#y'all by this point my eyebrows had climbed so high

[booasaur]

Special Ops: Lioness - 1x05

[miyuhpapayuh]

Crushin’

"Ooh girl, there he go!" Jade looks in the direction where her friend is pointing, seeing him.

"Sweet Jesus, he is fine." Another one comments.

"He's always been fine," Jade adds. "Ever since high school." She flips her locks over her shoulder, still looking in his direction.

"Mhm, it's been that long and you still got a crush on him. Don't you?" Jade looks at her friends and rolls her eyes.

"I don't have ti—"

"Shh! He's coming over here!" They straighten up and place their straws up to their lips.

He stops in front of Jade and gives her a smile. "Jade. Long time, no see." She bats her eyelashes, giving him the same smile.

"Indeed, Y'lan." He bites his lip, failing to hide his smirk.

"You look gorgeous, as always."

"Fuck her already," her friend mumbles. She smacks her leg underneath the table. He chuckles.

"You wanna go somewhere and talk?" She stands up from her seat and grabs her drink.

"Sure." He holds his hand out for her take, leading her back to his table.

"So, how have you been?" He asks. She stirs her straw around in her drink, eyeing him coyly.

"We're not gonna play 21 questions, like we're in high school, are we?" He laughs, shaking his head.

"Nah. I just wanted to see how you been."

"Hm. I've been good, I can't complain." She shrugs.

"Mm, well you look great." He sends another smile her way.

"What's up with all the compliments?" She crosses one long leg over the other.

"What do you mean?" He raises an eyebrow at her. "I've always thought you were beautiful."

She laughs. "That's funny, cause I never knew that. Where was this energy in high school?"

"I wasn't the type to approach people in high school, let alone someone as bad as you."

"Hm.... what about Vanessa? Y'all went to prom together." He smirks.

"She asked me to prom. I didn't even really wanna go."

"Then, why did you?" He gives her skeptical look, making her throw her hands up. "I'm just curious. This is a honest conversation, right?"

"My boys were going and they all had dates. Now, while that never mattered to me, she asked me at the last minute and I just went with it. Nothing serious."

"Did you say that last part for my benefit?"

"Do you want me to say yes, so it can make you feel better?" He asks.

"No, smart ass. I'm just saying, just cause you were attracted me, doesn't mean you have to dumb down your romantic situations for me."

"I still am attracted to you." He swirls the dark liquor around in his cup, before emptying every drop into his mouth.

"I know you're attracted to me, too." She places her chin in the palm of her hand.

"How would you know that?"

"You just admitted it, Jade." She briefly closes her eyes, opening them back up to see him laughing at her.

"Shut up, Y'lan."

"Aw come on, there's no reason for the hostility." She waves him off, sipping the rest of her fruity alcohol through her straw.

"You think I'm cute, huh?"

"I'm gonna need another drink." They both laugh.

Thirty minutes, great conversation and three drinks later...

"You wanna get outta here?" Her low, red eyes stare back at his.

"And go where?" His eyes dim in response.

"Your place. My place. Hell, ima fuck you up in my backseat if you keep lookin' at me like that." Her thighs clench together.

"What makes you think I'd let you fuck?"

"Cause you're wet, right now." She tucks her bottom lip between her teeth.

"What about my girls?" Her phone buzzes.

Simone

GET THAT DICK GIRL!

Angie

We want every little detail!

She laughs and tucks it back in her pocket. "Never mind."

He stands up and grabs her hand, pulling her up as well.

She follows him out into the parking lot. The orange glow from the sun casts over her, sending him for a loop.

"Damn, you're so beautiful." She blushes, while he opens her door. She climbs inside and he does the same, taking off down the street.

———

"You know, I've always had a thing for tall women." She laughs, while he unbuttons her shirt.

"And, why is that?" He lifts her up and places her against the wall. She purrs.

"So, I can do that." His lips find her neck, sucking until a sweet spot is found. Her long legs wrap around his waist, as he moves away from the wall and over to his bed.

Tossing her onto the soft mattress, he removes his jacket, allowing his dark chocolate skin to come into view, much to her approval.

She bites her lip, watching his jeans hit the floor next. Her eyes travel below his v-cut, to his very noticeable print.

Tapping her leg, her gaze lands back on his face. Her face flushed red with slight embarrassment.

He smirks, pulling her thighs apart and lifting her skirt to remove her panties, when he realizes she isn't wearing any.

"...shit." She throbs at his gaze on her lower lips. Her heel clad foot finds its way on his bare chest.

"Like what you see, huh?" He doesn't answer her, but rather grabs her leg and straightens it towards the ceiling.

Sinking between her legs, he wastes no time latching onto her clit. A gasp leaves her mouth, while her hand grips the back of his neck.

"Ohh fuck... just like that, yesss!" Slurping wildly at her folds, he tightens his grip on her hips, keeping her in place.

"Sss— oh my God, Y'lan!" A knot forms in her stomach. She slips her heels off to comfortably dig her feet into the bed.

Her moans bounce off the walls. His sucking becomes fervently passionate, causing her to claw at his neck and shoulders.

"I'm gonna cum! I'm gonna cum!" Her voice hits an octave that becomes inaudible at a point, leaving her to pant wildly and squeeze her eyes shut.

Not stopping until she releases once more, he moves away from her pulsating core and kisses his way back up her body.

"You taste so good, babygirl." She shoves her tongue down his throat, beginning to tug at his boxers.

"Fuck me."

Assisting her in removing her skirt, he rips her shirt open and glides his tongue over the cleavage that spills over her bra.

Removing his boxers, he lines himself up with her entrance, spreading her wetness on his tip. Sliding inside, he curses to himself while her eyes roll back.

"Oh shit..." her nails dig into his back, as he begins to stroke. Her soft whimpers fill the air, along with his grunts.

"Mm... I've wanted this pussy since high school." He confesses. The corners of her lips curl into a smile.

"Shut up and take it, then." He glances at her, before gripping the back of her thighs and picking up speed.

Her nails break through his skin, drawing blood. Her mouth forms a permanent 'o' shape, letting every profanity escape.

"Ffff— aaah fuck!" His hand wraps around her neck, pulling her up to watch him slide in and out of her.

"See that shit? Look at that pretty pussy grippin' that dick." Her eyes become glued to the sight; her wet cove swallowing his thick girth with every thrust. The squelching sounds echoing off the walls.

"I'm gonna cum— ohh fuck!" Squeezing her neck tighter, he rocks in and out of her wildly. Her hands scratch at his thighs.

"Shit.. let it go, girl." Her body bends upward, spazzing out and scooting away from his.

"Where you going'?" He chuckles, pulling her back by her ankle.

"We got all night."

@blackburnbook @killmongerdispussy @brattyfics @soufcakmistress @chaneajoyyy @sadthotsonlylove @cecereads209 @ibeoutchea @killmongerkink @daddy-killmonger @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @quietstorm-thundathighs @emjayewrites @uzumaki-rebellion @sheabuttahwrites @ghostfacekill-monger @hearteyes-for-killmonger @honeyandpeaches @nicaurora @l-auteuse @blowmymbackout @nayaxwrites

[diegos-butt]

A trip to the grocery store

Summary: The fridge is empty, so a trip to the supermarket is inevitable. The only problem? Walter isn't in the mood to behave. 👀

Walter Marshall x Melody Williams (Curvy/Plus size OFC)

I didn't mention her name (he calls her doll y'all) so you could see this as a reader insert I guess!

Warnings: Walter being a cheeky bastard. Walter being a little touchy. Cute ass behaviour 🍑 (pun intented, you'll understand later)

Wordcount: 3k

A/N: Wooohooooo!!!! In celebration of reaching 🎉100 followers🎉, I’m posting this fic as a thank you! Thank you all!! 🥺

This is written for my babies from Electricity, but you can read it without having read that. I make a few references to the first chapter, but they’re explained so you’ll get in anyway. 😘

•••

“No, let’s just stay home!” Walter whined. “We can just order take out tonight!” He looked at me from the couch with puppy eyes.

“Walter, take a look at the fridge. That thing is empty, and you eat for like three people,” I said with my hand on my hip, in my other hand I waved with the car keys. It had been a busy week, and we both didn’t had time to run errands. “We need to go to the grocery store, and you know it.”

“I don’t eat that much,” he grumbled.

“Yes, you do. And again, you know it,” I shot back. “Now get that thick ass of the couch.”

Faster than the speed of light he stood up. Standing behind me he grabbed my hips. “Look who’s saying that,” he growled. I laughed and swayed my butt against my boyfriend.

“Not now Walter, first groceries,” I turned around and winked at him. Quickly I walked away and grabbed my phone from the dining table and shoved it in the pocket of my jeans. He sighed loudly behind me, but he gave in. I walked to the hallway and grabbed his shoes, which I threw at him.

“No need to be so violent doll, might get you in trouble,” he warned. He tied his shoelaces and grabbed his wallet from the dining table.

“Might be looking for some trouble detective.” I waited by the door, and after one final warning glance at Walter, he walked towards me. He stepped close, pressed his forehead against mine before he kissed me deeply. His hands wandered over my butt. With a gasp I broke the kiss, and pressed my hands against his chest, creating a little space between us.

“I really can’t convince you to just stay home uh?” he asked and tried to pull me closer again.

I shook my head and grabbed his hand while I opened the door and pulled him outside with me. “Damn right.”

“A woman on a mission, those are the dangerous ones,” he mumbled underneath his breath.

“What was that?” I looked at him while narrowing my eyes.

“Nothing doll,” he grinned. We walked towards the car. It was a soft, spring day, no need for a jacket or coat. Walter was wearing one of his characteristic grey sweaters, and I was wearing a blue deep vee blouse with high rise jeans.

I was about to open the driver’s side when Walter snatched the car keys out of my hands.

“Hey!” I exclaimed.

“I’m driving,” he simply stated. He placed his hand on the small of my back and escorted me to the passenger’s side. He opened the door and gestured me to get in. I huffed but did what he wanted. After he closed my door, and took his seat behind the driver’s wheel, I could see the smug grin on his face.

Soon after we had left the house, Walter parked the car in the parking lot of the grocery store. I opened the door and heard him groan next to me. Quickly, I stepped out and shut the door. He looked at me, his eyes begging me to let him stay in the car. While shaking my head, I walked around the car and opened his door.

“The quicker we do this, we quicker we are home again,” I told him.

“Do we even have a list? Do we even know what we need?” he said as he climbed out of the car. We walked towards the entrance and I grabbed a cart. Well, he walked a few steps behind me.

“Uh, no? We know what we need right?” I turned around and didn’t miss his eyes leaving my butt. He gave me a cheeky grin and came to stand beside me.

“Well, this is going to be fun.” He put an arm around my shoulder and ushered me inside. “Not having a list means I can put everything I want in the cart.” The grin on his face grew even wider.

“Good luck with throwing me in the cart. I’m all you want right?” I couldn’t hide the smile that formed on my face. “Now, come on. We’re just going to walk through all the aisles, alright?”

He sighed beside me, but I ignored it and made my way to the first aisle. While putting a few items we needed in the cart, we discussed what else we needed. I thought he finally came around, and he would stop whining. I was wrong. Oh boy, what was I wrong.

While I pushed the cart through the next aisle, he suddenly left my side and walked further into the aisle. I furrowed my eyebrows, but continued shopping. A few seconds later he came back with his hands behind him.

“Oh no, what did you get?” I asked and tried to give him a stern look.

“Nothing baby, absolutely nothing,” he responded. The look on his face told me something else. I turned around to grab something, and when I turned back, I noticed something that wasn’t in the cart before.

“Walt, what is this?” I said as I picked up the box he had obviously threw in when I couldn’t see it. “You’re going to make a cake? Since when do you bake? You cook, you don’t bake.” I cocked an eyebrow.

“I feel like eating cake. So why not make one!”

“Alright, fine, but no more unnecessary things okay?” I sighed in defeat. “What else do you need to make this?”

“See, that’s the best part. You only have to add water.” He came to stand behind me and put his hands on my hips. Slowly his hands started to wander lower.

“This cake is going to be disgusting, you know that right?” He pressed his body against mine and hummed. I was having a hard time to not give in to his body heat, and just stay there like that for a couple minutes. But I came back to my senses. I turned around and slapped him on his chest.

“Focus baby, we are not even halfway through the store. If you would just cooperate with me here, we could be home way quicker,” I said and pushed the cart away from him. He sighed behind me. Nevertheless, he followed me to the next aisle.

I stood in front of all kinds of soup, debating with myself which one I wanted, when I felt a large hand squeeze my ass.

“Walter!” I sissed.

“What’s wrong baby, it’s just us in this aisle,” he chuckled. I looked around and we were indeed the only two people in the aisle.

“How wonderful.” I rolled my eyes. “But get that hand off my ass sir. We are in public.”

However, he did not remove his hand. Instead, he came to stand in front of me, blocking my view from the cans of soup. His other hand grabbed my ass as well and he smirked at me. Slowly he leant forward and placed a chaste kiss on my left cheek. Then, he placed a kiss on my right cheek. His beard scraping my face.

“What is going on baby?” I chuckled and grabbed his face between my hands. He looked at me with his big blue puppy eyes and gave me a sweet kiss on my soft lips.

“I just want to go home and show you how much I like this big butt of yours.” He squeezed my ass another time and gave me a kiss.

“Well, if you would let me go, we could continue shopping. The quicker we finish shopping, the quicker you can show me that,” I said. I grabbed his hands and pulled them off my butt. “I have told you that before!”

He shook his head and groaned. Laughing, I started to walk away. Quickly, he followed me and slapped my bum before jogging off. Before he was out of the aisle, he looked over his shoulder and shot me a cheeky grin.

I continued colleting the necessary items, without Walter by my side. Where is he and what is he doing? The answer to that became clear when he came into my sight again, with his arms full of groceries. Smiling, he walked towards me and dumped all of it in the cart.

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Since you wanted to hurry up, I went ahead and collected some items myself. You know, to speed this up,” he answered. I looked at the items he picked.

“You think we need a block of cheese that big?” I wondered while I looked at a giant block of cheese.

“I like cheese, you like cheese. We definitely need it,” he stated. “I also grabbed the things we need for dinner tonight and tomorrow, so I’m helping big time you right now.”

“You better be cooking as well,” I mumbled. “Alright, but do we need that much candy?” I held up at least 5 different packs. He simply shrugged his shoulders and freed them from my hands and put them back in the cart. He kissed my cheek and mumbled ‘yes we do’.

“Oh boy. Well, we do need the chocolate,” I said and pointed to the chocolate bars he picked. I wanted to move along when I felt his hand on my bum again.

“Why aren’t you wearing that cute skirt you bought the other day?” he asked and placed his head on my shoulder. I was thanking the gods that there weren’t many people doing groceries at that moment. It was just us, some employees and a few other customers.

“I thought you liked my butt in these jeans,” I pouted.

“Oh, I do, trust me, I do,” he said, and checked out my behind very obviously. “But the skirt has easy access.” The last part he whispered in my ear with a low, deep voice. A shiver went down my spine and I giggled.

“Walter, seriously, behave. I will have to leave your ass behind otherwise.”

“That would be a shame, considering how much you like my ass,” he smirked.

“You know what. You need to go do something. Why don’t you find those cookies Faye likes, we’re out of them,” I suggested. I had to give him something do to, otherwise he would just linger around me, making shopping a little harder. He groaned, but took his hand of my bum and walked away.

My eyes followed him; he did have an amazing ass. I shook my head and focussed on doing groceries again. I was almost done, just one more aisle. I made my way through the last one when Walter appeared again, with three boxes of cookies in his hands.

“Before you tell me we don’t need all of these, we do,” he began. He placed the boxes in the cart and held his hands up in the air.

“Please tell me why,” I sighed.

“First of all, these are Faye her favourite cookies.” He pointed at one of the boxes. “And these are mine.” He pointed at another box. “And these doll, are yours.” He pointed at the last box with a large smile on his face. He was right, those were indeed my favourite cookies.

“I don’t think we need three boxes, but I don’t feel like arguing with you now so it’s fine,” I said and placed my hand on his bicep. I felt the muscle flex a little, and I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Show off.”

“What? You like it that I’m strong right?” He was now obviously flexing his muscles. I laughed and removed my hand. He placed one of his hands on the small of my back instead, and it slowly travelled down.

“Oh, look. We are in the cereal aisle!” I exclaimed, suddenly realizing we stood at the place we first met. I remembered that moment. I was zoned out, when he suddenly reached around me to grab a box of cereal while I was doing the same. We bumped into each other, and when I looked into those blue eyes, I knew I was in trouble.

He smiled at me and placed a kiss on my lips. He tried to deepen the kiss when we heard a cough behind us. An older woman walked past us with a scolding look. We chuckled, and watched her leave the aisle, which was now empty.

I turned to look at the boxes of cereal and realized the one I wanted was placed at the top of the high shelf. There was only one box left, which was placed all the way to the back. I tried to reach it, even stood on my toes, but I couldn’t. I was surprised, normally I could reach anything.

Suddenly, Walter came to stand behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist. With his other arm, he grabbed the box of cereal and threw it in the cart. While he did that, he pressed his body flush against mine. Why and how is he so warm.

He didn’t step back, no, he brushed my hair to the side, creating access to my neck. Gently, he placed kisses up my neck and behind my ear. I had to contain myself to not moan out loud. His hand travelled down to my butt, again, and squeezed it.

“Not right now baby, come on.” Quickly, I turned around and pushed him away a little. He gave me the puppy eyes. “No, don’t make me feel bad! We are almost done! When we get home, you can give me all the kisses you want.” I pressed my lips to his.

“Fine, fine. What else do we need?” Walter ran his hands through his curls and sighed in defeat.

“Uhm, let me think,” I said and pushed the cart out of the aisle. “Oh, we need toilet paper!”

“We’re already out of that?” he wondered.

“Walter, you don’t only eat for three, you also-” I couldn’t finish my sentence because he interrupted me.

“Yeah, yeah. There is something called a little too much information doll.”

“Why don’t you go get that and meet me in the fruit section. Go be useful.” I said and gave him a sweet smile.

“Anything for you doll. And as I recall, I was pretty useful between those thick thighs of yours last night,” he snickered. I gasped and tried to come up with a witty comeback. Before I could he walked away, slapping my ass in the process.

“Hey!” I yelled as he laughingly walked away.

I made my way towards the fruit section and picked up a few apples. I placed them in a little plastic bag, so I wouldn’t drop them. I had learned from my mistakes in the past. Smiling I thought back at the day I met Walter. While we bumped into each other in the cereal aisle, I was carrying a few apples that I dropped.

“Try not to drop those doll,” Walter said as he showed up beside me again. He placed the toilet paper in the cart and wrapped an arm around my waist.

“Dropping them in the first place made you fall for me.” I winked at him and laughed. “Maybe that’s my way of seducing men.”

“Men? Only one man you need to seduce honey and you’re already doing a pretty good job with that,” he whispered in my ear, and placed a sweet kiss behind it.

“Uh, that’s good to know. That means you’re attracted to me even though I live in your sweaters and baggy sweatpants,” I said and leaned back against him. He nuzzled his face in my neck. His beard tickled me, making me chuckle.

“How could I not be attracted to you? Look at you doll,” he growled. His hand wandered lower and squeezed my butt.

“Oh my God, can’t you just wait until we’re home?” I pleaded. “We only need some more fruit, and then we can go home.”

He laughed, slapped my ass, and walked over to grab two melons. “I know two other melons I prefer,” he smirked and wiggled his eyebrows.

I covered my eyes with my hand. “Mine are not nearly that big.” I tried not to smile but failed horribly. He placed the melons in the cart, winked at me, and pushed the cart towards the cash registers.

While we paid for the groceries, Walter couldn’t stop touching me, he kept smacking my bum. Finally, we reached the car and loaded the groceries in the trunk.

“I’m going to take a nap when we’re home. You are being very exhausting today,” I said as Walter closed the trunk.

“In that case, I’m going to take that nap with you. You are being very exhausting yourself as well. Dragging me all the way here to do groceries while we could have ordered take out. You’re evil,” he teased. He fished the car keys out of the pocket of his jeans and stepped closer to me to press a kiss to my cheek. I saw my opportunity and grabbed the keys from his hand. Quickly, I opened the door on the driver’s side, and crawled behind the wheel.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” he yelled. Before I could close the door, he stood next to me. One hand on top of the roof, and one hand on top of the door. He looked at me with a cocked eyebrow. “I’m driving.”

“No, you are not driving. In fact, I’m driving. We both know I’m the better driver between us,” I teased and smiled at him.

“Yeah right,” he muttered, but he closed the car door and walked around it to take place on the passengers’ seat.

“I know you like it when I drive, so don’t pretend you don’t like this baby,” I said as I drove off. I looked to my right, and saw he was fighting the smile that formed on his face.

“If we are really going to take a nap, can I use your butt as my pillow?” he asked with a mischievous grin. He placed his hand on my thigh, and I interlaced my fingers with his.

“Fine, but I’ll get to be the little spoon tonight.”

•••

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[smellsfaintlyofvanilla]

I wanna wrap Hange up in a blanket and tell them they are doing their best 😢 if you don’t mind can you write Hange and reader taking a bath together and it being fluffy.

I just know they reek to high hell

Still love 'em though

Soft

(Zoe Hange x Reader)

AU: Unspecified

Warnings: None

Category: Fluff

Summary: Finally fed up with Hange's poor hygiene, their S/O forces them to bathe with them. Chaos ensues.

Words: 1.6K

"Y/nnnnnnn!"

"No."

"But c'mon!" Hange whined, throwing their arms around your shoulders. You quickly pushed them off, walking away in an act of defiance, despite the little voice in the back of your head telling you to give in to their demands.

"Hange, you reek." You scoff, crossing your arms and giving them a disapproving look. They had finally finished their long day of work, and immediately went up to you for your usual nighttime cuddles, but you had refused—they hadn't bathed in over a month at this point, and you were starting to get sick of it. It wasn't even the actual smell, more so just a concern for your lover's lack of hygiene.

"Just for tonight?" They bargained, "Just tonight, I'm really tired, I'll bathe in the morning."

"You always say that, but you never do, y'know." You muttered, turning away.

A beat passes, and neither of you say anything.

Finally, you sigh, breaking the silence.

"I'll bathe with you, if that'll convince you." You mumbled, and Hange's face immediately lit up, excited by the offer.

"That works!" They grinned, already unbuttoning their shirt and pulling it over their head.

You raise an eyebrow. "Don't look so excited." You mutter, turning to leave. "I'll go start the water."

You shut the door behind you, heading towards your shared bathroom. Seldom was the bath itself used by anyone but you, so you already had all the soaps and shampoos organized perfectly to your liking. You flicked on the knob, putting your hand under the water until it turned hot and plugging the drain to let the bath fill.

While waiting for the bath to fill, you slowly undid your shirt as well, discarding it, and the rest of your clothing, to a neat pile on the floor, wrapping your bare body in a towel to fight the cold air of the room.

A few loud knocks on the bathroom door brought you out of your thoughts, making you jump.

The perpetrator, Hange, didn't bother waiting for an answer, pushing the door wide open, causing you to flush bright red.

"Hange, close the door!" You whisper-yelled, rushing over to shut the door. Luckily, both of you were wrapped in towels, so if anyone did walk by, they wouldn't see much, but you still wanted complete privacy in that moment.

"Sorry, sorry..." They whispered back, laughing a bit to themselves.

When you had turned around, Hange had already removed their towel, dipping their leg into the bath and swirling it around a bit, testing the temperature.

"Feel okay?" You asked, walking over to them and setting a hand on their shoulder.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice actually..." They sighed, climbing in and resting against the edge of the tub. You joined them silently, discarding the towel and slinking in right after, sitting on the opposite side of the tub.

"You're right... it is really warm." You exhaled, leaning back to take in the feeling of the hot water against your skin. A nice relaxing bath, plus Hange, and it was almost therapeutic. "Still," you muttered, sitting up and causing the water to slosh a bit at the movement. "We don't have forever until it gets cold. Turn around."

They cocked their head to the side, gazing on in confusion until you pulled out a bottle of shampoo, squirting a bit of it into your hands. "Well? Are you gonna come over?"

"Oh, right..." They mumbled, scooting over to turn their back to you with an uncharacteristic awkwardness.

You rub the soap together in your hands briefly, spreading it across both palms before moving your fingers to work their way through Hange's hair, massaging their scalp in the process.

"Oh wow..." They sighed, leaning their back against your stomach fully and closing their eyes in relief.

You raise an eyebrow, continuing the lather the soap through Hange's greasy hair. "What's so 'wow' right now?"

"I've never had anybody wash my hair before... it feels nice..."

"Hange, I would be surprised if you even remember what it feels like to wash your hair in general." You chuckle, causing them to scoff in faux offense and rise a little in the water, turning their head to the side.

"Come on now, don't move so much, you're gonna get the soap in your eyes." You warn, grabbing them gently by the cheeks to face them in the same direction they were facing mere moments ago.

They close their eyes once again, not bothering with a response as your fingers work through their hair with the gentle caring of an angel.

Having finished spreading the soap through their hair, you took a small scoop of water in your hands, pouring it over your lover's head, rinsing the soap from their hair. Teasingly, you take a scoop and dump it directly over their face, causing them to jump, snapping out of their relaxed trance to turn to look at you with bewilderment.

"What was that for??" They questioned, moving the hands up to swipe away the soap that roamed dangerously close to theirs eyes.

"Oh, I don't know," You smirked, leaning back against the porcelain tub with a cheeky expression. "Just felt like it I guess."

"You little...!" They growled, swiping their arms to splash a gush of soapy water in your direction. You jumped out of your spot, desperately wiping the soap from your searing eyes.

"Owww... Hange!" You half-groaned, half-laughed, glancing up at them with a mischievous look. It's on.

You splashed back at them, sending a powerful gush of water in their direction, but they managed to block their face with their arms just in time to send another wave of water back, equally as powerful.

The water fight was passionate, but short lasting. After a few minutes of back and forth, you had realized just how much water had left the tub and soaked the floor around you two.

"Oh my god, Hange, look at this mess." You groaned, leaning over the edge of the tub, annoyed at the prospect of all the future cleaning.

"You started it!" They laughed, draping an arm around your shoulder and yanking you against their chest.

"Oof- Hange!" You groan, wiggling in their arms. It was no use, though, as their strength outmatched yours, locking you in against their chest.

"You're stuck here, whether you like it or not." They giggled, tugging at the back of your head to pull you into their shoulder, hugging you warmly like a beloved stuffed toy.

Now having access to Hange's collarbone, a sinister idea formulated in your mind. Without warning, you bit down on the soft flesh, emitting a surprised yelp from Hange.

They yanked your hair, pulling you away from their collar with an annoyed expression. "You're always scheming something, aren't you?"

You laugh out loud, shooting them a look and shrugging your shoulders. "What can I say? You present too many opportunities."

"Oh yeah? What are you planning right now then?" They tighten their hold on your hair, moving your head in tandem with theirs, only to stop inches away from each other.

You don't answer, instead lurching forward to crash your lips into theirs, and putting your hands on their shoulders to push them back-up against the tub.

As soon as you pull away, opening your eyes and catching your breath, Hange gives you a smirk before shoving you against the opposite end of the bath and leaning over to straddle your thigh.

"No fair," They whine playfully, "I wanna be on top!"

"Hange!" You punch their shoulder jokingly, face heating up at the dirty remark. "Jeez, way to make it awkward..."

"I'm not the nervous one here, you are." They reminded with a smirk.

"Just shut up and kiss me." You exhale, leaning forward to connect your lips once again. They ease into the second kiss immediately, moving against you fluidly, having long gotten used to the feeling of your colliding lips.

Suddenly, they pull away from the kiss, moving to drop their head on your shoulders, a hand slinking down to entwine your fingers in their own.

"I love you... so much..." They mutter into the crook of your neck, causing you to shudder, but run a soft hand through their hair anyway.

"I love you too, Hange." You smile, leaning down to peck them on the top of their head.

They move up from your shoulder, leaning in once again, but this time, they rest their forehead against yours, closing their eyes and taking a long exhale.

"Seriously. I love you so much, you don't get it." They sigh, moving against you to press your bodies even closer together. "You're always taking such good care of me... making sure I'm okay... what did I ever do to deserve someone like you?" They chuckle, but you hear the slight waver in the noise.

"Hange, you're amazing. Don't ever doubt that for a second. I take care of you and stay with you because I love you, you're the most important person in my life. You're really amazing, you know?" You smile warmly at them, wrapping an arm around their neck to tug their parted lips teasingly closer to your own.

"Yeah, of course..." They mutter, their heart beating faster and their mind swarmed with the feelings of love that seemed to exude off of you whenever you were around. "I love you, darling."

"I love you too." You sigh, moving your head to connect your lips once again, chapped lips, yet kissing so softly.

Anyway, goodnight y'all. I need sleep (and grass lmaooo)

[pixie-cocaine]

ATEEZ Reaction To: Catching them off-guard by being naked

Hii, I've noticed your requests are open. And i've been seeing your Ateez reactions recently, which are amazing. :D I just wondered, do you think you could do an Ateez reaction where their S.O. walks into the room naked while they are playing a game, working on music etc? (Kind of like that new Tik tok trend going around atm) x

Guuurl, sorry I waited so long to actually do something about this ask lol, but hopefully this will make you happy :)

Songs Listened To: X by CODE KUNST + LEE HI, FXXK It by BIGBANG, Dante’s Creek by THEY + DEAN, Baby Don’t Stop by NCT, Love Talk - Wayv, A Little Death by The Neighborhood

Hongjoong ♡:

• This man was straight vibing and your sneaky ass just HAD to do something

• “Joong.”

• “Yeah?” he didn’t look up from the small journal, with which he was jotting down lyrics for a future song he was to produce for

• He kept his eyes trained on the pages

• And uh-uh, that wouldn’t do 😤

• You rolled your eyes and waltzed over to the boy, putting a hand on the shoulder of the chair so you could swing him around to face you, an eyebrow raised

• “Look at me.”

• And he sure as hell did dafdsaffwq

• Face said :O

• Doesn’t matter how many times he sees your nude body, still looks like a kid in a candy store lol

• To say he was completely distracted would be a huge understatement

• Hanky panky in his mini studio? Yessir

Seonghwa ♡:

• Looking at this gif and listening to a slowed sexy song is gonna kill me istg

• Also, who let him act like a little hoe in their comeback? Keep your shirt down, mister, it’s not safe

• Gorl has nothing to do in his sparetime because he’s not too big of a gAMeR, but he does like to play phone games when he’s especially bored

• Would probably be playing like fuckin uhhhh candy crush or something when you said “lemme do sum a lil crazy 😌💅“

• You were kinda just curious to see what his reaction would be if you showed up witcha tiddies out

• So you got out the shower and half-assedly threw on a silk robe that Hwa got you for your birthday, not tying it or anything, but rather letting it slip off your damp shoulders while the front sat open and displayed your body for all to see

• His reaction when you leant against the doorframe and fake pouted?

• Immediate 📉

• Everday and night he’s gon chase you frfr

• “C’mere...,” He’d mumble, tossing his phone to the side 

• Level thirty-seven could wait ;)

Yunho ♡:

• Playing pc games at home is one of his favorite things to do (He’s even said so)

• PC games are his go-to when he gets bored of console

• So he’s constantly in his lil gaming room so that if you’re ever sleeping, he doesn’t wake you up

• He was on a multiuplayer session of Valorant when you decided to ruin his gaymer grind

• F in the chat boys

• “Yunho?”

• “Yes?” He stops his hastily typed directions to his game buddies in favor of giving you a quick glance from his chair, and has to look over again to make sure he's seeing things right

• Yeah, he was definitely seeing the pretty rise of your breasts and smoothness of your thighs, revealed from the towel now on the floor, right. Especially the way both of those lovely attributes were becoming larger as you approached him

• "W-woah!" He rushes to shield his eyes, though you only giggle and swivel his chair around in order to straddle him, removing his hands from his face

• "What? Am I too repulsive to?"

• "No! No it's just...," Yunho trails off, letting out a shaky breath and trying his best to not stare so obviously. Literally just paying attention at anything but what you wanted him to

• You only grin, tilting his chin to you face you head-on, "It's ok to look, baby. Don't be so shy"

• a forgotten game and heated chair sex is what would lead to your surprise

• kiss kiss for baby 😘

Yeosang ♡:

• We need more Yeosang gifs, this is ridiculous y'all ;(. Also, we're just... Not gonna talk about San on the side 💀

• Oh oh! And Yeosang getting bolder on stage is my favorite thing

• soooo snowboarding

• Yeosang said he likes to do that in his free time

• He'd just got a new custom board, which the front had lovely baby blue dripping forest face and the meaning of his name painted in black for the back, "Sound Resonating From A High Point."

• He was waxing it in the kitchen with it sat atop the island for easier space when he felt your arms slide around his waist, to which he smiled at, still continuing his work

• "Hello there," he mused

• "Baby, what would you do if I told you I was naked?"

• bitch hUH??

• He really did not waste time with turning in your hold and IMMEDIATELY looking down to see what you're wearing

• He chuckles upon , giving a cat whistle before bending down to set you on top of the counter

• "What's this for?"

• "Bored," you purse your lips, allowing yourself to lean back on your forearms as you spread your legs, "And you seemed like a good time-passer"

• Yeosang hums, falling to his knees easily enough and pulling you towards the edge of the island, then presses an affectionate kiss to your inner thigh

• "Fair enough"

San ♡:

• San likes to spiffy up on his English, which is still pretty hard for him even if you assure him that he's doing just fine when he speaks it around your family

• That being said, you'll sometimes catch him at the table with a textbook in front of him and a language journal by the side that he uses to write small romanizations

• You were particularly bored today. And damn, was San looking good with his messy black hair and shirtless torso. He never really did wear shirts around the house.

• "Sannie," You sang from the doorframe, fresh out of the shower and a bit sexually frustrated considering San hadn't touched you for a couple weeks due to your busy schedule

• He hummed in acknowledgement, jotting something down in the journal as he alternated between both the book and notebook

• You knew he was busy but his English really wasn't bad, so it didn't need to be now. It could wait a bit longer

• Sighing, you drop the towel from your body and fling it at San, which makes him jump and pull it from off of his head, looking towards you immediately and gasping

�� You put a hand on your hip, giggling at how he tries to calm himself down

• lol goofy boy

• "C'mon, I know you're tired, I can help you relax," you gesture with a finger in a beckoning motion, and like he was already planning on it, he hops up from his seat and follows you back to the bedroom

• sorry if this was kinda boring lol, let's just San could have literally any reaction and frankly, this is probably the most tame he would be

Mingi ♡:

• Like Yunho in a lot of ways

• He does like to play games (probably PC, too), so you already know he'd be mashing that controller in the living room lol

• "Aww man, are you kidding me!?"

• Mingi gets shy, especially when it comes to you, so when you decided it'd be a good idea to step in front of the screen while he was playing Zelda with the towel around your body held open, he was a visual representation of keyboard mashing

• "Woah—Ohmygod-" [insert Minnie baby accidentally throwing his controller in his haste to cover his eyes]

• "You don't want me?" You ask, pouting and tilting your head

• His response is spreading two of the fingers across his eyes to peek, nodding his head frantically but trying to find the right words so he doesn't make you sad, "You just scared me is all! I don't wanna be rude by looking when you don't want me to or anything..."

• He takes his fingers away to hold them out instead, making grabby hands until you smile and crawl into them, in turn, climbing on top of his lap and letting him press his face into the valley between your breasts so he could kiss the skin there while looking at you

• "I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea," he mumbles, nuzzling his head farther down

• "No baby, you're fine," You reassure him with a hand ruffling the strands of his hair

• sweet hanky panky alert 🚨 sweet hanky panky alert 🚨

Wooyoung ♡:

• it's the large ass gif of Woo and his ponytail for me

• Oh and yeah, I know this doesn't quite fit theme of YOU walking in on them to flash your boobies but you're gonna keep your mouth shut and pretend it does 😏

• Another gamer.. damn this is getting repetitive

• hmmm

• Dance practice it is! 😃

• Woo doesn't like repeatedly practicing the same moves over and over again, but he did like the progress he made with each re-do, so he supposes he'll bear with the exhaustion

• Well.. obviously not now, because he's just walking through the bedroom door when he finally registers that you're sitting on the bed, lying on your stomach and scrolling through your phone with a leg raising your body go the side

• You snap your head to look at him, "Ah, there you are," you grin, pushing yourself up to a sitting position, "Thought you were gonna come home late again"

• Wooyoung let's out a snort as he closes the door behind him and drops his dance bag to the side, already taking his inky black hair out of the ponytail it was previously in and shaking it loose

• "What a nice surprise"

Jongho ♡:

• No thoughts, only buff babie

• And how he sung "sex in the morning baby" with a scary amount of aggression

• lol it makes sense that sweetie likes to play racing games on his computer

• LITerally so precious ;(

• Same trope (yes I'm a disappointment); Jongie plopped onto his lil chair with a fluffy blanket around his shoulders and headphones on that cute little head of his

• He said "I love playing car games, vroom vroom y'all 😤"

• And you said "I love playing surprise games, yes yes 😈"

• Gorl, when I tell you he squeaked out of surprise at how you turned his chair around to face you ;(

• "Uhh... Am I- Am I supposed to be looking?" He stammers, eyebrows raised and eyes locked on your bare front

• "By all means, baby," you purr, shaking your head with a familiar fondness at the boy in awe before you

• Just like Joong, he never tires of seeing you naked. He loves looking at you when you're nude, because it's when he can appreciate all aspects of you

• "Hang on, let me pause the game, I'll meet you in the bedroom"

• Getting intimate with Jongho is quite easy. He'll pretty much always say yes to sex, and it's pretty casual when you hint at it

[heavenunderthemoon]

Pinky Promise {Jennifer Jareau x daughter! reader}

Summary: JJ, coming from a small town with hardly any sexual education that wasn't abstinence- centric, found herself pregnant. You, her daughter, await her return from another case leading to an interesting conversation between the Jareau girls when she arrives home. 

Warnings: teenage pregnancy, extreme fluff

Author’s note: I have a lot of content ideas for this concept so should I just post a lot of blurbs? Idk let me know what y'all think. Also, I didn't put an age for the reader in here because I don't want to exclude anyone so if you are looking for one you won’t find it, anyways enjoy lovelies<3

Rainbow sock clad feet pattered against the house's carpeted floors, the small two bedroom home quiet in the early morning hours.

Typically, you didn't wake this early. You had far outgrown the age in which your internal clock matched that of the rising sun. Your mother attributed your abnormal sleep schedule to the amount of coffee you drank, though you simply pointed the finger right back at her. You learned your caffeine addiction from the best, after all.

No, you didn't normall wake up this early but this morning you had because today was Tuesday. Tuesday's typically help very little importance. You had school, of course, soccer practice afterward and then homework until it was time for bed (very riveting). But this Tuesday was different because it had been precisely five days that your mother had been gone and she had called last night to tell you that she would be home by the time you woke up.

Your first response had been that you would stay up, waiting for her until she arrived. Sometimes you could get away with that. If the jet landed around nine she didn't mind you pushing back your sleep schedule just for her. But, she was still your mother and she still had her limitations. It'll be too late, your mother had whispered into the line, afraid of waking her coworkers. You had protested, but the sleepy yawns had made you sigh defeatedly, telling her to be safe before giving in to your fatigue.

But, none of that mattered now, because as your hand pushed open the door to your mother's bedroom, you recognized the lump underneath the blankets strewn across the bed. You had taken up knitting over the past year- when your mother was gone Garcia was typically tasked with checking in or even staying the night at times and she had taught you the skill. A tuft of blonde hair peeked out from one side of the bed and you grinned tiredly, not hesitating to climb onto the queen sized mattress.

You remembered those days not too many years ago. The days before your mother had gotten her job at the BAU, still struggling as a single mother in school, supporting her child all by herself. The days that had you two sharing beds in a teeny-tiny apartment. You hadn't minded all too much and, though you probably wouldn't admit it aloud, you missed it sometimes, falling asleep in her arms.

As you clambered into the sheets your mother's eyes fluttered open, a lazy smile coming onto her features. She looked as she always did after coming home from cases- tired, drained, but happy to see you. She turned her body to face you, a deep breath being exhaled as she pulled you into her side, a soft kiss being placed onto your forehead. You closed your eyes at the feeling, humming in response.

"Hi, baby." Her words were jumbled, exhaustion seeping through her tone but she smiled all the same, keeping her forehead connected with yours while she caressed your cheek.

She recalled all those years ago, discovering she was pregnant in that small town of hers. The scandal of her teen pregnancy had been the talk of the town up until the moment she left, and then hardships bigger than gossip had come. Having you, alone with no support system, clutching the hand of the kind nurse at the hospital. The small apartments, intense couponing, food stamps, and learning to sew baby clothes to save costs. So many years of struggling and she wouldn't trade a second of it because it had given her you.

Her daughter. A sweet, and funny, and kind girl who was more like her best friend than her kid. The kind of girl she called at least twice a day when on a case, wanting to hear every single detail about her daughter's day and answered when you asked about hers.

"I missed you." You whispered back, voice raspy from sleep. "How was the case?" You asked even if you knew you wouldn't get all the details.

"Hard, but it's over." The blonde responded truthfully, relief taking over her features and her eyes suddenly lit up, as if just remembering something. "How did your essay go? Total hit? Book deals completely flooding our mailbox?" She teased, and you chuckled, shaking your head at her goofiness.

"A-plus." You boated before wiggling your eyebrows. "No book deals yet, but I'll keep my ear to the ground." You quipped back and she laughed, heaving a small sigh afterward.

Staring at you, only a small amount of light from her sun-shaped nightlight (she had a weird obsession with the sun that you liked to tease her for, buying her sun shaped everything - even a spoon that she always used to eat cereal with). It provided just enough light to see your eyes staring back at her, the eyes that she had created with that old boyfriend of hers in high school, the teenage boy skipping town as soon as she had told him the news. She recalled seeing those eyes when you were born, solidifying the love she had felt growing as each day had passed with you in her belly. The eyes that, as soon as they had opened, your mouth opening to let out that beautiful, ear splitting, heart wrenching wail that signified your entrance into the world, had made her fall in love so deeply she felt she was being crushed under the weight of it all.

Guilt ate at her, as it always did. Guilt for not being the perfect, PTA-mom. The mom who made home-made muffins for bake sales or drove you to school everyday. She wasn't negligent, not in the slightest. She knew that. But part of her always feared that you might resent her for the certain spots that she could never quite fill.

"Do you hate me? For not being here all the time?" Jennifer voiced her concerns quietly, and the mere tone of her words made you pause because she seldom took that tone with you. A tone that showed just how afraid she was of her daughter's resentment, a resentment that could easily be caused by how little she was home.

The question alone made you furrow your brows, not hesitating to answer. "What? No!" And you were sitting up because how could you possibly hate her? How could you hate your mother? Your mother who had kept you safe, done everything in her power to make sure you remained that way. The mother who, yes, missed a couple things over the years but always made sure she was there on your birthday and holidays and the really, really important things. You recalled her tradition every year, swinging open your door at the exact moment you were born, regardless of the early hour, and singing you awake. A tiny cupcake in her hand (store-bought because, as discussed, she was an awful cook), a flickering sparkle candle (was a candle really a candle without sparkles?). That look that she gave you under the dimness of that flame, the look that said that she would do anything, go anywhere, be anyone for you. The look that made you know you were safe, and that even if she told you to make a wish you wouldn't even need to make one because you had everything you could ask for.

Jennifer sat up, her hand going to her distressed daughter's back, watching the pure horror on her face.

"I don't hate you, why would I hate you-" You were distraught, voice an octave higher and she shushed you softly, apologizing at once.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry-"

You turned back to her, tilting your head. "Why would you even think that?"

Your eyes scanned her face for any clues while you awaited your answer. She might have been the profiler but you knew your mother. You knew that she absolutely could not go anywhere with mismatched socks. Or that she hated avocado (the texture freaked her out). You knew that, after growing up on a farm, she knew the ins and outs of farm life (she liked to call you a city girl when teasing you and you called her chicken Joe just to get even). You knew that after years of scrimping on luxurious things she still wouldn't allow herself to buy nice things for herself, only for you. And you knew that, being that she was a media liaison, communicating was one of her best traits. So, you listened carefully.

She sighed, scooting to put her back against the headboard, reaching out to pull on the string that would turn on the bedside lamp, illuminating the room, before motioning for you to join her. Her arm stayed out, allowing you to snuggle in, your head falling onto her shoulder before she answered.

"I'm your mom. I'm supposed to be here." she said, eyes trained on the blanket you had made for her last month. You were getting better, this one hadn't yet fallen apart, but it was still a subpar attempt, despite what Garcia had told you.

"You are here." You tried, but the blonde was shaking her head. She had changed from her work clothes, the aforementioned outfit lying abandoned on the floor, the only spot in a very clean room. Her hair that she almost always had down was thrown into a bun and a few pieces lay forgotten in the front, tickling your cheek when she shook her head.

"No, I'm not. I'm on a jet every week, thousands of miles away from my daughter, thinking about what she's doing and who she's with and I feel like I'm missing everything important. And I don't want you to hate me-"

"I could never hate you." You cut her off, and you moved once more, making sure she was looking into your eyes because as much as you knew her, you also knew that she would never really believe you, not about this, and the eye contact would help in the slightest. "You go away every week because those people need you. You go help the people who need you, just like you help me when I need you." She went to protest, but you continued. "And just because you aren't here, doesn't mean you're not here. You're like Patrick Swayze in Ghost, okay? It's like I can still feel your presence-"

Your teasing made her let out a sad chuckle, sighing softly. You smiled at the sound, grabbing her hand.

"I mean it, kid. We're in this for the long haul." You narrowed your eyes playfully, bringing up a pinky.

She smiled and, for just a moment, she could look at you and see the baby she had raised. The small, premature baby that had clutched onto her finger, as if telling her they would make it through the night. The toddler who had turned up her nose at peas, exclusively eating pureed carrots for three months straight. The five year old who had begged her to learn how to ride a bike and then immediately pleaded for her to not let go of the back. 'If you let go, I'll die, I'm sure of it.' You informed seriously. The eight year old reading books twice the normal reading level, or the ten year old adorned in a scarecrow costume, passed out on the couch from eating too much candy. The thirteen year old who had suddenly hit a growth spurt, all your jeans high-watered that she would replace because you would never outright ask for new jeans. And now the you in front of her. The cool, thoughtful, amazing kid that she would never quite understand how she had deserved you.

Bringing her pinky up to yours, interlocking it. "Okay. But, you know that if you ever do resent me- and I'm talking, Mother dearest level kind of resentment you have to tell me so that I can at least play my part."

You smiled, scooting back to your place in her arms. "That takes the fun away."

It was silent for another moment, only the crickets chirping in the backyard heard, before she was speaking once more. "You know, I'm supposed to be the one reassuring you. My old age is making me emotional."

You let your body slump against hers. "We can take turns. If I let you bear that weight alone you might break a hip."

She scoffed, nudging your body. 'Ha-ha, very funny. how about I take Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and you take Tuesdays and Thursdays?"

Your eyes fluttered shut, despite knowing that even with it being far too early for you both to be up there was no way you were going back to sleep. "What about Saturdays and Sundays?"

Jennifer closed her eyes as well, trying to engrain the feeling of your body in her arms while she still had the chance. Before you found cuddling with your mom weird, or before she had to go away on another case and fall asleep alone and in a hotel bed.

"We'll flip a coin for it."

"Fair enough."

[secretsfromthegirlnextdoor]

New Sheriff In Town | JJ Maybank Fanfic | Part Ten: Topper

Sheriff Jackson had just dropped JJ off at the van and drove out of sight when he heard another car rolling down the road towards him.

The vehicle slowed in front of the sheriff's house and stopped as it approached the driveway. JJ had planned to just sleep in the back of the Twinkie, but this had gotten his attention. He crouched behind the driver's side door, peering through the cracked windshield and trying to get a good view of the high end pick up truck that was now stopped just down the street.

That truck had to have been worth almost $70k, what the hell was a Kook doing over here at the sheriffs house? JJ thought to himself.

His ears perked up as he heard the passenger door open and a familiar laugh rang out, Kitty?

"Thanks for the ride!" She giggled and he heard her jump down from the passenger seat "let me just grab my bike out of the back" she was smiling as she made her way around the bed of the truck

The driver's door swung open and the guy jumped out eagerly "let me help you with that!"

It was Topper. What the fuck.

In an instant JJ was up and jogging across the street, he didn't have a plan, he didn't know what to say, he just couldn't bear to see his girl with that asshole.

Luckily, Kitty spotted him before he had a chance to ambush them, their eyes locked and her smile caused JJ to falter.

"Hey J!" Her smile transitioned into a look of confusion "what are you doing here so late?"

"Hey there Kitty Kat, just finished up a ride along with the big man himself" JJ answered her as he walked up to the truck

At the sound of JJ's voice Topper whipped around, he looked stunned

"Hey Top, what's going on big man? Y'all get a new boat yet?" He was right back to his wily behavior, leaning up against the bed of the truck and snaking his arm around Kitty's waist

"Hey JJ, aren't you supposed to be locked up somewhere?" He climbing into the bed of the truck and picked up Kitty's bike "For, I dunno... destruction of property, aiding and abetting a murderer... I mean the list really adds up"

JJ fumed inside, but then put on another big cheeky smile, he must not know about the restitution yet, JJ thought. He stepped towards Topper and grabbed the bright pink bike from him, bringing it to the ground

"Nah, see man" he pointed to the logo on his shirt "read that, that says Kildare County Sheriff's Department, I'm on the team now dude"

JJ rolled the bike around and handed it off to Kitty giving her a kiss on the cheek "I'm in with the big dogs now, same as you" he said as he turned back to The other young man with a shit eating grin

Topper jumped down and slammed the tailgate shut, ignoring JJ and looking to Kitty

"Katherine don't tell me you're with this piece of trash" he said condescendingly as he shook his head

Kitty raised her eyebrows and made a face as she scoffed, "well that was super rude..."

"I'm rude?!" Topper raised his voice "this piece of shit tra-" he started but was cut off by Kitty

"Thank you for the ride home Topper, it was nice meeting you" she smiled and waved and turned to walk up the driveway with her bike

JJ couldn't help but chuckle "I guess that answers your question broski" he said with a shrug of his shoulders as he ambled backwards up the driveway in the direction Kitty was going

Topper stormed towards JJ, grabbing his shirt and getting right up in his face, speaking in a low voice so that Kitty wouldn't hear "first Sarah and now this one, you slimy fucking pogues ruin everything you touch"

JJ slammed his hands into Toppers shoulders, shoving him backwards, but he continued "I give it a week before she realizes what a shitbag you are and comes running over to figure eight to find a real man"

He turned and walked back to his still open door and climbed into the truck

JJ watched him drive off and turned back to the house, Kitty was waiting at the top of the driveway next to her parked bike "a friend of yours?" She asked

"I could ask you the same thing" JJ said harshly

"Was that you trying to mark your territory or something?" She scoffed, "J, I went to see a documentary at the theater downtown and he happened to sit next to me, when the film was over he offered me a ride home" she shook her head and walked into the house through the side door, JJ following closely behind

She stopped in the doorway and JJ nearly ran into her as she spun around "but for what it's worth, I don't have to explain shit to you, it's not like you're my dad"

Kitty turned again and continued into the house, kicking her shoes off and making her way to the stairs

"Kitty, Topper is a total asshole! That guy and his friends have kicked my ass more times than I can count!" He pleaded as he followed her up the stairs and down the hall

"So you sunk his boat?" She fired back

"No!" He blurted, then paused and said "I mean, yeah, but..." he stopped and looked around, he didn't even realize that they were in her room now

"J..." she said apologetically, "I'm not saying I didn't like what you did back there, cause I did.." he raised an eyebrow at her and took a step closer "but I'm not your property, you don't get to say who I can or can't talk to.."

He closed the divide and grabbed her waist, pulling her into him with a kiss. After a few seconds he pulled back, looking at her face and brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear

"I'm sorry that I acted like you were my property" he kissed her forehead, "but I'm not sorry that you liked it" he smirked and dipped his head down to kiss her again as she swatted his arm

When they finally broke away Kitty smiled and turned to the stack of boxes next to her closet, pulling out various pieces of clothing. "He did kinda seem like a douche" she admitted

"Thank you!!!" JJ exclaimed as he plopped down in the desk chair behind him and twirled around, surveying the early empty room "this is a nice room, very spacious"

"I know right?" She responded as she grabbed the small pile of clothes and opened a door JJ hadn't noticed before

"You have your own bathroom?! Damn that's some Kook shit right there"

She laughed and shut the door partially behind her to change clothes "so you did a ride along with sheriff dad tonight huh? How was that?"

JJ chuckled and thought back on his night, it definitely wasn't what he had expected when he came by earlier in the afternoon "it was cool, I think I might like to do what your dad does some day" he admitted softly

It was silent on the other side of the door for a second and JJ had his eyes trained on the crack between the door and the jamb, praying he'd get a glimpse of her. He practically jumped and swiveled his head around when she flung the door open and revealed herself.

He looked back casually at her, as though he hadn't just been fantasizing about her coming out of the bathroom naked. What he saw was very different, but in a way, perfect.

She wore an old oversized band t-shirt that hung loosely off of her small frame, and baggy sleep shorts with a bow tying them at her waist, JJ was mesmerized.

Kitty blushed and gave him a goofy smile and moved over towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder and kneeling down to whisper in his ear "it's just shorts and a t shirt please chill yourself J"

She stood and patted him on the back and walked over to the bed, pulling back the sheets and covers and then turning back to him with an apologetic look "you can stay and hang out for a while if you want, but you can't sleep here J, I'm sorry"

"Oh shit, no, no" he snapped out of his trance and stood up, making his way to the door, "I didn't mean to make you think I was trying to jump into bed with you"

Kitty let out a laugh, and climbed into bed, sitting cross legged "I'm not trying to kick you out, but my dad will 100% know if you slept here..."

"Yeah, of course, sorry" he blurted out as he crossed the room towards where she sat in bed.

JJ leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head "I'll head out now, I'm glad I got to see you tonight" she smiled up at him and nodded, "me too"

He made his way over to the door and turned back as he was about to pull it shut "hey, how about we hit the beach tomorrow? I know a good spot"

"Ok, as long as you don't throw me in the ocean" she replied as she smirked back at him

JJ dropped his head, still smiling and responded, "I promise, goodnight Kitty Kat" he pulled the door closed behind him and walked down the hall towards the stairs

"Night just one J!" she shouted from behind the closed door

He let out a loud laugh and made his way down the stairs and out the side door, checking that it was locked when he pulled it shut.

_______________________________________________

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[kindahoping4forever]

Camping // Ashton Irwin, Luke Hemmings

We received the same prompt request for both Luke and Ashton and @cal-puddies​ thought it would be a fun idea if both stories took place in the same world! Cass asked me to fill the Ash request (because she’s a true friend) while she took on the Luke prompt and then we fit them together. So to clarify - this is not a Lashton fic but essentially an Ashton story (Crystal got a bit carried away, what a surprise) with a Luke epilogue. 

Prompt: "Do you think they can hear us through the tent?” “Yes we can.”

Warnings: Fun, fluffy smut. Slight auditory voyeurism/exhibitionism. Self-indulgent amounts of witty banter with Boyfriend!Ash. Cameo by Sassy!Calum. Afterword starring Horny!Luke.

Word Count: 2,358 

Cass & Crystal’s Collab Masterlist

Let  us  know  what  you  think!

————-

You stretch yourself across the air mattress and loudly groan. 

You and Ashton had recently discovered your shared love for camping and you were excited he was finally able to convince the rest of the guys to join you on a weekend getaway. Not to mention the fact that they'd be heading out on tour soon and you were looking forward to soaking up all the time you had left with your boyfriend before you had to share him with the world again.

The drive up was nice and the hike wasn't too strenuous but after what seemed like an endless ordeal of surveying the perfect terrain to set up camp and the actual building of your tent (because someone doesn't like to follow instruction manuals and has to figure it out himself), you were excited to relax your muscles and maybe indulge in a short nap.

"You realize we're sharing that, correct?" Ashton teases, zipping your tent shut behind him and crawling over to join you. 

"I'm pretty sure the box said 'queen,' thought that meant it was mine," you shrug, starfishing across the bed even further.

"Fair enough," he grins before climbing on the mattress and then climbing on you, draping his large frame across you to mirror your position.

You giggle and try to push his heavy body off of you, to no avail. "Noooo, you're all sweaty from putting the tent together," your complaint barely audible, muffled by his giant shoulder in your face. "You could've just asked me to move over, no suffocation necessary." You try to nip at his skin to get him to budge but he's got you pinned good and the best you can manage is briefly catching the edge of his tank top between your teeth. 

"Ask her royal highness to share? I would never," he faux gasps, laughing loudly at your struggle. "And I know you like me sweaty, baby, I saw you watching me build our palace." He lifts his face to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively at you and finally allows you to push him over to your side.

"I was watching you so intently because I wanted you to hurry up so I could come in and rest," you jab at his side.

"In-TENT-ly," he honks, his giggles increasing in volume. 

Ash's glee is contagious and you find yourself laughing along with him, "You're the worst, oh my god," you wipe tears from your eyes. "I heard Mike say he and Crystal were going to go rest too, you need to keep it together."

"You think they can hear us through the tent?" He asks, still trying to regain his composure. 

"Yes we can," you hear Calum's voice coming through clear as day. "And y'all are annoying as fuck."

"You're just mad because you're still building your tent, ya slowpoke," Ash fires back, cracking himself up and the giggles start up again.

Luke's high-pitched giggle can be heard in the distance, followed by an incredulous "Fuck off, mate, you're not done either!" from Cal. 

You shake your head and playfully shove at Ash. “Fuckin troublemaker,” you tease, quieter now that you know the others can hear you.

“Yeah? I’ll show you trouble, baby,” he smirks, pecking his lips across your neck and face.

“Oh my god, you are in a mood,” you giggle quietly, pushing him away again. “You can show me as much trouble as you want after I take a nap.” You settle in against your pillow and close your eyes. 

“Deal!” He chuckles and presses a kiss to your temple.

You’re stirred from sleep a short time later by the sound of your tent unzipping and open your eyes to see a wet-haired Ashton, clad only in black athletic shorts entering.

“Oh shit, baby, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to wake ya,” he says apologetically.

You take in the sight of him, sitting on the edge of the mattress, toweling off his hair. He looks good and you can’t deny the sudden desire you have to feel him close to you. You clear your throat casually, “Go for a dip?”

“Oh yeah, lake was real nice,” he enthuses, tossing his towel aside. “Mattress comfy?”

You shrug coyly, “You could come see for yourself.” 

He smiles smugly and crawls up to you, “Oh, you like me again? Thought I was a troublemaker?” He lays down next to you and moves in close.

You wrap your arms around his broad shoulders and pull him so that he’s inches from your face. “Well, who doesn’t like a little trouble?” You nip at his bottom lip. “Love, even?” 

You pull him in, kissing him hard and he instantly deepens it. You’re happy to lay there, enjoying the sounds of nature and the feel of each other; your lazy makeout is unhurried but your shirt and shorts get lost at some point and Ash ends up laying on top of you, in between your legs. 

Ash gently rocks his hips against your clothed center, earning a low moan when you feel how hard he is for you. “Feels like you’re about as ready for me as I am for you,” you muse, rolling your hips against his to illustrate your point.

He groans quietly and reaches down to pull your panties and his shorts off as you fling your bra to the side of the mattress. You gasp as he runs his cock along your folds, even stopping to tease your clit with his tip. Just as you’re about to start whining, he pushes in and you sigh in relief.

“Were you about to tell me to just fuck you already?” He grins and kisses you as he thrusts slowly.

“If you don’t pick up the pace, I still might,” you smirk, biting his lip.

Smiling, he shakes his head at you, lifts your leg up to hook around his waist and swats your ass while he’s at it. He begins pounding into you and taunts, “This better?”

You, of course, are unable to answer with anything but heavy breathing, which only encourages him to fuck you even harder. 

For the next few minutes, the air is still except for the sounds of skin slapping against skin and birds chirping in the distance. You’re digging your nails into Ash’s back and are about to slide a hand down to your clit to speed up your orgasm when a loud clanging and a grumbled “Fuckin hell” shatters the silence.

Ash stills his movements and you both stare at each other. “The fuck was that?” You mouth at your boyfriend, who is buried deep inside you.

“It’s gotta be Cal,” he whispers. “His tent still wasn't up when I got back from the lake.” He stifles a giggle.

“You knew he was out there and you still let me come on to you?” You reach to pinch his arm and accidentally moan at the way your movement drags his cock inside you. 

He snorts as you glare at him. "No one was around when I came in here," he protests softly. "Besides, baby, you were pretty determined to get a piece of me…"

A loud metal THWACK followed by more muttered profanities interrupts Ashton's teasing. Your eyes widen as you hear both Michael and Luke come out of their tents to offer Cal their assistance.

Ash knows better than to laugh at this point but you can see the delight on his face and you have to admit the situation is pretty ridiculous. You clench around his cock just enough to get him to close his eyes from the sensation. 

“You’re balls deep inside of me with all your friends less than 50 feet away and you want to make jokes?” You try to purse your lips in a pout but it ends up more of a smile.

“Do you want me to stop?” He asks you sincerely.

You listen to the rustling and light conversation of the guys working outside; they sound fairly preoccupied with what they’re doing. You look up into Ash’s eyes, a beautiful hazel pool currently filled with equal concern and amusement. You think about his hard cock nestled inside you and how close you were to cumming around it. You honestly still feel pretty close. You couldn’t… could you? 

You rotate your hips slowly, causing you both to exhale deeply. Ash raises his eyebrows to you, silently asking for permission and you offer him a passionate kiss in response. He gently begins rocking into you, careful not to move too vigorously, trying to minimize sound. You reach down and start working your clit; you bite your lip to keep from moaning at how instantly good it feels.

It's not long before his pace starts increasing and you can tell he’s nearing his end. “You gonna cum for me, troublemaker?” You can’t help but ask in a hushed tone.

A strangled moan leaves Ash’s throat as he buries his face in your neck and spills into you; hearing him lose control like that sets you off as well and you pant heavily as your orgasm washes over you.

He stays laid on top of you for a few moments as you both catch your breath as quietly as you can. Eventually he kisses you softly, pulls out and grabs his discarded towel from earlier to clean you both up. 

“I can’t believe you still wanted to finish with everyone right there,” he quietly teases. “Do you have a secret exhibitionist kink we’ve yet to explore or are you just that crazy about me?”

“Or maybe you’re just being exhausting and I didn’t know how I was going to get through the rest of the day without releasing some tension?” You taunt with a smirk, sitting up to pull your clothes back on.

He pulls his shorts on and moves to the corner of the tent to dig a clean shirt out of his backpack, pouting at your joke. You crawl up behind him and press light kisses to the tattoo on his neck until he giggles and swats you away.

You unzip the tent and peek your head out. “Coast looks clear,” you shrug, stepping out. “Cal’s tent is done though,” you comment.

“Fuckin finally!” Ash exclaims and pinches your ass as he exits the tent. “Took all goddamn day to finish.”

“Alright, troublemaker, that’s enough.” Cal’s voice appears behind you and you both whip your heads to see him walking behind your tent with an armful of firewood. “Never realized you got so excited about finishing.”

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

Luke spent his day getting handsy after getting the tent set up. Which was fine, because you aren’t sure how Ash talked everyone into a camping trip anyways. But he did and you’re here. (You think Luke must have used some alternative actions to get you to agree to it.) 

He’s been especially handsy since he and Mike helped Calum build his tent and they overheard Ash and his girl having sex. Apparently that was exciting for Luke. 

You’re sitting in front of the fire, wrapped in one of Luke’s hoodies. It was a little after 11 and Michael and Crystal had already gone to bed.

Luke leans over, “Hey, wanna go down the lake?” He asks.

“Sure, baby,” you agree, grabbing his hand. He takes a couple drinks from the cooler and when you stop by the tent to get a blanket, he digs in his bag for a minute, retrieving a condom and a flashlight. 

You give him a questioning look but he waits until you get a little ways down the path to respond. “I think it’s already been proven you can hear what’s going on in the tents,” he laughs. 

“I see. So you think I’m gonna fuck you out in the open?” You laugh. 

“A man can hope,” he smirks. 

He hands you the flashlight and lays out the blanket, laying down and holding his arm out for you to lay down with him. “I like when we get to do this,” you murmur, resting your head on his chest. 

“Me too,” he kisses the top of your head and you look up at him for a kiss. It quickly turns into a make out session, and you realize pretty quickly that he wants it to go further. 

He reaches down and grabs your ass, pulling you on top of him. “You want me to ride you in the middle of the forest,” you chuckle. 

“You don’t have to ride me but I didn’t bring you to the middle of nowhere to not get laid,” he smirks. 

You laugh and shake your head, “I hate you.” 

“And that’s why your hand is on my dick right now?” He chuckles. 

“You know I like it when you’re hard for me,” you shrug. 

“I know you like it when I’m hard in you,” he laughs. 

“Yeah, I do like that,” you nod, smiling. 

“Sooo… middle of nowhere, under the stars?” He asks. 

“Yeah… but I gotta leave the hoodie on, it’s cold.” 

You lean up and start kissing him. Luke quickly takes your shorts off and pulls his down. He pulls you on top of him and you roll the condom on and guide him in. “Quick and dirty, the way I like it,” you laugh, starting a rhythm. 

“A little too literal,” he cracks. 

And then it goes quiet. He focuses on touching you and then it’s just moans.

“Fuck, Luke,” you moan and he can tell you’re getting close. 

“That’s it, baby… wanna feel you squeeze around me,” he encourages, bucking his hips up to give you more friction. 

You fall forward, pushing your hands against his chest. “Wanna cum for you,” you pant. 

Your ears perk up as you hear what you think are footsteps. You stop immediately. “Did you hear that?” You ask, eyes going wide. 

“No, baby, I didn’t. C’mon.” He swats your ass. 

“Luke, what if it’s a bear?!” You whisper yell. 

“It’s not a fucking bear! Just cum so I can go the fuck to bed!” Cal yells. “Y’all act like you’re the quietest fuckers on earth,” he groans.

—-

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[aelin-queen-of-terrasen]

“I’m not a damsel in distress. I’m a damsel doing damage.” And “ you’re gonna hier yourself even more if you do stupid things like that” for Rowaelin

Thank you. This prompt is so hilarious and so Rowaelin, I love it.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 | 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤

Rowaelin modern AU ▶Masterlist

note: so idk if it's just me but I think y'all don't like this fic??? if I'm doing something wrong, let me know cause i can't figure it out!

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"Can we leave now?" Rowan asked.

Vaughan shook his head. His friend dismissed his question with an airy wave before he said, "If you want to leave so bad, why come at all?"

Rowan didn't know the answer to that. High school parties were not his scene, nor were social gatherings with more than five people. He had never attended one before and he had no idea what prompted him to come now. He ignored his friends' words, making his way towards the table where drinks and snacks were kept. The music blasted loud enough to cause a headache, students stumbled around in the cramped space with no semblance of balance or control whatsoever, smelling of sweat and alcohol.

His mood soured when he was elbowed in the ribs for the third time in the cramped drawing room. "If we can't leave, I am going out for some fresh air. Ring me up when we need to leave."

And then he walked out of the lake house towards the woods in the back, the cool wind a welcome relief from the humidity from inside.

Rowan halted when a familiar voice drawled out, "You are boring me, Finn."

Rowan turned to find Aelin Galathynius backed against one of the walls of the house, one hand stuffed inside her pocket while the other clutched a black heel in it and an insolent smirk on her face. Archer Finn stood in front of her with a few of his friends and a smug look on his face. Aelin's eyes darted between the three of them as if she was deciding who to aim the heel at.

"Oh, sweetheart," Archer chuckled, stepping forward. "It's cute how you think you stand a chance."

Rowan expected the girl to step back. She only smiled at the asshole—the kind of smile that promised nothing good. "Maybe but I bet I can hold you back until my friends come."

The grin faltered from Archer's face for a moment. "You are bluffing. No one knows you are here." Then he stepped forward again. Aelin stood her ground.

She yawned in his face, all arrogant and rude. "If I am bluffing, why is Rowan here? I am sure my boyfriend would love to show you how this will go." A jerk of chin turned all the attention towards Rowan. He schooled his face into neutrality as he stepped forward. This was stupid. She was smart, she didn't need his help to get out of trouble. He should have left.

But Rowan walked towards them, towards Aelin. "Take a walk with me?"

Then he turned his most withering glare towards the boys, daring them to stop her. Archer and his friends exchanged nervous looks, shuffling away. Once they left, Aelin released a relieved breath, slumping against the wall but the nervous tension hung in the air around the two of them. Then she lifted herself off the wall, walking towards the woods. When Rowan made no movement to follow, she looked back with a raised eyebrow.

"Aren't you coming? You are the one who asked me to take a walk with you."

Rowan nodded, making his way towards her. They walked in silence, Aelin looking around at the trees and the grass and anything she could find. Rowan had his eyes trained ahead in order to spot any broken branches waiting to attack them. Finally, the girl opened her mouth again, "Sorry I called you my boyfriend. That asshole won't leave me alone."

Rowan nodded in response.

They fell into silence again as they walked but this time instead of watching her surroundings, she was looking at him. "Are you sure you want me here? I can leave."

"I am sure," he said.

Aelin shook her head with a small sigh. "You refuse to talk," she said in quiet voice, halting beside him. It was strange seeing her quiet and calm. Normally, Aelin Galathynius was an overwhelming vortex of energy, shouting and skipping from one place to another—not this quiet, unsure person.

"It's not personal. I prefer to listen," he told her, halting beside her. Then he added, "You can talk about anything at all and I will listen."

She grinned, not her usual unrestrained grin but it was bright enough. "You will regret that. I talk a lot."

He shouldn't be here. Archer had left, she was fine and he had Vaughan to return to. His roommate had a tendency to make terrible decisions when drunk and he had left him alone for long enough. He should have returned but he only moved forward, pace slow enough for Aelin to decide if she wanted to leave or follow him further inside.

"Thank you," Aelin said, falling beside him. They found themselves a large boulder to sit on. "I can talk about anything I want to?"

When Rowan nodded, she started talking and gods, she did talk a lot. She talked about books and her favourite dishes and her friends and her parents. Sometimes, she talked so fast, Rowan had to concentrate extra hard to make sense of her words. When she was talking about something she didn't like, her eyebrows puckered ever so slightly and she picked at her nails unconsciously. Her turquoise eyes came alight with excitement when she talked about something she liked. Sometimes, she was so focused on talking, he had to remind her to breathe.

Rowan yawned, turning her attention towards him. "Bored of me yet?"

He shook his head. "Not bored. I am tired," he answered. He hadn't gotten much sleep after he had returned from the diner, had wondered why she behaved strangely after he had touched the bruise on her wrist, had wondered if there were more like that on her body.

Almost as if Aelin heard his thoughts, she tugged the sleeve of her black shirt down. Still, a small smile remained on her face as she climbed down the boulder. "You really will regret letting me talk all I want one day," she warned, flashing him one last smile though. "Aedion and Lorcan will be worried."

Rowan followed suit, walking her out of the woods in companionable silence. This time, she didn't say anything to fill the silence. With one last wave, Aelin walked away from him.

Gods, Rowan was screwed.

──────✧❅✦❅✧──────

"You son of a bitch," Someone shouted from the kitchen. "I will skin you alive!"

Rowan groaned. He was about to leave when he heard that voice, the one he had been listening to for a half hour before he returned to the party. Vaughan was waiting for Rowan outside the lake house now that everyone had started leaving and even the music had quieted down. Most people either crashed on the sofa or went home already. The ones who still remained were too drunk to drive or like Rowan, too tired to bother with it.

When Rowan peeked inside the kitchen, he found a drunk Aelin draped over the kitchen table beside the punch bowl.

"Ace, come on babe, we'll find a room and wait for Lor," her friend said.

The golden haired guy looked like he was done with Aelin for the night who refused to move from the couch. She grinned at him, flinging herself off the couch onto him. "Rowan!" He almost fell back on his ass at the collision, catching her just in time.

Her friend looked over at Rowan, eyes widening in surprise for a minute, then said, "Please help me get this diaster of a woman to a bedroom!"

"Who are you callin' disaster, Fenrys?" Aelin pouted, pulling back.

Fenrys rolled his eyes. "Will you please come wait with me in some room, Ace?"

"No! You called me disaster!" And then before Rowan knew what was happening, the punch bowl went flying towards Fenrys. He cursed, diving behind the kitchen counter for cover.

Aelin moved towards him, wobbling, then tripped over the bowl, hitting her head on the counter. The curses that escaped her mouth in return were vulgar enough to curdle all the milk in the world. She lifted herself off, almost crashing face first on the ground again but Rowan was prepared this time, catching her before she could fall.

"What you doin', Ro-Ro?" Gods, what had he gotten himself into?

Fenrys spoke as he rose from behind the counter, slowly backing out of the room. "Hold her still. I am calling Lorcan, he'll take her off our hands soon. Don't let her move." Then he was gone, leaving Rowan alone with a drunk Aelin.

Aelin shouted at her friend's retreating form. "No, leave me! I am not a damsel in distress. I am a damsel doing damage." As if to hammer her point home, she threw another glass in the direction where Fenrys disappeared.

They could hear him shouting into his phone. "No, she isn't listening... Get here fast, Lor... You don't think I tried?! Some help would be nice!"

When Rowan tried to hold her still again, Aelin thrashed wildly in his arms, flinging her limbs in all directions.

"Aelin, you are hurt," he said, rolling his eyes as he scooped her in his arms. "You are only going to hurt yourself more if you keep doing things like that."

She was beyond the point of listening though. Gods, if he believed sober Aelin was wild and stubborn, he didn't know what to call drunk Aelin. Fenrys stepped inside looking tired. "I am never letting her drink again for months. If you can, we should wait for Lorcan in the guest room. I have the keys, come on."

Rowan raised an eyebrow. "Why do I need to help? She is a handful."

Fenrys only waved a hand in the air in dismissal, whistling a bawdy tune as he led them towards the guest bedroom. Aelin had calmed down a little but Fenrys locked the room anyway in case that she went nuts again.

Rowan carried her inside, laying her on the bed, still unsure if she would be up and running in a minute. Aelin was frowning down at her palm red with blood. Indeed, the place where her head had collided with the kitchen counter was wounded, blood trickling out of the small gash. Fenrys cursed again, almost as vulgar a vocabulary as Aelin's. He nodded towards Rowan. "I will find her a first aid kit if you can stay for a few more minutes. Thanks for the help."

Rowan said, "I will stay."

Aelin sunk back into the mattress, glaring at the two of them, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'overprotective bastards' before she shut her eyes. Rowan smiled. Aelin Galathynius was smart and cunning and wild and insane. She was like a ticking bomb poised to explode but when she did, he had no doubt she would be the most gorgeous firework of all.

Rowan pushed the thought away from his head as soon as it came.

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hope you liked this chapter! let me know if you'd like to be tagged. feedback is super appreciated. 💖

tags:

@thesirenwashere // @judexcardanxgreenbriar //@fangirltrash74 // @the-dark-swan // @queenofgreenbriar // @clockworkgraystairs // @julemmaes // @rowaelinforeverworld // @mymultiversee // @queen-of-glass // @strangely-constructed-soul // @mijaldraws // @http-itsrebecca // @aesthetics-11 // @lord-douglas-the-third // @flowersinvegas // @towhateverend17 // @aelinchocolatelover // @justabunchoffandoms // @cool-ish-nerd // @faerie-queen-fireheart // @sad-book-whore // @didsomeonesayviolin // @atozfantazyxx

[that-freaky-mysterious-one]

Roll Some Mo'

Summary: Bucky Barnes x Black! Fem! Reader, When you and Sam learn of Bucky's night terrors, you two come up with a solution to his problem. What you two don't know, however, is that will create more problems than initially meant.

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, and your beautiful self! <3

A/N: mentions and use of marijuana, slight swearing, this is my first fanfic, let me know your thoughts! :D

It was a little known fact that you smoked weed. The earthy, floral scent when it was fresh out the bag? You loved it. Tricks such as the Ghost and French Inhale? Mastered with ease. Not to mention all the afternoons spent bonding with Sam over funny stories about each other's lives. That's wasn't the main reason why you smoked it, though.

You had really bad menstrual cramps. You'd always had painful cramps, but as you got older, they seemed to get worse. So bad, you got sick and had to miss out on some missions, and there was no time for that. So when your best friend Sam took you to a doctor to get a weed card and to a dispensary one day, you had finally found a solution that worked. Though you used medical marijuana with CBD in it, you'd occassionally buy goodies with THC in it, so y'all got high and did all the fun stuff.

It was just you, Sam, and some cannabis against the world.

That's when Bucky crash landed into your lives. He was a bit rough around the edges and closed off to most, but once you sat down with him and got to know him, he revealed himself to be shy and sweet. He was so adorable!

You two had hit it off right away! He was such a sweetheart, and you just adored his innocence and sense of humor.

Then, he told you about his anxiety, and how Hydra had abused him. He told you about the night terrors he'd have, and how he'd never get a good night's rest.

That's when you got the idea to add him to your, as Sam called it, "Avengers Weed Fanclub," circle. You figured this would give him a chance to open up to you and Sam, and hopefully, sleep better at night. You wanted to let him know you truly were there for him.

So that night, after getting him a card and buying various products at your favorite dispensary, you sat him and Sam down on your bedroom floor, and taught him all you knew about cannabis, from how to roll a joint to how much of an edible to eat at a time.

"So, do you want to try some tonight before you go to sleep?" you asked Bucky, hoping he'd be open to this.

"Hell yeah," he exclaimed, making all three of us laugh at his enthusiasm. "Can I try the THC stuff, though? Just to know how it feels."

"My man," Sam said, giving Bucky a high five. "(Y/N), can you open some RAWs real quick while I grind these for Buck?"

"Of course," you say, as Bucky looks between you two, watching Sam open a bag of flowers and load the grinder with them, then to you folding your papers, then back to Sam twisting the cap back and forth, and finally, to him handing you the grinded buds to pack into the paper. He was totally lost.

He watched intently as you used your fingertips to pack the paper. You were tedious with your work, just to make sure every joint you made hit just right.

"Bruh, hurry up, it doesn't take that long to roll a joint." Sam said, obviously joking, but wanting to start smoking.

"Don't rush me, I'm not about to have an ugly lookin' joint that doesn't hit. My joint always look cute and always hit." You responded, earning an eyeroll from Sam and a chuckle from Bucky.

Finally, you added a filter and began to twist the paper closed in between your fingers. When you concentrated really hard, your eyebrows furrowed, your nostrils flared a little, and your lips did the cutest little pout. Bucky was intrigued by this, and he didn't know why, but he was just so drawn to your lips. Maybe it was the way your lip gloss made your lips pop.

But you were just friends. It was just a little crush, and he enjoyed being you friend. He didn't wanna ruin that.

It was after you pulled the final piece of paper closed and exclaimed "Alright, looks good," with that genuine smile that he loved that he snapped out of these thoughts and reached for the joint , careful not to ruin your "masterpiece".

"Have you ever smoked a cigarette before?" Sam asked him, wondering if he had to teach another person how inhale without them coughing a lung up.

"Yeah, I used to all the time," he said, putting the joint between his lips. "Mind giving me a light?"

You put a towel under the door, flicked the lighter with your thumb, and brought the flame up to his joint. You looked up and locked eyes with him, both of you holding each other's gaze. You weren't gonna lie, he was handsome. It was just so easy to love him.

You were just friends, though, and you didn't want to ruin that. You enjoyed his company, and you didn't want to scare him off with your feelings.

He inhaled deep, held the smoke in his mouth, and exhaled forcefully, coughing a little as he did so. All you and Sam could was give each other a look and chuckle to yourselves.

After a couple more hits, all he could muster up was, "Delicious," in a low, husky voice with a smirk on his face. You and Sam bust out laughing, because you knew it was already starting to kick in.

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

After a couple of hours of smoking more joints, talking about Steve's hilarious past behind his back, playing UNO, and having a genuinely good time, Bucky said "I'm tired,", followed by him yawning.

"Yeah, it is pretty late," said Sam, yawning as well. "We should probably go to sleep."

You got high, but you never really had the symptoms of it. The red eyes, poor muscle coordination, none of it. You just became goofy as hell. You did get the munchies sometimes, though.

These two, however, looked burnt as hell. Both of them were slumped up against your bed, with red and droopy eyes. They were fighting sleep and were currently sharing their third bag of chips.

"Alright, well, 'night guys," you said to both of them, getting up to light a Nag Champa. You loved how fresh weed smelled, but after it was burnt, totally different story. So you used the incense to rid your room of the smell.

"'Night," they said in unison, both tripping over each other a couple of times before actually making it out your room, leaving you rolling around on the floor laughing.

Finally, you gathered the strength to get back up. After a couple of minutes of watching T.V., you blew out your incense, changed into a t-shirt, and climbed into bed, letting sleep consume you.

---------------------4 hours later-------------------

Your eyes blinked a couple of times, trying to adjust to the darkness of your room. Usually, when you woke up in the middle of the night, you had a certain gut feeling, and it was never good. Something just told you to check on Bucky. Just to make sure he was okay and still asleep.

So, you got up, put on a robe and some slippers, and walked to Bucky's room.

"Bucky," you whispered into the dark room, earning no response. "Bucky, you okay?"

You pushed the door open a crack, just to look in to see if he was asleep, but you saw nothing.

"Bucky?" you called out, walking into his room, turning on his lamp, and looking around, only to find nothing.

"Damn it," you whispered to yourself. Now you had a man who had never been high before running around the Avengers Facility.

"Bucky," you called out softly. You were starting to worry where Bucky was. He was supposed to be asleep, not be wandering around the facility. What if he left the facility? What if he hurt himself? "Bucky," you called out a little louder. "Bucky, where are you?"

"Dude, shut up. I'm trying to sleep," Sam said groggily, rubbing his eyes as he left his room to see what you were up for. "What are you going on about, anyway?"

"Bucky's missing."

"WHAT?"

"Shhhhh, I don't want to wake anyone else."

"Oh, so you can wake me up at 3 a.m., but everyone else is supposed to be able to sleep?"

"Can you help me find him?"

"No, I'm goin' back to sleep."

"Please?"

"Uh-uh."

"Sam, I'm begging you," you said, tears starting to prick your eyes from the worry taking over you. "Please."

He took a long look at you, rolled his eyes, released a dramatic sigh, and muttered a "Fine." This earned him a tight hug and multiple rushed "thank you's" from you.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," he said, patting you on the back. "Okay, you can stop now. If we don't find him, I'm takin' my black ass back to bed."

You guys looked everywhere. Well, maybe not everywhere. The facility was big as hell, and there was no way in hell you were going to search the whole base. You did, however, look everywhere you two thought he would be.

You searched the gym, the firing range, the lounge, etc. It wasn't until you went into the kitchen that found quite an interesting sight.

Did you find Bucky? Yes. How you'd found him? Well, let's just say when you two found him, surprised was an understatement.

Bucky was sitting on top of the refrigerator, eyes bloodshot, with the most blank expression, eating Sam's box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. He was so fried!

" Oh, hey guys," Bucky slurred out. "How you doin'?"

"Bucky, how the hell did you get on top of the refrigerator?" Sam asked, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head.

"It's kinda complicated."

"AND ARE YOU EATING MY CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH?"

"Dude, chill. I'll buy you more in the morning."

"Sam, can you just help me get him down?" you somewhat whined back at Sam. You just wanted to get Bucky back to sleep so that you could do the same.

"Please come down, Bucky" you said, reaching your hands out for him like an infant wanting to be picked up.

"NO!" he shouted, frowning like a toddler and folding his arms over his chest in pure childishness.

It took awhile for you to get him down. With Sam arguing with Bucky on whether he should take his weed, and Bucky just being plain stubborn at this point, you didn't make any progress for awhile. You decided to insert yourself, telling Sam you'd take care of it and to just go back to sleep.

"Don't have to tell me twice. Good luck," with that, Sam was gone, allowing you to focus on getting Bucky down.

"Bucky, it's 3 a.m., how and why are you on top of the refridgerator?"

"I woke up in the middle of the night hungry, so I came down here and Sam's cereal was the one thing in sight, so I used the counter as a stepping stool to get to the top of the fridge, and since then, I've just been chillin' up here."

"Okay, can you please just come down, now?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely," he said with a smirk. "Yes, yes I will."

Bucky proceeds to somehow hop off the fridge, onto the counter, and finally, onto the ground before almost tripping. If you hadn't been there to catch him, he would've fallen on his face.

"Thank you," he mumbled into your shoulder.

"No problem. Now, let's get you back to bed."

Once you finally got back to the sleeping quarters, you bring Bucky back to his room, make sure he's situated, and then leave to return to your to room. You then notice as your walking down the hallway, you hear footsteps that don't quite match your own.

"Bucky, you have to STAY in bed to go back to sleep," you said not even turning around. You didn't even have to turn around to know it was him. He was the only still up aside from yourself, not to mention he was the only one still high.

"But I'm not tired."

"But I am, so you have to go to sleep."

"But I'm lonesome."

"When you're asleep, you won't have to worry about that."

"But I-"

"No more 'buts', just go to sleep."

"Can I just hang out in you room? Just until I get sleepy."

"Yeah, fine, whatever, just don't try to stay up all night, because I want to go to sleep."

"Yea! Thank you," he exclaimed, hugging you from behind and shaking his hair in your face.

"Shhhhh, you ain't about to be hollerin' all night, especially in my room."

"Okay, sorry"

You walked him by the arm back to your room, hoping he'd fall asleep as soon as you got him in.

"Okay Bucky, just, you know, fall asleep," you said, easing him onto the foot of the bed.

"Okay," he responded in a small, sheepish voice.

You leave to go use the bathroom one more time and get comfortable before you go back to bed, come back, and find him going through your edibles.

"Bucky, no!"

"Why do you have food on a shelf?"

"Those are edibles, and to hide them from nosey-roseys like you!"

"You should share these, man. They're delicious."

You paused for a good minute, inhaled deeply, approached Bucky, and said "Bucky, did you eat any of those?"

"Just a little piece, about a pinch." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Okay, just go lay down while I clean this up," you said, slightly agitated.

As you're cleaning, you hear Bucky whisper a husky "Damn, doll" under his breath. You forgot you had taken off your robe, leaving you in nothing but your panties and a t-shirt.

"Bucky, you're supposed to be sleeping, or at least trying to, not watching me."

"But you're so beautiful, especially without all that clunky junk you wear on missions."

"You think so," you say, laying on your stomach next to where he was sitting.

"I know so," he says, looking you in the eyes with his blood-shot, blue eyes.

"Nah, I think you're just high," you say laughing his "compliment" off.

"No, I mean it, really. You're a very beautiful woman," he says leaning back, laying his head on your butt.

"You just like looking at my booty!"

"Maybe I do. It is quite nice. It's like a pillow," he said chuckling under his breath.

"Are you gonna fall asleep like this?"

"Only if you'll let me," he says, looking up at you with his chin still on your butt.

"Bucky....get under the covers, you silly goose."

"Okay," he said as you both giggled at his actions.

You and Bucky got under the covers together and watched "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" reruns all night, or morning, long until you felt something laying on your bosom and you heard light snoring. You looked down to see Bucky had fallen asleep, and you were happy to see him finally sleeping, peacefully at that.

With that, you turned off the T.V., cradled Bucky's head to your chest, kissed his forehead, and whispered, "Goodnight, Bucky," to him, only earning a low rumble in return. Though Bucky may not remember it, this was one of the best nights of your life.

[bellesque]

One Kiss (Tom Hiddleston x Reader)

Also available on my AO3.

Rating: G Word Count: 2.5K Tags: Fluff, Best Friends to Lovers, you’re angey and tom calms you down Summary: Whenever one of you is upset, you and your best friend Tom head to your favorite ice cream parlor to vent and eat your feelings. Usually you feel better afterwards. For some reason, this time, a cone of your favorite flavor and a rant doesn't quite do the trick.

A/N:  Hey y'all. Life's been keeping me busy, but I'm back with another Tom oneshot! This was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend about being calmed down by someone she likes. I hope you enjoy!

YOU’RE SEEING RED.

You grind your teeth, feeling the muscle in your jaw twitch as you stalk away. You knew not to engage, not to start fights with people unless you knew you could finish them, but this time they had crossed a line. The safest and smartest course of action for you right now is to literally walk away from it before you do something you regret.

You’re not sure where you’re going exactly. All you know is that you need to get away from Point A and get to Point B, wherever the hell that is.

Rounding the corner to get to your car, you huff at the memory of the things that were said about you. Of the things that were said to you. It all sends a fresh bout of roiling anger to pulse through your veins.

The car door swings open way too wide and you get into the driver’s seat, slamming the door with more force than necessary. You exhale, your eyes scanning your reflection through the rearview mirror. Your cheeks are flushed, your eyes filled with cold rage, your mouth is pressed into a hard line. It’s only now you realize that you’re actually shaking—and then, without warning, you feel hot tears well up in your eyes.

Angrily you swat at your face, your eyebrows scrunching together in frustration. Damn it, why do you have to be an angry crier?

Taking a few shuddering breaths you manage to get your emotions under control, although the frustration still lingers like a gentle nudging.

You can’t stay like this forever. It’s in your nature to feel things and then let it pass, but it isn’t completely out of your system yet; you need to vent.

You try calling your closest friends (all 3 of them), only they’re all busy. It’s fine. You don’t hold it against them, knowing everyone has their own life to live. Only it bothers you a little to think that some of them simply brushed you off and changed the direction of the conversation.

Which leads you here, in the parking lot of your favorite ice cream place. You came here in the hopes of cooling off by buying yourself your go-to ice cream, except you’re short on cash. Which means no ice cream for you, and your irritation levels are still pretty high.

The interior of the car begins to feel suffocating as your mind stews in dark thoughts. You climb out and lean against your car, observing the vehicles passing by on the highway that stretches before you with your arms crossed and your expression sullen.

And then someone calls out your name tentatively.

“I didn’t order anything,” is somehow the answer that spills from your lips, and you don’t bother turning around to check if the person has left or not.

He comes into your peripheral vision, but you don’t look at him until he says, “I knew it was you!”

“Oh. Tom. Hi.” You hastily shuffle your features into a polite smile, an alien action considering you want to be doing anything but that. You’re still a little (considerably) mad.

Tom is an acquaintance to you, a friend of a friend who you met at a small social dinner. You haven’t communicated with him since you were introduced all those months ago. You’re surprised he even took the time out to say hello to you today, seeing as you’ve barely had any interaction with him. He could have easily just went about his day without sparing a second glance at you.

He shifts on his feet, hesitating, before he pulls you in for a half hug. As all awkward encounters go, you’re not sure what to do. You can sense him wondering if his hug of greeting is crossing any line so you make it a point to pat him on the shoulder, letting him know that it’s not a big deal. You’re even rather touched at the action; Tom has always been the portrait of a perfect gentleman, and though you barely know him, you know the kindness and concern he has for others is genuine. The man’s hugging you, all warm and amiable, for goodness sake.

“It’s nice to see you,” you say when you pull away.

Tom smiles, his chin dipping minutely in acknowledgment. “And you too. Did I hear you correctly earlier, did you really not get any ice cream?”

“Oh, uh…” You let out a sheepish laugh. “It’s… fine. It’s nothing. I just…” You look around the parking lot. “Like coming here for no reason…? Ha, no, actually I, uh, needed to let off some steam.” Your babble makes you cringe. Maybe it would have been better if Tom hadn’t stopped to be polite. It would have saved you from wanting the earth to swallow you whole right now.

There’s a subtle shift in the expression Tom wears as he studies you, so slight that you could miss it entirely—only he stands close enough for you to notice the concern in his eyes and the knitting of his brows.

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea,” he says, and the sincerity in his tone almost kills you. “I should have seen that you wanted to be left alone. I hope things turn out alright.” He lays a comforting squeeze on your shoulder. “It was nice meeting you again. Hopefully I can see you another time under better circumstances.”

And before he can take three steps away from you, you call out to him. “Wait.”

You catch up to him and take a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I was being rude. I actually wouldn’t mind the company?” Your statement comes out like a question: a silent invitation for him to stay with you.

It’s ridiculous, you think at the back of your mind. An overstep, considering you just brushed him off earlier and he likely has other plans. But the way Tom simply beams at you, offering to pay for your ice cream (“You wouldn’t come here to just sit in the parking lot. My treat”) abates your aggravation by the smallest degree. You need a friend. He may not be the one you anticipated, but you’re grateful all the same.

He asks about your day and you find yourself pouring out your frustrations, being vague at the beginning until you’re telling him every little thing that’s happened today that went wrong. And he listens with patient understanding, his attention solely focused on you as he sympathizes and empathizes in all the right moments. It’s cathartic, the way you’re able to release everything through words, and Tom doesn’t interrupt you whatsoever. By the end of it, with your stomach full and your heart light, you realize that the afternoon with him was spent fixated on your woe-is-me ranting.

“You don’t deserve that,” you tell him afterwards. “I’m sorry for dumping all that on you. But I’m also really grateful, so, thank you.”

“Don’t apologize. I know what it’s like to need to let things out.” He gives you a genuine smile as you rise to your feet. “I presume now we’ll be keeping in touch?”

“Not just about this situation, I promise,” you grin. “But really—thank you. You really calmed me down.”

“Always happy to help,” he replies, his kind eyes crinkling, and you hug briefly—this time not awkward at all—before parting ways.

Over the next few weeks, you keep in correspondence with Tom. You learn about his work and he talks about his day and vice versa. You talk about your favorite movies, your favorite books, analyzing and exchanging theories. What once was mere acquaintanceship has blossomed into friendship, and you know it isn’t one-sided when Tom calls you, his voice nettled, and you immediately suggest to meet up at the ice cream parlor.

“But I mean,” you add, in fear of… something, you’re not quite sure, “only if you want to.”

“I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”

And so it begins. The ice cream parlor becomes your unspoken sanctuary for when times get tough and one of you needs to get something off their chest. It’s a good friendship, you think, the fact that you’re there for each other in the hard times as well as in the best and goofy times.

You’re happy and content to have someone like Tom in your life. A constant, nonjudgmental, and low-maintenance friend. He isn’t there for just the times you need to vent, no, your friendship has turned out to be something wholesome. You find yourself seeking him out when you have something you want to share, be it something good or something bad, and almost always your mood lifts when you’re with him.

Which is exactly what you need right now.

It’s been a pretty bad day altogether: from the moment you woke up this morning it seemed as though everything was going downhill. You want to have a good cry, to scream and yell. So much has been building up inside you that you’re tired of fighting and you really just need your best friend.

Wow, he really has become your best friend.

It’s the middle of the night and you’re waiting in the ice cream parlor parking lot, a ball of angry energy. You’re pacing—something you don’t do very often—just to calm down a little.

It doesn’t help.

Tom arrives shortly, but he doesn’t acknowledge you. Good, because he knows you need this time to stew a little. Instead he makes a beeline for the ice cream shop’s interior, and he comes out with two cones in each hand. He hands one to you wordlessly.

“Go,” he says, and at the single encouragement you launch into a long-winded detailing of your day. You’re grateful that the shop’s not particularly busy today—your voice is taking on a pretty loud volume in the parking lot, rushed and strained and emotional. You expect to feel the calmness wash over you as soon as you’re finished with your story and your ice cream.

Only you’re still mad.

“Tom. Tom, I’m still mad,” you say, the urgency in your tone almost comical.

He’s thoughtful and quiet, sitting on the hood of your car. “Well, love, sometimes—”

“I don’t really need a speech right now,” you snap. Shit, this is bad. You’ve never once taken out your frustrations on Tom, but that’s also because usually some ice cream and yelling does the trick for you. You’re in foreign territory, and you don’t like it. “I’m sorry, I’m just super stressed.”

“I can see that,” he comments, his blue eyes fixed on you as you begin to pace again.

“It’s just—” You catch yourself before you can rehash everything you just told him. You round on him. “Tom, calm me down. Don’t talk me down, just…”

He rises to his feet, and you continue pacing. “Fuck, why am I so mad?” you hiss, mostly to yourself.

“What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know!” You stop, raising your hands up in annoyance. “Distract me, anything to get my mind off it. You should be good at that, you’re supposed to be my best friend.” It’s not his fault you’re still nettled, of course it isn’t. You know that. But your emotions are getting the better of you, and everything is starting to spiral. You’re sure Tom is going to be upset with you after this. He doesn’t deserve this version of you. And so you begin to berate yourself, your anger now directed at you and your stupid tendency to—

Tom grabs you by the shoulders and presses a gentle kiss to your forehead.

All the fight from your body seems to dissipate at that very moment, and you stare up at him, dumbfounded. A warmth begins to spread across your body, and it’s not from the previous frustration you were feeling. Your best friend, Tom Hiddleston, he—

You blink. “Did you just—”

“Did it work?” he asks, his voice just barely above a whisper. His gaze is soft, tentative, scanning every inch of your face for any sign of emotion. You open your mouth to respond, but nothing comes out. Dumbstruck, that’s what you are. You didn’t think something as simple as a forehead kiss would render such an effect on you. “Did it take your mind off things?”

“Y-you caught me off-guard,” you answer, suddenly unable to meet his eyes.

“Then I guess it did.”

Your cheeks are warm. Damn it, you never expected to be quieted in such a way. But he’s right—you’re no longer upset, but now all you can think about and obsess over is the way his lips gentled the roaring tigress in you.

You look back on all the times you spent together: how he’s been there for you, and you for him. Silly moments and silly photos. The fuzzy feelings you tried to quell whenever they’d come up. But now they’re here, at the fore of your consciousness, and you fidget.

What are the odds…?

“I’m still a little upset, though,” you say, your voice a little shaky as you take one step closer towards him. You’ve never felt this bold, your heart slamming against your ribcage. Looking up at him, seeing the wonder and longing in his eyes, you think—shit, you hope you’re not wrong—that you both are feeling the exact same way.

His arms settle around your shoulders. Safe, tentative, unsure. “Oh?” He brushes a lock of hair away from your face. Platonic? Could be, to some outsiders. But it’s the way he’s looking at you that gives you the confirmation you need. Here, in this moment, you’re in your own little bubble, the air that was once thick with frustration now thick with tension.

“Yeah, just a little.”

“Do you need another distra—”

You plant your hands on his shoulders and tiptoe, bringing your face to his and kissing him full on the lips to silence him. His arms snake around your waist, delighting you, and your fingers find themselves entangled in his gorgeous curls. It’s not how you picture first kisses to go, but it’s somehow exactly how you pictured kissing Tom would be like. Soft. Sweet. Like coming home.

You pull away, slightly breathless, and Tom rests his forehead against yours. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he mutters, his eyes closed.

“Hey now, I kissed you,” you tease, giggling. His eyes open, and his grip around your waist tightens.

“Well, we’ll have to fix that, won’t we?” And he pulls you in for another kiss, just as sweet as the first. You think you will never get enough of this, if this is going to be your new life together. You didn’t realize how many romantic feelings you’ve suppressed, but now that they’re finally out in the open it only feels right. To be here, in his arms, in the parking lot of your favorite ice cream place.

You gently place your hands on his chest and your lips part. “I don’t think the staff would appreciate a makeout session out here,” you grin.

Tom’s hand finds yours, and he brushes his thumb over your knuckles before bringing them to his lips for a kiss. “You’re right. Another round of ice cream?”

“I’m in.”

[jabbajambler]

23

Human

The Mandalorian/Din Djarin x f!OC

Word Count: 2,133

*GIF by @hermit-frog​​*

         I hummed and reached across the small space of the cot only to find it warm, yet empty. After opening my eyes, I realized that I was left alone in the bed with Din nowhere in sight. There was a sharp pain in my chest of what almost felt like disappointment.

         Why was I disappointed? I shouldn't be surprised, really.

         But did it mean something?

                   Who cares?

         A small whisper in the back of my head told me to leave before this could go too far. Both for his sake and for mine. Din has a code he has to stick to and I don't want to be the reason he breaks it. And me? I shouldn't be staying in one place for too long.

        I can't leave the kid, though. He's strong with the force and barely trained at that. If that energy got into the wrong hands - well, again - there would be complete chaos once more.

        I spent so much time on the run, maybe I was finally safe. Then again, hunters are still after the kid.

        I have to stay here.

         I sat up and pulled myself to the edge of the thin mattress. It was quite possibly the least comfortable thing I have ever slept on, but with Din, I would happily sleep there every night.

         I doubted it would happen again.

         There wasn't much in the belly of the ship. The cot, a little bathroom, lots of guns and ammunition, but nothing personal. Does he even have anything personal? Has he spent his whole life hunting and on the run?

         I guess my life hasn't been much different lately.

         I found the helmeted man sitting peacefully in his pilot's seat, soaring the Razor Crest through the starry skies. Part of me wanted to wrap my arms around him but a louder voice said to just sit down and pretend it never happened. I went with the latter.

         "Good morning." I mumbled quietly. I wasn't sure if I should say anything at all.

          He spun around in the chair, his head cocking to the side as he faced me. "You're up." He spoke with a soft breath. "I was going to come back."

          "Don't worry about it."

         "Oh." My heart cracked at the subtle pain in his voice. "I found another mission."

         "You what?" I spat, rising from my seat.

         "What? It's a small mission with people I used to work with."

         My face was heating up at his nonchalance. "Don't you think we should have talked about this first?"

         "It isn't a big deal. It's a simple mission." He shrugged.

         I scoffed quietly, trying not to get too riled up. Things were going well with us and I didn't want to be the one to ruin it but this was crossing a line.

         "Din, I'm your partner. We're supposed to discuss things like this before agreeing to them. We're putting the child in danger!" I ran my hand through my hair, trying to detangle it from the mess it had become.

         "You're overreacting again."

         "Excuse me?" My eyes grew wide. "I'm overreacting again? When was the other time?"

         "You're always making things about you." He growled "Guess what, Princess? This is my ship and I don't need a partner. You tagged along because you wanted to."

         The wind had been knocked from my lungs and the burning rage that built up inside me felt like fire. Along with it, there was a pain that brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to explode and shout, but I didn't.

         My hands balled into fists, followed by the soft crunch of the armrests of the chair I once sat in. I didn't dare look back at it. Instead, I turned and climbed back down to the living quarters of the ship.

         It was about to be a very long ride to wherever we were going.

┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉          

         We sauntered down the ramp into the base as far away from one another as possible. It was dark and kind of smelled like rotting fish. I had to try to hold my breath just to escape the horrid stench.

         A fairly large man with long, wild gray hair stood in front of us once we reached the floor. His name was Ran, according to Din. He tried to at least brief me on what he knew.

         "This is going to go very badly." I mumbled, only loud enough for Din to hear.

         "Mando!" The man shouted with a wide, gross grin. "Is that you under that bucket?" He held out his grimy hand towards us. "Hey... Who's the lady?" He sent a wink in my direction.

         It took everything I had not to gag.

         "Ran." Din shook his hand briefly. "This is my partner, Myrah."

         I wanted to be mad at him, but I felt my heart thump when he called me his partner.

         "I didn't really know if I'd ever see you in these parts again. Good to see you." Ran threw his arm around Din's shoulders and led him around the ship while I trailed behind.

         "You know, to be honest, I was a little surprised when you reached out to me." He pulled his arm back and began to slow his pace as he spoke. "You know, 'cause I...I hear things." He paused and looked between us with a cocked brow. "Like, maybe things between you and the Guild aren't workin' out."

         "I'll be fine." Din spoke, his tone cold and stern. After our little visit on Tatooine, I'm sure he wanted nothing to do with the Guild.

         "Okay... Well, you know the policy." Ran threw his hands up in mock surrender and stepped towards us. "No questions. And you... You're welcome back here anytime." He patted his shoulder firmly "Especially with the cute one back there." He laughed, booming and annoying.

         "So what exactly is this job?" I asked and walked to the edge of the old balcony, overlooking the Razor Crest. "Some stupid repairs? That's not exactly what we do."

         Ran chuckled and shook his head, walking closer to me. Now I knew where the fish smell came from. It made me want to vomit.

         "One of our associates ran afoul of some competitors and got himself caught. So, I'm putting' together a crew to spring him. It's a five person job. I got four. All I need is the ride and y'all brought it... and extra."

         Din stepped between Ran and I, something I felt like I would have to thank him for later. "The ship wasn't part of the deal."

         "Well, the Crest is the only reason I let you back in here." He let out a breathy chuckle. "What's the look? Is that gratitude?" He joked. "Uh huh. I think it is."

         I looked up at Din once Ran had walked out of earshot. "I change my mind...This is going to go very badly." I hissed.

         I watched his chest rise as he took a deep breath and nodded, both of us following after the creepy man.

         "Hey, Mayfeld." Ran beamed as we approached a bald man who was working on organizing files.

         "Yeah?"

         "This is Mando, the guy I was tellin' you about. We used to do jobs back when...And this is Myrah. His- uh- partner, I guess."

         "This is the guy?" Mayfeld pointed to Din with his eyebrows knitted together.

         "Yeah, we were all young, tryin' to make a name for ourselves..."

           I stepped closer to Din with my eyes wide. "Are you as old as that guy? Because I swear if you look as rotten as him-"

         "Not by a long shot, Princess." He whispered back.

         We were interrupted by Ran's obnoxious laughter. "Yeah, but runnin' with a Mandalorian, that was... That brought us some reputation."

         "Oh, yeah? What did he get out of it?" Mayfeld practically stared daggers at him. For some reason, he already had some vendetta against us.

         "I asked him that one time." Ran chuckled. "You remember what you said, Mando? Target Practice." Mayfeld laughed but his stare returned shortly after. "Man, we did some crazy stuff, didn't we?"

         "That was a long time ago." Din sighed, trying to get the conversation over and done with.

         "Well, I don't go out anymore. You understand?" Ran explained. "So, uh, Mayfeld, he's gonna run point on the job. If he says it, it's like it's comin' from me... You good with that?"

         Din paused, staring Mayfeld down before answering. "You tell me."

         Ran laughed. Again. I suspect he just thought everything was funny, but Kriff, it was annoying.

         "You haven't changed one bit."

         Oh, if you only knew.

         "Yeah, well, things have changed around here." Mayfeld quickly turned to get back to his work.

         "Mayfeld, he's-" Ran nodded in agreement with himself, "he's one of the best triggermen I've ever seen...Former Imperial sharpshooter."

         I snorted and tried to hold back the laugh that threatened to come out. "That's not saying much."

         "I wasn't a stormtrooper, wiseass." Mayfeld quickly snapped.

         He followed us as we began walking back to the Razor Crest. Apparently we were supposed to be meeting the rest of the team. I guess it wouldn't be so bad to meet some of Din's old pals.

         "Razor Crest?" Mayfeld spoke disgustedly. "I can't believe that thing can fly... Looks like a Canto Bight slot machine." He chuckled and led us around. "Alright, the good-lookin' fellow there with the horns, that's Burg."

         The red, horned man dropped a box and grunted as he glared at us. He was tall and ugly, but he must have some use.

         "This may surprise you, but he's our muscle."

         See? Some use.

         Burg stalked towards Din, standing close to him as though he was sizing him up. "So, this is a Mandalorian..." He grunted. "I thought they'd be bigger."

         Mayfeld chuckled and brought us to a bug-looking droid that held a blaster in its robotic hands. "Droid's name is Zero."

         "I thought you said you had four." Din growled with his focus remaining on the droid. He's never liked the robots.

         "He does." A high-pitched feminine voice spoke up behind us. It was sort of squeaky and in my honest opinion, irritating.

         A purple Twi'lek was slowly approaching us while spinning a knife in her hand. She wore a wicked and borderline suggestive grin. "Hello, Mando..."

         Wait.

         "Xi'an." His voice was breathy.

         Wait a second.

         "Tell me why I shouldn't cut you down where you stand?" She swiftly moved towards him, holding the knife to his throat. He, of course, didn't flinch or move in the slightest.

         "Nice to see you, too."

         Oh, Kriff, don't tell me that this is an ex-girlfriend.

         Xi'an burst out into a squeaky laugh and leaned in towards his helmet. I felt my stomach twist into a knot as I felt an overwhelming urge to rip her away. I'm sure it was just a stomach ache.

         "I missed you...This is shiny." She tapped the blade of her knife against his beskar chest plate and clicked her tongue. "You wear it well." She flirted.

         I felt my nails dig into the palms of my hands. Not enough to break the skin, but enough to leave a sharp indentation.

         "Do we need to leave the room or something?" Mayfeld quipped.

         I could feel a familiar heat rise to my face. Not the normal blissful one that I wish I felt, but an agitated one that made my face twitch.

         "I think we just might." I growled.

         "Well, Xi'an's been a little heartbroken since Mando left our group." Ran spoke up with a shrug.

         "Aw. You gonna be okay, sweetheart?" Mayfeld teased.

         "Oh, I'm all business now." She pointed her knife to Din's helmet with a grin. "Learned from the best."

         I could feel the anger bubble in my chest when Xi'an turned and winked at Din. His warm presence neared me, his helmet leaning down to my ear with a soft chuckle.

         "Is that envy, Princess?"

         I shouldn't be angry but I was angry. Still, his voice made me shiver and grow weak against him.

         In a way, that made me even more mad.

         I spun around to say something, but was interrupted by Burg's towering presence. "Tiny." He laughed and followed after the group.

         I looked over at Din one more time, my face feeling hotter than it did on Tatooine under the bright sun. Any words that I could possibly conjure up didn't seem to come out. I kept my glare steady for a few moments more before I took off after the group.

         And here I thought he was sorry for what happened earlier.

[starshine583]

Hooked On A Feeling

(Y'all I am like, high off of serotonin, you guys really like this fic that much?? Oh my word??? I can't believe how many notes and responses I am getting! Here's part 8 because you guys are so lovely that I can't possibly say no to giving you more)

Motorcycle Madness (This was part 7)

Marinette heard the roller coasters before she saw them. The rattling of the tracks and the giddy screams was a nice change from the crashing buildings and screams of terror that came from akuma attacks.

The Motorcycle rolled to a stop in the parking lot, and the two climbed off.

“So where did you rent this from?” Marinette asked, handing him his helmet.

“I didn’t.” Damian replied, hanging the helmet on the motorcycle handle and stashing the keys in his back pocket.

“Didn’t?”

“Didn’t rent it.”

Marinette blinked. “Wait, you own this?”

Damian tilted his head from side to side in a “sort of” gesture. 

“It’s more of a ‘hand-me-down’, but yes.” 

Marinette scoffed. Hand-me-down? This thing is in mint condition!

She ran her hand over the motorcycle in admiration.

“What’s this?” 

Near the rear of the motorcycle, resting just underneath the seat, was a yellow R symbol that looked vaguely familiar. Hadn’t she seen it on Robin’s costume?

“Oh that?” Damian asked, following her gaze. “That’s just the brand symbol.”

“Brand symbol..” Marinette repeated under her breath. Why would a hero buy his costume from an ordinary store? What brand sells clothes and vehicles? 

Strange..

“Are you ready to go?” 

Marinette shook her head, pushing the thoughts to the side and glancing up at Damian with a smile. Robin was on their side, so there was no reason to wonder about simple things like coincidental brand symbols.

She straightened. “Yep! Ready to go when you are. What do you want to do first?” 

“Doesn’t matter as long as we do it all.” He smirked, starting the walk into the amusement park.

Naturally, they started with the roller coasters. The spinning ones, the ones with loops, the ones that were so high that they lifted you off of your seat on the way down- they rode them all. Being a weekday, there weren’t as many people crowding the lines. That made it all the easier to ride the rides several times over again.

“Am I supposed to feel sick after a while?” Damian asked as they strolled to the next ride.

Marinette giggled and patted him on the shoulder. “You’ve never been to an amusement park before, have you?” 

“I have. Once or twice.” He admitted. “We didn’t get to ride any of the rides though.” 

She furrowed her eyebrows. People don’t usually go to amusement parks, and then not ride anything. 

“Why not?” 

Damian’s gaze flicked to her, oddly distant for a moment.

Then he looked ahead again. “Stuff came up.”

A frown tugged at the corner of her lips. That was an extremely vague answer..

“Do you want to get some water? I’m kind of hungry anyway.” She asked next, directing him towards the food station. She supposed it was rude to pry. So they might as well change the subject.

He appeared to appreciate it, a small smile coming back to his lips along with his shoulders relaxing. “Water should be fine, but I’m hungry too. What food do they have here?” 

Marinette snorted. “If you can call it food. They have Cotton Candy, Funnel Cake, Corn Dogs, Popcorn- mostly sugar that has a few extra ingredients to hold it together.”

Damian raised an eyebrow. “Well, I don’t want Cotton Candy. What was the other thing you said? Funnel Cake? What is that?” 

She gave a blissful, dramatic sigh. “It’s heavenly. I’ll get some to share.” 

They found a table near the stand, and Marinette got in line to order. A few minutes later, she gave Damian his water and set the plate of Funnel Cake between them.

“It’s hot, so be careful.” She warned, carefully breaking apart some of the pieces to cool it down faster.

Damian took the water bottle with a “thank you” and opened it.

She flashed him a smile, then picked up a small piece of the Funnel Cake.

“Here, try it.” Marinette said, holding it out to him.

He hesitated, giving her a look.

She rolled her eyes with a chuckle. “Come on, you liked the lattes. Just try it, okay?”

Her smile widened when Damian sighed in resignation. He leaned forward and let her feed him the funnel cake. Marinette flushed from embarrassment as she hadn’t expected to feed it to him herself, but he didn’t seem to think much of it.

“S-so? Your thoughts?” She held back a cringe when she stuttered. Great. Is that how the rest of this night’s gonna go?

Damian hummed. 

“It’s okay.”

Marinette shook her head. “You’re so picky.” 

The boy scoffed, though his lips held a smile. “You’re allowed to be picky when you have the money for it.” 

“True, true.” Marinette agreed.

She almost jumped when an alarm bell started ringing.

The two turned to see a little boy grinning from ear to ear and pointing out which toy he wanted from a game vendor.

“How do they stay in business?” Damian asked, watching the boy tightly hug his new, pink elephant. “The games are too easy to win.”

Marinette couldn’t help laughing. “Too easy to win? Most of those games are rigged for failure. The mom probably paid the vendor to get the stuffed animal.”

Damian gave her an incredulous look. “How? I could win those with my eyes closed.”

Her smile faltered. Is he being cocky or does he actually believe that?

“Why don’t we play them then?”

“What?”

Marinette’s smile returned, this time more sly. “Let’s play the games, if they’re so easy.”

Damian narrowed his gaze at her. 

“If you want to.”

“Oh, I definitely want to.”

That’s how the competition began. Play each of the games together, and whoever wins the most, or has the highest scores combined, wins the whole competition. 

The first game was ring toss. Damian’s accuracy with the rings was uncanny, Marinette found out. She managed to get one or two, but he was able to throw six at a time without a problem, each landing on a separate bottle.

“How are you that good at ring toss?” She asked. No wonder he thought all of these games were easy!

Damian shrugged. “Practice.”

Practice? Practice? What kind of things do you practice to get that good??

Next game was a water gun game where you shoot the target to raise your icon to a certain point. Marinette had the luck of getting a gun with better water pressure, so she won that round.

“That shouldn’t count! It was pure luck!” Damian protested.

Marinette flashed him a smile. “Miraculous Luck, I’d say. I’m totally counting it, though.” 

Third game was Balloon and Dart. This was a close one, but Marinette and Damian ended up tying.

This continued for the next half hour with Marinette and Damian beating each other in different ways. By the time they finished, the sun had set, and the stars were glistening above them.

“What are we going to do with all of the prizes?” Damian asked once they finished the last game, holding up the handful of goods they’d won.

Marinette hummed, plucking a toy yo-yo off of the pile. There were definitely a lot of toys here that they didn’t need.

A soft gasp brought their attention to a little girl who was staring starry-eyed at the pile of toys in Damian’s hands. 

The two exchanged a glance, before sharing a smile.

“You want one?” Marinette said sweetly, handing her the yo-yo.

The girl eagerly took it, slipping the string onto her fingers and attempting to swing it around.

“Guess we know what to do with them now.” Damian commented, already starting to hand out the rest of the toys to passing kids.

Marinette smiled, taking half the pile to help. The grins from the kids and appreciative looks from the mother warmed her heart. 

“What do you want to do next?” Damian asked after they finished giving away the toys.

Marinette hummed, glancing around the theme park. They’d ridden all of the roller coasters, played all of the games..

“Oh! Let’s ride the Ferris Wheel!” She exclaimed. It’d be a perfect way to end the day!

Damian looked up at the attraction, a small smile crossing his lips. “After you.”

Marinette squealed, excitedly shifting from foot to foot before starting for the Ferris Wheel.

Because it was later in the day and school had long since let out, the amusement park was now packed with people. She could barely hear Damian telling her to slow down over the talking and laughing and screaming, nor did she register how many people she bumped into or squeezed past. 

It wasn’t until she felt a light pull on her arm that she turned back around.

“You’re hard to keep up with in a crowd.” Damian said.

Marinette laughed, giving an apologetic smile. Then her eyes trailed to their hands. 

Damian glanced down as well, and he started to pull his hand away from hers. “Sorry, I was trying to stay together.”

A blush bloomed across Marinette’s cheeks, and she giggled. He looked so uncertain. It was adorable, really.

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” 

Now it was Damian’s turn to blush, and oh, if that didn’t give her butterflies..

The line for the Ferris Wheel was a bit long, but Marinette felt it went faster with Damian’s hand in hers.

They were still holding hands as they got on the ride and as they got to the top. The stars littered the clear night sky, almost as bright as the shining lights lining the roller coasters.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Marinette breathed, completely absorbed in the inky blackness of the night.

She didn’t see the way Damian’s eyes softened, or how his eyes were only on her as he said, “Yeah. It is.” 

Tag List: @thebookwormfairy @unholykrow @constancetruggle @vixen-uchiha @derpingrainbow @kceedraws @graduatedmelon @starry-bi-sky @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @sweatyruinsstudentbored @go-n-ef @tinybrie @resignedcatservant @never-neverland @captainmac6 @drama-queen-supreme  @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @roseinbloom02 @grimmhallow31 @zazzlejazzle @crazylittlemunchkin @iggy-of-fans @origamieater @kiara-rose-blackthorn @spicybelladonna @redscarlet95 @mooshoon @t-nikki10 @auradonfairy @shamefulllove @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @johnlockfeelz @imfreakingmagical

[calumbringbackthewatermelonshirt]

Hiraeth (C.H.) Part 2

FIND PART 1 HERE

a/n: I think after this I’m probably going to try and update once a week to keep things consistent! please enjoy and lmk what y'all think!! also feel free to send me any questions!

“I believe you owe me something.” You had set your tray at your spot at the usual table. The time had come. Your cravings had taken over. The need for some awful, over sugared coffee was consuming your every thought. Except for the ones about Cal. But coffee. Coffee was something you could have, and soon at that.

“And what would that be?” Classic Ashton. Playing dumb. You were relentless, though. Especially when he had something you so desperately wanted.

“We both know. A ride into town. I’m thinking Dunkin first, then target, then chipotle for a quick bite, then more Dunkin.” You had been ticking off your town to-do list on your fingers as you went, wearing a smile very similar to the Sierra wore when she was up to something.

“As much as I would love to drag your sorry ass around the entire town, I’m busy tonight.” You frowned, knowing that if you didn’t go tonight that you might very well die from withdrawal. That and you’d have to wait another week and a half before your schedules aligned enough again to make the trip.

“Fuck.” You dropped your feet from the table and sighed, running a hand through your hair and screwing up the part in it. It would be fine, you’d manage. You’d run out of toothpaste and eyeliner, but you’d live.

“However, my plans do not involve my car, so I’ve arranged to have someone take you in my place.” You perked up again. Even though you didn’t appreciate being toyed with, you could appreciate the dramatics of it. After all, it was fun when you were on the other side of it.

“Hell yeah! Is it Crystal? She’s cool.” You pumped your fist, practically buzzing with excitement. Even better. You could already picture yourself and Crystal screaming the lyrics to the High School Musical soundtrack together.

“Nope. Hood.” Ashton knew he piqued your interest when he saw your eyebrows shoot up. All a part of Sierra’s plan of course. The elusive Hood, who’s name you still did not know. You’d finally be able to meet the most mysterious man on campus.

“Even better. I get to meet the mysterious ‘Hood.’” You put air quotes around his name. At this point, you weren't even sure he was a real person.

“There is a bit of a hitch. With Hood comes four irresponsible teens.” Ashton winked at you, knowing exactly what he was doing. He had to give Sierra her credit where it was due. This plan was brilliant. Instead of one, Hood would now be operating with four wingmen, each one more bold than the last. Ashton could almost picture the dumbfounded look on Hood’s face when they started to hint at their end goal.

“Fine by me. As long as I get my coffee.” You stood and leaned in closer to Ashton, feeling his breath on your face. It was your hand slipped into his pocket, a twenty finding its way into your sleeve and his keys dangling between your fingers. You dangeled them from your fingers, still grinning at Ashton as you backed away and shot off a text to the members of your group.

….

It took about twenty minutes of scrolling on your phone until you finally heard footsteps and the lively, somewhat loud chatter that surrounded your little group approaching.

Your fingers flying, you shot off one last text and looked up.

Only to be met with a very familiar pair of dark brown eyes.

Elevator guy?

A million questions ricocheted in your brain. What was ele- Cal doing here? With your gaggle of friends?And why was he carrying Luke on his back piggyback style?

You froze, head cocked and eyebrow raised. Cal strongly resembled a deer in headlights at this moment, having missed a step when he noticed it was you leaning against the car. Luke didn’t notice; instead, he took two fistfulls of Cal’s hair, as if trying to control him that way, like Remy and Linguini in Ratatouille.

Michael was the first to catch on to the tension between the two of you. He head swished back and forth a few times, trying to patch together why both of you had reacted to each other like that. It took a second to click. “Wait, do you two know each other?”

“We’ve met. Briefly.” You winked at Cal and slid your phone into the pocket of your jeans, procuring Ashton’s keys in its place. You jingled them before the group for a second before tossing them over to Cal. Kaykay gave her best attempt to snatch them out of the air, but Cal caught them easily over her head, appearing to still be a little bit stunned by your presence.

“Wait a second. You’ve met?” Sierra was screeching. You and Hood were supposed to meet like this, not however you had met before. This couldn’t be right, one misstep could throw off her whole plan, and she had NOT gone to the lengths of planning your wedding only to have it be for nothing.

“Um, yes. Just for a second, though. In the elevator up to the first bell classes.” Hood dropped Luke from his back unceremoniously. Instead, he studied the keys in his hands, looking again like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole. You were starting to wonder why he looked like that every time he saw you.

“So you’re the famous ‘Hood’ I’ve been hearing about.” You grinned and pushed yourself off of the car, crossing your arms. You took a few steps toward him. “I was beginning to doubt you even existed.”

Kaykay snorted and stopped messing with Luke's hair for a second. “You two have met. Obviously he existed.”

“No, no. I met Cal. Hood was a rumor.” Kaykay and Sierra turned and gave each other a look. They seemed to be in agreement that maybe the prior meeting wasn’t so bad.

“Alright, alright. Are we going or not?” Hood sighed and stalked around to the driver’s side, getting into the car before anyone of them could even think of saying anything.

You turned and hopped in the passenger’s side. Only to hear five other people shouting at you.

Apparently, getting in the car was cause for rioting these days.

“Hey, why do you get shotgun?” Kaykay was the first one to say something vaguely coherent. She almost never got shotgun, and she had kind of been hoping that today would be her day.

“Yeah, hey, I want shotgun.” Sierra was next, speaking fast. She was right next to the door, tugging on the handle. But before she could make her first pull, Hood clicked the lock button on his side of the car, effectively shutting all the kids out.

“It’s not too late. We can drive off and leave them now.” Cal? Hood? sighed out his words, leaning forward and putting his head on the steering wheel.

“Oh, come on. You know you love them. It’s obvious. Besides, the only way they’re gonna get me out of this seat is if they kill me first.” You turned to the window and stuck out your tongue at the kids staring at you through the window before putting on your seatbelt.

“Have you met Kaykay?” Hood smirked at you, looked out at the murder written on Kaykay’s face, and then back at you. “That might not be as hard as you think.”

“Believe it or not I’m tougher than I look.” You unlocked the car with the button on your side, but flipped the lock on your door back.

The kids piled into the car, grumbling about being shoved into the back.

“Damn. I wanted up front.” Michael climbed in behind Hood, but not before leaning the seat forward to allow the two youngest to clamber into the back.

“Yeah, yeah. We all wanted shotgun.” Kaykay was behind you, picking at her fingernails, disgruntled. “Can I at least have the AUX?”

“No offense, Kay, but no one wants to listen to death metal.” Sierra wrinkled her nose at the idea of having to headbang and messing up her hairstyle. Her space buns may have looked messy and spiky, but that was a carefully curated look that had taken her a while to perfect.

“I wanna listen to Mozart. I find it calming. You know, statistically, babies who have mozart played to them in the womb come out smarter?” Luke was a big fan of classical music, despite his younger age. He found it versatile, great for both studying and falling asleep to.

“Makes sense. I guess your mom must have played you a lot of Mozart when you were little, huh?” You twisted around in your seat and smiled at Luke for a second, who flushed, but still smiled back. “How about we all choose one song to go on a playlist and we can turn that on shuffle?”

All the children shrugged and nodded, so you called names and collected the songs into one playlist on your phone, playing it through the car stereo a bit louder than was necessary.

“That is the fastest they have ever agreed on anything ever.” Hood looked at you out of the side of his eyes before turning his attention back to the road. “And the fastest solution we’ve ever procured for an argument.”

You shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a natural leader.”

Most of the songs on the playlist ended up being ones you all knew enough to sing along to, asides from the cello melody (Luke) and the heavy metal music (Kaykay).

It took about half an hour and another song draft to reach Dunkin. By the time you got there you were practically vibrating with excitement. Hood kept glancing at you, a small smile at his lips and mirth in his eyes. Apparently, he took great amusement in your love for mediocre coffee.

Instead of attempting to corral all the kids in and out of the restaurant, Hood figured the drive through would be a more time effective option.

Kaykay demanded to order for herself, despite being on the wrong side of the car and in the back seat. Still, Michael rolled down his window obediently, just sighing and leaning back when she unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed into his lap to talk into the speaker.

You went next. You felt bold for no reason today. That was the only explanation for what you did. Mirroring Kaykay, you too unbuckled, leaning over Hood’s lap to rest your weight on the car door.

“I’ll have six shots of espresso, over ice, with a caramel drizzle, please.” You heard a scoff from inside the car, turning to find Kaykay gaping at you.

“That’s enough caffeine to kill a small horse.” Kaykay was a little amazed, and a lot worried. You didn’t even order milk. That was gonna taste like battery acid.

“Are you okay?” Sierra looked absolutely disgusted at the mere thought of your coffee order. Even though she was more of a tea person, Sierra liked her coffee as sweet as her personality.

“I think it sounds good. Can I have one?” Luke barely got the words out before five simultaneous nos were yelled.

“Luke, honey, I’ve only known you for a couple weeks, but even I can tell that you and coffee would not be a good mix.” You took sympathy on the child, who looked downright embarrassed by his chastisement. “How about a hot chocolate instead?”

Luke seemed to perk up by that idea, and when the car pulled up to the window, you wordlessly handed Hood your debit card.

“I have cash with me. How much was my drink?” Michael was the first to ask. You knew it was coming, the onslaughts of ‘let me pay you backs’ and ‘here's the money for my drinks.’ But that wasn’t gonna happen, at least not today.

“This one’s on me.” It was simple enough, but all the kids still looked suspicious. You rolled your eyes, a little offended that you had to explain being nice. “Think of it as a thank you. You know, for taking pity on me and allowing me into your little group.”

They still all looked like you were about to tell them their dog had died.

“Fine. My parents are loaded, I took the RA job cause I wanted my own room, and the way I communicate love is through gifts. Happy?”  You sighed and slurped down half your coffee in one sip.

“Isn’t it almost freezing outside?” Hood was the first to break the somewhat awkward silence. “Are you sure drinking an iced drink was the best choice?”

You grinned slowly. “It’s time I told you my life motto. If you can’t handle a cold drink during the winter, your bloodline is weak.”

Seeing as you had the only iced drink in the car, this caused a bit of an uproar.

…

“Hey.” Cal had turned down the music in the car. Aside from Kaykay, who had her headphones in, you and Cal were the only two people awake. So when he broke the silence on the ride back to campus, it startled you just a touch.

“Hey yourself.”

“I, um, I had fun today. It was nice to see you again.” You made a mental note about Cal: he reverted to CEO mode when he got nervous. Well, you assumed he was nervous. He wouldn’t make eye contact with you, so you figured you were probably right.

“You, too.” His nervousness was kind of endearing, you thought. Even if it made talking to him a little bit awkward and choppy.

“You know, I’m actually pretty grateful Ashton bailed on me.” Calum’s eyes widened a bit, but you ignored it. You had a feeling if you pointed it out, Cal might do something drastic like bailing from the car while it was still moving.

“Oh?” Hood attempted to keep his expression neutral, but there were all sorts of bells and alarms going off in his head.

“Yeah, it was fun spending time with all of you. Being part of a group like this…” Your tongue darted out of your mouth and wetted your lips. You rolled them together and then drew your bottom lip in between your teeth. They were such a tight knit group, and while all of them were welcoming and kind to you… it was still hard to not feel like an outsider. You didn’t regret it, of course, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of your mind that this was a honeymoon phase in your friendship. All good things came to an end. You just hoped it would be later rather than sooner. “It feels like a family.”

“We’ve only known each other for three months.” Cal looked at you out of the side of his eye, skeptical. He was close with his little gang, but family was a bit of a stretch in his opinion. Sure, he spent all his time with them and looked after them, and cared about them, of course. But that didn’t exactly mean they were family.

“Cal, you literally make them bring you their report cards so you can make sure they’re doing okay in all of their classes.” Was he kidding you? It was funny how the man in front of you was able to delude himself in believing that was true.

“I don’t give a damn about their grades.” Hood scoffed. He had his own problems that didn’t include the grades of a bunch of freshmen and sophomores.

“You give so many damns they’re visible from space.” The lies about not caring were probably to keep up his stone cold loner ruse. They were, of course, lies, but you didn’t want to spoil that for him.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Hood was grumbling, but there was a slight chuckle behind it.

…

It was a couple of days before you had the time to speak to Cal again. The older kids used a ‘divide and conquer’ method to keep tabs on the troublemakers of the bunch, which was a lot more difficult than you remembered babysitting to be.

It was in the library. You had been in there for a couple hours at that point, desperate to get in some studying for your test in AP history. That table had been your best friend for a while now, so when Crystal started her shift and came over to chat, it was a welcomed interruption.

“Hey. What are you doing?” She motioned to a chair, sliding it out and taking a seat only after you waved at her that it was okay.

“Just doing some cramming before my history test tomorrow.” You sighed, marking your page in your history book before slamming it shut and sliding down in your seat. “You?”

“Luke asked me to pick some books up for him, despite having not yet finished the ones he’s already checked out.” Crystal made her hands busy flipping through the pages of the books Luke requested. They didn’t seem bad, just… tedious.

“Our own little genius.” You stood, pushing your chair back as you went. “I’m going to grab some paper from the supply closet.”

As soon as she was sure you were gone, Crystal pulled her phone out of her pocket and shot off a quick text to Sierra.

Sierra smirked from her own table at the library, hiding it just in time from Hood. He was ‘helping’ her study for english. Or so he thought.

“What?” Hood looked up from his own calculus homework. “You’re looking at me weird.”

“Nothing. Will you go grab more printer ink from the supply closet? I need to print off my rough draft, but the computer says the cartridge is empty.” Hood grumbled, but he rose and set off in the direction of the supply closet anyways. Sierra grinned at his back. Phase three was a go.

It only took Hood a couple minutes to cross the library to the supply closet. It was mostly empty as he navigated through the bookshelves. He gave a quick wave to Crystal when he saw her, but didn’t stop to chat since she had her headphones in.

The storage closet was small. It barely fit the few racks of supplies that had been stuffed in there, much less a person. Or two people.

Hood. And you.

Hood, once again, felt himself freeze. He really, really had to stop doing that. It had been a few days since he saw you last, and he wasn’t expecting to see you here.

That was when he heard the door click shut behind him.

“Oh, no.” Hood whirled around, pulling on the door as hard as he could. Nothing. Shit. Shit fucking balls. He had just managed to get the two of you locked in here. Together.

“Oh, no?” You sounded a little concerned and a little offended. ‘Oh no’ was never great, but there was raw fear in Cal’s voice.

“Um, I may or may not have just gotten us locked in here.” Hood rolled his lips into his mouth. Not good. He reached for his phone, only to realize that it was still back at the table with Sierra. He didn’t think he would need it. Apparently, he had forgotten to account for the fact that he was very dumb.

“ Oh. Oh, no.” This time it was your turn to panic and pat yourself down, also searching for your phone. You had yours on you, at least, but it wasn’t much help since the battery had died a half an hour ago.

“Yeah. Not good.” Hood exhaled slowly through his mouth, sliding his back down the door til he was sitting on the ground. “Well, at the very least, we know someone will come for us eventually.”

“We do?” You walked over and took a seat next to him, your shoulder brushing his.

“Yeah. I’m here with Sierra. She sent me to get an ink cartridge. It’ll probably only be a few minutes before she comes looking for me.” Hood glanced down at his watch. 7:38. He would guess they’d be out by 8:00. And that was being generous.

“Good to know. Guess it’s just you and me until then.” You sigh and tipped your head back, leaning it against the door.

“I can think of worse company.” Hood watched as you raised your eyebrows, leaving your eyes closed.

“Hmm. Like Luke hopped up on sugar.” You smirked at your own words. Luke was already hard to control.

“Have you ever met Luke on a sugar high?” Hood leveled his eyes at you, and you peaked the one closest to him open.

“No?”

“Then you will never know how true your words are.” Hood chuckled a bit at the memory of Halloween. They let Luke ration out his own candy. That was mistake number one.

“Oh god. I don’t even want to know.” You grinned, but it was a tired one.

“Can I, um, ask you something?” Hood fiddled with his own fingers, more nervous than he had been in a while. And for what? You were just a person. Okay, maybe not just a person. But there still wasn’t a reason for all the knots in his stomach.

“I’m an open book.”

“Why did you only start as a RA a couple weeks into the school year?” It bothered him to not know. He was an RA and still couldn’t figure out a reason after thinking about it for weeks.

“Oh.” That was not what you were expecting him to ask. “Um, I had applied. The old RA left to go to the public school. That’s pretty much it.”

Hood just hummed. He felt like there might be more to that story, but it wasn’t his place to pry.

“My turn.” After you felt Cal’s eyes on you, you sat up and met them. “You got to ask a question. Now it’s my turn.”

You studied Cal’s face for a second before deciding on your question. “What do you think is your biggest flaw?”

Hood chuckled. “This is gonna be ironic, but probably the fact that my sense of humor doesn’t exist.”

“Now that can't be true. We're talking, laughing.” That much was true. You were both smiling.

“Okay. My turn again?” After a quick confirmation nod from you, Hood asked his next curiosity. “What’s your favorite place on Earth?”

“Home.” It was so simple, just that one word. And yet, you sensed that it had somehow struck deep with both of you. You were sure for different reasons, though.

Your next words were forcibly bright, rushed. “My turn. Do you prefer when people call you Hood or Cal?”

“That would depend on the person, I suppose. Everyone calls me Hood, including most of my teachers.” Hood smiled down at you, as if daring you to do what you were both thinking. “Back to me. How about your favorite book?”

“I can’t choose just one. There’s all sorts of great crap out there.” You smirked. “The fact that I called it crap is meaningless. My turn again. Do you believe in ghosts?”

Hood gaped at you. “Really? You can ask me anything you want, knowing full and well that I have to answer with complete honesty, and you chose to ask if I believe in ghosts?”

“Just answer the damn question.”

“Fine. No, I don’t believe in fucking ghosts.” Hood wasn’t 100% confident in his answer. He believed in the possibility of ghosts, perhaps. But not the existence of the ghosts themselves.

“Look, I just asked if you believed in them. I didn’t ask what you thought about their sexual habits.” Hood pushed your shoulder playfully, chuckling again. He had noticed himself doing that kind of a lot around you. It felt...nice.

The frequency of the questions dwindled after that, most of them escaping as yawns through your lips. More than once you found yourself nodding off in the middle of both questions and answers. Hood found great amusement in it. You would scrunch up your nose and sway a bit, wiping at your face and trying to fight your own body. Eventually, you would succumb to sleep, your head just brushing his shoulder. It would rest there for a split second before bouncing right back, snapping you back to consciousness each time. Each time, your head would use his shoulder as a pillow for just a fraction longer, until eventually you didn’t wake back up.

You were just… sleeping. On him. Really, you were snoring a little. It was cute to him. Hood glanced back at his watch. 8:17. It had been over half an hour, and still no rescue. Hood reached behind him and gave the doorknob a little jiggle again. Still nothing. He sighed, not that he was expecting it to magically open. It was worth a shot.

It was five minutes later Hood heard footsteps. He didn’t even have time to turn around to knock before the door swung open. You and Hood fell flat on your backs without the door supporting your weight, waking you up. In Hood’s arms. He had put his arm around you when you fell to make sure you didn’t hit your head, although, now that he was thinking about it, that was a bit weird. You sat up before he could move, pulling him up with you.

“Sierra. Our savior.” You grinned up at her. Cal was already on his feet, offering you a hand to help you up. You took it, barely using any of your own muscles with the strength he used to pull you up. “Well, this has been a pleasure. I’ll see you around, Calum Hood.”

From there, you went back to your table to gather up your things. It was time to get some real sleep. And not on the shoulder of Calum Hood.

…

tags: @rbforsmileycal​ @whatthefuckimbisexual​

[nazariolahela]

Best Beloved: Chapter 7

A/N: Hey y'all! This story is told in dual first-person narrative, from Kaia (F!MC) and Damien’s POV. The first half of this story takes place during Kaia’s freshman year and Damien’s senior year of college. The second half is two years after Kaia graduates. There will be sprinklings of canon in this fic, but we’ll try to step out of the box for the most part. Thanks for reading, and please leave feedback, and/or if you would like to be tagged.

Catch up here

Series Tags: @burnsoslow​​ @lady-calypso​​​​ @irishwhiskys-blog​​ @loveellamae​​

Synopsis: What happens when you find yourself crushing on your best friend? For years, Damien and Kaia have been friends, while secretly harboring feelings for one another. Everything changes one night after a little too much alcohol and years of pent up feelings. Can they control their emotions and salvage their friendship, or will the feelings they hold for one another destroy everything they have?

All characters are the property of Pixelberry Studios. Thanks for allowing me to borrow them.

Chapter Summary: One relationship progresses, while another comes to its end.

Kaia

“STRIKE! Suck it, Kaia!” Victoria shouted as her bowling ball struck all ten pins.

It was Thursday night at the local bowling alley — humorously-titled Split Happens — and my friends and I were hanging out for College Student Night. Nadia initially had the idea for me, her, Steve, and Hayden to double date, but, then I invited Vic and Drake, and it ended up being a group gathering. We invited Sloane, but she had other plans.

Hayden returned to our seats holding two drinks and a basket of fries. He set the fries on the seat in between us and handed me my drink. We’d gone out a few times since the night of the homecoming dance. For our first date, he took me to brunch at this cute little café off-campus. We talked for hours about everything from our favorite professors to our personal lives. He also told me stories about his dog, Dipper. We’d gone out three times after that, each date ending with a hug or a peck on the cheek, and a promise to call or text the next day.

“Your roommate is funny,” he said, grabbing some fries from the basket before shoving them in his mouth. I turned to where Victoria was sitting and saw her eyes glued to Drake’s backside as he bent over to pick up his bowling ball.

“She’s something. I got really lucky in the roommate department.”

He nodded. “Mine sucks. Wanna trade?”

“Ha! Not after the stories you’ve told me. I’m lucky Vic only brings Drake to the room when I’m not there. And no overnights, thank the gods.”

“Well, at least she respects your personal space. I found some lacy underwear in my bed last week. And I know they weren’t mine. Red is totally not my color.”

I laughed and reached for a handful of fries at the same time he did. Our hands brushed and I almost dropped mine at the contact. He looked down at the basket, then back up at me, and smiled as he popped the fries in his mouth. His tongue darted out to lick the granules of salt from his lips, and my eyes followed the movement. The two of us stared at each other until we were interrupted by Nadia slumping down in her chair next to me.

“You’re up, Kaia,”  she sighed.

I set my drink down and walked toward the ball return. Finding the pink and white marble ball, I slipped my thumb, middle, and ring fingers into the finger holes, hefted the ball up, and walked up to the foul line.

I stared up at the scoreboard and surveyed my status. It was the tenth frame and I was only six points behind Victoria, so I just needed to knock seven pins down and I’d beat her. We started the game out friendly, but she let her competitive streak get the best of her, and it ended up getting chippy towards the end. Naturally, Steve was smoking all of us. It was stupid how athletically gifted he was. Hayden was in second, followed by Drake, Victoria, then me. Nadia brought up the rear, but she didn’t seem to mind. She was too focused on swapping spit with Steve once her turn was up.

I pulled the ball close to my chest and lined up my shot. Inhale. Exhale. I swung my arm back, before propelling the ball forward and releasing it. It rolled down the lane, teetering towards the gutter. I squatted down on my haunches as the ball rolled down the lane, waving my hands as if my psychic powers could redirect the ball back towards the pins. The ball reached the pins and clipped the sixth and tenth ones, causing them to wobble, before toppling over and taking the ninth pin with them. I groaned. Shit. I had two more balls to get at least four pins in this frame.

Behind me, Victoria giggled. “I got this in the bag,” she loudly proclaimed. I whipped around and narrowed my eyes in her direction as she squeezed Drake’s arm and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Don’t celebrate too soon. I still have two more balls this frame,” I said as I walked back to the return.

From the corner of my eye, I caught Hayden watching me. I turned my head towards him and we locked eyes. He smiled and took a sip of his soda.

“Any advice?” I asked.

He stood up and stalked towards me, his massive frame shadowing my much smaller one. He guided me towards the lane and stood behind me, positioning my body.

“The first thing you want to do is square your shoulders,” he said, placing one hand on each of my shoulders, straightening my posture. The touch of his hands burned through the thin fabric of my t-shirt.  “Then, when you go to release, keep your backswing moderately high, it will give you a modest ball rotation and your release will be smoother.” He dragged his hand down the back of my arm to my elbow, sending goosebumps all over my body. He hooked his fingers in the crook of my arm and pulled my arm back to mime the motion.

“Also, try to rotate your wrist clockwise. This will cause the ball to hook in the opposite direction so you don’t sink it in the gutter,” he said, wrapping his large hands around my tiny wrist, and rotating it. His fingers brushed the underside of my wrist ever so gently and I sucked in a quick breath.

“O-okay! I think I got it,” I stuttered, pulling my hand from his grasp. I slipped my fingers in the grips of the ball and narrowed my eyes at the seven remaining pins. I tried to ignore Hayden’s burning gaze behind me as I lined up my shot and released my ball down the lane. Everyone in our group fell silent as the ball made its slow (okay, maybe it wasn’t that slow, but it sure felt like it) descent down the lane towards the remaining seven pins. I heard Victoria gasp as the ball struck the front pin dead center and took out the remaining pins.

When the pin sweep dropped and swept away the discarded pins, I whipped around and leaped into Hayden’s arms. “You’re a genius!”

He chuckled and squeezed me against him. “What do you mean? That was all you! You kicked those pins’ asses.” He set me back down and I ran over and high-fived Steve, Nadia, and Drake. I plopped down next to Victoria and she rolled her eyes and held up a hand for a high-five, smirking as our palms connected.

“Yeah, yeah. You got me.” She looked over at Hayden, who was talking with Steve about gods knows what. “So, how’s it going with you two?”

“Things are good. We’re taking it slow. Getting to know each other. I really like him. He’s funny. And so cute. How’s everything with you and Drake?”

She visibly blushed, and I reached over to grip her forearm. “Vic! Tell me EVERYTHING!”

“He’s amazing. We’re together almost every day, and the ones we aren’t, we talk on the phone every night. I’m crazy about him, Kaia. Dare I say, I might be in L-word.”

Victoria and Drake had been seeing each other for about two months and it warmed my heart to hear that she was head over heels for him. I smiled and pulled her in for a hug. “Oh, Vic! I’m so happy for you. You deserve to be happy.” I pulled back and noticed her eyes were shining with unshed tears. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just that saying those words out loud, it feels real.” She looked away from me and I followed her line of sight to see her staring at Drake lovingly. She quickly wiped her eyes and stood up from her seat. “Alright. Enough emotions. You guys wanna play another game?”

“I’m up for it if everyone else is,” I replied. The rest of our group agreed and we set up for another game. When it was all said and done, Steve won (again) followed by Drake, and Hayden. Victoria ended up finishing two pins ahead of me, with Nadia once again bringing up the rear. We gathered our coats and returned our shoes to the rental. As we stepped out of the alley, the wind picked up. I tugged my jacket tighter against me. These late-October temps were pretty unpredictable and I was thankful I brought a heavier jacket.

I waved goodbye to my friends as Hayden wrapped an arm around my shoulders and guided me to his car. He opened the door for me and I winked at him as I slipped into the passenger’s seat. I watched as he jogged around the back of the car and climbed in the driver’s side.

“You hungry? Wanna go grab a bite before I drop you back off at your dorm?”

“Sure,” I replied. He nodded then fired up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

“Did you have fun tonight?” I asked.

He turned slightly, keeping his eyes on the road. “I did. Your friends are fun.”

I smiled. “I’m glad you said that. I was worried about how you’d get along with them. They can be a little much. Especially my cousin and my roommate.”

He laughed. “Your cousin is a trip! And her boyfriend seems nice. Your roommate, on the other hand...”

I turned in my seat. “Why? What did she say to you?”

“Nothing bad. But she cornered me near the restrooms and asked me what my intentions with you were.”

“And what did you tell her?” I asked, amused.

“I just told her that I wanted to get to know you and see where things went. My intentions are pure. Nothing inappropriate. Yet.” He laughed and wiggled his eyebrows.

I smirked and shook my head as we drove. A few minutes later, we pulled up in the McDermots drive-thru. I ordered a McBurger while Hayden got the Wild-Style Double McDermot Deluxe burger. We sat in the parking lot and ate our food in comfortable silence.

When Hayden finished eating, he balled up his sandwich wrapper and turned to me. “What are you doing this weekend?”

“Well, midterms are almost over, so I’m definitely catching up on sleep, but I can make time to see you. What did you have in mind?” I asked, throwing my wrapper in the take-out bag.

He smiled. “Well, we could go check out that new Keanu Reeves movie that hits theaters tomorrow if you like action movies.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Text me this weekend and we’ll play it by ear.”

He nodded and put the car in gear, then pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to campus. We chatted about midterms for the rest of the ride. When he pulled into the dorm parking lot, we exited the car and he walked me to my room.

“So, I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” I said as I unlocked my door.

I swung it open and stepped over the threshold of my room then turned back to him. He leaned one arm on the doorframe, staring at me with those dark eyes. “Looking forward to it.”

We stared at each other for several beats, then he leaned in and pressed a searing kiss to my lips. I froze at first, not sure how to respond, but then gave in to the kiss. I gripped his biceps to steady myself as the kiss grew deeper. After what felt like hours, he broke the kiss and stepped back. Both of us stared at each other as we tried to catch our breaths.

“Sorry. I had to do that,” he said.

“Don’t apologize. It was nice,” I replied.

He smiled and cupped my cheek in his palm. “See you,” he said, then strode down the hallway towards the elevator.

I slipped into my room and shut the door, leaning against the back of it. I brought my fingers up to my lips, still feeling his kiss. I couldn't lie, I did like it. Almost as much as I liked the one Damien sprung on me at homecoming.

What the... Why was I thinking about him? Things with Hayden were never going to progress if I kept carrying a torch for Damien. I groaned and flung myself onto my bed. I was in deep shit.

***

Damien

I walked in the door of my childhood home and sighed. I loved coming here. It made me feel like I was whole. I missed home. Even before my dad passed away, I made an effort to come back at least once a month. More, if needed. Stepping aside, I let Alana walk in front of me and guided her toward the living room. The smell of empanadillas wafted through the house as my mother’s voice rang out from the kitchen. 

“Is that you, mijo?”

“Yeah, Mama! Alana and I are here.”

She bustled out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, then took my face in her hands. She pulled me down to her height and kissed my cheeks. “My boy! So good to see you.” 

She then turned to Alana and her eyes lit up. “Hello, dear. How are you?” she asked as she placed a hand on Alana’s shoulder.

“I’m good Mrs. Nazario. How have you been?”

My mother nodded “Good, good. It’s always nice when my children come home.” She patted Alana on the cheek and ushered her to have a seat. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Water’s fine for me,” Alana replied. 

My mother nodded then motioned for me to follow her to the kitchen. We entered and I spotted my youngest sister, Lucilla, leaning against the counter. “Dames! So nice of you to join us,” she smirked as she bit into an apple. 

I moved forward and wrapped my arm around her neck, pulling her to my body, as I rubbed my knuckles against her scalp. She grunted as the apple she was holding dropped to the floor. “Hi, sis. Did you miss me?”

Lucilla reached over and pinched my sides. I yelped as I released her from my grip. “How could I miss you when you never go away?” she said as she leaned over to pick up the apple. “Did you bring your girlfriend?” 

I looked to Mama, then back to her. “Yeah, she’s in the living room. Can you bring her some water?”

Lucilla rolled her eyes then opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. “That’s fine. We can catch up and talk shit about you.”

I swung my leg out to kick her, but she dodged me at the last second, laughing as she burst through the kitchen door to the living room. My mother chuckled to herself at the interaction. When my sister was out of the room she turned to me, smiling.

“How are you, my boy? School going well?”

I nodded, leaning beside her against the counter as she slipped the next batch of empanadillas into the deep fryer. “Yeah. Just finished midterms. I’m ready to be done already. Just gotta get through the rest of this semester and next.”

She smiled. “I’m so proud of you. Your father would be too. Just hang in there for a few more months. It will all be worth it. How is the internship going?”

“It’s great. I’m loving every minute of it. I think I’m going to pursue a career in Intelligence after graduation.”

Mama’s eyes lit up. “Oh, my boy! That’s so wonderful. I can see it now. My son will have a fancy government job in Washington D.C. I’ll never have to worry about you.”

I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. I hated hearing that my mother worried about me. Especially when she had her own heartache and my younger sisters to worry about. I wiped a stray tear from her cheek and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to be alright.”

“I know you will. But it’s my job to worry about you. As long as you’re taking care of yourself.” She pulled the empanadillas from the deep fryer and set them on a towel to cool. Her eyes darted to the kitchen door and she lowered her voice. “Everything alright with...” she jerked her head towards the living room.

I sighed and dragged a hand down my face. “Where do I start?”

My mother wiped her hands on her apron and guided me to the kitchen table. “Sit. Do you want something to drink?”

“Rum if you’ve got it,” I replied. 

She moved over to the cabinet and grabbed the bottle of spiced rum. I smiled. It was my father’s favorite brand. She placed the bottle and two tumblers on the table and took a seat across from me. “Spill, my boy.”

“I don’t know, Mama. It just seems like our whole relationship is toxic. We barely spend time together, and when we do, we argue the whole time. She gets crazy insecure and accuses me of cheating on her just because I hang out with Kaia, and it-”

“Wait...Kaia? Kaia Park?” my mother interrupted.

“Uh, yeah. Why?”

My mother pursed her lips and stared at her hands. “I didn’t want to say anything back then, but I always wondered what happened between you two.”

“Mama, nothing happened between us. She was always too young for me. The last time anything happened was four years ago.” I purposely omitted the incident at homecoming, but my mother knew about the graduation party. She mentioned that Kaia seemed off in the days following, and stopped coming around the house after I left for college. It wasn’t until Nadia told Carina, who told Ma what happened, that she finally put two and two together.

“You were always smitten with that girl, no matter how much you lied to yourself.”

“Mama. It wasn’t like that. We’re best friends,” I said defensively.

“I know better, mijo. I watched you two when you were together. You looked at her like she was the only girl in the room. And she you.” She chuckled and took a sip of her glass. “You two were attached at the hip. I never suspected anything until that summer before your junior year. She came over one time when you weren’t home and your father found her hanging out in that treehouse. When he asked her what she was doing, she said she wanted to be here when you got back. He said he knew at that moment that you weren’t ‘just friends’ in her eyes.”

I swallowed a sip of spiced rum, the liquid burned as it went down. “Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean anything. She had a crush on me. I already knew that. But I never pursued her. She was underage.”

“Understandable. But do you remember your senior year of high school? When that boy she was seeing broke her heart? You went over to his house and threatened to beat him up if he even looked at her again.”

“Yeah, ‘cause she was my best friend and she was hurting,” I said.

My mother shook her head. “Guess how many times I caught you glaring at him while you watched them together? Every time he showed up at her house, you sat on that front porch and stared. If looks could kill, that boy would have dropped dead before he reached the front door.”

I twisted the tumbler in my hand. “I...I don’t know what to say…”

“You don’t have to say anything to me. You need to be honest with yourself, first and foremost. Then, you need to be honest with Kaia.”

The faint sounds of laughter came from the living room. I glanced at the door before turning back to Mama. “Won’t matter. She has a boyfriend. And I have a girlfriend. Who I love. And who’s sitting in the next room.”

My mother cupped my cheek in her palm. “Oh, mijo. You know I love you, and I want you to be happy. But that girl. She does not make you happy. I can see it in your eyes.”

Damn, she was good. How did moms always know what kids didn’t? “I have a lot to think about. But thank you for being there.” I sighed and finished off my rum, then collected both glasses and put them in the dishwasher. 

Mama brushed the hair from my forehead and kissed the top of my head. She put the bottle of rum back in the cabinet and went back to preparing dinner. “Go tell Alana and Lucilla that dinner is almost ready.”

I swung the door open and saw my sister and girlfriend sitting on the sofa, looking through a photo album. A bottle of wine sat open on the coffee table accompanied by two glasses. Alana’s water bottle remained untouched. “Hey! Mama said dinner’s almost ready, so go wash up.” 

Lucilla rose from the couch, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, okay.” She collected the wine bottle and glasses and retreated into the kitchen. 

I turned to look at Alana, who set the photo album down and examined her nails. “Did you and your mom have a nice chat?”

“We did. Were you getting my sister drunk?”

She laughed humorously. “It was one glass, Damien. And she’s not driving anywhere. It will be fine.”

“She’s only 16, babe.” 

I glanced down at the photo album which lay open on the coffee table. Photos of my sisters and me when we were kids filled the pages. I picked up the book and went to close it when one picture caught my eye. It was Nadia, Kaia, Carina, and I. I was maybe 17 at the time. We were sitting on the porch swing outside Kaia’s house. Nadia and Carina sat on the end, making funny faces, while Kaia and I were squished in the middle. My arm was slung around her shoulders, and I was gazing at her. Then, it hit me. I finally saw what my mother was talking about.

“Oh, shit,” I muttered under my breath. I looked up to see Alana eyeing me suspiciously. I opened my mouth to say something when my mother’s voice rang out from the kitchen.

“Dinner’s ready. Come eat!”

Alana turned on her heel and stomped towards the kitchen. I closed the photo album and put it back on the bookshelf behind the sofa. I raked my hand through my hair and made my way towards the kitchen. This was going to be a long dinner.

A few hours later, Alana and I were on our way back to campus. We drove in uncomfortable silence for most of the trip. We were about 10 miles from school when she turned to me, breaking the silence.

“How long have you been in love with her?”

I swallowed. Welp, better to rip off the bandaid now. “I don’t know exactly. I guess I’ve been lying to myself this whole time.”

“And to me…” she trailed off.

“Alana-”

“Don’t, Damien. Okay? Just...don’t. I’m not an idiot. You know, I didn’t want to believe it, but the signs were right in front of me this whole time. The stolen glances. The emotional unavailability. I guess I thought you'd eventually get over whatever it was you felt for her. I’m just sorry that whatever we had wasn’t enough to keep you interested.”

I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. “I’m sorry too. To be honest, I knew this relationship was doomed when you turned down my marriage proposal. I think I stuck it out, hoping you’d eventually change your mind. I wish we would have just called it quits then. It would have saved us both a lot of pain.”

She nodded. Neither of us said another word until we pulled into the campus parking lot. She reached out to open the car door, but stopped and turned to me. “For what it’s worth, I did love you. I guess it just wasn’t enough to spend forever together.” She gave me a weak smile, then got out of the car. I watched her walk away, a heavy weight lifted off of my shoulders. When she was out of sight, I got out and made my way to my dorm. 

When I got inside my room, I threw myself on my bed and sighed deeply. I knew breaking up with Alana was the right thing to do, but I still felt like shit about it. I needed to get some things off my chest and there was only one person I wanted to talk to. I pulled my phone from my pocket and thumbed through my contacts until I pulled up her name. I opened the text app and typed out my message. 

[randomnoteforfuturereference]

The Quarry

This piece is actually part of a larger fic I did a while ago (fic on AO3 is called Quarried Depths, which @kleeklutch helped with during the beta process), but I thought it capable of standing alone as a one-shot. It takes place between “2.3 Meet the Frogs” and “2.4 Hazeapalooza”, when Nursey and Dex... didn’t have the best relationship; this piece specifically takes place right after that scene where Nursey spilled the cereal and milk on Dex (and in this case, on Dex’s laptop as well). It also explores a bit of how Dex looks up to Ransom.

Warning: There’s a first-person depiction of an anxiety attack, as well as unintentional self-harm via scratching.

Anyways, hope y'all enjoy.

---   ---   ---

“There are eight d-men on this team,” I breathe through clenched teeth. “Eight. Coaches could have paired me with any of them. Instead, I have to. Put. Up. With. You.” I punctuate the last few words by prodding a trembling finger into his chest.

I don’t give a damn if Nurse gets the message or not, but a distant tendril of satisfaction blossoms within me when he flinches back. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that something crumples behind those dollar-green eyes of his.

Not bothering to wait for a further response, I turn back and continue on my way.

Nurse doesn’t bother following.

I don’t go back to my dorm. In all honesty, I don’t know where I’m going. I just need to be somewhere without people. Without judgement.

As my feet carry me on my way, the haze of rage begins to ebb and the thrumming gradually quiets. With that ebbing, my brain plays catch up and clarity is restored. With that clarity, two things hit me.

The first is the fact that I had wandered out of campus and into Samwell Park. Not only that, but judging by my vantage point and surroundings, I went past the dam and past any defined trail. I really am in a spot where I won’t be bothered, even with the university visible across the Pond’s surface.

The second thing that hits me is the full weight of what just happened. The possibility that my computer will not survive this. The fact that this fight between me and Nurse was probably the worst that has happened between us. The fact that this blow-up happened in front of the team and much of the school.

That weight settles into my stomach and pulls my insides down with it.

Did you really think you’d make it? He’s right. You don’t fit here. You don’t fit with them.

Did you see their faces? They hate you. And why shouldn’t they? You never say the right thing. They were just being nice before. They were being generous. And now you’ve really blown it.

My skin pulls taut and, as it tightens, it constricts my chest and sends a familiar damn itch all over. Shedding my backpack does nothing to ease that.

Now they are going to tell Hall and Murray. Now the coaches are going to kick you out. Then where are you going to be? Where’s your scholarship going to be? Gone. All that investment. All his investment for you. It’s all going to be gone. You’re going to lose a scholarship and a laptop. All within one semester.

Just because you have to be Billy the Blunder.    

Gasping for air and clawing at my arms, I finally collapse and curl in on myself to weather the storm.

Because that’s what you’re good at. Weathering.

It’s all you’re good at.  

I don’t know how long I lay where I fall. Could be seconds. Could be minutes. Could be hours.

Whatever the case, the storm finally ebbs, and as my breaths slow and even out, I unfurl and lift myself off the forest floor.

All things considered, it was probably one of my worst attacks. I don’t even have to look at my stinging arms to know that I’m going to have to keep my sleeves down for the next few days or so. Easier will be not showing my hands so that nobody can see the little bloody crescents gouged into them.

Just to be sure, I sit on a rock that juts out over the water and go through some of the breathing exercises taught to me. It doesn’t banish completely the tight feeling in my chest, but little by little it loosens things up.

As things loosen up, I take stock of the setting: The clear sunny day with just the a slightest cool breeze. The extreme clarity of the water suggesting that turnover hasn’t happened yet despite the time of the year. The shore terminating in a rocky drop-off with no bottom beyond.

It dimly occurs to me that this spot most likely was a quarry once.

Feeling back in control and getting a good gauge on my surroundings, I get an idea.

I place my laptop in a shaded location where I can see it, strip down to my underwear, use my clothes to make a nest around the computer, inhale a deep breath, and take a leaping dive off the rock.

The briskness of the water is like a sledgehammer to my lungs. It’s a familiar pressure, however, and not unwelcome. As my momentum slows, I release just enough air to allow for a steady descent. The cloud of shimmering bubbles clears to reveal a sight before me. Shafts of dappled light from the noonday sun dance around the pale surroundings and occasionally illuminate the blurry forms of various fish gliding and hovering around in the distance. Unlike the majority of the Pond, which is shallow enough to walk through for a hundred feet without the water reaching your neck, here I’m rendered tiny by the cliff-like wall plunging down to indiscernible depths.

If anything, and despite the very real danger it can pose, the incomprehensible nature of the environment that dwarfs me is a source of comfort. It doesn’t judge. It doesn’t spurn. It doesn’t give a flying fuck where I come from and who I am. It just is and offers a familiar presence that supports and embraces even as the mild protests of my lungs signal for me to kick back up to the surface. That embrace relaxes me in full, and the breath I take upon breaking the surface reinvigorates my body.

I should do this more often.  

As I swim around the surface, the sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs breaks me out of that state of calm, and it gives me cause to press close to the edge and reach for a small rock. That is, until the crunching is accompanied by the grumbling of a familiar voice and the flash of a white cap.

“Over here.” I punctuate my call by lobbing the rock into a leaf pile in front of me and pushing off the rocky wall so that I can be seen.

Ransom jumps straight up and lets off a high-pitched yelp — city folk… — before he whips around, does a double-take, and finally focuses on me. After taking a few steadying breaths, he gingerly picks his way towards the edge of the rocky bank. I doubt those loafers, which probably cost as much as everything I had on half-an-hour ago, are made for going through anything rougher than cobblestones. “You’re fucking hard to find, you know that right?”

“Wasn’t planning on being found,” I counter. “How’d you get this far?”

“Left breakfast early, and I saw you stomping southbound along the Pond. Wasn’t too hard to follow your trail — if I had to ask some random witnesses that you passed — until the damn path withered away to nothing after I crossed the bridge by the waterfall,” he grumbles while looking around. “This really is the fucking Forbidden Forest.”

I can see how he may have that impression. The vegetation here’s likely secondary growth, but considering how well-established it is in general and how thick the trees are, it’s really old secondary growth. Perhaps old enough to be non-virgin primary growth. Don’t know the age of Samwell Pond, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s at least a century old. The quarry itself was probably abandoned long before it and the surrounding land was flooded when the dam was built.

“Anyways, took me a while, fuck you very much, but here you are.” He looks me up and down with raised eyebrows. “Didn’t expect this.”

I’m just glad that he didn’t find me while I was having the attack. Still, I scowl back. “What’s so strange? Students play in the Pond all the time, and last I checked the park has a ‘swim at your own risk’ rule.” Then I realize that the water’s clarity means that he can easily see my briefs as I keep afloat. “Also what I have on has nothing on the stuff, or lack thereof, idiots have worn around town.”

Ransom mulls that over and shrugs with a chuckle in acknowledgement. “I’m more meaning that it’s the middle of fall.”

“It’s a nice day.” Possibly the last nice day in a while if the forecast’s correct. “Isn’t Toronto supposed to be around the same temperature?”

He snorts. “You picture me going out for a Halloween plunge in Lake Ontario?”

To my own surprise, I bark out a small laugh. “Guess not.”

Satisfied with my swim, I climb out, shake myself off, and hop back onto the sun-warmed rock to lie down to bask and dry off. I don’t miss that Ransom’s staring at my arms and hands, which I keep balled up. While he thankfully doesn’t say anything specific, he still asks, “Are you going to be alright?”

I give a shrug of my own. “I’ve had worse.” Guess it’s already time to face the music. “So when do I need to clear out my locker?”

“Don’t be dramatic, Dex,” Ransom huffs while kicking his shoes off, plopping down on the ground next to my rock so that we’re eye level, and swinging his feet over the edge. “So you two got in a little tiff. Okay, a major tiff. Still, you should have seen some of the tirades Jack meted out. Especially at Bitty. They got pretty epic.” For good measure, he pops those last few syllables and kicks at the water to send it upwards into a sparkling arc.

“Sure, but I bet they weren’t regular. Let’s face it: there’s no way Nurse and I get along, the other D-men are already paired up, and the team clearly likes him more. Hell, I know I’m good on the ice, but I’m certainly not spectacular like you or Holster. So if I were in charge and had to trim things down,  I’d  bin me first.”

Ransom widens his eyes at my admission, and even I’m a bit surprised how easy it is to say that.

Maybe I really don’t belong here.

“Fuck,” Ransom breathes as he squints at me, “you’re serious aren’t you.”

I just shrug at that. “Don’t want pity, if that’s what you think.” I really don’t. I wouldn’t mind if people here actually managed to see things from my perspective, but there’s no point in being broken up about them not understanding.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to be a doormat if shit’s thrown my way.

Minutes of silence pass between us. Silence that Ransom breaks first: “Two weeks.”

“What?”

“Give your partnership with Nursey two more weeks.” He holds up his fingers for emphasis. “If you both truly think this pairing is a disaster, then I’ll talk to Jack and the coaches to see if we can work something out.”

That’s more than cutting it close if they think something can be worked out before the season really starts getting into the swing of it. I squint up at him. “You really think two weeks will make a difference?”

Ransom shrugs. “It might. Better chance than if we don’t try anything. And seriously…”

“Yeah?”

“You two fit together better than you think.” Ransom doesn’t acknowledge my scoffing but instead holds his hand out. “So do we have a deal?”

“That assumes he wants to stay partners with me.” The image of Nurse flinching back from me plays on repeat, and for some reason my stomach clenches at it.

“I’ll talk to him.”

Like it will do any convincing. Whatever, it’s two more weeks. “Don’t get your hopes up,” I mutter as I shake the offered hand.

Deal settled, the two of us continue staring out at the Pond and university itself in silence once more.

And once more, Ransom disrupts it.

“Dex?”

To my surprise, Ransom’s voice now sounds stilted and hesitant. When I look at him, his face is a neutral mask except for a clear twitching tension within his jaw. Considering the air of confidence he always shows in his casual banter and poise, the unease that he’s radiating makes me sit up and turn towards him. “Yeah? What’s the matter?”

“What did you mean when you told Nursey that he’s ‘given everything’?”

That’s what he’s so conflicted over? “What do you think I meant? Just because Nurse has been swaddled in luxury doesn’t give him the right to lord it over me.” As I’m talking, it dawns on me why Ransom was so apprehensive. “Wait, I don’t have a problem about you and the rest of the team being rich. I don’t have a problem with him being rich. If I hated rich people, I wouldn’t—”

Ransom holds his hand up to stop my rambling. It doesn’t escape my attention the massive exhale that he releases. “It’s okay. It’s o—“ The words die as his brows pinch together. “Wait, no, it’s not okay.”

The backtrack puts me at a loss. “What are you talking about?”

Ransom stares at me, opening and closing his mouth as if he’s ready to say something but holding back. Ultimately he shakes his head and looks away. “Nope. Nah. Not doing this.”

What. “What?”

“Even if I didn’t have a meeting later in the afternoon, I’m not putting myself through this. At least not right now.” I try to ask him to clarify, but he just continues: “Go to the library. Talk to someone willing to discuss with you. Except for Shitty; he’s smart and a great guy with great intentions, but…”

“No fucking kidding…” Nurse is obnoxious enough, but I don’t know what I’d do if Knight was a D-man I had to be paired with. I've been civil and deferential all this time, but I’m not going to go out of my way to be chummy with that lefty-than-thou blowhard.

Ransom must have heard my muttered statement, as he lets off another sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose. “See, it’s shit like that why the team… nevermind.” He shakes his head. “Look, all I’ll say is that Nursey probably didn’t think you were yelling at him for being rich, and remembering some of the stuff he talked about may help you figure out what I mean. Also there’s a term that I recently learned that might be useful to you: ‘Intent versus Impact’. If you think you got it figured out and want to make sure, then we can talk.”

“But you’re barely giving me anything to figure out!” It’s fucking ridiculous. Why should Nurse get any sympathy from me if I don’t even know what supposedly bothers him?

My protests are answered with a snort. “Like you’ve been forthcoming about yourself.”

Ransom’s disdainful scoff feels like a slap in the face, and I can’t help but reel back a bit.

He must notice my reaction, as his voice softens. “I don’t want you to think I’m unwilling to talk if there’s anything you need help with. But William?” Both the use of my first name and the plea in his voice makes me look up at him. Really look at him to see lines of worry etched into his face. “We’re a team. I’m not saying that you should bare your soul. But we can’t have your back if you shut us out.”

A stiff breeze makes me pull my knees up to my chest.

I don’t need anyone to have my back. I’ve already said what I’ve needed to say. No reason for anyone to go out of their way for me. I did alright before, and I’ll do alright now.

Still, I humor Ransom: “I’ll take that into consideration.”

His raised eyebrow makes it obvious that he doesn’t believe me, and he looks ready to call me out on it. Ultimately he just shakes his head before glancing at my clothing nest. “Anyways, I was just coming to check to see if your computer’s alright.”

At least that’s something straightforward I can talk about. “I need to wait for it to dry first. Then I’ll check if there are any issues.”

“Well, I hope there aren’t any…” That air of pensive awkward settles over him again.

This time, I huff, “If you have something to say, just say it.”

Ransom allows for another minute or so before speaking: “You can’t afford a replacement, can you.”

Is he just figuring that out? “Well technically, I have enough money to buy one…” Really don’t want to elaborate beyond that.

I don’t have to. Ransom wide-eyed stare and the sharp exhale tells me that he's read between the lines. I’m still baffled that he didn’t know, but I’m also beyond thankful that he’s not showering me with platitudes or falling over himself with guilt.

“If it’s truly busted, I’ll see if I can rally the guys to help you replace it.”

“I don’t need your charity,” I growl. I’m completely sincere when I say that I don’t mind that my teammates are rich. But like hell I’m going to let them pay their way into my good graces or buy themselves a pat on the back because they are oh-so-generous. And like hell I’ll let Nurse buy himself out of the mess he made.

Ransom sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose again. “Then don’t think of it like that. Think of it as a team expense to make sure that things run smoothly. After all, the last thing we need is for the loss of your computer to put your academics at risk, which would put your athletics at risk, which would disrupt team dynamics,” he notes while ticking off each stage of the scenario with his fingers and waving them in my face. “So it’s not just about you.”

Well, when he puts it like that, the last thing I need is to be a burden on the team.  And if they— fuck dammit, he’s good.

I take a deep breath. “If, and only if, anything needs to be replaced, it will probably just need to be a part and not a full replacement.” Not to mention that I would need to figure out how to repay them.

Hopefully it won’t come to that. It better not come to that.

For once, Ransom is satisfied with my response and relaxes fully to pipe, “Sure thing! Just let us know.”

“Also… do you think you can refrain from mentioning this spot? I’m not saying to keep it top secret, and I know it’s public land anyways.” Hell, for all I know, people come here all the time, and I just caught a lucky break today. “But it’s nice to have a quiet place, just in case.” Not to mention that the last thing I want is for this patch of forest and pond to become sullied by a kegster crowd.

For one reason or another, understanding dawns behind Ransom’s eyes even though he keeps his tone light. “I don’t think you have to worry about crowds of people here.” He scowls at the surrounding vegetation with suspicion. “But how about this: I’ll keep it on the lowdown if you help guide me back to civilization. Deal?”

“You do know that I practically came here by accident, right?”

He shrugs. “Even if you did, I trust you to find a way out. Faster than me for sure.”

I blink. I mean, I’m not exactly surprised at the assertion that’d I would be better at navigating a forest than most of my teammates. Haven’t made it secret that I hunt, after all. But that one trusts me to lead him out catches me off guard.

Once I get my bearings straight, I murmur, “Deal.”

Ransom flashes one of his trademark smiles and holds his fist out, and his smile widens when I bump it.  

He has a really nice smile.