#your cat you want to kiss your friends hand you refer to elsewhere as home you pull all nighters and you take

[oatbugs]

@ myself in last july/august

[harrisongslimited]

George Chapter of the Day #9

I Saw Her Standing There

Trigger Warnings: adult situations, swearing, slow burn romance, sexual references/tension.

Chapter 9

Joie returned to the office the next day and right as she walked in, was greeted by Brian. He was not pleased. He gave her the ol' "it's either you or me, miss" look and resembled a feral cat, all puffed out in his best intimidation fur.

"I'd like to talk to you in my office, Miss Armagh," he spoke bluntly.

Joie shot a quick look at Freda who winced.

Brian walked her into his office and closed the door behind her.He started simply enough..."I want you in the office" and blah, blah, blah. Her mind instinctively went to a happy place, in this case, the warmth and protection of George's arms.

"I'd like you to keep in touch with the office more thoroughly," he began, gruffly. "I understand you were helping George with his new home, but I expect you to call in in case you are needed here. There's quite a lot of work and you need to pull your weight."

She bobbed her head as she remembered George's lips on hers, the exciting scent of his aftershave, his hand on her lower back gently pulling her into him. I mean really...who could have a bad day after that but Joie pretended she heard every word King Tut uttered.

Joie cleared her throat. "I understand."

"I don't think you do. You are here because the boys want you here. That could change at any moment. You are on a 6-month working visa. I have to prove that you are doing a function no English lass could do. That is being an American liaison. Anyone could have helped George with his house."

Joie remained at attention and nodded, remembering the lovely smile George gave her when they parted, "I understand. I was just..." Her mind finished the sentence, echoing the wonder she now held regarding George, his passionate kiss and why he did it.

"I know what you were doing," Brian snipped.

"I bet you don't," Joie giggled to herself.

"And I'm just telling you that you need to be here at the office. I will explain that to George."

"Right-e-o," Joie smiled. "Explain it to George."

Brian kept talking but Joie had things on her mind. Studying. Starting the paper for the grant. And mostly figuring out how to get George to kiss her again. Afterall, Joie had enjoyed decorating George's house and spending time with Cyn and Maureen so much that if she was sent home tomorrow, she'd be happy. Something told her that Brian wouldn't appreciate her truth, which was she really didn't give a shit if he even fired her. She had a home across the pond, plenty of homework and the memory of a kiss from a grown man who found her beautiful and sexy.

"I understand Mr. Epstein," she replied, totally disassociated from him and his bluster. "I will remain at the office unless I'm needed elsewhere."

He nodded and stood. Joie stood and left his office. Her back was to Brian when she rolled her eyes as a signal to Freda.

She immediately went to a stack of mail and dug in.

..........

The week went by relatively quietly. Joie was in the office everyday except for one afternoon when George treated her and Freda to lunch by having it catered inside the office. He ate with them and they laughed over his stories. After he had left, Freda pulled Joie aside as they freshened their make-up in the ladies loo.

"You know, love," she began. "He's quite taken with you. You can see that, can't you?"

Joie waved Freda off. "Oh, we're friends. We're just close because I helped him with his house. He's got prettier girls to chase."

"George hasn't chased a girl since he was 17," Freda laughed. "But I'm just telling you. Mark my words. I'm telling you the truth."

Joie smiled and went back to work, thinking about what Freda had said. Could that be true? If it was, what did she think about that? Right off the bat, she was attracted to Paul, even though he wasn't free. She just never contemplated who was around her. She had to admit, it was nice to hear George's voice everyday when she was at his house. He was always interested in her and what was going on. And then that kiss. Fuck. Burt Reynolds couldn't have done it better.

Joie day dreamed until she heard Brian exit his office. Her attention then turned to work for the rest of the afternoon.

.........

."There's something we would like to ask you," Paul told her during the second week of her endentured servant position at NEMS.

Joie sat in Brian's office with Paul and George and wondered what the hell was going on.

"We are leaving for New York in the morning," Paul began. "We'd like you to come with as our liaison. We've talked to Brian and he understands. Ringo has been under the weather and with your nursing skills, we'd really like you to come with. Brian is arranging everything. Can you be ready?"

Joie brightened. "I sure can. My passport is ready."

She wondered if Paul had recommended that she come with them but mentally slapped her forehead to snap back to reality. She really wanted to know what George thought. The memory of that amazing kiss was on her mind continually.

"We are then coming back to London for the premiere of the movie and then flying back out on an extended tour. We'd like you to be available to fly out with us after we see how everything goes."

"I'd love it," Joie said simply and smiled at George.

..........

She had no idea how wild being on the road could be. It was grueling. She hadn't slept. Life on the road was hard. It was planes and hotels and screaming girls and receptions and then more of the same. She tended to Ringo, whom she knew was getting tonsillitis, with tea, forced rest and hot chicken broth. She finally told Brian that he needed a doctor and penicillin. A hotel doctor visited him and confirmed what Joie had told them.

What surprised her is the women. Girls really. Trying to get to the boys at all costs. Some hid in laundry carts. Some hid in the trunks of the limos. And some of them ended up in John or Paul's private rooms.

Joie didn't know what to think. She was friends with Cyn and knew Jane was Paul's steady girlfriend. Part of her felt she needed to protect the Beatles and part of her felt an alliance to Cyn and Jane. Ringo was too sick to do much and George seemed content practicing guitar. She never saw him take a bird to his private room, although what happened after she had gone to try get a couple hours of sleep was anyone's guess.

The bang on her door woke her out of a sound sleep. She groggily went to her hotel room door and called, "Who is it?"

"It's Mal. John is sick. He's asking if you could come to his room."

Joie put a robe on and opened the door. "Sick? Sick how?"

Mal shrugged slightly. "Scotch-sick."

Joie closed her eyes for a moment, then followed Mal to their suite. She knocked on John's door. A tall, leggy blonde exited, and Mal took her out of the suite.

"John?"

She heard vomiting in the bathroom.

Paul was in the interior of the suite, talking to another girl. Joie called to him that she needed Mal, but Paul ignored her. When Joie went to him, she knew he and the girl were both high and totally out of commission. He grinned at her, then went back to the brunette.

Joie opened the door and asked the security guard to ask Mal to come back into the suite.

"Can't leave my post, miss. Too many girls trying to get in here."

Joie took a deep breath and went back to John's room and closed the door behind her. He was laying on the marble floor in the bathroom.

He looked up at her as tears welled in his eyes. "I'm sorry...."

Joie softened at his total vulnerability. "It's ok. Come on, I'll help you back in bed. You have to lay on your side in case you get sick again."

There was a knock on the door. Joie hoped it was Mal because she was going to need help getting John up and back in bed. Instead, it was George. Relatively sober and offering to help her.

Together they helped John Lennon back into bed as he professed his love for both of them.

"I love you," he slurred to Joie. "And George is my brother."

They both nodded. "Love you too John," Joie added.

George plopped him down on the bed while Joie went to get the wastebasket in case he got sick again and a cool, wet cloth. They stood a moment together.

"Need anything else?" George asked her.

"I'm going to order coffee..."

"I'll bring it in."

"Wait," John said suddenly, sitting up on one elbow. "Wait. Stand there. You two look so cute. George, my son, you ought to marry that girl before anyone else wrecks the fuck out of her life."

George laughed and turned to leave. "He needs more than coffee...."

Joie smiled at George. "I think you are right..."

"I'm the one who's right. He loves you, you know. Can't you see that?" John asked Joie as George left the room.

"John, you are drunk," Joie told him gently. "you don't know what you are saying."

"I may be a cheating bastard, but I know when one of my mate's is crazy about someone."

"Shut up," she told him, pushing him back onto the bed.

"Are you blind?"

"No...but you are totally potted and should just shut up."

John closed his eyes suddenly and put a weak hand on top of hers that held a cool cloth to his forehead.

"I love you too....and thanks" he said, then fell asleep. Joie found a chair and watched him sleep as long as she could to make sure he was ok until her eyes closed.

[procrastination-queenie]

Kitten |JJK

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Fem. Reader

Synopsis: The reader is a cat lover and Jungkook is a sucker for her.

Note: None of the photos used is mine.

Warning: none, just heart-wrenching fluff and love for animals.

Word Count: 2,148

You must've been cursed; that must be it. Since you were a child, your heart has been cursed with softness. Yup! You're were so soft and sensitive, your little heart could never understand the concept of being cold. This was no different when it came to animals. You appreciated the existence of such pure souls in this cruel world. But then you're a child how could you understand the term or the concept of being cruel. Well, humans were the embodiment of that term, you were convinced. Convinced that a man who hit a poor donkey so harshly is cruel, a woman who shooed a starved kitten is cruel, a man who kept his dog out in the streets during cold nights is cruel, a family who abandons a disabled or an aged dog is cruel. Your poor little heart can't take it.

You remember the incident of the donkey and how his owner mistreated him; you instantly turned to your dad demanding that he must take an action and I quote "daddy, you must hit the man because he's being mean to the donkey!" Which he replied to saying "yes, dear of course; I'll do that." But as any parent would in this situation he promised you empty words, passing the terrible incident and driving away. "Why aren't you doing anything?" The baby you pouted in anger as your car moved away. "Sweetie, I promise I'll return to shout at the man for committing such a terrible act." And of course, as any child would, you trusted your dad to handle the situation.

You just couldn't grasp the mentality of these cruel people, more importantly, your mind couldn't help and create weird scenarios in your head such as: what if this kitty is lost? She must feel cold! She must feel hungry! She must be afraid! And your poor heart was the victim of these thoughts. Your Heart was soft to the point that you would literally shed tears if a cat or a dog looked at you cutely. You would coo at him/her then start crying because and I quote, again "It must feel terrible that they can't express to us how they're feeling, I mean what if he/she is trying to tell us something, but we can't understand him/her!" you'd say with tears flowing down your baby face. You couldn't even bring yourself to categorise animals under the subject "it" when talking or referring to an animal you would always address it according to its gender because you believed that they feel the same way humans feel, and they deserve to be appreciated and loved.

It didn't help that your parents were very strict about their "No pets" rule. You have always wanted to care for a soul; however, that was a big no from your parents. This led to you taking interest in every living animal that passed you by in the streets or was owned by your friends to fill this void in your heart. For instance, you will never forget that one time when you said: "hello kitty!" enthusiastically to a street cat while walking around with a friend of yours. The poor thing stood in its place stiff like a statue of a pharaonic cat as you addressed it. "Oh look, it turned to me when I said hi kitty because it knows it's a cat... Awww!" You said with the same enthusiasm to your friend who witnessed the whole thing wondering if you're sane enough to be let out in the streets or not. "Oh Lord, give me strength!" She said walking away from you. "Bye kitty!"

Today like any other day, you agreed with your fiancé, Jungkook, that you'd meet after you both finish work to have lunch together. "Same as usual?" Jungkook croaked an eyebrow as his eyes scanned the menu for the millionth time in hopes to find a new item that he might like to try, but this was an old restaurant, it never really added anything new to the menu. You hummed looking out of the window next to you. It was raining lightly and the weather was getting chilly by the minute. After placing your orders, Jungkook started telling you about his day as usual as you waited for the food to arrive. "… and Jimin-ssi broke the record today for falling out of the chair. Seriously how could he keep falling out of a chair this easily, I mean the chair was right there!" He laughed looking at you expecting you laugh as well but it seemed that your mind was elsewhere, or your eyes were elsewhere. "Jagiya, what are you looking at?" He turned his gaze to where you were staring. There, by the bus station was a shivering small black kitten that looked like it wanted to fall asleep but couldn't because of the cold. The poor thing was shivering wildly. It also looked like it was malnourished. He looked back at you to find you frowning with pouty lips and teary eyes. "Kookie!" You whined and looked at him, pleading to let you go help the kitten. He already knew what you were thinking, and he loved you for it. Your big heart that spread warmth and generosity in abundance was always something that left him in awe. "You know they won't allow me in with her!" Your puppy eyes were killing him, already. He chuckled, "you know already that it's a girl?" He was constantly shocked by how you could tell whether the animal you were talking about was a boy or a girl, and you rarely guessed wrong. "You know the deal." You chuckled standing up. You took off your scarf and went outside.

You approached the poor kitten slowly so not to startle it. "Hey, baby! You cold?" Your voice took an entirely different tone as if you were talking to a child trying to coax it. "It's okay, I am not going to hurt you." You said heart aching at the way she tried to step away from you. You wrapped her into the warm scarf, petting her to calm her down and to let her know that you didn't intend on hurting her.

Jungkook made his way to you with an umbrella and both of your food, in his other hand that he told the waiter that he would take it away instead of eating in the restaurant. His heart swelled at the view of you gently brushing your finger behind its ears. He sighed taking a seat next to you. You pulled a piece of chicken from your plate, feeding it to the kitten. "Awww, she must have been so hungry." You said as the poor thing devoured the chicken in seconds. "Where's your mummy?" You spoke to the kitten, it only meowed back at you which made your eyes teary. "What if she's lost!" You pouted looking at Jungkook. "Awww Jagiya I am sure her mum went to get her some food." He said scratching the back of his head, not really knowing what to do. He just hated to see you this sad. Your pout intensified as your head made up scenarios such as what if the kitten's mum got hit by a car? Or what if she's not returning? and so on. "We could wait a bit if you want? You know, to make sure that she's safe." He said shrugging. You smiled at him thankful that he put your heart at ease, seeing that you can't find it in you to leave the poor kitten alone. You kept on feeding the kitten as a couple of hours passed by, and yet her mum didn't show up. "Jagiya, you have nothing left to eat!" Jungkook frowned at the empty plate, noting in the back of his head to order you something else when you go home. "It's okay I am not that hungry." You said gaze and mind lost in the petite kitten that now found warmth and comfort in your lap, engulfed by your cosy scarf.

Jungkook knew that you won't eat if another being was hungry, even if you were starving. He smiled, a light bulb appeared above his head, "you know..." You reluctant tore your gaze from the kitten to look at your fiancé. " We can take it home." He smiled widely. "It's a she!" You scoffed then gasped after you realised what he was saying. "Are you... saying that we can keep it?" Your eyes widened at his suggestion. His bunny-like features lit up as he simply shrugged. You shrieked in happiness, "Kookie you're the best!" You said planting a kiss on his cheek. You apologised for the kitten afterwards for startling her, "awww, sorry baby!" You patted her.

You couldn't wipe the smile off of your face as you went to the vet first thing to give her the required vaccinations, clean her up and trim her claws. "We should buy her a few toys, too!" You said lost in thought as you waited for your kitten to finish. Jungkook looking at you in awe, he couldn't help how cute you looked. "… Because you know how mum and dad feel about pets." You were babbling, turning your head towards Jungkook, missing the way he leaned in to capture your lips with his. He kissed you softly and passionately that you were lost when he pulled away. "W-what was that for?" You whispered, his forehead resting on yours as you opened your eyes slowly. "Nothing, you're just so cute I couldn't help it." He chuckled.

"Mr Jeon, Mrs L/N, your pet is all set, did you settle on a name, yet?" A nurse came out holding the kitten in a blue blanket. You grabbed her gently as Jungkook shook his head, "Nah not yet." He turned to you, "do you have anything in mind babe?" You nodded eagerly like a child, "yeah I have a few! But we need to settle on something." You looked at Jungkook who chuckled at your child-like behaviour.

Apparently, on your way to the vet you went through the internet looking for a unique name for your kitten. "I like blackie" Jungkook said eyeing the rest of the list, "I like it to, but I feel like it's racist." You pouted hating the idea of naming her "blackie" because she's black. Jungkook chuckled, "okay, how about Luna?" You hummed, then claimed that it was not unique enough.

"What about Twinkie?"

"Doesn't seem like a girl's name!"

"Babe you're the one who made this list!" He looked up from your phone to see you looking at the kitten instead. "Well, they sounded pretty when I wrote them down, but now that we're serious about keeping her, I feel like I'm picking my child's name. Kook this is a huge responsibility!" You pouted looking at him. He laughed at how you were taking this so seriously, but he understood, you have always wanted a pet, and now that you were having one it felt surreal.

"How about Selena?"

"Sounds posh for a cat!" Jungkook erupted in laughter. Oh God this was going to be fun, he thought shaking his head.

"Did you get it?" You jumped in anticipation as Jungkook returned home with your kitten's gift. He chuckled, "Yup" you jumped from your seat running over to him to see it. It was a collar with her name engraved on a golden piece. "It looks beautiful!" You squealed. "Yeah, baby it does." He said kissing your forehead. There laid the name "Angel" in a neat font. You know it's not that unique but you truly felt that the name suited her perfectly. She stood there looking up at both you and Jungkook, head tilted to the side wondering what's going on. You put the collar around her neck as she kept staring at you with her baby blue eyes that made your heart melt. "I think am in love!" You whispered in awe with teary eyes, Jungkook laughed loudly, thanking God for gifting him with a precious hearted partner as you.

That night you and Jungkook went to bed with Angel sleeping cosily between the two of you. "Thank you." You whispered, patting Angel's soft fur. "What for?" Jungkook looked up to you with doe eyes filled with puzzlement. "For allowing me to experience this, I mean you could have said no to taking Angel in." You whispered, refusing to think of what could have happened to her if you left her that day on the streets. "Babe, it's nothing. I don't even know why we haven't thought of it earlier, you know I don't mind pets." He said shrugging. "Still, thank you. I wanted this for so long." Jungkook looked at you with a soft gaze. He kissed your forehead, muttering a "good night", contentment filling his heart for the new addition to your little family.

[chachkayes]

Sweet Relief - Mer x Hayes

Okay so this fic was based off a very short, misspelled fic outline that I wrote while I was half-awake after having a dream about Merhayes, only to be woken up to the sound of my cat crying. The outline itself was maybe 300 words long, if that. The full fic is about 2100 words - so honestly good on sleepy me for coming up with such an in depth fic idea. Enjoy :)

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The beach. It was where Meredith had escaped to when Derek had died, and it had become her solace with Derek while she was dying. Derek knew that as much as he wanted to be with the love of his life again, that he’d have to wait a while longer before finally getting to embrace her again. It wasn’t her time to go yet. Meredith was able to get closer to him as she got closer to crossing the threshold between life and death – and they were the point where they were able to sit beside each other on the beach, close enough so they didn’t have to yell to hear each other, but not close enough to the point where they could touch each other.

“Meredith.” Derek said after a long period of silence. Meredith looked over at her husband, the most content she’d felt in a very long time. “Meredith – you can’t stay here.” He finally told her. “As much as I love you and being able to see you – it’s not your time. The kids need you. Zola and Bailey are old enough now to remember how it’ll feel to lose their mom. Zola remembers losing me and she already has trust issues. Can you imagine what losing you would do to her? And Ellis – I never got to meet her. All she knows is you. She can’t lose you and not remember you as she grows up.” Meredith looked away from Derek as a tear fell down her cheek. “Hell, Meredith, Amelia needs you. She is barely holding it together as it is – her sobriety will be severely compromised if she has to tell her nieces and nephew that momma isn’t coming home. She needs you for advice and help with Scout. You need to see your nephew grow up, Mer.” Meredith stared at the sunset, trying to enjoy the peaceful waves hitting her feet. “And Maggie? She’s been losing more COVID patients than not. She is breaking down every time she talks to her boyfriend about how scared she is of losing you. You are the one person she trusts most in this world since losing her mom. She just lost Sabie too – if you die, if you cross the threshold and get to me, she might not survive it.”

Derek sighed as the water splashed against his feet. He knew that Meredith wasn’t fully listening to a word he said. “Cormac Hayes. That name sound familiar?” He finally said after contemplating how he’d get Meredith’s attention enough to convince her to live. It worked – Meredith’s head whipped around and her eyes met Derek’s. “How… what? What does he have to do with this?” Derek laughed. “I’m always with you Meredith, watching over you and our kids. I know who he is.” Meredith sighed and looked down at her feet. “He has everything to do with this. He’s a good man who cares about you more than he’s willing to admit to you or himself. He’s the one who saved your life. God, I wish you could’ve seen how quickly he came to your aide when he realized you’d collapsed. Heard how upset and distraught he was.” Meredith was listening to every word Derek had to say. “He’s one of my best friends there now.” She spoke up. “I know. I also know that if you die, Meredith, he will never believe in love again. He’s constantly finding ways to get updates on you. He sits in your room and asks his wife to keep you alive.” Tears were rolling down Meredith’s face and Derek wanted nothing more than to reach out and wipe them away. “Your death would fundamentally change the person he’s become. The people that Amelia, Maggie, Bailey, Richard have become. It’s not that I don’t want you to stay. I have missed being with you more than you could imagine. But you can’t stay here, it’s not your time. You’re too needed elsewhere.”

Finally, Meredith stood up, and Derek did the same. They faced each other, and Meredith took in every feature on Derek’s face. “I love you.” She finally said. “I love you too. And I’m always by your side, watching over you. But listen to me carefully – I don’t want you to be alone when you go back. Be with someone who you feel safe with, someone who will love you unconditionally, who will always choose you over everything and everyone else, and who knows and understands you fundamentally. You deserve to be happy. You and the kids deserve some stability.” Meredith began to walk backwards towards her starting point. “I’m going to miss you.” She said to Derek as more tears rolled down her face. “I know. But I’m always just a dream away.” He blew her a kiss and she finally turned around, walking faster to the log. One last time, before sitting down and waking up again, she looked to Derek. He was waving goodbye to her. “I love you!” She yelled. “I love you too!” He yelled back, and she finally sat down, heading back to her earthly body.

Teddy Altman and Andrew DeLuca stood outside Meredith’s window. It’d been a week since she’d fallen asleep and became unresponsive – making it 11 days since she’d first been admitted into the hospital. Her lungs weren’t getting worse, but she was showing no signs of getting better either. That’s why, when Meredith Grey moved her hand and slowly opened her eyes, Teddy Altman and Andrew DeLuca ran into Meredith’s room and immediately started trying to get her to wake up fully. They spoke loudly and grabbed O2 masks, restraining her as she fought back. “Get… off of me.” Meredith said as she wrestled with whoever was holding her hands down. “I feel better. I’ll keep the oxygen on. But for the love of god, get off of me.” Reluctantly, they let her go. “You guys are really loud, you know that right?” She glared at them. “Sorry, Mer.” Andrew chuckled. “Can I at least listen to your lungs?” Begrudgingly, Meredith obliged. “Fine.” Teddy grabbed her stethoscope and placed against Meredith’s chest and back. “Lungs seem to be improving.” Meredith smiled weakly. She may have been asleep for 7 days, but she was still tired and weak. In a moment of remembering what Derek had told her, she looked up to Teddy and asked, “Can you page Hayes for me?” Both Teddy and Andrew made insanely confused faces at Meredith’s request. “Are you sure you don’t want me to page, you know, your sisters?” Meredith brought her head back and blinked slowly. “No. I want to talk to Hayes right now, before I forget everything I need to say.” Andrew seemed to take major offence at Meredith’s lack of recognition for his presence, and that instead she was immediately asking for Cormac Hayes, someone he’d continuously argued with about Meredith’s care while she was out. “Okay, I’ll page him. DeLuca, let’s go.” Teddy sent the page off and DeLuca scoffed as he exited the room with Teddy.

Cormac Hayes was sitting at the computer, completely bored out of his mind on the peds floor, unable to shut his mind off from worrying about Meredith. His heart skipped a million beat when his pager went off, the room number connecting to Meredith’s. Every worst-case-scenario ran through his mind as he threw on his PPE and bolted to the elevator to get to her. To his surprise, when he reached Meredith’s room, she was lying in bed, alone, awake, and watching for him. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her, alive. He put on the rest of his PPE and carefully opened her door. “Hey.” She said, smiling weakly at him. The sight of Meredith Grey smiling at him overwhelmed Hayes, and he could feel himself start to cry tears of complete relief. “Hey, hey. Come here. I’m alive, I’m okay.” She extended her hand, motioning for him to go sit on the end of her bed. “You were right, you know. This virus had nothing on me.” They laughed together at her reference. “I was so worried about you while you were unresponsive. I’m so relieved you’re alive.” Hayes said, looking directly into Meredith’s eyes. She grabbed his hand, squeezing it. “Me too.” She finally told him. “You know, I saw Derek while I was asleep.” He smiled at the thought of Meredith’s reaction to seeing her late-husband again. “And, he told me something. It took me a little off guard.” Hayes tilted his head. “I bet it was nice, seeing Derek again. What did he say?” Meredith gripped onto Hayes’ hand a little tighter. “He told me… that he’s watching over me. And then he said that if I had died, that you’d never believe in love again. What did he mean by that?” Hayes closed his eyes. Who could’ve guessed that the reason why Hayes had fallen for Meredith would also be the one to make him tell Meredith about the feelings for her that he was terrified of? “Before Abby died, she told me that it was okay to move on, that I had her permission. But I didn’t want to believe in love again after mine was taken from me so soon. I didn’t even think I could let myself feel anything for anyone else besides Abby. That was, until I met you. Had you died, I don’t know if I would’ve ever let myself feel anything for anyone ever again, since they seem to keep being taken from me so quickly.” Meredith sighed at Hayes’ words.

She had a suspicion that Hayes had feelings for her, but she never expected those feelings to be so deep for her. “You deserve to be happy, Hayes. Even if I hadn’t made it.” Hayes chuckled a little. “Grey, you’re starting to sound like Abby.” He said, which made Meredith laugh. “I just want you to know… let yourself feel whatever it is that you’re feeling. Because you’re not the only one experiencing them. I have them for you too.” Hayes looked at her, surprised. Meredith adjusted their hands that sat together so comfortably, and she laced their fingers together. “We don’t have to jump into anything. But know that I don’t feel like I have a decision to make, or options to choose from anymore. You told me, and Derek told me, to choose someone who would pick me over and over again, over everything and everyone. That’s you.” Had COVID not been an issue, Cormac Hayes would have kissed Meredith Grey right there and then. Instead, he pulled her in tightly for a hug. “I was hoping you’d apply that advice to whoever you chose to be with. Meredith, I promise that I will always choose you no matter what. I don’t commit lightly – when I say I’m in, I’m all in.” They pulled away from their hug. “So, what you’re saying is that you’re in?” Meredith said, her heart racing. “I am.” He responded to her. They smiled at each other, not saying a word. After a few moments of complete silence, Meredith spoke up “That sounded nice.” She said, running her hand over Hayes’. “What does?” He said, looking down at their hands and tangling their fingers together. “You calling me Meredith.” A sense of peace filled the room as both surgeons understood that Derek and Abigail had brought them together.

“Would you mind paging Maggie and Amelia? I haven’t seen them in a long time, and I figure Maggie could use some good news right now.” Hayes nods at her, and pages Meredith’s sisters to her room. Not too long after, he gets paged back to the peds floor. “It’s been so quiet on the peds floor today I’m almost surprised I got paged. I’ll come by again to see you later.” Meredith nodded, understanding that feeling all too well. “I’m already looking forward to it. Now, go save a life.” She smiled at him, and with one last hug, Hayes went on his way.

A few minutes later, Maggie and Amelia breathlessly barge into Meredith’s room, overjoyed at the sight of her alive, breathing, and happy. For the next hour, Meredith told them everything that happened while she was asleep – about Derek, George, and Lexie, and how Derek said he missed them, which made them cry, especially Amelia. However, she refrained from telling them anything about Hayes and the recent developments between them. They didn’t need to know quite yet.  

[bangtancentricsblog]

○werewolf in the suburbs○

➣ just your friendly neighborhood werewolf trying to keep his secret, well a secret

❒ pairing: kim namjoon x reader

❒ genre: angst, fluff, slight humor, slight crack (maybe)

❒ alternative universe: werewolf

❒ rating: NC 17

❒ word count: 4.8k +

warnings/disclosures: no edit we die like men, angst but like mild angst, werewolves Jimin and Jungkook, mc is human, cameos from yoongi, Jimin is a dick, self deprecating thoughts, connected universe, Easter eggs keke, old people, fluff is at the end, I’m sorry this is such a mess, there’s nothing too bad in the one, can you spot the song references? clearly namu is my favorite

monster mash ml • main ml • AO3

The trees look beautiful today, Namjoon thinks as he sips his morning tea, but he can’t enjoy it as you bore holes into his head from across the street. He’s lived here for more than two years now and he’s familiar with everyone but you are a complete stranger. A new face in his safe suburban community, and it was a community when the only people who lived here were elderly couples. He didn't mind them after all he was friendly with all of them, hell he did a lot of work for them. Like Norman who owned the farm down the road, he helped with whatever he could and in return Norman would let him have fresh fruits and vegetables.

Lilian from the flower shop let him have his pick of seedlings from the nursery when he helped unload deliveries. Jack the local butcher let him have his pick of meats and cheeses for cheap, while their town's mayor offered his niece’s hand in marriage for becoming a positive member in the community. Youngest member of the community would be more accurate, Namjoon had nothing but time on his hands and so he helped where he could when he could. He liked his quiet life, that is until you showed up with your paint splattered overalls and messy hair. He won't even mention the cute oversized glasses and that infectious laughter of yours because he hated it.

What's more, you ruined his perfect little routine, the house you now lived in used to belong to a woman named Alice, a woman who had nothing but harsh words to say but was sweet even with her glare. He liked Alice, she reminded him of his own grandmother back home and she hadn’t mentioned leaving the last time he’d been over tending to her garden. So he wondered just what exactly you’re doing in her house. There were exactly four houses on the street, all decently sized with dense forest to their surroundings. Namjoon liked his home, the wrap around porch was something his friend Jimin had loved when he’d bought it. Most importantly he liked that the forest behind his home was a direct path to his pack's land 40 miles away.

Somehow when you’d introduced yourself you’d shown a little too much interest in him, and it creeped him out. Since then you’d come around so often he was alway ready to receive you, he’d offer you tea and sometimes you’d accept happily and other times you’d decline a stuttery mess of words slipping past your lips as you’d hurried away from him. Today however you’d just been staring at him from across the street beneath the shade of an old oak tree. The leaves long since changed color to a vibrant goldenrod. The air held a chill as it swept past bringing with it the soft scent that he knew came off you. It was like fresh mint, refreshing but tainted with the lingering of chocolate that always made him shudder. What a weird mix, he thought.

He’s tired of waiting though, so he stands making his way over to you ready to offer you tea. Though he’s surprised to see you fast asleep, your head tilted towards his direction. It’s cute, the way your brows furrow the slightest and the pout to your lips, but there’s something more. The scent of salt on you is strong, more so than usual and it worries him slightly as he drops down to crouch in front of you. He takes a deep breath catching something else, he’s not sure what though. Humans were such complicated beings, scents were easy to tell apart in his kind but with humans there were too many scents that lingered. To many possibilities, and unfortunately Namjoon hadn’t been around humans for long enough to really know.

His wolf whines at him, as he moves closer nuzzling your hair to really get an idea of what's wrong. You sigh eyelids fluttering slightly, leaning closer to him with a shiver. Closer, his wolf hums, but Namjoon moves away, hand going to press against your forehead. You’re warm, warmer than he thinks is normal for humans. Almost as warm as he is, and he’s a wholly different species, it worries him. He’s quick to haul you into his arms and towards his house, to his surprise you snuggle closer to his body, he pays no mind to how his wolf purrs at the contact.

*

The following day and a half he spends taking care of you, to the best of his abilities that is. Luckily enough for him your fever broke the following night (something he had to look up) and went into town to get human medicine. Delia from the pharmacy smiled politely and had laughed when he stumbled through his explanation for buying so much over the counter medicines. It had been mortifying for him to call you his girlfriend, but he’d rather not tell them it was you he was taking care of. If he’s being completely transparent he has no idea how exactly you’d gotten better but you had and he's happy for it.

“Hey.” he greets over the rim of his coffee mug as he sits at his kitchen island. You look better, even your scent smells better, more minty than chocolatey today it washes over him in an oddly refreshing way.

“Hi, thanks for taking care of me.” you laugh softly tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. Your eyes are squinted, in the early morning light and the strawberry skys are just now giving way to the mango and blueberry that come after the near crack of dawn.

“You’re welcome, would you like some coffee, maybe tea?” he asks.

“No, I’m okay. I should probably head home and shower. I already put the sheets to wash. I hope you don't mind, thank you again.”

“I’ll walk you home then.” he makes to move out of his seat, meeting your gaze at the slight muffle squeak that comes tumbling from your lips.

“No, that’s okay you’ve done enough.” you quickly mutter shuffling your feet before giving him one last thank you and excusing yourself. That’s cute, he thinks leaning his cheek into his palm. The smile that tugs at his lips, is soft, dreamy even but Namjoon is none the wiser. He feels a bit woozy all of a sudden groaning slightly at the way the light irritates his eyes. It isn't often that he falls ill but he hasn't been feeling all too well for the last couple of days since he’s brought you into his home. He hopes it’s pre-rut symptoms but he’s not too sure after all there’s something different about this.

“Maybe I should go home for a bit.” he mutters to no one in particular, as he stands moving to rinse his mug before making his way to his bedroom.

The sun hangs high in the sky by the time you have showered and fed your poor cat Castiel. Who hasn't left your side since you’ve come home, which is odd in itself considering he’s a dick most days. He’s purring on your chest pawing at your face every few minutes to get you to kiss his head, and you do with a soft giggle. His fur is soft as silk as you run your finger through it absentmindedly. Your mind is elsewhere, sifting through the hazy memories of the last two days that you’d been away from home. Namjoon was very kind to you, and sure he was tall, broad, an absolute tree of a man that had your poor simple heart falling for him in an instant.

It’s too bad you couldn't be calm and confident like your cousin sometimes, she would know what to do. Though, you doubt he’d be interested in you either way, he seemed like the type who liked booksmart, ambitious girls. Girls who wore clothes of the latest season, with long legs and big brains, the put together type which was everything you weren’t. Who wanted a bubbly overly clumsy failed artist living off an inheritance in the middle of nowhere? You sigh heavily, heart aching as you realize the little crush you had has probably withered with the little bit of self deprecating thoughts. Well it was a nice little fantasy you supposed, but you really should do something to thank him. You briefly wonder if your cousin has time to help you bake Namjoon something.

To your surprise, your cousin does indeed have time to come help you. She’s at your house a few days later, her best friend in tow, Yoongi’s been a constant in both your lives you’d long since started treating him like family. Though you’re a little sad to not see Suga, her super cute and cuddly black cat, he’s nothing like your Castiel. She mutters something about him being a little too sick for the travels.

“So, what do you want to make?” she asks, tying her long hair up into a ponytail. You do the same though your hair is much shorter than hers. Yoongi goes through your cabinets pulling bowls and the hand mixer to help prep. You smile at him gratefully moving to pull aprons off the hooks in the pantry.

“Smells like a dog in here.” Yoongi says after knotting his apron, and you wince taking deep breaths to catch the scent he speaks of. You don’t find anything out of the usual, just the lingering scent of pineapple from the candle that sits on your coffee table.

“Maybe I should close the windows.” You offer, missing the shared look between your cousin and Yoongi.

“____, sweetie, what do you want to make?” Your cousin asks again as you fiddle with the windows.

“I don’t really know, maybe muffins, how about chocolatechip?” You say, tilting your head slightly, not entirely sure if he’ll even like them. Truth be told you're not sure Namjoon even eats carbs not with the way he was built, not that you were looking. I mean sure you looked, but like respectfully! It was hard to miss anyways especially when his boobs were just as big if not bigger than your own! Again, you had looked, respectfully! She hums in thought and Yoongi moves to stand behind her wrapping his arms around her, resting his chin on her head.

“How about we make a little of everything, I know you like muffins so we’ll make enough so that you can enjoy them too.” She offers swaying slightly along with Yoongi who seems to have grown bored rather quickly. You smile, moving to wrap your own arms around her to squish her between you and Yoongi. She groans, muttering her discomfort but you know she loves it as cold as she may pretend to be.

*

Jimin and Jungkook are pulling on some shorts before walking out of the forest, beads of sweat shine in the low light of the evening as they move past the foliage and onto Namjoon’s property. They’d come looking for Namjoon who hadn’t answered when Jin had called to check in with the younger wolf, and had yet to return the call. Jimin still loves this wrap around porch, he thinks he could get used to this if he really wanted out of pack life but he doesn't, not yet anyways. They’re coming around the side when they spot you standing at the door a basket in hand, the glasses you wear are comically big on your face slipping down your nose as you mutter to yourself. Jimin takes you in, the chunky cable knit sweater dwarfs you significantly making your look so small, but the whole outfit you wear reminds him of a child.

The pale blue of your sweater adds just a touch of color to your outfit, the tights and booties you wear are black. He’s most drawn to the half pigtails that sit atop your head, cute he thinks. He watches you for a bit longer before your gaze darts up as Jungkook steps closer peeking over your shoulder like some overgrown pup. He sighs internally because of course the pup of their group would step closer at the scent of food.

“Hi, oh my god you’re naked!” you yell dropping your gaze again to avoid looking at their half naked forms. He stifles a chuckle so as not to offend you, humans were so very amusing.

“We’re not naked.” Jimin says watching as you try and shrink away from his gaze, however Jungkook still stands behind you. It’s almost funny how you look like a caged mouse between the two of them ready to be devoured.

“Your boobs are out.” You mumble bringing the basket you hold in front of your face to further hide behind. Jimin pauses, d-did you just say boobs? Jungkook’s eyes grow in size as he meets Jimin’s gaze he can see the way the other man’s body trembles with concealed laughter.

“Who are you again?” Jimin asks, noticing the peculiar way Jungkook has not so subtly taken to sniffing you. Not the basket in your hand but you.

“I’m a friend of Namjoon’s, ____, I live down the street.” you say cheerily.

“A friend you say? I don't think he’s ever mentioned you before.” Jimin quirks his head slightly stepping closer.

“Oh, that’s okay we uh, we aren't that close?” you murmur gaze falling to your feet once more.

“Then are you really friends? You’re kinda plain looking, you aren't too tall, I’d say you’re very average at best.” you flinch back from him after what he’s said. You gnaw on your lip to keep quiet because you know. You offer him a tight smile, eyes glazed over and Jungkook is the one to glare at Jimin, because the pleasant mix of chocolate and mint with a hint of something oh so familiar has soured.

“I should go, please give this to Namjoon.” you thrust the basket into Jimin’s chest, he fumbles with it almost dropping it altogether as you turn on your heel almost tripping down the stairs in your rush to get away from the two. You’re out of sight in an instant, Jimin looks a little smug as Jungkook stares at the space you once occupied.

“That was really mean of you.” Jungkook spits.

“Who cares, she’s human.” Jimin scoffs, narrowing his eyes at the taller boy. He shoves the basket at Jungkook moving to take the spare key from where it’s wedged above the door frame. There’s a soft click before the two make their way inside, the house smells almost the same a little stale but mostly the same. It’s unnaturally quiet as they move further into the house which is unsettling. Jungkook sets the basket down in the kitchen moving towards the lone bedroom on the first floor before something is darting past him. The giant taupe mass that zips past has his lips quirking slightly.

“Namjoon you had us scared!” he laughs as the elder buries his muzzle in Jungkook’s abdomen.

“Why didn't you check in?” Jimin asks as he enters the room, the growl that rips through the room is brief as the giant wolf’s ears flick to the side before he’s bolting out the open front door. The two yell after him running out to follow him but the elder is gone, and for the first time since Namjoon has moved out of pack territory Jimin and Jungkook are worried.

*

Yoongi stretches out on your rooftop yawning a bit as he watches the giant mutt sprint into your yard. A quirk to his head as he sits quietly and watches as it goes sniffing around the area, well that’s interesting he thinks as a single corner of his lips tilt up.

*

Your cheeks itch, you think as you rub at them with the back of your hands; your nose is runny and unfortunately you don't have any tissues. It’s not like you to cry over something like that, especially when it came from a virtual stranger, a really good looking one at that. You hate that he was so quick to see the things you didn't like about yourself almost as if he knew. It’s stupid really because you had worked past this, had gone all your life being ridiculed and compared to your near perfect cousin. The one who went to a private school, who’d won the gene pool lottery because she was gorgeous, she’d beg to differ but despite all that you don't resent her. Not when she cared about you as much as she did, she doted on you as much as she could.

Still you can't help but wonder what it would've been like to be a little more like her, it’s silly because you don't really want her life necessarily. You just wanted something to call your own, you sigh letting your eyes fall closed as you try your hardest not to fall deeper into those nasty thoughts. Somehow you’d ended up sitting in the forest behind your house back against a tree in hiding. Mostly because your cousin is fiercely protective of you, but also because you don't want her to see the tear tracks that stick to your cheeks. The leaves crunch not far from you, and you whip your head in that direction, heart racing. You shriek as a furry mass collides into your body knocking you over. It whines loudly nuzzling into you and you glance down to see a giant dog?

He’s beautiful, shiny coat of taupe fur shines in the low light filtering through the treetops, big beautiful eyes that literally shimmer as he blinks at you. This dog has stolen your heart and you wonder just where the hell he came from. He’s yipping, bumping his head to your chest, before dropping his weight to lay beside you, head happily nestled between your boobs. He huffs a breath, blowing it into your face and you giggle. The whine he lets out is low almost like he’s crying, it breaks your heart a little.

“It’s okay, big guy please don't cry.” you coo running your fingers through his fur, his rumbles happily almost like a purr but slightly different. The laugh you let out is involuntary as his tongue swipes at your cheeks, you push at his massive head in an attempt to get him to stop but he just won't. He really is beautiful you think as he growls playfully at you pulling at your hair before nuzzling close, but he’s a little too big for you.

“-onie!” you hear and the dog goes stiff, turning and growling at whoever has approached you two. You peek around the dog's massive body to see Namjoon’s friend, the mean one standing there hands out. His eyes dart towards you pulling more growls from the dog as he does so, the other boy comes to stand beside his friend.

“Is this your dog?” you ask shuffling to your feet with a curious stare.

“Yes, he’s very viscous so he isn't usually let out.” Jimin says watching as both you and Namjoon quirk your heads at him at the blatant lie.

“He seems friendly enough to me.” you say running a hand through the dogs fur again.

“He must like you!” Jungkook supplies quickly as if to cover for the elders poor lie.

“Monie, come here.” Jimin says motioning to Namjoon who just stands beside you, as he lets out a sad little whine. He doesn't move, you kneel beside him scratching behind his ears and planting a soft little kiss to his nose.

“Go, thank you.” you smile, and he bumps his head against your face for one more kiss before he walks over, turning to glance at you and sprinting past Jimin and Jungkook. Jimin curses turning on his heel and rushing after him. Jungkook however stays stock still staring at something over your shoulder.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m sure Namjoon will be happy to see you.” he smiles before turning and sprinting in the direction he’d come.

*

Your cousin stands at your back door, a frown marring her features as she watches Jungkook run off. What was that mutt doing here, better yet what the hell were you doing hanging out with a pack of wolves in the forest no less. This was interesting, she thinks heading back inside before you can see.

*

“What did you say to her?” Namjoon asks after he’s shifted back to his human form tugging at the waistband of his sweats.

“Why are you assuming I said anything, Jungkook could’ve been the one to say something.” Jimin huffs crossing his arms at his chest.

“I said nuffing.” Jungkook offers around a mouthful of muffin. Namjoon stares at the younger long and hard, because he didn’t have muffins.

“Where’d you get that?”

“Your neighbor brought them over earlier. She’s super cute by the way.” He says, watching amusedly as Namjoon growls at him. It surprises Jimin because Namjoon had never growled at anyone least of all his favorite!

“D-do you like her?” Jimin gags more than a little scandalized at the idea. A human, Namjoon liked a human. Maybe he needed to move back to pack territory, yeah that seemed like a good idea.

“I don't know. She’s different, she smells nice I mean. Like mint and chocolate which is weird already but like in a good way. My wolf likes her too and y’know that's good, maybe?” Jungkook is smiling extra wide, looking almost manic, while Jimin looks like he’ll be sick.

“Maybe you should come back home, Jin would love the help y'know. I’m sure you’re tired of the stench of denture cream and prunes.” Jimin sniffs.

“Not really, I like it here.” he murmurs rubbing at the back of his head.

“Jungkook stop eating and say something!” Jimin shouts almost hysterically.

“These muffins are really good, Namjoon you should have some since your cute neighbor brought them over. Jimin please eat something you can be melodramatic when you’re hungry.” He says waving the baked goodness at the two of them. Jimin is reluctant to take one from him while Namjoon is more than happy to load up on carbs after being stuck in his wolf form for almost a week. He bites into it groaning because this had to be the best muffin he’d ever had, his insides warm at the thought of you baking them and bringing them over.

“I think she might be your mate.” Jungkook offers, biting into a blueberry muffin, it’s his fourth of the batch.

“What?” Namjoon sputters, choking on the bit he has in his mouth.

“Why would you say that?” Jimin says, sounding appalled but still stuffs his cheeks full of muffin.

“I’m just saying, as someone who already has their mate I would know.” he says with an air of arrogance.

“Just because your mate is human doesn’t mean Namjoon’s is.” Jimin huffs with a pout.

“She’s a witch, not a human, and I mean he’s acting a lot like I did when I first met her.”

“Doesn’t her familiar hate you?”

“That's besides the point, what I’m saying is he’s acting like a wolf with a non-wolf mate would.” Jungkook glares at Jimin, for such a small man he sure likes to go toe to toe with someone much bigger than him in every aspect.

“Do you really think so?” Namjoon asks eyes wide in wonder. There’s a glimmer to them, a shine he didn't have before. His wolfs yips happily, the smile that splits Namjoon’s lips is very telling. Jimin groans because of course another one of his close pack mates would have a human mate, it only made sense.

*

You’re gnawing on your lip when your cousin walks into the kitchen the next morning. She looks slightly disheveled, a scowl on her lips at the way the shine literally blinds her. Yoongi comes in after her, looking no less awake than she does a pout to his lips that tilts your own upwards.

“Morning, coffee?” you ask as both of them nod their head once before sitting at the island.

“Why does the sun have to be up everyday, why can't it be cold and gloomy all the time.” your cousin groans into her palms as she drags them across her face in an attempt to wake up a little more.

“It can’t be that bad.” you laugh hugging her as you put a mug of the caffeine in front of her and repeating the process with Yoongi who whines when you move away from him. You’re quickly plating a light breakfast, nothing that requires a lot because truth be told you’re feeling a little frazzled today. The butterflies in your tummy have yet to settle, you almost feel nauseous, but in a good way. Toasted bagels with cream cheese, and fruit will have to do you suppose, you’re also a little sad that your cousin and Yoongi have to go home soon, because you really liked having them over, it beats living in a house as big as this all on your lonesome.

“What’s going on over there rainbow bright?” Yoongi asks, a hint of concern lacing his tone.

“Nothing, I’m just gonna miss you two.” you smile sadly at them.

“Why? It’s not like we can’t come visit or vice versa.”

“I don't know, I like having you around.” your cousin gags muttering about how it’s too early for all this sweetness.

“Your teeth will rot if you stay this sweet, but I don't think you’ll be alone for long.” she smirks into her coffee cup. You’re about to ask why when there’s a knock at your door, and you hurriedly wipe your hands to see who it could be. You pull the door open, and to your surprise Namjoon stands there a small bouquet of daisies in hand.

“Namjoon, hi.” you say a little too breathlessly.

“Hi, um can we talk?” he asks, scratching at his neck sheepishly. You nod, casting a glance over your shoulder and stepping onto your porch.

“What’s up?” you ask, heart fluttering in your chest as he hesitantly raises the flowers in hand.

“These are for you. I’m sorry if Jimin offended you, he has a way with words.” he winces because Jimin truly was a menace and the main reason a lot of she-wolves steered clear of him.

“Thank you, he was a little harsh but I’m a big girl and I can handle it.” His heart breaks a little and his anger simmers, he swears he’ll make Jimin regret hurting you.

“Still, he didn't have a right to, and thank you for the muffins they were really good.” he smiles a dimple winking out, that makes you internally sigh because gosh darnit he was super cute.

“I’m glad you liked them, it was a thank you for taking care of me.” you mutter warmth rushing to your cheeks.

“I, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go out sometime?” he asks, skin flushed gaze glued to the floor. Your skin heats further, you must’ve heard him wrong.

“I’m, s-sorry?” you stutter.

“Would you like to go out sometime?” he asks again feeling embarrassed, maybe Jungkook had been wrong after all.

“Like, a, a, d-date?” you squeak, almost certain you’re about to faint.

“Yeah, like a date, I, I’m sorry maybe I should just -”

“NO! I mean yes of course I’d love to go on a date!” you scream, embarrassment washing over you at the sheer volume you’d used legs suddenly feeling like jelly.

“Great, how does Saturday sound? Seven okay?” he asks, excitement leaking into his tone as you stutter out a confirmation. His smile widens turning on his heel and tripping down your steps, barely catching himself before throwing a smile you way once more, saturday can’t come quick enough.

Jimin and Jungkook laugh in the bushes nearby having watched the whole ordeal. Similarly Yoongi and your cousin muffle their laughter belly aching at just how awkwardly comical the two of you were.

*

Six months later ~

“I can’t believe Jimin made me think Monie was a dog.” you laugh wrapping your arms around Namjoon.

“Please don't remind me, I will never live that down.” he murmurs into the crown of your head. He’s holding you close, the wall of his kitchen are painted the early morning strawberry of the sky, giving way to the mango and blueberry that come after the near crack of dawn, and everything feels perfect. You’re wearing his shirt, all warm, sleep still clouding your eyes but no less love drunk than yesterday. He takes a deep breath swaying the two of you to a silent tune, you smell of mint and chocolate, a weird mix but also of home.

[izzy-b-hands]

Christmas Morning

A Soft Xmas morning fic with Sledge and Snafu for my friend @peachessir! Thank you for the prompt, and I hope this fic makes your day better!!

This song came up while I was writing, and I feel it fits p well with the emotion of this fic, so here it is for y’all as well!: https://open.spotify.com/track/5b43XehPlGYoOGjl9AncUV?si=pVQhOYuaQiyh-PPLL6WgYQ

re: part of this fic, here’s my reference for it. Also just a cool reference to look through, tbh: https://vintagedancer.com/1940s/1940s-mens-accessories-history/

For reference, this is set as like, their second holiday back home after the war. So they’ve got a routine kind of, but home still doesn’t necessarily feel like home yet. Written sort of out of my other hc where I have them in Maryland for a bit after the war,in this one they are already in Mobile, having taken over Eugene’s parents old house as their home, his parents have a new house elsewhere in town. Still keeping all their pets though because...well, I want to lol. 

Okay, that bit of housekeeping done, below the cut is the fic!

The bed was shaking, violently, as he woke. 

“Get your ass up, we got presents to open!” 

Eugene attempted to mumble the thoughts in his head, from ‘but didn’t we open everything at my parent’s house last night?’ to ‘is four o’clock in the fucking morning??’, but was too half-asleep to manage it as Snafu helped him downstairs, the cats and dog traipsing after them, meowing and barking for an early breakfast. 

“Okay kids, simmer! Lemme get your papa sat down here and then I’ll get you fed, let you outside for a bit,” Snafu soothed as he led Eugene to the couch near their Christmas tree. 

He blinked to try and wake up as Snafu went off to tend the children, and looked to the tree. 

Presents. Why were there more presents? Not many, only four actually, but they’d taken everything they’d bought for each other over to his parent’s last night, to be opened on Christmas Eve. Today, Christmas Day, was their recovery day after having been around family so much. 

“You ready?” Snafu dropped onto the couch beside him, nearly in his lap. 

“I think so? But where did those-” 

“You’ll see once you start opening,” Snafu interrupted, and went over the tree, nearly tripping on the edges of the too-long open bathrobe he wore over his pajamas. “Here, you go first.” 

Eugene barely caught the gaudily wrapped box., and read the tag. “To Sledgehammer from...Burgie? How the hell-” 

Snafu only smiled at him expectantly, so he tore into the paper and opened the box. 

Inside were two of the nicest crystal glasses he’d ever seen, engraved with their names, and a note: ‘I know you might not be able to have a church wedding, but y’all are essentially married now and deserve a nice wedding gift. My pa is the one who did the engraving, he wishes you all the best as well. When you two next come out to Texas, wrap these up and bring ‘em with, and we’ll have a toast to you both, and to being home. All my love, Burgie.’

“Next one’s for me, from one of the...” he sighed, and his voice shook just a bit. “From one of the boys I fought with in Gloucester. His mother sent it along this year, said it was meant for last but she...she wasn’t ready to send it yet. Guess he’d had her save some things, so he could send ‘em to us after we all got home.” 

Eugene carefully set the box with the glasses in the kitchen, away from where the cats liked to jump, and joined him on the floor near the tree, wrapping him in a gentle hug. 

“This asshole,” Snafu laughed, even as the tears dripped down his face. “Look.” 

He took the box from Snafu, and bit back a laugh. It was a set of poker chips, and a note: ‘Next time you can come around my neck of the woods, we’re gonna play again, and I’m gonna win this time. You just got lucky, last time. Can’t wait to see you again, Snafu.’

“Nah, you won buddy,” Snafu said softly, his eyes somewhere else as they filled again with tears, and he set the box near the tree. “He should have too, I really did just get lucky that game. God I miss him.” 

He held onto Snafu for the next few minutes, letting him sob and remember. He hadn’t gotten to meet this particular company member, but he wished he had. 

Snafu pulled away from him, and handed over another box. “Next one is for both of us, technically. But I want you to open it.” 

He took the light box, so light it seemed nothing would be in it, and opened it carefully. 

He nearly dropped it then, but held on with shaking hands. 

It was a letter. From Ack Ack, to both of them. Talking about how while neither of them had come straight out with how they felt about each other, he was glad they weren’t really hiding it otherwise, and he promised them safety, from other soldiers and anyone who might say anything to him about it. How he knew war was pain and loss and fear, but he was glad all the same it had brought them together, and he hoped they’d be happy together once they made it home, because he knew in his heart they would.

Snafu was crying again when he looked up from the letter. “Read it before I wrapped it. Burgie found it, and saved it when they were packing up Ack Ack’s things to send home. He sent it along with the glasses, and asked me to make sure it was a separate gift. Said Ack Ack would have wanted it that way.” 

They fell into each other’s arms again, openly weeping. It was a wound that they both knew would never fully heal, none of the losses would. But it was still so open and fresh now, that as wonderful as it was to have more of Ack Ack’s words, it almost hurt just as much, because he would never get to say them to them, never meet them in a city in the States for a drink and reminiscing. 

Once they’d both settled again, holding back the rest of the tears, pushing the hurt back down to where it usually sat, Snafu took the letter and walked to the desk in the corner of the living room. He pulled a frame from the drawer of it, and placed the letter in it. 

“Bought this for it as soon as I got Burgie’s stuff in the mail. Wanted to wait till you’d seen it too before putting it up somewhere though. Can you imagine what he’d say, if he knew we were hangin’ his letter up? He’d rag on us for ages,” Snafu sniffed, but smiled as he brought the letter back over, and settled it on one of the spare nails in the wall near the entrance of the living room that they’d not yet managed to fill. 

“He would,” Eugene managed a laugh, and though it hurt it felt good all the same. “Wish he could see it.” 

“Me too,” Snaf sighed, and went back to grab the last present. “You get to open this one too.” 

“This is from you,” Eugene smiled. “You already spoiled the hell outta me, what else did you possibly get me?” 

“Something that I didn’t have with me overseas, but that I wanted to give you. Part of courtin’ your cute ass, that I finally get to do, even though we’re past that.” 

The box was small, and gorgeously wrapped. How on earth Snafu had even found the paper, Eugene didn’t know. He notoriously hated the shops as it got close to the holiday, but all he could envision was Snafu having gone in specifically to find the blue and white paper, with artfully drawn snowflakes on it. He half-hated to tear it, but he was also curious as could be, and Snafu was clearly just as excited. 

He opened it carefully as he could, and opened the box. 

“Had my family in New Orleans send it to me. One of the only things I left there. Shoulda heard them on the phone, going on about how they knew I’d never give it to a girl like the other boys did. But I finally found the person who’s supposed to have it,” Snafu said. “It ain’t much, but-” 

Eugene interrupted him with a kiss, before returning to the box, which held Snafu’s ID bracelet. It had been and as far as he knew for some still was a common thing for a man to give to his girl, to show they were together and that it wasn’t a passing fling. And him and Snafu certainly were no passing fling. 

He put on the bracelet, then gave Snafu another kiss. “Be right back.” 

“Where are you goin’?” 

“Gimme a minute!” Eugene called back down as he found his bracelet, and jogged back downstairs, dodging the cats as they trotted by him. 

Snafu took the ID bracelet from him with a reverent look. “This...this is big. Everyone’ll know. I mean, I think most of ‘em know already in town or suspect and everybody’s kind enough to keep any thoughts to themselves, but-” 

The tears were back again, happy tears this time as Snafu put on the bracelet. 

“I know,” Eugene interrupted. “I know...we have to be careful. But most everyone knows us round here now, and we’ve been fine. So I want them to know now. If I’m gonna be wearing yours, I want you wearing mine, along with our rings, and I want everyone to know you’re mine and I’m yours.” 

It was half warm embrace, half tackle as Snafu climbed into his lap, nearly tipping him over with the enthusiasm of his movements, shrugging off his robe as he kissed Eugene like it was all he knew how to do. 

Eugene fussed with his own robe and pajama top, trying to get them off and tossed behind him to soften the hardwood floor somewhat as he lay back, pulling Snafu with him. 

In a few moments they were down to just their underwear and the bracelets and their rings, the jewelry glinting in the soft morning light from the sun just starting to rise, and Eugene thought if he would ever see an angel in his life, then it would look like Snafu did now. Warm and soft and transcendent, moaning every time Eugene ran his hands through his curls, sighing with every kiss, heated skin melting against his own. 

By the time they’d finally paused enough to toss aside their underwear, they were both too close for much more, Eugene knew that for sure. In the way Snafu rutted against him, whining sweetly, whispering love and admiration in his ear as he left hickeys on his neck. In the way he wanted nothing more than to come across Snafu’s stomach and to feel Snafu come on his, to reach that high together and lay in the heat of the moment after. 

He didn’t have to wait long for it, between their continued feverish kissing and roaming hands and the occasional nip on his chest and shoulder from Snafu (who loved nothing more than leaving marks and having marks left on him.) It was perfect in its timing, both of them coming within a moment of each other, Snafu moaning into his shoulder as his hips and cock crashed against Eugene’s, while Eugene used a hand to pull them as close together as he could. 

It was silent then. The cats and dog happy moving about the house on their own, no cars on the road outside. Just the sunlight streaming in, and their limbs intertwined as they came down together, kissing gently. It was another world, and Eugene never wanted to leave it, to look anywhere other than Snafu’s gorgeous eyes. 

For the next few minutes at least, he knew he didn’t have to. Snafu was clearly just as comfortable and enamored with the moment, smiling and running a hand through Eugene’s hair while the other pulled him near, though they were about as close as any two bodies could be. But it was never quite close enough for them, and if closer ever existed he knew they’d jump on it in a heartbeat. 

“This was a good Christmas, wasn’t it?” Snafu asked, breaking the silence. 

“It was,” Eugene sighed. “Know what I’m lookin’ forward to, though?” 

“Can’t be cleanin’ up what we just did,” Snafu smiled. “Only downside to doin’ anything down here. Least we had your robe down for part of this.” 

Eugene nodded. “True. But I’m lookin’ forward to havin’ more good Christmases like this with you.” 

“Me too,” Snafu replied, snuggling close. “You know we can’t fall asleep down here like this, right? I’m gonna get up in a minute, get us cleaned up.” 

“Sure,” Eugene chuckled as he wrapped an arm around Snafu, and watched Snafu’s eyes flutter shut, fighting to keep himself awake. “I’ll wake you in ten.” 

“Mmhm,” was Snafu’s only response as they snuggled amongst the torn wrapping paper in the sun, warm and happy. 

[thetravelerwrites]

Declan (Part 3) Lemon

Rating: Explicit Relationships: Female Reader x Male Bat Monster Additional Tags: Bat Monster, Monster Lover, Sex, Sexual Content, Oral Sex, Mild Language Content Warnings: Babies, Mild Violence Words: 4233

Declan decides he wants kids. Because of course he does, he’s adorable. Feedback is always appreciated!

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(Declan’s Kin Character Reference Guide)

Five years had passed in what felt like the blink of an eye. You and Declan had spent that time tending to your garden and the small orchard, only venturing out when you needed something the little farm couldn’t provide, and basking in each other’s company. Every morning with him felt like a new adventure, one you never wanted to end. About two years ago he had found a ring, never mind exactly from where, and given it to you as a token of his love. In return, you were more than happy to call him husband.

One lazy summer day, he sat down on the edge of the farm, finished with the morning chores, gazing wistfully into the middle distance.

“That’s quite a face,” You said, going to sit between his legs with your back to his chest. “What’s on your mind, my love?”

“Nothing really,” He said with a sigh. “Except… I just can’t help feeling like this place is missing something.”

“Like what?”

He wrapped his wings around you and snugged you in. “Like little feet running around, maybe.”

You looked around at him in surprise. “You want children?”

He eyed you apprehensively. “Is that a bad idea?”

“Well… no, but…” You said slowly, thinking. “Can we even have children? Isn’t our physiology too different?”

“I don’t know,” He said truthfully. “Maybe not. Asker’s mate is human, and she’s able to carry his eggs. She’s due to lay them any day now; he’s very excited.” Declan sighed, his eyes distant.

Asker was a naga that lived on the edge of Declan’s territory. He had taken a human woman as a mate almost three years ago. You and she visited each other regularly. It was nice to have a friend who knew what living in the wilderness with a non-human mate was like. You often had a lot to talk about.

You glared at him skeptically. “Is that what brought this on? Asker’s clutch?”

“Not entirely. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, actually. Asker’s brood just made it more present in my mind, I guess.” He sighed again. “I don’t know if we are able to make a child, but I’m more than willing to try. I love you and the farm, but it just feels like there’s more out there waiting for us, and we’re missing it. And I’d greatly love to see you with a little one in your arms. You’d make a wonderful mother.”

“Well,” You said, a grin stretching your face. You got up and pulled him to his feet. “No reason we can’t give it a shot. Why don’t we start now?”

He chased you into the cave, laughing at your eagerness, that carefree, happy laugh that you so dearly loved to hear, as he gently lifted the dress off of your body. Declan never wore clothes other than the cloak you had made him to stave of the chill of winter, so undressing you was one of his favorite lovemaking rituals. Slowly peeling the garments from your body seemed to do a lot to get him in an intimate mood.

Once the clothes were gone, he pressed his nose to your body, sniffing delicately at the skin like it was his favorite flower. He smelled your hair, your neck, the space between your breasts, and down the line of your abdomen. The gentle breeze of his breath against your skin made you shiver and all the short hairs on your body stand on end. Your hands tangled in the fur of his head as he moved farther down.

He took your hand and sniffed up your arm back to your neck, moving to stand behind you, tenderly running his flat nose down your spine and over your buttocks. Eventually he found his way between your thighs, gently moving your legs apart.

The first flick of his long tongue nearly floored you, but he held you fast to keep you upright. You braced your hands against the rock wall as his tongue bathed you in a wave of sensations.

He lifted you and placed you face-down in the nest with your hips lifted. Looking back, you could see him hardening and slipping out of his sheath. He climbed over you, his arms on either side, pressing his face into your hair. You arched so that your back pressed tightly against him.

“I can’t wait to see you with a baby,” He whispered sweetly as he nibbled your shoulder. “You’ll look so beautiful.”

Before you could respond, he thrust into you hard. You cried out, your face pressed into the blankets. He stopped once he was in to the hilt, his hips against your bottom, and you could feel him quivering inside you. His breath came in pants as he settled himself.

After so long together, he was much more confident in his ability to please you. He savored it, taking his time, making you squirm and squeal and moan. His thrusts sped up, and your breathing synced to the rhythm. You rocked your hips underneath him, moving in tandem, helping him get to the edge of the cliff just as you were reaching yours.

The weight of him against you, the shelter of his wings around you, and the clean smell of his fur reminded you why you loved him, and how easy it was to do.

Your moans increased in pitch and you gripped the bedclothes as if in fear of falling.

“Declan!” you gasped.

He began to snarl and hiss, and you felt the pulsing from inside as he got close, so close. The muscles inside you snapped shut around him as you felt the rush of ecstasy flood your body, screaming and grunting as he plowed into you again and again, spilling into you with a loud shout. You took all there was to take, laying against the pillows, shaking and gasping for breath. His entire body was taut against yours, and he shuddered every time the warm fluid shot out of him, speaking your name in a broken whisper over and over.

Finally, his arms gave out and he fell sideways. You pinched your legs closed, not letting any of the warmth escape. You wanted this for him, even if you were unsure about it yourself. He had given you a home and a purpose. He had saved your life and made you happy. If you could give him anything, anything at all, to repay that kindness, you were happy to do it.

You made love many times that day, and many days after. After six months, he was beginning to lose hope. After a year, he was ready to give up altogether.

Summer had come again, normally his favorite season, but he had no laughter in him this year. He did his chores mechanically, dejectedly, finding no joy in it anymore.

One night, after dinner, you sat with him next to the river as the sky darkened.

“I’m sorry, dear one,” You said sadly. “Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be.” You frowned. “I had great aunt who never had children, though she desperately wanted one. It took my parents years to have me. Maybe it runs in the family…” Your frown deepened to a grimace. “Maybe it’s my fault.”

“Hush, darling,” He said, stroking your cheek. “Maybe you were right when we started last year. Maybe our bodies are just too different. That’s no one’s fault.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” You agreed reluctantly. “I still feel awful. I know how badly you wanted this.”

“It’s all right, love,” He said, smiling fondly. “I still have you. I still have the farm. My life is already so full and wonderful, better than I ever could have hoped. There’s no guarantee that a child would make it any more perfect.” He pulled you into a soft kiss. “If it’s not possible, then it’s not possible. There’s no use dwelling on it.”

You heaved a heavy sigh. “You’re right.” You kissed him again before rising, offering your arms so he could get to his feet. “Well, back to business. The orange tree on the farthest side seems to be dying. The roots are rotting, I think. I want to replace it before it spreads to the other trees. I’m thinking a mango tree instead.”

He gasped. “Ah! Mangoes!”

He bounced up and trotted after you, tickling you as he passed. You giggled.

The next day after cutting down and pulling up the roots the diseased tree, you decided to go into town to see if they had any mango saplings. You might also pick up something to cheer Declan up. He said he’d put the idea of children behind him, but you knew it still bothered him.

Declan, as was usual when he took you to visit town, landed far enough away off the main road so as not to be seen and let you take the road on your own, staying up in the trees and keeping a close eye on you.

The townspeople knew you by name, the mysterious young woman who lived in the forest who brought with her the best fruit they’d ever tasted, and they knew better than to ask too many questions or she would take her bounty elsewhere.

You found a mango sapling among the other shrubs in the outdoor greenery shop. A few stalls down, you saw a new attraction: some sort of animal seller operating out of a wooden caravan. He had all sorts of small creatures in cages. Most of them were the normal sort of farm animals: chickens, pigs, even a little beehive. But he also had little fae animals: boggans, cluricauns, house trolls, even a shadow demon in a bottle that snarled at you as you passed.

You looked at the cages with a vague interested, thinking you might get a chicken and have eggs for breakfast every so often, when a medium sized cage caught your eye. Inside, cowering against the back of the cage, was a little creature about the size of a house cat with soft-looking, reddish fur. It had leathery looking wings and high, pointed ears. You gasped, kneeling down to look at the little creature more closely.

“Hey there, little one,” You cooed. “Are you a regular bat or… something else? Do you need help?”

At the tone of your voice, it lifted it’s head and looked at you with large, black eyes. Eyes that begged you to help it. Eyes just like Declan’s.

“Hey,” you said to the merchant. “How much for this bat?”

“More than you got, missy,” The merchant said in a gravelly voice. “It took me weeks to trap that thing. She’s reserved.”

“I’ll match the bid,” You said. “I’ll double it.”

“Do you have coin? Because otherwise I’m not interested.”

“Is there anything you would take?”

“Well, it’s not often I get an offer like that from a pretty young thing like you, but the money I’d make from her would buy me lots of women. Shove off!”

You left in a huff, stomping back toward the main road. Once the town was out of sight, you heard a whooshing above your head and ducked quickly into the woods.

Declan dropped from the trees above and landed in front of you, coming forward excitedly.

“Oh, you found one!” He said. “That’s lovely, I ad--”

“Declan, don’t worry about the tree,” You said, taking his face in your hands. “I think I found another one of your kind.”

He blinked. “What?”

“That travelling animal merchant, he had a little bat creature in a cage. I think she’s like you.”

His eyes went wide and he seemed speechless for a moment. “How can you tell?”

“I can’t for certain. She’s a little different than you; she has redder fur and a different snout. But it’s her eyes.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember the first day we met? When you were captured by the men in town and tied to the ground?” You asked him, and he flinched a little in memory. “The look you gave me, the fear, it’s the same one she gave me just now. A look that says she knows exactly what’s going on and she needs help.”

Declan frowned and looked down in thought. “If I could see her, I’d know.”

You nodded. “What if we returned tonight? Late, after everyone is asleep?”

He agreed. “If she is like me, I don’t want to her to grow up the way I did: in a cage at the mercy of heartless people. If we can help her, we will.”

That night, you waited sleepless until the small hours of the morning. You climbed onto Declan’s back and he climbed the largest oak closest to your cave, taking wing soundlessly.

Inside the quiet and still town center, he landed just as silently as he flew, and you drew him to the closed wooden caravan. Most of the cages were on an extension behind the caravan. There, hidden behind the chicken coop, was the cage containing the little bat, chained to a bar that ran parallel to the caravan. Declan picked up the cage, careful not to rattle the chain, and reached a clawed thumb in to gently nudge her awake. She woke up with a chirp and looked at him, her eyes wide.

“Gods,” He breathed. “You were right. I haven’t seen another one of my kind in so long. She’s just a baby, hardly older than a year.”

“Her parents must be out there somewhere,” You said. “They have to be looking for her.”

“I don’t think so,” Declan said in a strangled whisper.

“What do you mean?”

Under the awning, Declan shifted a bear pelt and held up a different one. It had reddish fur and a leathery expanse of skin. You felt sick to your stomach.

“There’s two full grown skins here,” Declan said, horrified. “And a half-grown one, too.”

“Oh, Gods,” You said as he dropped the pile in disgust.

Declan was heaving large breaths in an effort to stay calm. He snapped the lock off the little bat’s cage and pulled her into his arms, petting the soft ridge of fur along her shoulders tenderly and speaking softly into her ear.

“It’s all right, little one,” He said, holding her close. “You’re safe now. Don’t worry. We’re going to get you out of here.”

She blinked up at him with her wide, frightened eyes. It was a minor miracle that neither she nor the other creatures were kicking up a fuss to wake the merchant. Maybe they understood enough to keep silent.

“What do we do?” He asked desperately, looking at the creatures still in cages who were peering up at the two of you. “We can’t leave them.”

“Open the cages,” You said quietly. “Let him chase the chickens for a while.”

You pulled the small troll down from the hook that kept him off the ground. House trolls enjoyed the shelter of human homes but only had magic when their feet or hands touch the living earth, which is why they lived in basements and cellars. You managed to bend the bar enough to allow him to squeeze through. He gave you a toothy grin and snapped his fingers, disappearing into the air, taking the jar with the shadow demon in it with him.

Declan began opening the cages as silently as he was able, encouraging the creatures to flee, still holding the little bat in his arms. She clung fast to him and stayed silent, watching the creatures scatter with her curious little eyes.

Then, there was a clattering inside the caravan.

“He’s awake!” You said, pulling Declan back toward the woods. “Time’s up, we need to go!”

Flinging open the chicken coop as a distraction, the two of you dashed back to the treeline just as the merchant shouted after you. You heard an arrow hiss past your face. You climbed quickly onto Declan back and he scaled a tree, taking to the air as the man’s screams and arrows followed you into the night.

Back at the cave, Declan landed gently, letting you step down from his back and carrying the little bat, which clung to his chest during the flight, into the shelter. He grabbed a few fresh apples and pears from the pantry, laying them in the nest and putting her down with the two of you sitting on either side, watching her. She immediately went to the little pile, munching happily on the fruit, making little squeaking sounds as she chewed.

“What should we call her?” You asked.

He sighed sadly. “I’m sure she already had a name, one given to her by her parents, but she’s too young to tell us what it is. By the time she’s old enough to articulate it, she’ll have forgotten.”

“What would you have called our baby, if we’d had one?”

He thought about it. “Soraya,” He said. “For a girl. Had it been a boy, perhaps Teo.”

“Soraya is a good name,” You said, watching the little one eat. She’d had her fill of fruit and began to sniff around the nest. Eventually, she took a blanket in her mouth and pulled it toward you, curling up in your lap. You wrapped her in the blanket and held her in your arms, smiling down, rocking her and humming.

You looked up to see Declan watching you with the gentlest smile you had ever seen.

“This is what I wanted,” He whispered as Soraya slept. A deeply unhappy frown settled on his face. “But I hate that her family had to die in order for me to have it. I barely remember my own parents, but I know I dearly wanted to have them with me when I was growing. We can’t replace them, but we can care for her. We can give her a better life than what that horrible human had planned.”

“He’ll be looking for her, you know,” You told him.

“I know,” He said, scowling. “And we’ll be ready for him if he does. I’ll go out tomorrow and tell Asker and the others nearby there’s a poacher that has no qualms about stealing children and slaughtering their parents. That’ll be enough to get them on high alert. We may have our clashes, but forest folk looks out for each other.”

An idea came to you then, and you blinked at the revelation. “What if that’s too limited a scope? What if we looked outside the forest?” You asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean there are many just like Soraya,” You said, moving close to sit in the circle of his arms. He placed a hand on Soraya’s head and stroked it softly as she slept. “We were thinking too small, just you and me, bat and human. But there are other creatures like us, cast out and hunted, who need people to care about them. Centaurs, fae, lizardfolk, gnolls, lots of creatures who don’t have anyone and need people to look after them and protect them. What if that’s us?”

He blinked at you silently, deep in thought. “But the farm is small.”

“We can make it bigger. And small hands become big hands, the helped becomes the helpers. Don’t you see? You said last year that you thought we were meant to do something greater and that we were missing it. Maybe this,” You looked down at Soraya, gripping your dress and grunting in her sleep. “What if she’s it? What if they are? This place has been a paradise for me. We could share that with others who need us.”

A very slow smiled creased his face. “You’re absolutely right,” He said. “My focus has been far too narrow. A child is a child, regardless of race. We could help so many!”

His enthusiasm after months of despair was lovely to see. “Let’s give Soraya a little time to adjust. Then we can make plans.”

“Yes,” He said, still stroking her head. She made a soft chittering noise that took you back when you first met Declan, the day he save your life, and you couldn’t help but smile. “She’s been through a lot. Let’s give her some time to heal.”

You and Declan took a short nap with Soraya lying between you, snoring softly. Late the next morning you took her out into the sunlight, letting her climb trees and explore the farm. She seemed to like it there, jumping from the high branches of the fruit trees down into Declan’s arms, then climbing up to do it again. He hadn’t laughed like that in months.

Later in the day, you and Declan took Soraya with you and trekked to Asker’s cave, braving his protective aggression to inform him of the poacher. He growled at you as you approached, slithering to and fro in front of the mouth of his cave where his mate and children were playing.

It’s not that he disliked either you or Declan, but instincts always win out. He calmed a little when his mate joined him outside, greeting you brightly and cooing over your new addition. Asker said he’d watch for the poacher and keep his children close, thanking you for the warning. Bidding him and his mate well wishes, you and your family moved on to visit the other forest creatures.

That evening, you watched Declan and Soraya play on the floor, her attacking him with high-pitched little yowls that made him laugh, feigning defeat and rewarding her with a berry every time she got him on the ground. Finally she grew tired and climbed into your arms to sleep.

“We’ll keep her safe,” Declan said, snaking his way into the nest beside you. “Nothing will ever hurt her again. Not while I’m alive.”

“Maybe use different terms,” You said, scrunching up your nose. “I’m not all right with the idea of you dying any time soon.”

“Trust me, I don’t plan to,” He said. “I have far too much to live for. And soon, when we find the rest of our family, I’ll have even more. I have so much. I’m ready to share my good fortune with others.”

“Me too,” You said, turning in his grasp to face him. He kissed you sleepily, having worn himself out with Soraya. It was a good tired, though. A happy tired. “I love you, Declan.”

“I love you,” He said. “And I was right. You’re a wonderful mother.”

You smiled at him and snuggled into his chest. Soraya stretched and yawned with a squeak. Declan chuckled at her, closing you both into his protective embrace. There may be trouble soon, but for now, you smiled, cuddled in, and slept.

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“don’t do this here.”, “i can’t sleep.” AND “you deserve more.” !!

“don’t do this here.”

⊰ v. princess and the moon ⊱

Luna had officially lost her mind. She didn’t know why she felt compelled to enlist Pandora’s help with her homework. Sure, there were things she didn’t quite understand because of the language barrier, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t figure out herself if she just took her time. They even could’ve gone to her and Cass’s place, but she insisted they go to Panda’s under the guise that her flat was closer. Luna felt so crazy for being there she nearly picked herself up from the couch to leave until Prince came through the door, shock and annoyance written across his face at the sight of her in his apartment. A small part of Luna felt embarrassed because she’d only shown up there after they slept together, but the more significant half told her to own the awkward situation she put herself in when he asked her why the hell she was there. She shrugged. “I needed help with some homework I didn’t understand,” Luna explained as she abandoned her seat to slowly approach Prince. “And Panda offered to help me, but she left her notes at school. It was lovely of her to ask Matt to take her back to get them, so I’ve been waiting for like 15 minutes for her to get back.” Her hips swayed with every word; her skirt about two inches higher and her shirt left open a couple of buttons more than they should be. She stood in front of him now, looking at him through her eyelashes innocently. Luna’s art didn’t lie in subtly today because she couldn’t help herself from running her hand from his neck down to his chest. “Sad she’ll be back soon, isn’t it?” She pouted playfully, though, it quickly transitioned into a smile when he grabbed her hand roughly before muttering a stern, “Don’t do this here.” And right on queue, the doorknob started to jiggle. “Maybe next time,” Luna whispered, making her way back to her seat before Pandora walked in with her notes.

It was a few hours later that they finally finished studying. Luna managed to get through it, grasping a few concepts she was genuinely confused about, but her mind had been elsewhere the entire time. Her thoughts were filled with Prince. What he was doing in his room, if he couldn’t stop thinking about her like she couldn’t, why the hell she wanted him so badly. They’d only slept together a few times, and she was already consumed by him. Whenever Matt or any guy flirted with her these days, all she could think about was Prince. It was sick, really, since they still fought 98% of the time, but he was different — riskier, even — than most guys. He kissed her differently, touched her differently, treated her differently. If she were sane, she’d run far away, but right now all she wanted to do was get closer to him. “Luna? Did you hear what I said?” Pandora’s voice rung out, pulling Luna from her fantasy. “Uh, yeah, I will just let myself out. Thanks again for the help.” Luna gave her friend a hug before she exited her room and headed for the front door. Her eyes lingered on Prince’s door as she walked past it, her self restraint crumbling by the second once the thoughts returned. “Luna, go home,” The Spaniard whispered to herself, her hand hovering over the doorknob of the front door. She could leave and go home completely frustrated and driving herself crazy, or she could stay and sleep with her friend’s brother. There was some sort of code against that in movies she watched, but surely that was just an American thing. Luna sighed, finally twisting the handle. The door opened and closed, but Luna hadn’t been on the other side of it. No, that was saved for Prince’s room which she graciously let herself into, the sight of him with only sweats on in his bed making her mouth run dry. “This time is really the last time, Prince,” She warned before joining him on his bed.

⊰ v. no reason ⊱

Iola sat at the edge of the boardwalk with her feet gently dipping into the crystal blue water of Bora Bora. She watched the party her family was attending in the distance, lighting up the navy blue sky. A sad smile graced her lips and a lone tear followed. Even when she was meant to be on vacation, forgetting about her everyday problems, they still seemed to follow her. She didn’t want to face the actual reality of her relationship, but the footsteps approaching her told her that she was going to have to nearly 6,000 miles away from home. 

Iola was living in a scene from Keeping Up With The Kardashians, literally. It was one thing for her family’s annual winter vacation to happen at the same resort in Bora Bora as theirs, but it was another for them all to be gathered at a dinner table at the resort’s party with her hating at least three people sitting at it. When they first arrived, Iola had a smile permanently etched onto her face. She was always excited about her family’s vacation. Wherever they went was warm and sunny compared to Chicago where they had to trudge through four inches of snow during a polar vortex this time of year. There was also a lot Iola had been dealing with personally, and a vacation with the people she loved the most seemed to be the perfect distraction until right now. Iola never hid her affections for Jason in front of her family. Whenever she wanted to kiss him, she kissed him. Whenever she wanted to hold his hand, she held his hand. It wasn’t anything new or surprising that even at dinner, they seemed to be their own little world. Iola had been in the middle of making a Spongebob reference to Jason when her eldest brother chimed in. “It’s so cute that even after 10 years of only dating you two are still so into each other.” The comment seemed innocent, but the ‘only dating’ part had her raising her brow quizzically, but before she had the chance to ask, her brother-in-law spoke up. “10 years? That’s longer than Leah, and I’ve been together, and we’re married with kids.” Iola pettily wanted to correct them to 9 years. Next, was Leah’s turn. “When are you two planning to get married and have kids anyway?” Everyone looked to them for an answer, but she could hardly formulate a sentence at the moment. Iola had been feeling more sensitive than usual lately and having to hear her family rag on the fact that they weren’t married despite that being the one thing she wanted more than anything, she was just trying to keep from crying. “I —uh—like, I mean, I just turned 26 in October. I don’t think we should, like, jump into being engaged and—um—having, like, kids and stuff? We can hardly take care of our cat,” Iola finished with an awkward chuckle. Everyone else carried on with their usual conversation after, but Iola remained silent for the rest of the dinner. Even after the dinner was over and the main event of the party started, Iola found herself withdrawn from the event. She didn’t feel too well — mentally or physically — after that. All she could think about was if things were her way, they would be married. But that was the problem: getting married was what she wanted, not him. Iola couldn’t understand how Jason could profess his undying love for her and at the same time not want to prove it. It made it hard for her to believe that he was really in their relationship for the long run. That was partly why she was so insecure and jealous all the time. “Iola, don’t do this here, please,” Jason whispered so only she could hear him, suddenly thrown back into reality. She was sat off to the side, curled into Jason’s side. Of course, he knew that she was overthinking about dinner because that’s what she always did. Iola shook her head. “I’m gonna head back to the room. I don’t feel too good, but you stay and have fun, babe.”

There was a silence between them, neither one of them really sure of what to say. Everything had already been said the other twenty times they fought about it, except there was something she never asked before. “Jason,” she spoke up, her voice cracking. “Ignore what I want for a second. Do you ever want to get married or, like, have kids?” Iola glanced over to her boyfriend, and the hesitation she saw on his face told her everything she needed to know. He just didn’t want to hurt her feelings telling the truth. Picking herself up, Iola smiled sadly. “No, you were right. We shouldn’t do this here. I’m so stupid for asking that. You should—You should go back to the party. I’m gonna go to bed. I still don’t feel so good.” She didn’t wait for him to answer. Iola was already taking off to their room to keep him from seeing her cry about this again. She crumpled the second the door shut close. Her back slid down the door, pulling her face into her knees once she hit the floor. Iola was beginning to think telling him she was pregnant was going to be a lot harder than she thought. 

⊰ v. katie and leo ⊱

There were polaroids scattered across the floor while Katie, Eli, Ava, and Leo went through them trying to piece together a time where they didn’t exist. The adventure had begun innocently. They would laugh at pictures of their parents, smile sadly at the ones with Katie’s mom, and awe at the ones of their parents together. A lot of the photos were of Leo’s parents, but that was because his mom was the photographer of nearly all of them. He’d found the box of pictures when his mom sent him down to the basement to fetch something for her. Leo almost kept the discovery to himself until he noticed how much the others were in them, and it felt entirely too selfish not to share, especially with Katie. She only had pictures to remember her mom by. He couldn’t deprive her of some new memories. “Katie, your mom was fit. I can’t understand what she’d seen in your dad,”  Eli blurted out, earning him a slap on the arm from his sister. “What? I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.” And Eli was right. Leo had thought that, but that was because he didn’t understand why any woman would pick Nicholas Keller over every other man in London. According to his mom, Nick was an unfaithful cheater that never knew how to treat a woman right. It also didn’t help Nick’s image that he had some weird vendetta against Leo. Katie immediately snapped back at Eli that his mom was out his dad’s league too, which was also entirely true; however, this seemingly wholesome gathering quickly turned into gossip fest between the twins and Katie. “But at least my dad has money to make up for it. What does yours have? A bad attitude and a tiny penis?” They began telling secrets that he’d never heard before like his uncle having an almost drug problem or that he’d met Nick because they’d been dating the same girl. Leo stayed out of their back-and-forth gossiping. Partially because he had nothing exciting to add, but the other part being that he thought there was nothing he didn’t know about his parents. They never hid the fact that their relationship started out really rocky, and that they actually hated each other for years before that. He thought he knew everything. He thought. “Leo, what are you so quiet for?” his cousin inquired, turning the attention to him. “I don’t have anything to say. My parents are pretty tame compared to yours.” The expression on Eli’s face told Leo that maybe he was mistaken about that. Eli’s eyes glinted with mischief before he turned to look to Katie. “My poor ignorant cousin. Your parents have a lot more in common with ours than you think. My parents were secret lovers. Katie’s mum left her dad. Your dad left your mum except he didn’t tell her before he did. Or have I got that part wrong, Katie?” Leo looked to her with confusion written all over his face. Why didn’t his parents tell him this? Why did all of his friends know and never bother to tell him before now? Why didn’t she tell him? Then he thought about how she knew that in the first place and then his confusion shifted into anger. “Your dad is a fucking cunt,” Leo chuckled bitterly. If Leo were thinking correctly, he would’ve considered her asking him not to “do this here” in front of Eli because he was only looking for drama, but he absolutely wasn’t thinking correctly. All he could think about was Nick gossiping about his parents while leaving out all of the things he’d done, and then the words were coming out of Leo’s mouth without much thought. “He can tell everyone else’s business, but I bet he didn’t tell you he cheated on your mum, and that’s why she left a second time.” The room fell silent besides Eli’s chuckling. “This keeps getting better and better. Let’s keep it going.” Leo shook his head. “No. Get out. All of you.” He didn’t even bother to walk them out of the door, choosing to clean up the photos by himself instead. He could hear Katie, Eli, and Ava bickering on their way out. Sighing heavily, Leo ran a hand through his hair. Not only was he going to have to apologize to Katie later, but he knew he couldn’t let this thing about his parents go until he at least knew why they didn’t tell him. Suddenly, he was regretting his decision to share the photos with his friends.

“i can’t sleep.”

⊰ v. princess and the moon ⊱

Luna was disappointed when her eyes fluttered open, and she wasn’t greeted by Prince’s sleeping figure. At this time of the night, all she wanted was to fall asleep again in her boyfriend’s arms, but she needed to go find him for that to happen. Through her drowsiness, Luna swung her legs off the edge of the bed and walked into the living room. The room was nearly pitch black except for the streams of moonlight filling in sparse corners of the room and miraculously catching Prince too. She was far too busy admiring the way the light illuminated his features to take note of what he was doing before her arrival, and if she weren’t so tired, Luna would’ve attempted to drag him back to his room for other reasons. “What are you doing up so late, babe?” She questioned, dragging herself over to him and making herself comfortable in his lap, humming in response when his hand came to rest in her hair. When he responded that he couldn’t sleep, Luna had to use all the brain power she could muster to figure out why until it all came back to her. Today was his birthday. Panda always tried to do something nice for him, which Luna knew because they both masterminded a dinner with all of their friends last year. Panda wouldn’t stop talking about all of the times she tried to get her brother to at least acknowledge he was a year older the entire time. Prince would never admit it, but she knew something in him missed having his little sister around to annoy him today. “Then, I have a gift for you if you can’t sleep.” She paddled back into his room to dig around in her bag before returning with his gift in her hand. Luna watched in anticipation as he opened the box revealing a vintage black and gold Gucci watch. She gently removed it from its container and flipped over Prince’s wrist to fasten it. “My mom gave my dad this watch when they lived in London. My dad gave it to me before I left to have something from the both of them, but I think it’s nicer to give it to the man I love like my mom did,” She smiled, placing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. “And before you say no, my dad wanted you to have it too. Also, he says happy birthday.” It was a bit strange when she asked her dad how he felt about her idea, and he’d been completely on board with it. Her dad really liked Prince, but he liked his watch more. She figured it was because it made him think he’d be getting a wedding invitation in the mail soon after (which Luna wasn’t opposed to happening). Lifting his wrist to examine the watch in the moonlight, Luna smiled to herself. It felt right to be giving it to him even though the timing seemed kind of wrong. There was something much more important she needed to give to him, though. She reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope with his name written in the front of it. “And this is from Pandora. I know you two aren’t on good terms right now, but she asked me to give this to you.” Luna held it out to him, but she hesitated to let go when he took it. “I’m going back to bed, but, Prince, actually the read the card before you do too.” Luna pressed a kiss into his temple. “Happy birthday, love.”

⊰ v. no reason ⊱

Iola could only imagine what Scotland would be like. Would it be endless green fields like Jason claimed? Or would it be more like London? Maybe a mix of both? Regardless, she was so excited that Jason was finally taking her there. Not a week went by where they weren’t surrounded by her gigantic family, but she hardly got a glimpse into his family life. He was so invested in her life, but she felt disconnected from his. She knew he had a brother, a sister, a dad, and a mom. She knew what they did for a living, and that was it. What Iola knew about them was nothing like actually meeting them. There was no real reason why Jason kept them apart for so long. He often used the excuse that they celebrated two different holidays this time of year, but Iola was always open to celebrating Christmas with him. This year she was crossing two things off her list. For most of the night, Iola tossed and turned. She was excited, nervous, and downright anxious to meet his family, and it was all she could think about. Would they like her? Would she like them? Would she even be able to understand them? All of these thoughts were running through her head. Their flight was in the morning, but Iola found herself not being able to sleep through her jitters. “I can’t sleep,” Iola whispered as she turned onto her side to face Jason with the hope she wasn’t disturbing him. “I can’t sleep, either.” She was relieved she wasn’t the only one. Moving to his side of the bed, Iola wrapped an arm around his waist as she cuddled into his side. “I’m nervous they won’t like me or think I’m too immature for you. And what if your mom doesn’t like me?” Iola grimaced at the thought. The same thoughts keeping her up was keeping him up too. She would’ve assured him everything would be fine if she hadn’t voiced her concerns already. Instead, the corners of her lips lifted into a mischevious smile. “Well, we’re both awake, and it doesn’t seem like we’re going to sleep any time soon. I’m sure there’s something we can do to distract ourselves.”

⊰ july 17th ⊱

Arianna stared out of the window. The rain beating against the glass somehow soothing her from the anxiety blooming in her chest. It was almost every night she felt some sort of anxiety about being pregnant again. Six months into her pregnancy, and everything was going smoothly. The baby was super active, healthy heartbeat, in the right position, and all the ultrasounds came back perfect — everything was perfect. But from her experience, she could never be comfortable until her baby was in her arms, breathing and alive. Being pregnant wouldn’t be nearly as scary if she didn’t know firsthand that everything could be fine the whole time and still end up losing her baby. Her eyes shut close, focusing on the storm outside as she ran her hand soothingly over her stomach, taking deep breaths to calm herself, but it didn’t work. She turned over onto her side to check if Zayn was awake, but he was already facing her with his eyes wide open, filled with concern. “I hope I wasn’t keeping you awake,” she whispered sheepishly. It was bad enough that her anxiety was keeping her up at night. Arianna did not want to pass that on to Zayn too. She needed at least one of them to be sane enough to reassure the other everything would be okay, and it wasn’t going to be her. He shook his head no, sliding an arm around her to bring her in closer, mumbling “I can’t sleep anyway,” to reassure her she wasn’t the reason. Arianna didn’t buy it. He could blame it on the storm, but she knew that her sighing, fidgeting, and running her hand over the belly was the real cause of his insomnia. His willingness to lie to spare her the additional dread was appreciated, though. Arianna pressed the lightest of kisses to Zayn’s lips, pulling away with a soft smile. She cuddled into his side and rested her head on his chest. There was a lingering silence between them —them both thinking the same thing but being too afraid to say it. Clearing her throat, Arianna finally spoke. “Who do you think she’ll favor? I’m always rooting for myself, but I do seem to think all of our kids will be carbon copies of you and like you more. I probably just like you too much, though.” Their chuckles filtered throughout the room, easing her anxiety. He entertained her question, which prompted them to stay up for a couple more hours picturing their future together with their daughter. It was dangerous to get both of their hopes up again, but every time Arianna thought about having another kid, she didn’t want to be drowned by anxiety. She didn’t want to feel like her world could come crashing down again at any moment. She wanted them to be as happy as they were the first time. 

“you deserve more.” 

⊰ v. princess and moon ⊱

Luna couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed. The soft white comforter encasing her in its plushy grip or the fact that she only got three hours of sleep was hardly the reason for it though. When her eyes fluttered open this morning, straining against the harsh brightness of her room until they adjusted to it 10 minutes later, she was greeted by the image of her boyfriend. His lips were on her cheek while her dimpled smile shined brightly as she attempted to look at him out of the corner of her eye. That was a version of them that she missed, and the picture sat next to her bed was a painful reminder that that Luna and Prince was no longer her reality. It wasn’t clear when they got to the point in their relationship where any little thing she did was worthy of an argument. Their last one started because Luna was tapping her pen on the table too much and ended with Prince storming out demanding his space. That was a week and a half ago. Luna felt like she was being thrown back into her last year of secondary school, and she was not enjoying it for the second time. She finally pulled herself out of bed, the emptiness of the flat looming over her as she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. Luna grabbed the box of cereal out of the cupboard and the milk out of the fridge, but the moment she sat down and started scrolling through her phone, all she wanted to do was text Prince. She shouldn’t have to text him first. He was the one that stormed out on her, but she also couldn’t let her pride keep her from speaking to her boyfriend another day. Picking up her phone, Luna navigated to her messages, a frown gracing her lips as she had to scroll down the app to find his name. Her finger hesitated over the keyboard before she typed a quick “I miss you” and switched off her phone. She’d drive herself crazy waiting for a response from him otherwise.

Luna’s hair was still dripping wet when she heard a knock at the front door. She hadn’t been expecting any visitors, especially the one standing on the other side of her door when she went downstairs to let them in. “Prince? What are you doing here?” He shrugged as he brushed past her. Luna thought to scream and yell at him about storming out and then not speaking to her for nearly two weeks, but all she could feel was elation. She was so happy to have him back in the same space as him. She missed him. One more day of being along and Luna would’ve lost her mind. “Are you hungry? I haven’t made anything, but if you’re hungry I can,” She asked, following behind him. When she entered the kitchen, she noticed he placed something on the countertop. Luna looked between him and the box of candy with a confused expression. Right before their fight, Luna had been telling him about her favorite candy from Spain since she’d been feeling homesick lately. She looked everywhere for it when she came to London but to no avail. The memory prompted her to tap her pen as she reminisced. She didn’t think Prince cared enough to listen to her let alone find it. Luna had a million questions like where did he find it, and why he did it, instead, she threw her arms around him in a tight embrace, not caring that the droplets from her hair were soaking through his shirt. “Thank you, Prince. I can’t believe you actually found it for me.” And it was as if Prince was somehow tapped into her thoughts this morning when he whispered, “You deserve more,” because she did deserve more and she knew it. She deserved a boyfriend that didn’t get upset over the smallest of things. She deserved a boyfriend that didn’t ignore her for days on end, and she deserved a boyfriend that she knew was capable of being this thoughtful. Luna wanted the Prince she had months ago, and this gave her the small glimmer of hope that he could go back to that. It was a lot more than what she had when she’d woken up. Taking a step back to look at him, Luna laughed as she blinked away the tears in her eyes. “Is this your way of apologizing because it sucks,” she joked. “But seriously, Prince, right now I just need you. We can talk about this later, but I want to eat these sweets I haven’t had in ages with my boyfriend that I haven’t seen in ages, okay?” Luna knew she was letting him off easy, but she loved him entirely too much to let this little fight get in the way. 

⊰ v. no reason ⊱

Iola’s phone buzzed from the fifth phone call she’s received in an hour. She didn’t even need to check it to know it was Jason whom she’d been ignoring since his outburst about completing his portfolio. Iola’s intentions had only been pure when she put him to bed. How could he focus on being creative when he could barely keep his eyes open? It didn’t make much sense to her, but it didn’t have to once he decided to throw her wanting him to sleep with him and her dad back into her face. Iola’s desire to sleep with Jason extended beyond her raging teen hormones looking for sexual gratification. It wasn’t to deny that that was definitely a part of it because she was very attracted to her boyfriend, but it was also about experiencing each other in ways they hadn’t before. She was undoubtedly attempting to share a part of her that only he could have. Maybe she wasn’t always the most gentle in her approach, but she put herself in a vulnerable position only for him to use it against her. There was then the added insult of implying that her dad was somehow to be credited for her successes. Iola knew she lived in a big house with fancy cars and clothes, but everything she accomplished, she got there on her own. Her dad never made a donation to her school to get her in or paid to get her test scores changed — she got in on her own merit. Even when she took a year off to focus on modeling, Iola tried to minimize her dad’s influence over her career. Perhaps if he hadn’t snapped at her, she could’ve asked her dad to buy him that opportunity. The buzzing in her ear finally stopped, and this time for longer than fifteen minutes. There was some hope he finally got the hint she wasn’t ready to talk to him again. That time, however, was used by Jason to come to her home. Iola was just about to get ready for bed when she heard a familiar accent calling her name from outside. She walked over to her window and rolled her eyes at the sight of Jason. “What do you want?” He asked if she could let him up to talk, and although it went against her better judgment, Iola complied. She didn’t say a word the whole journey from downstairs to upstairs in her room. The moment she heard him close her door, she whirled around with her arms folded over her chest, a stern look on her face. Iola wanted to see him grovel. Jason walked towards her, and just when he went to reach for her hands, she took a step back. “I don’t want you to get the impression I’m trying to sleep with you while you’re apologizing or does my dad need to buy that for me too?” Iola could admit that she was acting a bit immature, but she was still a 17-year-old girl. What was Jason’s excuse? He explained to her that he’d only said those things because he was tired and under a lot of stress. Iola rolled her eyes. “So that means take it out on me? Do you think that I deserved hearing my boyfriend say he doesn’t want me, and he thinks I’m some spoiled brat?” This time when Jason reached out for her, she allowed it. Her tough exterior quickly began deteriorating as she attempted to blink away the tears in her eyes. What Jason said really hurt her feelings. It made her feel insecure. He had to have thought that about her before for him to say it now. What else did he think about her that he was saving to use against her? Iola wasn’t completely sold on his ‘you deserve more’ speech about how she didn’t deserve that and deserved more than to be spoken to like that, but he seemed to be genuinely sorry. It didn’t mean that he didn’t believe those things about her, though. 

⊰ v. what if ⊱

The crackling sound of silence filled the room as Arianna and Ashton simply looked at each other — beauty surrounding her features, but bruises surrounding his. Arianna didn’t mean for things with him to go as far as they did. What happened between them that day Ari showed up at his door was never meant to happen again, but it did. Ari began having an affair. She thought that they were low key about it, but when Zayn had spotted a hickey on her side, and she was left with no choice except tell the truth, all of her fears had become a reality. Ari didn’t know about the future of her marriage, which should’ve been her main concern, but hearing about what her husband had gone out and done made it seem less important. Ashton was there for her whenever her relationship became too much to handle, and she felt it was her obligation to take care of him. “I’m sorry,” the blonde finally spoke. Her hands busied themselves, tearing open the alcohol packets along with the other things she bought on her way over. She ignored his wincing once she began cleaning his wounds. “This is all my fault.” She expected Ashton to tell her they both were at fault, but nothing he could say would make her shift the blame completely from her. Sure, they both could have exercised some self-control, but she was the one in the relationship, and her husband was the one who had done this to Ashton. How was she not wholly at fault? When she had found him in his room all beaten and bruised, Ari realized that her selfishness was what got them in this situation; her guilty conscience weighed heavily on her. She had just about disinfected any cut he had when her hands fell into her lap, her head hanging low to avoid his eyes. “I wasn’t worth all of this, Ash. You and I both knew the truth, so why did you keep seeing me? I was entirely too selfish to stop, but why did you never say no?” Arianna was curious about his answer, but she just cut him short with a smile because she decided that it wasn’t important why he didn’t. It was much too late to inquire about it now anyway. “You should keep this stuff in case you might need it. I should be going.” When Arianna reached for the jacket that sat beside her, Ashton’s hand wrapped around her wrist to stop her. “I never said no because you deserve more.” His words cut deep into her heart. Ashton was right. She did deserve more, but so did he. Ashton deserved someone who could love him back the way he needed wholeheartedly. Maybe this was the wakeup call they both needed to get on with their lives. “Thank you,” she whispered, pressing a lasting kiss to Ashton’s forehead before bidding what might be her final goodbye.

[avengers-nextgen]

The Rise of The Lost XIX Part 1

It was a week since the battle against M.A.D’s forces. Bianca and Bucky were both certain that the industry still existed, whether it be elsewhere in the world, below ground, or somewhere they were licking their wounds. They were the first to say goodbye.

“We’ll find the rest of them. I can’t risk anything else like this happening because of my DNA,” Bucky sighed, running a tired hand down his face and taking a sip from the beer in his hand. He’d stayed up late talking with Steve and Natasha over the matter.

“It’s not your fault. You know that,” Steve insisted, “even if you haven’t said it I can tell. You blame yourself for what happened with Bianca.”

“It’s hard not to.” Bucky snorted, shaking his head. “I mean-I never wanted to be a parent. Hell I had a hard enough time taking care of both of you as kids. I just don’t think I’m going to be enough for her.”

“You’re all she knows,” Nat smiled slightly, “the only thing she has any evidence of. You’re going to surprise yourself James, you always do, and remember we’re always available if you need it.”

“Yeah, I know.” Bucky smiled, “I lucked out with a pretty damn good family.”

Bianca was more excited than Bucky was. She was determined to investigate her roots, discover more information on her mother, and find more of her real identity. It was hard to see her so happy when they didn’t want her to leave.

Nathaniel was worried about her naievity, she wasn’t used to normal life, and Alex fretted over what would happen should M.A.D recover both of them, Enzo was disappointed because he thought she was cool, and Scout couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic. Bianca gave everyone a giant hug as she waited for Bucky to double check the car they were using.

“Be careful,” Nathaniel warned as Scout added, “Be smart.”

“Live a little, would ya kid?” Orion had taught Bianca how to fist bump, and though it was awkward, she happily bumped her knuckles against his.

“I’ll see all of you as soon as possible.” She bounced on the balls of her feet. She looked like a little kid-a proper teenager- with her casual clothes on and a back pack slung across her shoulders.

“Alright! Hop on the Barnes express.” Bucky sighed patting Bianca on the shoulder. With a final wave she scampered off leaving Bucky to look at his niece and nephew. James saw the tears in his eyes first and tackled the man in a big hug.

“I’m gonna miss you Uncle Buck.” James mumbled into his chest.

“Me too.” Alex nuzzled her way into the hug as well.

“You two are pretty amazing you know. Thanks for everything you did for her. It’s not easy, and I should have done more, but if it wasn’t for you two I wouldn’t even be doing this with Bianca.” Bucky held both of them close. He’d seen them grow up over the years and they were starting to look like real adults. With one final hug Bucky lifted both of the kids off the ground. Alex and James couldn’t help but laugh before they were set down.

— — —

“Maps? What are you looking for? Treasure?” Piper chuckled looking at Thalia who was sitting in the living room with maps sprawled on the table.

“More or less,” Thalia smiled up at her, “I’m searching for locations that may have Asgardians.”

“I see.” Piper nodded, pursing her lips. “You’re serious about this then. Finding your people.”

“It feels like the right thing to do. They’ve been dispersed for far too long,” Thalia frowned. “It’s hard to imagine.”

“Do you need help?” Piper offered.

“Well, I’m trying to cross reference data bases with unusual occurrences that match Asgardian identifiers.” Thalia saw a small gleam settle in Piper’s eyes. “What?”

“Nothing, you’re just learning and all. I didn’t think you paid much attention to some of the stuff I said.” Piper admitted.

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re one of the most intelligent!” Thalia laughed. The two girl’s set to work on circling, drawing lines to, and crossing out portions of the map.

Their work was only interrupted when T’Challa-unexpectedly visiting- appeared nearby talking to Vision. Scout’s father nodded in agreement before disappearing briefly. Seconds later the sound of feet pounding down the hallway was followed by an elated, “DADDY!”

Siyanda hurtled into her father who was prepared for the impact. He laughed and rolled his eyes before pressing a light kiss to the top of her head. “Hello. My, look at you, you’ve gotten taller!”

“Dad, I stopped growing last year!” Siyanda snorted.

“Lies!” T’Challa teased.

“As excited as I am to see you, I know you don’t leave the kingdom behind unless it’s an emergency,” Siyanda frowned, and she took a step back to study her father’s face.

“It appears those smugglers have spurred a new industry.” T’Challa pursed his lips. “It’s becoming hard to manage. With the loss of Acacia and you being here...”

“I see,” the young princess nodded slowly, “you need me. Someone to lead the fighting effort?”

“Yes.” T’Challa nodded. “It’s time you begin your rise to the throne. This is the perfect opportunity to start taking a more involved role in the kingdom’s affairs.”

“A challenge I’ll happily accept.”

“As I thought, but are you alright leaving this life behind? It will not be a permanent course of action I assure you, but there is no set time when this will end.” T’ Challa’s eyebrows furrowed together in a concerned look.

“There isn’t much choice here,” Siyanda pressed her lips into a thin line. “It’s time I go home.”

Both royal heirs were set to leave on the same day. Everything was quieter than it had been with Bianca’s departure. One goodbye was now three.

“Tell us as soon as you find someone!” Alex hugged Thalia tightly, “it’ll be amazing!”

“I can’t wait, but I am nervous.” Thalia admitted bashfully.

“A warrior like you?” Scout arched a brow, “has nothing to be nervous of.”

“You’re the best big cousin! I mean I only have one but-that’s not the point!” Enzo smiled like a Cheshire Cat at his cousin. Thalia ruffled his hair despite his half hearted whining.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Piper sniffled, “Tech Buddy.”

Siyanda laughed and rolled her eyes but gave Piper an affectionate hug. “You keep up the work Stark. Perhaps we can be partners again?”

“Yeah, the lab’s gonna be really quiet.” Piper nodded.

“Quiet? With you? Not a chance!” Siyanda laughed, shaking her head.

The goodbyes continued until there wasn’t much else to do. T’Challa was waiting on the opened ramp of the jet. Siyanda turned on her heel and jogged off to meet up with her father before skidding to a stop. She’d forgotten one goodbye. Turning curtly she tackled Thalia in a bone crushing hug.

The blonde blinked in surprise but hugged her back. Nothing happened for what seemed like ages even after they pulled apart. Thalia frankly forgot how to speak and just stared at the girl in front of her until Siyanda stood on her tip toes and pressed her mouth firmly against Thalia’s

Scout’s jaw practically hit the floor, Alex laughed and punched James in the arm saying ‘I told you!’, Piper merely fist bumped Orion, and Enzo cheered loudly.

“See you on the flip side,” Siayanda grinned leaving Thalia to blink in confusion. T’Challa gave his daughter a smug look as the jet ramp began to close.

“An Asgardian! Well, no need for an arranged marriage now, is there?” Siyanda only rolled her eyes and punched her father playfully on the arm.

— — —

The Tower was quiet. Piper grew busier and busier leaving Alex to entertain herself and at last the inevitable happened.

“I’m taking over the family business!” She blurted suddenly. Alex blinked slowly at first before smiling.

“That’s great!”

“No. It means I’m not-well I’m not staying here...” Piper immediately saw her best friend’s expression drop, “I have meetings to go to, conferences, resource management programs to oversee, and more.”

“Well you’ve got to get ready.”

“Alex, I know you’re not the happiest but-well I can call you all the time!” Piper promised.

“Piper, seriously, I’m excited for you. It’s an amazing opportunity. Think of all the things you can design and market now?” Alex insisted, and she meant it.

“I was thinking I could have a design partner.” Piper explained, “do you think it’s weird if I ask Gen?”

“Why would it be weird?”

“Well, there’s school, not to mention a female team is practically unheard of in major STEM research and positions-“ Alex held up a hand cutting her friend off.

“Piper Stark, you be the first one to make an all female team and kick the crap out of misogynistic men. Do it. You’ll have my support.” Piper smiled brightly at her long time friend and hugged her for a solid three minutes.

Alex helped her clean out all of the necessities from her laboratory and load it into a jet. Piper’s first stop was a conference in Japan, a place where she hoped she could heal some old wounds within American-Japan enterprise relationships.

James had to comfort a crying Alex that night. The poor girl really couldn’t fathom what it would be like without Piper constantly under foot. In all honesty even he felt a little sad and he didn’t get along all that well with Piper.

— — —

Nathaniel packed slowly trying to prolong the inevitable. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see his mother, he loved her, but part of his family was there as well.

Scout could feel the older boy’s uncertainty and went to investigate. He hugged Nathaniel gently and was surprised when the archer ran a gentle hand through his hair. “You’re scared, why?”

“My siblings,” Nathaniel admitted nervously. “I don’t know what they’ll think of me. It’s been years since we’ve all been together and dad says they’re all staying over for a week or so.”

“Why would you be scared of what they think about you? Youre amazing.” Scout frowned.

“Because I took up Dad’s mantel, I spent the most time with him, and when Ellie died-“ Nathaniel’s voice cracked, “mom and dad had to take care of me for a while. It’s not a secret the others were jealous.”

“None of that’s your fault.” Scout assured him. “And if they don’t like you screw them. You’re the best big brother ever.”

Nathaniel swallowed tightly and hugged the younger boy close. “Thanks Scouty, that means a lot.”

“Of course. Do you need help organizing? I know you can be a bit scatter brained.” Scout smirked, once more looking like Pietro.

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” Nathaniel nodded.

Nathaniel cried the whole way home like when he was a little boy and had to leave the dog shelter after he finished volunteering. He’d wanted to adopt all of the animals, and in a way he’d adopted all of the kids as his siblings. Clint held his son’s hand the whole drive knowing he needed comfort. Nathaniel always struggled with goodbyes.

— — —

Scout was the next to go. He’d been following the news with his mother and father. His mother’s home was dissolving into ruins. It angered him that people could be so hazardous, that government could be so toxic, and that everyone acted so sad but no one would actually do anything.

“You look angry,” Orion noted from where he sat with his feet propped up on the dinner table as he looked at stupid buzzfeed articles.

“In space do you have governments?” Scout asked sitting across from Orion.

“Yeah, some planets do. Most don’t have a good system. There’s not exactly democracy in outer space,” Orion explained glancing over at the other boy. “Why do you ask?”

“If you had the ability would you help fix it?”

“Of course,” Orion nodded, “there’s too much oppression.”

“Great, I’m not crazy then.” Scout sighed in relief.

“What’s got you so out of sorts?” Orion arched a brow.

“My mother’s home is dissolving into chaos.” Scout went into a three minute explanation and Orion listened through it all.

“Then fix it.”

“What?” Scout stammered in surprise.

“You and your parents have the potential to help. Do it.” Orion spoke firmly. “Don’t be like the others who do nothing.”

“It’s not that easy-“

“My parents are trying to reboot my mother’s home. They’ve asked me to go home with them. To try and complete the goal.” Orion moved so he sat normally with his feet on the floor and elbows on the table. “We want to make a planet without oppression, dictatorship, a place of true peace and prosperity where every people and species can coexist.”

“So-you’re going to space to become a...”

“The face of a new era. The planet’s been renamed Orion after me. One day I’ll be able to oversee everything with a full cabinet of administrators, representatives, and a congressional body.” Orion’s eyes lit up with excitement and Scout realized that Orion was talking about a world he knew nothing of.

Scout knew almost everything there was to do with Earth but he didn’t know space. “I thought you’d be staying.”

“No, I can’t. It’s what I’ve got to do.” Orion set his jaw in firm resolve. “Just like you should help your people.”

Scout spent that night contemplating Orion’s words. He decided that the space boy was right. He couldn’t sit by. Both boys departed on the same day.

“This is a mail translocator. It’s essentially like a space email,” Orion explained placing a cool metal tripod disc into Scout’s palm. “Keep in touch with me. Itll be interesting to see how things go with your quest.”

“I wouldn’t call it a quest,” Scout snorted, tucking the device into his pocket. “But I’ll use it. I’ve realized that I am actually unfamiliar with space despite my scholarly aura. I’d be thankful if you-“

“Told you about it?” Orion asked smugly. “Sure thing. You’ll be totally confused at first but it eventually just clicks.”

“I am Groot!” Scout jumped as the giant tree alien lumbered over to them.

“Yeah I know! I’m going!” Orion laughed as Groot scooped him up. “Don’t forget to space mail me!”

[wildroseofarran]

Heart to Heart || Luke & Q

Q: *Q pounces that*

Luke: -Luke falls over and clings-

Q: "Hello."

Luke: "Hey, you." -nuzzles in-

Luke: "My sexy teddy bear."

Q: "I'm a what now?"

Luke: "My sexy teddy bear."

Q: "I'm not that hairy!"

Luke: "You're snuggly!"

Q: "You're snuggly."

Luke: "It's 'cause I'm snuggling you." -nuzzle nuzzle nuzzle-

Q: "How are you doing, gorgeous?"

Luke: "Better now that I'm with you. That cliché to say?"

Q: "Depends on why I'm the relief you need."

Luke: "Had a sucky week."

Q: "Want to talk about it, champ?" he chuckled.

Luke: "Can I have kisses afterward?"

Q: "You can have kisses during."

Luke: "Okay." First kiss now please.

Q: A brief one to start. Oh yes, they were going to escalate. Patience.

Luke: That was just fine. He was a patient guy. "Started on Monday with me breaking a mug and slicing my toe open and it just got worse from there."

Q: "Ah." Another kiss. Just a smidgen slower this time. A nice two second linger. Luke's shirt needed to go away. "How's your toe? I've been meaning to ask when you're going back to Raleigh, now that Peter's back."

Luke: Brief as it was, he was already feeling an enormous amount of comfort.

"I kind of have, sort of," he said, helping Q remove his shirt. "I spent this week there and drove back on Friday. Gonna drive back on Sunday night. Been thinking of doing that every week."

Q: "Living with a relative, or going to invest in two houses?" Time to remove his own shirt and toss it away. "You're going to burn yourself out, Mr. Graham."

Luke: "I think I'm gonna keep staying with Pete. I've missed him a lot and now that he's back I don't wanna go back to only coming here on holidays."

Luke immediately snuggled closer. "Maybe I'll do it every other weekend. Haven't made any solid plans yet."

Q: "Well, you just let me know what you decide and I'll clear my schedule for you." He felt for the throw blanket behind them and pulled it over their shoulders.

Luke: "I feel so special," Luke said with a smile, feeling himself go boneless and relaxed in Q's arms as he settled into the warmth.

Q was another reason Luke didn't want to return to Raleigh full time. He'd gotten so spoiled to being able to see Q at a moment's notice and get bathed in affection and comfort pretty much whenever he needed it.

"Maybe I won't have a set schedule. I could just play it by ear every week. Less pressure that way."

Q: "You have friends there, work, a home. You have family here, but you're going to wear yourself thin if you don't make a schedule. Just my observation." Long fingers stroked up and down Luke's shoulders. "Routines keep most people sane."

Luke: "Yeah, I might." He'd done it before. Law school and the year that followed had been an avalanche of stress and no sleep. "It feels so weird being back in my apartment. Having to take the elevator, looking out my windows and seeing skyscrapers instead of woods."

Q: "You're a city boy. You might have been born here, but look at you." He smiled. "Look at the way you dress, your hair. Nothing about you says townie."

Luke: Luke chuckled softly. "I've gotten so much shit for my hair while I've been here. That's one thing I don't miss when I'm in Raleigh. Seeing twenty people I know and having to make small talk with all of them when I walk outside."

Q: "Does it bother you, seeing me on the street, at the bar, pretending I'm just another face?"

Luke: He kissed Q's jaw. "Seeing you never bothers me. I miss seeing you when I can't."

Q: "Luke," he said the name as tenderly as possible, but with enough inflection to gently demand attention.

Luke: "I don't mean it that way. Just in the 'I like spending time with you' way."

Q: A slow nod. "Okay." He didn't need to tell Luke the obvious. Don't fall in love. He could do nothing for that infliction.

Luke: Q had no cause to worry; Luke and love weren't exactly on the best of terms lately. Not since Dana Tolvin had met his end, and even before that. Hell, that's why Luke had been given Q's number in the first place.

"Didn't mean to freak you out there. I just genuinely enjoy seeing you, unlike other people around here. Small towns are so damn...catty sometimes."

Q: "You didn't freak me out." He began to pet Luke's kempt hair. "I just don't want you heartbroken."

Luke: Luke's eyes fell closed at the affection. "Little late for that," he said softly. "Not because of you of course."

Q: "But because of Dana Tolvin, an Australian missionary man, handsome and rugged." Stacey's big mouth.

Luke: At this point, Luke wasn't even surprised Q knew. Los Angeles gossip had nothing on Edenton.

"Yeah, that's the one. Him. God. Satan probably."

Q: "Satan?"

Luke: "I figure Satan had a hand in whatever happened. Seems like the kind of messed up thing he would do."

Q: "And that's why a certain someone gave you my number." Luke was given a squeeze. "I'm not his replacement by any means, but I hope I've been a distraction."

Luke: "You have been," Luke said with a smile, snuggling even further into Q's embrace. "I'll always be grateful that I was given your number. You've gotten me through some rough patches."

Q: "One day, you'll meet Mr. Right. You'll be ready. It'll be, 'Q who? I don't know who you're talking about, good sir,'" he laughed.

Luke: It was probably a good thing Q couldn't see his face right now; there was skepticism written all over it. The only Mr. Right for him was dead. As far as he knew, that had been his one shot.

"No, you're way too memorable for all that. Me, I'm forgettable. Just a short blond guy."

Q: "Why do you think so little of yourself, Mr. Graham?"

Luke: "I don't usually, only in regard to this particular...area of life. Don't exactly have a glowing record." Not even a mediocre record.

Q: "Having high standards, or...?"

Luke: "Not even that. I guess I'm just unlucky."

Q: "I don't think you are. I think you have low self-esteem."

Luke: "I don't know, I've known--and been with--my share of shitty guys. Maybe my self-esteem is part of that too. Never really thought about it."

Q: "If you think you're shit, then you find people you think will accept shit. Usually, that's shitty people. See that shit cycle?"

A sharp noise from the kitchen forced his attention elsewhere, breath caught in his chest.

Luke: Luke nodded. It made perfect sense. So much so that it surprised him that he'd never thought about it, or maybe refused to think about it. Introspection was a bitch.

"Yeah, I see it. It fucking--" His head whipped up, immediately turned toward the sound. "What was that?"

Q: "Your brother's cat, maybe?"

Luke: It had to be. Pete was in Raleigh for the day.

"Maybe. Midas!" he called. "What are you doing? Did you do something weird?"

A few moments of silence, then--soft as can be--"....Mew."

Q: Q took a breath. Why had that bothered him so? His neck felt sticky with sweat, the hairs on his arms raised. He rubbed them in an attempt to remove the uncomfortably eerie sensation.

"Anyway," he tried to laugh.

Luke: Luke shook his head before returning it to Q's shoulder. "That's a yes. Tiny weirdo scared the hell out of me. Sorry about that. He literally grew up in a barn."

Q: "It's okay." Arms returned around Luke's body, though that obscure out-of-body sensation had refused to alleviate.

Luke: "He probably broke one of the mugs on the rack. And with my luck it was one of mine."

He nuzzled Q, wanting to offer comfort for a reason he couldn't name.

Q: "I'll clean it up. How about you get comfortable in bed and I'll join you?"

Luke: "You're too sweet," he said, softly kissing his faux boyfriend. "Thank you. Don't let him cute himself out of trouble. Give him a stern look."

Q: "I'll give him a stern look for the both of us." A quick kiss. Luke was gently pulled to his feet. "Go on now."

Luke: Luke hummed softly against Q's lips, nuzzling him again before pulling away. "Good. You let him know who's boss."

When Q entered the kitchen, he'd find Midas lounging on the counter and grooming himself with the remnants of a bowl lay shattered at his feet.

Q: "Someone was a naughty kitty." This was a situation he would surely reflect upon one day, why it was his clients trusted him with their house, with their restful lives. Bearing no ill will, it was only as he began to scoop the smaller shards of ceramic did he cross this realization. What if, he wondered, they had allowed someone else in their home, someone with less than honorable intentions?

So many people starving for affection, for comfort, for a reason to remain sane. They existed in a world in which professional cuddlers existed, made bank. People were so in need that they would accept anyone to assuage their yearning. Luke was in need because of death, because of words left unspoken.

Midas was given a quick scratch behind his ear. The debris of his carelessness was placed in the plugged sink. Enough dispiriting thoughts for one night. He still couldn't shake the chill from his arms. He needed Luke's warmth.

Luke: Midas stopped grooming himself long enough to chirp in Q's direction and give him what Pete and Luke referred to as his 'look at me, aren't I so cute and innocent' face. The man smelled like dog but that was okay. Dogs were tolerated. The big ones that didn't really do anything but lay there were even appreciated.

Much like his Uncle Luke, Midas closed his eyes at the affection given to him, watching Q clean up with a very regal expression.

Meanwhile, Luke had made himself comfortable upstairs. He'd rid himself of his jeans, both for comfort and the potential for more....more, before drawing the curtains shut and snuggling in amongst the bed pillows to wait for Q.

Q: Q wasn't far behind, removing what remained of his clothes, save for his underwear, and piling them nearby.

"A bowl, and he seemed pretty pleased about it." Time to climb into bed and play big spoon to his little lawyer.

Luke: "That little shit," Luke chuckled. He almost chirped himself as he snuggled against Q, sinking into his warmth. "Did he give you the face?"

Q: "I got a face. I don't know if it was the face," he chuckled. Now it was time to kiss Luke's shoulder, his neck...

Luke: "I'll bet it was the face. He's very good at it." He probably learned it from his best kitty friend when he and Pete were in France. That was Luke's theory, anyway.

He hummed softly at the kisses, snuggling in even further. "You're awfully good at that."

Q: "You just make it so easy," he whispered in his ear. "Have to get my kisses in before you sleep, Mr. Graham."

Luke: "Don't wanna sleep just yet," he whispered, turning his head enough so he could capture Q's lips with his own.

"Gotta get in some kisses too."

Q: "Yeah?" His signature bright grin was noticeable despite the limited moonlight. "Take as many as you want."

Luke: Luke couldn't help but grin back. "Yeah." He shifted so they were face to face, putting Q's beautiful face in easy reach. "In that case, I'm going to take about....a metric ton." And after nuzzling against his pretend boyfriend, he did.

Q: Q would never tell Luke no, not when it came to kisses. The lawyer was sweet and so human and innocent; he felt deprived of the affection he deserved. He didn't like imagining Luke being neglected, but the reality was there in his mannerisms, his need for those kisses.

"Do you want me to make love to you?"

Luke: With any other person, Luke would probably feel incredibly self-conscious about letting himself give in to his need for affection and comfort and gentleness. But there was something about Q that made him feel so safe and cared for, that made it so easy to let go. For that alone he would treasure Q for the rest of his life.

He'd all but melted by the time Q spoke again. "Please," Luke murmured, not feeling the least bit ashamed of having this need and wanting it to be filled.

Q: Luke would be treated as he had since day one, like a king in Q's arms. One might consider his constant concern to be fastidious, but the word held no meaning here. The delicacy was effortless, more so than with many clients, possibly all clients. His comfort was priority, given with fingers, kisses, entrance, and every thrust. Luke would climax first; Luke would be cleaned first. Q would be the last to bed and would hold his beloved client throughout the night. He would wake first, wait for Luke to follow before beginning their day.

Luke: From where Luke was standing, the way Q treated him and acted with him was nothing less than a godsend. How could a man who was so gentle and so loving and who made him feel so wanted and attractive be anything else?

And this between them? It really was making love. It was always making love when it was with Q, and he made Luke feel so good that sometimes it almost brought him to tears. He could think of no way to repay Q other than letting him know exactly how cherished he felt with breathless moans and whimpers and grateful kisses.

Luke would be a puddle of liquid contentment in Q's arms the entire night, sleeping peacefully in the warm cocoon of his embrace before waking with a very odd--but very Luke--lament about the struggle of wanting blueberry pancakes but not wanting to get up to make them.

[idolimagines]

The Roommate (M)

Requested

Genre: smut, fluff

Length: 3.9K

You sat there in a daze, lips pressed together and watching as the colors of the television screen came to a blur. Your eyes were dilating out of focus as you were no longer paying attention to the screen - but Instead fixated on the mug sitting on the coffee table beside it.

You stayed still as your eyes glazed over the small item, examining its ceramic face and black cursive lettering that was messily painted along the side.  But it wasn’t just any mug, no – It was your roommate’s favorite mug. One that he would fill with coffee every morning.

You had made the simple mug for his birthday last year. Needless to say It wasn’t the best looking gift by any means - but it came from the heart as you made it as a replacement for the one he broke before. You were determined to make him a new one and after countless hours of sculpting and painting – you had finally finished and presented it to him on his birthday.

And every day since, he’s used it – and even gave it the title of his favorite mug.

The thought of his smile caused your own lips to curl up a little – grinning from the way you remembered his eyes lighting up at the sight of the small gift.

However, your smile started to fade as your eyes wandered to the photo frame sitting next to it.

It was a picture of you and your best friend, Catherine - or Cat for short. The two of you were smiling candidly and posing cutely for the camera.

You had met Cat at your university orientation and quickly became friends – bonding over romantic comedy movies and late night trips to convenience stores for guilty cravings. She was everything in a friend you had ever wanted. Nice, funny, caring – someone who you felt like you could trust.

In fact, everything was going perfectly throughout the semester.

…But it wasn’t until she met your roommate where everything changed.

You had planned a movie marathon night – wanting to spend a boring Saturday night indoors and eating junk food with your best friend. The two of you were sitting on the floor, mindlessly chowing down the large bowl of popcorn in front of you as you both stared at the television screen.

“Hey,” you heard from the hallway – followed by the door closing shortly afterwards.

“Hi,” you simply repeated – plopping a kernel into your mouth and keeping your eyes on the movie before you noticed Cat’s attention being caught elsewhere.

She was staring behind you, quickly forgetting the movie as her full attention was now fixated on the newcomer.

It caught you off guard for a moment, taking a double look before realizing she had never met your roommate before. “Oh I forgot to introduce you,” you casually announced. “Cat this is my roommate, Youngjae – Youngjae this my friend Catherine.”

Youngjae turned his head slightly, now noticing the guest as he walked further into the apartment. “Nice to meet you,” he simply greeted – shooting her a small smile and a wave before making his way to his room on the other side.

Cat shyly grinned as her eyes lit up – silently keeping them on him until he soon disappeared. Staring at her, you knew that look from anywhere, the dreamy gaze in her eyes. The cute smile she shot every other guy she had fancied before. 

…And it was from that very moment you knew things would be different.

Cat had her heart set on your roommate – making it clearly obvious after that first encounter as she would only talk about him from then on. She started coming over often, being more than delighted when your roommate just so happened to be home as well.

She fell in love with the way he talked – so smart yet playful and always cracking a joke here and there. She fell in love with his laugh, the way it echoed off the walls in a contagious way that would make even the saddest person crack a smile.

He was everything anyone could ever want.

…Including you.

But little did your friend know, you had been in love with him far before she did. Little did she know that you had fell in love with all those same characteristics Youngjae possessed just as she did. You were hopelessly in love with your roommate – a one sided love that you knew would never grow into anything more as you were sure he never saw you in such a way.

So when Cat asked you to put a good word in for her and give Youngjae her number, you obliged like the good friend you were.

“She wants me to text her?” Youngjae had asked, quirking a brow as you handed him the piece of paper.

“Yeah,” you answered in a short breath before tearing your eyes away from his. There was a minute of silence as Youngjae merely stared at the paper in your hand, gazing back and forth between it and you before speaking up,

“…and you’re okay with it?”  

You stared at the ground for a moment longer as you forced your lips to curl up into a fake smile before facing him. “Yeah…why wouldn’t I be?”

And in that moment Youngjae’s eyes widened, almost in shock himself that the words left your mouth.

“Nothing, never mind.” He answered, hiding the hurt beneath his voice before looking down and taking the piece of paper with Cat’s number out of your hand. He had a nonchalant look on his face as he then left you alone in the living room, dropping the conversation entirely as he went to his room.

The memories of it all floated in your mind until they were suddenly interrupted by the timer going off in the kitchen. You were soon surrounded by the comforting aroma of warm chocolate chip cookies as the oven timer continued to sound off – signaling your late night snack was fully done baking.

Soon, the ringing sound of your oven was suffocated by the hard drops of rain hitting outside your window. Carefully, you placed the hot cookie sheet down and turned your attention towards the window, watching as the rain drops quickly turned into heavy rain fall.

You kept your eyes on the view of the midnight sky as Mother Nature colored it with bright white and yellow colored lightning sparks. You stared out at the view, admiring it from indoors before the beeping of the oven startled you, making you remember to turn it off.

Your feet prodded across the hardwood floor as you steadily made your way back to the kitchen. You grabbed a spatula and took a few steps towards the counter as you eyed the dishware cabinet. A grunt left your mouth as you stood on your tip-toes, aiming for the large plate on the highest shelf.

“Ugh,” you groaned – stretching your arm further out in a failed attempt to grab the plate.

“Need some help?” A familiar voice boomed by your ear, causing you to screech before turning around.

“You scared me!” You scolded when you saw a smiling Youngjae. He was standing behind you, dressed in a white tee and jeans. You noticed his dark brown hair was damp from the rain outside.

“You get scared easily,” he commented with a lighthearted laugh and you frowned before moving him to reach for the plate again. “No I do not,” you sassed. “What are you doing here anyways?”

“I live here too remember?” Youngjae bluntly said, causing you to purse your lips.

“…I meant what are you doing here on a Saturday night? Usually you’re out with friends,” you further explained.

Youngjae sighed, getting tired of seeing you struggle with the infamous plate and easily lifting his arm up and grabbing it for you. You paused as you felt the firmness of his chest brush up against your back while he retrieved it. No one would think such a simple thing would be a big deal, but even just the slightest touch had your heart racing for him.

“I told the guys I wasn’t going out tonight,” Youngjae answered, referring back to your earlier statement.

You could feel his gaze concentrated on you, watching your movements as you lifted each cookie before setting the warm treats on the large plate. “Why not?” You simply asked, keeping your eyes focused on the task in front of you.

“Didn’t feel like it,” he answered with a shrug and you laughed.

“Jaebum is going to come here and drag you along with them,” you sarcastically replied and he grinned before throwing his hand over your hair and playfully messing it up.

Static stemmed from your now messed up locks and you scrunched your nose. “Jerk!” You shouted as you slapped his hand away.

“What? Frizzy hair looks good on you,” Youngjae confessed as he tried to contain his laughter. You looked at him and couldn’t help but smile before he continued.  

“…Ahhh, I don’t know,” he finally admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I just wanted to stay in tonight.” Youngjae added before reaching over and grabbing a cookie from the plate.

“Ow!” He yelped from the contact of the hot cookie on his skin before flinging it back on the plate.

“They’re not ready to eat yet. They still have to cool down,” you scolded as a slew of curse words left his mouth while he waved his hand in pain.

“I wish you would have told me sooner,” Youngjae whined before taking a look at his burnt fingers. “I’m injured now,” he playfully added.

An obnoxious laugh escaped your mouth as you continued filling the plate with the rest of the cookies, “Oh whatever, you’re such a baby.”

He scoffed before placing his hand in front of your face, “Kiss it.”

Your lips parted and you furrowed your eyebrows in disbelief, “What? No!”

“It’ll make the pain go away,” he tried to convince while puffing out his cheeks and pouting. You sneered, ignoring Youngjae as you placed the last cookie on the plate before looking back at him. He was still standing there, hand out and everything as he waited.

You quirked an eyebrow and looked at his expression, seeing as how dorky yet adorable he looked with a puppy dog face. “…Alright, fine.” You huffed before setting down your spatula and leaning forward.

Youngjae watched as you pressed your lips to his two fingers, taking in the faint smell of cookie from his skin as you did so. You let your lips linger on him for a second before losing contact while you moved away. “There, all better?” You asked as your voice was laced with sarcasm.

“Much,” he replied, smiling ever so gently at you. Your eyes locked and you looked away as you could feel the heat rising up to your cheeks before you started to place the dirty baking dishes into the sink - trying to distract yourself of the unrequited feelings that were raveling up to the front of your mind once more.

Letting his eyes linger on you and smiling to himself, Youngjae walked to the cabinet and grabbed a cup – filling it with cold water before turning back to you. “Y/N,” he simply called before realizing you couldn’t hear him over the clacking of dishes hitting against each other.

“Y/N,” Youngjae repeated, only this time standing dangerously close to you as one hand was carrying the cup and the other was resting on top of the counter.

“What?” You asked, finally hearing him and quickly turning around.

But just as you did, you bumped his cup – gasping as it fell to the floor while spilling its contents all over him.

You mentally scolded yourself at the sight of his now completely drenched shirt, watching as water droplets fell from the seam. “Sorry,” you apologized – grabbing a small towel from the drawer next to you and trying to take the excess water off of him.

“Don’t be, it’s just water.” Youngjae commented with a chuckle before stopping you and moving closer. “Move back, you’re going to get me wet,” you giggled as you tried to move away.

“Give me a hug,” he playfully suggested with open arms.

“Nope,” you grinned – looking up to Youngjae as he extended his arms out further. Being as quick as you were, you maneuvered around him and managed to get to the living room.

“Oh c’mon it’s just a hug,” he added with a cheerful laugh, taking baby steps towards you.  

“Back away,” you warned, trying hard to resist from smiling as you could feel your heart pounding within your chest.  

“Alright – alright.” Youngjae said as he stepped back with his hands up in surrender, waiting for you to turn around before using the moment to his advantage and running up behind you. “Ahh!” You shrieked, feeling his arms wrap around your waist. The moisture from his wet shirt sunk into your own as his chest was against your back.

“Youngjae!” You giggled, placing your hands over his own in an attempt to break free.

“I got you now,” he announced, feeling accomplished while holding onto you tighter. “You cheated though,” you added in a fit of laughs and giggles as you tried to get away until you suddenly felt his chin rest on top of your shoulder – causing you to temporarily halt.

The once laughed filled room turned silent as you felt him suddenly snuggled his head against you, looking at the ground with half lidded eyes. He kept a firm hold around you, subconsciously taking the time to enjoy the newfound comfort of you against him.

You felt goosebumps rise to the surface of your skin as his breaths hovered over. You found yourself so easily becoming relaxed within his grasp, loving the feeling just as much as he was.

“Youngjae…”

“D-do you?” He suddenly hummed against your skin, not caring to move as you stayed in his arms.

You blinked a few times as you stood there frozen, trying to process what he was asking before craning your neck as you slightly turned to him, “…Do I what??”

“Do you feel the same way about me as I do about you?”

And at that moment you felt your breath hitch before you broke away from him. Only to turn back and cross your arms in the process. “I don’t know what you’re talking-”

“I talked to Cat,” he interrupted. “She told me she had a feeling there was something more going on between you and I than being just friends.”

“She said we act more like a couple than two roommates,” he added.

“…And when she said that it only made me remember why I had gone to meet her in the first place,” he announced.

“It was to tell her I’m in love with you…I’ve been in love with you.”

“And once she understood, I came running back here just to see you – just to know if you felt the same way I had.”

You stared at him for a good minute, taking in each word piece by piece as you couldn’t believe what you just heard. “But what about Cat, she’s my friend and she likes you-” “I’m not interested in her!” He argued. “I never was. It’s just you - it’s always been just you.” The comforting sound of his words took your breath away as he stepped forward, caressing the side of your cheek before he wrapped his arms around you in a sweet hug.

And as his lips neared yours, you felt your eyes flutter closed before feeling the smooth surface of his lips against yours own. It felt soft and gentle, allowing you to savor each pure minute as your lips stayed in contact. For a moment, Youngjae broke the tender kiss – only to get a good look at you before gazing back down to your mouth and feverishly pressing his lips to yours once more. You pressed your body against his as his hands then moved down to your hips, holding you taught against him as the kiss soon ignited.

You let out a small moan as his tongue dived into your mouth, sliding against the smooth surface in lustful strides while your hands were caressing the sides of his handsome face – tilting him further into you as your needs were growing more. Your heart was racing – feeling like you were caught in your own little world – drowning out the sound of the television as you two couldn’t keep your hands off each other, only separating for seconds to breath as your back was now pressed up against the wall.

As soon as you were able to catch your breath, you pulled Youngjae further into you, feeling his heaving chest pressed against your own as you ran your fingers through his silky hair and pulling him down into you, giving you better access to his mouth.

This feeling was better than you had ever imagined. Fire was racing through your bloodstream, igniting a spark you had never experienced before as this was something you had only dreamed of.

Youngjae’s swollen lips left yours and instead created a pathway of kisses along your jaw – moving upwards towards a newfound sweet spot under your ear. You sucked in a breath so loudly he couldn’t help but chuckle and continue with renewed enthusiasm. Sighs and soft moans escaped your lips and you moved one hand from his messy locks down under his wet shirt to feel the smooth expanse of his stomach - feeling his muscles tighten from your heated touch.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Youngjae covered your mouth with his once more, capturing it in a jolt of passion as his hand moved to your neck – leaning you into him to enclose the small space that was left between you two.

His free hand began to explore over your breasts and down to your stomach lightly over your shirt, hands groping every inch as his lips ravished your skin. Sweet sounds left your lips and Youngjae let out a grunt of his own when he felt your hand rub over the bulge in his pants.

Leaning his forehead against yours, Youngjae didn’t care to control his labored breathing as he locked eyes with you. “We need to stop or I’m not going to be able to control myself Y/N – I don’t want to hurt you.”

“No,” you interjected. Panting heavy yourself, you tried to regain you breath as you stayed close, lips merely grazing one another as you confessed, “I want this.”

And with those three words, you finished off by connecting your lips once more, giving him that reassurance he needed before taking control and continuing on where you previously left off. With one quick motion, Youngjae swooped you off your feet bridal style – causing you to giggle into the kiss as you wrapped your arms around him.

You soon found yourself on his bed, watching as Youngjae removed his shirt in front of you before climbing over your body. You caught a glimpse of his toned physique, admiring the care he took of his body and the tattoo located on his upper arm. Strands of his dark brown hair tickled your skin while he leaned in and pressed his soft lips to your collarbone. You took your bottom lip in between your teeth as he sucked at the tender spot – nearly bruising it before his fingers began to lift the material of your shirt from beneath.

You sat up and allowed him to remove the shirt over your head, followed by your bra and soon working his way below to your underwear before you stripped him down as well. “I’ve wanted this for so long,” he murmured against your ear before holding your cheek to face him. “And now you’re here, beautiful as ever right in front of me.”

You blushed as his fingers traced over your skin, gently caressing each and every inch until you pushed him down beneath you. A satisfying smirk came across his handsome face while wrapping his arms around your body and pressing your chests together.

He groaned your name as you grinded yourself against him, feeling his member against your entrance while you returned the favor of placing delicate kisses all along his skin. You maneuvered yourself as you started from his chest, licking and pecking a trail down his body as he tangled his fingers in your hair.

As soon as you reached his member you could feel him twitch beneath your body before you placed a gentle kiss along his tip. Mumbled curses stemmed from the depths of his throat, coming out in sexy spurts of moans and pants as you began to stroke him some more.  

“Baby,” he breathed – looking at the beautiful sight of you on top of him, “Let me take care of you tonight.”

Before you could say a word, Youngjae had taken over and wasted no time in bringing your lips back to his. Tongues met again in a rush of lust and need as his hand moved underneath and traced the entrance of your bare slit.

Soon his thumb was circling over your sensitive nub, moving around in seductive motions as your juices covered his fingers, knowing you were more ready than ever as you begged for him to take you.

With a final searing kiss, Youngjae laid you down beside him and allowed his body to hover over your own, sliding into your entrance as he began to make love to you. The room was hot and your bodies were glistening with perspiration as you held onto each other for dear life, never wanting to be apart throughout this intimate moment.

With loud whimpers and muttered profanities you cried out Youngjae’s name as he filled you up with good, sensuous strokes – moving your hips with his for a deeper penetration. Your body felt like it was on cloud 9, feeling your senses heighten as you felt your high coming from within.

Youngjae kept you close as you buried your face into the crook of his neck, holding on for dear life as your nails clawed onto his skin. “Baby look at me,” he groaned. “Let me see that pretty face,” he cooed as his fingers moved strands of hair away from your face just to look at you become completely undone for him. The raw emotion of lust and desire had completely taken over the both of you and you laid there, gripping onto the sheets and screaming out each other’s names as you both released – hitting your highs one after the other before falling completely limp on the bed.

And there the two of you stayed, smiling like fools and cuddled in each other’s arms as your eyes began to slowly close.

“You’re falling sleep already?” Youngjae cooed with a boyish smile as he traced the outline of your pouty lips. “Did I do that well?”

His words made you snort a little and you squinted your eyes to take a peek at the man beside you. “Yes my love, you did amazing.”

“My love…” Youngjae repeated with a sheepish smile. “I like the sound of that.”

“Oh do you now?” You teased, returning the grin in return as he rubbed his nose against yours.

Youngjae chuckled before planting a quick kiss to your lips, “You know I love you right?”

You feverishly kissed him back while running your hand through his dark locks, “Well now I do.” You answered, causing him to lean in and place another kiss on your forehead. “And I love you too.” You added as your eyes began to close once more, letting the depths of slumber take over your body as you yawned.

“Y/N,” Youngjae whispered once more, letting his voice interrupt the peaceful sound of rain pouring outside.

“Hmm?” You slowly breathed, not bothering to open your eyes.

“I still have one question to ask you.”

You crinkled your brows, “And what’s that?”

A small grumbling sound was heard from Youngjae’s stomach and a chuckle left his throat as he couldn’t help but laugh at the idea but decided to ask you anyways as he said,

“Do you think the cookies are cooled now?”

[beyondforks]

Release Day Review! Last Dance by Jeffe Kennedy

Last Dance (Missed Connections #1) by Jeffe Kennedy 

Genre: Adult Fiction (Contemporary Romance)

Date Published: February 28, 2017

Publisher: Brightlynx Publishing

It was five minutes. His hand on the small of her back. His eyes watching like there was no one else in the crowded club. His body a breath away from hers. A kiss full of heat and need and promise. 

But then the stranger disappears. And Charlotte Emory can’t forget him. Worse, according to the dating Rules she and her four best friends swear by, all she can do is post an ad online. No names, no numbers. Just a missed connection – and the hope he’ll meet her, and see where another dance leads.

Except Mr. Mystery has his game, too, and he isn’t playing for only one night. He tempts Charley into a daring exploration of power, lust, and suspense, where even the most innocent requests sound indecent…and the indecent ones make her burn all night.

If she plays by the Rules, they’ll never get past teasing each other. But rules were made to be broken…

Last Dance is the first book in the Missed Connections series by Jeffe Kennedy. I've read and enjoyed this authors books in the past so I was super excited for the opportunity to read this one. The blurb really got my attention. You can already feel the chemistry before officially starting to read the book. Charlotte was a fun character. Her dating rules were great, and not too bad of an idea in many ways. (Even if I did want her to break a few) Mr Mystery knew just how to play her game too, which is just what she needed. I loved the sides to him. The mystery side was full of excitement and the unknown. Then as you get to know bits of the real him, he's all the more endearing. The supporting characters are friends you'd want in real life, and I'm so glad they'll be getting their own books within this series as well. Plus, the whole Missed Connections on Craigslist aspect of the story was just plain fun too. Who hasn't entertained themselves and wondered about some of those people on that site? Last Dance was such a fun, naughty little romance that kept me wondering about Mr. Mystery in the most thrilling ways.

The ARC of Last Dance by Jeffe Kennedy was kindly provided to me by the author for review. The opinions are my own.

The problem with martinis is, although they look and taste fabulous—plus low carb, if done right—the steep slope of the glass makes them easy to spill. Disaster in the making. Particularly on the second round. Being a cautious sort, if only in this arena, I sipped at mine before taking another step and used the opportunity to survey the club’s offering of masculine company. And to let them get a good look at me. Take the spotlight when you can because there’s always someone meaner ready to upstage you. The bright bounce of lights glanced off a good set of shoulders here—and ooh, a very nice ass in black jeans there. A table of guys gave me a long look as I passed and I pretended not to notice, though the dark-haired one could be a possible. “Any likelies?” Amy asked, taking the fresh drink from me as I got to our table, blowing me a kiss of thanks. She wore a lacy black sheath she’d designed in her spare time and made from remnants at her job—and she made it look like couture, the talented bitch. I set down my own glass. “Nobody stands out as fabulous. But the table over your right shoulder might have potential.” “The night is young,” Ice observed, scanning the dance floor below with dark eyes. She’d refused another round, as had Julie. Both of them still nursed their first drink, though Ice—Anaisa, though only her professors called her that—was theoretically not supposed to drink alcohol. She made a regular practice of doing all the things her family disapproved of, which was fairly easy since most of them lived elsewhere, some of them in India. Marcia didn’t drink at all and she clutched her seltzer, clearly wishing to be at home. It was a rare Friday night that I didn’t have a show, Julie wasn’t slaving in her restaurant, and everyone else was free, too, so we’d talked Marcia into coming out with us instead of staying behind in our empty house. But no one could force her to have fun. Believe me, I’d tried. My own personal sacred mission. Saint Charley, that’s me. “I gave the bartender Marcia’s number though,” I added, because I couldn’t resist. The girl needed poking. “He said he wanted a virgin sacrifice for some shamanistic ritual.” “Oh, ha ha.” Marcia at least transferred her black look from the seltzer to me. “There’s nothing wrong with saving myself.” “Saving is economical.” Amy nodded, making a serious face. “A virtue, even.” Julie licked off the end of the plastic gecko tail the Lizard Club used for drink stirrers. “Unless you count hoarding. Then it turns ugly.” “Oh my god. That show is riveting.” Ice shuddered. “I’m horrified but I can’t look away. Even in reruns.” “It’s a disease.” I deflected Marcia’s glower of warning with my best Julia Roberts angelic smile. It’s a good one. I’ve practiced it. “You can’t judge people like that—just give them your compassion and try to help. Or refer them to social services.” “Charlotte Emory, I’m going to crawl across this table and strangle you if you don’t shut up,” Marcia growled. I batted my lashes at her. “What? I’m just trying to help.” “Well, you’re not. I’ll find the right guy sooner or later.” “Sooner is more likely with you pried out of the house,” Ice noted. “And later than anyone we know,” Amy toasted her with a martini already half gone. “Than the rest of the known universe.” Julie poked Marcia with the gecko tail, which at least diverted Marcia’s attention onto her. “I hate all of you.” Marcia folded her arms. “Why don’t you go dance already?” “Hello, ladies.” Ooh, right on cue, Mr. Dark Hair had come through. His gaze fell on me and I returned his very charming smile. “Wanna dance?” he asked me. Yes. Yes, I did.

Check out my reviews of the Covenant of Thorns Trilogy by Jeffe Kennedy!

Jeffe Kennedy is an award-winning author with a writing career that spans decades. Her fantasy BDSM romance, Petals and Thorns, originally published under the pen name Jennifer Paris, has won several reader awards. Sapphire, the first book in Facets of Passion has placed first in multiple romance contests and the follow-up, Platinum, is climbing the charts. Her most recent works include three fiction series: the fantasy romance novels of A Covenant of Thorns, the contemporary BDSM novellas of the Facets of Passion, and the post-apocalyptic vampire erotica of the Blood Currency.  

Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine coon cats, a border collie, plentiful free-range lizards and a Doctor of Oriental Medicine. Jeffe can be found online at her website: JeffeKennedy.com or every Sunday at the popular SFF Seven.

To learn more about Jeffe Kennedy and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.