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catxsnow · 4 years ago

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DREAMING OF YOU D.W.

Request: hiii can i request an angsty older damian fic where he and the reader broke up but are still very much in love? maybe based out of the song "dream a little dream of me"? the ending is totally up to you!

Warning: angst

A/N: Lol I’ve been so preoccupied with the Halloween prompts I keep forgetting I have requested fics in my drafts. Anyways, I don’t know if this was exactly what you wanted but I hope you enjoy!

Word Count: 2.2k

Damian Wayne was the best thing to ever happen to you.

Damian came into your life when you were at your lowest. He was the one that helped you to climb out of that never ending pit that you were stuck in. He made you see the good in the world and that you could still find your own happiness. In the end of it all, you found happiness in him.

It was the little things that you found joy in again. Waking up early enough to see the sunrise. Ice cream on hot summer days. A walk in the park with Titus. Fresh produce from a farmers market. It was those things that drove you to see the light again, all because Damian was willing to stick by your side.

You started planning your life again. Finishing your last two years of your university degree. Buying a new apartment that wasn’t in the slums of Gotham. Reconnecting with family members that you hadn't talked with in months - some even years. You wanted a fresh start, and you had created one.

Damian got you back on track without even realizing it. He gave you hope for the future. Life with him was perfect. You couldn't imagine a future without him. He bled his heart and soul into your relationship, just as you did. Damian was the best thing to ever happen to you.

Until he wasn't.

The secrets, the lies, it caused fights between you. Damian hid part of his life from you and you couldn't understand why he was being so protective of it. You had opened yourself completely to him, and he couldn't be bothered to do the same. He loved you, there was no doubt about that. It was whether or not he devoted himself as much as you ever did.

You began questioning your entire relationship with him. How much of it was built on his lies? What even were his lies? The more you thought about it, the more you realized that you had only scratched to surface of who Damian really was. You didn't know anything about him, and he didn't want to tell you. He couldn’t.

Which led to the hard decision of whether or not you were willing to keep a relationship that was so one sided. How could you love someone when they were only willing to show a certain side of themselves? The answer: you couldn't. You loved Damian, you would forever. But it came down to the ultimatum of showing the real him or leaving.

Apparently Damian never loved you as much as you thought he did. He was gone by morning.

For weeks your dreams were plagued of him, mundane dreams that felt so real. Him waking you up for the sunrise that shone so perfectly into your window. Instead, when you opened your eyes, grey clouds were all that you could see. The days weren't nearly as pretty without Damian there to share it's beauty with you.

The bed was no longer filled with love and warmth. It was cold, you dreaded getting into it. His side was empty, though his smell still lingered no matter how many times you tried washing it away. Titus' fur would be found in your blankets and a random toy stuck under your couch. He probably missed you more than Damian did.

You swore you saw Damian everywhere after your breakup. At the drive through of your favourite fast food place, the park where you used to sit together, hell you thought you saw him at the grocery store. Damian didn't like grocery shopping, he never went. You felt delusional with seeing him everywhere.

At night when you were alone on the streets, you felt an eerily similar presence as him following you. Sometimes at night that same feeling would draw you towards your window and stare out of it in hopes to see his familiar green eyes. You were disappointed every time.

You never wanted to break up with him. You hoped so desperately that you could have worked things out with him. He was perfect for you, and you to him. Being without him was killing you inside. You missed his love, his smile, his touch, even that adorable little tick he had. TT. You hated when you picked it up and continued to use it without him.

You didn't know it, but Damian was a bigger mess without you.

He missed you more than he ever missed anyone or anything in his life. At home he was quiet, only keeping company with his pets. He refused conversation with his father or Alfred. Dick couldn’t even get through to him. Being back in the manor was something he didn't imagine himself doing. Yet, here he was.

His night life became more violent. He didn't have a fear of holding back his punches anymore because you would never find out his secret. His fucking secret. That was the reason that you were out of his life. Knowing that he was Robin? He didn't want to taint your beautiful life with that.

More times than not he would watch over you. Whether it was when you were walking home or at your apartment. He just needed to know that you were okay. Okay and alive were two very different things. Damian learned that very quickly. Without you, he wasn't sure if he would be okay ever again.

Damian craved your kiss. He didn't realize how lucky he was to even have a small peck here and there until it was taken away from him. There was nothing he wanted to do more than to rush to you and tell you how much he missed you. To hold you in his arms one last time and kiss you until your legs gave out.

He had dreams of you at night. Dreams of you laying in his arms with a smile on your face. You would tell him about your day and how much you loved him. He felt the warmth of you until the moment he woke up. Then, it was nothing but coldness. A dark, lonely room without any sign of you.

You were the best thing to ever happen to him.

It was that moment when he decided that he had made the biggest mistake of his life. If he cared about you enough, he should have been willing to let you decide if you wanted to stay in his life after knowing his secret. If he wanted you to be with him, then you were going to have to learn it one day.

It seemed easier to hurt you now, than it would have to be hurt by you after knowing everything he had done. Damian took the easy way out. He should have fought for you, trusted you with his secrets. He couldn't let you escape him, not while there was still a strand of hope.

Damian launched himself out of bed. It was nearing two in the morning but he didn't care. He needed to see you right now. He raced across the city on his cycle, passing all the streets in a blur. The way from his father's home to yours was etched into his brain. He could have made it there with his eyes closed if he so wanted to.

The kickstand on his bike was barely pulled out and his helmet thrown to the ground. Damian ran to your doorstep and feverishly knocked on your door. He was most likely to wake you, but it was worth it. He was ready to spill his heart and soul out to you and plead for you to take him back.

To his surprise, you opened the door relatively fast. You looked so effortlessly beautiful. A pair of shorts on a bag shirt - his shirt. Your hair was sopping wet and it was clear that you had just gotten out of the shower. Bags were under your eyes and you looked like you hadn't slept since your break up.

You stood there, mouth agape, unsure of what the hell he was doing at your door step at two in the morning on a Wednesday. It was raining out, Damian's hair matched your own. He was soaked to the bone and his clothes clung to him. A desperate look was on his face.

"Damian..." You breathed out. He looked like a wreck. Creases around his eyes that had never been there before were evident. His hands trembled at his sides - though that might have just been from the cold. "What're you doing here?"

"I needed to see you," Damian started. His heart clenched at the sight of you. "I needed to apologize for everything that I did, for keeping things from you. I was so scared that if you knew the truth about me that I would lose you."

"You lost me anyways, Damian," You shook your head. He was the one that decided to walk out on you after you were willing to put in the work. It was Damian that made that decision, he lost you because he choose to. All of this was his fault and only his fault - the secrets he kept, the choices he made.

"Please, please just let me explain everything," Damian begged. He didn't know if he could ever live with himself if you turned him away in this moment. "If you want me to leave after, I will. You'll never have to see or hear from me again, just... I can't go on anymore knowing that there's someway that I can try to fix this. That there’s still a chance of getting you back."

You crossed your arms over your chest, debating whether or not you were willing to be hurt by him again. Damian was the love of your life, he would always be the love of your life. Letting him explain himself too you, that was either going to be the ticket he needed back into your life, or the closure you finally needed. Or something far worse.

So, maybe mistakenly, you opened the door wider to let Damian in. Your home hadn't changed much in the weeks that he was gone. It was messier, but otherwise identical. Several picture frames of the two of you were turned down, but not put away. His hoodie that he left behind was still strewn across the back of the chair.

He thanked you as you handed him a towel. Damian sat on your coffee table directly across from your spot on the couch. He paused for a moment, wondering where to begin and how far back he needed to go. If you were going to take him back after that night, you would deserve to know everything.

For now, he started with his arrival in Gotham City all those years ago.

He told of you his life with his father, his brothers. The teams that he had been on and the struggles that he had been through. Damian told you of his hardships, his dreams, his failures. He told you of the times that he had lost all hope and the times that you had given some back to him.

Damian told you everything there was to know about his life as Robin.

By the end of it, you were in tears. All those times that he lied to you about what he was going or where he was going, his 'business trips' for his father, they were all because he was risking his life to be Robin. Damian was a hero, and you were too oblivious to even notice. You were so focused on his lies that you didn't want to see why he was doing so. Everything he did was to protect you.

Damian reached forward and wiped away your tears. He didn't want to see you upset from his. Your bottom lip trembled. You felt horrible for being cruel to him so many times because you didn't know the truth. Without another thought, you leaped into his arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," You sobbed against him. Damian kissed the top of your head. He cupped your cheeks, making you meet his eyes. His gaze flickered down to your lips for a split second before looking back to yours. It was a subtle way of asking if it as okay. You answered by initiating your long awaited kiss.

The weeks apart left a yearning for you both. This kiss was the one thing that both of you craved most. The tenderness of it, the love that fueled it. You felt like you were going to combust from how much you missed his kisses. Your dreams of him kissing you were nothing compared to this.

"I love you," Damian pulled away, resting his forehead against yours. He was petrified to let you go again, scared that you wouldn't come back this time. Dreams of you would never be enough for him. Damian needed you like he needed air. "I can't live without you. I dreamed of you ever night."

"I wished upon the stars every night hoping that you would come back to me," You confessed. "Please don't leave me again."

"Never, beloved."

#damian wayne #damian wayne imagine #damian wayne oneshot #damian wayne x reader #older!damian #robin #robin imagine #dc imagine #dc one shot #dc #batfam #batfam imagine #fluff #angst

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slygirl666 · 4 years ago

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the thin line

Warnings: sex language all that shit

authors note: this is one of those drafts I promised because why not, not edited and not my favorite

words: 3453

You flopped onto the couch. Fred, who was nursing a glass of scotch, looked up at you shocked.

“Bad date, I reckon?” He looked sympathetic, a rare trait for him.

“The absolute worse,” you groaned, moving to lean on his shoulder. “First off he was constantly talking about his exes, yes multiple, and not even twenty minutes into the date he tried to put his hands up my skirt.”

“No,” Fred mock gasped. “You wait till at least the third date to let a man publicly get you off.”

You slapped his shoulder but couldn’t hold in the laughter what he said. “What about you? Huh, Fred, correct me if I’m wrong but you're going through a dry spell yourself.”

“This isn't about me Y/N.” he glared at you. You seemed to have struck a nerve.

It was true you and Fred have no secrets between you, having lived together for the last year. In the beginning you had often met women he kept around for a week at most, at times even playing the angry girlfriend when a one off overstayed their welcome. Fred often caught you doing the walk of shame through the joke shops door after your latest night out.

“I’m sorry your date sucked, love.” he stroked your arm soothingly. “If you’d like I can draw you a bath, get you some wine.”

You nodded, It was a ritual. Failed love life, he drew you a bath and let you relax; if he had a stressful day at work you would read to him (something he didn’t enjoy doing himself, but loved listening to) while he rested his head on your thigh.

Fred walked to your bathroom running the water, before moving to the kitchen getting you a glass and bottle. “Bubbles?”

“Always,” you shouted to him.

In a few minutes time Fred was at the doorway to get you, “come on princess Bath is ready.”

You smiled, moving to twist your hair up as you walked into the bathroom. Once you were undressed and in the tub, which was filled to the brim with bubbles, Frec came back in lowering the toilet seat so he could sit and talk with you.

“How many dates is that this time around?” Fred asked, pouring a glass for you.

“Three this week,” you sighed while drinking some of the bitter liquid. “I’m I that horrible to look at? I mean not to sound vain but I have a decent face, and my tits aren't half bad either.”

Fred choked on the drink he took. “I mean-”

“Don’t answer that, let me wallow in self pity for a few hours,” you rolled your eyes kicking up some water. “Tell me, anything new happening in the shop?”

Fred talked excitedly about his newest product. The two of you sat there until your skin started to prune. You shooed him out so you could get ready for the night.

Once again you found yourself on the couch with Fred's head in your lap. You ran your fingers through his ginger hair. He made small appreciative moans that you felt lower in your body than you should have.

“We should get some sleep Fred,” you smiled down to him, before shocking him off lightly to go to your own room.

You spent a couple hours tossing and turning, Pressing your legs together to create some form of much needed friction. It had been months since you’ve slept with someone and the fact that you needed to get laid was more evident in the fact that sounds your best friend made had you hot and bothered.

It was well past midnight, Fred had to be asleep, so you gave in.

“Fuck it.”

You allowed one hand to trail to your underwear teasing yourself through the fabric. You were already wet and frustrated but you didn't want to give in just yet. You trailed your pinky finger up and down your clothed heat applying the slightest bit of pressure over your clit.

You bit your lip to muffle the goan escaping your lips, before moving to your dresser pulling out a bullet vibrator. You clicked it on the sound of the light buzz increasing your ever growing excitement. You pressed it against your navel before guiding it down past the elastic of your underwear it was centimeters away from your center, a loud moan dripped from your lips as it touched that aching bundle of nerves.

A knock at the door interrupted your high. “Y/N, you okay?”

“Yes Fred,” you clicked off the bullet, shoving it under your pillow. Just in time to see Fred peak his head through the door.

“I thought I heard something,” Fred sat on the edge of your bed. “Came to check on you, only to hear it come from your room. Are you alright?”

You refused to meet his eyes, the smirk that played on his lips told you he had some idea of what you were up to.

“I’m fine fred, thank you for your concern.” you tried to end the conversation, but you felt the mattress shift beside you as fred got comfortable.

“So Princess, what were you doing?” his voice was low in your ear, making your breath hitch.

“Nothing, Freddie,” you were breathless and he knew what he was doing. “I’m going to bed.”

You felt him pull you to his chest, his soft breaths lulling you to sleep.

The next morning you woke to Fred stirring awake, he was not a morning person so you struggled out of his grasp to the kitchen.

You put on a pot of coffee before jumping up to sit on the counter next to the machine. You sat there listening to the coffee drip, thoughts flooded with the cheeky bastard you woke up next to.

George came in through the door looking exhausted, he looked to you then to the slowly filling up pot of coffee.

“You are an angel, L/N.” George went to the covert to bring out three mugs. When it was finished he poured the dark liquid adding milk and sugar to the three mugs.

The smell of the coffee seemed to drag Fred out of bed. He walked into the kitchen groggily you picked up and offered him a mug that he took with a sleepy smile. “Morning Princess, Georgie.”

George quickly told Fred about the plans for the shop before the two men parted. Fred to get dressed, and George to their office to do paper work.

Fred came out of his room in a nice suit using his wand to do his tie as he walked towards the front door.

“See you tonight, Y/N.” he smiled at you, straightening his tie.

Being a Saturday meant you didn’t have to go into work for the weekend, you used your wand to clean up the mess you had all made before moving onto your room.

You debated upon making your bed, before moving the pillow you slept under. You were shocked to find your vibraitor not under your pillow but on the nightstand. There was one explanation you didn’t even want to think of.

You laid yourself down back onto the bed, deciding a few more hours of sleep would be best.

Fred came back after work to find you watching a tv show. He settled onto the couch.

“What are you watching?”

“Muggle tv show.” you took your eyes off the tv. “We should go out tonight.”

“Should we?” Fred kicked off his shoes, “does this have something to do with last night? Or maybe what I found under my pillow this morning?”

“Yes,” you answered plainly. “And to be fair you invited yourself into my room, what you found was your fault.”

You got up going to your room to find something to wear to a club. You found a black leather skirt and low cut tank that had lace framing your breast perfectly.

You walked out of your room to find Fred had discarded his jacket and suit vest leaving him in a pair of dark slacks, a lavender shirt and his tie.

You walked to him face to chest with him. You moved to loosen his tie and remove it, “you are still a bit too formal for clubbing. Undo the top tree buttons and roll your sleeves up.”

You instructed going to the shoe rack for your heels, before slipping them clumsily.

“Where are we going?”

“Muggle club, in London,” you put your arm through his. “A lot of uni students go there, so plenty of people our age.”

The two of you disapperated to the three broomsticks to go through to Muggle London.

You pulled Fred around till you found the place you were looking for, a place a muggle born friend of yours had shown you straight out of hogwarts.

You waited in the line of people until you were allowed in. the two of you made a B-line for the bar.

Fred ordered your drinks while you looked around the club, “tall blond, near the door. She’s checking you out.”

“You sure?” He looked in the direction you told him. “She’s pretty, might do for a night.”

He handed you your drink walking off to the direction of the blonde woman. You knew you wouldn’t see him for a while, possibly all night. You sat at a seat overlooking the dance floor, you saw a familiar flash of red hair under the neon lights as he danced jokingly with the girl you pointed out to him.

You sat back enjoying your people watching. “You look far too pretty to be sitting alone.”

You turned to see a man, he was handsome with dark curls and light eyes contrasting with the carmel color of his skin. “Something must be wrong, let me guess you were cheated on?”

“No,” you smiled at his assumptions.

“Girls night out and you are the DD,” you lifted your drink and he thought. “Heart broken?”

You tilted your head giving him a small smile, “it feels like it but i'm not sure, can someone who never had your heart break it?”

“That’s way too poetic for a girl in a trashy club,” he laughed. “Calen Collens.”

“Y/N L/N,” you offered him a hand to shake. “Would you like to dance?”

He smiled taking you to the dance floor, the movements the two of you made close and slow.

Soon his lips found your ear. “Be mine tonight, Y/N?”

That was too much, too forward. Sure she let him flit and held him close but the fact he would be so forward. “I’m going to go to the restroom.”

You ran as fast as you could in heels, you found Fred pressed against a wall with the blonde on his lips.

“I'm going home,” you walked past them out into the cold night tears threatening to fall. It was dark and Muggle London wasn’t the safest palace at night, you just had to find somewhere secluded.

There were footsteps behind you, you ducked into an alleyway hoping they would stop. They didn't. You felt a hand grab your forearm and you drew your wand.

“Merlin, it's me,” you were spun around to be face to face with Fred. his eyes softened when he saw the tears on your face, he brought a hand to wipe at them. “Princess lets get you home.”

He pressed a kiss to your forehead, bringing his own wand out taking the two of you home.

* * *

The two of you were on the couch you had put on a movie and were resting with your head on Fred’s chest. He stroked your hair, “do you want to tell me what happened?”

“I met a man, he was charming and nice. But the moment that he asked if i could be his tonight I broke.” you laughed humorlessly, “i complain about the lack of sex in my life, hell you almost caught me getting off. Yet a hot man approached me and I had a breakdown like no other, and then I ruined your chance for a bit of fun. It’s pathetic.”

“No it isn’t,” Fred sighed leaning his cheek onto your head. “You just aren’t one for casual nights.”

“It would be easier if i was,” you rolled your eyes. “I also want trust and respect, but that's a bit much I guess.”

“It really isn’t Princess,” he lifted your chin to face him. “I think that's admirable.”

Your eyes met his, his hazel ones flicking from your lips to your eyes. You brought a hand to trace his jaw line, something you’ve done many times before but felt different now.

You felt his breath first, his nose bumping yours. He was giving you time to back away, you didn’t want to.

He pressed his lips to yours, they were softer than you could imagine. You brought your hands to his neck as his hands went for your waist.

You pulled him down guiding him on top of you.

“Room?” Fred breathed into the kiss, You let out a soft hum in response.

Fred guided you up, once you were on your feet he pulled you into him, leaning down to give you a breathtaking kiss.

He pulled away slowly dragging your bottom lip between his teeth.

You let out a moan, he pulled you by the hand as he rushed to his room.

“Are you sure about this?” He was hesitant once this line was crossed it could never be forgotten.

“We can freak out tomorrow,” you pushed him onto his bed. “Right now take your clothes off.”

“Gladly,” he moved to take off his shirt. You watched appreciatively as his arms flexed.

You sat with legs on either side of his waist, your fingertips tracing the exposed skin. His lips met your neck with light nips as he tugged on your tank top. You leaned back allowing him to pull it over your head.

You shivered at the sudden exposure to the cold air, Fred stared at you in awe. His hands came to cup your breast, the rough pads of his thumbs traced your nipple teasingly.

Your breath hitched and he threw you a cheeky smirk before bringing his tongue out and flicking one.

You moaned at the contrast of the cold air and the heat of his mouth. Every movement he made every lick, nip and suck felt expertly practiced.

His hands fell back to your hips using them to push you off him and have you land with your back pushed into the mattress. He kissed down your navel before making eye contact with you.

“You are fucking perfect.” he brought a hand under the elastic of your sleep shorts, his eyes went wide in surprise. “No underwear? You princess are in trouble.”

He pulled your shorts to your knees before continuing to trail his lips down to your center. His right hand following his lips while his left kept you in place.

He lifted his head as he brought his fingers to your core, letting out a breathy chuckle when you moaned. He put two of his fingers into you. He put the two both into his mouth, he hummed smirking at your reaction.

“Okay, Fred, that- that was hot.” you let out an airy laugh completely off guard. He kissed your inner thigh, the tip of his nose teasing where you want him the most. “Freddie-”

His name shifted to a moan as he trailed his tongue to your entrance.

A mew left your lips as he worked the flat of his tongue around up and down your entrance. He stopped the movement to allow his fingers back inside you. He got a bit bolder using his teeth to lightly nip at your clit. You moved your hands into his hair back arching as he continued to allow his tongue to flick at it, letting his teeth work in sync as well.

You gripped his hair slightly with a tug. “Fuck, Princess.”

You leaned up meeting his eyes, the sight of him between your legs, his mouth a mess, his torso exposed was the most beautiful thing you had ever seen. “Are you ready? because I absolutely am.”

“Just be inside of me freddie,” you looked up at him through your eyelashes. Got up to remove his pants

The anticipation that you felt watching him stroke himself was insane. You watched him in what felt like slow motion as he pumped his cock, a look of blissful relief crossed his handsome features.

The trob between your legs felt unbearable, “hurry up Fred, please.”

“Needy thing aren't you?” he chuckled, moving his hand back to line himself up to you. When he finally entered you you moaned happy to feel him.

* * *

You woke up sore tangled in sheets that aren't yours,as the weight of the bed shifted. Fred moved to find his clothes.

“Morning, Freddie.” you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. It wasn’t the first time you woke up in his bed but this time was extraordinarily different. You found your shorts discarded on the floor before moving to pull them on, you felt his eyes watching you. “What time is it?”

“Seven,” you turned to find him sitting in just a pair of boxers. He looked lost so you found your way back to him standing between his legs. “We’ll talk after I finish up at the shop, right?”

You moved your fingers to trace his worried face. “I’ll be right here like I always am.”

You threw on a shirt and went for the door.

“George will be suspicious if we were out at the same time, I’ll make you coffee.” you walked out going to your own room to throw on a robe.

When you put coffee grounds in the machine and clicked it on George walked through the door, pulling you in for a side hug. “If i weren’t engaged I would marry you L/N, Freddie should.’

“Angelina ban coffee again?” you laughed finding three tall mugs for all of you.

“If I didn't love her or the child that we made I would leave because of that coffee ban.” he sighed dramatically.

“You don't mean that, shut up and get the cream from the fridge,” you rolled your eyes watching the drip of the coffee finish.

Fred emerged from his own room with a sleepy grin, faker. You poured him a cup with all the fixings before handing it to him. “Morning Princess, sleep well?”

He winked at you over the brim of his cup. “No, something had me rolling around all night, nothing I can't fix.”

He laughed as George looked between the two of you, “I don't get you two.” he walked out the door down to the office.

Fred pulled you close, “ tonight?”

“tonight,” you tiptoed to kiss his nose.

He smiled with a boyish charm and walked out the door with a small hop in his step. Now was the time to overthink everything.

Was it a mistake?

Did he hate it?

Were you bad?

Would you guys ever be the same?

You went into the kitchen and pulled out Molly’s baking cards. If you were going to talk may as well have something sweet while you were at it. With the wave of your wand music filled the room from the radio. You moved your hips along with the beat. Looking through the cards you decided on her tentacle tart recipe, not finding everything you went out to the store.

You spent your day doing small things, organizing your stuff in the bathroom, doing your laundry and reading two books.

When the door to the apartment opened you jumped up from the couch. “Fred.”

“Y/N, how was your day?” you watched as your usually overly confident best friend shuffled his feet bashfully.

“Sit down Fred,” you laughed. “We don’t have to be awkward, let's be grown ups now freddie. Tentacle tart?”

He nodded letting a carefree chuckle escape him. “Please, so we had sex.”

“I'm pretty sure we were both present, what should we do now? Pretend it never happened-?

“No, I don't want to pretend it never happened.”

“Neither of us have dated any since our school days, and we live in such close quarters I don’t think casual will suit us.”

“We don’t have to label it you know, we can just be us.” Fred finally met your eye, his usual smirk finally finding his face. “Bet mum would be happy.”

“We could just let them figure it out,” you chuckled. “Ginny told me the whole family has money on us.”

#fred weasley #fred weasley fanfiction #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley x you #fred weasley x reader #harry potter fan fiction #Harry Potter

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moldisgoodforyou · 4 years ago

Text

lost time (chapter eight)

MASTERLIST

pairing: rafe cameron x oc

warning: cursing

wordcount: 4.2k it’s been a while buckle up

gif from @poguemackin

Rafe showed up to class on Monday with more nerves than he ever had, unsure of what Sophie’s reaction would be. After having a long heart-to-heart with James and Colin (though he would never call it that), he had come to terms that maybe, just maybe, he liked Sophie Flint more than a friend. He was determined to try, telling himself he would be patient when she would try to argue like always and that he would give it a chance. For once.

Sophie didn’t seem to get the memo.

She barely greeted him, only offering a half-smile when she sat next to him - unusually late, only there one minute until class was meant to start. “Running late today?” Rafe elbowed her with a grin.

“Guess so.” She shrugged, head down as she started scrawling into her notebook while their professor started teaching.

He frowned, caught off guard by her cold demeanor, given that they were cuddled together in a bed just under 48 hours ago. “Just teasing, Soph.”

She nodded, keeping her eyes down. “I know.”

The rest of the class continued like that, Rafe resisting every single urge in his body to tear off a piece of paper and slide her a note. (She’d probably find it annoying, and it wasn’t middle school, anyways.) At the end of class, she didn’t even bother to pack her bag, just gathered her things into her arms and hurriedly left before he even had a second to say goodbye. As promised, he met James to walk to their next class together, looking completely lost.

“How’d it go?” James asked Rafe with a grin, reaching out to knuckle his fist against Rafe’s hair.

Rafe ducked out from under him and shoved his arm away, scowling. “Not good. She barely even looked at me, let alone talked to me.”

“Oh.” James frowned. “Maybe she was just tired? It is kind of early.”

“Nah, she at least smiles at me. Or have some smart comeback and she didn’t even try today.” Rafe rubbed the back of his neck, thinking about how she avoided him.

“Huh. Text her and see if she’s okay.” James urged.

“She probably wouldn’t like that.” Rafe hesitated, but took out his phone anyways. “I don’t want her to think I’m annoying.”

“Then wait and text her later today. It’ll be fine, dude, don’t stress about it.”

“I’m not stressed!” Rafe argued.

James rolled his eyes and grabbed Rafe’s wrist, not letting go when Rafe objected and shoved up his sleeve. He inspected the peeling leather on Rafe’s watch band and dropped his arm, shaking his head. “You scratch up the leather on this when you’re stressed out. And those are new marks.”

Rafe yanked his sleeve back down over the watch. “I didn’t think you picked up on that.”

“Well Colin pointed it out first, but now I notice whenever you do it.” James shrugged. “It’s Sophie. She’ll come around.”

“How are you so sure about this?”

James shrugged again. “Like we said yesterday. You two are like, magnetic or some shit. There’s no way it won’t work out.”

“He didn’t say a single thing to me all class!” Sophie exclaimed the second she walked through the door, huffing as the door slammed shut behind her.

Both Allie and Julia lifted their heads from their work at their desks, completely unfazed by her loud entrance. She had recapped the events of the night (that she could remember, at least) yesterday morning over brunch, several mimosas, and they both had to talk her down from marching over to the Delt house right that second and asking for answers from Rafe.

“Not one thing?” Julia asked, skeptical.

Sophie flopped down dramatically onto the beanbag in the corner. “Well, okay, maybe a few things, but that was it. It’s like he didn’t even try.”

Allie raised her eyebrows and shut her laptop. “What exactly did he say, Soph?”

“He asked if I was running late, because, you know, I showed up later -”

“So you wouldn’t have to talk to him.” Julia pointed out.

“Only because he didn’t text me at all!” Sophie cried out, shooting a pointed glare her way. “And then he said he was just teasing and that was it.”

“Did you give him room to respond?” Allie asked gently, trying to get her to see through her flawed logic.

Sophie huffed, crossing her arms. “Probably.”

“Oh, probably, that’s a solid answer.” Julia rolled her eyes. “Look, do you want something with him or not?”

“I…” Sophie faltered, thinking. “I mean, maybe, but not if he can’t even text me after we slept together.”

“Well how big is he?” Julia grinned.

Allie reached across the desk, swatting her arm. “Jules!”

“What?!”

Sophie groaned, covering her face as a blush bloomed on her cheeks. “I don’t even know, guys, I told you I can’t remember anything after we got back to his house. I just remember trying to kiss him and then I woke up in his t-shirt.” She gasped. “Oh my god.”

“What’s wrong?” Julia frowned.

“What if I was that bad? Oh god, what if I was genuinely so terrible that he literally never wants to talk to me again? I can’t really walk when I’m drunk, so I’m probably not even good at fucking -”

“Stop, stop!” Allie laughed, throwing a pencil at her from across the room. “I don’t want to hear the details. Are you even sure you hooked up?”

“Yeah, why else would I be wearing his shirt?” Sophie reasoned. Her phone chimed and she froze, holding it up. “It’s Rafe. Should I open it?”

“Yes, stupid, open the text!” Julia exclaimed, scooting her chair closer to see the phone.

“Be nice!” Sophie scowled, unlocking her phone - and her jaw dropped. “Oh no.”

“You are so dramatic.” Allie giggled, walking over to see. “What’d he say?”

“Um...I might have made a mistake.” Sophie groaned, turning her phone to show two texts from Rafe yesterday, and one that had just been sent.

Rafe, 8:30am Sunday: Everything okay? You didn’t need to leave

Rafe, 4pm Sunday: Hope you’re feeling alright today

Rafe, 10:15 Monday: Are you okay?

Julia snorted. “Way to leave him on read, Soph.”

“Jules.” Allie chided, frowning.

“This is bad, isn’t it.” Sophie bit her lip, embarrassed.

“It doesn’t look great.” Allie admitted. “But hey! He still checked in on you just now! You can make up for ignoring him.”

“It wasn’t on purpose!” Sophie defended, already typing back a message.

“Wait, don’t look too eager.” Julia tried grabbing at the phone and Allie swatted her hands away.

“Don’t listen to her, you’ve been playing hard to get for two and a half years. Eager is fine.”

Sophie paused, glancing between the two of her friends, then sent the text. “Al, if I regret this, I’m blaming you.”

Allie rolled her eyes. “I’d expect nothing less.”

After a moment’s pause with bated breath, her phone chimed again and she grinned, turning the phone away to hide the screen. “Okay, okay, you two can go back to studying.”

Julia laughed, moving away with Allie. “Don’t forget to be nice for once.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sophie stuck out her tongue at Julia, but smiled anyways.

Sophie: yeah I’m good, just tired. sorry I didn’t see your other two texts

Rafe: I was beginning to think you were ignoring me haha

Sophie: no of course not

Rafe: Good

Rafe: Do you want to come study at the house tomorrow night? We can be in the formal room it just seems silly to go all the way to the library when we live so close

Sophie: what do we have to study for?

Rafe: Tomorrow’s Tuesday, did you forget about our running study date lol

Sophie: date huh

Rafe: You know what I mean

Sophie: yes I’d love to come over, I’ll see you at the same time

Once Rafe got Sophie’s final reply, he liked the message then let out a sigh of relief. He hadn’t paid attention to a single thing in his economics lecture, focusing more on texting Sophie and her responses. As their professor dismissed the class, Rafe shut his laptop with a grin, turning to Colin. “Can I -”

“Yes, you can have my notes.” Colin rolled his eyes, walking out with Rafe. “You texting Sophie the whole time?”

“Yeah, she replies slow - wait, how’d you know?”

Colin laughed. “You were grinning like an idiot at your computer during the whole lecture, and you hate this class.”

“Oh.” Rafe tried his best to fight the smile on his face, then shrugged. “We have a date tomorrow.”

“Really, you actually asked her out? Good on you, man,” Colin said.

“Well.” Rafe hedged, rubbing his neck. “Not exactly. She’s just coming over for when we usually study for our class together.”

Colin groaned and shoved Rafe’s arm. “That’s not a date, idiot. Do better.”

“I gotta take it slow!” Rafe protested.

“You’ve had your time taking it slow. Make a real move for once.” Colin said, shaking his head.

Sophie showed up to the Delt house dressed a little nicer than usual, just enough so Rafe would notice, in a sweater and a skirt. She was more nervous than ever, fidgeting with the ends of her hair as she waited on the front porch. Rafe hustled down the stairs the second he got her text, greeting her at the door with a huge grin. “Soph, hey!” He glanced over her appearance, immediately regretting his t-shirt and sweatpants attire.

His grin put her at ease and she relaxed, following him into the house. “Got a hot date after this or something?” He teased, leading her to the formal room where a few other boys were out studying.

“And what if I do?” She challenged, taking a seat opposite him at a table.

He raised his eyebrows, trying his best to not show any sign of disappointment. “Do you?”

She blushed a little but kept his gaze. “I - no. I had a presentation for class.” She lied, embarrassed she had even tried so hard.

“You look good.” Rafe paused. “Really good.”

Sophie bit back a smile, shaking her head a little. “Thank you. Um, we should study, I don’t want to keep you busy for too long.” She slid out her notebook, showing him a few pages of meticulous notes for their debate topic.

His notes, albeit messy, rivaled hers. “You actually prepared.” She said, impressed as she flipped through the pages.

He frowned a little. “I’ve been prepared every time. I’m not gonna let you down, Soph.” The words held more meaning than just talking about the group project and she did her best to ignore it, nodding as she skimmed over his notebook.

She paused, finger on a small note scribbled in the margin. “You wrote down my coffee order?”

Rafe blushed, embarrassed, and snagged back the notebook. “Well yeah, I had to remember it somehow.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Less about us, more about the ethics of time travel.” He flipped to a fresh page, ready to take down more notes. The two kept up easy conversation for a while, not noticing the time passing as they worked. When Sophie realized she’d been there for over an hour and the conversation was still surprisingly dry, given what had transpired on Saturday, she reached across the table and snapped Rafe’s book shut.

“Look, we should just talk about it.”

“It?” Rafe repeated, raising his eyebrows cluelessly.

“You know.” Sophie hinted, then huffed when he just looked more confused. “You’re gonna make me say it? Fine. Okay, since we slept together, you haven’t - what the fuck are you smiling for!” She scowled, crossing her arms.

He was grinning ear-to-ear but leaned back in his chair, clearly amused. “Sorry, sorry go on.”

“This isn’t funny, Cameron.”

“That’s Mr. Cameron to you.” He teased.

She ignored him, rolling her eyes. “Since we slept together you haven’t said a single thing about it. And whatever, I know I was drunk, but if I was really that bad -"

Rafe couldn’t keep the act up anymore and started cracking up, hardly able to keep eye contact. He doubled over, almost wheezing as he laughed.

“It’s not funny!” Sophie hissed, embarrassed as his loud laughter drew attention from boys walking by.

He swiped his hand across his eyes, shaking his head as he let out a few more chuckles. “Soph, we didn’t sleep together. Not like that.”

Sophie frowned and it was her turn to be confused. “Wait, what?”

“You called me when you were drunk, I picked you up and you wanted to come back here, then you asked for clothes to change into to sleep.” A small blush crept up his neck and he looked a little shy. “Then, um, you asked me to come cuddle but I accidentally fell asleep when you did. And I woke up and you were gone.”

She sat back in her chair, reeling as she processed this new information. “I didn’t sleep with you.”

“Not in anything other than the literal sense, no.”

“Oh.”

“See? Nothing to worry about. You were drunk, I wouldn’t have - you know. I just wanted you safe.”

At those words, she remembered him saying them that night. “And you practically saved my life.”

Rafe paused. “Huh? I mean, you almost stepped out into traffic. But wait, you were hammered, how do you remember that?”

She rolled her eyes. “I remember practically everything even when I’m drinking, what do you mean?”

“Practically everything…” he repeated, slowly. She could practically see the wheels turning in his head at her confession. His jaw dropped. “So you lied! About our first kiss!”

“I...yeah.” Trapped in her lie, Sophie winced. “I don’t know why. I’m sorry, I just didn’t want you to think I go around letting just anyone kiss me when I’m drunk.”

Rafe laughed, shaking his head. “You kissed me, Sophie Flint. Not the other way around.”

She scowled at the name. “Oh, not the full name now, you’re making it sound like I’m in trouble.”

He hesitated, glancing down at his notes before looking back up at her. “Why’d you lie?”

“I was nervous.” She admitted, biting her lip. “Maybe I thought you’d think less of me or something, I don’t know.”

He softened, reaching out across the table to take her hand. She let him, brain fogging over as he rubbed gentle circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. “I’d never think that, Soph.”

She took a moment too long to reply, distracted by his touch. “Okay. Good.”

“Should we finish?” He asked, not letting go of her hand.

She was the first to let go, reluctantly pulling her hand back to her book. “Yeah. Um.” Sophie blushed, flipping through a few pages randomly to give her a moment to think. “Page 54, yeah?”

The second Rafe waved goodbye to Sophie and let the door shut behind her, James and Colin practically ambushed him in the foyer. They had been ‘studying’ in the corner of the formal room, not-so-subtly giving Rafe multiple winks and thumbs up from behind Sophie’s back as they tried eavesdropping on their entire conversation. James clapped Rafe on the shoulder, grinning. “Ask her out yet?”

“No.” Rafe responded, still confused from their conversation. They had gotten nowhere, yet they had also gotten...somewhere? “I held her hand.”

“For two seconds.” Colin rolled his eyes.

“Still something!” James interjected, ever-positive. “But dude, if you want something, you actually have to make a move. Like…” He pretended to lean in with puckered lips and Rafe shoved his head away, rolling his eyes.

“I know, dude. I gotta take it slow.”

“You keep saying that.” Colin pointed out. “When are you actually going to do something about it?”

Rafe scowled. “Get off my back.”

She couldn’t do it. She really couldn’t.

Every single bone in her body wanted to just give in, be nice to Rafe, see if they could be a thing. But that would require letting someone in, being vulnerable, and Rafe Cameron of all people was not who she could do that with. (At least that’s what she told herself.) She could feel herself falling for him, and that freaked her out.

Their study dates had gone from once a week at the library to twice a week at the Delt house. Never at Theta, she wasn’t prepared for the rumors that would fly and hearing girls speculate about a possible relationship. The reality check for her came when Julia called her out for waking up early for class just so she could put on a little extra makeup or make sure her hair wasn’t just thrown in its usual ponytail. “If you like him, just say something.” Allie had encouraged her, trying to give her the push she needed.

Sophie resisted, as usual. “There’s nothing between us.”

They really only needed thirty minutes, max, to knock out their prep for their debate class, but Sophie found herself stretching out the time to an hour and a half, sometimes two. Rafe never seemed to mind, eager to keep discussing the merits of their side of the debate and to just see that spark in her eyes for a little bit longer as she spoke about something she was passionate about.

Today had to be different. She set a timer on her watch the second she stepped through the doors at Delt, following Rafe through to their usual study spot. Sophie told herself she was only allowed to stay the thirty minutes, nothing more, and keep the conversation strictly to work. Maybe even be a little mean, if she had to, to push him away again. (It always worked before.)

“How was your day?” He greeted her with his signature grin and she visibly winced, already feeling herself cave. She sat across from him and glanced at her watch. Twenty-nine minutes. God. She could do that.

“Fine.” She replied shortly, not reciprocating.

He nodded, unaware, and tapped his foot nervously under the table. “That’s good. So I was thinking, if you wanted to, maybe, after studying -"

“I can’t.” She cut him off. “I can’t stay long, I’m busy. Let’s just get this done.”

“Oh - oh. Okay. Sorry.” He apologized needlessly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s whatever.” Sophie dismissed. “So I was thinking we focus our argument on these three main points…”

He tuned her out and just skimmed over the notebook she slid over to him, eyes tracing over the words but not truly reading any of them. Rejected. Huh. He didn’t even get the chance to get the words out, ask her to go get ice cream after. Maybe that would have been a stupid move anyways, considering it was the last week of October in Ohio and only forty degrees outside. Next time he’d think of a better plan, next time he’d -

“Rafe.” Sophie’s annoyed voice snapped him out of his reverie.

He jerked his head up. “Huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “God, were you even listening? Pay attention.”

He resisted a frown, halfway paying attention now as she spoke. Did he do something wrong? He thought they were getting along, flirty even. Maybe he misread the signs. “What’s up with you today?” He asked, more concerned than irritated.

“Nothing.”

“Are you sure? Because your attitude seems like something.” He couldn’t resist pressing her buttons, just once.

“I don’t have an attitude. Just trying to get this stupid homework done.” She snapped back.

He raised his hands in defense, a little taken aback. “Whoa, chill. We can get it done, you don’t have to be rude.”

Sophie softened, just a little, and glanced at her watch again. 23 minutes. Maybe she didn’t have to entirely be an asshole. “Right.”

Rafe held her gaze for a moment, as if trying to read the thoughts running through her mind. “Okay. So I was thinking…” They kept a somewhat civil conversation, strictly related to their class, though Rafe could tell something felt off. She didn’t have the usual teasing lilt in her tone and he was too nervous to even try his typical flirting - his hand grazing against hers, or a sly comment here and there.

After a few minutes of reading together from a new article on Rafe’s laptop, he spoke up. “Hey, Soph -” he started with a hint of a frown.

“Sophie.” She corrected, keeping her eyes trained on the computer.

Rafe’s face fell flat and he pressed his lips together into a thin line, nodding once. “Never mind then.”

“What is it?”

“I said never mind.” He repeated, shaking his head.

The rest of the time was fairly quiet as they scribbled out notes for their arguments, sharing a relevant piece of information every few minutes.

“Why’d you choose architecture?” Rafe asked after a few moments of silence, both of them reading over their textbooks.

“Study, Rafe.” Sophie reprimanded him with a bored tone, keeping her eyes on her book ‘til she finished the page. He glanced over her expression, trying to decide if she was serious or not, then went back to his book.

“I thought it was cool. I like seeing the way things work, how buildings are crafted. Everything has a purpose.” She spoke after a moment.

He smiled. “That’s cool. I can tell you like it.”

“You hardly know me,” Sophie pointed out.

(Not true. He could read her like a book after all these years, knowing exactly when she was about to snap. She could do the same.)

He frowned, feeling her putting up a wall, her typical defense mechanism when she didn’t want to admit the truth. “I think I do.” He argued, keeping her gaze. She rolled her eyes and broke eye contact first, dropping her eyes back to her book.

He sighed, quietly, and returned to pretending to read.

Sophie broke the silence this time. “Why are you studying film?”

He looked up, a little surprised she was taking interest. “Uh…” he trailed off, trying to think of how best to phrase it. “Movies were always my escape. If my dad was busy with work, y’know, like usual, he’d just throw on a movie for me and my sisters.” He smiled, thinking back. “I’m pretty sure I have Hercules memorized by heart now.”

“That’s cool. My favorite Disney movie was Robin Hood.” Sophie mused, scribbling a couple notes in the margins of her book. She tried her best to keep an impassive composure, although she wanted nothing more inside than to spend hours just talking about his interests and seeing the way he beamed when she was interested too.

“I never really liked him. Didn’t he steal from people?”

“Not really, he stole from the tax collector and gave the money to the poor people.” She pointed out.

“Oh.” Rafe paused, not sure if he wanted to continue the argument. “System’s in place for a reason, right?”

Sophie wrinkled her nose, annoyance creeping into her tone. There was something about his indifference that made her just want to reach across the table and shake some sense into him. “Not when the government is creating an illegitimate tax system.”

He shrugged. “Dunno. Guess I never watched that closely.”

“Well I’m right, anyways.” She declared, lifting her chin a little in a challenge.

“It doesn’t matter anyways, Flint, it’s a cartoon.” Rafe replied, slightly exasperated. There it was - back to last names. For some reason, it made Sophie madder than ever. She hated the way it rolled off his tongue so easily, like he knew her by nothing else.

“It does matter, Cameron, it’s the principle of the thing.” She turned up her nose haughtily toward him, crossing her arms. She knew she was doing exactly what she shouldn’t do, chipping away at their already rocky relationship built on a foundation of uneven stone. “But I’m not surprised you wouldn’t care.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He retorted, mimicking her pose from across the table.

“It means you’re a dick. Always relying on daddy’s money.” Sophie stood her ground, jaw set. The way she said it, it was too sure, too carefully crafted to hit just where it’d hurt. Casual, almost, as if it meant nothing to say that. Like she’d been waiting to use that line for ages.

That stung more than he expected, even though he’d heard it before - just not from her lips. He shot his response back quickly, too quickly, and regretted the words the second they left his mouth. “At least I don’t have to work two jobs just to pay for college.”

Her face turned to stone as she felt the heat creeping up her neck, threatening to expose her embarrassment. Sophie gathered her things quickly, carelessly shoving them into her backpack, then paused before leaving to look him straight in the eye. “That’s fucking low, Rafe, even for you.” She said quietly. The words hung in the air between them as she turned sharply on her heel and strode calmly away, trying to beat the tears on the verge of spilling over her cheeks.

Her watch vibrated on her wrist just as she stepped outside, hot tears welling up in her eyes. Thirty minutes. Timed perfectly.

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#rafe cameron #rafe cameron fic #rafe cameron series #rafe cameron fanfic #rafe cameron obx #rafe cameron imagine #frat rafe #college rafe #college obx #rafe x sophie #mine

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sunflowerspecter · 4 years ago

Text

perfect (a.h.)

summary: sneaking around in hotel rooms might be your favorite part of your secret relationship with your boss. you just hope you don’t get caught.

warnings: one direction. maybe one bad word. secret relationship. fluff. so much fluff.

pairing: aaron hotchner x reader

words: 1994

note: this is what happens when you mix baby and one direction music videos at one in the morning. listen to this while you read if you want ;)

To keep up appearances, you only shared a room with him once in a blue moon. That isn’t to say it never happened, but the team was too amused by your antics when you were forced apart to allow you to sleep together. Technically, they didn’t know, but they had their suspicions. You and Aaron wanted to tell the team, eventually, but first, you wanted to enjoy having one thing that was just yours, while it didn’t affect the team.

It was one of those nights when you were sharing with JJ and he was with Spencer, and you absolutely were going to sneak out to meet him. It felt a little bit like a high school drama, but at that point, you didn’t care; you enjoyed your secret little rendezvous.

It wasn’t the sneaking out of your room part that was hard; although JJ was a light sleeper, she was also very, very, tired after the long case that you had wrapped up a few hours prior. It was the sneaking into his room that was hard. You and him had decided in the car that you were too tired to do anything too crazy (sometimes you and him liked to get in trouble at midnight) (once you and him climbed to roof of the hotel, and lay there, staring at the stars until it began to rain on you).You were just going to sneak into his room and hold him, because you hadn’t held each other since the beginning of the two-week long case you had been working on. The problem? Spencer was an even lighter sleeper than JJ. As soon as he was asleep, Aaron texted you. You walked quietly down the hall and as soon as you found yourself at his door, it opened.

“Hey, stranger,” he said, and you smiled.

“Hey, mister,” you said, stepping in and examining the room, trying to let your eyes adjust. Aaron shut the door as softly as possible and then came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist. He pressed a kiss to your neck, then your jaw, and then you turned in his arms so he could properly kiss you.

“Love you,” he muttered, and you pulled on his arm, dragging him to bed, making him lie down before you crawled over him and settled beside him.

“I love you too,” you said, pulling the covers over him. “Did you sleep at all during the case?” you asked, and he shook his head.

“A little.” He reached over and pulled you to his chest, his arms tightly around your waist.

“You know, most people need sleep,” you whispered, letting out a quiet sigh. He shook his head again and then buried his face in the crook of your neck. You turned your head and kissed his temple.

“You know, you could do better than me,” he said softly, so softly that you don’t even think you were supposed to hear it.

“Aaron, I—”

“When I first saw you in the BAU, you were absolutely intriguing. Everything interested you, and you listened to Spencer go on about, well, who knows what, really, and when you began introducing yourself to everyone, you reached to shake my hand and I absolutely froze. You assumed I just didn’t shake hands, like Spencer, and you totally respected that.”

“I remember that,” you said. “And then you shook someone else’s hand, and I asked you what was up, and you totally freaked.” You laughed at the memory.

“Look,” he said, and you turned around to face him, “I might never be your knight in shining armor, I might never be the one you take home to mother, I might never be the one to bring you flowers, but I can be the one tonight.”

Your cheeks went red and you grinned, “Did you just quote One Direction at me?”

“I didn’t think I would be caught,” he said, and you had to hold back laughter to not wake Reid. “But, if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms—” it was beginning to hurt, not being able to laugh at the monotone way he spoke the lyrics “—and if you like having secret little rendezvous, if you like to do the things you know that we shouldn’t do, then baby, I’m perfect for you.”

You kissed him to stop yourself from yelling. “How do you have that memorized?”

“I listen to One Direction on the jet,” he said. You watched him, for a moment, squinting your eyes as he rubbed his hand up and down your arm.

“You’re serious.”

“If you like midnight driving with the windows down,” he whispered in your ear.

“Shut up.”

“If you like going places we can’t even pronounce,” he said, kissing your jaw, “much like the city we’re currently in.”

“Wichita isn’t that hard,” you said, trying to ignore his kisses.

“Whatever,” he mumbled lazily, moving up to press another kiss to your lips. “Let’s go to sleep.”

“I can’t fall asleep here, Reid will wake up and see me.”

He kissed you again, this time for longer. “Don’t worry about it, he sleeps later than I do.”

“I suppose,” you said, and you didn’t really think that he had a plan, but you knew that he slept better with you by his side or in his arms, and he was really warm, and you were really cold. So, you settled down on the pillow, your head tucked under his chin, his arms around you, and you and him fell asleep.

~~~oOo~~~

For Aaron Hotchner, the repercussions of not sleeping for four days included grogginess, grumpiness, and sleeping in way later than he usually would when he didn’t have an alarm (which he took as a big ‘f you’ from his internal alarm clock).

He didn’t really think about the time, however, when he woke up, because his first thought was not to disturb you, curled up in his arms. That was his favorite sight—you, sleeping next to him, because you were so peaceful. He wished he could savour that moment forever, but knowing he couldn’t, he basked in the few moments he would have of it. He knew there would always be more mornings just like this. Save for when the team split you up, he would wake up to you every single morning for the rest of his life, if all went according to plan. He feathered a kiss to your cheek, and you groaned quietly, moving your head so that he’d kiss you properly.

“Hi, love,” he whispered against your lips. You smiled, then turned to look over your shoulder, and your heart dropped.

“Spencer isn’t here,” you said. Aaron sat up quickly, looking over at Reid’s made bed. Aaron’s brows knit together.

“But it’s only—” his eyes shifted to the clock beside the bed, and he lay back down. “11:30.”

You laughed, laying your head on his shoulder. “That’s what happens when you don’t sleep, Aaron.”

He wrapped his arm under your waist and pulled you closer to him. “Maybe he didn’t see you.”

“The blankets are on the floor,” you muttered. Aaron was a restless sleeper and you had gotten hot in the poorly conditioned hotel room (when you fell asleep you were freezing, but somehow you began overheating in your sleep, so that was a thing), so naturally, they ended up there.

“Maybe he didn’t notice.”

You laughed. “Yeah, maybe he didn’t notice the person curled up in bed next to his boss, who went to bed alone last night.”

“Technically he didn’t see me go to bed,” he said, and you kissed his shoulder. “What’s the likelihood that we walk downstairs and the entire team knows?”

“Well, considering I never went back to my room, JJ probably freaked out, then Reid probably caught up to her and told her, and then they probably debated telling Morgan and Emily, and then decided no, but it accidentally came out, and then Morgan would have told Garcia, because he tells her everything, and Emily would have told Rossi, just to keep him in the loop.”

“But Rossi already knows,” Aaron said, looking down at you.

“But they don’t know he knows.”

Aaron sighed, looking back up at the ceiling. “It’s fine, right? We were going to have to tell them eventually, right?”

“Yes,” you said. You pushed yourself onto your elbows and ran a hand through his dark hair, kissing his temple. “Don’t stress it. You know they love us, they’ll support us.” He nodded, but he kept staring at the ceiling. “I love you so much, you know that?”

“I love you more,” he said, turning onto his side and pulling you to his chest. “You’re right, you’re right.”

“I know I am,” you said, kissing the exposed skin of his collarbone. “Now, should we get ready to leave, now?”

He nodded, and you reached over him to grab your cell, and there was a text from JJ, that read, ‘Spence told me where you are, I have all of your things, don’t worry about going back to the room.’ Which, normally, you would think is very nice, except for you didn’t have any clothes, save the pair of sweatpants and the t-shirt you had been wearing the night before.

“Shit,” you muttered under your breath, and Aaron, who had been walking around, froze.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have clothes, JJ took my bag.”

He took a deep breath, and he bit his lip (since when did he do that?). He reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of jeans— your jeans.

“Why do you…?”

“In case something like this happened,” he said quietly. You grinned at him, sitting up on your knees at the end of the bed, throwing your arms around his neck. “You can borrow one of my shirts,” he said against your lips. He wrapped his arms around your waist and lifted you off of the bed, and you instinctively wrapped your legs around his waist.

“I love you,” you said, kissing him. “So,” another kiss, “damn,” and another, “much.” And then you kissed him and didn’t stop, playing with the hair at the back of his head. He kept his arms tightly around you, but he walked over to the table and sat you down on top of it, his hands immediately finding your hair.

He pulled back gently, staying close to you. “I love you, too,” he said, “but the team will kill us if we take any longer.”

You huffed, crossed your arms, and then said, “Fine, but we’re continuing this at home.”

~~~oOo~~~

Approaching the team sitting in the lobby, you could feel your heart beating erratically. They all had shit-eating grins on their faces.

“When were you going to tell us?” Rossi said, and you could feel Aaron’s death stare from behind you.

“I like your shirt,” JJ remarked, and you crossed your arms over your chest— a dress shirt that didn’t fit was still a dress shirt that didn’t fit when rolled up to your elbows and tucked into your pants.

Emily was a fit of giggles, and Morgan wasn’t much better.

“Can we please go now?” you said, and the team nodded.

“Everything makes sense now,” is what Emily said, and you turned to Aaron, slipping your hand into his.

“I might never be the hands you put your heart in, or the arms that hold you any time you want them, but that don't mean that we can't live here in the moment, 'cause I can be the one you love from time to time,” he whispered in your ear, and you laughed, loudly, as you began walking to the SUV.

“If you like to do whatever you’ve been dreaming about, baby you’re perfect,” you said, and you smiled at his smile.

“You’re perfect,” he said, kissing your cheek when the team wasn’t (“wasn’t”) looking. “Now let's go home.”

taglist (lmk if you’d like to be added or removed): @quillvine @winterscaptain

#aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner imagine #criminal minds #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds imagine #AHH i really hope y'all like this idk

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niiwa-angel · 4 years ago

Text

Plastic Smiles

Hal couldn’t wait for this upcoming weekend. After months of much debate and discussion, Barry had agreed to move to California with him, and they were relocating this Saturday.

Hal was beyond excited to be able to properly show his boyfriend around his home city without worrying about when he had to go home. He knew Barry was also excited, but nervous as well. The blond was hiding it well, always smiling and bubbly when he mentioned the move, but Hal also knew that it was hard for him to leave Central and his family behind.

At the moment, Barry was off visiting his dad one last time before Saturday, and he was bound to be emotional when he came home, so Hal had picked up some pizzas and wings for him when he came home. There wasn’t much left to do, a majority of Barry’s stuff was already packed and had been sent ahead to their condo, all that remained were a few pairs of clothes, his toiletries, and his laptop and charger.

~~~~

“Why can’t I just run there?” Barry grumbled, leaning against Hal’s chest while they sat in the airport waiting lounge.

“Because it would raise too many questions.” Hal reminded him, tugging him closer and kissing his head.

Barry huffed and snuggled closer, Hal feeling his tension in his shoulders. He knew that Barry was not looking forward to the four hour flight at all, so he had made sure to pack a variety of snacks and had downloaded a couple of funny movies Barry liked so that they had something to do.

Hal pulled Barry to his feet when their flight was called to board, feeling his boyfriend tremble when they had their tickets scanned and were waved aboard by the stewardess. Hal guided him to their seats, knowing that they had an entire row to themselves, courtesy of a brilliant idea on Bruce’s part, that having an extra seat might give Barry more room to breathe.

The stewardess started on the safety brief, making Barry close his eyes tight and start shaking harder. Hal shrugged off his jacket and tucked it around the blonds shoulders, taking his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Remember, this is the safest way to travel.” Hal reminded him, hoping Barry didn’t throw up on the flight.

“Shut. Up.” Barry hissed through clenched teeth, his eyes shut tight.

Nodding his understanding, Hal kept holding his hand while the plane started moving. When they tilted back for lift off, Barry squeezed his hand so tightly Hal felt his bones grind together, the blond whimpering and shaking as the plane bounced in the air.

When they got to their desired altitude, Hal grabbed his laptop and fired up one of the movies he had bought as a distraction. From there, there wasn’t much Hal could do other than wait for the flight to land.

~~~~

It had crossed Hal’s mind to carry his boyfriend over the threshold when they got to their new shared accommodations, but he figured that after a nerve wracking flight, Barry wouldn’t be too keen on being picked up.

The condo currently looked like only Hal lived there, Barry’s things still in boxes in the living room. The couch was draped with a few throw blankets, and the sliding glass door leading to the garden cast a square of waning sunlight on the hardwood floor.

“Do you wanna just order in?” Hal asked while Barry toed off his shoes.

“I guess.” Barry agreed, holding up his phone and waving it. “I just have to call Iris first and let her know I’m still alive.”

The blond hurried off towards the bedroom to call his adopted sister. Hal leaned against the counter of the kitchen and started looking up delivery services near them, mentally flagging a sushi joint and a mongolian grill that would deliver to them.

~~~~

The pair sat at their kitchen table, a banquet platter of sushi in the center of the table between them. Hal was almost completely mesmerized by the sunshine lighting up Barry’s blond hair and reflecting off his blue eyes while he looked out the window. The only thing distracting him from his boyfriend's perfection was his full plate.

“Do you not like the sushi?” Hal asked, snapping him out of his daze.

“No, no it’s good. I’m just not that hungry.” Barry explained, dragging his attention away from the window.

Hal froze, waiting for the punchline. Barry was always hungry, it was unheard of for him to turn down food unless he was really sick.

“Are you feeling alright?” Hal asked, looking him over.

“I’m fine.” Barry waved him off. “It’s just left over nerves from the flight and the move.”

He wasn’t fully convinced, but he let the subject drop. He knew Barry had really hated the flight, and had been anxious about it for a while, but he had also never heard of him getting stress sick. He pondered it while he finished his own meal, trailing Barry when he stood up and packaged the remainder of his sushi and what was left on the platter.

When the supper dishes were washed, dried, and put away, Hal wrapped his arms around Barry’s waist and pulled him until his back was pressed against his chest. The blond relaxed against him, shifting so they were swaying a little. Hal pressed a few kisses into Barry’s neck, feeling his pulse on his lips.

“Ya’know, we’re only a five minute walk from the beach. What do you say to walking down and watching the sunset?” He asked.

“Mmm, maybe tomorrow.” Barry hummed, “I just wanna go to sleep right now.”

Hal nodded, kissing Barry’s neck again and pushing them towards the bedroom. He was really looking forward to taking his boyfriend down to the shore and cuddling while they watched the sun sink into the sea, but he also knew Barry was tired. Plus, now that Barry lived here, they could do that anytime they wanted, the sun wasn’t going to leave anytime soon.

The pair brushed their teeth, changed into their pajamas, and crawled into bed. After some shifting and getting comfortable, they settled in with Barry resting his head and hand on Hal’s chest, tracing circles with his finger while Hal dozed off.

~~~~

Hal woke up in an empty bed, the other side of the mattress cold. For a moment, he forgot Barry had even moved in, but when he remembered, he got up and went in search of him. When he found him, the blond was stretched out on the couch, sleeping. Not really sure why his boyfriend was sleeping on the sofa when there was a perfectly comfortable bed in their room, Hal started making coffee.

Maybe Barry had woken up at night, been unable to get back to sleep, and had gone to the living room so he didn’t bother Hal. Perhaps he had gotten up to grab something, sat down for a moment, and fallen asleep. Or, Hal pondered, he was suffering from Jetlag, Missouri was in a different Timezone than California, so he might have just been following the routine his body was used to.

Not wanting to wake Barry up, he took his coffee out to the patio to watch the sunrise. It was a brisk morning and the cool air made Hal shiver as he stepped outside, while it made the hair on his arms stand up, Hal enjoyed it, it made his hot coffee feel that much more satisfying. After a half hour, he heard the sliding door open and felt Barry drape himself over Hal’s shoulder, kissing his cheek and playfully trying to steal his mug.

“Good morning Handsome.” Barry mumbled.

Hal moved his cup out of his reach but he returned the kiss. He reached around and pulled Barry until he was sitting in his lap.

“Good morning.” He returned. “Why did you sleep on the couch?”

‘Mmm.” Barry hummed, “I got too hot.”

Hal was taken aback, their bedroom was one of the coolest rooms in the condo, aside from the bathroom. The rest of the condo was also air-conditioned, so overall, their home wasn’t overly hot, it didn’t make much sense that he would get overheated.

“You got too hot?” He clarified, making Barry nod.

“Yeah. I think it was just because you were pressed right up against me.” He explained. “It just got to be too much, so I went to crash on the couch.”

“...Okay.” Hal said slowly.

That wasn’t really unbelievable, he knew through previous relationships that he ran hot when he slept. If he and Barry had been cuddling while they slept, it was reasonable to state that Barry had really just gotten too hot and had gone somewhere cooler to sleep.

“Oh my god, how are you sitting out here?” Barry muttered, climbing off Hal’s lap and finding his own seat in the shade.

“What? Too cold?” Hal asked.

Barry sent him a look of disbelief, shaking his head.

“It’s fucking hot out here.” He moaned, pressing his palms into his eyes.

“Oh come on! It’s only, like, eighty-five degrees out here.” Hal acclaimed.

“That’s hot!” He cried.

Hal laughed, standing up with his mug in hand, going to get a refill of coffee and offering a cup to Barry.

“Whatever. Do you want a cup of caffeine?” He asked.

“Yes please.” Barry said.

Hal smiled while he went back inside, grabbing another mug out of the cupboard. He filled his own mug with coffee, adding a spoonful of sugar and a small splash of milk. He filled Barry’s with tea, adding two spoonfuls of sugar and a splash of French Vanilla Coffee Mate.

He had to use his ring to open the door again for himself, and behind him when he stepped through it. He set both mugs on the patio table, turning to his boyfriend to invite him over.

Barry looked a lot different than he had when Hal had left for the kitchen. He was sitting hunched over, with his hands clutching the sides of his head. Hal couldn’t see his face, but the back of his neck was flushed and his hands were shaky.

“Bear?” Hal asked, “Straw-Barry, are you okay?”

“Hmm?” The blond hummed.

“Are you okay?” Hal asked again.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good, just a little warm.” He muttered.

He stood up on wobbly legs, creeping over like a newborn fawn to the patio table for his tea. Hal watched him while he took a sip, he could now see that he was incredibly red in the face and he looked unfocused.

“I’m going to get you a glass of water.”Hal said, hurrying to the kitchen.

He had just filled the glass from the dispenser when he heard a heart-wrenching thud from outside. Slamming the cup down on the counter, he rushed to the patio door.

Barry was huddled on the floor, clearly having fallen. Hal threw the door open and rushed to his side, kneeling beside him to check on him. Barry was, blessedly, breathing, and there was no blood around him. While he was checking him over, Barry’s eyes fluttered under the lids and he started tilting his head and moaning.

Having lived in California for the majority of his life, Hal quickly recognized the signs of heat exhaustion in his boyfriend. Cradling him carefully, Hal lifted him up and carried him inside. When he laid him on the couch, Barry’s eyes had opened and he was looking around, confused. Hal pushed him down when he tried to sit up, wiping his sweat-soaked forehead with his hand.

“Stay here, I’m going to go get some water for you.” Hal ordered.

He retrieved the half-full glass from the counter, folding a clean tea towel and throwing it into the freezer. He rushed back to the sofa, wrapping an arm under his shoulder, helping him to sit up and take a sip of the cool water.

He made Barry slowly sip down the half glass of water, leaving briefly to refill it and swipe the now cool towel from the freezer. He folded the towel and placed it on Barry’s forehead, having him sip down some more water. By now, he was confident that Barry could sit up by himself, Hal left for the bathroom to draw a cool bath.

He only filled the tub up halfway, swishing his hand around in it to make sure that the temperature wasn’t too cold to handle. He went back to the living room, grabbing Barry under the arms and hoisting him to his feet, assisting him to the bathroom. He helped Barry peel his sweat soaked sleep shirt off, tugging his pajama pants down and step out of them.

He had Barry sit in the tub, sloshing the water to make it wash over the parts of his skin not in the bath. Hal could feel Barry’s skin start to cool down under his hands and he stopped shivering.

“Thank you.” Barry whispered.

“Of course.” Hal replied, handing him a towel as he climbed out of the tub.

Convinced that Barry wasn’t about to fall down without Hal there to hold him up, he went to the living room to tidy up. He brought the coffee mugs in from the patio, placing them on the coffee table to come back for them later. Even though their condo was cool enough inside, Hal turned up the AC and shut the blinds so Barry could come back to the living room and rest.

When all that was said and done, Hal hurried back to their bed room for something to give to Barry to wear. Given that most of his things were still packed in boxes, the quickest things on hand were what he had brought in his suitcase, which wasn’t much at all. If it had been solely his decision, he would just have the blond be naked, but Barry was far too modest for his own good so Hal grabbed a clean pair of boxers and took them to the bathroom.

His boyfriend was much the same as when he had left him, wrapped in a towel and sitting on the closed toilet lid with his head down, he looked positively miserable. Slowing his movements down so he didn’t overwhelm him, Hal carefully took Barry’s chin between his thumb and pointer finger, tilting his head up until Barry was looking at him. He looked even more dejected once Hal could see his face, his mouth was set in a sad pout, his eyes were glistening with tears, and his cheeks were still tinted pink in a feverish way and it made Hal’s heart twist.

“Hey Beautiful.” Hal whispered, “How’re ya feeling?”

Barry sniffled quietly and wiped the back of his hand under his nose.

“Better.”

His voice was still soft and weak, that one word sounding like he had put his entire heart and soul into saying it outloud.

“Okay, I brought you something to put on, and then maybe we can go watch some of that new Star Trek series you like, how does that sound?” Hal asked.

In response, the pilot got a small nod and a shaky smile, a fleeting thing that looked like it took all of Barry’s energy just to produce.

“Okay, hang tight Love.”

As he went to help Barry stand, he noticed that he was still wet from the bath. Not soaked, but not dry enough to comfortably sit and watch T.V. Hal knew he needed to fix that before he could get Barry somewhere more comfortable, so he slid an arm under his armpits and lifted him up, he used his free hand to pat Barry dry with the towel, employing all the tenderness usually reserved for newborn kittens.

When he was dried off, Hal made him grab onto his shoulders so he could keep himself upright while he knelt to help Barry step into his boxers. Tugging Barry into a hug, Hal rubbed his back and ran his fingers through his sweaty hair. He had already made the decision that Barry wasn’t walking anywhere for a while, not even to the couch, so he hoisted him up and started walking to the living room with Barry’s perfect nose tucked into his neck.

He sat down on the couch with Barry in his lap, grabbing the remote with his power ring so he could queue up an episode of Star Trek for them to watch. As soon as he heard the intro, Barry shifted and climbed off him, getting comfy beside him with his head resting against his shoulder. Hal wrapped an arm around his bare shoulders and gave him a kiss on the crown.

“Doin alright?” He whispered.

“Yeah, sorry about that. It never gets that hot in Missouri and it shocked me.” Barry whispered back, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I just need some time to adjust.”

That made sense, in Hal's mind at least. Barry had been born and raised in the midwest, he had grown up with snow storms and sweaters, hot drinks and winter boots. Even in the summer, it had probably never gotten as hot as it currently was outside, so Barry had no natural defenses to the heat yet. Fortunately, Hal knew that the man was strong as hell, given time to adjust to the climate, things would get better.

~~~~

Six weeks later, things had not gotten better, in fact, they had gotten far worse. Contrary to Barry’s claim that he would adjust with time, he hadn’t, and Hal was stuck watching him get sicker and sicker.

While at first they could be brushed off, the changes were now impossible to ignore. While he had always been skinny, Barry had also been strong as well, now he was frail and weak. He was shaking constantly, not with passion or pent up energy but like he could topple over at any minute, and he was always exhausted. Given how sick he actually was from the heat, he could rarely sleep and never was in bed with Hal, always on the couch, alone.

Because of how hot he was all the time, he had started to avoid any physical contact of any kind, the closest he could get without feeling like he was burning was to brush his hands against his boyfriends, on a good day, they would hold hands, but those were becoming farther and farther between. Hal suspected that the lack of affection was hurting Barry more than anything else, given that he had always been touchy, even before they were dating. To add salt to the wound, he could barely be the Flash anymore. He could hardly walk in the California heat, running was out of the question, and given that he couldn’t stand without trembling, he was no longer fit for duty.

Of course, when Hal had asked him about it, Barry had painted on a fake smile and played the optimist. He was still insisting that he would get better, he just needed to get himself sorted out, that everything would work itself out, just like he had said a month and a half prior. But Hal wasn’t so convinced anymore, Barry had lost a lot of weight and his clothes were starting to hang off him in ways they hadn’t before, and he was miserable.

Though he tried to hide it, Hal knew, he could see that the plastic smile Barry put on was getting harder to maintain, he could hear him crying quietly to himself when he was alone in the shower or on the couch at night and his voice sounded wobbly whenever he spoke to his sister or dad over the phone about his new residence. He suspected that the only reason Barry hadn’t voiced how awful he felt was because Hal had pushed California hard, bringing up the benefits of living in a blue state in a blue city, with all the perks that brought to them, he didn’t doubt that Barry was keeping silent because he thought it would make Hal happy.

Hal couldn’t stand to see Barry so miserable, he knew he needed to act fast or there could be irreversible damage done to his physical and mental well being. Which brought him to the present, in a crowded bar, stuffed into a corner booth with Oliver and Guy. He had sent them both an SOS text, briefly explaining the situation and begging them to meet up with him to give him advice, and here they were.

“So,” Guy drawled, “What didja fuck up this time?”

Normally, Hal would have been frustrated with Guy’s blunt ‘never beat around the bush’ conversation style, but tonight he was grateful for it. He felt like he was running out of time, or like water was slipping through his fingers.

“Barry’s sick. Really sick.” Hal answered, “He’s been sick for a while and I don’t know what to do.”

“From the heat, right?” Ollie piped up.

Hal frowned, looking at his best friend quizzically. He hadn’t told them everything over the text he had sent and Barry didn’t really like Oliver, so he wasn’t sure how he knew what was making Barry sick. Ollie picked up on his confusion, and answered the unasked question.

“Dinah and Barry talk a lot, she told me that he’s been suffering from the heat.”

“Whatever.” Guy grumbled, waving the archer off. “Why did you ask us here?”

“Because I need advice! I don’t know what to do, Barry’s gotten so sick recently that I’m scared to leave him by himself, his powers are acting up, and he’s so depressed!” Hal rushed out, “I don’t know what to do, he’s suffering and I can’t do anything.”

“Yeah, right.” Guy scoffed, taking a sip of his drink.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Ollie snapped, angry on Hal’s behalf.

Guy rolled his eyes, looking at the pair like they were idiots. When it was clear that they really weren’t on the same page, he scoffed again and shifted to glare at them while he lectured.

“You can do something, you moron, you can take him home. He’s obviously not cut out for the desert heat, whatever, he gave it the ol’ college try. He’s made sacrifices for you by coming all the way out here and leaving his family behind, now it’s time for you to grow a pair and do the same for him.”

“I- I don’t know if that would work Gardener.” Hal attempted.

“Whatdaya mean ‘it wouldn’t work’?” Guy spat, “Listen you dumb fuck, you don’t deserve Barry, he is too good for you. I know it, you know it, this blond moron knows it, everyone who has ever met the pair of you knows it. The only one who hasn’t figured out that Barry deserves better than you is Barry, so for the love of God man, you need to keep him from figuring it out!

“He loves you! For reasons I cannot understand, he loves you and you know it. That’s why you pushed so hard to bring him here, even when he had the most to leave behind. You know Barry would jump through hoops for you, so you had him move to the middle of the fucken desert.”

“Hey, he wanted to come!” Hal defended.

“No he fucking didn’t, he wanted to be with you! He doesn’t care about California, he cares about you and he’s scared you’re going to pull the same disappearing act on him that you’ve pulled on every other poor bastard you’ve dated so he moved to keep you happy.” Guy snarled.

“I wouldn’t just ditch Barry!” Hal snapped, responding with equal hostility. “I’m more than willing to admit that I’ve done some pretty shitty things and put some people through hell, but I’m in therapy, I started sorting through those issues before Barry and I became an item!”

“Then why did you drag him out here? You have no friends here, the only family you’ve got, you don’t talk to, at best you’ve got Coast Uni, but you’ve been done school for years now. From every standpoint, it would have made more sense for you to move to Central, Barry has his sister and his Dad, he’s exclusive to Central unless he’s with the league, you just fuck off across the galaxy!” Guy argued, “But you begged him to come to your home city because you’re a prideful son of a bitch who's watching the man he loves decay in front of him, and you know how to fix it but you won’t, for reasons I don’t think even you understand!”

Hal sputtered, grampling for any defense for himself. He knew he must have looked like a fish out of water, and he knew he didn’t have a defence for himself. Barry was a people-pleaser, always had been and Hal knew it, he had known that Barry would come to California and now he was staying even though it was killing him.

“Look man, for what it’s worth, I know you didn’t plan on hurting Barry, I know that he’s pretty much the only reason you’re a half-functional human being.” Guy offered, “And listen, you can fix this! If you go and say that you want to take him back to Central, you’ll be his personal hero, his sister will be relieved that he’s back, he’ll be able to see his dad again. Fuck, in ten years when you two have your two point five kids, a dog, and a picket fence, this can just be a really funny story.”

Hal nodded, knowing that Guy was right. He was either going to take Barry somewhere with a more accommodating climate for him, or he was going to lose him, either because he got so sick that he could not recover or because their relationship would fall apart from the stress. He had come to these men for advice, it was obvious what that advice was, so now he needed to figure out the practical end; how he was going to get Barry back home.

His boyfriend was stubborn, so much so that he was surprised that he didn’t have a Green Lantern ring of his own, admitting that he was struggling was hard for him. Still, Barry was getting sick, his powers were acting up, and he needed to be back in a climate he was accustomed to. Of course, that wouldn’t be easy, they would have to break their lease and find a new place in Central because Barry had gotten rid of his, not only that, but Barry would need to get his job back at the CCPD. None of that would be easy, but he hoped that it wouldn’t be too hard. He would talk to Bruce and Iris later, see if either of them could help him out in some way, but for the moment, he bid his friends adieu, paid his tab, and headed home to Barry.

~~~~

The blond was sleeping on the couch when Hal got home, his arm dangling over the side and a throw pillow under his head. The guilt Hal had felt earlier tripled while he looked over his sleeping boyfriend, dressed in a tank top he’d stolen from Hal and a pair of boxers. He didn’t look completely comfortable, just slightly more at peace while he slept.

Even though it was even later in Gotham than it was here, Hal knew he needed to start putting his plan in action sooner rather than later. First, He gently lifted Barry up off the couch and carried him to the bed, pulling back the covers with his ring and laying the forensic scientist on the mattress. Then he went back to the living room, stepped out onto the balcony and called Bruce.

“What do you want?” Bruce asked, picking up after the first ring.

“I fucked up.” Hal admitted, careful to keep his voice down.

There was silence on the other line for a moment, dragging on for so long that Hal checked to make sure he hadn’t been hung up on.

“So?” Bruce asked, “That isn’t new for you.”

God, Hal hated his boyfriends best friend sometimes. Bruce had gotten along with Barry from the start but had hated Hal since the first second they met. While he and Barry had grown closer, Bruce had hated him more, rolling his eyes and being slightly cheeky to him whenever they had to speak. When he had started dating Barry, he had called a truce with the Dark Knight of Gotham for his boyfriends sake, but he doubted that they would ever get along. Still, Hal needed his help.

“I know but this is worse than usual.” He confessed, “Barry’s getting sick, he can’t handle the heat. I want to get him back to Missouri before he gets worse but I need help, I need to convince him to move again and I was hoping you would have some advice.”

There was silence on the other end again, making Hal feel even worse about himself. He had prepared himself for some gloating, knowing that Bruce would probably rub it in his face that he didn’t deserve Barry.

“I wondered if that would happen.”

There was the silence broken, and Hal braced for the verbal dress-down.

“He’s what I can do. I need a safe house in California and I have too many in Missouri.” Bruce began, “I can sell you and Barry one of the houses in exchange for you subletting your condo to me so I can see if I want to buy it.”

That… Was very generous. Incredibly generous and far more than Hal had been expecting.

“That’s… That’s amazing Bruce.” He stammered, “I cannot thank you enough. How much do you want for the house?”

“For anyone else, I wouldn’t go less than three hundred thousand. But, it needs some work done, I haven’t updated that interior since I bought it, and it looks like something out of the nineties.” Bruce said slowly, “And someone was murdered in it before I bought it, which really decreased the value, so I’ll give it to you for one hundred thousand.”

Alright, knowing someone was killed in the house was weird and he could see why it would decrease the value. But a house they owned would be far better than an apartment they could rent, they could redecorate and make renovations, and it was far more private than an apartment building, which was good for their alter-egos.

“Bruce, I cannot thank you enough. I need to talk to Barry about this, but thank you so, so much.” Hal thanked, mentally adding ‘get Bruce a muffin basket’ to his to-do list.

“Just, don’t kill Barry.” Bruce muttered, “A guy like me only gets one best friend in life, and when he’s gone, I don’t get a new one.”

That was sweet, though Hal would never admit it. Apparently Bruce did have a soul, or at the very least, he had borrowed it back from Satan for this phone call exclusively.

“I’ll keep him alive.” He promised, “Have a nice night Bruce.”

He didn’t get a response, just a dial tone as Bruce hung up. He would normally mumble about his lack of manners, but tonight he could only inwardly rejoice while he went back inside. His phone buzzed in his hand, Bruce having sent him a link to view the house, which he emailed to himself so he could show Barry in the morning.

Hal took a quick shower, got into pajamas, kissed Barry on the forehead, and went back to the living room to sleep on the couch. He shifted around for a while to get comfortable, which wasn’t easy on the small sofa, he eventually managed it, willing himself to fall asleep.

~~~~

Hal woke up with a kink in his neck and a sore back but a good feeling in his heart. He hurried through making coffee, logging onto his laptop while he waited for it to brew. As soon as the computer was awake, Hal pulled up his email and clicked on the link leading to pictures of the house Bruce had offered.

It was a nice house, two levels and a basement, lots of windows, a large kitchen/living room/dining room area. There were two bedrooms, the master bedroom, which had an attached bathroom and a spacious walk-in closet, and a smaller room that they could use for a guest room and home office. There was another bathroom across from the smaller bedroom, decked out with a bath/shower, toilet, and a sink with lots of cabinet space under it. And of course, the basement, but it wasn’t finished, it did have a washer and dryer down there though.

The backyard was also nice, the back deck obviously needed some work but it was nice enough. The yard was fenced with a wooden plank wall, attaching to the house with a gate on one side. It was nicer than Hal could have ever hoped for and he hoped Barry would see it the same way. He checked the neighbourhood it was in and saw that it was pretty nice, located close to a library and a community center, with a grocery plaza not even fifteen minutes drive away. It would be an amazing spot for them to live in, and it would be better to own a home than to rent one, now he just needed to wait for Barry to wake up to talk to him about it.

~~~

An hour and a half later, a very sleepy Barry Allen dragged himself into the kitchen. He was still in the clothes he’d been in when Hal had put him to sleep, the stolen tank top and his boxers, his hair was a fly away mess, and his eyes were still cloudy from sleep. It was better rested than he had looked in weeks, not healthy, by a country mile, but it was better nonetheless. His boyfriend shuffled in and rested his head against Hal’s shoulder, linking their fingers together and squeezing his hand. That had been a pretty standard display of affection between them for the majority of their time in California, it was intimate but not so touchy that it was too hot for Barry.

‘Good morning Beautiful.” Hal greeted, kissing him on the head.

“Morning Handsome.” Barry mumbled.

The blond pulled away and set about making himself tea, pouring boiling water into a mug, adding a tea bag, and then poking it with a spoon to make it brew faster. Hal stared, leaning against the counter, watching while his boyfriend moved around the kitchen, making his drink. When Barry bent over to reach the creamer in the fridge, he couldn’t stop himself from ogling his perfect ass.

“You put me in the bed last night.” Barry said, standing up with the creamer in hand.

“I did.” Hal confirmed, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Why?”

Hal sighed into his coffee and put the mug down. He turned to Barry while he added sugar and creamer to his tea.

“Because you’ve been bending over backwards to accommodate me and I haven’t been taking care of you like I should be.” He answered.

“You’ve been taking care of me.” Barry protested, frowning.

“Not like I should have been, not like you deserve.” Hal said.

Barry scowled and crossed his arms, glaring at his tea cup.

“I’m not some helpless baby, I don’t need someone taking care of me.” He muttered, “I’m fine.”

“You are not fine!” Hal snapped, “You’ve been sick for weeks, that is not fine!”

Barry flinched at his tone, his eyes welling up with tears and he closed his eyes against them. He swallowed hard around a lump in his throat and tried to compose himself enough to talk but he wasn’t having much success. Hal noticed he’d been too harsh and cursed in his head, making Barry defensive and weepy wasn’t the right way to start the conversation they needed to have.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound cross.” He apologized, sweeping a hand through his hair. “Shit, Bear I’m sorry. Just, come sit down with me, we need to have a talk.”

Hal took his coffee and brought it over to his laptop on the coffee table, putting his mug down on a coaster and sitting on the couch. Barry stayed in the kitchen for a moment, putting away the sugar and creamer, stirring his tea, and then following Hal to the living room and sitting down on the sofa. He didn’t put his mug down, he held it tightly in both hands with it sitting on his thigh, he wasn’t looking at Hal but he was close enough for a heartfelt conversation and that’s what he wanted, so Hal just started talking.

“So listen, I know that California hasn’t been your cup of tea. I can see you’re sick and I know it’s from the heat.” Hal began.

“If you’re going to break up with me, just do it already, don’t drag it out!” Barry snapped in a teary voice.

Hal paused and mentally reset. Break up? He didn’t want to break up with Barry! He loved Barry!

“Break up? Babe, no no no, I don’t want to break up with you!” He said in a rush. “I love you! I want to spend the rest of my life with you! I don’t want to break up!”

“Well then what do you want?” Barry sobbed, wiping his eyes.

Hal bundled Barry into a quick hug, nothing so long that he would feel too hot, but long enough to be reassuring for him. Barry returned in with one arm, the tears coming hot and fast from both of them. When they broke apart, Hal started to explain what he had discussed with Bruce.

“Straw-Barry, I want to take you home. Back to Central.” Hal explained, “You’re obviously sick, and you’re not getting better.”

“I’m trying!” Barry interrupted, crying hard. “I’m trying to get better, I’m trying to get used to the heat!”

“I know you are! I know that, but Barry, you’re hurting. Badly. Listen, I talked to Bruce last night, he has a safe house in Central he doesn’t want anymore that he’d be willing to sell to us.” He said, “I think we should take it and move you home.”

“But you love Coast City.” Barry protested.

“Not as much as I love you! I don’t care if this damn city burns, as long as you’re safe by my side.” Hal promised, “And right now you’re not safe.”

Barry sniffled, wiping his eyes one at a time, left then right.

“But it’s cold in Central and you hate the cold.” He pointed out.

“I do, I do hate the cold. But I’ll get some warm sweaters, and start drinking hot chocolate, and I have my space heater of a boyfriend to cuddle with. I can put on more clothes to stay warm, you can’t really get any more exposed than naked to stay cool here. Not that I’d have a problem if you want to go around naked all the time.” Hal joked to lighten the mood.

The joke landed and Barry laughed, no fresh tears being shed anymore. He leaned in close and rested his forehead against Hal’s collarbone for a second, then shifted to the back of the couch.

“You’d really come back to Central with me?” He asked, looking up at Hal with big blue eyes that made him melt.

“I would follow you anywhere you go.” Hal whispered.

Both men rested against the sofa, looking at each other with affection. Pushing through his heat exhaustion, Barry reached over and took Hal’s hand, giving it a squeeze.

“Show me this house you and Bruce talked about.” He requested.

“Of course!” Hal agreed, reaching for his laptop.

They spent the morning like that, settled on the couch with the laptop open to the pictures of the house. Hal grabbed a notepad and a pen, both of them discussing paint colours for the rooms, upgrades for the kitchen appliances, and what they wanted to do with the garden. At some point, Barry ordered Uber Eats from Mcdonalds for their breakfast and some drinks from Starbucks, a sugary coffee for Hal and an elaborate iced tea for himself. For the first time in weeks, Barry looked truly hopeful.

~~~~

A month later, Hal woke up in their shared bed in their new house. Barry was cuddled into his side, giving off plenty of warmth to keep them comfortable. From the windows, the early morning sunlight reflected off of the snow and into the couples room.

They had moved all of their things from California to Missouri three weeks prior. They had been greeted by Barry’s joyful adopted family, who had helped them get home from the airport and unpack. Later, they had come over to help with renovations to the house, repainting rooms, setting up appliances and furniture, and cleaning up afterwards, then they had all had pizza and wings together and spent the night laughing and joking together.

Barry had gotten better, his colour was better, he had gained weight, he was bouncy and energetic, able to be The Flash again, and he was smiling. Real smiles this time, not fake, plastic smiles to gloss over how much he was hurting. The couple was able to touch each other again without Barry getting sick, and Hal rejoiced at having their sex life back on track after nearly two months of it being nonexistent.

As for Hal, he had been adjusting to the Missouri winter. He had gotten a heavy winter coat and snow pants, a pair of winter boots, and a set of hat and gloves to wear outside. He and Barry had gone and gotten him winter clothes from the mall, so he wouldn’t be cold when they were hanging out in the house. Barry had also gotten him some heat packs for his boots and gloves to wear when he went outside, which was the best gift he had ever received.

He found that he really liked the snowy winter. He and Barry had made some snowmen in their backyard one Sunday afternoon, then they had made a snow fort and had a snowball fight. Hal really liked watching the snow come down, especially when it was twilight and the streetlights had just come on. He could spend hours in the armchair in front of the window, Barry cuddling with his legs over his lap, each with a cup of hot chocolate, just watching the snow come down.

In his sleep, Barry shifted and hummed, drawing Hal’s attention back to him. The blond was in a warm pair of striped pajamas, with the blankets tucked up to his chin. Hal settled back into bed, wrapping his arms around Barry to leech off his body heat. He would have plenty of time to admire the snow later, for now, he was just going to cuddle.

#Halbarry #Halbarry fanfiction #Barry Allen #The Flash #Hal Jordan #Green Lantern #Bruce Wayne #Batman #Ollie Queen #Green Arrow #Guy Gardener

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agustdef · 4 years ago

Text

With All My Heart

Pairing: Tattoo Artist!Hoseok x Doctor!Reader.

Genre: Established Relationship; Angst; Fluff

Word Count: 11K

Warning: Angsty. Language...?; Mention of Death; Mentions of mental health struggles

Rating: PG15

Banner Maker: @httpangelicjimin who was wonderful enough to remake this one after realized the other wouldn’t work and then proceeded to use it for I Found You.

Beta Reader: @suhdays who knew I was in a rush and was kind enough to offer to beta it for me without me asking.

When Hoseok came home from his last appointment, he found the apartment mostly silent and way cleaner than when he’d left that morning. Probably cleaner than after the weekly Sunday morning routine was finished, which was impressing and worrisome. But also made him hopeful.

After discarding his shoes and jacket at the door, he headed to the bedroom where he found YN already settled into bed. She wore a large shirt – with the words fight me with a leprechaun on front – that she’d probably stolen from Yoongi’s closet during their last visit, her bonnet, and a koala face mask. Her eyes were focused on the TV on the wall opposite their bed and she hummed along with the intro to the anime she was watching.

It was the most relaxed he’d seen her in weeks.

“Hey baby,” he said.

That drew her attention towards him, and she smiled when they locked eyes, though that stopped as soon as her mask shifted. She was happy to see him and had missed him after the day she’d spent alone. Not that she was lonely or anything, but it felt nice to break away from being by herself.

“Hi. You’re home early. I thought you had to work on that big piece tonight?” she said.

That made Hoseok annoyed in an instant. He huffed and rolled his eyes while his fingers ran through his hair. The memory of the evening he had before, and after he finished what turned into his last client filled his head.

“She called and said she couldn't make it. Which was fine, because I wasn't up to working on it tonight anyway. I'm still feeling sick I guess. But, then she kept changing her mind, and when she finally decided to come - and said she was on her way - she didn't come at all. No response to calls or any of the messages I sent. But I was scrolling through the shop's feed while waiting for my other person only to see her at some other shop we follow getting a different tattoo. I just told her that if she wasn’t going to honor appointments and give me the run around, then we weren’t the right fit.”

In response YN frowned. It was clear how annoyed and tired he was, even without the added stress of a wishy washy, client who just thought they could do whatever the hell they wanted when requesting someone’s time. She wanted to knock the girl upside her head, but it wasn’t realistic, and she’d never go out of her way to attack someone. Though the idea of cussing her out if she appeared at the shop when YN was around didn’t seem too terrible of a plan.

However, that wasn’t something that either of them lingered on long because Hoseok sneezed five times in a row and by the third he seemed wiped out.

YN took off her mask and threw it in the trash near her side of the bed before hopping up. She opened her bedside table and pulled out a thermometer, which she quickly freed from its little bad as she rounded the bed to where he stood. Hoseok knew better than to argue so his mouth opened before she even raised her arm to stick it in.

They stood there for a moment staring at each other, until they heard the beep and when YN looked at the temperature she winced.

“You went up so much since this morning. You’re practically at fever levels. Go take a shower and get in bed. I’ll get some stuff for you to take,” she said.

There was no way Hoseok would argue with how he felt. It was like once he was at home and stopped moving his body had started to give up. He felt heavy and he ached a little here and there. His head also felt a little weird, but he chalked up part of that to being frustrated. So, once she stepped away from him he dragged himself to the bathroom.

By the time he finished his shower and pulled on some clothes, YN was already back in the room. She’d had a bowl, a mug, and a glass of water sitting on the table near his side of the bed. And she was unfolding a blanket, which Hoseok recognized as one the weighted ones. It was something that YN pulled out whenever one of them was having a tough time sleeping or in general, and when they got sick. Something about the thing eased the body into relaxation that neither of them had ever felt before.

When she noticed his arrival, she smiled at him and patted the bed. Hoseok moved as quickly as his body would allow him and plopped down onto the bed. Before he could do much else she placed the bowl into his hands.

“It’s a mix of the broths from the soup your mom brought and that Mama Min brought. You are to never tell them that I did this. Or that while both are good they taste next level combined. I will not be killed because I took care of you,” she said.

At that Hoseok laughed, and then drank down the broth. YN wasn’t wrong about it being better combined, which was part of the reason he downed it despite the burn he felt. Naturally, YN chastised him as he did because she could see the pain on his face, but he paid her no mind. Once finished, she replaced the bowl with the mug and one look inside had him sitting it down.

“You know I don’t like that version of ginseng. Why can’t I drink the other one?” he whined.

“Because it’s the kind that helps you the most and it hides the taste of the medicine you hate so much. This is your own fault for being a wimp and not wanting to drink it down by itself. So drink it,” she said.

Of course, he didn’t do it right away. Hoseok stared YN down and attempted his best puppy dog eyes and pout, but was met with an unamused expression that became more uncaring as each second passed. That didn’t deter hum though, at least not for about a minute or so when it was clearly she only grew more impatient with him.

With a huff he grabbed the mug and quickly downed the shot of ginseng and medicine. He winced in reaction to how bitter it was and immediately snatched the glass of water up as YN took the mug from him. Once he’d downed that as well she grabbed all the dishes and headed out of the bedroom.

“Get comfortable in bed,” she called back.

Upon return she had both of their 34oz water bottles filled up and ready for them to drink through the night if need be. Which for Hoseok was often while sick and because she’d caught a little of his cold she too needed a few sips at random times if she woke up.

After giving it to him, she climbed into bed and slid under the blanket. It may have been summer but they tended to keep their room on the colder side, which meant that they wouldn’t overheat just because they slept under them; which was good because YN needed to be under a blanket to sleep.

Getting comfortable didn’t take them long, since they were both so wiped out from their days. And despite Hoseok’s sickness they cuddled together, because unlike him YN continued her dose of medicine until it was gone. She knew she wasn’t one hundred percent better even when the symptoms appeared to have left her completely.

They stayed cuddled together for about half an hour watching what YN had on before he’d come home. Nothing felt tense or awkward in their silence, just comfortable and relaxed.

But as time went on Hoseok remembered the feeling he’d had upon his arrival home. The worry that filled him when he saw how much she’d cleaned by herself in the time he’d been gone. And the hope he’d had at knowing she’d found enough energy to even make the effort to clean that much in the first place. She’d been out of it for weeks and it was the first major sign that something changed. Or that’s what he wished for.

Hoseok turned his head to look at her, well more like assess her face. It was relaxed and she seemed genuinely interested in what was on the screen and not off in her own little world. Though once she realized he was staring she turned his way and his assessment was over almost as quickly as it began.

“Can I help you?” she asked, her brow raised.

For a moment Hoseok debated telling her no, but that didn’t sit right with him. He needed to say something or it would bother him until he blurted it out. Or there was a chance she’d bottle it all up and not say anything at all because she was fine or she didn’t want to dump on him because he wasn’t her therapist.

“How was your session?” he asked.

There was a momentary change in her expression, but she didn’t let it linger for long. That made him even more worried, but he waited for her to say something. Though he knew if she was holding back and if he should push her.

“It was fine, I guess. Less crying than usual. We talked about all my other issues and saved how I was feeling about my mom for last. I think she hoped that by keeping me in a time constraint of twenty minutes I’d be forced to get out the main issues first and avoid going off into tangents. She was very wrong about that and the appointment ran for half an hour longer than it should have. I’d gotten so worked up that it wasn’t wise to try to force me down quickly,” she said.

Hoseok nodded along and reached under the blanket to grab her hand but didn’t utter a word. Just like her therapist he wanted her to let things out at her own pace.

“I mean it’s getting easier, but I don’t know. How is one supposed to process the death of their mother? And it doesn’t help that on top of that it’s dealing with how we were estranged. Knowing that my mix of apathy and deep hurt are valid. That it’s okay that I’m not as torn up about her dying as I think I should be. That I’m not torn up about losing a chance at speaking to the sibling that I never wanted to deal with because he moved back to the US. Dealing with calls from a slew of aunts and uncles who regularly give no fucks about me, questioning why I’m not there, and why I chose not to be heavily involved in the process. Why I could only show up. Why I didn’t stay longer.”

The more she spoke the shakier her voice got and it broke Hoseok’s heart. She was getting better and he knew that, but he always knew it was a lot to overcome. The loss of her only parent, despite their relationship, was something hard to deal with or so he imagined it. It had even affected Yoongi a great deal since he’d been close to her before too, but he recovered faster.

More than anything, Hoseok wished he could find some magic way to lessen the pain and confusion for her, but he felt just as helpless as when she found out. She’d come to the shop when she still had six hours of her twelve hour shift left to go and looked in shock. Without a word she’d run into Yoongi’s arms as he’d come out of his room after hearing Jungkook’s frantic calls. There she burst into tears, and through the sobbing told them that her mother had been in a car accident and didn’t make it.

None of them, except Yoongi, had ever seen her cry that hard and he tried his best to be her rock, but he broke with her. They broke down in the middle of the shop, falling to their knees as they cried together. The boys decided to close after that and just let them cry, comforting them when they could. And at some point they called Beau and Mama Min to tell them what had happened.

From there, they had to wait until they were calm enough to get them in a car to head back to Yoongi’s place. There they were met by Beau and Mama Min, who accepted them with open arms. The sobbing started all over again and they slowly got them to calm down enough to eat and shower. Everyone assumed it was a sleepover kind of situation, so they’d gotten Jin and Taehyung to swing by their places to grab stuff for them.

The entire night was just everyone surrounding YN on the makeshift nest they’d made. She never once let go of Yoongi’s hand and he didn’t dare release hers. And as they slept she cuddled into Mama Min’s side holding onto her for dear life with her other hand.

Seeing her shattered like that was eye opening for Hoseok, and he tried his best to make sure she was okay. Work gave her two weeks off, but when she didn’t bounce back quickly they extended the leave for a little longer. Then when that ran out she used vacation time she’d saved up. That was the start of when she actually made progress in not being a shell of her former self and Hoseok would tell her to take off all the time in the world if it meant that she’d be better.

But, as Hoseok sat there thinking about how he wished there was something he could do to fix things he realized there was something he could at least try to make her feel a bit better. And it would allow him to do something that he’d been wanting to for a while.

Smiling at her he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling away and staring into her eyes.

“We haven’t gone out in a while. So, what do you say about us and everyone going out to the beach for a week? We can do it next week too. Go to the beach house and hang out, have some fun,” he said.

For a moment it felt like she’d say no, especially because she looked so emotional, but then she nodded. And Hoseok watched as a smile worked its way onto her lips, bigger and more genuine than he’d seen in a while.

“That sounds like what I need,” she said.

Happy with that, Hoseok leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips before pulling away and snuggling into her. They continued their comfortable cuddly night in and slowly drifted to sleep together. Hoseok’s mind focused on planning things out perfectly until he knocked out.

The day before they were to leave to head to the beach house YN had planned to spend it packing and relax because the journey was tiresome. However, Hoseok had other plans and just as she finished packing her stuff he called her to come down to the shop for the night. Saying no was an option, but he sounded so excited that she couldn’t help but say yes.

So, on a Friday night when she could’ve been in her home eating and playing video games she found herself in Hoseok’s tattoo room by herself. Upon her arrival she’d been told he’d run out for a second and would be back in a bit. And in that case a bit meant thirty minutes or so after she got there.

Annoyed was an understatement, especially when she saw that he read the texts she’d sent asking him where he was. When it got too much, she got up to leave, but the moment she put her hand on the knob she was stumbling back because the door was being pushed open from the outside.

Hoseok – sweaty and breathing heavily – held bags of food and balanced multiple drinks in a tray. His eyes were wide and his mouth open in that uncomfortable mouth breathing way. Like YN could see the man’s uvula clear as day.

For a while they stood there staring at each other, that was until Hoseok regained control of his breathing.

“Were you about to leave?”

“Yes. You asked me to come at a specific time and you’re not here. Then I have to wait over thirty minutes where you open and don’t respond to my texts. How much longer did you think I was going to stay? Especially since you asked me to come here when I planned to not leave the couch until I absolutely had to all night,” she said.

At that Hoseok frowned. Moving past her a little he placed the stuff down in the tattoo chair that was reclined back. Then he moved to stand in front of her, his hands cupped her face. He stared at her expression and saw the slight bags under her eyes and the lingering sadness. She’d done so well for almost a week following his proposal of the beach trip, but the last day or two something shifted.

Her mother’s husband had found a way to contact her and it had thrown her off. Though the conversation had gone well it had brought her two steps back. Hoseok had woken up to her crying in the middle of the night and through the tears she’d managed to say that she felt like she was doing something wrong despite knowing she wasn’t. Despite knowing she was doing what was best for her and her mental state she felt like it was all wrong. Overthinking her decisions needlessly. The next morning – after he’d gotten her to sleep – she apologized and told him she knew that she was right and having a conversation with her mother’s husband that didn’t go horribly or fill her with anger felt off.

Things got better after that, but it took more than a moment of clarity and a talk with her therapist over the phone to get her back to where she’d been before. And that was why Hoseok had come up with the idea to call her into the shop. Well Jungkook and Taehyung came up with the idea to take her out before they all left, but he came up with what they’d do.

“I know, but I wanted to do something before we left. I swear we shouldn’t be here all night and I got that burger you were craving,” he said, a pout formed on his lips.

The usual thing would be for YN to throw the smallest of fits because she felt so tired, but his stupid face was there and she couldn’t say no. Plus she hadn’t left the apartment much in a week and needed the change of scenery even if it wasn’t a major one.

YN sighed. “Fine.”

With her answer and the small smile he saw fighting to take form on her lips Hoseok finally stopped his pouting. Leaning forward he pressed a quick kiss to her lips before releasing his hold on her face and moving over to the food. He carefully removed everything from the bags and then ran to put two of the four drinks in the tray into his mini freezer.

All the while YN stood and watched him; she hadn’t wanted to get in the way of what he was doing. The man could be anal about how things were handled when he was attempting to make some nice gesture and she’d been on the end of one of his glares before. Though she knew he wasn’t actually mad she knew not to push it further. There was no need for her to deal with a pouty baby later because things veered off plan; especially since she’d shown up before he could get back.

“Okay, so I know you were craving a burger and I went to the place you like and got you a double cheeseburger with extra pickles and a large fry. Also, a sprite and a chocolate milkshake,” he said.

Hearing him list the things made something stir inside YN. After giving into him she’d gotten less annoyed, but that hadn’t meant her mood shifted completely. Despite not being actively sad she felt down and having him get her the thing she’d been craving and getting her out of the house brightened her day. The corners of her mouth even turned up in a smile, something that hadn’t graced her lips once since she’d arrived – or all that day for that matter.

So, she watched as he excitedly continued and reassured her that the things she didn’t like weren’t on the burger and that he thought it would be good for them to sit in his room to eat. There was something about another plan of his, but she barely heard him as she smiled and watched him closely. His smile grew as he excitedly spoke of his idea, causing her own to do the same.

Hoseok was mid-ramble when he noticed that she was smiling at him. A truly genuine one at that. It made his heart beat a little erratically, but he didn’t mind at all. YN’s happiness was his priority and it felt good for him to see that she looked happy, even for a moment.

“Should we start eating?” he asked.

She nodded and he moved one of his chairs over to her so she could sit down to eat her food at the tattoo chair. In many cases she’d object, but the smell of multiple disinfectants told her that he’d cleaned the thing multiple times before her arrival. Plus, he’d laid a paper you’d see when you went to the doctor over the seat, so there was an added barrier from the food and the not so cleanly people who sometimes sat in it.

Though her mouth watered at the smell and the visual of her food YN waited until Hoseok was seat in his own chair across from her. He gave her a pointed look that she knew well from all the times he got annoyed at her not just eating and she dug into it without a word.

Not speaking was something they maintained for a few minutes before Hoseok swallowed a bite that he barely chewed.

“Did you finish getting everything ready?” he asked.

She nodded, because unlike him she liked to chew her food quite a bit before swallowing it.

“Yeah. Everything of mine is packed, as well as stuff we need for the beach, most of the snacks, and I grabbed all your stuff but didn’t pack it.”

Hoseok scoffed. “Good.”

At that she couldn’t help but to roll her eyes.

“You could’ve just let me pack it all for you. That way you don’t have to worry about it when you get home. Plus, you’re going to ask me to help when something doesn’t fit anyway,” she mumbled.

“I can back my own stuff. I’m a big boy. Besides who says I’ll need your help this time, I’m not even taking a whole lot with me.”

There was no verbal response to that, just a shake of the head as she gave up on the topic. At the end of the day she knew she was right and that Hoseok would come to her whining about something not fitting right or being unable to zip the bag. And the solution would be to refold something, rearrange how things sat, or make him realize he didn’t need as many pairs of shoes as he packed. And he definitely didn’t need to bring multiple colors of the same chunky, ugly pair of shoes that she hated.

She wished she could burn them but he loved them too much.

From there silence persisted for a bit and then she randomly turned her head to see a sketch on his wall of an anime she’d watched a long time ago. Naturally, that started a whole conversation about it and how much Hoseok hadn’t liked it as a kid. Something about his sister forcing him to watch it and him not liking the main character. Which led to a discussion about other main characters they both didn’t like. It spiraled into the difference between characters made unlikable as a part of their stories and how some were just not great and people played them off as unlikable on purpose. That didn’t stop people critiquing them though. Definitely didn’t stop YN.

As they talked their food lessened until it was gone. Hoseok took the initiative to clean it up and directed YN to the freezer. She grabbed their shakes and sat the one that was clearly white and black down on his side, grabbing a straw and jabbing it into her own cup. Her lips wrapped around it to pull some of the frozen treat up, but she struggled with how thick it was. When she finally got some out she pulled away with a smile.

“I see it’s up to your standards of thick. Sure you don’t want a spoon?” he asked upon his return to the seat.

YN shook her head vigorously and went in for more. Part of her brain hated the struggle, but the joy that filled her each time she finally got some was too great. The thick milkshakes were always the best.

While she did that Hoseok moved to his computer and turned on some music, his usual tattooing playlist blasted through the speakers. He turned it down when he saw YN flinch and then slid his chair back over to the seat. He grabbed his own straw and milkshake and sucked it down. It was thick, but the normal kind. No part of him had the patience to wrestle with his food or drink, so despite how much creamier it was her way he chose not to suffer.

About half the milkshake was gone before he got up from the seat and snatched YN’s from her hand – despite protest – to put back in the freezer. When he turned around he was met with her pouting and he wanted to give it back but they had other things to do as well.

“There’s another reason I asked you to come,” Hoseok said.

“Which is?”

He didn’t respond, just gathered a few things and prepped his small rolling table for tattooing before pushing towards her. There was no time to process what he meant by the action because then he was whipping off his shirt and taking a seat in the tattoo chair.

His intentions were beyond clear.

“Today?” she asked.

“Today.”

“But I-”

“Aht, no buts. You’re ready to do this and you were so excited to get to tattoo an actual person. So, today you’re going to do me and then Yoongi another time. Probably the others too since they’re all babies who can’t be left out.” He rolled his eyes while he said the last bit.

“That’s so many, I didn’t sign up for that. And why now? I’m not prepared for this. I don’t even have the stencil ready or-”

Again she didn’t get far because Hoseok pointed to a sheet of paper on the table that had various copies of the tattoo they’d agreed on and a pair of scissors.

The man had truly taken the time to make sure that everything was set. Which was sweet, but also spiked YN’s nerves. So much that any sadness that she’d felt was nowhere on her mind.

Hesitation was clear on her face as Hoseok watched her and he worried she was stuck amid her sadness, but then he noticed the nervous glint in her eyes. He found it cute that the woman cut open people for a living and was worried about how her tattoo would come out. Even though she caught onto tattooing faster than anyone in the shop and had the steadiest hand of all of them.

Reaching over Hoseok cupped her face and forced her gaze on him.

“You’ll do fine. We chose this tattoo because it was quick and basic. Line work and some shading. You even did it a million times on oranges, lemons, and grapefruit. It’ll be great,” he encouraged.

There was an urge to protest, but YN didn’t. She rose from her seat and walked out of the room. She went to wash her hands and then came back to slip gloves onto them. She lifted the arm rest and placed his arm on it, careful to look around for a good spot. Hoseok was tattooed almost completely on both arms, but there was a spot on his left forearm that had enough space.

From there she was kind of on autopilot. She cut the stencil and placed it on the spot to double check that it would work. Once pleased she set it back on the table and grabbed an antiseptic wipe to clean the area. She spent way too much time on that, but Hoseok didn’t comment on it. Before she knew it she was actually placing the stencil onto his skin and peeling it off, the thin purple lines transferred perfectly.

By then the nerves had returned and she was ready to back down, but then she made eye contact with Hoseok and he gave her an encouraging smile. She couldn’t stop then, she needed to see the tattoo through.

She got the gun and the ink ready, but the vibe felt off. So, without a word she rolled over to the computer and pulled off a glove. There were several clicks before Jonghyun’s beautiful voice filled the space. It was the first song on her surgery playlist and in a way tattooing was like that, so it was the perfect relaxer.

After replacing the glove she took off with another one she got to work. The tip of the needle dipped into the black ink and using her free hand she pressed Hoseok’s arm down and began the tattoo.

The design was a crescent moon – which would be shaded in – and a sun combined. Where the moon stopped lines and dots of varying lengths were used to make clear that it was the sun. Nothing intricate, but still something she worried about messing up.

Her movements were careful and steady, her hand moving easily as she traced the outline of the moon. It took her shorter than she thought even with her excessive wiping, but she wasn’t pleased with the outcome. It wasn’t bad at all, basically perfect. However, she’d been so nervous that the lines were too thin.

“If you want it thicker you can do it. I know Yoongi worked with you on that the last few sessions. I only taught you to start with thinner lines just in case you’re unsure,” Hoseok offered as if he read her mind.

YN nodded, chewing on her lower lip as she went in again. That time her lines were a little heavier and though part of her worried that it was a mistake to make them that thick, by the time she’d finished and wiped the excess she was pleased with it.

Being happy with her outcome meant that she felt more confident, which meant she went into the next part with less worry. She shaded the moon in with vigor and had to mutter a few apologies when Hoseok whined about her being too aggressive. It was just that she got excited and so into the work.

Which meant that she didn’t notice Yoongi when he’d silently entered the room. He stood behind her, though about a foot away so he wasn’t crowding her. Him and Hoseok watched as she finished the shading and went on to the lines to create the sun. Her hand moved carefully as she did and though there were a few curses when she thought she messed up, there were also those lightbulb moments when she realized she could make up the length with a few extra dots. Nothing ruined at all.

Once finished she set the gun to the side and carefully used the other items on the table to clean it. Seeing the cleaned version had her scared it was a mess, but the more she stared at it the more she liked it.

“You did good. How the hell did you get that to curve so fluidly?” Yoongi said, startling her with his sudden presence.

“She was so worried she’d mess up, I told her it would be fine,” Hoseok said.

Involuntarily, YN rolled her eyes. They enjoyed double teaming her on everything, but self-doubt was by far their favorite.

“Let the man see the new tattoo,” Yoongi said, playful nudging her shoulder.

Her eyes widened as she remembered he couldn’t see it well from the angle he was at and she moved away from the chair so he could get up. Hoseok immediately went over to the floor length mirror hanging near the door. He held out his arm and examined it closely – and for way too long – without saying anything. If he hadn’t smiled before he spoke she would’ve thrown up in fear he hated it.

“I told you, you’d do good baby,” he said.

Tension melted from her body at that and Hoseok watched on in joy. Not only had she accomplished her first tattoo, but she also appeared genuinely happy. There was nothing about her that exuded sadness or showed that she was even vaguely in a low place. It didn’t mean she was completely free from the thoughts, but it did mean that she wasn’t caught up in them enough to show any outward reactions. And since she wasn’t the best at keeping her emotions hidden and bottled up that was a win.

From the eye contact he made with Yoongi for a moment the older male also appeared to think so. Flashing Hoseok a thumbs up when YN wasn’t looking.

The first part of Hoseok’s plan was a success.

The trip to the beach was long and started early. They’d rented a twelve-seater van to drive there and alternated drivers. Jungkook, Yoongi, and YN switched out every two hours so no one got too complacent or tired with the six hour drive. It was trying sometimes because of stupid drivers or someone complaining too much, but they made it there without anyone killing someone else.

A true win.

They arrived at the beach house late afternoon and decided they’d spend that night in. None of them had enough energy from the trip to anything and they had a full week to venture out. Plus avoiding the massive crowd on a Saturday night was a win.

Food was ordered in front various places because everyone either wanted something different or couldn’t make up their mind on what they wanted at all. Dinner was eaten and though it started off with minimal conversation they all eventually started talking about random things and eventually it led to talk of what they would do the next day. Hoseok mentioned something about the amusement park nearby, which got YN excited immediately and everyone agreed with that.

However, the quickness in which they all said yes wasn’t lost on YN despite her excitement. Usually they all took forever deciding what to do on any group outing and when they did there was some sort of whining. But everyone had agreed and then went about eating like everything was fine. No questions asked. No adjustments to time. No concerns about being there for so long. Just compliance.

It was something YN planned to ask about and fight against if they were doing it because she wanted to. Them giving in just because it would make her happy because she’d been so down wasn’t something she was okay with. The thought was nice, but she preferred they did their own things if that’s what they wanted. But she didn’t get to ask because everyone finished and before she knew it Hoseok escorted her to their room.

And like clockwork her body felt heavy the moment her eyes laid on the bed. Not even the pretty view from their balcony could draw her in. Which made it easy for Hoseok to maintain control to get her in the shower and then bed in the matter of thirty minutes.

By the time her head hit the pillow she felt refreshed, but like she’d cried for a few hours straight. The kind of tired where you don’t really feel one with the world and everything is almost like an outsider looking in. Though when she looked at Hoseok he grounded her a bit.

He took a few minutes longer to get into the bed after she did, slipping in wearing nothing but his boxers. Which was fine because she was in short shorts and a crop top. Something that seemed to warrant him poking her stomach every so often, which she allowed to happen because she didn’t have it in her to stop him.

Hoseok knew what he was doing too and that he’d pay for it once she slept, though she tended to forget things when too tired. But he stopped his poking and prodding after a few seconds, preferring to pull her close so they were cuddled together. Her leg thrown over him and their faces resting inches away from each other. He wanted to stay up a little and talk, but her eyes were closed and her breathing slowing.

For once she didn’t argue about it only being 8:00pm and thus too early to sleep. She’d say that every time they went on a trip, but more than anything she’d been saying it since after her mother’s funeral. Even when she looked exhausted and mentally not there she refused to sleep that early. So it felt good to see her not do it for once and after placing a kiss on her lips that thought lulled Hoseok to sleep.

Because they’d fallen asleep so early everyone was up at around seven the next morning. Well, everyone except for Jin, Beau and YN. They’d all woken up and ventured out of their rooms at around five almost six and decided yoga was the move. They gathered on the back patio of the house where you could see the beach and got to work.

Yoga was something that Jin and YN did regularly. The hospital had classes for all the staff to take and they’d gone with no intentions to ever do it again, but then realized how good they felt the days after. From then on they went to the classes or met up in a secluded part of a park early in the morning to do it before going out for breakfast or something. Beau joined in once when YN did it at home and then usually join her anytime he saw her doing it. Sometimes even joining her and Jin when they ventured out.

It was a great first moment of the vacation and one of the few times she’d felt so at peace in a long while.

From there they showered, got dressed, and went down to make breakfast. They’d picked up some groceries before getting to the house so they didn’t have to worry about it later.

By the time they finished everyone was up. Food was consumed at an alarming rate and everyone got ready with the same quickness. They wanted to get to the park at opening so they could have a better chance to get on everything. Which led to a lot of yelling and rushing people to hurry up and get to the van.

Hoseok took it upon himself to drive them there and as the rides came into view the closer they got the more excited YN got. She bounced in her seat and almost opened her door before the car came to a full stop.

That was dangerous and with the way Yoongi looked at her Hoseok thought she’d get scolded, but in fact the older man was upset that she tried to cheat. Which confused Hoseok until he whipped the door open and sprinted towards the entrance, YN hot on his heels and yelling about who was the real cheater.

It was like watching two children and goodness did it make Hoseok feel good.

When the others reached them they both stood there with big smiles and holding wrist bands, all of them the kind that were used for those with fast passes.

Hoseok narrowed his eyes at them, but neither of them looked regretful about what they’d done. In fact, they both appeared way too smug.

“What did we say about you two buying everything before anyone gets a chance? It’s not allowed on this trip or any trip,” Beau said.

Yoongi and YN turned to each other and shrugged, then thrusted a wristband into everyone’s hands. Since it wasn’t their first time out with the two amusement park junkies they all knew to get the bands on quickly, as if their lives depended on it. Yoongi had once wrapped Jungkook’s so tight that it limited circulation in his hand and they had to get another.

No one wanted to repeat that.

Without missing a beat they walked towards the workers scanning people in, leaving the others to catch up. Both of them were several feet inside the park by the time the others caught up again. They stood perfectly still and took in the park. One could feel the excitement that radiated off them.

It took Taehyung clearing his throat multiple times before they turned to face the rest of the group. Though that only lasted for a second before they were focused on each other.

“We meet here in four hours?” YN asked.

Yoongi nodded. “Right here and then I kick your ass in everything.”

That made YN scoff but she refrained from any trash talk in retaliation, there was always enough of that during them playing the games. Besides her focus was on something else.

Off in the distance was a ride that was way too high and moved way too fast – by even her standards – but the expression on her face showed how much she wanted to try it. So, without a word to the others Hoseok walked forward, grabbed her hand, and headed towards it. Everyone else went their own way, except for Jungkook and Taehyung who followed behind them. Hoseok felt like he was going to be sick the whole way, but YN and Jungkook reassured him the whole time while Taehyung poked fun at him, though it was clear that was only to calm his own nerves.

Once on the thing they all were ready to shit themselves but pushed through and as the it reached the first drop. YN and Hoseok made eye contact for a second and there was a reassuring feeling that flowed through them, but the next thing they knew they were sailing through the air so quickly it took a moment for her to breathe properly again.

The entire ride there was no moment to relax or get used to it. Even knowing what was to come didn’t make it any easier to adjust.

It was exhilarating.

That feeling is why Taehyung and Hoseok ended up waiting as YN and Jungkook went on again. Neither of them wanted to relive that and the fast pass line wasn’t that long, so they just sat on a bench a few yards from where the line-up started.

“So, are you going to do it today?” Taehyung asked, his voice a bit strained.

At first Hoseok was confused by the question and then it dawned on him what he meant. A different kind of discomfort settled in him at the thought of saying yes and so he shook his head quickly.

“Definitely not,” he muttered.

Taehyung turned to look at him with a raised brow and confusion.

“I thought that was the plan? Get her all happy and then do it? Don’t tell me you’re chickening out?” he teased.

Hoseok reached over and lightly punched his shoulder, a soft – but nervous – laugh escaping his lips.

“I’m going to, just not today. I want to make sure she’s good first. I’d hate to do it while she’s still wrapped up in sadness. That would make the whole thing much more complicated than it already is.”

At that Taehyung shrugged and turned his attention back towards the ride. They sat in a comfortable silence watching it climb high and then drop, looping a few times before it climbed again. It was more nerve wrecking watching it move like that then being on it, but that didn’t mean that Hoseok wished he was on it instead. He never planned to get on that ride again if he could help it.

About twenty minutes or so passed before they both returned and then everyone was off to other rides. They were all their own level of terrifying, but as they ran from ride to ride Hoseok got used to the fear and thrill that came along with them. He’d even agreed to go on one twice, which made YN beyond happy. Especially since she could see the eagerness was genuine. As if him being the one to request they go again wasn’t clear enough.

They continued on like that for a while, though eventually Jungkook wanted to circle back to get on something they’d all said no to. He convinced Taehyung to go with him and then Hoseok and YN were traversing the park alone.

A few more rides after the departure of the others and Hoseok forced a stop for food. Which wasn’t a whole lot and less than Hoseok would’ve liked her to eat, but it was more than she’d had some of the days from weeks before. A win in his book.

Before they went to get on some more rides they stopped to get a dessert, which was ice cream wrapped in a crepe. The park hadn’t had it the last time they’d come to it and that made YN all the more eager to indulge. They reminded her of ones she’d had in Japan when she’d gone for six months to study in high school. They tasted like them too.

“I don’t know if I should get another one now or later when we’re about to leave,” she said.

Hoseok laughed as he watched her devour it.

“I think I saw a stand with it near the entrance so you can get it when we leave,” he offered.

Though she looked conflicted at first, she smiled and nodded after a bit. No matter how practiced she was at eating and getting on rides too much dairy was a mistake. Fifteen-year-old her learned that the hard way.

After food was consumed, they went on a few more rides and then headed back toward where they were to meet with fifteen minutes to spare. The walk was taken slowly and they intertwined fingers as they went.

It was a moment of peace among the chaos and when YN looked at Hoseok with one of the brightest smiles he’d seen in a while he felt near tears. She’d been so happy and never once did her expression falter or her body language shift negatively. There was so much freedom and joy radiating from her and despite his optimism he’d been scared she’d stay shrouded in darkness for forever. So to have that voice in his head silenced because she was there and existing outside of it was just the best thing to happen to him.

Everything wasn’t fixed, but it was better than nothing.

Yoongi was at the meeting point with an irritated Beau who held a large stuffed bear. Most would question why Beau looked that way, but by the shifting that Yoongi was doing and the wide smile it was clear that he’d challenged his boyfriend to a few games and then mercilessly beat him.

Upon seeing a smiling YN though Beau’s expression shifted to mimic the smile on her face and so did Yoongi’s for a moment. However, YN was in competition mode and when he noticed that he was as well.

Not a word was uttered between them as they left their significant others to head towards the games and neither of them said anything about it. They merely trailed behind them and watched as they tried to one up each other.

Who knows how much time passed or how many prizes were handed over to kids or anyone standing nearby before everyone was gathered together watching them. Though it was tiring to stand there and see them go on forever there was also this mutual contentment as they all looked on. It was as if they were all on the same wavelength with how nice it was to see either of them back to some sort of normalcy.

“Has she been like this all day?” Beau whispered.

Hoseok nodded, his eyes never leaving them.

“Yeah. She’s been so happy and carefree. I don’t think she’s thought about it once all this time. And it doesn’t feel like she’s faking it,” he said.

There was a nod from Beau in response and then all the focus was back on them.

YN being that happy that quickly wasn’t what Hoseok foresaw at all, but it was nice to see that the second part of what he planned worked out well. He only hoped that it was doing some actual, concrete good for her mentally and that the last part of everything would go as smoothly.

Four days into their trip YN decided that Hoseok was acting weird. Though weird was something normal for his behavior it was a different type. He was attentive and kind, but also drifted off into his own head a lot and didn’t put up a fight when asked to do something that wasn’t necessarily in his comfort zone. She hadn’t pushed his limits by any means and accepted no when he said it, but for the most he gave in without a second thought.

Of course, his efforts were appreciated greatly, but that was what worried her the most. She knew how down she’d been and how the call from her mother’s husband had changed her. It was clear as day to her how she was acting and she wished she could snap her fingers and stop, but that wasn’t possible. And since she knew that, so did Hoseok and that meant he’d ramped up on trying to keep her at the very least not actively sad. All his free time was spent trying to help and look after her. The trip was just another one of those things and though she jumped at the prospect of being away from home to enjoy herself – and had enjoyed herself – she feared him taking things a step too far to please her.

No matter her mental state there would be no excuse for any damage she could do to his if that was the case. So YN planned to talk to him about it one morning, but she was redirected by Yoongi to get ready. Apparently he wanted to take her out for the day, just the two of them. Something she happily agreed to on the compromise of her going to talk to Hoseok about a thing first, but that was shot down by being told he’d headed out a few minutes beforehand. Which meant she had no other choice but to do as she was told, but with a pout.

Despite her mopey mood she didn’t take long to get dressed. Mostly because when she’d entered the room she found a pair of shorts and one of her long sleeve tops laid out for her. Yoongi promptly informed her he didn’t want her taking forever so he’d done it for her. It wasn’t out of the norm since he’d done it many times throughout their lives because supposedly she moved too slow or always grabbed the one thing in her wardrobe he hated with a passion. After a while she learned to just let it happen.

Once ready to go Yoongi grabbed her hand and practically dragged her from the house. It took some begging and mild threats to get him to not hold her hand so tight and slow down. From there he was less aggressive, but still held her hand firmly in his. She was fine with that because it was a habit from childhood that they never grow out of. As long as his bony fingers didn’t dig into her hand or squeeze too tight she was fine.

During their walk they didn’t speak, which was fine. They both tended to be quiet people and silences were rarely awkward. Walking for ten minutes to the nearby cafe bookstore was nothing in the realm of how long they could be around each other and not utter a single word.

“I wanted us to relax before dinner later. You know they’re all going to get drunk and it’ll be a mess. So, some peace and quiet for now,” Yoongi said once they entered.

That made YN smile wide. Even without the reason she loved the idea of spending a few hours there.

“You sure it’s not because they let you take naps here whenever we come?” she teased.

Yoongi laughed. “That too. A peaceful nap.”

With that she nodded and finally removed her hand from his. She shooed him away to see if any good seats were open and then headed off to buy their drinks. All of her will was used not to stop and look at books that caught her eye as she walked to the counter. The man wanted a nap, but him waiting too long for his favorite hot chocolate wasn’t on the table. Plus, there was something about being inside the place that calmed her so much that she was a bit tired herself.

After she grabbed the hot chocolates she searched for him and was beyond happy to find him at the reclining chairs in a back corner. Not daring to destroy the nice atmosphere of the space she merely handed him his drink and plopped down into her own chair. Her body relaxed instantly. It was asking her to sleep, but she wanted to drink her hot chocolate first. That lasted maybe ten minutes before she and Yoongi drifted off.

Sometimes she didn’t remember how much having a good time and being happy could drain from a person, no matter how much sleep they got.

When they finally woke up, panic filled YN because she’d misread the clock as saying four hours had passed, but it was barely an hour. The darkness only exacerbated that, but she was thankful her eyes adjusted before she shook Yoongi awake.

Since she felt refreshed from the nap the urge to explore books overcame her again. Instead of ignoring it she left Yoongi to continue his napping and looked around the store.

A lot of what did interest her were things she had read, were on her to read list, or by someone who wasn’t the greatest person despite their excellent writing. The things she did find that didn’t fit into that were all so tempting and she wanted to get them all but knew better than to do that. Her to read list was long and she didn’t need a million more books. So, she settled on getting the top three and took pictures of the others to buy at a later date.

By the time she made her purchase Yoongi had woken up and joined her at the register. He appeared rested and much peppier than he had before, which made her happy to see.

“Should we head back now?” she asked.

He nodded and then they were holding hands and walking back to the beach house.

The silence on the way back didn’t exist. Yoongi asked about what books she’d gotten and some other book she’d gotten a while ago that he’d been interested in. She agreed to give it to him and just as they reached the house and she prepared to ask if he wanted the book’s sequel as well he stopped abruptly.

Confusion coloring her face YN turned her head to look at him and was met with a tense expression. However, before she could question it he spoke.

“You’re okay, right? Actually okay, not the fake okay?” he asked.

YN felt a pang in her heart and her eyes watered for a second, but she pushed that all down. She wouldn’t dare make him more worried than he’d already been, especially when there was nothing to worry about.

“I’m okay. In fact, I’m as close to content as I’ve been in a while,” she said.

His entire demeanor changed when she said the word content. It was a signal of sorts. Something that they’d both learned they wanted through therapy. Happiness was great but being content and not so much good or bad was always the goal. As long as they could reach contentment all would be fine.

Though relaxed he didn’t stop staring her down for a moment and then after a firm squeeze of her hand – that she returned – he started walking again.

Inside the house everyone was putting the finishing touches on the dinner they’d decided on for the evening. It was a night in, which meant cooking and Jungkook had said that meant it needed to be an extra meal. So, him, Jin, Jimin, and Namjoon had spent a lot of time getting everything prepped and cooked. YN had wanted to help and even offered once Yoongi and her returned, but they were done and shooed her out to the patio so they could bring the food out.

Hoseok, who she’d seen maybe twice that whole day, pulled her down onto the seat next to him and immediately moved in for a kiss. That elicited some gagging from Beau which was met with a middle finger from both Hoseok and YN all without pulling away from each other.

They did part when the first of many dishes were placed on the table though. And without hesitation – once everyone was seated and Jin gave his go ahead – they began grabbing the things they wanted or moving them in range.

There was just so much. They’d made kimchi stew, bulgogi, pork ribs, fried rice, curry, and braised chicken. And of course, enough white rice that would satisfy even YN.

Bloated wasn’t even the word that truly captured how YN felt by the end of it all. Though happy was definitely a descriptor. They’d eaten, talked, and down alcohol. Jokes and stories were told, laughed about, and denied with intense vigor all around. It was a peaceful moment despite the chaos and watching her family just be together always filled her with such joy.

She could stay like that forever, but of course that was a no.

About thirty minutes after she’d had her last bite Hoseok suggested they go on a walk while they waited for the others to return with the chosen dessert. No was on the tip of her tongue, but he reminded her walking could help her feel better. Plus, he had a look in his eye that reminded her that she’d wanted to talk to him about something before.

So, they kicked off their shoes and headed down the beach. Hoseok laced their fingers together and led her away from the house. At first they said nothing, but then at the exact same time they spoke.

“YN-”

“Can we talk-”

They both paused and looked at each other with wide eyes before descending into laughter. It took a moment or two, but they collected themselves soon enough and continued their trek.

“You first,” he said.

YN nodded. “I want to thank you for all of this. It was what I needed and I’m so happy to have all this time with you and everyone else. Being with the people I loved most and who love me. Having fun that I haven’t had in a while. Having moments where I feel content, even if it’s fleeting. I haven’t had a bad day for the last few days and I haven’t even thought about anything really. And even if I did it was such a fleeting moment that I only barely remember it happened at all.”

“But?” Hoseok said when she paused.

“But I worry about taking advantage of all of you. I know that I’m not and everyone is happy to be here for a good time and to offer all the support in the world. I know that that feeling is for naught. But I realized how much you’ve given into me the last few days and it makes me feel like I may be crossing a line. You’ve had to deal with me being distraught and not myself for weeks. Never able to escape that unless out at work or I’m with someone else. And then you plan this and you give into my every whim. You do things that I know make you uncomfortable. Even if I’m not pushing you on certain things and I know I’m not crossing any hard lines it still feels wrong. And I’m sorry about that,” she said.

That ended in them coming to an abrupt stop. Hoseok released her hand and moved to stand in front of her, his hands moving to cup her face.

“Baby, you don’t have to worry about any of that. You have not crossed a line or made me do anything I didn’t choose to do. I’m fine. Did I agree to a few things that scare me or make me cautious? Yes. Did I do them partly because they made you happy? Yes. But like I said, it was my choice. I wanted to try them and that was an extra incentive. Seeing you smile or be in the moment was the greatest incentive in the world. I wouldn’t change doing those things. And I know you’re worried about what all this or your behavior could have done to my mental health, but I’m good there too. It hurt me to see you like that, but I processed that in therapy. Dr. Seo was more than willing to take me in more than once a month to process all this. I swear to you I’m fine.”

There was clear uncertainty in her eyes despite what he said. Hoseok could see it and though he wished she’d just believe him he knew that wasn’t how the mind worked. Sometimes things took a while to process or a little more assurance needed to be given.

After taking a deep breath he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, one she returned without hesitation. When he pulled away one of his hands slipped from her face as their foreheads pressed together.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too.”

The next few moments happened in a weird space where everything moved too fast and too slow. Hoseok’s other hand moved from her face and he pulled away from her, but before anything could be said or done on her end he was down on one knee with a ring in his hand.

YN had no time to process it before he started talking.

“This week was about making you feel even an ounce of happiness, but it was also about finding the right time to ask you. YN you know I love you with my entire being. How you love yourself, me, and our little family brings me such joy. How you live to be the best you and know that you’re not always going to get it right. How you know yourself enough to know how to handle your problems. You realize how off you’re being and take the time to self-assess, not just because of you but because of me. So you’re not doing anything that could affect me. That could lead to unintentional behavior that could harm me. You grow so much all the time and it feels impossible for you to put forth any more effort than you already do.

“You just make me feel so happy. Doesn’t matter if it’s from watching you be that way, you making me feel that way, or the reminder that I can be happy on my own despite you. That I can stand alone in happiness that doesn’t revolve around you or anyone else. Something I struggled with so much before. You’ve helped so much by just being you. And though I know that we have cemented our relationship already, I still want to do this. It would truly be the best thing in the world if you married me, baby.”

YN had worked through the initial shock and was much calmer than when he’d started talking. Her brain fought to keep up with the words and her heart soared as she took them in. It’s why she didn’t hesitate in responding with a yes.

Without missing a beat Hoseok slipped the ring on her finger and rose onto his feet. He pulled her into a tight hug and whispered ‘I love you’ over and over. In the distance there were cheers from their friends who had watched on from the back patio. She hadn’t even realized they’d turned and walked back towards the house once she’d started talking. But that didn’t matter at all. At least not in that moment.

The calm that she felt mattered. The excitement she felt mattered. The content feeling that washed over her mattered.

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edensbuttercups · 4 years ago

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Nulla Verbum Sine Sensum

Pairing: Jaskier x reader Request: “Hii! I have a little fic idea if you want to write it: Jaskier gets cursed by a witch he slept with and ends up losing his voice and ends up searching for a cure with Geratl when they meet the reader and maybe she's a mage or a healer or something and she ends up breaking the curse” Word count: 3.4k A/N: Thank you anon for your request! I know it took so so long, and I apologize! I’ve got to admit, I’m not too happy with how this came out. I had an idea for the beginning and for the end, but the middle part just wouldn’t come to me. I decided to go for a less traditional “she breaks the curse” and I don’t know if it did work out, so feedback (as always) is appreciated! Again, I’m not fully satisfied with how this came out, and I might edit it later on, but writing it was a lot of fun and the prompt was really cool! So thank you again anon, hope you like it 💕

Geralt had retreated to his room hours ago, but he had decided to stick around, eyeing a certain mysterious woman that quietly sat at the bar. She had long flowing hair with blue ribbons plaited in it forming a crown around her head and a white gown that elegantly fell all the way to the floor. She had been the only one not to clap at the end of his performance, hell, she hadn’t even looked at him once! So, he did the only thing he could think of and trotted over to her, singing his praises until they both were in bed, a breathless mess next to each other.

When she woke up the next morning, she was alone. She didn’t mind, she hadn’t expected a love story, just some meaningless sex, yet she didn’t expect to descend the stairs finding him flirting once more, this time with the barmaid. She nodded and smiled, ready to teach him a lesson, prancing towards him and placing her hands on his shoulders, spinning him around and dragging him away from the bar. “What-… Oh. Hello.” He smiled, glancing apologetically towards the barmaid. “You know, darling” he raised his eyebrows at the nickname, surprised by her almost metallic tone “Your voice will quickly rot unless you share all you’ve got, expecting nothing in return, your most prized possession you might earn.” “Ooh, rhymes, how fancy! I didn’t know you were a poet like me” he answered cheerfully, repeating the curse under his breath, trying to memorize it for possible future songs. “Good luck bard. You’ll need it.” She winked at him as she turned and walked out, her long white dress blowing behind her as he looked at her for a moment before turning towards the bar yet again, eager to get back to charming the barmaid, hoping that Geralt would enjoy his sleep for only a bit longer. “So… where were we?” he said, his voice suddenly hoarse. He laughed and cleared his throat, throwing an apologetic glance at the barmaid. “Pardon my voice. I must’ve caught a cold.” He laughed once more, bowing his head and trying once more, failing again. He apologized again, paying for his breakfast and taking a seat at the closest table, waiting for his travel companion to arrive. He started thinking about the words from the woman he had spent the night with, piecing two and two together and gasping in disbelief, shaking his head and hoping with all his heart that he hadn’t truly been cursed. It wasn’t long until the Witcher descended the stairs, nodding to the bard and making way towards the door, walking out and leading the way towards the stables. “Geralt!” the bard cried out, his voice low and warped, unrecognizable and weak. The Witcher didn’t hear him and carried on walking, smiling as Roach came into view. The bard looked up at the sky, annoyed at his condition, cursing as he walked closer to the Witcher, grabbing his attention by tapping on his arm. “Hmm?” The Witcher turned, raising an eyebrow at the bard. “My voice.” He coughed out, trying to be as loud as he could. “You’ve probably got a cold. I’ll get you some ginger sweets, those should help.” “No. Curse.” His voice was a mere whisper now, weaker and weaker as time went on. “Curse? Jaskier I left you last night and you were fine, you probably didn’t sleep well and now your voice is weird, don’t get all-“ “Curse.” He insisted, looking for a stick to write with in the dirt, explaining his point. He walked towards the nearest tree and jumped up towards the lowest branch, jumping up and breaking it off the tree. He marched back and started writing. “I slept with a woman… Oh that’s a surprise!” Geralt laughed, carrying on reading. “This morning she told me something weird, I think it was a curse. What do I do? Jaskier, is that drawing supposed to be you crying? You really have to work on your anatomy” the Witcher laughed as the bard threw the stick at him, frustrated by his lack of words. “Let’s get moving. Allowing a Witcher in this town for a night was already a lot for them, if we stay any longer, we might end up with rocks thrown at us.” The Witcher looked at the bard, waiting for an answer. Jaskier looked up and nodded, following behind in silence.

You’d expect Geralt to enjoy the silence that accompanied him on the ride, but he could feel the sadness that surrounded Jaskier and couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He glanced behind often, finally offering a place behind him on Roach that the bard accepted offering a small smile, weakly climbing on and resting his head on Geralt’s back, tired from the thoughts that swirled around his head. What if I never get my voice back? What am I supposed to do? What if no one knows how to break this curse?

They reached Zavada on a cold morning, the bard swallowing back thoughts about his voiceless future and the Witcher determined to help his friend with whatever means necessary.

You had always enjoyed sitting near the door, often with a book in hand, waiting for customers to walk into your shop for either a chat or a fresh loaf of bread. This morning was no different; you sat with your head resting against the column, a hot cup of tea in your hands as you watched the people pass, their breaths drawing clouds in the air as they spoke. Two figures came into view, one tall and strong, his white hair framing his stern look while the other stood next to him, his arms tucked in front of his chest making him look small while a gloomy look haunted his face. You kept your eyes on them, entertained by the lost look on their faces, debating on whether you were willing to help them or not. You took a last sip, standing up and choosing the biggest loaf of bread you could find before walking out the door, closing it behind you. You felt their gaze on you as you moved through the crowd making your way towards them, your dress dragging on the ground behind you. “Hello! You look lost, can I help you in any way?” You offered them the bread, breaking it in half and offering one half each. The white-haired man looked at you for a moment before nodding. “We need a healer or a mage. Someone that knows how to break a curse” he explained, lightly moving his head towards the other man, his mouth shut tight in a small smile, his eyes bouncing from you to your surroundings. “Forgive him, he’s a bit grumpy. He’s a bard, yet he was cursed and lost his voice.” The man explained once more, smiling when the bard lightly punched his shoulder. You walked closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and smiling. “We’ll get your voice back, I promise.” You turned towards the streets, pointing east. “That way. I know a mage that might be able to help, I’ll come along with you.”

You knocked on the door, exchanging some words with the mage and introducing her to Geralt and Jaskier, moving aside when Geralt started explaining the situation, the mage listened closely. “And what was the curse?” She asked, grabbing some paper and a quill from the shelf. Jaskier started writing, his face serious as Geralt read aloud, used to his new position as voice double for the bard. “The morning after I met her she came towards me and smiled, saying that my voice would rot unless I gave all I had. I had to expect nothing in return to gain my most prized possession back. Something along those lines.” She scoffed, turning to the Witcher with a raised eyebrow. “Standard curse. You’d expect more originality, you know?” She turned to the bard and sat next to him. “You’ll have to do something out of the pureness of your heart. You have to do something just because it’s the right thing to do.” He stared at her, his eyes darting up to the Witcher’s and then up to yours. You could read a hint of confusion in them. You stepped forward. “What does that mean exactly?” she looked up at you, an amused smile painted on her face for a mere second. “Let’s say… he’s a bard. He writes songs. By writing a song, especially when a bard does so, you expect someone to listen to it, to like it, to praise it. But if he wrote a song without even an ounce of his heart craving that validation…” “The curse would be broken?” you guessed. “Maybe.” “Maybe?” “It all depends on who cursed him. Since it was a woman, we can assume she means something more… deep. He probably has to find a selfless act towards somebody, putting their needs before his own, no matter if that hurts him in any way.” She finished explaining and sat up, leaning over to pat his shoulder in a comforting way. She grabbed Geralt’s attention as she slipped away in a nearby room. “Go and wait outside. I’ll be out soon.” he said, following the mage into the back room. You waited outside together, the warm sun slowly heating up your surroundings after the cold night. You listened happily as the bard gently strummed one of the songs you had heard many times at the local tavern. He looked sad as he quietly moved his lips, forming words that both of you knew by heart but only one could sing. “I’ll sing for you.” His eyes darted up to meet yours “if you’ll allow me” you added as a smile graced his face. He started strumming louder, trying to decipher from your face if you knew the words. You nodded and started singing, softly at first, afraid of being heard by anyone but him, but slowly you let go of your fears, fluttering to your feet and dragging him up with you, gently swaying to the sound of the song, moving around each other as his smile grew, mesmerised by your voice. You forgot about everything while you danced and sang, his smile growing with each passing minute. The truth was that he liked having you around, even if the two of you had only just met, you seemed to care for him more than he thought possible. You smiled often, a smile that made his heart warm, and had he had his voice he would’ve showered you with praise and love. He promised the sky, the sun, the moon and everything holy that he would as soon as his voice returned.

You spent the rest of the day together, walking around and jokingly trying to make Jaskier do something out of the kindness of his own heart, but nothing worked. You asked him to play his lute, pick you flowers, dance for you, and Geralt kindly played along by asking him to be quiet. You both laughed at the stern expression on Jaskier’s face, but once he heard you laugh he smiled, not looking so offended anymore. “This is my shop.” you said, once you reached your entrance “I have a small room upstairs, so whenever you need me just knock. Do you have a place for the night?” “Some rooms are available just down the road” Geralt explained, pointing to the nearby inn. “We’ll come say goodbye tomorrow.” Both you and Jaskier widened your eyes, looking at the Witcher with a confused look. “Goodbye? You’re leaving?” Jaskier raised a hand, suggesting that he was wondering the same thing. “There’s no point in staying, is there? The mage can’t cure him, and he’ll have to solve this problem on his own. The nearby town is looking for someone to slay a beast, the earlier we leave the earlier we’ll have coins.” “Oh.” you muttered, trying to smile “sure. Well, I’ll be waiting for you. If you stop by in the morning I’ll be sure to prepare a delicious breakfast!” you tried to sound cheery, but you felt sadness at the thought of having to say goodbye so early. You wish you could’ve talked to Jaskier - truly talked to him - but you knew there wasn’t much you could do. So you offered a small hug to both the Witcher and the bard, hugging both of them tight, lingering just a few moments longer as you took the chance to rest your head on Jaskier’s shoulder. You barely knew them, but you were going to miss them. You were going to miss him. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” You said, offering a smile to the bard, trying to cheer him up while the Witcher nodded and turned. You and Jaskier shared a last look, him not daring to move and you to talk, before he smiled back, bowing as mischief tinted his eyes.

You spent the evening baking bread for your shop, adding a few extra pastries to the baked goods for your two new friends. You looked at the final result: a blackberry pie for Geralt and a lemon one for Jaskier, along with some other berries that you had grown and a jug of freshly squeezed juice. You left the kitchen, reaching the bedroom and slipping in a long blue gown that you had managed to buy with few hard earned coins. You smiled, slipping into bed and thinking of the bard, falling into a deep sleep while wishing that a simple kiss on the lips could solve it all.

A faint sound coming from downstairs woke you up, making you sit upright in the dark room. You glanced around, grabbing the plant pot that rested on your bedside table as a possible weapon as the moon lit the room enough for you not to trip on the clothes you slipped out of the night before. It wasn’t the first time that someone broke in, and even if the first time you almost had a heart attack, following that night you had always felt ready to tackle even the toughest of enemies, which you did. You held the plant tightly, walking down the narrow steps as your nightgown dragged behind you. You saw a shadow in front of you and swung down the pot, a soft gasp leaving your lips as you held the plant high above your head once more. The figure fell back, looking up to you with a confused expression, and you met the two eyes you had quickly grown to love. “I’m so sorry! Are you alright?” you helped him stand up, feeling relieved as he nodded, a hand held on his head where you hit him. “You could’ve knocked! What are you doing here?” he looked around, sighing as he realised that he had forgot to bring something to write on. He walked closer to you, gently pulling your hand up with his, moving his finger slowly, writing a letter at a time. “You wanted to see me? Why?” you asked, your heart beating faster as you stood close, closer than you had been before. “You missed me.” you smiled “I missed you too. I’m sorry that you’re leaving.” he nodded, looking away for a moment, his eyes falling to the food you had prepared. He moved his fingers once more, forming another phrase against your palm. “It’s for tomorrow morning! Don’t be greedy, Jaskier.” you said as he dragged you to the table, sitting in front of you. You both sat in silence for a moment, before he tentatively grabbed a small pastry, taking a bite and smiling in delight. You spent the night talking, he spent the night writing, and you both laughed and ate, falling into a comfortable company. He slipped away just before the sun rose, making his way back to Geralt and falling into a short sleep, his thoughts swirling in a sea of fears, hopes, dreams and you.

“Thank you for your help, y/n” Geralt said, after a short breakfast and an even shorter chat. “Thank you for your company. It was fun while it lasted. Have a safe trip Geralt.” you smiled, reaching from your bag and pulling out the finest bread you managed to bake, wrapped in a soft material. “For your journey.” you explained, earning a nod and a smile, before the Witcher moved away, towards the road. You looked at Jaskier, taking the chance to place a soft kiss on his cheek before taking a step back. He stood between the two of you, his eyes darting between you, the woman he felt so drawn to and him, the friend he promised to accompany on his adventures, changing his reputation with his words. And he didn’t know who to choose, because as much as writing songs was what he wanted - it was his job after all - he needed you. If just for now, he needed you. You made him smile, you understood him, no words needed. But what would he do here? Few people lived in this town, and the tavern wasn’t lively enough to grant him an earning. He’d be nothing but a nuisance after all. “Goodbye Jaskier.” you said softly, looking at him and waving at Geralt. Jaskier looked up to you and smiled, reaching for your hand and tracing once more. “Thank you for everything. I’ll come back one day.” you read as he wrote. You nodded, smiling. “I’ll be waiting.” you answered. And so you watched them walk away, the bard rushing behind Geralt, trying to catch up, and the Witcher riding tall, his white hair blowing in the wind. You turned and sat on a rock, placing a hand on your chest as you tried to swallow down the sadness you felt.

The bard walked with his head held down low, his hands in his pockets and his eyebrows furrowed. “How are you, Jaskier? I know how you feel about her.” Geralt spoke, breaking the silence. “I feel like I’ve made a mistake leaving her.” the bard started as the Witcher came to a halt, sliding off Roach. “I really liked her. Like, really liked her. But it wouldn’t be fair. A mute bard? It makes no sense! How would I even help her? I couldn’t earn any coins here.” “Jaskier.” “I know, I know, you think I fall in love too easily, but she was just so…” “Jaskier!” the Witcher barked, shutting the bard up. He turned around and searched for you, finding your figure sitting on a rock not too far away. He called for you, smiling when he saw you standing up, waving at him. “Let’s go back, Jaskier.” “What? Why?” he asked, still oblivious. The Witcher closed his eyes and smiled, dragging Roach along with him as he walked towards you. “What happened?” you asked, straightening the creases from your dress. “It worked.” Geralt muttered, looking at the bard with the hint of a smile. “What worked?” you asked, taking a step forward. “I made Jaskier choose between two things that would hurt him. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but…” he trailed off, gesturing to the bard triumphantly. “Wait, I can talk?” the bard said, looking blankly ahead. “I can talk!” he said once more, jumping up and enveloping you in a hug, swaying you from side to side as laughter rose from his chest. “Geralt!” he turned, ready to hug the Witcher, who instead simply moved to the side, making the bard hug the air for a moment before falling to the ground. “So he had to choose between…?” you started. “Staying with you and being a weight or leaving you, granting you freedom and financial sufficiency.” “Oh! You wouldn’t have been a weight, Jaskier! But either way, I’m happy it all worked out.” you looked at Jaskier, who was still sitting on the ground, and offered him a hand, pulling him up into a hug. “So, what’s the plan now? Are you still leaving? Or are you going to stay for a bit?” “We can spare a couple of days, right Geralt?” “I guess we can.”

You all walked back to your shop, you and Jaskier singing like fools and Geralt rolling his eyes every few steps. And as you slipped your hand in the bard’s, pulling him close into a quick kiss, you wondered if giving up your shop for some time in exchange for adventure was a smart decision. “Ah, life is short.” you muttered, knowing in your heart that you’d spend more than two days in their company. “What, love?” “Nothing.” you said smiling, pulling him into yet another kiss, the third of many more to come.

#jaskier x reader #jaskier x you #jaskier imagine #jaskier #geralt of rivia #the witcher #the witcher fanfic #jaskier fanfic #fanfic #the witcher netflix #fanfiction #writing

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wafflewarriors · 4 years ago

Text

Never Fear (The Winchesters Are Here)

Follow Your Heart

You tried following your heart, once, as a senior in college with straight A’s, a bright future, a career so close you could almost touch it. You were so close to satisfaction. So close to that diploma.

And all at once, that dream ceased to be. And all you could think was my heart must be very very lost.

It all began on a cloudy Friday evening, you were just about to end your shift with the dogs. It was a tangled mess of leashes when you made it back to the animal shelter. Sweat and dog hair covered you, and after a good shower of puppy kisses, you finally untangled yourself from the mass of dogs and return them to their rightful cages.

You refused to meet their sad eyes. You made that mistake, once, and had spent half an hour reassuring each heartbroken dog that they were, indeed, a good boy.

"I’ll see you guys in the morning!" you promised with a wave and a jangle of your dog whistle, and after a reply of barks, you left the building at dusk.

The road was silent, the street lamps weren’t on yet, and the clouds had become heavier in the sky. You had read in the forecast it was going to rain, but hadn't expected this.

The tightness in your chest only continued to build as you made it to the campus. The sun was just barely visible behind the storm clouds that had rolled in. The wind had become cool, and the wind had picked up, sending chills up and down your spine.

Perhaps it was just a combination of paranoia and reasonable worry for a woman walking alone at night to her college dorm, except your blood chilled the moment you unlocked your room and entered.

The hair on your arms and the back of your neck were on end. Your eyes adjusted to the dim light, and you realized that the window was open, and the harsh breeze was whipping past you.

You laughed it off, feeling silly. Though that night you slept with your cover tight against your chest, back against the wall, and your little silver paring knife under your pillow.

The next day, you experienced the same fear. Except, this time, it was sunny out.

What was triggering these feelings of dread? It was like you couldn’t focus anymore. Everything just felt... itchy. That was the only way you could describe it.

With each day that passed, the source of your terror was slowly revealing itself. Little, weird things that wouldn't be so noticeable to an outsider, but as someone who valued cleanliness and order, it might as well have been an elephant in the room.

Things were never as you left them. On Sunday morning you couldn’t find your hairbrush. Monday evening, your bed was mysteriously unkempt, even though you’d recalled making it that morning. Tuesday, the caps of your perfume bottles were all off and littered on the floor of your bathroom. Someone had been in your dorm.

You didn't have a roommate.

You called the police at midnight on Wednesday, and they showed up to your dorm to find you locked in the bathroom. They chalked it up to a wild imagination. You were three floors up, after all. Nobody was breaking in. You were just a stupid, homesick college student.

Right?

Pah, it wasn’t like you were a senior, or anything. Or that you’d ever even cried wolf in the last three years of living alone. But yeah, sure, call it paranoia.

Three weeks later, there was a knock on your front door.

It startled you enough to send you on your ass. You stared at the door from the floor, and it loomed over you like a bad dream.

Your stalker had been your shadow for almost a month at that point. A gaze that burned into the back of your skull, even when there was no one around. You wanted them to keep their distance.

You stood like a whisper, careful not to make any noise as you tiptoed to the peephole of your door. This was it. There would finally be a face to your terror. Someone you could blame.

A weird combination of disappointment and relief washed over you when you saw two FBI agents instead. Your fear of it being your stalker morphed into a fear of the justice system. Had they come to laugh at you just as the police had?

When they knocked a second time, you opened the door.

They showed you their badges and introduced themselves. "Mind if we come in?" Agent Young asked. He had longer, brown hair and kind eyes. You couldn't hold a gaze with him worth your life.

Strangers in your home, even authorities, made your hackles raise. What the helllllll was all you could think as you welcomed them into your tiny dorm as your legs shook.

A million questions raced around your head at once.

"Could we ask you about the death of your professor? Mr.Cleveland?"

Your heart plummeted and all hope died within you. Oh. This was about that whole freak-show. "What about it?" you said. Your feet shifted.

"Well, it’s said that you were there at the time of his death. Is that true?" Agent Scott asked. He was more intimidating—more rough around the edges—but you supposed he was just professional.

"Um. Uh, yeah. It…" the agents were watching you with intrigue, and you looked to the carpet. "It was horrible." And it was. It was bloody and scary, and all your fault because you had just stood there—watched as the professor died right in front of you.

Upon seeing your haunted look, Agent Scott spoke a little gentler. "Did you see what happened?"

"I—yeah… I saw it all. He—he had been helping me with something. An essay. I was flunking and he suggested a one on one." That had only been a week ago. Your grades had suffered as you juggled your classes. When Mr.Cleveland died... you abandoned college altogether and let the dog whistle collect dust.

"I don’t know… he just…" started dying at your feet. You hadn’t even tried to pick up a phone. You just stood there, and you watched. Your breath picked up. "...he just—"

Agent Young's voice was sympathetic. "He started coughing up blood?"

"Yeah. I didn’t—I didn’t know what to do. I kept thinking about..." the stalker, you thought. I couldn’t stop thinking about the stalker. "I froze and, a-and I just watched—"

"Easy, easy. It’s okay. We just need to know the details," Agent Scott said.

You paused, then. Something didn’t add up. "Wait... why is the FBI interested in a guy that died of a lung disease?" When the agents exchanged glances, you squinted at them, your anxiety briefly replaced with confusion.

"We don't think it was, erm, lung disease," Agent Scott said. "We think he might have been…" He searched for the word a little too long for your liking. "...uh, poisoned."

"Poisoned?" you yelped. "Who could have… oh god, that makes me a suspect, doesn't it?"

"Unfortunately."

Your stomach sank, and that anxiety returned. "You guys have to know I wouldn't—I would never—"

"If we thought it was you, you would be in custody," Agent Scott informed you curtly.

Agent Young frowned at his partner as if to say not helping and then turned back to you. "We just want to know what you saw that day. Anything weird? Strange noises? Smells?" He narrowed his eyes. "Is there anyone you know who would want to kill Mr.Cleveland?"

This was your chance to tell them about your stalker. If there was anyone who could help you, it was the FBI.

Yet you clammed up. "No, not really," you blurted. "Nobody I can think of, honest. Not to be rude, but I have finals tomorrow. Could you… leave?"

Who were you kidding, your grades had dropped so low lately that even finals wouldn't save you. But they didn't know that.

...probably.

They offered you a trained smile that didn’t reach the eyes. "Of course. We'll get out of your hair. If you think of anything else, here's our card." And with that they left the room.

The tightness in your chest did not ease.

///

That night, you had dreams of monsters and of evil people that could poison someone and smile. You dreamed of your stalker, and them laughing as you choked on your own blood.

You woke up in a cold sweat, eyes snapping open to the glow of an agape window. It was shut when you fell asleep, but it was open now, blowing in a breeze that chilled your blood.

Your dog whistle was gone.

It was a fear like no other. Your gut was screaming at you to launch for the phone. You did, automatically dialling the number on the business card that laid discarded on the other end of the room. You had memorized it after hours of staring at the numbers, debating whether or not to call them, then ultimately deciding not to with anxiety gnawing away at you.

They answered it on the second ring.

"Hello?" said a gruff voice. Agent Scott.

"I remembered something," you blurted. "You-you said to call… if I thought of something..." You trailed off when you saw the clock. "Oh god, it's three in the morning. Maybe this can… this can… this can wait…" It couldn't wait.

"No, wait. What is it? Might be important if it's got you up at three in the morning. Unless it's just finals?"

You shook your head and then realized he couldn't hear that. "Not finals. Someone's been stalking me for the past week. I thought… maybe, I was paranoid. I was... constantly told that I was paranoid. But someone was in here while I was asleep. And might… might still be close."

"Okay, you got a knife?"

"A knife?" You squeaked.

"Yeah. A knife. To defend yourself."

"Oh. Right. Right, okay. Uh. Well, uh, I have a paring knife?"

"You have... a paring knife," he repeated.

"Um, yeah? Is that okay? The dorms have rules against big knives. For safety reasons. It's a silver p—"

"Silver? Okay, you know what? That's fine. That's good. Use that. Is it sharp?"

"Sharp enough, I hope." You ran over to your cabinet, pulling out the knife and holding it to your chest. Your ragged breaths were loud in your ears. "Now what?"

"Well," he said, and you could hear an engine starting in the background. "We should be there in a few minutes. Stay on the phone, you hear me?"

"I—should I have called 911? This has never happened to me—"

"You're doing fine. Now, what made you so sure that someone had been in your room?"

"Well, the open window. I live up a few floors. There is no way they could have opened it unless—"

"Unless someone had been in your room. Alright. Just sit tight, okay? Don't hang up."

"O-okay." The agents will be here soon. They will help me. You had the knife and phone held so close to your chest and tight in your fist that your knuckles were white.

I will not die.

Without warning, you choked. It was wet, coppery, and lukewarm on your tongue. You clawed at your neck for air. You fell to your knees. The phone clattered on the wooden floor'; it buzzed with muffled shouting, but you couldn't pick it up, nor could you answer.

Just then, a massive shadow crawled in from your window, and it grunted like an animal. You barely had enough strength to look at him as trails of red spit hung from your face.

The man had claws. The man had claws. The man—the thing, had—for the love of God, inch long claws.

Down the hallway, there was a muffling of running feet. They would be too late. You realized then: you were probably going to die. You were no fair match.

You could feel the monster’s breath on your neck when the beast abruptly fell down like a sack of potatoes, howling and twisting.

Blindly, you stabbed it in the chest with all your strength, twisting the blade and then collapsing once again into a fit of retching.

The agents burst into the room.

But instead of moving to help you, they tore the room apart in search of something. You couldn’t help but sob in despair. Why weren't they helping you?

But when Agent Scott whipped out a little bag from your drawer and lit it on fire, the choking miraculously ceased.

You melted into the floor to catch your breath again. For a minute everyone just breathed. You really appreciated the minor break.

Agent Young helped you up, closely inspecting your heavy, slightly bloody, zoned-out face, and decided you were okay.

You licked your lips, still not processing any part of the last hour. "What," you said, "just happened."

The agents exchanged looks.

You looked at them. Really looked at them. "You're not FBI, are you?"

Agent Scott shrugged at his partner. "You gonna give her the talk, Sammy, or should I?"

///

"Were-witches," you deadpanned. Monsters, hunters, hex bags, and were-witches.

"Yep," Agent Scott—or Dean Winchester, you were now learning—said. "He probably got a whiff of you covered in dog hair or something. You're lucky we got here in time. The pervert was, I kid you not, jellifying human hearts with dark magic. Like, alive. And then he’d make you regurgitate—" He caught the hard look from Agent Young—Sam—and shut up. "But, yeah. Were-witches."

You frowned. "I can accept witches and werewolves, but… were-witches? For real?"

"Trust me, we didn't know they existed either," Sam informed you.

Dean laughed to himself. "Hey Sammy, should we call him a son of a witch or a son of a bi—" His smile faltered with both Sam and your glaring. "Get it? Witch jokes? Dog jokes? Sheesh, okay, you guys are seriously no fun."

Sam sighed. "We should probably take the, um, dead werewitch, out of here."

You followed his eyes to the heap of fur on your floor. Seeing your stalker dead was a major weight off your shoulders. It was such a relief that you felt high.

Sam was still talking. "—and you have finals?"

You sobered. "Right. Those." Like you would do anything except bomb them.

Sam must have known the look. "You haven't studied, have you? At all."

Shaking your head, you slumped into the mattress. "Nope. This stalker thing screwed me up big time. There's just no way." You sighed. Sam's dark look made you squint at him. "What?"

"I just, uh, know the feeling," Sam said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he said thoughtfully. "I got a free ride to law school before the hunting life took me away. I was already a hunter, I didn't have a choice. But you still do. You can still have that life you want." He tapped the card, still on the desk from his last visit. "Stay out of trouble and call us whenever. Especially if it's three in the morning."

Right then, you noticed the dog whistle was back, as if it had never left. Realization hit you like a brick to the head. "You did that! You blew the whistle."

"Yeah, well, I knew it was a werewolf. So I took a gamble and… borrowed it. Guess I didn't think you'd miss it—it was pretty dusty."

"You stole my whistle!"

"Hey, no, I borrowed it—"

"You gave me a heart attack! I thought the werewitch had stolen it! That's what set me off and made me call you—not the window!"

Dean cracked a smile. "Hey, it saved you, though, yeah? If I hadn't taken it, who's to say I could have saved your damsel ass?"

"Jerk."

"Bitch," Dean said automatically.

You blinked in surprise at the speed of his reply.

His eyes widened. "Sorry. That's… uh, Sam usually says that and I respond with…"

You laughed. Really laughed. You doubled over, struggling to breathe for the second time today, but this time it was welcome. The Winchesters inevitably joined in as you howled. You wiped away your tears of laughter, occasionally breaking into a smaller fit.

"You good?" Dean asked, grinning,

You sighed, the hysteria wearing off. "God, it wasn't even that funny! You just caught me by surprise. Thanks, though. For saving me, and all."

Dean smiled, patting you on the back. "No problem, kid."

You settled into a comfortable silence. You were still trying to calm down as they watched you with looks of fondness.

"Are you going to be able to sleep?" Sam asked.

You knew what he meant: were you going to be able to sleep alone? And honestly, you had a feeling you would sleep like a baby tonight. However, you had no purpose staying here anymore. "Would I be stepping too far if I asked to come with you? Just for the night."

"Of course."

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frobster · 4 years ago

Note

Still taking requests?? If you are, perhaps a sequel to your bucky x Peter prostitute drabble would be interesting... I know I would enjoy it :)

HERE WE GO this took forever because it spawned an entire fic. I am responding with the first chapter. Chapter 2 will be posted in a week and I am currently working on chapter 3. Oops.

It is also currently up on ao3 where the next chapters will be added!

EDIT: here's the original ficlet that inspired this request!

☆☆☆

Peter was fiercely independent and did not take well to Bucky offering to pay for everything. He slipped away while Bucky slept, taking all the money he could find and jumping in a cab as soon as he could. His mind reeled as the cab drove him home, running over all the events that transpired in the past few hours. Some random rich guy plucked him off the street, took him home, and offered to pay for everything he could ever want. It had to be a trick. That didn’t really happen outside of movies, and even if it did, it would never happen to him. He wasn’t lucky enough for that.

When he got back to his crappy little apartment, Peter collapsed face-first onto his couch. He barely got any sleep the previous night with how anxious he was about this man. It might not have been safe for him to fall asleep. What if he woke up in some dark, cold basement, tied down and completely at the man’s mercy?

Peter shivered as that thought crossed his mind. But no, he had to stay focused. That was not a scenario he wanted to find himself in. Fantasy had to stay fantasy.

Checking his phone, Peter realized it was dead since he had been working most of the night and then spent the last few hours before sunrise at a stranger’s apartment. He groaned as he pushed up from the couch and shuffled to his bedroom where he plugged his phone in before flopping onto the bed in the exact same fashion as the couch. Maybe he could get some sleep while his phone charged.

It felt like Peter had just closed his eyes when his phone rang. He blindly swatted around his bed until he found it and swiped to answer without even bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Pete, where the hell have you been?!”

Peter winced at the loud voice, but he recognized it immediately.

“At home,” he mumbled in reply.

“Well get up and come open the door. Me and MJ are here, we brought food,” Ned said.

The sounds of doors closing and bags crinkling filled the line for a moment. Peter finally pried his eyes open and winced at how bright his room was. He must have gotten some sleep, the sun was high in the sky by then. When he got home, it was barely sunrise.

“Yeah, yeah. See you in a minute.” Peter hung up the call before sliding out of bed and going to open the door.

Ned was Peter’s high school best friend. They had just graduated the year before and Peter had taken some time off to earn money since he had to support himself and couldn’t afford to go right to college. MJ was Peter’s street best friend. She worked the same job and they often planned to stand on the same corners together so they wouldn’t be bored or lonely. To his relief, they both got along well.

“Hey, kid,” MJ said with a grin as she walked in with Ned right behind her. They were both carrying bags of food and it seemed like they did some grocery shopping for him too. Peter felt a little guilty, but Ned lived with his parents still and had money from his part time job that he didn’t really need to spend on anything else, and MJ had far more experience along with living in a shared unit so her rent wasn’t as high.

“I’m not a kid, not compared to you,” Peter pouted as the two started putting food away.

“I’m two years older than you,” she countered. “And Ned is a few months older. You’re the baby of this group, Petey.”

Ned snickered as Peter glowered at them and flopped onto his couch again. He didn’t have the energy to debate them on his baby status.

“You disappeared last night and never answered your phone. I called you like twenty times.” MJ walked over and looked down at Peter with a stern expression.

“Yeah, sorry. Some rich guy picked me up and took me home. He said he’d pay for everything I ever wanted if I lived with him, but that sounded like a trap so I snuck out this morning. Didn’t have time to charge my phone while I was planning my escape.”

Both Ned and MJ had raised eyebrows. They glanced at each other and had a silent conversation that consisted of vague hand gestures and pointed facial expressions.

“Almost sounds like you could’ve snatched up a sugar daddy,” Ned finally said as he pulled out a container of french fries to hand to Peter.

Peter accepted the fries and ate a few as he thought. “Maybe. But come on, I’m not stupid. Nothing like that ever happens in real life, and it definitely would never happen to me. He probably had some sort of torture room where he kills vulnerable, helpless people like me that he just plucks off the street.”

“Dude, you were there all night and nothing happened,” MJ pointed out before biting into her burger.

“Yeah if he really wanted to kill you, it would’ve been easy last night.” Ned wiped a spot of ketchup off his face and shrugged. “Did you get his name? Maybe we could look him up, do some investigating.”

“Well, he didn’t tell me his name but I went through his wallet when he was asleep to take his money,” Peter said casually as he picked up his phone. He had already tried googling the guy earlier but nothing much came up.

Pulling up the search page again, Peter showed his friends the name and measly number of results. MJ scrunched up her face in distaste as Ned rolled his eyes.

“Really, Peter? Have I not taught you better than this? Never go to google for your stalking.”

Ned shook his head as he got up to grab his backpack. He dug out his laptop and booted it up before opening his own search page. Peter recognized it as something they had worked on together in high school, though he couldn’t do much now since his own laptop was a cheap, crappy thing that he could barely connect to the internet with.

MJ shifted to sit on the other side of Ned so she could see the screen too as he typed away. It took a few minutes but soon Ned had a search page with far more results than Peter managed to find, and even some pictures.

“Yeah, that’s him,” Peter confirmed as he went back to his chicken nuggets.

“I see why you’re suspicious,” MJ muttered, pointing to an article link. The boys glanced at it and Peter sucked in a sharp breath.

“Peter! The mafia?” Ned whispered sharply.

“I had no idea!” Peter whispered back in the same tone. They were all afraid to talk too loudly, especially with the thin walls of his apartment.

“You could be the kept boy of a mafia don,” MJ added with a smirk.

Peter just squeaked and looked away, heart racing as he thought of all the ways the previous night could have gone. He felt lucky to be alive, let alone in his own apartment.

There were plenty of reasons for Peter to fear for his life without the interest of such a dangerous man. Being a sex worker was bad enough, on top of also being transgender. He made it clear up front to anyone who wanted to buy a service from him and he put up with cruel misgendering so long as they didn’t physically harm him. There was pepper spray, a pocket knife, and a rape whistle in his bag at all times, and he wore jewelry that could be used as a weapon if he couldn’t get to his bag.

Ned and MJ knew about the struggles he faced on a daily basis and always tried to support him as best as they could, but Peter wasn’t sure if there was anything they could do in this case. Maybe if he was lucky, this James guy would just leave him alone.

“Maybe I could just skip work for a few nights, or stand on a different corner,” Peter suggested lamely. He couldn’t really afford to skip any nights of work, but he also didn’t want to risk James finding him again.

“Pete, I doubt that would really stop this guy if he’s actually interested in you. Guy owns like half the city, he probably has people out right now looking for you,” Ned pointed out.

Peter sighed and flopped back onto the couch. He felt stuck and entirely unsure what to do. Typically he and MJ worked the same corner, or at least the same street, so they could keep an eye on each other. But he didn’t want MJ to fall under the attention of this man too.

“We can work different streets if that would make you feel better,” MJ offered with a smile. “I’ll just talk to the boss and tell him we’re gonna be in a different area. It shouldn’t be an issue as long as we stick to a street with bars and a nearby hotel.”

“Yeah, okay.” Peter relaxed slightly. He could always count on MJ to have his back. “That sounds good. I don’t work tonight, so maybe tomorrow?”

“Sure thing, kid.” MJ was already taking out her phone to send a text to their boss about changing locations.

Peter rolled his eyes at MJ calling him a kid again, but he liked it. It was a term of endearment between them, nothing against his age or slight stature. Even with the help of hormone therapy, something Peter refused to give up even when money got tight, he was still on the smaller side. He was always immensely thankful that he managed to get top surgery before his aunt passed away. Her insurance had helped them afford it and there was no more to pay off on it. All Peter had to really worry about was paying for his hormones.

The day passed with all three of them lounging around Peter’s apartment, cooking when they were hungry but otherwise just watching television or playing games with Ned’s laptop connected to the tv. It was just what Peter needed to relax after the strange night with James, and he didn’t think about being followed or tracked until his friends bid him goodnight and left.

When he was alone, Peter huddled down into his bed with every blanket he owned piled around him for comfort. His phone was set aside to charge with the volume all the way up before he closed his eyes and tried to settle his chaotic thoughts.

Nothing bad will happen. It was a one-time thing. MJ will help if something does happen.

Eventually Peter was able to fall asleep, but he tossed and turned all night as strange dreams played through his mind. In one, James found him again and all his fears came true. He was kept prisoner, abused, tortured and finally killed. But it morphed into something that made his dream self feel like he was coming back to life. The dream glowed bright white and seemed to reset with him in James’ apartment once more. This time, the man was making dinner with his hair tied back in a casual bun, whistling to himself over the sizzling stove.

Dream-Peter got up to walk over, curious about what was cooking. It looked exactly like the pasta he had made with his friends that day and somehow, that soothed him. He glanced up to James, surprised to see the man smiling, and instinctually smiled back.

“Go sit down, Pete. Food’s almost ready, I’ll serve it up soon.” James’ voice was smooth and deep. Definitely something Peter could get used to hearing.

As if in a trance, dream-Peter sat down at the nearby dining table which was already set with two places. Soon James came over and scooped some pasta onto both plates and pressed a kiss to Peter’s head before sitting down next to him.

“Eat up, baby,” James said with a smile. He had one arm draped over Peter’s chair and ate with his other hand, as casual as could be.

In a complete flip of the previous dream, Peter felt safe and relaxed. He scooted his chair closer to James before digging into his food. Real-Peter started to drool onto his pillow as he imagined a fresh plate of pasta with garlic butter sauce.

The dream skipped as dreams often do, and the two were then on the couch. James once again had his arm around Peter, who leaned into the older man like he belonged tucked against his side. It was a calm, comfortable moment and real-Peter finally relaxed in his mess of blankets.

“I’m glad you came back to me.” Dream-Peter looked up to James who was smiling again, always smiling, and looking at him like he was something precious. James leaned down to give dream-Peter a proper kiss but just before their lips met, there was a shrill beeping sound.

Peter jolted awake with a gasp, lips still warm and tingling from what almost happened. He groaned when he realized it was all a dream, rolling over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. The dreams were exhausting, emotionally and mentally, and he wasn’t sure how he would be able to stay awake that night. Maybe MJ could buy them coffee at some point.

The memories of the first dream made Peter shudder and tuck his blankets closer around him. The shrill beeping started again, so he finally reached over to smack at his phone until it stopped. He cursed the sound, wishing the dream could’ve continued, before realizing what that thought meant.

“Fuck,” Peter muttered.

Just one day after it all happened and he was dreaming about James in a romantic way. Should he tell MJ? Did he wish that James would appear again to take him back to that penthouse apartment, so far away from all his other worries?

Wanting to distract himself from that line of thought, Peter rolled over to grab his phone. There were only a few notifications, most of which he didn’t care about, but one was a text from an unknown number.

“You ran out before we could really talk, Peter. I would like to see you again, if you’re willing. -JBB.”

“What the fuck?” Peter squeaked out. He snapped a screenshot of the text and sent it to his group chat with MJ and Ned, desperate for their opinions on everything.

> Ned: Dude. I need to do more research before you go out tonight. When do you start work?

Ned, bless him, was always casual about Peter’s line of work. They had known each other for years and even though it was a big change, he never judged Peter for it.

> Peter: I’m leaving at 7:30. Me n MJ are gonna meet up around 7:45

Peter stared at his phone for a few more minutes before setting it aside. Ned was either in class or already doing his sleuth work. Maybe a shower would help clear his mind.

Sliding out of bed, Peter grabbed his phone again so he could listen to music while he showered. He was on Ned’s Spotify family plan, another best friend blessing, so he queued up his playlist as he started the shower. The water wasn’t often very warm thanks to the shitty building he lived in, but he had become accustomed to it after nearly a year living there.

As he stepped into the shower while singing, Peter’s voice pitched high as the cold water splashed onto his skin. But he powered through, quickly soaping himself down and staying focused on the lyrics of his songs. He was almost finished, rinsing the conditioner out of his hair, when his phone started dinging with new texts. Assuming it was MJ or Ned with news, Peter took his time making sure his hair was completely rinsed before turning off the water to check.

With a towel around his waist and one wrapped in his hair, Peter picked up his phone to idly read the messages as he walked back to his room. But he didn’t make it very far before he realized someone was in his apartment.

“I tried texting you, figured it would be kinder than calling.” That same voice from the other night, from his dreams.

Peter slowly looked up with wide eyes to see James seated on his couch, looking as though he belonged there. The younger man swallowed nervously, just staring at James and entirely unsure what to do. He was naked, he couldn’t just run. And even if he tried, there were likely more people out in the stairwell and surrounding the building.

“Um. Hi,” Peter finally managed.

James glanced down from Peter’s face, taking in his bare torso, watching the water droplets trace lines down his chest. Peter was never self-conscious about his surgery scars and that gave him a surge of confidence as he stood up straighter, daring James to say something about them.

“I gave you a day to think. I’m sure your friends had their own opinions yesterday as well. My offer still stands, even though you ran out on me,” James continued, as casual as ever.

“Yeah, well. Imagine you’re a young, broke prostitute who just got picked up by a rich mafia boss and offered to have all your dreams come true. Sounds pretty impossible,” Peter countered, finding his sass despite his racing heartbeat.

James was silent as his gaze returned to Peter’s face. Peter didn’t notice before, but his eyes seemed an unknown color. Blue, grey, almost silver. Sapphires and precious metals. Expensive rings and steel bars. He shivered and blamed it on not having a shirt.

“Well, here I am, ready to make your dreams come true.” James held his arms out like he was offering Peter the whole world.

Maybe it was a dream come true. Or maybe it was a nightmare. Peter’s dreams had him feeling conflicted. It could go so terribly or so well and he had no idea which would be the outcome unless he dove right in.

His phone buzzed again and Peter looked down out of habit. There were two more texts from the unknown number, who he now knew for sure was James, and twelve in the group chat with Ned and MJ.

“Go ahead, check your messages. Hell, tell ‘em I’m here.” Everything about James was so casual, it was starting to irritate Peter.

“You’re trespassing on my apartment. I didn’t invite you here.” Peter looked to James again, eyes narrowed in a more confident expression.

“Can’t trespass in buildings that I own.” James smirked and Peter huffed, hating how attractive the man looked there - slouched but not in a lazy way, suit unbuttoned, hair slicked back, confident as could be.

The comment eventually settled over Peter and he realized that James really did own a good portion of the city, likely the hotels and bars he worked at too. There was no way he could get away from this man.

“If you really don’t have any interest in my offer, just say so and I will leave you alone. I ain’t the obsessive stalker type. You have my number, you can reach me any time.” James stood and took a step closer to Peter, who swayed slightly as if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to step forwards or back.

“So I can have some time to think?” Peter asked.

“Sure. How about a week?” James closed the distance between them and reached up to cup Peter’s cheek. He stroked his thumb slowly over Peter’s skin, soft and flushed from his shower. Peter blushed and he hoped James wouldn’t notice. “I hope you agree. I would love to keep you.”

It felt so much like Peter’s dream, he almost leaned in for a kiss just to see what it would really feel like. But he held his ground and licked his lips instead, trying to remember how to speak with this gorgeous man so close to him.

“Okay,” Peter breathed out.

James chuckled softly, entirely aware of the effect he had on Peter, and dropped his hand. He turned to walk out, then paused again.

“You can call me Bucky, doll. I only use James for business.” Bucky shot Peter a wink before leaving, closing the door behind him.

☆☆☆

#winterspider #bucky/peter #bucky barnes #peter parker #mafia au #mob boss!bucky #prostitute!peter #trans!peter #offer of a lifetime #asks #anon #my writing

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malifikook · 5 years ago

Text

College Fiasca (II)

First off, i am SO sorry for the delay of this part. I promised this AGES ago but tumblr never posted it and .. now i feel terrible. but here we go, the second part to the college fiasca series!

Sex was great. Something you learnt last night was something that you had, in fact, been missing out on now. But a problem comes with sleeping with someone who’s known for one night stands. And there’s a problem when you find yourself in the room of that someone 3 AM in the morning.

It was a sharp prodding in you stomach that roused you, making you grumble and roll around, nudging your nose deeper into the soft soft pillow that oddly felt so luxurious and -

Nothing like the used pillow that you owned.

Shooting up onto your splayed hand on the pillow, you gazed through the hair that had fallen infront of your face at the jerk, glancing around to see an apartment you had never seen before, and when your eyes dropped down at the sight of movement, you gaped in horror when you saw a very handsome face lying right next to you, his eyes closed, soft lips parted as his brows pinched slightly.

‘Oh my god’ you mouthed, shivering suddenly at the cold air and you gasped when you realized you were naked, and the sheet was slipping off your shivering body.

Now settling back onto the sheets, you gazed up at the ceiling, thoughts flying through your head as you fisted the sheets being held tight against your chest. You could slip away right now, avoid confrontation with Jeongguk in the morning, and hide yourself from him when you see him in college.

Smothering a groan, you pressed a palm to your face. This was exactly what you were trying to avoid - you weren’t ready to play hide and seek with anyone, and you knew from previous knowledge how it’d end.

Sparing one last glance at the beautiful boy curling beside you, you slipped out of the warmth of the bed, very very reluctantly might you add, and with burning cheeks picked up your fallen clothes, every so often throwing a glance behind your shoulder to check if the boy had rouse.

When you had all your things in your hand and was fully clothed, you hesitated at the door, staring at the apartment and unable to smother the guilt you felt, you ripped out a piece of paper from your notebook and scribbled an apology letter.

Cheeks burning, you placed it on the counter and was gone from the apartment as fast as your legs could take you.

When you arrived back at your dorm after a cab ride from a suspiciously drunk driver, you tossed your belongings onto the floor and immediately fell face forward onto your bed.

You could hear your room-mate stir and mumble out a “Where were you?” but you gave a non committal shrug, glancing at the wall beside you. And ever so slowly, a smile came onto your face when you remembered how Jeongguk’s fingers felt on your chin before shaking yourself and digging your face into the pillow, still smiling.

Jeongguk woke, oddly, to an empty bed.

Eyes blearily blinking as he rolled onto his back, he brought his hands up to dig away the sleepiness away, yawning, and when he came to senses, last night’s events flashed through his head and he shot up, looking around for the girl he had brought home.

But as he stared at the wrinkled sheets, he felt the lingering warmth and registered that you had must left only a while back.

Falling back onto his back, Jeongguk gazed up at the ceiling, frowning as he felt a tug at his heart. What was he thinking? Of course you’d be gone. It was just a fling, that’s it.

But as he swung his legs over the bed and pushed to his feet, Jeongguk couldn’t help but think the way you gazed at him all night was something he hadn’t experienced in a while.

Shuffling into the kitchen while pulling a sweater over himself, Jeongguk glared at the chair he knocked into, grumbling to himself as he blindly patted at the counter for the switch, flinching when his hand met with the smooth feel of paper.

Finally switching the light on and dousing the room with bright yellow light, Jeongguk’s eyes squeezed at the brightness but nonetheless, he lifted the paper to read:

Dear Jeongguk,

I don’t know if this is one-night stand protocol but I found it mean to leave without writing a letter. :(

Ah, thank you I guess for last night. It was enjoyable great. Thanks?

I’ll see you around

Y/N

Lowering the paper, Jeongguk couldn’t help the confused grin that found it’s place on his face. You were … definitely different from the other girl’s he had met before.

Leaning his hip back against the counter, Jeongguk gazed at the apartment, arms crossed, as he thought.

“Y/N,” he tested the words out into the cold, absent air and found himself liking the way the name rolled off his tongue. Still grinning, Jeongguk pocketed the letter before jumping onto the couch with a cry, sinking into the leather before flicking on the tv.

The following week proved to you just how amazing of a creeper you were. And no, not the stalker type of way. No you were stealthy, careful with how you treaded the university hallways, constantly poking your head around the corners and ducking your head down to your chest whenever caught in a flood of kids in the hallways.

All because you fucked Jungkook.

God, why had you written that letter? The day after you slept with Jungkook, the realization of what you did had sunk in and you had screamed long and hard into your pillow, stared blankly at the wall when you stood under the shower, and paid half attention to the lecture you attended, half of your mind focused on what if Jungkook is in uni today?

You’re so called friends questioned your behavior. Many a times they looked over their shoulders when you all walked to the nearest diner to grab dinner, mouths asking the same words, “You okay Y/N?”

You’d always give the same “Of course” reply with a smile, but you always had your hands fiddling with your phone, chewing on your lips whenever you entered the college premises, eyes anxiously searching that one alluring dark haired boy.

And for the most part, you had gotten away from Jungkook.

Albeit, only for a week.

Precisely one week after you two had spent the night together, you had pushed open the doors to the common library of your university, intentions set on finishing up some revision for your upcoming tests and maybe if you were lucky even finishing a few assignments.

But, to your surprise, you made eye contact with Lau, your colleague in class who you had grown close to over the weeks. The boy was pretty handsome, you had to admit, with shocking grey hair swept off his head and brown roiled eyes that were quite warm.

Not like the brown intense ones you were used to.

Smile broad on your face, you walked up to him, arms full of books and greeted him with, “I feel like today’s a pretty auspicious day to see Lau Beck in the library.”

Said boy looked down in embarrassment, hand coming up to rub at his nape, bag low on his shoulders. “Ahh Y/N, c’mon, I love the library!”

You gave him a suspicious look to which he mocked puppy eyes back at you. The air broke into laughter and you two dissolved into talk, shifting from foot to foot as the pair of you bickered about the assignments and students.

You had just calmed down from a hilarious story Lau was moaning about when your eyes happened to skim over the hallway. Your eyes kept moving, smile still on your face as Lau huffed when his group of friends barged into your conversation, moving and moving until -

Oh good god

Eyes flicking back to Lau instantly, you swallowed and readjusted the books in your all of a sudden sweaty hands. Because down and right across the hallway among all the group of friends that stood underneath the grand chandelier of the library’s hallway, stood wretched Jeon Jungkook with his friends.

Obnoxious laughter and rioting came from their area, and you swallowed again, on edge and senses alert. Your thoughts turned to panic. How were you supposed to get into the actual library? Jungkook stood right next to the entrance of the doors and you closed your eyes fitfully before opening them, a sigh escaping your mouth. What were you going to do?

Lau and his friends were still fighting, shoving each other into the walls and laughing quite loudly, and with a startling thought you realized that they weren’t that different to Jungkook and his gang. Gazing at Lau, you realized that maybe, to some other girls, he was a Jungkook to them.

Back straightening, you risked a glance down the hallway and you felt your heart leap.

Jungkook, with his arms crossed over his chest, stood sideways to you with his bag hanging low, and his eyes trained on you, sparkling with amusement.

Your lips parted in a silent, very silent, gasp as you cleared your throat and turned your gaze to the floor to collect yourself. Your heartbeat was starting to pick up. Clearing your throat again, you looked up to find Lau anxiously staring at you. “You alright, Y/N?”

The four other boys around him turned their gazes to you and you took a step back reflexively, smile ready on your face to assure: “Oh yeah yeah! I just have to get going, I have to finish doing some revision, you know?”

“Alright.” Lau gave you a smile back before clasping the strap of his bag and turning to leave with his friends. “See you around.” You gave him a smile, nodding. “You too.”

And just like that, you were alone and Jungkook’s gaze on you was too hard to ignore. But you had to get into that stupid library. Debating for a split second, you considered going back to the dorm and studying there. But the girls would be getting ready for their night out, and if Jungkook had been looking at you talking to Lau, then he must’ve seen you entering the building as well.

Inhaling in till you stood straight, you steeled yourself. This wasn’t about Jungkook. No, this was about your education. You have to go in there and study.

So keeping your eyes trained on every foot step you took, you were careful to walk as far across from Jungkook and his friends as possible. Your hands grew sweaty as you neared the doors and your ears picked up on their loud laughter, bits of their conversations of “..no oh god she was horrible in bed,” to “..yeah the whole thing in my mouth!” reached your ears.

Wrinkling your nose, you ducked your head as your neck grew redder at the intensity of Jungkook’s gaze on you. Your pace quickened and you knew you would look a sight, head ducked and feet moving like you were being chased, but Jungkook’s gaze was hard enough to make you run.

And when you slipped into the sanctuary of the library, you breathed out a huge sigh of relief, sweat lining the back of your neck.

Completely unaware of the Jungkook on the opposite side of the wall, lips upturned into a quirking smile.

You had found yourself near the farthest table, head bent over a book, eyes aimlessly reading the same paragraph, thoughts in another world. It had been well over an hour since you entered and sought refuge in the library and found a seat. The words on the paper shifted, blurred into the very familiar scenario of you and the tall ebony haired boy you had seen not too long ago falling onto the bed. Your lips started to sting at the memory, remembrances of the way he kissed still lingering on your lips, eyes replaying the visual of how Jungkook had leaned down and breathed you in, inches before the memory shattered.

“Y/N!”

Eyes freezing onto the words that looked back at you tauntingly, as if to say that’s what you get for not paying attention, you seem to recognize the voice quite distinctly. Inhaling harshly, you flick your eyes to the side with your body still facing forwards, hands firmly flat against the book to keep it open to gaze at the sound.

And lo behold stood Jeon Jungkook in all his glory, large, white sweater hiding his very well toned boy ( you remembered with a gulp ) and his hair parted in a way that showed how fluffy he could look.

And honestly, how fair was that? The boy had a drop dead gorgeous body but with a flip of a switch he could look like a soft plushy with wide, bambi eyes that could make you melt. The thought alone made you want to grit your teeth in frustration. What kind of devious creature was he?

“Y/N,” Jungkook said again, this time a bit slowly, drawing out the end of your name, a slight lilt to his voice and with a quick jerk of your head you caught the mirth in his eyes. Lips rugged up in a smile, the boy seemed to look too smug for his own good, and your own eyes narrowed at that.

“Yes, Jungkook, that happens to be my name, can I help you?”

“Can you?” He pondered aloud, feet striding across the carpeted floor to plop down in the seat infront of you with a loud sigh that drew stares from the other kids in the library. “Well because you’re insisting so much - ”

“I really am not - ”

“Can you tell me why you’re ignoring me?”

The question did catch you off guard. Eyes going wide and snapping your attention from stuffing your books back into your bag to gaze at the boy, you fought to gulp. Because the boy was tilting his chair back, eyes surveying the width of the library as he raised both hands to comb through his hair - and drat a tiny peek of the boy’s golden tanned skin was shown.

You felt a circuit in your brain short wire and you blinked, shaking yourself to duck your head away, furiously trying to will away the warmth that was creeping up your neck to mumble, “I’m not ignoring you.”

“Why lie when you can come straight out with it?”

The edges of your vision flickered with annoyance and you raised your gaze back up to Jungkook to see him now leaning forward, bored eyes taking you in as he propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on them.

“I’m not lying,” you spat out, feeling slightly hypocritical because you knew you were trying to hide from him, but he didn’t need to know that. Pushing to your feet, you slipped the books into your arms to bring your glasses back onto your nose and glare at Jungkook through them. “Goodnight Jungkook.”

As you walked away you heard a calling out “Oooo” from him but you gritted your teeth to yourself, flattening your eyes as you shoved open the doors to the hallway of the library, eyes focused on the entrance ahead.

Why on earth was that boy so fucking irritating, yet arrogantly good looking? Like good god, you felt so conflicted whenever you looked him, half of your brain begging you to yank his head down to bite his lips and the other half aching to take a book and whack him on the back of his head.

Damn fucking idiot, why can’t he just use his mouth to kiss you instead of -

Catching yourself before you could complete the thought, you shook yourself harshly, taking a turn to reach the doors of the library, weaving through the students.

The last thing you need is Jeon fucking Jungkook to be on your mind in that way.

A firm grip on your elbow spinned you around and suddenly Jungkook was all you saw as you flicked your eyes up, his body crowding you forward till you reached the wall, his chest inches away from yours.

You gaped up at him for a second, the grip on your books slackening as Jungkook’s eyes flickered around your face to land on your lips.

“Do you know that I meant what I said that night?” Jungkook murmured, one hand creeping up your side to cup your cheek, brushing at the hair that escaped there, making you shiver slightly.

“You said a lot of things that night,” you shot back quickly, cheeks erupting in flames when Jungkook’s cheeks picked up in a smile before they moved back down to form the words as he leaned towards your ears, “About us still seeing each other after that night. Don’t you want that?”

You stared at Jungkook’s shoulder that was inches away from you, ears thudding with your rapid heartbeat and heat, fingertips digging into the hardcover of your textbooks.

Why on earth was he asking you this now, here, out of all the places? You could feel everyone’s gazes on you, girls throwing you judging glances as they walked by and boys raising their eyebrows at you two.

Ducking your head to rest at Jungkook’s shoulder, you could both hear and feel him freeze up slightly. Breathing out slowly, you closed your eyes as you felt Jungkook’s hand cupped the back of your neck and massaged at there.

“Jungkook,” you breathed out, holding tight onto your books. This was so dangerous, this whole back and forth game, like running on top of a tight rope.

“Yeah?”

You tilted your head sideways, lips barely grazing at his sun kissed skin, inhaling his perfume. Your mind came to a halting decision. “I want it.”

Jungkook let out a slight exhale at that, hand slipping from your neck to your free hand, gripping it tightly before swinging around. Deftly, he made his way to the doors of the library, tugging you behind him till you two met the parking lot where his gigantic car stood, big and bold among all the cars and a swoop of excitement filled your stomach.

What would it be like to be with Jungkook again? Would it be like the first time? Or would he be different?

Too caught up in your thoughts, you hadn’t realized you had reached his car until Jungkook was holding you by the waist, pushing you up to the car. The cool metallic surface jerked you out of your reverie, eyes instantly flicking up to Jungkook’s.

His brown eyes were lightly dark, still the same usual brown, but a hint of interest and lust thickening the clouds in them. His lips were parted to poke his tongue out, hands rubbing circles into your skin.

“You with me?” he whispered out, stepping a bit closer to mouth at the skin of your neck.

“Y-Yeah,” you garbled out, your own voice sounding wrecked to yourself, eyes squeezing shut at the embarrassing sound, still holding onto your books tightly. “Oh, Kook.”

“Fuck you’re so responsive.” He breathed out, nuzzling into your neck, the action making you stumble your eyes open, his tongue coming out to lick and suck at your skin so suddenly. Dropping your head back, your mouth parted widely in a silent groan, feeling the way his lips latched onto the skin and made quick work, marking you up with purple blossoms that would most likely stay for a while.

“God Jungkook,” you whimpered, tilting your head back down when his lips worked up to your ear. He chuckled, the vibrations in his chest thrumming against you and making you feel light headed.

His hand slid around your waist and you whimpered again, feeling the wide breadth of his hand slide warningly against you, clouding up your thoughts as he hummed into your ear. Everything was moving too fast, inside of you you felt your temperature rising up, you felt a pit of want starting to build up inside and fuck you needed something -

Click.

The sound of a handle opening made your eyes shoot out wide and Jungkook laughed, pulling away slightly to smile at you. “Stop looking like a lost deer all the time. Get in.”

And just like that, he slid his hands off, brushing your hair back off your cheeks before rounding around the front of the car to pick himself up into the car with a grin.

Standing breathlessly against the car, you sought to catch your breath, gulping down and hearing a laugh from behind you. Turning, you saw Jungkook bent over the car, arms pillowed atop of the roof of the car and chin resting on them, eyes studying you.

You kept your gaze on him, cheeks sinfully red, and felt your chest heave with reprieve. God this boy was going to be the death of you.

“You’re so innocent,” he murmured softly, as if amazed that such a thing could exist, eyes trained on your red lips before moving up to your eyes. “I’m going to wreck you.”

The building you arrived to this time was not an apartment, but in fact a hotel. Your questioning gaze tried to ask Jungkook the question you were trying to convey as you got out of the car, but the boy simply dropped the keys into the awaiting attendant’s hands and motioned for you to follow him.

Inside, it was quite luxurious, a fountain sprinkling water out as a live band played jazz on the side, orange, dim lights that graced your skin and made you shift.

Taking in everyone’s look, you understood that this was a high end hotel. Looking down at your clothes, you swallowed and tugged the books closer to your chest. You looked like a fucking high school kid running off with her boyfriend during school to mess around.

He’s not your boyfriend you chastised yourself with a flush to your cheeks, yanking the strap of your bag higher up your shoulder. Don’t go having these ideas, missy.

“Hey!” Jungkook called out and you turned.

He was waiting at the elevators, hand out against the door and holding the door open with his foot wedged in the corner lest the doors decide to close. “You coming?”

Taking one look at the mischief in his eyes, you decided to play your own game. His playful mood was contagious, and you found yourself smiling back at him.

Crossing over to him, you moved to enter the elevator befooe a black object caught your sight.

“Oh my god! Kook, there’s a spider on your shoe!”

Alarm quickly overtook Jungkook’s expression and he yanked his foot backwards, stumbling behind to glance down at his shoe. But when he saw nothing there except the expensive leather, he glanced up, mouth parted and ready to ask Y/N what the fuck?

But with wide eyes through his bangs, he took in you standing inside the elevator with a devious smile on your own face. As you raised your hand up to bid him a farewell, the doors slid shut and the last thing you saw was confusion before understanding washed in Jungkook’s eyes.

With the doors closed shut, you launched yourself into a fit of laughter, replaying the image of Jungkook’s parting lips and eyebrows kneading down and giggles filled the tiny compartment.

Through teary eyes you saw the glowing 12 button that symbolized the top most floor, and you realize that Jungkook must’ve pressed it before holding the door open for you. The thought did send your stomach into turns, and guilt started to creep its way inside of you.

But before you could dwell on it, the doors slid open and you stepped out into thin corridor. Fine carpet silk met your shoes and you could smell the scent of vanilla from somewhere down the hallway, but you decided it would be better if you stood here in front of the elevators and wait for Jungkook.

Smiling to yourself as you leaned onto the wall, you hummed and traced the floor with your foot. Your thoughts spun up scenarios at how Jungkook would react to your prank: maybe he’d laugh and tell you it was good, or maybe he’d purse his lips at you and not admit it. Either way, you smiled and waited.

The doors in front of you slide open.

“How did you like my - ” You started, looking up.

But your words died because Jungkook was standing in the middle of the elevator with his arms crossed and one foot tapping against the floor. His expression was closed, hard and unreadable, just like the first day you met him. Suddenly you were standing up straighter with your hands curling in behind you.

His eyes were so intense boring into yours, dark under those thick brows before he let out a disappointed sigh that tugged at your heart. Unfolding his arms, he strolled out the elevator to cross the space. “Were you going to ask if I liked your funny little prank you did downstairs?”

He spoke with a condescending tone and your eyes sharpened slightly, lips parting to reply, “Why was it not good?”

Jungkook’s eyes flashed briefly before it faded and he was smiling, as if in disbelief, before stepping way too close to be considered reasonable.

Your breath hitched, foolishly, eyes lowered as you stared. Jungkook’s hands shot out to grip your hips and shove you against the wall and you gasped, eyes flicking up to Jungkook’s angry ones, books slipping slightly from your hands.

“J-Jungkook.”

“Not so cocky when you’re pressed against a wall huh?”

“O-Of course not.” You snapped back, refusing to back down. “You’re cornering me!”

“Isn’t that what you did to me downstairs?” he replied smoothly, tilting his head to the side and leaning down. “Got all up in my space like this,” his breath was hovering over yours, “smiled with those pretty lips,” his eyes traced the outline of them, “and whispered my name so sinfully,Y/N.”

And god you nearly whimpered out loud at the way he breathed your name out against your ear.

“Oh,” you whispered, one of your hands leaving your books to grip Jungkook’s shoulder, tilting your head away as he traced down your neck.

“You thought that was fun?” he asked, rubbing a thumb across your hip, mouth latching onto a piece of skin, sucking and lightly digging his teeth into it, drawing purple and blue colors to the skin. Laving his tongue over the bruise, he felt you shiver and he flicked his eyes up to yours. “Want to play my favorite game?”

As you felt him pull away and gave you the space to open your own eyes and gaze at him through blurry gaze, chest slightly hitching, you realized with the look in his eyes that you didn’t need to say anything.

“Where’s,” you spoke through a croaky breath, “your flat?”

Just like that Jungkook was smirking, eyes turning up. Turning around to walk down to the right, he kept walking, assured with the sounds from behind that you were following him, to the last room in the hall.

Reaching back to fetch a card from his back pocket, he slid the pin card against the scanner on the door and it clicked open.

You stood behind, swallowing, feeling it dry and your legs wobbly. But you followed him easily when he opened the door, eyes craning up to take in the sight of the room.

It was very, very, big for a hotel room. It was no doubt one huge suite with a full living room and kitchen first in your sight.

“Leave your bag and books on the couch.” Jungkook called out, dropping his own on the floor near the dining table and walking into the kitchen. “I’ll get you some water.”

Stomach flipping, you tried to ignore it and crossed the room to slip your bag onto the long couch, placing the hard cover books onto the coffee table in front of it. Plopping down on the leather, you let out a sigh and tilted your head into your hands.

Your head was spinning. What were you doing here in this hotel suite? That too with Jungkook? Was this what you seriously wanted, or were you just doing this cause of lust?

You never had thought of yourself as one to fall into your desires, especially this one, considering you had never spent the night with a guy before. But after Jungkook, you felt yourself wanting more.

And a bit of you hated yourself for that.

“Your water.” A click made you look up and you saw Jungkook had placed the cup in front of you on the table before settling next to you.

A sudden rush of déjà vu flitted across your mind and you glanced up at him before reaching over for it.

You threw him a grateful smile before picking the cup up to gulp the whole thing down, placing it down quickly. You felt Jungkook gazing at you, and though you wanted to look back and ask what he wanted, you felt yourself grow shy.

After all that, now you’re shy?

Your eyes caught a certain book on the shelves that lined the mantle against the wall and you perked up. “Oh, is that The Bluest Eye?”

You rose to your feet before you could wait for a response, crossing the room to the shelves and slip the book out and into your palm. Turning you looked to Jungkook and found him blinking up at you, hand clasping the drink tightly. “Yeah, that is. Have you read it before?”

You smiled and tilted your head down. “No I haven’t. But Lau did suggest it to me so I’m so glad I saw it.”

“Lau?”

You looked up to see Jungkook raising up from his spot and placing his drink down, hands slipping into his pants. He rounded around the table and walked a few steps before leaning against the edge of the couch.

“Yeah he’s my colleague.” You smiled, toying with the book. “He’s the guy - ”

“Who was hovering all over you today huh.” Jungkook completed for you. He was staring down at his feet, soft hair flopping over his forehead.

You frowned. “No, I was gonna say that he attends all my classes but - wait, what?”

But Jungkook had quite answering, just pushed off the couch and crossed the distance between you two, eyes trained on your lips and licking his own.

“Have you ever been edged before?”

You blinked up at him, ignoring the hard beating of your heart, attempting at playing it cool. “I’ve never had sex before you, Jungkook, of course not.”

A wicked grin graced Jungkook’s face and suddenly he was leaning towards you, lashes fluttering. His hands slid out to slip into your hair, holding you in place. “Damn right,” he murmured under his breath.

The way he kissed you this time was different, it was slow. It was easy going, lazy even as he tilted his head and deepened it, tongue coming out to tease at the entrance of your lips.

You let out a whimper, arms sliding around his neck, pulling him close and with you against the mantle. It was uncomfortable, digging in your back, but Jungkook’s fingers gripping your jaw to hold you in place steeled you.

“Jungkook,” you whispered when the two of you parted for a second. His eyebrows quirked in a yeah? way, eyes half lid staring at your red, now plump lips. “Jungkook,” you whispered again, a bit louder to get his attention, and when he looked up at you, you pulled him close till his nose bumped into yours and you giggled. Can we, you know....?” You smiled cheekily.

Jungkook was staring at you, deciphering your words, before a smile broke out on his own face, inches away from you, handsome and shining. “So that’s the game you want to play?”

When you gave him a laughing nod, he laughed. He pulled you back in for a kiss, as if he couldn’t get enough, and tugged you with him. “I’m taking you on the bed, no way I’m gonna fuck you on the couch.”

With a deflated pout, you let him pull you to his room that sat at the end of a tiny hall. The room he slept in was clean and well kept, and you noted with a hint of sadness that no photo frames or home belongings hung to make it homey.

Jungkook sat at the edge of the bed, legs slightly spread, and he held his hands out to beckon you. Pursing your lips in pseudo thought, you smiled when he chuckled and placed your hands in his.

A yelp escaped you when he tugged you close, wide, large hands settling on your hips as his nose trailed across your stomach.

The action was strangely . . . intimate.

You raised your hands up to tangle into Jungkook’s hair. Noticing the way he leaned into your grasp unlike freezing like last time, you tugged slightly to expose his neck. Taking the opportunity, you leaned down to try your hand at sucking bruises onto his neck.

Licking up a stripe up his neck, you purred when he vibrated underneath you, nuzzling into the area below his ear before taking a risk to capture his lobe in between your teeth.

Jungkook’s groan startled you, raising a blush to your cheeks, one hand dropping to his shoulder to stabilize yourself. His hands were guiding you to straddle him, and you obeyed quickly, carrying on your mission on marking him up as much as he would on you.

When your lips reached the base of his neck and bordered his sweater neckline, you gazed up at him to see he had his head tilted back, eyes closed. A fraction of his lips were parted, as if lost to the pleasure.

A bit satisfied with yourself, you hooked a finger on the neckline to tug it low so you had more skin to work with. The more bruises you licked at, the more Jungkook seemed to vibrate. You had everything under control til the hand you had in his hair dropped to slip in the back of his sweater to dig into his back.

You had done it absentmindedly, something to ground yourself. But it triggered Jungkook, enough to send him moving. He flipped the two of you onto the duvet, eyes darkened and neck bobbing as he swallowed.

“Where,” he croaked out, “Did you learn to kiss like that?”

You smiled up at him, half conscious. “Why, was it okay?”

“Fuck,” he swore softly, hand cupping your neck, “It was great.”

You beamed up at him, full of pride, and suddenly a slight pink raised in Jungkook’s cheeks. Ducking his head, he let it lay on your shoulder as his hands slyly moved your shirt an inch up.

“Wanna be good for me and take this off?”

The complete switch that flicked all of a sudden threw you off for a second, but at the desperation in Jungkook’s eyes, you swallowed and nodded, helping him slip yourself out of it.

The minute the shirt hit the floor your arms were wrapped around your chest, chin tilted to the side. The blush on your cheeks were dangerously hot.

But Jungkook paid you no attention, diving down to place soft sweet kisses onto your skin, as if slight whispers telling your body that you’re beautiful, and though you still felt conscious, you felt Jungkook’s sincerity as he kissed across your chest.

That is till he caught one of your nipples in between his teeth and sucked at it, leaving you arching dangerously up and gasping into thin air.

“Jungkook,” you panted, glancing down to see him wickedly smiling, flicking his tongue across the pebbled nipple before moving down, eyes set on another treat.

“Spread your legs love.” Jungkook commanded, and though you did it slowly, he was patient, rubbing soothingly into your ankles to say that you were doing fine.

You complied, albeit a bit shyly, fingers twisting into the fabric underneath you, refusing to look away from Jungkook even though your cheeks burned. You chewed on your lip as Jungkook slinked down, kissing softly as he went, finally stopping an inch above the fabric of your underwear.

Fingers coming up to yank the offending fabric off, Jungkook finally sighed at the sight of you dripping, eyes transfixed on you as he pushed your thighs apart, leaning down to lick a broad stripe against you.

Muffling a groan, you arched your back and tilted your head to the side, hips jerking up against Jungkook.

“Be good.” Jungkook warned, eyes flattening, before leaning back down to lick at your folds, one long finger easing its way into you, and you saw stars, flashing lights as you squeezed your eyes tight and whimpered. You felt so full.

“Jungkook,” you sighed out, propping yourself up on your elbows and watching as the boy in question ate you out like a mad man, arms looped over your thighs to pin them down and eyes closed - as if taking in the moment, enjoying it.

A flash of pleasure made your thighs twitch and you muffled a groan, slipping a finger in your mouth to bite on in attempts to quiet yourself. Jungkook was doing everything in his power, though, to do quite the opposite, opening his eyes to leave them lidded, heavy with lust, staring you down as he licked up your wetness with a passion that left you blushing.

“You-” you hiccuped, feeling desperation sink into your blood when your stomach coiled, showing how easily you were to get riled up. The single hand that was holding you up quivered in exertion as Jungkook doubled his efforts, leaning back to spit into his messy work, delving back down with a wicked grin as he glanced up at you.

You felt the tightness in your stomach, the pangs of arousal that egged you on to slip your hands into the boy’s locks to get him to look at you.

“Please,” you said when he finally met gaze with you, your body quivering with the intensity, “please no more teasing, I want you.”

Jungkook’s eyes darkened in a way that left you gushing, his snake like tongue poking out and hiding as fast, his voice throaty and filled with arousal as he spoke: “How do you want it?”

No commands, no bending to his well. It was something you were consistently noting: Jungkook never forced you into doing anything, he always let you take the lead.

Was it because you had been a virgin not more than a few weeks ago?

Your cheeks burned with the knowledge as you pushed Jungkook over and the boy fell onto his back with a yelp, eyes watching you as you moved to straddle him.

He let out a breathy ‘fuck’, shifting himself upward so he could lay on the pillows, caressing eyes watching the way you followed him, molded into him, folding over him to press kisses over his chest.

One of his hands came up into your hair to twirl a lock, the other broad, veiny hand grasping the flesh of your thigh, his hums like symphony as he craned his neck back, eyes shut with pleasure. You kept your ministrations up, licking and pressing soft, sweet kisses all over his skin -

“Jesus fuck, Y/N, you’ll be the death of me if you don’t sit on my cock.”

You halted, closing your eyes and stalling because your cheeks were on fucking fire. How could he speak with such candor, so shamelessly? It left your stomach coiling in knots and thighs rubbing against each other.

Tilting your chin up so your lips brushed against the shell of his ear, you repeated those same words he had told you: “Beg.”

#jungkook smut #jungkook scenario #bts #bts smut #jeon jungkook #college fiascas

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that-is-where-they-wait · 4 years ago

Text

That is Where They Wait Ch 14: The Letter

previous / next all chapters AO3 FFN

[so funny story I actually posted this on FFN and ao3 forever ago but not here. oops. but posting here is a hassle, in my defense. hope everyone is doing okay? also check the notes for some Haha Funny Jokes because I don't want to add them to the. actual post.]

Perhaps the way to answer the present is with the past.

The metal of the hinge was cool under his finger, intricate design branching onto the actual door. It should've been smooth, but instead it was rough and red.

Rust.

Kai frowned. Rusty metal was usually brittle — but the door hadn't come down, even when he and Karlof rammed into it repeatedly. That plan of ripping at its hinges and hoping it came down was starting to look flimsy.

Ech. Well, they had to keep trying and hope for the best. It wasn't like they could stay in the small, dark room much longer. Kai had cobbled together a makeshift flame with pieces of rope and cloth from his gi, but it would definitely not last much longer.

Plus, he was getting really antsy, and it'd be just plain stupid to be so isolated when they weren't safe. When he'd asked about Lloyd and found out he was, in fact, both inside the mansion and unaccounted for, he had been about ready to knock Karlof's helmet off of his head.

… In hindsight, maybe he'd been a little forceful.

But hey, in return, he'd informed Karlof about everything they knew on the mansion and the spirit so far. So he didn't feel too bad about it.

"Psst." He went over to where he'd left Karlof and poked. "We gotta go."

No response.

Ohhhh, perfect. The guy had to go and fall asleep on him. They'd already spent so much time staying put! He was itching to get moving again, and Lloyd and Skylor were still out there, who knew where! Not to mention, if the others woke up and noticed him missing … (It occurred to him, a little belatedly, that they might blame Jay for that. Another twinge of guilt. But he could apologize for that when they went back.)

But it had been an exhausting trek just to get here. Karlof had endured that, and no sleep to recharge afterwards …

Kai sighed, seating himself next to him. Yeah, they weren't going anywhere until Karlof finished his beauty sleep. But then there came the issue of having nothing to distract himself with. Already he could just feel himself tiredly debating whether to indulge the pessimistic trains of thought forming in his head in all their bleak glory.

Abruptly, something slammed against him. Okay, so it didn't slam into him, but it definitely felt that way, because oof! It was heavy. Kai squirmed briefly, but a moment later, he realized he shouldn't even bother. Instead, he hissed an irritated puff of air through his teeth and tried to pull an overly-cuddly Karlof off of him. Why in the name of the First Spinjitzu Master was he—

An exposed part of his bandaged arm made contact with Karlof's for a second, before Kai drew it away and grimaced at how cold it was.

… Oh.

The way Karlof's arm was draped on him, Kai couldn't reach his face with his hand. He settled for a drawn-out groan instead. Just because he was the human toaster … and now he couldn't move!

Oh well. If nothing else, he could totally hold it over Karlof's head later. Blackmail material or something. But what was he supposed to do now?

A bleary yawn escaped his mouth.

There was one idea.

Nope, he thought to himself immediately. No way, José, someone had to stay awake, and he'd already bailed out on that once. But the door was locked, and the whole day and the effects of staying up so long were finally catching up to him …

Kai tried to debate the point a little longer, but as it turned out, he was pretty tired. Too tired to properly argue with himself, and before he could, he'd already fallen asleep.

The tiny flame winked out and left the room engulfed in black.

Lloyd wrapped up a summary of the search he'd just gotten back from.

Considering that depressingly little had changed since the last time they'd looked, it didn't take very long. The ever-encroaching cocktail of panic and despair clawed at his guts and his chest, made his throat tight, and he could feel it radiating off of Jay and Cole near him, optimistic as they tried to remain. At least Skylor had gotten some work in on fixing her bow while they'd been gone, although she hopefully wouldn't be needing it anytime soon.

The light trickling from the windows had become thin, silvery moonlight and long, fragmented shadows streaking across the floor and cutting into each other. Cole glanced at everyone in the room and declared that it was probably about time they slept; both searches had taken quite a while, even with how much of the mansion was still closed off to them. It didn't seem likely that much more would happen that day.

Zane took in everything they said solemnly, then pulled something out from beside him.

"It's disheartening to know that the two of them are still missing. But perhaps I can offer something else to think about before we rest for tonight?"

On closer inspection, it appeared to be a faded eggplant-colored satchel.

"I found this on the mantle while you were investigating in the tunnels. I didn't want to look through it without you …"

"Can I?" Lloyd reached out, opening the bag and peering into it for a moment. Then, as the rest of them watched, he stuck his hand in and, one by one, set its contents onto the floor for better examination.

On the carpet, there currently sat a small black inkwell, a quill stand, a bound book, a faded set of folded purple clothes, an assortment of large and small weapons, and a few loose pieces of parchment with writing on them. Maybe it all belonged to the person that owned the place, ages ago?

Evidently, they were all wondering a similar thing.

Lloyd set aside the empty bag and stared at the various items he'd placed down. "Hm. They were carrying weapons …"

"Whose stuff is all this?" Skylor finally voiced the question.

"It likely dates back to the Serpentine war," Zane said. "The antiquity of all the items would fit."

"Well, then, we should find out, shouldn't we?" Jay grabbed the book, slowly teasing open the binding and riffling through the pages. Lloyd caught a glimpse of inky letters over paper lightly yellowed with time; all things considered, it was pretty well-preserved.

"Careful, Jay, that looks heavy. Wouldn't wanna pull a muscle lifting that thing." Cole's mouth twitched up in a smirk, Jay briefly peering over the book with narrow eyes.

"… I mishandle an empty packing crate one time."

"Yeah, well," Lloyd huffed. "You nearly dropped it right on my foot. I still get splinters from that crate when I'm not watching my step."

"Thanks, Lloyd!" Jay looked supremely offended. "I didn't ask!" Still a little sullen from the disappointing results of the day, Lloyd didn't bother sassing him back. He scoffed when he noticed Jay looking helplessly at Zane — they all knew full well that never worked, so when the nindroid minutely shook his head there was hardly any surprise.

"Silly zaptrap," Cole shook his head and tsked. "Once is all it takes on this team. You of all people should know better."

Jay hmphed and nearly went back to skimming the book he'd picked up, but his head popped up curiously when Skylor spoke.

"Isn't it kind of late? If we're going to look at anything, maybe we should read one of the loose sheets instead. I feel like trying to get into something that long when we need to sleep isn't the best idea. I want to stay in-the-know, but I'm not sure how much longer I can pay attention to anything right now …" She shrugged, looking a little self-conscious. "Sorry."

Oh, right. It was usually Lloyd's job to be one of the voices of reason.

Looking around, he was certain that last sentence didn't pertain to just Skylor, though. The banter was being tossed rather lazily and there was a sluggishness to everyone's movements, even Zane's. As for himself, the temptation to just plonk onto the next piece of bedding he picked up while cleaning up the aftermath of the pillow-and-assorted-accessories fight and sleep on it right there had been overwhelming.

"It's quite alright," Zane reassured her. "You have a point, at that. Perhaps something like this would suffice for tonight?" He held up a messily rolled piece of paper, and pulled it open. Lloyd eyed it and nodded; seemed interesting enough. Most likely, they could learn a thing or two, discuss, and then go to bed without too much further ado.

"Looks good to me," Cole said. "Let's see about this person, then."

Zane's eyes fell to the paper for a few seconds before freezing, glowing ever so faintly brighter, and doing a funny skip between Lloyd and the paper before settling back on the paper. Lloyd frowned, unsure he liked the new furrow in Zane's brow.

"What is it, buddy?"

Zane coughed awkwardly. Amazing how even nindroids did that when they were nervous.

"This appears to be a letter addressed to Garmadon."

Lloyd's eyes widened, breath hitching. Abruptly his heart felt less like it was beating and more like it was trying to break itself out of his chest.

Dad.

It had been, safe to say, a little while since he'd thought about his father. The same father he'd gone through hell and back to finally have by his side, only to banish and then drown for good.

He'd kept himself good and busy, helping the team move base to the abandoned Temple of Airjitzu. Warded off the lingering pain from remembering, during the Day of the Departed, pretty well with dusting and heavy lifting and organizing what needed to be packed.

Lloyd had always done his best to draw strength from his father's memory. Like he'd told his mother during Day of the Departed: "Sometimes it feels like he's still with me."

It sure didn't feel like he was with Lloyd now.

"Lloyd?"

He blinked.

"Lloyd, you good?"

He looked over. Cole and the others were all watching him with concern, trying to gauge his reaction.

Quietly, he took a deep breath. He was supposed to have gotten past this. It wasn't supposed to still sting so much when he'd moved onto something healthier, more bittersweet than the more raw, consuming pain he'd known for a while.

Maybe the mansion's atmosphere was digging deeper than he'd thought, ripping open old wounds on top of slashing new ones.

"Yeah." Then, to ensure they couldn't press him about it, "Are you sure, Zane? Lemme see." Zane obliged, handing him the letter. Lloyd took it and held it up to the firelight, careful not to wrinkle the aged parchment, and skimmed it silently, feeling everyone's eyes still on him.

Having caught his reaction to Garmadon's name, they were probably a little surprised when he��chuckled.

"What is it?" Skylor tilted her head. "What did they say?"

"It's just the first paragraph. Listen to this!" Clearing his throat, all too glad to focus on the letter, he read it, the ninja going from attentive listening to confused snickering as he did.

"My dearest friend, Garmadon, it seems fitting to start with the most important subject here—thanks a lot for letting me blunder into that whole mess, you absolute withered honeysuckle. I was delayed two whole days trying to firstly explain how I accidentally deposed a chieftess, and then restore some semblance of normalcy to the village. I don't," Lloyd had to catch his breath, barely managing to stop snickering long enough to finish the sentence, "I don't even know why we're still friends." "What in the world is this talking about?" Cole wheezed.

"Absolute withered honeysuckle," Jay mimicked, cracking up himself.

"Well. They were friends, we've learned that much," Skylor stated, desperately trying to regain a straight face.

"Absolute chums, from the sound of it. Just the best of buddies. Like you and me, huh, Cole?"

"If this whole 'accidentally deposed a chieftess' stuff is anything to go by," Cole said, still laughing, "they were even better."

"I wonder what they got up to if this was forty years ago." Zane set about tidying up the remaining letters and the bound book earlier held by Jay, probably figuring he might as well get it over with while they were all distracted. "Or who this was, to be so evidently close to Garmadon."

"Uh, am I the only one wondering what a honeysuckle is?"

Metaphorical crickets, much to Jay's chagrin.

"Just me? Okay."

A sigh. "They're flowers, Jay."

As the room got quiet enough to hear the crackling fireplace again, Lloyd went back to skimming the letter. The little smile that had lingered on his face fell flat again as he took in the words.

"What's the holdup?" Jay complained after a moment.

"Honestly, with the way this is written, if I read it verbatim you'd probably fall asleep," Lloyd muttered over the page. "Shut up and let me summarize."

"I … okay."

Lloyd squinted at the words. "This is an awful lot to take in. What's a … Shhh … Shuuuuravansha?"

"A what?" A confused chorus met his ears; evidently the rest of the room only knew about as much as he did.

"Maybe the word comes from the local language," Cole suggested. "I did hear a lot of the villagers speaking something I didn't recognize."

"Probably. Zane, you wouldn't happen to have that language in your databases or anything, would you?" Jay asked.

"I'm afraid not," Zane said apologetically. "What is the rest of the sentence, Lloyd? Perhaps the proper context will make it easier to guess."

"'I spoke with the Shuravansha and revised the contingency plans based on the information I got from them, as well as reports from you and our spies on the Serpentine's movement.' How do you even say that?"

"I guess the jury stays out on that one," Cole replied. "But I don't think that's a person. It says 'the Shuravansha'. I don't call Jay 'the Jay'; it'd be weird."

"So a group of some sort?" Jay suggested. "The word 'the' implies more than one."

"But it could be a title," Skylor pointed out. "Like 'the chief' or 'the sensei'."

"Either way, it reveals little about the nature of this Shuravansha," Zane said. "All that sentence gave us is that they had information about the Serpentine relevant to the author of this letter."

"Whatever it is, it's probably important," Lloyd muttered, rubbing his eyes and going back to the letter. "But maybe we'll find more clues about them later."

"Then we should remember it," Skylor muttered. "How do you spell that?"

He spelled it out and kept reading. The room went back to quiet anticipation, until Lloyd sputtered, squinted at something on the page, then looked up at them.

"What the heck, Cole?"

"Huh?" All eyes were now on a flabbergasted Cole. "Wh-what'd I do?!"

"I, it's not you, it's just — since when was the last master of earth a traitor?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, what?" Jay piped up. "That's kinda a heavy accusation to just bandy around!"

"What is this coming from, Lloyd?" Zane asked.

"It literally says right there, 'Earth went traitor on us'! There's only one way to read that!"

Skylor was scribbling like mad.

"Wha—well, don't look at me!" Cole said. "I don't know anything about this!"

"Maybe that's not all there is to it." It was difficult to see Skylor's eyes behind the shades. "My father turned the Anacondrai and the other tribes against humans to start the whole war in the first place. Then he turned the elemental masters against themselves."

"Maybe that was the case here too. Is there anything else about the master of earth, Lloyd?" Zane spoke up.

"Full sentence is 'The Constrictai among them can burrow, and ever since Earth, the weasel, went traitor on us, we lost our best protection against that tactic.' So they're really still talking about the Serpentine."

"Hmm."

"Mmmaybe we should go back to the rest of the letter?" Jay said tentatively.

"I dunno. I kinda wanna hear about this." Cole curiously poked his head closer, wanting to get a look at the letter. Lloyd drew back and immediately felt bad when Cole regarded him a moment before scooting back, hiding a yawn behind his hand.

Right. It was late.

"I mean, there isn't anything else in the letter about them … just the one sentence."

"Fine. What's the rest of it say, then? We really don't have the rest of the night here."

He had a point. Lloyd was pretty ready to be done with the letter and get some rest, by now.

"Wait a sec," Jay said. "'Went traitor on us.' Who's 'us'?"

"Oh." Cole's eyes widened. "Oh my god, you actually have a point. Yeah, that sounds an awful lot like … they called him 'Earth', not his name."

"How do you know that's not his name? Maybe his mom had a weird taste in names."

"... I'm pretty sure that wasn't his name, Jay."

"The word 'us' does seem to suggest camaraderie," Zane mused. "Given that and their knowledge of elemental power, perhaps they were acquainted with the elemental masters, or worked alongside them in some manner."

"That makes sense," Lloyd agreed, not looking up from the paper he held. "Or maybe they even were a master!"

"There's nothing to confirm it yet …" Skylor pointed out. "I'll just write down that they probably knew about the elemental masters. I think that's a safe conclusion."

"Fair enough," Zane said. "I think we should hear the rest of the letter now, before it gets much later. Lloyd?"

"Okay, so. Basically, my dad sent this person, whoever they are, info about Serpentine movement in the area. There were more loose gangs causing trouble than anything, they were just harder to predict because they weren't associated with the Anacondrai commanders. But according to them, the Southern Woodlands were in too strategic a location to risk—"

"Southern Woodlands?" Jay interrupted.

"That's probably what this forest is called. The villagers called it that on our way here."

"Yeah, I think I remember hearing that from someone," Cole said.

"Anyway. Like I was saying." Lloyd coughed pointedly and continued. "The Woodlands were too risky to leave unprotected because the thick plant life would give the Serpentine a naturally-sheltered base to recover and hide in. And they didn't have a lot of time left because … wait." The loopy handwriting in thick black ink cut off abruptly near the middle of the page, the last sentence never to be finished. "It just cuts off mid-sentence."

"Why did I ever think I'd have an easy time of this." Skylor sounded disappointed. "There wouldn't happen to be a name or anything at the bottom, would there?"

Lloyd shook his head. Of course there wasn't; that'd be too easy for them, now, wouldn't it?

"So why didn't they have time, exactly?" Jay said.

"An abrupt end of that nature would suggest some kind of interruption, would it not?" Zane said. "They never had the chance to finish writing this letter."

"If this is from the same era as everything else we've been seeing, then there was a war on. I imagine that'd do it," Cole said.

"Okay, but there's no signs of a fight in this room," Jay pointed out.

"... Ah. That is. Also true."

If he were a little less tired, Lloyd would've chuckled at Cole being caught off-guard without even a witty defense.

"I wonder what they were expecting not to have a lot of time for …" Lloyd wondered. "There's no signs of a fight here, but it's super messy everywhere else, especially downstairs. Maybe something happened there."

"And maybe it's related to the spirit." Cole ran a hand through his thick, messy hair, eyes dark. "There's no way something like that came out of nowhere."

"Given what we know, it is still impossible to gauge exactly what took place in this mansion," Zane said. "It does seem likely that the Serpentine activity this person mentioned had something to do with it, though. The only way to know for sure would be to find more information"

"So we don't know that, either," Jay muttered. "Write that down as a solid 'maybe', I guess."

Skylor nodded. "Anything else I should put down?"

Lloyd shook his head, and Skylor gratefully flipped the notepad closed and set it aside. Her words had actually begun to slur together with tiredness, so even if there were, he wasn't about to put her through writing it.

"Well, if that's all, then." Cole yawned, again. "Let's call it a day. How long's it been?"

"My internal clock is completely frozen," Zane sighed. "And PIXAL says she can't start it up without any connection to the outside world. But according to my timer, it's been approximately 15 hours since Jay woke me and Cole up to inform us Kai was missing."

Yep. Definitely time to wind down.

The mood dipped briefly at the mention of Kai, but Cole determinedly moved on to the topic of keeping watch, and whether they should do it tonight.

Eventually they decided that it definitely needed to stay, but split it up into two equal shifts. Two of them weren't even options to be considered. Lloyd offered to take shift, but given that he'd gotten out of a tough scrape with the spirit earlier and gone on both search expeditions, everyone else refused to let him, arguing he needed the rest. That left just Cole and Jay, but Cole, having gone through the mansion both times, was tired too. Jay would have to keep watch first.

Then came sleeping arrangements, which also worked themselves out quickly enough. Zane, for whatever reason, stayed in a corner to recharge, Skylor was on one bed, and whoever wasn't on shift would be sharing a bed with Lloyd.

"Alright, Jay, don't do anything stupid this time," Cole ribbed Jay, who was shifting around burnt kindling and trying to keep the little bit of fire left alive.

Jay stuck his tongue out.

"You have sooo much faith in me. Come on, I've learned my lesson here."

"Your timer's working, right? Make sure to wake me in … four hours?"

"Four and a half," Jay corrected him. "And yeah, I will."

"Cool. Night." And with that, Cole left him to his current task: striking a match onto a pile of kindling and hoping for a fire big enough to last.

Soon enough, everyone had bid each other goodnight and settled down.

Lloyd pulled his blanket a little closer to himself, still feeling a residual chill seep into his bones. With nothing to keep preoccupied with, ugly thoughts about the mansion, the horrors of its obscure history, their current conditions, his own utter incompetence, the way he'd just let Karlof get lost, Kai came creeping in far too readily. He tried to push them away.

Not now. Couldn't think about all of those things now or he'd never rest. Even tired, falling asleep was a challenge with sore limbs and unceasing nerves scratching away at him and a bitter resentment towards it all beginning to sink into his bones.

Lloyd closed his eyes regardless, trying to empty his mind. He could faintly hear Jay's breathing under the familiar crackle of the flames that were only too reminiscent of their missing piece.

Shadows twisted and danced on the walls.

Exhaustion won out eventually.

#ninjago #ninjago fanfiction #lloyd garmadon #zane julien #kai smith #cole brookstone #jay walker #skylor chen #that is where they wait #I love spamming tags and hoping someone sees them #we also love posting without links and then editing them back in so tumblr lets this post show in tags

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crysj88 · 4 years ago

Text

Phylax Ch. 5 Scare me Avengers x oc

Bennett woke to the familiar feeling of pins and needles, right hand completely asleep. She tried to soothe the nerves so she could sleep a little longer but something else was off. Her pulse felt off. Too many beats or the wrong cadence, something. Her right arm seemed to be pinned to the bed from the shoulder down. That would explain the “pins and needles”. A quick inspection gave the reason. Natalie was sound asleep snuggled into her side, using her shoulder for a pillow. The redhead seemed to fit there. The blonde didn’t really care to move but Tony would be knocking down her door any minute, so she needed to get ready to start the day. Unless he actually slept in although that was highly unlikely.

So began the debate: lay there until Natalie wakes up or try and slip out without waking her? As Bennett lay there debating Natalie snuggled closer. Red hair tickling her nose. Every cell in her body decided right then that it had no desire to move, so her mind was made up. She was getting up.

Sliding out of bed was harder than she thought. She tucked a pillow under the other woman’s head where her shoulder had been and forced herself to walk away. She grabbed a pair of track pants and tank top and headed down to the hotel gym to get in a morning run. Leaving a note for Tony so he wouldn’t wake up Natalie.

A quick stretch and she jumped on one of the treadmills. Plugging in a pair of headphones she started a playlist of instrumental music. Mainly rock covers done with violins and cellos but there were a few variations on classics and some epic movie themes. She started the machine slow to warm up her stiff muscles, the room was empty due to it being a few minutes before 5. She lost herself in the rhythm of her steps as the treadmill increased it’s pace. Taking in the music and trying to bleed off the last of the nightmare that still clung. This morning it wasn’t near as bad as normal. She could still remember and felt the guilt but curiosity outweighed all of that. Why didn't she slip into oblivion this time? What had pulled her back from that edge?

Then waking up with Rushman that close. Not that it was unpleasant. Just unexpected. She couldn’t entertain the thought of any relationship right now. Not even a crush. Not after Emily. Maybe not ever. She had told Jax she was taking a year to focus solely on herself and her career. No exceptions. No matter how exceptional Natalie Rushman was. Right?

Thicker pajamas tonight so she wouldn’t die of frostbite. That was the only solid decision she had made in the millions of thoughts bouncing around her head during her run, most involving her current roommate. But there were benefits to her sleeping with the room that cold so maybe just live with the shorts and t-shirt one more night.

When she made it back to the room the first thing Benn saw was Natalie’s sleepy smile. She must have woken up when Bennett opened the door. “Morning,” Natalie sounded as if she was still half asleep.

Bennett gave a soft laugh as Natalie burrowed back into the covers. She walked to the edge of the bed. “Good morning, Nat.” Bennett tugged the edge of the blanket back slightly and Natalie gave an irritated groan. “I hate to be the one to break it to you but we need to get up. Tony will be looking for me.” Natalie pulled the covers back over her head. “Alright, I am going to go shower and head down stairs to eat, if you want to join me.” Natalie peaked out from under the covers and Bennett blushed. “For breakfast. Down stairs. In the cafe.”

The redhead gave a mischievous smirk before ducking back under the sheets. “I will be ready by the time you get out,” her voice was muffled by the copious amount of blankets.

Bennett couldn’t help but smile. She went to her bag and grabbed the clothes she needed for the day along with the belt and thigh holster. A quick shower and a swipe of gel and she was ready to go.

When she stepped out the door she had to focus on not letting her jaw hit the floor. Natalie had changed as well. She now wore a form fitting dress that would be considered business attire and looked amazing. Bennett realized her jeans and fitted blazers would never stand up to the woman’s fashion. She would need better clothes if she ever got the chance to take Natalie out, but first she would have to get the guts to ask. Today she had opted for a Stark Industries t-shirt and flannel, knowing she would be heading to the track with Tony. Bennett noticed a fond smile grace the redheads lips. “What?”

“Nothing you just reminded me of a friend,” she shook her head. “Looks like something he would wear.”

“This isn’t my normal choice.” she tried to defend, lying through her teeth. “Tony said we were going to the track today, so I figured I didn’t wanna wear anything that I wouldn't wanna get grease on.” Stupid freakin accent.

“Relax,” she stepped in closer, “never said it was a bad look. You wear it much better than he does.” She reached up, straightening the collar of Benn’s shirt. “Come on, let’s go eat. I’m starving.” She smiled leading the blonde to the door.

Bennett grabbed her leather jacket on the way out. Trying to regulate her breathing again.

Bennett pulled out Natalie’s chair at the table before taking her own seat. Their orders were taken and put on Stark’s tab.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” Natalie gave a sheepish smile. She read the confusion on Bennett’s face and decided to explain further. “When I woke up this morning I realized I hadn’t kept to my side of the bed. I was afraid I ran you off.”

“No, I got up early to go for a run. You didn’t bother me.”

“I prefer to sleep with lots of blankets and the room super cold, I guess I underestimated how cold it was going to get.” A soft blush dusted her cheeks as she admitted this.

“The big bad Russian got cold,” Bennett smiled.

“I wasn’t the only one, you were shaking too.” She saw Bennett’s expression faulter for just a second before resuming it’s normal grin.

“Yeah well next time we have to share you aren’t allowed to touch the thermostat.” Bennett thanked the waiter as he left their meals.

Natalie took the joke as a good sign. “You think we will have to room together again?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me.” She shrugged.

They continued talking through breakfast, that is until Tony walked around the corner. “Ladies, I trust you slept well.” He shot Bennett a wink.

“Just fine, Mr. Stark” Natalie responded for the both of them.

“Good to hear. Ms. Rushman I am going to have to steal Bennett for a while if you don’t mind.” He ruffled her hair. Bennett glared at him for the childish gesture. Making the gel hold was hard enough without his help.

“Of course, Mr. Stark. I have a few things to go over before Ms. Potts arrives. Where would you like me to set reservations for lunch?” She knew her job well.

“Anywhere in the resort you want, my treat.” He smiled at her. He dropped two gym bags in Bennet’s lap, “come on kid I reserved us a nearby boxing studio for the next couple of mornings.”

Reserved not a boxing ring but the whole school, of course. Bennett threw back the last of her orange juice, rolling her eyes at Tony. Natalie let out a soft chuckle. “See ya later, Nat” she said softly enough that she could hear but not Tony.

“Watch out for his sweep,” the redhead teased.

“That was a one time thing,” Bennett said, hurrying to catch up to Tony hearing her laugh again.

“So how was your night with your redhead?” Tony asked.

“Boss, you do realize it is my job to keep everyone safe. I can’t do that if I don’t even know who all is here” her voice was laced with irritation.

“Let me rephrase. How was she? You were all cuddly at breakfast, something had to happen.” She made no response. “Come on. She is the first woman you have looked at since Emily and I have literally had you in a room full of naked women and you never glanced at one of them.” Happy opened the car door for Tony.

“Ms. Rushman and I may become friends over time,” she replied coolly as she climbed in the other side of the car.

“Come on, Kid, we both know your redhead is hot as hell. You didn’t even try to make a move?” He questioned.

“Tony, she’s not my anything. She isn’t anything more than possibly a friend. I’m not ready for anything else. Nothing is going to happen between me and Nat.” Bennett felt the heat creep up the back of her neck and tamped it down, correcting herself. “Ms. Rushman.”

“Why not? You’re charming and charismatic, I would like to think I have been a good influence in that department. Besides she needs a reason to stay around, my assistants never seem to hang around very long.” Tony pulled the car up to an old brick building with a pair of boxing gloves painted on the side.

“I’m not ready for anything like that. As far as your assistants go maybe if you didn’t sleep with them and then forget them they would hang around. How did you manage to not run Pepper off?”

He seemed to think for a moment. “She never fell for my charm.”

“So she has brains and morals,” Bennett opened the door to the gym and followed Tony in.

“Or she’s gay but I highly doubt that.”

Bennett dropped their bags down on one of the benches and they began to stretch for the morning’s workout.

Bennett winced, she might have gone a little too hard on Tony. She noticed him slightly favoring his right leg. He made one too many "your redhead" comments and she kinda lost it. Which in the end only encouraged him that much more. So maybe she didn't feel too bad about his limp. They made sure to leave with enough time to shower and change before meeting Pepper.

Stepping off the elevators Tony and Bennett were immediately greeted by the sight of Pepper and Happy coming through the lobby doors.

Tensions seemed to rise more every time Pepper and Tony were in the same room. “Ms. Potts, good flight?” Bennett smiled at her friend.

“As always,” she greeted the girl warmly. Her face dropped suddenly.

“Mr. Stark, we have a few photographers here, if you and Ms. Potts wouldn’t mind.” Natalie entered the room turning the couple toward the few members of the press present.

Press appeased and the schedule set, Bennett followed Tony and Pepper around the corner. To keep away wandering eyes. “What is she doing here?” Pepper snapped.

“Assisting me. That’s what a personal assistant does correct?” Tony answered.

“Where did she stay?” Pepper was fuming.

“Here at the hotel with the rest of us. I had her book three rooms.” Tony’s nonchalance only made things worse.

“Yes I saw a double and two singles. If you had a single and I have a single and Bennett and Happy are sharing the double, where did Ms. Rushman sleep?” Her tone was accusatory and she stepped closer to Tony with every sentence.

Bennett had to stop a few people before they reached the hallway. Tony and Pepper fighting was the last publicity they needed.

“Actually,” Tony’s voice took on a self-righteous tone, “Happy and I split the double Natalie and Bennett shared one of the singles.”

Pepper didn’t have an immediate answer so Tony pushed past Benn headed toward the bar. Pepper followed only steps behind. Today was already more stressful than yesterday and it wasn’t even 10 o’clock yet. To make matters worse Justin Hammer sat only a few seats from Tony. Hammer ran a “rival” company. In the limited interaction Bennett had had with the man; he was just another Tony-Stark-wanna-be. They bantered back and forth for a time before Natalie came to let everyone know the table was ready.

Pepper started toward the table, Tony tapped Bennett’s shoulder saying he would be right back. He headed toward the restroom.

She watched Natalie as she and Pepper talked. Pepper made no secret what she thought of Natalie but as she watched them they appeared to be best friends. Either Pepper was a damn good actress or Natalie was charismatic as hell. The corners of Natalie’s lips quirked up in a smile and the blonde couldn’t stop hers from following the same path. Their eyes caught across the room, brown meeting green. Pepper followed her gaze and the two women shared a secret smile and a few whispers, before turning back to their work for the day.

Tony grabbed her bicep as he re-entered the restaurant. “Come on, Kid. Let’s go to the track.”

She nodded glancing over her shoulder at Natalie one more time as they left.

At the track Bennett's blood immediately started to race. The sound of the engines and the smell of the exhaust fumes was enough to kick her adrenaline into high gear. A race like this was a completely new experience and it was awesome. Standing with the pit crew she got a good look at the car before the race. It was a work of art, but then again Tony bought it. So that wasn't surprising. Tony walking onto the track in a racing suit was her first clue that something was off.

“What’s the use of having and owning a race car if you don’t drive it?” He tapped her shoulder with his helmet and climbed in the seat. “Boss, are you sure about this?” she grabbed the wheel.

“Absolutely not,” he called as he pulled into traffic with the other cars.

The first several turns of the race went great. After relaxing it was actually exhilarating watching Tony. She almost envied him.

The crowd cheered the racers on. Excitement grew as they neared the start of the second lap. That was when Bennett noticed one of the track officials walk onto the track. His suit began to burn and sizzle melting off him down to his waist. An arc reactor was strapped to his chest and he held two whips of pure energy. He sliced through the first car that crossed the line. Then made his way walking into traffic with purpose. It didn’t take long to figure out what that purpose was; Tony. He sliced through the front of Tony’s car and stalked after the car as it flipped across the road.

Tony managed to climb out of the car but he didn’t stand a chance against this man on his own. Not without Ironman. The man slapped the whips across the ground sending sparks flying. Knowing trouble was coming Bennett ducked behind a pillar and sent Happy a text “Tony needs the case.”

The space was secluded enough. Happy needed time. Tony needed a distraction. She ran a hand through her hair knowing she was going to regret this. Bennett took a deep breath and tapped the cuffs first to the pendent then to each other. When she saw the cuffs extended up her arms forming the bracers, she knew it was game time.

“You know,” her voice came out contorted. It didn't sound right, it was smoother with an almost musical quality. Tony could fix that later. “I thought dominatrix and archeology professors were the only ones that used whips anymore”

“This no concern you. Leave now.” Without even turning he flicked one of the whips in her direction. Side stepping she threw her left arm out in a block. The whip was longer than it appeared or she had misjudged the distance between her and the man as the end caught her in the chest. She inhaled sharply, eyes watering. This was gonna hurt a lot. “Sorry, but I can’t do that.”

He lashed one whip out followed immediately by the other. Bennett ducked one but the next hit wrapped up her arm burning wherever the bracer didn’t protect. He released her, kicking her across the track and stalking towards Tony. “Not much of a conversationalist, got it.”

She had another idea. He continued to slash at Tony. It was probably not a great idea but still an idea.

“Hey Grease Lightning, I said leave him alone.” Crap it was hard to make this voice sound intimidating. But it worked to a degree. The man turned his head and slung his whip towards her neck. She ducked, leaning back and let it reach its full extent before grabbing the tail with her gloved hand and jerking forward as hard as possible. As the man was pulled forward with the force, she chambered a kick in tight. As he flew forward she drove her heel into his stomach as deep as she could. Then spun out into another fighting stance. By this point Tony was back up.

The two kept the man busy. Bennett took as many hits for Tony as she could and prayed Happy would get here soon. “Aim everything at the straps,” Tony instructed.

From that point on every kick and every punch had one goal to loosen the straps holding the arc reactor in place. A well placed push kick had Tony tumbling across the ground.

Bennett rushed in. Whips are a ranged weapon. They are hard to attack with from point blank range. She got in tight and refused to let up. Wearing out his body or trying to. She managed to hit a few pressure points and thought she might have been getting the upper hand until she felt the whip wrap around her ankle. Her feet were ripped from underneath her and her head hit the asphalt. She felt the gash and knew there was blood.

The man grabbed her, lifting her from the ground by her neck and began to squeeze. He pulled her to his face. The smell of his putrid breath overwhelming her senses. “I told you to stay out of it little girl.” His grip tightened suddenly and she felt her trachea collapse. Followed by a few vertebrae sliding out of alignment. Her body went limp and he dropped her lifeless form.

Knowing you will survive doesn't take away all the fear. For a moment she considered death as she waited for her windpipe to fix itself.

At the sound of a car explosion she jumped and crawled back to her feet anxious to see a sign that Tony was alive. They were both against the fence, Tony and the man. She followed Tony’s gaze to see Happy speeding up the track towards them in the luxury car they were using while in Monaco. Happy must have gotten the text.

The Rolls slammed the man into the fence Tony leaping out of the way at the last moment. Bennett's ears were still ringing and she was a little out of it as she made her way to the others. She didn’t remember much other than getting Pepper from the car, to safety and telling Happy to follow as the two men fought.

Once she got several yards and several more concrete barriers between them and the fight, she had her first coherent thought. “Where’s Natalie?” They both looked confused. So she repeated the question. “Where is Natalie? She was with you two when I left.”

“I don’t know. She didn’t come with us. I’m not sure where she went. How do you even…” Pepper’s confusion seemed to clear slightly, and morph into anger, “Bennett?”

Bennett looked down seeing the bracers and remembering the rest of the costume that although invisible to her was still active. “Hey, Pep.” The authorities arrived to take the man away and Tony walked towards the others.

Pepper fixed him with a glare. "We are going home now." Vacation was over.

The police kept Tony at hand until he could speak to his attacker. Bennett waited at the station with him. When they came to lead him back he told Bennett to stay in the lobby. She reluctantly obeyed.

She paced the length of the room more times than she cared to count as she waited for Tony to return. As she turned to begin another lap, the door to the cells and offices was pulled open hitting the wall with a sharp crack.

Tony stalked by her and signalled for her to follow him to his car. Once buckled in they left for the airport where Pepper and the others would be waiting.

“Boss, who was that guy?”

“His name is Ivan Vanko. He claimed that the arc reactor was his father’s idea.”

Tony looked as confused as Bennett felt. “But it’s not.”

“No.”

“So what did he want? Notoriety?”

“He said...He wanted to take me down but he missed. We are fine, kid, don’t worry.” He gave her a smile.

There was more to the story she knew but she let it slide. “Is he going to be a threat anymore?”

“Nah, we are home free.” He revved the engine and sped the rest of the way to the air strip.

#The Avengers #Black Widow #Black widow imagine #natasha romanoff #natasha romanov #Tony Stark #Ironman #MCU #avengers imagine #original female character #phylax

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