the popcorn bowl on Lin's lap.

"Don't do that again or I'll spoil it for you." Kya laughed, pressing a light kiss on Lin's cheek. When Kya had mentioned she'd never seen a Star Wars movie, Lin had organized a rather professional viewing of them all, in chronological order. Kya would much rather be doing something else, but she could see how excited Lin was to watch them with her, so she did. All the good (and bad) the movied had to offer.

"Whos that?"

"Anakin."

"The little boy?"

"Yeah, there's a time gap."

"Wow, he's so grown up."

"Just you wait," Lin said, placing a fistful of popcorn in her mouth. Befoee the movie could get any further, the phone rang, and Lin got up to answer it, letting the movie play for Kya.

"Hello? Pema is that you? Hmm? No we are just- really? Is everyone okay?" Kya sat up, looking over at her girlfriend with concern.

"Theres a breakout at the air temple," Lin whispered to Kya.

Oh no, poor Pema. I hope Rohan is okay.

"Is Tenzin there? Okay, well, try to stay calm, please Pema! Where's Jinora? Put her on the phone." Lin tapped the counter, waiting for the eldest of the Airbender kids to come to the phone.

"Jinora? Is everyone okay? Ikki has it? You need to keep her away from the others, don't let Rohan out of his room, and please, try to keep you're mother calm until your father gets home tomorrow. Yes... I love you too Jinora, good bye, as soon as we can leave we'll come down there." Lin put her phone on the counter with a sigh, and Kya ran up to her.

"We have to go, I can help them!" Kya pleaded.

"No, dear, we can't help them. If we go there we are just exposing ourselves to it, and I don't like to admit but we aren't exactly spring pig-chickens anymore Kya." Kya frowned, crossing her arms.

"Lin, they are our family."

"I know Kya, but we can help them by staying here, and staying healthy. Don't forget we can be incarcerated for leaving." Kya growled, scrunched her nose and Lin reached her hand out on the counter.

"One more week to go, we got this. Remember what you told me, try to enjoy it."

"Pretty sure I said we could try that technique from that movie where I use waterbending to-"

"Well I paraphrased it." Kya's lips formed a smile, and her heart melted at the soft look Lin was giving her.

"Come on," she said, "let's watch this movie." Lin nodded and the two of them returned to the sofa, Kya resting her head on Lin's lap, her hair being tousled by the police chief. Every so often she'd look up at Lin, who was absolutely enticed by the movie, even though she said it was 'the worst one.' She fell asleep before the end, and Lin let Kya stay there long into the night, moving her only once her own bladder couldn't take it any longer, placing her in their bed. Kya groaned softly, rolling over and pulling all the blankets for herself. Lin crawled in behind her, still holding her in her arms.

3 Days until the end of quarantine.

"Kya, I know you've lost all sense of time, but you need to put clothes on."

"Whats the point? No one comes, no one goes. No one sees me. No one knows..."

"If you start speaking in poetry again I'm locking you in the bathroom."

"Go ahead, at least there I hear the voices from the drain." Kya groaned, flopping onto the couch face first. Lin sighed.

"Do you.... need to talk?" Lin almost choked on the words, but it got Kya's attention and she sat upright.

"I've always been an extrovert Lin. Im a people person and now that the people in my life have been removed... I'm just a person." Lin pursed her lips, she hadn't thought about it like that before. She had always been reserved, truthfully quarantine had been easy for her, she did daily workouts, reading... other stuff with Kya. But Kya couldn't be on her phone for more than half an hour without needing a change of space.

"I don't know how to help you with that..." Lin started, "but I can... give you a hug?" Kya smiled sadly and walked up to Lin, forgetting her nudity and hugging her.

"Lets go on the porch for a bit," Kya said, "I need some air."

"You're going to have to put some clothes on then, I don't think the neighbors will appreciate your tits being out the same way I do." Kya laughed, looking down at her torso.

"Oh they would. But fine. I'll put on some clothes, but you better be the one taking them off later."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Kya grinned, satisfied with that, before she could dissappear into the bathroom however, Lin called to her.

"Oh, Kya!"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Maybe we can try that thing you mentioned last week." Kyas eyes went wide, and Lin smirked.

"This is why, I love you Lin Beifong."

"I love you too. Now go get dressed, we're going to miss the warmest part of the day." Kya sped off, and Lin watched her go, the same gentle smile pulling at the corners of her lips. I could be quarantined with her for the rest of my life, and I'd never get bored. When Kya returned, she skipped onto the porch, and Lin used her bending to extend the available area for the moment. Kya sat at the edge of the concrete, letting her feet hang over the edge, humming a gentle tune. Lin sat next to her, her lips pursed in indecision.

"Kya," she said, drawing the waterbenders crystal blue eyes to her. "When this is over, we should get married." Kyas eyes widened, and for a minute Lin thought she scared her, but then she was pulled into the most passionate kiss of the their relationship, nearly sending both of them to the ground below.

[drariellevalentine]

Medically Inevitable

Chapter 8- Glamorous Girls’ Night

Warnings:- Very mild cursing, alcohol

Characters:- Arielle Valentine, Sienna Trinh, Ethan Ramsey, Naveen Banerji, Alyssa Raines, Kyra Santana, Ines Delarosa, Jackie Varma, Arabelle Raines

Pairing:- Ethan Ramsey x Arielle Valentine

Arielle’s PoV:-

You wake up to Sienna's calls which by the time you go to pick up ends. Yawning you rub your eyes and reach for your phone. You unlock it to find seven missed calls and innumerable texts from Sienna.

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“OMG Si! I’m sooo sorry!! I didn’t see your texts at all! Please forgive me!!🥺🥺🥺”, you text back.

"..Fine. Only cause you're my bestie. Now I'm calling you, you're going to answer and tell me word for word of what happened yesterday night as punishment!" She texts you back almost immediately.

"Deal! Just give me a few minutes.", you reply. Getting up from the bed you reach for your bag to take out the things that you need. After brushing your teeth and then combing your hair you unlock your phone again. Going through the contact list you stop at Sienna's number and video call her. "Hi!" Sienna greets you excited.

"Hi," you say.

"You've got a lot to say Ari. But before that, everything is okay, right?" Her concerned voice asks.

"Yes, everything is fine," you smile at her concern.

"Good! Now I need all the details about the "work" you were doing that kept you so busy that you couldn't even reply to my texts or pick my call." You roll your eyes even though she can't see.

"The "work" I was doing was finding out what's wrong with my godfather. And I couldn't reply because I was sleeping."

"Ooh! "

"What "ooh!"?"

"Sleeping with your... " She doesn't finish the sentence but you don't need her to, you already know what she's saying.

"God Si! He's my boss!" She snickers.

"And I’m in his guest room, he's in his room!"

"I know Ari. I was just teasing you. You don't need to explain things to me."

"I know."

"But I need all the details though. What you talked about, even Dr. Banerji's symptoms and what diagnosis you guys made. Everything!" "Fine!" I start filling her with Naveen's condition and the diseases we ruled out.

"That's all?" She asks after I am done.

"Yeah...Why?"

"Medicine can't be the only thing you talked about..."

"Si," I try to warn her to stop teasing me.

"C'mon! There must be something!"

"Umm... his dog? He's so freaking cute! I almost tripped while watching him," you start saying. Well, correction, I tripped while watching him," you laugh.

"You tripped? And you are telling that to me now! Are you hurt?" Sienna switches to mother hen mode.

"Calm down Si! I sprained my ankle slightly but that's it."

"How badly did you injure yourself?

“I think I injured myself quite bad? I couldn't even walk properly, don’t worry it’s fine now! Dr. Ramsey had to carry me inside-" you abruptly stop realizing what you just said. You see Sienna's smirk growing wider.

"He did what?!" She asked surprised.

"Nothing."

"Arielle!"

"Sienna!"

"Ari!"

“Fine! He was just helping me okay?”

"Sureeee!" She says in a teasing voice, " I mean obviously bosses invite their interns to their home and then carries them inside like their bride!”

"Sienna!" I exclaim in a shocked voice and she laughs. You both talk for a little while and then wave goodbye. After ending your phone call with Si, you head out to the empty living room. “Hmm...he must be sleeping. Thank god, or else he would have heard everything!” You open the fridge and spot a bottle of almond milk. You pour yourself a glass and just try to relax, but can’t. Yesterday’s events keep running through your mind until you can’t take it anymore. You wash your glass and keep it aside when you spot a yoga mat tucked away in the corner. You go to your room and get dressed in the simple grey and black outfit, pulling your hair into a high ponytail. Wearing your AirPods, you play a playlist of tunes and head out to stretch. You start with slowly stretching our your entire sore body, making sure not to put much weight on your ankle. Starting with a few simple positions, you slowly work your way up to the harder ones. Pulling out your phone, you quickly set a timer and flex yourself into another position, just as the flash goes off. You quickly post it on Instagram.

Ethan’s PoV:-

You wake up to the alarm you set for 6:45, brushing and flossing your teeth. You pull on a dark grey v-neck and head out with a half-asleep where you see Arielle in a very twisted, complex position. Not knowing why, you find yourself mesmerised by the fluid way she moves her body from one position to the next. She arches her back and kicks her leg up, twisting her head to the side when she sees you leaning near the doorframe. Letting out a small yelp of surprise, she quickly brushes herself off, taking off her earphones and heads towards you. “Good morning! I didn’t see you there.” You can’t but help trail your eyes over her body, skin-tight leggings and all. She doesn’t seem to notice as she focuses her attention on Jenner.

“Hey, boy! Looks like somebody’s sleepy!” She looks up at you. “I hope you don’t mind, I grabbed a glass of almond milk from the fridge. You were sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb you.”, she says as she scoops him into her arms.

“That’s quite alright. You do know I have a treadmill here right? You can use it if you want, there’s also some other equipment here.” You lead her to an open but tucked away place where you’ve set up all your equipment.

“Join me.”, she says.

“I will.” You head to your room and pull on an outfit and find her using your old treadmill, talking to Jenner at the same time. You’ve never seen Jenner get along with someone this quickly.

“I don’t know why you bought a new one. This is perfectly fine.”, she says as she notices you enter.

“For your height, yes. The handlebars are quite short.”

“Hey! I can’t help it that I’m short! Plus, you’re 6’4”! That’s as tall as a basketball player!”, she says ridiculously. You laugh as you start running on the new treadmill beside her. In 30 minutes, both of you have worked up a good sweat and appetite.

“Okay, I’m done! I’m going to take a shower and then we’ll make something for breakfast.” She heads off to her room as you finish off yours and jump in the shower. After getting dressed and drying your hair until it’s damp, you head into the kitchen to find her climbing on top of the kitchen counter. She’s dressed in a very short hoodie and jeans...or leggings, you’re not quite sure.

“What are you doing?!”

She turns around as she shouts, “Don’t sneak up on a girl like that! I’m trying to grab that pan. Why do you keep everything up so high?!” Laughing, you grab the pan from the shelf with ease and hand to her as she gets down.

“You do know how to cook, right?” She gives you an incredulous look.

“I’m making banana French Toast. Is that okay? I mean you have all the ingredients.” Thank god she isn’t making pancakes.

“Okay, So what’s your recipe?” She gestures to a spread of ingredients. “I need two bowls, a fork and a electric whisk.” You pull out everything from the cabinets and hand it to her. “Okay, first we’ll start with the eggs.” She cracks a few into the bowl and whisks them vigorously until they turn pale yellow and frothy. “Now the sugar and butter.” You hand her the softened butter and sugar. Without measuring, she adds them into the eggs.

“No measuring?”, you ask.

“Naveen.”, she nonchalantly responds as she beats the mixture. You recall the times of when he would cook, never using any type of measurement.

“That man despises measuring cups.”

“Tell me about it! Him and my cousin have debates about it every single time they meet. My cousin’s a professional chef. Now, hand me those ripe bananas.” Handing them over, she quickly peels and mashes them together, adding a lot of vanilla extract. You raise an eyebrow.

“It tastes much better! Now the milk, just enough to thin out the batter.” You hand her the carton of milk. She incorporates it into the batter. Then picking up the bowl of eggs, butter and sugar, she carefully folds it into the banana.

“Okay, done! Now, hand me that pan.” She turns on the stove and adds just a touch of butter to the pan. “If you add too much butter, the bread will become too soft.” She takes a slice of bread and submerges it into the batter. Holding it for a few seconds, she places it onto the pan. Making about 5 pieces while you put away all the ingredients and brew coffee, she places two in one and three in another.

“Do you have chocolate or maple syrup?” You hand her both of them. She pours a little to yours while adding a lot to hers, bringing both the plates to the dining table, along with the coffee you brewed. Jenner starts sniffing the plates.

“No, no, no. Those aren’t for you, they have chocolate. Let’s go get you some food. Where you you keep the dog food?” You pull out Jenner’s food and set a bowl of food and water for him, then go sit down with Arielle.

She pushes the plate with 3 slices towards you. “Try it! It’s one of my special recipes.” You take a bite and you try not to show any emotion. Lord, that is good! “So...how is it?”

“It’s adequate.” She laughs as she takes a bite. Both of you start eating when suddenly her phone rings, Jenner starts barking.

She bends down, “It’s okay, boy. It’s just this.” She shows him her lit up phone. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

Arielle’s PoV:-

You open your phone and see it’s Elijah. “Hey Elijah!”

“Where the hell were you, Ari! We were worried!”

“I’m so sorry! I’m at.. my friend’s house right now. I told Si though.”

“Yeah, I know. She tried calling you but you didn’t answer yesterday. Anyways, apparently you left your shift early yesterday? What happened?”

“Oh that. I wasn’t feeling well and Ines sent me home, I’m fine though now. I ended up twisting my ankle so I couldn’t drive home last night. I’ll be at the apartment in an hour.”

“K, see you.” You hang up and turn to Ethan where you find him finishing his plate. “Sorry about that. My roommates were wondering where I was. Sienna covered for me so I’m fine.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you left your shift early?” You wince, completely forgetting what you told him.

“I didn’t exactly want to explain, plus I’m fine now.” He nods.

“How did you all get an apartment together, did you know each other before?” You recount the story of what happened as you finish off breakfast. After helping him with the dishes, you go to your room and pack all your stuff and head towards the door as Ethan follows.

“I had a nice time, although I wish we had met by Naveen introducing us. Probably would have saved me that first dressing down.” You notice a flash of regret in his eyes. “But I still don’t mind how we met.” You wave as you head down to your car, driving towards your apartment. You find Elijah, Sienna and Landry on the sofa, watching a movie. “Hey guys!” They turn to look at you.

“Where were you?”, Landry asks. You’re careful not to give away anything.

“My friend was visiting from Chicago, I went to see him.” You drop your stuff and sit near Sienna, as you watch the movie.

“So...what happened this morning?”, she smirks.

“Nothing! Now shut up!”, you say playfully, but quietly.

A few hours later, you, Sienna and Jackie are lounging on the sofa after lunch. “Guys, I’m bored and burnt out from studying. Let’s do something.”, Jackie says.

“But what? Elijah and Landry have gone to another baseball game for a guys’ night with some of the surgical interns.”, Si says. An idea strikes you.

“Guys, what if we have a girls’ night?! We could have a spa day! What do you say?!”

“That’s a great idea! But who do we invite?”, Si asks. You think.

“Let’s invite Kyra and Ines. I’ll go see if Phoebe’s in. And... I think Alyssa’s in town.”, you say.

“Who’s Alyssa?”, Jackie asks.

“My sister-in-law.”, you reply.

“OMG! Do you mean Alyssa Raines? The fashion icon of all time!?”, Si bursts. You nod.

“Yep! And I think she might bring Arabelle along too.”

Sienna shrieks, “This is going to be so much fun! Right Jackie?!” She rolls her eyes.

“Okay, So I have a bunch of products for whipping up masks and scrubs, so I’ll get them out and start organising after calling Alyssa. You two see if Kyra, Ines and Phoebe are up for it. It’s 3 right now so...tell them to come over at 5.” Both of them step outside the apartment to call Phoebe.

You go into your room and call Aly.

“Aunt Arielle! Hiiiii!”, she shouts. You can hear Aly shouting in the background to give the phone to her.

“Hi Belle. Can you do Zia a favour and give the phone to mommy please?”

“Okay!........Hey Ari!”

“Hey Aly, I was just wondering if you were in town. The girls and I were planning to do a spa day. Do you want to join?”

“I don’t know...I need someone to watch Belle”-

You cut her off. “You can bring Belle along. So, it starts at 5. Can you make it?”

“Umm...let me check.” You hear her talking to one of her assistants. “Yeah, I’ll be there. Do you want me to bring anything?”

You think. “Well...it would be nice if we all had matching robes. I’ll send you the address.”

“I should have something in the warehouse. I’ll see you at 5. Bye!” You hang up and turn around to find Si and Jackie entering.

“So, Phoebe is out of town but Kyra and Ines are coming.”, they say.

“Great! Aly’s coming with Belle and I asked her to bring us all matching robes. So that’s...6 ladies and Belle.” You quickly shoot Aly a text and turn to them.

“Okay, so we’ll need to set up an area, arrange everything and probably make some refreshments.”

“Ooh! I saw these really cute pizza bites on Insta yesterday! I’ll make those and lemonade...and then get out some snacks and make something sweet.”

“Si, that’s a lot. You sure you don’t need help?”

“Nope! I’ve got it!” She heads towards the kitchen, a bounce in her step.

“Okay, So we’ll set up in my room.” You start clearing up space in your huge room, layering blankets and pillows.

“Okay, so I’ll get out some towels, mirrors & bowls and you arrange them, Jackie.”

“She arranges them as she asks you, “You’ve done this before, you’re quite good.”

“I host most of the holidays and celebrations at home.” You open one of your cabinets, revealing boxes and shelfs full of beauty products.

“My god, Arielle! How much do you even have? No wonder your skin is so clear.”

You laugh. “There all my godfather’s secrets. His Indian heritage held so much information about natural skincare, and I’ve been interested since a very young age.” You pull everything out and arrange it on your bed.

“I mean I’m Indian too, but I don’t do any of this, but maybe I should. Wouldn’t hurt to have a little bit of natural beauty.”

“...that’s everything! Let’s go help Sienna.” You both head to the kitchen, a mouthwatering smell wafting from it. After an hour full of prepping, the doorbell rings. You open it and a tiny but strong force collides with your legs. You look up to see Aly standing there, behind her Ines and Kyra.

“Aunt Arielle! Hi!!!”, she adorably says making everything laugh. You scoop her up into your arms and give her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey Aly!” She gives you a hug.

“Long time no see, Dr. Valentine.” You smile as you lead them inside. “Nice place.”, Aly says.

“Hey, Doc. You never told me you were famous, I mean the Alyssa Raines is your sister-in-law!” You all laugh.

“Well maybe I could have if you had stopped teasing me.”, you counter.

“Hey Arielle, are you feeling better now?”, Ines asks.

“I told you already that day itself, I’m fine. But thank you for asking!” You introduce everyone to everyone and lead them inside.

“Here Ari. I brought the robes you asked for.” Aly hands everyone the robes and everyone gets dressed.

You notice Jackie tense up when Belle walks near her. “She’s really sweet, Jackie. Just talk to her.”

“Hi! What’s your name?”, Belle asks.

“Jackie.”

“Ooh! That’s a really cool name.” You see Jackie’s eyes flash with surprise as she starts to warm up to her.

“So, why didn’t you get dressed like everyone else?”, Belle asks.

“Because I don’t like to wear them.”

“Aw! Why not! You would look really pretty! But you would look pretty in anything, like my mom and aunt.”, Belle responds. You see Jackie laugh as she leaves to go get changed. Soon everyone is changed and sitting on the makeshift area.

“Okay! Let’s get started! First, get into pairs.”, you say. Kyra picks you, as Aly and Jackie pair up. Sienna and Ines also pair up.

“I’ll help everyone with whatwever they need! Mommy has one, I forgot what they’re called.”, Belle says as you all laugh.

“They’re called an assistant, Belle.”

“As-ashis-...I’ll just help!”, Belle says as you all burst into laughter, again.

“She’s adorable Alyssa! How old is she?”, Ines asks.

“She turned 5 a few months ago. Although sometimes she can act like she’s much older, sometimes.”, Aly replies.

“Okay! We’ll start with hair, taking turns and later rinsing it off in the tub. Okay, so what kind of mask do you all want?”, you ask. After a short discussion, they each decide on a hair mask. You grab the bottle of your coconut hair mask for hydration for you & Kyra, a hibiscus one for hair fall for Si and Ines, and an almond and vitamin E for shine for Jackie and Aly. Everyone settles down and starts.

“You sure know a lot about this stuff.”, Kyra says as you massage the mask into her hair, placing a towel on her neck.

“It’s an interest of mine.”

“Well, if the doctor thing doesn’t work out, you can always turn into a spa worker. Although I’d have to find you a new nickname.”, she says.

“What nickname?”, you turn to see Jackie, Aly massaging her scalp.

“The female version of McDreamy!”, Kyra says. They all burst into giggles.

“Let’s play some music!”, Belle says.

“Great idea, Belle! Can you play some songs from my phone?” She unlocks your phone and plays the playlist you tell her to.

“Ines, there’s a speaker right beside you. Can you turn it on?” She turns it on and music starts blasting. Everyone starts singing but you keep quiet.

“Aunt Arielle, why aren’t you singing?”, Belle asks.

“That’s cause if she sings, we’ll all sounds like giraffes. No offence.”, Jackie says.

“Really, I’ve never heard you sing. If you can sing that well, then I’m making you sing one of Ariana’s songs.” She changes the song to “One Last Time” by Ariana Grande.

You start belting out the first few lines, as others start to join in. By the time you’re finished with the song, your voice is winded.”

“Damn girl, you’ve got pipes!”, Kyra says.

“Why, thank you.”, you say. All of you sing together as you finish up each other’s masks. “Is everyone done?” They all nod.

“Okay, now Jackie and Sienna, go to your bathtubs and fill them up with cold water. Then wash them with the shampoo and conditioner I’m giving you. Whoever did their mask first, wash your hair first.” You hand out all the respective soaps and towels to everyone, then lead Kyra to yours.

You plug the bathtub then turn on the water.

“Okay, So lean your head back after sitting on the stool.” She does as you say.

“So, I guess you’ve been doing this for a long time. I mean like taking care of your hair and skin.”

You nod. “I have. It’s something that my godfather taught me. My hair was always really long and thick, and I always loved taking care of it. Especially when I hit that teenage age, the tips he gave me are still so useful.”

“Oh! I remember when I hit mine, it was horrible. Braces, acne...”, she shudders.

You laugh, “Well look at you now. All done!”, you ring out her hair carefully and wrap it in a towel.

“Okay, now you sit down.” You sit down and flip your hair. She starts massaging and pouring water, cleansing your hair.

“Mmm...That feels good.”

“Your hair is so long! How do you even maintain it! I tried but my hair ended up looking like a bush by the time it got longer than my shoulders!”

“I’ve trained and took care of it from a very young age. My mother died when I was a baby, and my father always said that I always had my mother’s hair. I don’t know, it just feels right...like I’m making her proud when I do something for my hair or skin. I know that sounds silly.”

“It isn’t, it’s quite sweet. But it’s hard not having a mother.”

“It is. But luckily I was fortunate enough to have other amazing people in my life.” She wraps your head in a towel and you both head out to your room where you find the rest of the girls.

“All done?”, Si asks.

“Yep! Now it’s time for facials!” All of you spend hours pampering yourself, occasionally snacking and having a few flutes of champagne, giving Belle lemonade. By the time you’re all done with your facials, hair, nails... it’s around 8.

“Wait! I want to take a picture! Everyone pose!!” Everyone poses on your bed as Belle clicks a photo. You post it.

“I had so much fun! We should do this again sometime.”, Ines says. “Definitely! Next time, you’re all invited to my house.”, Aly says as Bella yawns. “Looks like someone’s sleepy.”

“Well I’m not! Does anyone have any plans for tonight?”, Jackie asks. Everyone shakes their head.

“Oh! What do you guys think of going out, to a club?!”, Kyra says. Everyone nods in agreement.

“I don’t know...I need someone to watch Belle..”, Aly says.

“I have the perfect person to watch Belle. Can you guys start cleaning this up?” You lead Aly outside.

“We’ll drop her later at Naveen’s.” You remember Ethan saying that he takes Naveen home to his apartment after his last shift.

“You two reconciled!? I’m so happy for you two! Finally, my favourite father-daughter duo is back together!” You laugh, careful not to spill anything about Naveen’s condition. “We did.” You enter your room. “Okay, that’s sorted out!”

“I didn’t bring anything to wear!”, Kyra exclaims.

“Neither did I!”, Ines agrees.

“Calm down! I’m right here and you people are worrying about club outfits! Hmm...what do guys say to a quick trip to one of Flair’s stores here? We’ll all pick out an outfit and I’ll get one of the stylists to do our makeup!”, Aly says as everyone cheers.

“Woo! Girls’ night, Girls’ night, Girls’ night!”, Sienna chants as everyone joins in.

“Okay! Let’s go!” After taking a cab to one of Flair’s branches, you all enter the huge ritzy store, Aly staying behind for a phone call.

“Arielle, what a pleasant surprise! Are you hear to model the new autumn lingerie collection?”, Sophie, Aly’s assistant and one of your friends.

“Not today, but I might come in later when I have time. So, my friends and I are hitting the town and we need the sexiest outfits! Aly’ll be here in a sec.”

“Awesome! I’ll go get everyone a stylist and you know about Flair’s collections so you tell the stylists for what line to look in.” She calls a bunch of stylists. You direct one for each person, “Okay, for Sienna, Ines and Kyra, the Sweet but Sexy line. Then for Jackie, Leather & Lace. For me...surprise me, Sophie. You know my style better than me.” Everyone heads off in different directions as Aly comes in with Belle.

“Let me guess, Ari wants you to pick her outfit?” All three of you laugh. “Okay, I’ll go find something. Belle, will you help me?”

“Ooh! Yeah, mommy! Aunt Arielle, wait for me, I want to pick your outfit too!” She skips off, Aly following her. “Okay, I might have just the thing for you.” Sophie leads me to a dressing room and tells me to wait there. You’re scrolling through your messages when your phone chimes with a new one from Naveen.

Sophie knocks and hands the dresses to you. You put them aside and reply. After texting, you quickly eye the dresses and try them on. After much deliberation, you pick two same dresses of different colours. “Ughh! I can’t decide!” Suddenly the door whips open, revealing Belle.

“I helped mommy pick out an outfit! Do you want any help?!”

You hold up the velvet dresses, one in baby pink and the other in wine red. “Which one is better, Amorina?”

“Uh...I like the red one cause you can wear matching red lipstick with it! You look really pwetty with red lipstick!”, she replies.

“Then, red it is! Can you wait outside for a minute?” She goes outside and you slip on the dress and half-coverage bra that Sophie gave you. Stepping outside, you ask her what she thinks.

“You look preeeeety!” You giggle.

“I’ll go do my makeup and then I’ll go drop you off. Guess who’s babysitting you?”, you ask. She shrugs.

“Grandpa Naveen is.” She cheers. “Now, do you want to help me in choosing some accessories?” She nods and runs off. “She has sooo much energy. I wish I had the energy of a 5 year old. My shifts would be much easier!”, you think as so run after her. You find Si and Ines standing there. “Hey!”

“You look beautiful!”, Ines exclaims. Si agrees.

“Thank you!” Just then Belle runs with something in her hand and hands it to you. It’s a gold, multi-layer body chain. “You really are your mother’s daughter! It’s beautiful!”

“Yay! Try it on, try it on!”, she exclaims. Si steps forward and helps you with the chain, securing it in place. You look in the mirror, it looks amazing.

“Ari, give me your phone!”, Si says.

“Why?”

“Cause you look really sexy right now and I’m not letting this photo op go to waste!” You laugh and give her your phone. She leads you to a plush white tufted bench and instructs you how to pose. “Okay, stay still and....Done!” She shows you the pic. “What do you think?”

“You took an amazing photo! I’ll post it.” You quickly post the sexy photo of yourself.

Just then Jackie and Aly saunter in, both wearing Leather & Lace. “I knew you two would get along!”, you say.

“Okay, Arielle. We’ll do your hair and makeup first so you can drop Belle off. By the time you come back, everyone will be ready.” They all usher into a chair as Si starts with your hair and Aly with makeup. They show you the mirror.

“Wow...I look...beautiful!”, you say surprised. Your hair has been let down in thick curls, parted to the side and sprayed with sparkly hairspray. Your makeup is simple but elegant, until the bright red lip.

“You’ve always been pretty.”, Aly says.

“Okay, I’ll go drop Belle off!”

“Wait! What about your shoes, earrings and jacket?...”, Si exclaims. She runs off, returning with matching gold tipped red velvet stilettos, gold hoop earrings and a bunch of rings and necklaces. Expertly placing them,she shoos you away.

“I’ll get a jacket later, come on Belle!” She runs up and holds your hand as you walk to the car. You place her in the backseat, fastening her seatbelt and you slip in the driver’s seat. “Can we leave, Belle?”

“Yeah! But I want music! Can you play something from Frozen, please?!” You nod, playing a Frozen playlist from your phone and connect to the car. Both of you sing the whole 15 minutes of driving. Pulling up, you lead her to the top floor. “Which door?”

“1204.” She runs up and knocks on the door, Frozen style. It takes you a while to catch up, because of those heels.

“...Do you want to build a snowman?!”

Ethan’s PoV:-

Hearing knocking and singing, you open the door to find an adorable 5 year old with a huge smile on her face. “You must be Belle. Who brought you here?”

“Aunt Arielle did! Where’s grandpa?!”, she asks.

“I’m right here! Come here and give me a hug!”, Naveen says. You smile as the girl runs into your mentor’s arms.

“Hey...sorry if this was last minute. I do know a lot of other babysitters but Naveen hasn’t seen her in a while.” You look up to see Arielle, wearing a wine red short dress, her hair let down in spiraling curls and her perfect lips painted red, leaving you trying to tear your eyes away.

“It’s fine. Come in, Naveen would want to see you.” She removes her heels and steps in.

“Sunshine, what a lovely surprise! You look beautiful!”

“Thank you. Belle picked out this dress.” She turns to Belle. “Now, be a good girl for Grandpa and Ethan, okay?”

“Mhm. I will! Byeee!” She kisses her on the cheek and turns to Naveen.

“Have fun, and please don’t exert yourself too much.” She gives him a hug and turns to you, slipping her heels on. “Thank you so much for looking after her. She doesn’t have any allergies or restrictions so there shouldn’t be any problem. She also loves dogs!”....She hesitates. “I’ll see you later.”, she heads to her car and drives away.

“Hi!! What’s your name?”

“My name is Ethan Ramsey.”

“Ohh! Aunt Arielle says your name a lot! She says that you’re very smart! Are you her boyfriend?!” You almost choke at that last bit.

“That wouldn’t be appropriate.”, you respond.

“Why not?!”, Belle asks.

“Because, I’m your aunt’s boss.”

“Ohhh! So you’re Aunt Arielle’s husband! She never told me though!” Your face is now beet red.

“Now what makes you think that, Belle?”, Naveen asks. You glare at him but he cuts you off.

“Well mommy says daddy’s name a lot. She also says that he’s very very smart. When they both first met, daddy was mommy’s boss. And now he’s mommy’s husband so that’s why I asked.”, she innocently says. “But I still don’t think they’re married!”, she says.

“Well Belle, what makes you think they’re not married?”, he asks.

“Naveen!” He gestures you to be quiet.

“Well, Aunt Arielle doesn’t have a ring like mommy and she doesn’t live with Uncle Ethan either. Also, Aunt Arielle would never have her wedding without me! She says I’m her favourite person in the world.”

“I think you’ve met your match, Ethan! Look how smart she is!”, Naveen says with a huge grin on his face.

You roll your eyes. “Are you hungry?”

“Nope! Let’s play! Will you play with me please!?” She gives you the same eyes Arielle gives you when she’s asking for something.

“Alright, do you like dogs?” Her face lights up, you can’t but help thinking about a certain intern. “Damnit Ramsey! Snap out of it!”

“You have a dog?!!! Can I see!?”, she shrieks. You lead her to your bedroom, where Jenner is lazily napping.

“Hey boy! Look who’s here. You have a new friend!” He perks up and goes near Belle, they suddenly run out of the room chasing each other and in the process, knocking down one of your lamps.

Naveen laughs. “Looks like you’ve got your hands full! Let’s see if one of the world’s best diagnosticians can handle a 5 year old for a night!”

You sigh, knowing this is going to be a long night.

[charlietheepicwriter7]

Hey, Little Songbird

Chapter 3 - AO3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The place Dupain-Cheng took him to was a small bakery not far from the school. Stepping inside, the smell of fresh baked bread assaulted his nose. In the display case, dozens of macaroons in all colors lined parchment paper next to croissants and cream-stuffed pastries. Felix expected Dupain-Cheng to get in line to order; instead, the girl skipped the line, approaching the woman at the register directly. "Hi, Maman," Dupain-Cheng greeted. 

Felix wanted to scoff as he watched mother and daughter hug. Of course, she'd take him to her family bakery! She wouldn't be able to afford any of the places his pallet was used to. But... despite his first instinct, the establishment did have a rather... warm feel to it, further embellished y the downpour outside. And the food did look impeccable. Not his usual fare, certainly, but one day off his diet wouldn't hurt him. 

"Welcome home, Marinette," her mother greeted. Her eyes met his and furrowed with confusion before her expression smoothed out. "Who's your friend? He's never dropped by before." 

So she could tell him and Adrien apart. Good. 

"Ah! Maman, this is -" 

"Felix Graham de Vanily," Felix cut in smoothly, smiling charmingly. "I'm new in class and your daughter has been kind enough to help me gain my barrings at Fransis-Depoint. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mme. Cheng." He bowed at the waist, eyes lowered. He wanted to make a good impression - 

"It's nice to to meet you too, Felix," Mme. Cheng nodded, seemingly amused. "Why don't you two grab something from the back and eat upstairs." She glanced at the line, which had only grown in number since they arrived. "It seems like it's about to get full down here."

"Thanks, Maman." Dupain-Cheng pressed a kiss to her mother's cheek. "Come on, back here."

Felix followed her behind the counter and into the kitchen beyond where an extremely large man, presumably her father, was icing a particularly tall wedding cake. "Hey, Dad! Felix and I are just grabbing some food before going upstairs."

The father smiled, surprisingly calm about his daughter arriving with a strange boy in his shop. "Go right ahead! There's some fresh chicken salad and cold cuts in the fridge if either of  you want them."

They each loaded up their plates, but when Dupain-Cheng started to ascend the stairs, Felix hesitated. He looked back at M. Dupain. "Sir... Forgive me, but how do I pay for this?" Father and daughter exchanged a shocked glance. "I didn't get a chance to properly observe the menu, so otherwise I'd-"

"Don't worry about it!" M. Dupain laughed. "No friend of Marinette has to pay! Consider it the 'friends and family' discount." 

Felix frowned. He didn't really consider them friends yet; acquaintances, yes, but not friends. Though, if the quality of his classmates refused to improve, she might end up being the only person he could stand talking to on a regular basis. "Sir, I must insist-"

"They're not going to let you pay, trust me," Dupain-Cheng said. "You're not the first person to try, nor are you going to be the last. Just come on." She went upstairs and Felix reluctantly followed. He wasn't used to other people doing favors for him. Usually people wanted favors, thinking he'd be naive enough to allow them to ride off the Graham de Vanily family coat tails. Felix never allowed that mentality to stick around him long; no one had ever been stupid enough to try more than once. 

The familial part of the home looked nothing like the elegant, cold entry hall of his family's manor, nor did the connecting living room resemble any parlor or sitting room that he's ever been in. It looked well-used, lacking the meticulous housekeeping that the maids kept, with a blanket crumpled up on the couch and a video game console pushed to the side, like someone had finished playing in a hurry. He could see into the open kitchen from the living room and noticed that although it looked clean, there were dishes stacked in the skin. Was this how commoners lived? Clearly despite their beloved establishment, the Dupain-Chengs weren't nearly as well off as some of the other members of their school, like himself, Adrien, and Chloe. So how did they attend? The tuition was rather costly; did she get in on scholarship? 

Of course, Felix had enough sense not to ask her about her family's financial status.  Things simply weren't done in polite society, and while Felix often didn't feel the need to follow those unspoken rules, there was no need to insult someone in their own home. 

Dupain-Cheng sat on the couch while Felix took the love seat nearby, sitting gingerly upon it as though it could bite him. Despite the home being so banal, Felix found himself... liking it. It was warm, much like how the bakery below was warm, with a lingering sense of comfort radiating from every square centimeter of the home. He found himself sinking into the plush of the chair without meaning to. 

To distract his mind, he tucked into lunch, only to find his meal delicious. He paused after a single mouthful. Somehow, the simple meal was able to rival those made by the professional chefs in his family's employ. Good work deserves to be complimented, so Felix told Dupain-Cheng so and she flushed. "T-Thanks. I'm sure my parents appreciate it," she said with a cough, having swallowed some of her food wrong. "Would you like to go over where we are in the curriculum now?"

"Yes, that would be quite useful."

She showed him her notes for their classes and just as he thought, he was already ahead in most subjects. The only exception was literature, but only because his school had focused more on British authors than French. Still, it wouldn't take for him to catch up. But there was still one thing about the day that bothered him and since Dupain-Cheng volunteered her service, he asked, "I am unsure if this falls under you assisting me around the school, but could you explain what that Lila girl was trying to do today?"

Dupain-Cheng set down her utensils and exhaled heavily. "What has she lied about this time?"

"Apparently I pushed her after a greeting. Which is odd because I had no idea she existed before class." Not that Felix really cared. But saying he pushed her was a step too far; he has far more subtly than direct physical assault. At least be clever when you try to slander him!

"Huh, so she's directly attacking you already? That's weird, I could have sworn she'd make up some lie about forgiving you and promising to help you meet your favorite celebrity if you promised to be nice."

He scoffed, but Dupain-Cheng made no similar noise. Like... she was serious. Oh God, she was serious. "Are you telling me people actually believe that swill?" 

"Most of our class, Mme Bustier, and our principal. Fortunately she hasn't started working on making the people in other classes believe her yet, but there are a handful there too." It seemed as though speaking about it unleashed a dam inside the girl. "And it doesn't make any sense because most of her lies can be disproven with either an internet search or a phone call! She claimed that she saved Jagged Stone's cat from an airplane, but was there any media coverage from it? None at all! She claims to go on all these expensive vacations, but either her photos got damaged on the way back or she just shows the class stock images of generic tourist stuff. And the volunteer work! Sure, I can understand charities not advertising who their workers are, but all you'd have to do is call them and every charity she's mentioned ends up saying that a Lila Rossi never worked with their organization. I just... I don't understand how they can keep falling for this stuff! None of them even bother to consider that she could be lying!" Her chest heaved after her rant, but she looked relieved, like she'd finally been able to get it off her chest. "They... none of them even think that I'm telling the truth," she continued in a small voice. "They all think that poorly of me."

Their... classmates, as much as Felix hated to admit any relation to those morons, had really done a number on her. He found empathy to be distasteful, especially with his plan to become a ruthless business man later in life, but he could help but pity her. Not that he'd ever admit it. Perhaps he could change the subject? Or at least lighten the mood. 

"I'm going to be surrounded by idiots then. Lovely." She shot him a hurt look. "Well, not you. Obviously. Though seeing past such a clear liar isn't really a point towards you as it is a negative three against the others."

"You rate people on a point scale?" Her eyes were starting to lighten, brighten. 

"Only when I need to inform others of how lowly I consider them." He sniffed haughtily. 

"Does that mean you think better of me than them?" she teased, a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

"No need to get a big head now; it's not that you're better, but rather that you're less awful." He smirked in return, hopefully letting her know that he was returning her tease. At least, he thought that's what he was doing. He never really understood how to communicate with his peers in a fashion that reflected well on him. 

"I'm pretty sure that's the definition of better though." 

"Well, if you're so desperate to claim the title, you could always prove it." Felix folded his hands under his chin. "Prove that you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are worthy of my time."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure if I want it now."

He frowned in disappointment, but inside he was triumphant. "Truly a shame; and here I wanted to get to know the real Dupain-Cheng... But alas I fear that knowledge will forever be out of reach." 

"Who says 'alas' anymore?"

"Well!" he huffed, "Just because you're unused to refined vocabulary doesn't mean you have to insult me, Mademoiselle!"

The verbal sparring went back and forth for a while and as rapier wit battled rapier wit, Felix found it hard to keep a smile off his face.

Taglist: @graduatedmelon @novicevoice @dur55 @kris-pines04 @18-fandoms-unite-08 @moonlightstar64 @bee-a-garbage-shipper @sol-o-shade @kittyotakunoir666 @tinyterror333 @allieoftheenemy @marichat00 @xgxmxtx

[adenei]

Finding My Way To You - Chapter 2

I’ve been going back and forth between doing a one shot vs. making a multi-chap fic. @my-patronus-is-a-champagne-glass​ gave me two prompts a while back. The first I wrote in Misreading the Signs, which serves as Chapter 1. 

This is chapter 2 that continues it. The prompt that I’m working towards is: “Let’s get drunk and tell each other everything we’re afraid to say sober.”

A brief summary: Ron and Hermione haven’t talked about the kiss that happened during the battle. Chapter 1 found them out at a bar, a girl hitting on Ron and Hermione getting upset. In this chapter we have them arriving in Australia, still no closer to admitting their feelings to each other.

Hope you like it !

Arrival

Portkey travel to Australia had been absolutely abysmal. Even with the time between each portkey, by the time they’d arrived in Melbourne, Hermione was feeling incredibly nauseous. She was really thankful Ron was with her because she was sure she’d only heard about half of what the Australian Ministry official had said.

“...alright then, so here are your keys to the studio flat we’ve arranged for you during your stay here. It’s not very large, and only one bedroom, but the sofa pulls out into a bed if needed,” he eyed them both. “Everything you’ve requested is here in this bag. It’s got a variety of local phone books, as well as a list of all the muggle dentistry offices within a fifty mile radius. We’re still working on the list of Monica and Wendell Wilkins in the area, but we’ll send you an owl once that’s finished. Is there anything else we can help you with?”

“Er, where is the nearest grocery to where we’re staying?” Hermione managed to ask, though food was not anywhere near the forethought of her mind. She’d just had a flashback to being on the run, and wanted to make sure she knew where to purchase food since it’d be easier to buy and cook instead of getting constant takeaway.

“There’s one just down the block! Though, I’m afraid it won’t be open until morning.”

“That’s fine, thank you,” she said. Hermione looked at Ron to see if he had any other questions, but he stayed quiet.

“Right then, if you’ll just take my arm, I’ll side-along you to your flat. It’s right on the outside of the wizarding village. Technically, it’s in a muggle neighborhood, but the Ministry owns it for our out of town visitors. Sorry, we don’t get many portkeys in at this hour of night, it’s nice to have some company,” the man chuckled. 

Ron held out his hand for Hermione to take, which she did as Ron grabbed onto his forearm. Hermione braced herself for the apparition, knowing that after this she could lie down and take a nap. Hermione felt the familiar tug and she no sooner closed her eyes than she opened them again and they were outside in a quaint little park. They walked through and across the street to a three story brick building. 

“Right, so you’re flat 2A. The grocery is down the street that way,” he pointed. The passcode to get into the building is 5298. There’s an area in the cellar with a few owls in case you need to send anything, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything. Like I said before, we’ll be in touch when we get that last bit of information to you. The name’s Graham, Graham Jacobsen, if you need anything at all.”

“Thanks for your help,” Ron said as Graham tipped his cap to him and began walking away. Ron typed in the passcode, and they entered through the door and walked up to their flat. He put the key into the door and let themselves in. Hermione followed close behind. Graham wasn’t kidding. It was small. There was a kitchenette to the right, with a small table. To the left there was a desk and chair, couch and table that made up the tiny living room. Straight ahead was a door that led to the bedroom, and the bathroom was through a door beyond that. 

Ron walked into the bedroom and set down the two bags, before coming back out to the sitting room. “You should go rest.”

“Yeah, I think I will,” Hermione said as she looked at him. 

“You take the bedroom,” he said, reading her mind.

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes, Hermione. We’re here to find your parents. You take the bed.”

“Okay. Thank you,” she said as she walked into the bedroom to take a nap. The bed seemed huge compared to the camp beds she’d been sleeping on since last July. Hermione laid down on the bed and fell asleep quickly.

Meanwhile, Ron flopped down on the couch. He reflected on the past week. Things hadn’t gotten much better between them since they were at the Hog’s Head. If anything, things had gotten more awkward between them. He just wanted to tell her how he felt, but the longer he waited, the more it felt like it wasn’t the right time. He was stuck in this endless loop and was miserable because of it. Ron laid there for a while, until he eventually fell asleep, too.

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

Hermione woke up a while later, forgetting where she was. She looked around and saw the sun shining through the window. Her watch said seven in the morning as her stomach growled. Hermione got up to use the bathroom, and then unpacked the beaded bag. Ron looked like he was still sleeping on the couch, so Hermione decided to go explore the neighborhood and get some food. 

Hermione walked out and grabbed one of the keys that was on the counter and slipped out the door. It was a bit cold, given it was winter in Melbourne, but still much warmer than England. Hermione’s light jacket was enough to keep her warm as she walked down the street. Graham was correct, in that there was a corner grocery at the end of the block. Luckily it was open, so Hermione went inside and began shopping. She gathered things for breakfast and lunches, like eggs, milk, bread, deli meat, some fresh fruit and vegetables. Back home with her mum and dad, they’d always skip the snack aisle, but she went down it today and grabbed some biscuits and crisps for Ron. 

When she was finally satisfied they had enough food for at least a week, Hermione headed for the checkout area. She was about to walk right by the spirits section, when something possessed her to walk down it. Hermione looked at what was in her cart, and decided to grab a bottle of vodka, since it would pair well with the juice that she had. Happy with her final addition, she went through the checkout line and paid for her groceries. She walked the cart full of bags out to the parking lot, and moved around to the side of the building, where she inconspicuously stuffed the bags in her small beaded bag. 

She walked back to the street, and was about to turn back towards the flat, but noticed several shops down an adjoining street. Hermione chose to explore a bit more before heading back. She knew she shouldn’t be out long because she had several items that would need to stay cold, so she looked up and down the street briefly to see what it had to offer, and saw a small cafe that looked to be busy with the morning crowd. 

Hermione walked inside and smelled the strong aroma of coffee and fresh pastries, and decided to get breakfast here. She ordered two breakfast sandwiches, some pastries, and two coffees for herself and Ron. When she’d gotten her order from the pick up area, she made her way back to the apartment. Hermione was smiling, thinking how excited Ron would be with her surprise, but the smile was wiped clean off her face when she walked back into the flat.

Ron’s head turned to the door when she entered and he stood up quickly. “Where were you?” he said angrily.

“Good morning to you, too,” Hermione said as she rolled her eyes. “I went to the grocery to get us food to stock the fridge and pantry, and then I saw a cafe and thought you might like some breakfast. She shoved the bag and coffee at him as she walked into the kitchenette and began taking the bags out of her beaded bag.

“You can’t just leave like that! At least leave me a note next time. I woke up and you were gone! What was I supposed to think? I wouldn’t have even known where to start looking for you,” Ron rounded on her. 

“How does it feel?” Hermione spat. It took a moment before she realized what she said. She looked up at him quickly, her face full of shock and guilt. “No, I- I didn’t mean that.”

“It’s true, though.” Ron said as he walked back to the couch and sat down.

“Ron, no, it’s not. I don’t blame you anymore. I’m sorry,” she abandoned the bags and walked over and sat next to him. 

“But I did leave you,” Ron said.

Hermione lifted her hand to touch his face, turning it so he’d look at her. “And you came back. Yes, I was upset, and very mad at you, but I’ve forgiven you. I just lost my temper.”

His hand reached up and closed around hers. “We’re good at that. Losing our tempers..” he said looking at her.

“Yeah….” Hermione said. They were both frozen there. Looking into each other’s eyes, yet not moving. Hermione looked down briefly at his lips, hoping that he might-.

There was a tap on the window that broke them apart. An owl was hovering with a letter attached to his leg. Ron got up to let the owl in and Hermione got up to tend to the groceries again. The moment was lost.

[katefiction]

The Cambridge Cub

by katefiction (Maria) / 2012

A bright light burned through her eyelids. A large thud followed, and then a loud slam. At least it sounded loud to Kate.

Four am and William was getting up for his early shift.

‘William’ Kate croaked. ‘Turn the light off!’ She heard footsteps approaching.

‘How am I supposed to see in the dark?’ he said, flicking the switch on the lamp.

‘Says the search and rescue pilot who rescues people in the middle of the night… when it’s dark!’ she grumbled, pulling the cover over her head.

Kate heard his footsteps retreat and then a bang.

‘Shit!’ William yelled ‘this is why I need the bloody light on!’

‘Are you ok?’ she called to him, not knowing if or where he’d gone. She soon heard the shower running and willed herself to go back to sleep. She tossed and turned for two minutes, realising she may have felt a little guilty about making Will injure himself.

Dragging herself out of bed, she trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen, flinching at the cold tiles on her bare feet. In the space of thirty seconds, she had pulled out the coffee pot, two peices of bread, some eggs and bacon from the fridge and set to work making William a good, hearty breakfast to start his day. The smell of the cooking hit William as soon as he left the bathroom. He dressed quickly and trotted down the stairs two at a time, finding Kate plating up his breakfast. ‘Why aren’t you still in bed?’, he asked, stroking her arm. ‘I felt guilty that I made you hurt yourself’, she said, sticking out her bottom lip. William bit into a peice of toast. ‘Just a stubbed toe. I’ll survive’, he teased. ‘Even so’, she said, nuzzling her face into William’s chest. She felt her stomach flip. She was so glad he could still give her butterflies, she thought. Then it flipped again. And the next time, the flip was a churn and those butterflies seemed to be flying up her throat. She pushed William back, spun around, and threw up into the sink. ‘Whoa’ William said, dropping his toast onto the counter. Kate was hunched over the sink. ‘Are you ok?’

‘Fine’ she said, standing up straight. ‘That was so weird, I feel totally fine now.’ ‘Go to bed’, William said, picking up his breakfast as Kate cleared the sink. ‘Are you not going to eat that?’ she said, she said eying the food. ‘I’m suddenly not that hungry anymore’, William replied as he tipped the contents into the bin.

*** Twelve hours later and William burst through the door, energetic as always after a day on the base. Kate was sat at the kitchen table, reading some notes. ‘Hi’, he said, planting a kiss on her lips, ‘how are you feeling?’ ‘Better’, she shrugged unconvincingly. She had bags under her eyes and her hair was piled messily at the top of her head. ‘What did you do today? You look exhausted!’ he asked. ‘Took Lupo for a walk, did the shopping and read these notes for the hospital visit tomorrow’. Kate held up her notes on St Ormond’s Hospital, where she had an engagement the next day. ‘That seems to have taken all my energy’, she sighed, putting her head in her hands. ‘Plus you were sick this morning’, Will said, a thought forming in his head. ‘And my period is late, which only ever happens when I’m stressed’ she said from behind her hands. ‘Or….’ Will said, a light going off. ‘Or…?’ she mimicked, placing her hands on the table. They both looked down at Kate’s stomach. There was a long silence until William jumped up suddenly, sending his chair flying backwards. ‘We need to get a test’ he said abruptly, pacing the kitchen. ‘What now?!- William’ she said, standing up and placing a steady hand on his arm. ‘We can’t just waltz into Waitrose and buy a pregnancy test.’ William’s face flushed with excitement as she said the word out loud. ‘I’m in London tomorrrow, I’ll try to get an appointment with Doctor Jenkins.’ Dr. Jenkins was their apothocary and was renound for his deiscretion with the royal family. ‘But I want to be there’ Will said sadly. ‘It’s either that or we wait until you have a day off work’, Kate suggested. William considered the options. His next day off was next week. He couldn’t wait that long. ‘You’ll call me right away, ok? Either way.’ ‘William I am not telling you that over the phone!’ Will looked wounded. ‘I’ll be back in the evening. I want to see your face if…well you know’, she said with a small smile. William nodded, knowing as usual that Kate was right. ‘Ok, tomorrow then.’ *** ‘Your Royal Highness, please come in’ Dr. Jenkins said as Kate walked back into his office hesitantly. ‘I told you it wouldn’t be a long wait, didn’t I?’ Kate had only been waiting fifteen minutes for her results, but it had felt like fifteen hours to her. Dr. Jenkins sat down behind his desk, her results in front of him. His face gave nothing away. Kate took a deep breath and sat down opposite him. *** Kate paused at the front door. It had been a tough drive back to Angelsey trying to decide how to tell William the result. Slowly, she unlocked the door and stepped inside, expecting silence and her husband to greet her. ‘GOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!!’ Four voices boomed from the living room. She made her way through and found William and three of his fellow pilots from the base spread across the living room, boxes of pizza and beer cans amongst them. William sprang up the moment he saw her. ‘Hello’, he said rushing towards her, his eyes were unreadable. ‘The guys are over to watch the football, seeing as I was all alone tonight.’ He put his arm around her shoulder, which Kate promptly shrugged off. ‘Hope it’s ok Kate’ Matt, one of the pilots said, perched on the edge of the sofa. ‘Only Will said he had no-one to cook for him tonight so we thought we’d help him out.’ He held up a slice of pizza. ‘Of course, it’s fine’ she said, putting on her brightest fake smile. ‘How was your day?’ Will sensed her annoyance and led her to the kitchen. ‘Why would you invite them here tonight?!’ she whispered furiously as soon as they were out of earshot of their visitors. She ignored William’s question. ‘I’m sorry’ he whispered back. ‘I just mentioned you weren’t here tonight…and the game was on…they kind of just invited themselves’ he said, desperately trying to make her understand. ‘You could have just made something up, and said you were busy’ she hissed. ‘You know I can’t lie under pressure’, he pleaded, taking her hand. ‘Now please, just tell me what happened.’ ‘Now?!’ With them in there?’ she said tilting her head to the living room, where the boys were yelling at the tv. ‘I can’t wait any longer – please Kate’, he begged. Kate couldn’t punish him for this. Not now, not on this day. He face broke into a wide grin that seemed to reach her eyes. She gave William a quick nod. ‘Yes?’ William whispered.   She nodded again. ‘YES!’ he shouted at full volume now. ‘Ssh!’ she said, holding her finger to his lips, trying to contain her own excitement at the same time. William jumped up and down on the spot, pumping his arm in the air. Kate tried to stifle her laughter as they silently celebrated. William pulled Kate into a tight hug, leant down and said close to her ear, ‘I can’t believe it.’ Kate stretched up and kissed his flushed, red cheek. ‘We’re having a baby.’

Ch. 2

‘You can see it, I’m sure you can see it.’

‘For the fifteenth time, these’s nothing there!’

‘It’s definitely there’. Kate smoothed her top down over her stomach, convinced that there was a bump forming under it.

‘Besides, at eight weeks, the baby is no bigger than a kidney bean’, William read from his phone, lounging on the bed.

‘Oh for God’s sake William, will you give that website a rest?!’, she said grabbing his iPhone and throwing it across the bed. He had been quoting from a pregnancy website since the day they found out about the baby. His daily updates were endearing at first, but were beginning to grate.

Kate picked up her bag, satisfied that this was the most bump-concealing top she owned. They were due to visit Kate’s family for the first time since they found out about the baby. They had decided to keep it a secret for now, wanting to savour the excitement for themselves before the world found out.

Settled in the car, they practiced for awkward questions.

‘Right Catherine’, Will said, putting on a high pitched voice, apparently and immitation of Carole.  ‘Why aren’t you drinking?’

‘Well…mum. I’m driving home because Will’s too tired’, she said raising an eyebrow.

‘Good’, he replied in his normal voice, before doing his best Carole impression once again, ‘Catherine dear, help me pick up this heavy box, won’t you?’

‘Must you do that voice?’

‘Answer the question’, he said, laughing.

‘Well mother, I hurt my wrist playing tennis, I can’t pick up anything heavy.’

‘Perfect, but try not to be so robotic’, he said taking her hand. He could sense her nerves. Carole knew Kate better than most, but they were determined not to let anything slip.

As soon as the door to the family home opened, Carole pulled Kate into a hug, prompting Kate to push away slightly, all too concious that Carole might be able to feel her stomach. Carole didn’t seem to notice and followed with a hug for William and ushered them inside the house.

‘Relax’ William urged Kate when Carole was out of earshot, giving her a reassuring pat on the back.  

Obligatory hugs and hellos, as well as a home cooked meal, over, they settled into the living room.

‘Kate, I’m going to book the flights for the skiing trip’ Pippa said, sitting next to her sister on the couch. ‘Can you give me your final dates?’

‘What?’ Kate said.

‘You know? Our yearly ski trip? I told you to confirm when you’re free so I can book them?’, she replied, poking Kate in the head.

‘Right, the ski trip…in Febuary?’

‘Yes…what is wrong with you?’ Pippa said, shaking her head at Kate’s apparant forgetfulness.

‘I can’t, I mean, we can’t go.’ In Febuary, Kate would be seven months pregnant, and skiing wasn’t exactly a pregnant woman’s pursuit.

‘Why not?’ Carole quizzed.

Kate looked at William, her mind racing to find an answer.

‘Yes why?’ Pippa added. ‘You said you’d checked your diary weeks ago.’

‘I, urm, it’s -‘

’ – it’s my fault’. William interjected. ‘I booked a surprise holiday for Kate. I’ really sorry, I forgot all about the skiing.1

‘Oh don’t be silly!’ Carole said relaxing, ‘where are you going?’

‘France’

‘Italy’

They spoke at the same time. ‘France then Italy’ Will said quickly as Kate turned a deep shade of crimson.

‘Another time then?’ Pippa said.

‘Of course’ Kate replied, thinking it would be a long time before she would ski again.

                                              ***

‘Shit that was close!’ Will said as they drove away from the house that evening.

‘Was I really obvious?’ Kate asked, panicking.

‘You were fine…just relax. You know research shows that stress isn’t good for the baby.’

‘Seriously, I am taking that phone off you!’ she said scowling, before turning away from him and smiling.

                                             ***

The following day and it was over to Clarence House for lunch with William’s family. Charles and Camilla greeted them, however Harry was nowhere to be seen.

‘Where’s Harry?’ Will asked.

‘He’s been taken ill’, Charles replied, seeming unconvinced.

‘Hangover, then.’ William said to Camilla and Kate from the corner of his mouth, prompting a giggle from them both.

‘Shall we eat?!’ Camilla said, leading them to the dining room, where a Sunday roast was ready for them. They dug in, Kate particularly ravenous since becoming pregnant.

Near the end of the meal came the cheese course and Kate picked up an enticing piece of brie. William glard at her across the table, but she was deep in conversation with Camilla.

‘Will and I are really looking forward to seeing Asia, we -’ She suddenly felt a light kick under the table, but continued ‘-we’re not so sure about the weather though.’ Another kick followed. She turned to look at William, who shot her, then the brie a hard look.

Kate furrowed her brow, not understanding, and reached for the brie from her plate. William’s hand swept across the plate, sending it flying to the floor.

‘William!’ Kate exclaimed, followed by an ‘oh!’ from Camilla and Charles.

‘Oops!’, he said kneeling to the floor, trying to clear the mess from the carpet. ‘There was a fly on the food – I aimed a little low’, he said holding his hands up. Kate bent down to help.

‘There’s plenty more’ Charles said, smiling at Kate.

‘No!…she can’t, I mean won’t eat it’ Will said hurriedly. Kate opened her mouth to protest, but William cut her off before she started ‘it’s a weird fly complex, isn’t it Kate? She’s a bit OCD bless her.’

Camilla and Charles looked puzzled, but simply nodded, thinking maybe they had more to learn about Kate as they went off to find someone to clean the stain on the carpet.

‘What was that?!’ Kate said as soon as they left the room.

‘You’re not allowed brie.’

‘Says who?’ she said, guessing the answer.

‘Well it was on the website, it said it was best to avoid it.’ Will said sheepishly, predicting a telling-off.

‘Oh Will’ she said shaking her head. ‘And YOU told ME to relax!’

‘I just want to be safe’ he replied.

‘Luckily for you, we got away with it- this time!’ she said, vowing to herself that she would delete that website from Will’s bookmarks in the morning.

                                        ***

That evening, Will and Kate were relaxing at their cottage at Kensington Palace, discussing how lucky they’d been to keep the baby a secret this weekend, when there was a knock at the door.

A slightly dishevelled Harry greeted them when Will opened the door.

‘Can I have some dinner?’ Harry said immediately.

‘Come in’ Will sighed and pointed him in the direction of the kitchen, where there were leftovers from the roast lunch.

‘Hi Kate’ Harry called as he sped into the kitchen. ‘What?’ he said at William’s unimpressed expression. ‘Kate said I could come over for dinner whenever I wanted!’

‘You’ll regret that’ Will said to Kate.

Harry settled on the couch with his warmed up meal. ‘Can I borrow your phone?’ He said to his brother with a mouthful of food. ‘No battery in mine.’

Will passed him the phone, and started flicking through the tv channels.

‘Urm’ Harry said, staring at the phone a few seconds later.

‘You haven’t broken it have you?’ Will said.

Harry turned the phone around. Glaring from the screen was the pregnancy website.

‘Oh crap’ Kate said quietly.

Will immediately started to think of his third excuse of the weekend, but a nudge from Kate and Harry’s face him told him otherwise. He looked over to Kate and she gave him a reassuring smile.

‘Yeh…well, we’re…you’re gonna be an uncle’ he said finally.

‘Shit!’ Harry said beaming. He leapt to his feet and grabbed Will into a hug.

Kate giggled from the sofa, until Harry said ‘and you, sis! Congratulations!’ and gave her a warm embrace.

‘So does anyone else know?!’ he said, grinning from ear to ear.

‘Not yet’ Will replied. ‘And we want to keep it that way.’

‘My lips are sealed.’

‘Right’ Kate said. ‘Harry’s not the one we should be worried about.’ She grabbed the iPhone ‘This needs to go!’

—-

I didn’t finish the rest of this series, here was the plan:

Ch. 3. They see the baby for the first time on a scan. This freaks William out and he doesn’t want to be intimate with Kate. They argue because Kate feels unwanted, but they make up in a romantic sex scene.

Ch. 4. They tell the world about the baby.

Ch. 5. They argue about baby names.

Ch. 6. Didn’t plan this chapter.

Ch. 7. While William is away on an engagement, Kate collapses and is taken into hospital.

Ch. 8. Kate is put on bed rest, and is told not to work. She refuses and does an engagement anyway, against William’s wishes. Eventually they announce that she will be put on bed rest.

Ch. 9. The baby is born in hospital. It is a boy.

[let-me-love-you-loki]

Welcome to Oblivion-Ch. 25

Chapter 25

           I sat on the floor, back propped against the sofa, books and laptop spread out on the coffee table at the apartment. Seth sat across from me with his own books, his head resting on his hands. Roman was stretched out on the sofa behind me, his fingers stroking idly against my shoulder as he thumbed through his sociology notes.

           “There is no fucking way I’m going to pass this test,” Seth lamented, practically bouncing his head against the table. “I will gladly take my cal physics exam a hundred times if I don’t have to take this one.”

           “Stop bitching,” I said with a smile. “You’re making it harder than it really is. Now, tell me the four categories of international relationships.”

           Seth reached for his textbook, but I swatted his hand away before he could grab it. I glared, lifting a brow. He tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. He groaned. “Pure antagonistic, pure cooperative, moderated cooperative, and…”

           He scrubbed his hand over his jaw, thinking hard. I knew that he knew the answer, but Seth had no self-confidence when it came to this class. I had no idea why, and I’d made it my personal mission to ensure that he worked his ass off and passed the class.

           “Fuck,” he groaned. “I don’t remember.”

           “Intermediary affected antagonistic,” Roman said lazily from the sofa.

           I turned around, surprised that he had any idea of the answer. “How the hell?”

           He grinned at me, his dark eyes going playful. “Corbin took the class last year. He talked to himself during workouts to study. We were weight partners, so I basically learned everything he did.”

           “He still got his notes? Tests?” Seth said hopefully.

           Roman opened his mouth to answer, but snapped his jaw shut when he saw the look on my face. He cleared his throat and went back to his own studying. “Don’t think so. Corbin’s not the type to hang on to shit like that.”

           Across the table, Seth deflated. I gave him a sympathetic look. “Hey, you pass this test Rollins, and coffee’s on me for a week. You get an A, and I’ll buy it for a month.”

           He turned those brown eyes on me. “Are you bribing me with caffeine, Addy?”

           Grinning, I nodded.

           “Challenge accepted.”

***

           Dean opened the door almost as soon as Seth thumped his foot against it. He couldn’t open the door on his own, mostly because he held a Frappuccino in one hand and was using the other to keep me steady on his back. I’d jumped on his back as soon as we got back to the apartment, having found a hole in my shoe that let snow seep in onto my socks.

           “What the fuck?” Dean asked, standing to the side as Seth ducked in the door and squatted so I could slide off his back.

           I held up my foot, showing him the huge gap where my neon socks were visible. “Jesus shoe.” When Dean looked at me like I was insane, I laughed. “It’s holey, get it? Holy?”

           He rolled his eyes and threw his arm around my neck, drawing me close against him. I smiled and tilted my face up, meeting his lips with my own. Warmth spread through me. It was the feeling I always got with Dean. It was the sense of a perfect early summer night.

           “What am I going to do with you?” he asked with a smile.

           I kicked off my shoes and tugged him toward the kitchen. “Make me one of those sandwiches of yours. We’re celebrating.”

           Dean popped open the fridge, rummaging around. “Hmm? What are we celebrating?”

           Seth swept into the kitchen and hopped up on the counter, half finished frappe in his hand. He grinned. “Addy’s contribution to my caffeine addiction,” he said playfully. He held his cup out toward me in a salute. “Because of her, I got a ninety-three on my international politics test.”

           I grinned and tapped my cup against his. I leaned against the sink, feeling incredibly proud. “You put in the work,” I said firmly. “I just kicked you in the ass to get you started.”

           A gust of cold air swept in as Roman threw open the door. There was snow in his dark hair as he kicked off his shoes and threw his bag on the floor. When he saw me in the kitchen, his face lit up. “Hey, baby girl,” he boomed, crossing the room in a few strides and picked me up in a warm, steady hug. He kissed me soundly, smiling. “What are you doing here?”

           “Celebrating,” I replied, dusting the snow from his hair and his beard. “We both got A’s on our politics test.”

           Roman looked at Seth, who nodded and grinned. “No shit!” He crossed over and gave Seth one of those guy hugs. The ones that start as an odd high-five and end in that one-armed slap on the shoulder. “Congrats, uce.”

           Seth gestured toward me with his cup. “It’s Addy. Wouldn’t have passed without her.”

           The look Roman gave me made my heart light up with love. He smiled and it made his dark eyes sparkle and shine. A moment later, he pulled me against his chest, wrapping his arms around me, hands clasped at the base of my spine. I snuggled against his bulk, tucking my arms between us. When he spoke, his voice vibrated through me.

           “Yeah, Addy’s amazing.” His lips settled against my hair. “That’s why she’s la’u Fetu e Tasi.”

           I closed my eyes and tucked my head beneath his chin. He was warm and smelled like outdoors and mint.

           “Alright, out of my kitchen,” Dean ordered abruptly. “I can’t make breakfast sandwiches for dinner if you three are in the way.”

***

           Dean pulled right to the door of Felton Hall. He’d borrowed Roman’s truck to get me back to campus. Apparently, while he was comfortable driving his Charger in the snow, he didn’t like to do it. The salt fucked up the paint he said.

           The inside of the truck was warm and cozy. For some reason, I had the sudden thought that it smelled like fresh bread. One of Dean’s breakfast sandwiches was wrapped up in aluminum foil and tucked into the pocket of my hoodie. He’d made an extra for me to bring back home as a snack.

           “Hey,” I said quietly, tucking my hair behind my ears. My heart thumped in my chest. I had thoughts and words swirling around in my head, but I couldn’t figure out how to get them out. “Can I ask you a question?”

           He turned in the driver’s seat and looked at me with those denim eyes of his. His gentle fingers brushed against my cheek. “What’s up, princess?”

           I looked away, feeling my whole body start to overheat. I was embarrassed by the question… the request. What if they thought the worst? What if this ruined everything?

           “Are you okay?” he inquired, stroking his thumb along my jaw. He moved as close as he could. “What’s going on in that head of yours, Addy?”

           It was now or never. I couldn’t explain why, but it just felt easier to talk about this with Dean. My eyes squeezed shut, courage gathering in my chest. “Have you ever thought about you and me… and Ro? Together? At the same time?”

           Quiet, heavy and thick, settled in the enclosed cab. It felt like my heart was going to pound straight past my ribs. My stomach dropped. I felt sick, terrified of what might happen when he spoke.

           “Is it something you want?” he asked. Dean settled his hand on the side of my throat, thumb against my jaw, fingers in my hair at the nape of my neck.

           Tears burned my eyes. I wanted to sob, but I couldn’t make them come. Instead, all I could focus on was the gentleness in his touch and the soft understanding in his voice. His fingers steadied my pulse, the contact a promise that I wasn’t alone. That he was there. And that he loved me.

           “Yes,” I replied quietly. I could sense the hurt in my own voice. The fear and sadness. The ache at the possibility of losing either of them.

           His lips pressed against my forehead, lingering there as he cradled my head with his fingers. “Then the three of us need to talk about it together. If it’s something you want, we can figure it out.”

           My fingers twisted up in the front of his shirt. “You aren’t mad at me?”

           “Princess, there’s nothing wrong with what you want,” he said firmly. “I’d rather you tell us than be unhappy. And besides, why would I be mad at you? Anytime I get to see you naked and writhing is a good time.”

           I laughed, just enough that it broke the heaviness of the moment. “Even if it means seeing Ro naked, too?”

           Dean waved his hand in dismissal. “Wouldn’t be the first time. We all share a bathroom, remember?”

Tag List

@mox-made-me-do-it @vebner37 @lilred91 @not-that-kinda-gurl08​ @maelleoute

[telli1206]

A Christmas To Remember (Ch.3)

@vndooms @descendantsgiftexchange I’ve been continuing this on AO3, but I wanted to add Chapters 3 and 4 to Tumblr too 😁 

Chapter 1     Chapter 2  

Chapter 3 - Christmas In The Air

Today was already off to a better start, mostly because Jay let Carlos sleep in. It seemed to be the wisest move, given his boyfriend’s sourness at being woken so unexpectedly yesterday. And coffee can only do so much to combat that, so for the sake of their plans, Jay has to let sleep win.

He doesn’t really feel the need to fight it, since that gives him the chance to enjoy the silence of the morning and a full cup of coffee. And that will benefit everyone just as much as Carlos getting proper sleep.

He contemplates stepping outside briefly to admire the snowy morning, but he’s torn out of his thoughts by a light tapping down the hallway. He smiles into his steaming cup. There’s no need for him to look up, he’s only ever met one person in his life with heeled slippers.

“Oh!” Evie startles, taking a step back into the darkness of the hall. “I was wondering who’d be making coffee this early. I should have known.”

She purses her lips into a sweet smile and walks around the table, wrapping her robe tightly around herself as she moves to sit across from Jay.

“So, no run this morning?” She asks, eyes darting to the undershirt and pajama pants Jay was wearing.

He shrugs quietly, taking another sip from his mug. “I figured I’d take the week off.”

Evie raises a brow, watching Jay with a quizzical look. “You? Take a week off from your daily runs?” She chuckles softly, putting her hands up defensively when Jay glares. “Sorry, I just...didn’t think that was possible.”

She continues to smile as Jay’s glare softens. His lips curl into a smile, and he pulls his mug in to look back down into the dark swirling beverage. “Some things are more important than staying in shape for Tourney, Eves.”

“Oh really?”

Jay dares a look up and instantly regrets it. Evie’s beaming. The glow from her smile is enough to make Jay flinch and avert his eyes again, but Evie reaches out and clasps his hand.

“Ohhh you’re being such a lovesick sap, aren’t you? But I love it, I really do!” She removes her hand when Jay meets her gaze again. Her smile is no less brilliant than a second ago, but her words are making it...palatable.

“I never thought I would get to see you this happy, Jay.” She realizes her words are harsh and she flinches. “I mean, you know, this kind of happy. Happy with Carlos. I’m just... so thrilled for you, Jay. For you both!”

Jay chuckles and shakes his head. Evie is such a romantic, she can almost be too dramatic about it sometimes. But he knows Evie is being genuine, and he can’t help but feel warm from her joyful outburst.

“Thanks, Eves.”

Doug walks in then, distracting them from their conversation with a loud yawn. Evie springs up to cover his wide open mouth. “Baby, cover your mouth at least! We have company, remember?”

Doug pulls Evie’s hand away and smiles apologetically, pecking her lips quickly. “Sorry. And sorry to you too, Jay,” Doug adds with a small smile his way.

Jay nods quietly, but he and Doug are being dragged further into the kitchen before he can say anything.

“Let’s get breakfast going before everyone wakes up,” Evie requests. She pauses, stealing a glance at Jay. “You don’t mind helping, do you?”

“Of course not! Eves, you know me better than that!” Jay snorts, opening the fridge.

Evie sighs, relieved. “I know, sorry. I just don’t want to be presumptuous. You’ve already done so much this week.”

Jay grabs the carton of eggs and drops them on the counter before crouching down to look for a pan. But he freezes when Evie crouches down next to him.

“For the record,” she whispers, sliding open the drawer next to him and pulling out a pan, “I’ll stop being a whiny bitch now, and just have fun on the rest of our outings. Thank you for planning them, and for trying to make this a fun week for everyone. Even if ,” she adds with a nudge, “I’m pretty sure you have some ulterior motives.”

She hands Jay the pan as she stands, smoothing her robe and giving him a knowing smile.

“I’m doing this for everyone Eves, so yeah, it’d be nice if you were having fun too,” Jay teases, eyebrow raised. Evie giggles quietly as she drops bread into the toaster, but doesn’t say anything else. Jay’s fine with that though. He’s pretty sure she gets what he’s trying to do, and he’s more than happy that she’s willing to go along with it.

The rest of the morning is relatively relaxed once Jane, Lonnie and Carlos come down to eat. Carlos arrives last, but his wide eyes and perky smile are enough to reassure Jay that it was worth it to let him sleep in. He settles in next to Jay, humming happily through his pancakes and scrambled eggs, occasionally rubbing his hand along Jay’s knee and stealing sideways smiles in his direction. Jay is loving this moment, the lighthearted and casual conversation...until he requests for everyone to dress warmly.

“We’re going outside again??” Carlos whines, mouth still full of pancake. He gives Jay somber, pleading eyes, and Jay is almost tempted to relent, until Jane breaks through his thoughts with a delighted squeal.

“Oh, I love it! The snow is so beautiful.” She exclaims, clasping her hands joyfully, “There’s nothing more Christmasy to me than getting to go outside and enjoy it!”

Jane’s sparkling eyes and bright smile are too gleeful to resist, and Carlos offers a weak smile to her before relaxing his shoulders and letting out a shuddered sigh.

“You’re right. It’s Christmas. I’m sure it’ll be a fun time,” he accepts, grinning a little and reaching out to grasp Jay’s hand. Jay couldn’t feel more content in that moment, tightening his grip to pull Carlos towards the closet full of winter gear.

“That’s the spirit! Just wait till you see. It’s gonna be great!”

-----

“Jayyy! Don’t let go, pleasssse.”

Carlos squeezes his hand tightly as they ascend the hill, Jay doing his best to drag the toboggan behind them.

Despite Carlos’ whining, Jay knows he’s enjoying himself more than yesterday. While he didn’t look entirely thrilled when they arrived at the sledding hill, his first trip down ended with an enthused shriek, and just the sound flooded Jay’s soul with the warmth of sunshine inside him, even when he was standing in the ice cold snow. He took in Carlos’ flushed cheeks, breathless pants, and toothy grin, and felt the absolute happiest he had so far this week.

“Stop freakin’ out ‘Los, have I ever let you down?” He chuckles, yanking Carlos closer to steer him up the hill by the waist.

“No! But move over, how am I supposed to walk like this?” He pushes lightly against Jay, but Jay stiffens his arm and refuses to let go, making Carlos giggle harder with every shove he gives for space.

“Stop it, you’re not going anywhere. I’ll carry you up if I have to!” Carlos giggles furiously against Jay’s arm, distracting him so much that he doesn’t notice anyone behind them until Lonnie’s almost toppling him over.

“Move it, Jay-bear! Some of us actually want to sled more!” She shouts, dragging a cackling Jane with her. “Save the tickle fight for the bedroom, will ya?”

Carlos is beet red in an instant, and Jay lunges forward to smack Lonnie when she howls past them. “Toooo slow, Jay!” She taunts as they keep running.

“C’mon, ‘Los, we can catch ‘em!”

Jay pushes Carlos along with him by the arm, picking up the pace as Carlos struggles and grunts in the awkward hold. “Jay! Slow down!”

“It’s ok, they’re right there!” Jay urges, ignoring Carlos’ pleas. He slams the toboggan down just as Lonnie and Jane start to pile in theirs.

Lonnie flashes Jay a wicked grin. “So you wanna race?”

“Well it’s not like I threw this down here randomly, did I?” He sneers, guiding Carlos to his place in the back.

Jane snickers, perking a brow at Lonnie while Jay tries to get situated. “Better move fast, Jay. Because...Ready, set, go!”

Jane kicks them off in one swift motion, starting them down the hill before Jay is even in his seat.

“Hey!” He shouts after them, jumping quickly into his toboggan and grabbing for the rope.

“Jay! Hold-” Carlos tries to shout, but Jay’s already pushing off, and arms squeeze the breath out of Jay as Carlos desperately claws for a grip, kicking up his legs to wrap them around him as they start drifting downhill.

They gain speed fast. Too fast. He can barely hear Carlos’ whimpers, but Jay can feel his arms tightening around him. As they close in on Jane and Lonnie, Jay tries to steer them side by side, but the shift causes Carlos’ leg to drop, anchoring them into the snow and swinging the toboggan.

Jay feels the impact before he can register what’s happening. The clack of wood against wood, the scraping as the impact shifts them. There’s a high pitched scream, and Jay sucks in a breath as the arms disappear from around him. He plants his feet into the snow to push away but the toboggan scrapes painfully against his leg, and he winces when he can feel his skin chafing before they finally come to a stop.

He lays there for a moment, dazed and in shock, blinking the wet snow off his lashes. As he tries to remember what happened, his head goes back to the who…

Carlos. Jane. Lonnie.  

He sits back up, whipping his head around frantically to locate everyone. A firm hand on his forearm startles a gasp out of him, but he relaxes when he looks into Lonnie’s smiling face.

“Chill Jay, it’s ok. We’re fine. It’s good.”

Jay follows her gaze when she turns to look behind them, immediately spotting Jane and Carlos only a few feet away. Jane is half on top of Carlos, pushing herself off and coughing out a pained laugh. She’s pushing Carlos up from underneath her as well, and Jay takes a deep, relieving breath when he can see that he seems fine, for the most part.

Carlos groans softly, rubbing his shoulder where Jane’s head had been. But he’s cracking a smile at least.

Lonnie stands weakly and tries to steady herself, but Jay doesn’t waste any time, crawling on all fours and leaping at Carlos, wrapping the boy in a hug before he can compose himself.

“Jay, we’re all wet! And I’m freezing. Just, let me stand, will you?” Carlos wriggles in his arms, but does little to dislodge his boyfriend’s hold. “I’m fine, I swear.”

Jay sighs dejectedly when he releases Carlos. His heart is still pounding, so loud in his ears he has trouble hearing exactly what Carlos says, but he can understand enough from the way his body shifts away from his touch. Fuck, and things were going so well.

“I-I’m so sorry ‘Los,” he stutters out slowly. “I just...I thought, I guess...I’m just, so so happy you’re ok.”

Carlos’ smile softens, and Jay leans back in to hug him, breathing a quick sigh of relief when he accepts this time.

“Aw, that’s better. No harm done,” Lonnie chuckles. Her arm is slung around Jane, who’s cuddling into her for warmth. “Should we maybe break for a hot chocolate?”

“Actually,” Carlos interjects, before Jay can accept. “I think I might want to head back. My shoulder’s a little sore.” He rolls it to show them, biting back a small groan of pain. “Do you think...we could get a ride?”

Jay can’t deny his disappointment, and as much as he tries to hide it, he’s sure that it’s plastered all across his face. Which is why Carlos is using his pout, the one that Jay can’t say no to, as he waits for Jay’s answer. There’s really only one way this can go.

-----

So they end up back at the castle. Doug had no problem giving them a ride back, though he did give Jay a sad, sympathetic smile when he asked. It’s not hard to figure out that this is not how Jay had wanted their sledding day to end.

But Jay can be fine with it because it’s what Carlos wants. He was clearly exhausted from the afternoon’s ordeal. He had spent the entirety of the car ride with his head in Jay’s lap, Jay playing softly with white curly strands as Carlos dozed peacefully for a few minutes.

And once they returned to the castle, Carlos had even marched past the main living room to head straight upstairs to their room, to Jay’s surprise. Jay follows him, but stops in the kitchen briefly to make some mugs of instant hot cocoa and grab a few cookies. When he finally makes it to their room, Carlos is already snuggled under the blankets and huddled around a few pillows, trying to get cozy.

“Hey, you want something a little warmer than those pillows to cuddle?” Jay teases as he nears the bed.

Carlos sits up quickly, brushing some of his hair out of his face and smiling softly at Jay. For a second, he tries to lean on the arm with the sore shoulder, but he gasps at the shock of pain from the action and straightens himself off the arm to rub at the soreness.

“Here,” Jay offers, handing Carlos his hot cocoa and setting down the plate of cookies. “Let me get that. Lean on me.”

He sits on the bed and raises his arm, scooting Carlos under it with his hand. Once he’s comfortably laid against Jay, he starts to rub gentle circles into Carlos’ shoulder, stopping occasionally to press his fingers into the joint to check for any swelling. Carlos groans a little at the pressure, but remains nuzzled against him, taking small sips from his hot mug.

“Jay. I-I’m sorry,” Carlos rasps, his voice sounding weak. He looks up at Jay, eyes dark and shining. Jay feels a little pang of sadness looking into them.

“For what? ‘Los, it wasn’t your fault.” He wraps his arm tighter, urging Carlos to lay back down. “I just want you to be ok, that’s all I care about.”

Carlos sighs, letting his finger drag along Jay’s knee as his eyes shift downwards.

“I-I know. But still. This outdoor stuff...sports, hauling trees, cutting wood. You’re so. Good, at it, and, you really love it. I just...I wish I was better at it.”

Jay frowns and shakes his head. “Stop it, you know I don’t care about that. It’s not like it’s ever been any big secret that you’re not great at sports, ‘Los,” he needles, and Carlos giggles and pokes at his chest. Jay snatches his finger and interlaces the rest together, leaning in to connect their foreheads.

“All I want is you there with me, having fun. And I’m sorry if you’re not.”

Carlos leans back, only to tilt his head to come back in for a kiss. Jay sets his mug down so he can properly cup Carlos’ neck with his free hand, tipping him back to deepen the kiss.

They stay like that for a minute or so, their lips barely separating for air. When Carlos stops to suck in a breath, he opens his eyes and stares into Jay’s.

“I am having fun, ok? And I’m so happy I get to spend Christmas with you.”

Jay could barely conceal his delight, his eyes crinkling when his smile breaks wide. He pecks at Carlos’ lips, over and over again until he’s laughing and pushing Jay away, tumbling backwards onto the bed. Jay clambers on top of him, trapping Carlos between his forearms and sneaking in one final peck.

“Same, ‘Los. There’s nowhere I’d rather be. And no one I’d rather be with.” Their noses brush, and Carlos smiles and leans in for another kiss. Jay can’t deny him, of course, but he does roll off of him after so he can guide Carlos back to a more comfortable spot on the pillows.

At least he’s finally content with their fate for tonight, nursing Carlos’ shoulder and enjoying each other’s company. With two more days until Christmas, there’s plenty of time to participate in more of the festivities that the holiday has to offer.

Things can only get better from here anyway.

[wosoimagines]

Mercy - Tobin Heath/Reader

Guys, this is quite a long one. Also, I haven’t proofread it, so I’m sorry about any mistakes.

song prompt: Mercy by Shawn Mendes

warnings: None

words: 2706

(Y/N) POV

I'd drive through the night

Just to be near you, baby

Heart open, testify

Tell me that I’m not crazy

I sighed as I knocked on the door. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Sonnett had called me last night saying that Tobin had come home with tears in her eyes and wouldn’t come out of her room. I wasn’t entirely sure why Sonnett had called me out of all people, especially since Christen was supposed to be in Portland with Tobin, but I was sure that it had to do with the fact that I had a crush on Tobin.

I had immediately grabbed my travel bag that I kept clothes in for our trips. It only took me minutes before I got into my car and started the 12-hour drive to Portland. Now I was standing in front of the older midfielder’s door. The door opened, and I was disappointed by who answered.

“I didn’t think you’d be here this fast,” Sonnett said.

“You told me it was important,” I pointed out. Sonnett let me into the apartment and I hesitated as I looked to where Tobin’s room was.

“Go,” Sonnett pushed me toward the door.

I sighed but I slowly walked over to the door. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when I got to the door. I knocked on the door. I couldn’t hear any movement from the room, so I knocked again.

“Go away,” Tobin rasped out. My heart broke at how rough her voice sounded. I could tell that she had been crying.

“Tobs?” I asked. I could hear a little movement. “Tobin, can you open the door?”

The door opened quickly and I was surprised when Tobin threw herself at me. I stumbled back a little as I caught the midfielder. I held her just outside of her room as Tobin buried her head into my shoulder. I just stood there for a few minutes before I carried Tobin back into her room.

“What happened, Tobin?”

I shouldn’t have asked that just yet. The midfielder immediately burst into tears. Tobin tried to pull away from me, but I wouldn’t let her as I held onto her. I didn’t care right now if Tobin told me why she was upset or not. I only cared about comforting her. 

I was content with staying and allowing Tobin to cry for as long as she needed. My main concern was with making sure that she was ok. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I left Tobin alone right now. It was a while before Tobin’s tears stopped.

“She said she couldn’t,” Tobin finally said. I furrowed my brow in confusion because I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. “Christen, she said she couldn't marry me.”

I softly groaned because while I had been completely in love with Tobin, Tobin had been in love with Christen. I knew that Tobin and Christen were dating, I would have been stupid if I didn’t. They didn’t exactly keep it a secret around their respective teams or the national team. Although, I had tried to move on from Tobin, I just couldn’t.

“I don’t even know where we’re at now,” Tobin admitted as she pulled me closer to her. “Christen just said that she couldn’t marry me and she left.”

“Oh, Tobs.”

“Stay with me?” 

“Of course.”

“You won’t leave me?”

“I’d never leave you, Tobin.”

I'm not asking for a lot

Just that you're honest with me

My pride is all I got

I'm saying baby

We spent most of the day in Tobin’s room. I talked with Tobin and tried to keep her mind off of Christen. It was hard to not just tell Tobin how I really felt. I was just holding Tobin as we laid on her bed. I couldn’t help but smile as Tobin drew patterns onto my stomach.

“Why did you come?” Tobin asked me.

“Sonnett called me,” I shrugged. It didn’t seem like a big deal to me. “She said you needed help.”

“You came to Portland just for me?”

“I’d always come for you,” I admitted. I would always be there for Tobin.

“Why’d you come for me though?” Tobin asked. She wasn’t making it easy for me to not tell her how I really felt. “Please don’t lie to me, (Y/N).”

“Cause I love you.”

Tobin’s drawings stopped and I held my breathe. We laid in silence for a few moments. I wasn’t sure how Tobin really felt. Tobin turned to look at me as I stayed still.

When Tobin’s lips crashed on mine, I was surprised. I started to kiss her back before pulling away. Tobin looked confused on why I pulled away from her. If she was going to kiss me, this wasn’t when I wanted it to happen.

“I thought you loved me,” Tobin whispered. The confusion in her voice confused me. 

“I do, Tobin,” I assured. I held her face. “Trust me, I love you. But you’re hurting and it’s easy for you to look to me to comfort you. I need you to be honest with me. Do you love me?”

Tobin went silent. I wasn’t sure what she was thinking about, but it didn’t help ease my thoughts. I didn’t want Tobin to only be with me because it was easier for her.

“I do,” Tobin said. “I’ve been so caught up with Christen that I never realized that I love you.”

I smiled at her as I pulled her closer to me. I just wanted to go to sleep with Tobin. We could figure the rest out in the morning.

Please have mercy on me

Take it easy on my heart

Even though you don't mean to hurt me

You keep tearing me apart

I looked through the fridge and the cabinets as I searched for stuff to make breakfast with. I couldn’t find much so I glanced near the door. My bag was still over there from yesterday when I got in. I looked through Tobin’s doorway to see that she was still asleep.

I walked over to my bag before taking it to the bathroom with me. I got changed and ready to go out. I knew that Tobin would probably still be asleep when I got back, but I had groceries to go get. I wanted to do something nice for Tobin.

My trip to the grocery store hadn’t taken long. Maybe 30 minutes at the most. I had gotten enough to make healthy breakfast not only for Tobin and I, but for Sonnett and Lindsey as well. Once I had gotten back to Tobin’s apartment, I let myself in and I was surprised that Sonnett and Lindsey were waiting near the door.

“Where have you been?” Lindsey hissed as I closed the door behind me.

“I got groceries for you idiots. You were out of a lot of stuff,” I shrugged as I held up the bags. I reached into one of the bags and pulled out the bread I had gotten from the store. “I got stuff to make French Toast.”

“Wait, (Y/N),” Sonnett grabbed at my arm as I headed into the kitchen.

I stopped in my tracks and the bread dropped from my hands and on the ground. Tobin was standing in the kitchen. With Christen. I scrambled to pick up the bread as the two looked at me. I ducked my head as I felt my face heat up.

“Sorry,” I stuttered out. I rushed to set the groceries on the counter top.

“I didn't realize you were here, (Y/N),” Christen said. I didn’t expect her to know that I was here. Not when I knew that I had come out to comfort Tobin because Christen didn’t say yes to Tobin’s proposal.

“Sonnett asked me to come,” I lied as I avoided Tobin’s gaze. “Some party she wanted me to go to. I’ll leave you guys alone.”

“(Y/N)-” Tobin started.

“Don’t worry about it, Tobin,” I shrugged off. Christen looked confused and I couldn’t help but notice how happy Tobin looked around Christen. I just wanted the games with Tobin to stop. “I can make breakfast later.”

I turned and rushed out of the kitchen. Lindsey and Sonnett both looked worried when I looked up at them. I pushed past them and rushed out of the apartment. I was quick to get out to my car, but I could only lean against it before I started to cry.

I didn’t blame Tobin. I knew that she loved Christen more than she loved me. There was nothing else I could do to change that if she didn’t want to love me like I loved her. I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, but I pushed the person away.

“(Y/N), come on,” Sonnett said. I wiped at my tears as I turned to look at her and Lindsey.

“Why did you call me?” I asked the defender. “Seriously, Emily.”

“You love Tobin,” Sonnett said.

“And she doesn’t love me back,” I pointed out. “Not the way I love her.”

Would you please have mercy on me

I'm a puppet on your string

And even though you got good intentions

I need you to set me free

I sighed as the knocking didn’t stop. I was hoping that whoever was here would just leave me alone if I didn’t answer my door, but that wasn’t happening. I stopped packing the box as I walked over to the door. I had called my agent the day after Tobin Heath broke my heart into a million pieces and told him that I wanted to transfer to a different league.

I was set to go to Barcelona. The transfer hadn’t been made official just yet, but there really wasn’t a reason as to why I wouldn’t go. I could only think of one reason why I wouldn’t go to Barcelona. It was the same thing that broke my heart.

I opened my door and froze when I saw who was on the other side. I hadn’t really talked much with the midfielder. Not like we used. Tobin looked up at me and she gave me a smile. I couldn’t help but melt at the smile.

“Tobin, hey,” I said. I moved back as I opened the door more so that Tobin could come in.

Tobin slowly walked in and she was looking around at the boxes that were in my apartment. I had been packing my apartment up for days now. I also hadn’t really told anyone else besides Kelley and Becky. Tobin stopped at an opened box that I had left alone, but hadn’t finished packing. Tobin reached into it and pulled out a picture.

“You’re really leaving, aren’t you?” Tobin asked as she kept her attention on the picture. I knew which one it was by the frame. It was an old picture of Tobin and I from when we were in college together.

“You make it sound like I’m not coming back,” I pointed out.

“You won’t be playing against me anymore,” Tobin countered. I shrugged because I wasn’t sure what she wanted from me anymore.

“I might come back, you never know,” I shrugged. I knew that I was more likely to stay overseas for most of the rest of my career. Now was the best time for me to be overseas to play anyways. I did allow me time to come back to the NWSL and end my career in the USA.

“Any chance you don’t go?” Tobin asked.

“Only one, but I wouldn’t bet on it happening,” I admitted. Tobin looked over at me. I didn’t think she had even thought that there would be a way to get me to stay.

“You should stay, (Y/N),” Tobin said.

I shook my head. This was what I had wanted to avoid and why I hadn’t told anyone outside of Kelley and Becky. I had also requested that the two clubs didn’t announce anything until my flight for Barcelona was taking off.

“I want you to stay,” Tobin added on after a moment of silence.

“You don’t get it, do you?” I asked Tobin. She only looked confused as I took the picture from her hands and put it up. “I’m leaving because of you and Christen. I can’t stand to be around either of you because you don’t love me.”

Tobin grabbed a hold of my face and held it close to her’s. I searched her eyes for anything to tell me that I was wrong. I couldn’t find much. I couldn’t even find the same type of love that I had for her in her eyes.

“I love you, (Y/N),” Tobin softly said. I was just shaking my head because I knew it wasn’t true anymore. “Please, don’t go.”

“I need to!” I snapped as I pushed Tobin’s hands away from me. I took a step back and Tobin looked surprised. I wasn’t normally one to raise my voice. “Either let me go so I can move on, or prove to me that you love me like I love you.”

Tobin didn’t make a move. She didn’t move toward me, nor did she move to leave. I sighed as I rubbed my hands over my face before looking at her.

“I’ll stay, if you look me in the eyes and tell me, honestly, that you love me just as much as I love you,” I said.

Tobin just stood there. I wasn’t surprised by her reaction. I hadn’t expected her to do anything. I was leaving for Barcelona, I didn’t care what anyone else said. The one person that I wanted to really ask me to stay because she loved me, couldn’t ask me for the reason I wanted her to.

“Please, just leave,” I begged Tobin. I couldn’t stand to be around her because that would only make me want to stay in the USA. Tobin didn’t move at first. “Tobin, get out!”

Tobin jumped when I raised my voice. It hurt me that I had scared Tobin enough that she rushed out of my apartment, but I couldn’t hold any of it back anymore. I leaned against my closed door before I slid down it. I cried to myself because I didn’t have someone like Tobin had.

Would you please have mercy, mercy on my heart

Would you please have mercy, mercy on my heart

“You know, you don’t have to leave,” Kelley said as we stood near my gate. I had just been called for my flight and Kelley had been trying to get me to bail on the transfer, but I couldn’t.

“There’s only one reason why I wouldn’t leave, Kells,” I said. Kelley sighed as she looked disappointed. “I can’t take being here anymore, Kelley. I’m constantly reminded why I’m not good enough for Tobin Heath even after we told each other we loved the other.”

“Come on, (Y/N). There’s still plenty of people in this league that love you, even if Tobin doesn’t,” Kelley said. I scowled at her because I didn’t need to be reminded. 

“Kelley, there’s only one person who could get me to stop from boarding that plane, and she doesn’t care enough to be here,” I said as I looked over my shoulder. I knew that I would have to leave soon. “Besides, I promise you’ll be the first one I call when I get back.”

“I still don’t like it,” Kelley shrugged.

“You don’t have to because it isn’t your transfer,” I pointed out. My flight was called again and I looked back at Kelley. “I have to. Barcelona awaits me.”

Kelley hugged me before I could move. I hugged her back. Getting to play with Kelley had been amazing and it was probably going to be one of the things that I missed most.

“Have fun.”

“I will.”

I turned to board my plane. Barcelona was getting a new player in me, and I was getting a new start. I couldn’t wait. Barcelona, here I come. Hopefully, I could finally move past Tobin and she would finally give my hear the mercy it wanted.

[smolsk]

Solace

I wrote this for Obey Me mctober’s Day 27 (Last Night in The Devildom) on my twitter for my Mc, Maya. The grammar and/or spelling isn’t perfect, so please bear with me on this one :3 

[Word Count: 4982]

----------

A week.

A week is all that is left in the Devildom student exchange program that Lord Diavolo had created nearly a year ago; Nearly a year of learning almost everything from the three realms, of trying to memorize every stairway, hall, and dead-end in RAD to not get lost in its massive corridors, of spending every second with the seven demon brothers she had grown so fond of.

It all ends in a week, and Maya felt lost.

On Monday she left her room to join the brothers downstairs for breakfast, barely having the energy to even get out of bed.

“Hey, Maya!” Mammon greeted her as they walk past each other in the hallway. “How’s my favorite human doing? Well- not my favorite favorite- I mean-” He cleared his throat. “How are you doing?”

Maya raised a brow. “I’m doing good. You?”

“Honestly, not that good.” The white-haired demon shrugged and looped an arm around her shoulders. “You only have a week left before you go back home, and I’m seriously gonna miss ya. Everyone will.”

“I’ll miss you too you know. Who’s gonna try to steal my wallet every morning when I’m back home now?” She smirked. “I saw you putting my wallet in your pocket, Mammon.”

“Aw come on, I almost had it!” Mammon exclaimed, handing it back.

They laughed for the rest of the walk downstairs.

-

Tuesday rolled in and Maya headed over to Leviathan’s room, holding up two bottles of cold orange juice and a bag of chips, yawning a bit every now and then. She needs to get some sleep soon.

She knocked gently at the door when she arrived. “Hey Levi, it’s me.”

When she heard a grunt of approval from the other side of the door, she let herself in.

“Oi normie, you’re late,” Levi told her, pausing the game he was playing on his DDD to look up at her. “Our anime marathon isn’t going to watch itself you know. Unless you’re too busy for a yucky otaku like me…” he grumbled the last part.

“Sorry about that.” Maya scooted over and sat beside him, placing the bottles and chips on the floor next to the pile of snacks Levi first brought. “And no, Lev, I’ll always have time for you and our weekly marathons.” She ruffled his purple hair.

“O- oi! Cut it out!” Levi swatted her hand away. “And besides, this is gonna be our last one.” His shoulders visibly slumped.

Maya gave him a gentle smile. “Let’s just make the most of it then.”

They played the last few episodes of their anime in each other’s company, loudly singing the opening songs until their throats were sore. The orange juice bottles lay on the floor; condensed, forgotten.

-

She sat on the couch with Satan in the common room on Wednesday night, both with a book in hand. It was quiet, as all the others in the house of lamentation are asleep (all except for Lucifer, who’s pulling another all-nighter for the third night in a row in his room), nevertheless, they both didn’t mind the comfortable silence that surrounded them.

“Still can’t sleep?” The blonde asked her, putting the book he was reading down on his lap.

“Yeah.” Maya sighed. “I have a lot on my mind, that’s all.” The bags under her eyes are starting to get visible by the faint glow of the fireplace.

“If you want, I can let you borrow some of my books when you get back home.” Satan suggested, “To keep you company in case this occurs again.”

“Yes, if that’s alright with you, that is.”

“Everything’s alright if it’s you, Maya.” He smiled at her, closing his book. “Come on, it’s time for bed.”

“You’re not even my mom!” Maya laughed softly.

“But I am older than you.” The blonde laughed back.

The fire danced in their eyes, crackling softly as the wood burned in its brick walls.

-

When Asmodeus saw Maya at RAD on Thursday afternoon, he let out a loud, dramatic shriek.

“Oh, honey!” He exclaimed, rushing over to her. “You look so pale!” He cupped her cheeks as he scanned her features, horrified.

“What do you mean?” Maya asked him, voice muffled from her cheeks being squished by the avatar of lust. “I’m okay, Asmo. Don’t worry.”

Asmo didn’t take any of it, as he grabbed her hand and dragged her into one of the empty classrooms.

“Sweetheart, I don’t want to impose, but is something bothering you? You looked like you haven’t had any sleep in days.” He asked her, hands gently resting on her shoulders.

The pink-haired demon considered the silence that followed it as a yes, and removed his hands from her shoulders to cup her cheeks.

“Do you want me to do something? Anything? I can call Lucifer and the others-”

Maya cut him off.

“No, please don’t tell them. I’m fine, Asmo.”

Asmo sighed, tucking away a stray strand of hair behind her ear with his finger. “Okay, I won’t force you to tell me anything. But if I see your condition worsen even a tiny bit, I will tell Lucifer about it, okay? Wouldn’t want you to look awful on your last days here, right?” He tried to lighten the mood.

“Right.” Maya smiled at him. “Want to grab a bite before we head home?”

“Of course, darling!” He beamed, “I still need to update my devilgram story!”

She laughed. “Well, what are we waiting for? let’s go!” It was now her turn to grab his hand and lead her out of the classroom.

Asmo didn’t point out that her laugh was forced that day.

-

Beelzebub found her in the kitchen on Friday, fixing herself a cup of coffee.

“Maya.” He called out, walking over to her side at the kitchen counter.

She turned around when she heard his voice. “Oh hey, Beel! Good morning.” She greeted. “Fancy a cup of coffee with me? There’s also some leftover pasta in the fridge from last night’s dinner If you want.”

Beel eyed the obvious exhaustion prominent across her face. The bags under her eyes are noticeable now; dark, angry. Her eyes were glossed over and puffy; Beel would’ve guessed it was from recent crying.

“I think you really shouldn’t drink any coffee right now.” He told her, taking away her mug and downing the hot beverage down his throat. The drink burned his throat a bit, but he didn’t care.

“Hey!” Maya weakly protested, pouting that her coffee got taken away. “Why not?!” she questioned him.

“You look exhausted, Maya.” Beel pointed out. “Is there something bothering you recently? Having trouble with your tasks?”

Maya shook her head. “I just have a lot on my mind Beel, I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“If you say so.” Beel nodded, moving toward the fridge. “Are you hungry?”

“Not really,” She told him. “I just ate.”

The demon hummed, opening the fridge and leaned down, practically inhaling whatever food that’s in there.

Maya leaned on the kitchen counter, picking on her nails as she listened to Beel’s rapid consumption of the fridge’s contents.

“Do you miss them?”

Maya looked back at his patch of orange hair that’s peeking out from behind the fridge door.

“Who?”

“Your family.”

Maya stayed silent for a moment. Beel stopped eating and turned to look at her.

“..Maya?”

Maya jumped when he suddenly called her name. “oh! Uh-” She cleared her throat. “I do, actually.”

Beel stood up and closed the fridge. There were bread crumbs on his cheeks.

“I just don’t think that they feel the same way for me.”

-

Saturday rolled in and Maya was being dragged away by the youngest brother.

“Belphegor, what are you doing?” Maya asked him, wrist sore from being tugged on too much.

He remained silent, his boots clicking on the steps as they ascended further into the stairway that led to the attic.

“Belph, I’m not in the mood to argue with you right now.” She told him. Her hand was going numb by the tightness of the demon’s grip.

“I’m not looking for a fight, Maya.” He retorted, opening the door to the attic and dragging her inside.

“Then what do you want?!” She tugged her hand free of his grasp. The blood slowly rushed back into her hand, her fists clenching.

“Beel’s concerned about you,” Belphie stated.

Maya went quiet.

Of course, Belphegor knew. It couldn’t be helped though, the twins are psychic.

The Avatar of Sloth decided to press further. “Maya, when was the last time you slept?”

She averted her eyes, choosing to look down on the cool wood flooring of his attic.

“I don’t know.”

He sighed, motioning for her to lay down on the bed. She hesitated, yet she eventually gave in.

She lay on the soft mattress of Belphie’s bed, the smell of fresh linen reaching her nose. She let out a breath.

Belphie then laid down beside her, sighing in content when his body landed on the silky sheets.

“I don’t get you,” Maya started, rolling over to her side to face him. “One day you’re breathing down my neck, looking for every chance to try and annoy me into snapping back, and the next you’re worried about me, dragging me into the attic, your attic, and insisting that I need to rest.”

“Because,” Belphie paused, thinking about what he wants to say next. “Because believe it or not you matter to me. No, to us. We care about you."

She hummed, rolling over once again so her back faces him. He scoots closer, choosing to place his arm over her waist; a sign of content, a sign of acceptance that they’re finally on the same page.

“Is there a reason why you can’t sleep?” Belphie asked. “If I may ask, does it have anything to do about you leaving on Monday?”

He could feel her stiffen beside him, relaxing a bit when he started to stroke her hair. The bleached part of her hair was almost gone now; she had cut it a month or two back when it started to become too long. She sighed.

“I don’t want to go home.”

“Then stay,” He offered. “Stay here with me and Beel.”

“I can’t,” Maya whispered.

“Then let’s just sleep.” Belphie closed his eyes. “You can do that for me, right?”

“I’ll try.”

-

Everything seemed fine on Sunday.

Lucifer offered to walk with her to the Demon Lord’s castle that day; They were heading over there to deal with her remaining paperwork so she could go back home without any issues.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, “You seem tense.”

Maya let out a shaky breath.

“I feel nervous, Luci.”

They walked through one of the streets in the Devildom. Maya could recognize a face or two from the bustling crowd in the stores; Demons she had acquainted with at RAD once. The lights from the streetlamps glowed above them, like little stars that twinkled in the night sky back in the human world. Back home.

The Avatar of Pride extended his hand, hovering ever so slightly above hers. “I could hold your hand if that would make you feel better.”

It did. A smile crept across Maya’s face when she felt his fingers laced with her own. Maya can feel the callouses on his palms; rough, yet so soft at the same time.

-

When they finally arrived in front of the castle grounds, the other exchange students were with Barbatos right outside the door waiting for them.

“Maya!” Luke called out in joy, moving away from his spot beside Simeon to run towards her.

“Go on,” Lucifer ushered her, hands finally pulling away. Maya missed the warmth of his hands against her cold ones.

The two met and engulfed each other in a tight hug, with Maya picking the little angel up to spin him around.

“Hello, Luke!” She greeted, as Luke giggled in her embrace. He smelled like freshly baked cookies and butter.

“Aren’t you excited?” The angel gawked at her. “We’re finally going home!”

Maya didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth.

She placed him down, and they headed over to the others, with Lucifer following right behind.

“How’s my favorite magic man?” Maya grinned at Solomon, raising a hand to give him a high-five.

“Nice to see you too, Maya.” He chuckled.

“Hello, Maya.” Simeon moved over and placed his hand on her head.

“Hello to you too, Simeon.”

“It seems that everyone is already here,” Barbatos hummed, pushing the doors leading to inside the demon lord’s castle.

“Come,” The demon butler gestured them all to come in. “Lord Diavolo is waiting.”

-

It was now Maya’s turn to be in the Lord Diavolo’s presence and her body involuntarily shook. She didn’t even know why she was shaking; She’s on good terms with the demon prince, even formed a close friendship along the way, so what was she even nervous about? The angels and Solomon saw her nervous stature and gave her a comforting look. She nodded at them in a silent thanks, before heading inside Diavolo’s office.

The moment she stepped inside, she was immediately engulfed in a big bear hug.

“Hello, Lord Diavolo.” Maya relaxed in his arms, letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She has this strange feeling of safety despite the fact that she’s being hugged by the demon lord himself.

Lord Diavolo let out a booming laugh, “You look different,” He held up his large hand to hold her cheek. He frowned. “And pale. Have you been sleeping well?”

She shook her head. “It’s fine, my lord. I can just get back the sleep I lost once I go back home.”

“How many times do I need to tell you that you can call me Dia just fine?” Lord- no, Diavolo held her hand and guided her to his desk. Maya noticed Lucifer standing in a corner; calm, composed. He nodded at her in greeting.

“Okay, but it’s your fault if Lucifer punishes me later for calling you so informally.”

Diavolo chuckled and let her sit down on the seat across from him, and sat back in his chair as well.

“First things first,” He started, reaching for his drawer to grab something. “Do you want a lollipop?”

Maya raised her brow, a smile crept on her face in disbelief. She huffed a laugh.

“I’m kidding!” Diavolo laughed, putting it back. “That one’s saved for Luke.” He opened another drawer, finally fishing out her papers and grabbing a fountain pen that was sitting on his desk.

“Tell me, how was your stay here in the Devildom?” He asked as he flipped through the pages, wrote something down, then flipped once more.

“It’s alright,” Maya answered. She could hear the faint scribbling of his pen against the paper. Diavolo hummed, contemplating. “Any troubles with the students?”

She shrugged, fidgeting in her seat. She could feel a headache coming in soon. “The constant ruckus of them brawling with the brothers in an attempt to eat me alive, I am used to.” She explained. “Them not eating me and befriending me instead though… That’s new.”

Diavolo sighs, pausing whatever he writes in her papers. “I apologize for the trouble that must’ve caused you.”

“It’s okay, Dia.” She assured him.

The demon prince leaned back, stretching his back and fixing his posture. “I think we’re almost done here. Is there anything you want to suggest if ever there’s a chance for the exchange student program to start again next year?” He questioned.

“Other than sending my deepest condolences to the next human exchange student because they’re about to babysit the brothers for a whole year, no.”

That sent both her and the demon lord in a fit of laughter. Maya can hear Lucifer chuckle from his corner.

“Thank you, Maya.” Diavolo smiled. “Thank you for making this exchange program possible. Because of you, the program was a success. You can join the others outside now.”

Maya stood up from her seat and bowed at the Demon Lord. “Thank you as well.”

“For what?”

“For choosing me.”

Diavolo smiled. “My pleasure.”

Maya started to head over to the door when she stopped in her tracks.

Something was wrong.

She blinked. Once, twice. Everything seemed so blurry all of a sudden. The two demons behind her stared at her in confusion. “Maya?” Lucifer called her. “Are you okay?”

Maya looked back at them, squinting to try and refocus her eyes. Her head was pounding like someone dropped a bag of bricks on it. “Yeah, I'm just-” She tried to assure him, a hand raising to give him a thumbs up. “I’m just tired, that’s all.” Her hand was shaking violently.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” It was Diavolo’s turn to ask her, rising from his seat in alarm, concerned.

“I’m-”

And then everything she ever felt that week suddenly came down at her, coming together to form the worst migraine she ever experienced. The room blurred more, with splotches of black mixed in her obscured vision. She felt dizzy. She felt sick. The last thing she saw before the darkness consumed her was a blurry Diavolo, running over to catch her from falling.

After all, the human body could only endure so much.

-

When Maya regained consciousness, she found herself wrapped up in a soft blanket. She sat up, shrugging the blanket off her upper half, despite her head violently protesting. She squinted, eye-ing her surroundings in an attempt to figure out where she is. The moonlight illuminated the room she was in, making it easy for her to look around.

There are large paintings hung up on the walls of people Maya couldn’t recognize, her vision still slightly blurry. She looked down; the bed she woke up in was massive, like she could roll over it for hours and won’t even fall off. Like it’s fit for a king.

For a king.

Maya immediately realized who this bed belonged to. She tensed, eyes frantically searching the room for him.

And then their eyes met; dark brown eyes swimming, drowning in his golden orbs, like two suns shining down on the Earth. Warm, loving, relieved.

Diavolo sat on a chair beside the bed, his bed, hand reaching over to hold hers tight. A look of relief was evident on his face as he let out a breath he’s been holding.

He called for Barbatos to go get the others, her hand still in his as if she would disappear if he dared to let go.

“I’m glad you’re alright.” He smiled.

Maya just stared at him.

“What happened?”

Diavolo frowned, “You suddenly collapsed. I had Barbatos prepare my bed and I carried you all the way here. I also had him inform the brothers as well. You’ve been asleep ever since.”

She furrowed her brows, “How long was I out?”

“Twenty hours, give or take.”

-

The moment Barbatos announced that Maya was alright, everyone immediately scrambled over to the demon lord’s chambers, door opening so violently it would probably come off of its hinges.

“Maya!” Mammon cried, rushing over to where she laid and hugged her tight, his wet tears dampening her shirt. Asmodeus followed suit, bawling loudly next to his white-haired brother. His tears stained his face, but he didn’t seem to mind at all.

Leviathan and Satan rushed in next, roughly shoving each other when they both entered the door at the same time in an attempt to free themselves from getting stuck.

The twins went in after them; Beelzebub was shaking violently, big fat tears rolling down his face. His hand grasped Belphegor’s tightly. His twin visibly winced at his grip.

Lucifer entered last, sighing in disbelief at his brothers’ behavior, but nevertheless relieved that Maya is finally awake. Barbatos is beside him, face stoic as ever. His eyes met hers, a silent message shared between them.

‘I’m glad you’re alright.’

Maya said nothing.

-

“Sorry about the mess,” The oldest brother sighed, closing the door behind him. “The others are going to follow shortly; Simeon and Solomon are still trying to comfort Luke.”

“What were you thinking?!” Levi exclaimed, “We were so worried about you, you normie!”

“You scared us, Maya!” Mammon sniffled beside her, “Please don’t ever do that again, ya hear me?”

Maya smiled.

And then she laughed.

And then the tears started falling.

The brothers rushed over and sat on the corner of the Demon Prince’s bed in alarm.

“Oh no, honey!” Asmo wailed as Maya tried so hard to wipe her tears. She couldn’t help it, it won’t stop flowing out.

“I’m sorry,” She choked, “I’m so sorry.”

Every time a tear strayed down her flushed cheeks, a part of her goes with it.

They all sat in silence, giving her a chance to break down her walls and finally let it all out. Diavolo squeezed her hand gently, quietly telling her that it’s okay to talk about it.

“I’m just so tired,” Maya told them, hiccuping every now and then as her body trembled in Mammon and Asmo’s arms. “I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t even get out of my own damn bed. Heck, I couldn’t even barely process anything. There are so many things running in my head right now. So many things, and it’s driving me insane. It’s making me feel afraid. I don’t want to go back home, I don’t want to be alone again. I know I can’t stay, but the place I live in back home can’t even be called a home. No light, no warmth, no one to go back home to. But here… I feel like I belong, like I have a family that cared about me and I… I love you guys so much that I’m afraid to lose it all.”

When she was finished, nobody uttered a word. Maya tensed, scared.

“I’m sorry,” She sucked in a breath. Her throat was sore from all the crying. “I shouldn’t have-”

She was suddenly engulfed by all of the brothers in what seemed like the best hug she ever had in her entire life; They weren’t like the hugs they would give her every time they go their separate ways in RAD’s hallways, they weren’t like the hugs they would give her whenever they would laugh when someone cracks a joke.

No, this hug was special.

It made her feel loved for the first time.

“Maya!” They all cooed, “We love you too!”

Maya burst into tears.

-

By the time they all broke their hug after what seemed like hours, the door opened once more as Barbatos let the angels and Solomon in.

Luke was sobbing in Simeon’s arms, making little hand gestures at Maya in an attempt to reach her.

“Barbatos told us what happened,” Simeon moved towards her and gave her a look of understanding. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.”

Maya weakly nodded, “It’s okay, Simeon. It’s not your fault.”

“Maya!” Luke sniffled, finally calming down when Simeon placed him on the bed next to her. “Thank God you’re alright now!”

She smiled at him, running her fingers through his soft blond hair. “I’m sorry for making you worry, Luke. Will you accept my apology?”

“Apology accepted!” The little angel cried, hugging her tight.

-

It was time for all of them to go back home. They all exchanged one final hug with Maya. Lucifer insisted her to stay in Diavolo’s room that night, the oldest brother convinced that she needed to rest before going back home.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t go home with you all tonight.” Maya told them, “I hope you all have a safe trip back home.” She ran her fingers through Luke’s hair one last time.

“No worries,” Simeon hummed, “It’s okay to rest every once in a while.”

“I’ll promise to write to you every day!” Luke declared, eyes watering a bit. “You better read them.”

“Oh, Luke.” Maya softened, kissing the angel’s forehead. “I will cherish them all.”

Luke beamed.

“Well I guess this is goodbye,” She nodded at Solomon.

“This isn’t goodbye, Maya,” The sorcerer assured her, “It’s more like a “See you later” thing, you know? We’ll see each other again - I promise.” He winked.

“Thank you for listening to me.”

“No, thank you,” They told her. “Thank you for trusting us.”

-

After they were escorted back outside by Barbatos, It was now the brothers’ turn to say goodbye.

“I’m seriously going to miss you guys.” Maya smiled at them.

“You better!” Mammon was tearing up again beside her.

Maya sighed, lifting her hand to wipe away his tear. “It’ll be fine, Mammon. I’m sure I can still see you sooner or later.”

A thought formed in her head, “Which reminds me…” Her hand dove under the sheets and fished out her wallet. “Here, you can have it.” She placed it on the demon’s hands.

“What?”

“You can have it,” Maya repeated, a smile forming on her face. “Besides, I can’t exactly use Grimm back home, right?”

Mammon sniffled, then immediately threw his hands around her. He was crying now.

“Oi, normie,” Levi called her, “Don’t you dare forget about us.”

“Oh Levi,” Maya motioned him to come closer so he too can join their hug. “How could I forget you?”

The avatar of envy averted his eyes, blushing immensely, before finally joining them.

Satan stepped forward and ruffled her hair. “Do you still want the books I’ll lend you?”

Maya can’t stop smiling. “Always.”

The blonde hummed, “I’m gonna miss you, Maya.” He then moved away.

Asmo practically threw himself over Maya, landing against his two older brothers.

“Hey! Watch it!” Mammon growled from under him.

“Asmo-”

“Maya!” He bawled, peppering Maya’s face with kisses. “Take care of yourself more okay? Remember to drink enough water and eat!”

Maya laughed, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I promise, Asmo.”

The three demons immediately pulled away from their hug when they saw Beel approaching at a rapid pace. They didn’t want to get crushed by the Avatar of Gluttony’s huge stature.

“Hey there big guy,” Maya whispered, chuckling a bit when he trapped her in a bone-crushing hug.

“If you can, talk to your family for me?” He muttered, his purple eyes glossed over.

Maya closed her eyes. She sighed, “I’ll try, Beel.”

Belphie slid in between them, “So, can we all three sleep together now?”

Maya giggled, gently patting the youngest brother’s soft hair. “Soon, Belph. Soon.”

When they both finally pulled away, Lucifer approached her.

“If anything goes wrong,” He cupped her cheek with his gloved hand. “Just remember that you’ll always have a home with me. With us.”

She softened in his touch. Those were the words she always wanted to hear.

“Thank you,” She breathed, “I needed to hear that.”

“Anytime.” The oldest brother gave her one of his rare smiles, stepping back.

“I shall escort you seven to the door now,” Barbatos announced, reminding the brothers that it is time to go.

“See you later, Maya!” Mammon grinned, walking towards the door with the others.

“I’ll leave her to you, my Lord.” Lucifer nodded towards Diavolo, who was beside Barbatos.

“Don’t worry,” Diavolo assured them, “She’s in good hands.”

“Good night, Barb!” Maya called out to the demon butler as he accompanied the brothers outside. Barbatos smiled at her, before closing the door.

Diavolo was the only one that stayed behind.

“Move over,” He blurted out.

“What?”

“Move over. I want to cuddle you.”

-

“Tell me something about yourself.”

“Like what?”

“What did you like to do back home?”

Maya hummed, thinking hard. “I liked listening to theater.”

“Really?” Diavolo’s eyes shone in astonishment beside her, arms holding her close. “Can you tell me more?”

She giggled, amused at his reactions. “I had a dog while growing up. From what I can recall, I think we named him Kev. He was tiny; like a little white cloud zooming around in my family’s kitchen. Yet he had these big blue eyes; two sapphires, my mother would call them. But five-year old-Maya thought otherwise. They told me I thought of them as planets.” She paused, “I wish I had more memories of him to tell you. He passed away when I was eight.”

“I’m sure he was a good dog,” Diavolo assured her, a hand reaching up to play with her hair.

“He was one of the best,” Maya smiled at the memory.

-

“How long are you going to stay here?” She asked him.

“Until you fall asleep,” Diavolo answered. He was resting his chin on her head now.

“It’s okay if you need to go,” Maya sighed, “I know you’re busy running the Devildom. You’ve done so much for me already. You probably think of me as a burden right now.”

“No, you’re not.” He told her, “I won’t hate you. I won’t think of you as a burden. I know you think that’s what you deserve but it’s not. I want to stay with you.”

“Stay with me?” Maya repeated.

“As long as I get to hold your hand,” The demon prince chuckled, sheepish.

“Okay.”

Maya’s heart was caught in her throat when Diavolo’s hand slipped into hers, intertwining their fingers together.

It wasn’t weird. It wasn’t wrong. It was Diavolo.

They stayed like that for a while, relaxing in the comfortable silence. Diavolo suddenly broke the stillness when he breathed out a laugh.

Maya looked up at him, “What’s on your mind?” She questioned.

He smiled, “You.”

At that moment Maya realized that he was close. So close.

Diavolo seemed to notice it too. He leaned in, ever so carefully. He stopped when his lips were barely touching hers.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispered.

One look in their eyes and nothing more is said. They could tell they both wanted the same thing; the look they both had is what gave it away.

And then their lips met.

Their kiss was not at all the same as those romance movies Maya watched with the brothers. It wasn’t anything like how they described it in Satan’s novels. It didn’t feel like those rough kisses she had heard in Asmo’s stories.

This one was different. This one was soft.

It felt like laying in bed after a long day. It felt like rain in summer. It felt like the first bite into warm bread. It felt like living.

Yeah, Maya found her place. That place was wherever Diavolo was.

-

It was Monday when Maya woke up back in her apartment.

She was cold, she was alone. But she was loved.

She smiled.

Oh, so loved.

[twriteskpop]

Adrenaline // Jeon Jungkook AU pt 2

Warnings: marijuana use, sexual harassment

Word count: 3k+

The park was 20 minutes away from her apartment complex,  which meant that she had no time to go up to her apartment and change first. She shifted into reverse and made her way to the park.  

The park was mostly empty during the summer time,  so it was no surprise to her that only a few cars were parked by the water.  She found a parking space on the other side of the lot,  and brought out her phone.  

Here. Yellow VW Beatle

She watched as a child threw bread crumbs at a duck in the pond.  Something Floridian children did often.  The ducks aren't supposed to be fed,  but it's like a right of passage in Florida.  The little girl was dressed in a cute denim dress,  matching hat as well.  Her mother was knelt beside her,  keeping a hand on her shoulder to make sure she didn't fall in. The girl threw the bread crumbs happily to the ducks,  pointing at the ones eating.  It was such an innocent moment between mother and daughter.  One Delilah never had but witnessed too often. 

Her thoughts were broke by a knock on the passenger side window. She looked through the window to see a person holding their phone to the glass.  It was the text thread.  This was Clarissa's dealer. She unlocked the door and the man got in. He was nothing she expected.  He was handsome. He had on blue jeans and a long black shirt.  His hair was slightly covering his face. When he turned to her,  she couldn't help but feel a butterfly in her stomach.  He was extremely handsome.  His nose was predimanent,  his eyes sweet but focused on the task at hand.  His skin was clear and smooth and he was somehow cute but hot all at once.  

Her thoughts were,  thankfully, by him putting his hand out for her to shake.  "I'm Jungkook.  You're Clarissa and Bennett's friend?" He asked,  a kind tone in his soft voice.  Delilah nodded once,  pulling her wallet out.  She had never been infatuated with anyone before,  but the looks alone this man had was effecting her train of thought.  Sure,  she had boyfriends but they were pity dates she had with them.  She had never felt physically attracted to anyone before,  so this sudden nervousness made her uneasy. 

"my name is Delilah. Sorry I was late,  I was getting off of work," She explained turning to him.  He raised his brow and half smirked,  "you work at one of the theme parks?" Delilah looked down at her uniform and instantly felt embarrassed.  "Sadly,  no.  I work at Timmy's 50's, " She explained,  adding some annoyance to the diner name.  It was cheesy and showed how self centered her boss was. He chuckled and nodded,  "interesting. Anyways,  what will it be?" She thought back to the strain she used to go off of, even though she never really paid much attention.  Whatever she could get before she smoked,  regardless. However she did remember friend in high school was regular on indica strains called… "9 pound hammer,  or grape ape?" She asked.  He smirked flicking a brow up high,  smirking at her,  "good taste.  I have grape ape right now.  Usually it's pretty random,  for future reference.  You're in luck.  It's 20 a G. " Delilah pulled out her purse and pulled a 20 dollar bill out of her phone case,  it had the smell of maple syrup on it because it was a tip from a messy table with kids that same day. She passed it to Jungkook,  trying not to look into his deep brown eyes too long.  

They exchanged the money for a dime bag of the green,  with slight purple specs,  substance.  He placed the money in his wallet and placed his hand on the handle of the car door.  He paused,  turned to look at her with a cute, bunny-like smile,  and stated,  "it was a pleasure,  Delilah.  I hope we meet again soon." As quickly as he entered her car,  he was gone. 

His scent was of sweet Cologne,  definitely something expensive by how it wasn't too strong to notice at first,  but lingered like a ghost.  

She placed the dime bag into her purse and drove back to her apartment.  She couldn't help but think about the way Jungkook had left butterflies in her stomach.  Who knows,  it could just be nerves from the sale after so long of quitting.  Yeah,  that's exactly what Delilah insisted on as she made her way into her apartment and into a hot shower,  washing the diner smells away along with the phantom touches left from Tims daily harassment.  

When she exited the shower,  sliding on her denim shorts and baggy T-shirt,  she remembered something crucial to her dire need to forget her thoughts,  she hadn't had a grinder or anything to smoke from. Sure,  she could create a soda can bowl,  if she hadn't given up soda her first year of college.  

Thankfully,  she felt relieved to see she had one wrapped cookie left from Clarissa the night prior.  As she unwrapped the single cookie and placed it on a napkin,  and then into the microwave,  she texted Clarissa. 

So,  met Jungkook.  Problem arises,  nothing to grind or smoke with.  😪 

 Seconds later the buzzing started in her phone. Clarissa had been calling her. 

Clarissa was laughing and cheerful, per usual, “D! Come over! I have plenty of old pieces you can take. Smoke with us tonight. We have been wanting to smoke with you for a while, but loved hanging out with you without smoking too. You’re our closest friend!” She continued to ramble on, “Anyways, movie night. Going to smoke and watch… something. We still havent decided, come over!” Before Delilah could protest, there was more laughter and the phone hung up. She huffed out a sigh. 

She hadn’t...smoked in so long. The night prior it was an edible. She had been alone. Was she ready to smoke with other people around again? She was always introverted,  until she smoked. She shrugged the thought off,  thinking too much.  She would at least smoke for free and have a cookie and two grams left at home.  

She slipped on her white adidas and walked over to Clarissa's place,  not bothering to knock,  they asked her not to many times because she was like family.  The familiar smell of weed hit her like a snack in the face.  It was strong and the foggy smoke was rolling out the door behind her.  

Clarissa was rushing to the door, a smile plastered on her round face.  She gripped Delilah's wrist and pulled her happily to the living room.  There were three people in the living room,  lounging on the couch and flipping through Netflix.  One, Bennet a largely buff man with pale white skin and bald head,  but friendly face,  was arguing with the two other men.  Delilah's eyes landed on Jungkook.  He was wearing the same clothes from earlier that day,  a smile plastered on his face,  making his nose crinkle in a cute bunny-like way.  He had been telling Bennet to pick a better movie than the kissing booth.  Bennet may look frighteningly intimidating but he was just a big teddy bear.  The other face was unfamiliar. It was another man of Asian decent with bleached blonde hair and dimples when he smiled.  His eyes were slightly hooded,  but it made his stare seductive.  

"So I heard you met Jungkook earlier but this is RM,  another one of our friends. Follow me to the room,  I have a whole set you can keep. Had it for years but you can clean them," Clarissa stood taller than Delilah but she was in an excited,  bent-knee type position while talking.  It looked as though Clarissa had been waiting for this moment.  As if it were the missing puzzle piece to Delilah's personality.  In the moment,  it slightly burned her soul,  but she brushed it off,  as she did most hurtful things.  

Clarissa had a small cardboard box on her red blanketed bed,  the contents inside were like a smoker starter kit.  A silver grinder with a  rhinestone galaxy as the lid,  a beautiful glass blown chillum,  bowl, a tray and a palm tree bong. Every one of the contents looked warn but the thought was extreme.  "I'll venmo you $100 for this.  It's too sweet," Delilah wrapped her arm around her friend in a side hug.  Clarissa smacked Delilahs arm,  leaving a stinging sensation,  "don't you dare.  You're family." Clarissa turned around and made her way back to the living room. Delilah pulled out her phone and opened the venmo app,  paying Clarissa,  before following behind.  Delilah placed the cardboard shoe box of stuff on the counter and reached for a water in the fridge.  

"Titanic?  What are you a woman?" RM had snatched the remote from Bennet,  laughing.  Clarissa had been seated next to Bennet,  snuggled under his arm,  passing the blunt to Jungkook. lunt to RM who was sitting beside the couple on the small, three person couch. On the two seater, Jungkook was sitting with his elbows on his knees, staring up at Delilah. That feeling in her stomach soon returned.  She turned her attention to the bean bag in the corner, it was either sitting closely to Jungkook, or on the bean bag. She pulled the bean bag to a spot between the tv and the couch, plopping herself down comfortably. “Can we just pick a movie?” Clarissa snatched the remote from RM.  She flipped on a random movie. Delilah giggled when the movie began, seeing the title name. “Of all the movies Clarissa, you had to pick the one based in Orlando?” Delilah laughed, throwing a pillow at Clarissa. Bennet blocked it from hitting her. “I’m a sucker for bring it on movies and this is the only one on netflix,” Clarissa retorted. Delilah face palmed internally. She had been a cheerleader most of her life, competition cheer as well. Mostly on fundraisers because her family had been critically homeless most of her life. Bring it On movies were her guilty pleasure, she was glad clarissa felt the same way. 

“is this one of those cheerleader films?  Oh Lord," Bennet placed his hand on his face and took the blunt from RM,  "I think we are all going to need a ton of this. She likes to act these cheers out." The room started laughing,  but Clarissa lifted a perfectly sculpted brow at Delilah, "yeah laugh all you want but I think our girl D knows this movie just like I do. How'd you know this one was based in our city?" Delilah could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.  She was embarrassed.  She was not sure if she wanted everyone knowing her past. Clarissa and Bennet knew, but she hadn’t known the other two men enough. So, she flicked her brow up and winked, not saying anything. 

The blunt was now in jungkooks hand, he took two long puffs and passed it to Delilah. Before she could reach for it,  Bennet stopped Jungkook, "she doesn't smoke.  Sorry D,  he didn't know." Delilah and Clarissa both began giggling like a set of school girls with a secret.  "I did say that she met our boy JK earlier. I wanted to see the look on your face when you found out, " Clarissa laughed. Jungkook passed Delilah the blunt but it was down to the last hit. She held it in her hand, staring down at it.  Everyone was busy laughing atBennets cluelessness,  so they hadn't noticed that Delilah was trying to decide if she really wanted to take that nose dive back into the cycle. She made a promise she wouldn't do it again.  Maybe she could alter that promise.  She loved being able to sleep the night prior. Not thinking too hard. Maybe she could have the best of both worlds.  Just make responsible decisions while getting rid of the bomb of memories in her mind. That is exactly what she-

"Delilah?" Jungkook had broken her train of thought,  he had done that many times in one day.  She felt the pain instantly and placed it in the ash tray.  She had burnt the tip of her pointer finger and thumb. The blunt had burned out.  She rubbed the burn on her shirt and it had only stung for a second. "How about you guys spark up a bowl while I help Delilah with the burn, " Jungkook stood up,  gripping her wrist,  pulling her up before she could protest.  She didn't like people treating her like she was weak.  It was just a small burn.  The sting did linger as they walked through the kitchen archway.  He opened the fridge and pulled out the tub of butter,  scooping a tiny bit with a spoon and forcefully putting it on her fingers.  "I'm fine.  Thank you. It's just a small burn," Delilah turned the butter with the two fingers as jungkook washed the spoon.  "You looked lost. Bennet said you don't smoke? Is this your first time?" Jungkook leaned against the counter,  a palm of each hand supporting him. 

"Because a first timer could handle the strains I asked for,  let alone know the names?" She laughed sarcastically lifting a brow at the beautiful man.  He let out a chuckle and nodded,  "fair point. So what was getting to you?" She hasn't wanted to tell him her whole life story,  as he was a complete stranger.  However,  the look in his eye showed a sense of caring. His eyes had a glass like glisten and they wandered the depths of her soul they were staring so hard into hers.  She felt that feeling in her stomach and she had to force herself to look to the fridge.  She kept it short and simple,  "I quit about 14 months ago when I moved here.  My decisions weren't always…. Thought out.  Now I think too much so today… " He took a step forward and placed his hand on her mid back,  the feeling in her stomach intensified.  He turned her around and slightly pushed her from the kitchen archway,  moved around her,  looked back to whisper,  "I'll watch over you.  You're with friends now.  If you want to be?" She nodded and they made their way back to the living room.  She sat back down on the bean bag chair and thought briefly about the effect that sentence had on her.  Of course she'd want to be his friend after that.  Even RM seemed cool.  If Bennet and Clarissa were close with these two,  she trusted their opinions more than anyone. So she decided to let herself go.  

Clarissa had hit play on the movie and just as Bennet said,  began reciting the beginning.  The blue,  glassblown pipe went around the living room and made it to Delilah,  who no longer hesitated.  She took the lighter and pressed the bowl against her lips,  warm to the touch.  She went to light the lighter,  but the tip of her thumb was burnt and made her feel like a hot knife cut into her.  "Fuck! " She exclaimed,  shaking her hand.  Jungkook got up from his spot on the couch and sat on the floor next to her.  He reached for the lighter and motioned for her to press the bowl back to her mouth.  After a slight moment of hesitation,  she did so.  He carefully lit the lighter and held it against the green packed substance in the bowl of the pipe.  She breathed in,  letting the smoke slowly warm her lungs,  until she couldn't take it and tapped jungkooks hand with her free one. She cleared the pipe and held in the smoke.  She could feel slightly more relaxed and her body became weightless in a sense.  She was no longer nervous that jungkook was so close to her.  She passed the bowl to Bennet who was next and firSt in the  rotation.  She turned,  thanked jungkook.  "I told you I'd watch out for you." He winked,  making her heart flutter as if a whole tree shook off its fall leaves in preparation for winter,  but in her heart.  The effect he had on her showed,  she wasn't a light weight so she still had thought about that fact.  

Clarissa stood up and began doing the pool cheer off cheer.  Her form waoff and she was making everyone laugh and clap at the same time. She made the movie entertaining even for the guys and it had just begun. "Delilah… you know the movie? Explain why you're laughing and not here doing it with me?" Clarissa paused the movie,  taking her hit as she stood next to the tv in the large living room.  Bennet let out a loud cackle,  "okay rissa,  maybe not everyone watches it a billion times?" The other two guys laughed.  

The overall environment was comfortable and welcoming,  and with the help of medicating,  she felt comfortable enough with her friends to finally admit one thing about her life.  Sure,  Clarissa and Bennet already knew most of the dark stuff that happened to Delilah in her past,  but they hadn't known she used to cheer.  

"Your form is off," Delilah laughed.  Clarissa flicked her brow up,  "what do you know about form? I cheered all four years of high school!" Delilah nodded,  "fair enough.  Try… cheer competition squads since the age of 3,  working through fundraisers to pay her dues to stay on the squad." Clarissa opened her mouth widely smiling,  "no way!  Girl,  you HAVE TO DO THE CHEERS WITH ME! " she squealed in a high pitched voice.  The guys in the room all agreed and took turns pleading at Delilah. They saw it as entertainment.  Delilah shook her head.  She wasn't sure she wanted to be that vulnerable just yet. 

"If you do this, RM,  Bennet and I will do one cheer of choice," Jungkook pleaded,  gripping Delilah's arm gently pulling at her like a child.  She huffed out a sigh,  how could she pass that up? "Fine,  hand me the bowl.  I'm too sober to do this, " She threw the lighter to jungkook who quickly lit the bowl for her.  After a second of letting the medication kick in,  she felt loose in body,  mind,  and soul.  She pushed herself up off the bean bag chair and stood next to Clarissa after kicking her shoes to the corner.  Thankfully, they lived on the first floor so no one would complain.  The guys clapped and began the movie.  

Delilah and Clarissa began cheering every cheer to the movie,  while the guys watched laughing hysterically and occasionally impressed.  "Alright I did it, " Delilah plopped down on the bean bag after the credits rolled.  Clarissa pulled jungkook,  Bennet and RM all up from their spots one-by-one. 

"I'm thinking the pool cheer off.  I'd love to see our guys prance and dosey doe," Clarissa quoted from the movie.  Delilah nodded vigorously. "Hop up there guys you have 10 minutes to practice while D and I go to her apartment to put her pieces away, " Clarissa informed,  throwing Delilah her shoes back,  putting on her own adidas. Delilah grabbed the box on the counter and they exited to Delilah's apartment.  The air was significantly fresher than the apartment they were just in.  She didnt have decorations so even though it was the same floor plan,  hers looked bigger.  

Delilah placed the box in her kitchen cabinet and looked out on her open balcony. Tuck was laying down enjoying the afternoon sun.  "Tuck can come inside if he wants.  I bought a water bowl about a month ago for when he's over on my porch," Delilah pointed to the door,  pulling her phone our of her pocket.  "What a mess this cheer will be, " Clarissa laughed,  peaking over the railing to her apartment. "Oh god," Delilah complained.  Her phone was filled with texts from Tim. He wanted her to cover the dinner rush as soon as the lunch rush was over.  Apparently the other waitresses were going to some party at UCF. Tim always let the other waitresses ditch as much as they wanted,  because the diner was never too busy for one person to handle. It was in a part of town that the tourists never went,  because it was opposite side of the theme parks.  The other waitresses also allowed Tim to grope them and even play into it. They were around the same age as Delilah,  but both were in college while Delilah dropped out of community college to move back.  So,  whenever they didn't want to work,  Tim brought in Delilah.  She needed this job so she always obeyed.  

"I guess you're going to have to enjoy the cheer alone.  I have to head back to work," Delilah threw up her hair quickly while explaining to Clarissa,  who followed her to her room as Delilah changed back into her uniform.  "Heather and Maddy are going to another party?" Clarissa asked,  anger surrounding her usually peppy voice.  Delilah nodded,  pulling her poodle skirt and matching white shirt back on.  

"It's not fair.  The way he treats you.  He shouldn't be harassing anyone of you but the fact the other girls let him so they still get paid to ditch?" Clarissa rambled.  Delilah could feel the rage in the room as if it were fog.  Delilah placed her hands on Clarissa's bony shoulders as Clarissa sat on Delilah's bed.  "Honey,  it's why I can afford this apartment,  my car,  bills,  and still have some money left I save up for an annual pass to the parks.  Tonight's shift tips should get me just enough to buy one on Monday," Delilah reassured her friend. "Come by for dinner if you're too afraid he will act up.  Foods on me, " She convinced Clarissa.  As Delilah grabbed her purse Clarissa followed her out the front door, holding tucks collar. "Fine.  We will drop by later.  I'm bringing the guys.  You're high as a kite though so… be careful okay? " Delilah nodded once and made her way to work.  Being high the traffic didn't bother her so much.  

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A/N

I'm loving this so much.  I have so much planned.  Please leave comments on where I can improve,  what you love,  and what you want with the story!  

-T