#(Here she is; probably bracing herself to go home; nervous to walk alone after the previous night's close call)

[beatingheart-bride]

"I can understand that," Philippe nodded, a sudden movement that caused his short ringlets to bounce atop his head. "I've always been fond of horror stories, but I enjoy a good love story every once in a while, too, especially when it involves horror elements. I've always been fond of delving into a good love story now and then, tales of two lovers fighting against all odds to be together. I've always found it to be very romantic, too.

When I was a boy, I had a favorite fairy tale, too," he admitted, his battered cheeks lighting up as he sheepishly admitted, "It's a rather...unorthodox choice, one I'm sure you've heard of. I first found out about it through one of the story books I was gifted by my family abroad: it's French in origin, but it's become popular here in the States, too.

It's called...'The Beauty and the Beast.'"

Philippe couldn't put his finger on why, but he'd always been far more fond of that particular story than its more mundane counterparts. He couldn't help but root for the titular couple far more than he'd ever rooted for a lady fair and her Prince Charming. Perhaps it had to do with how unlikely of a pair they were, or all of the hurdles they'd had to jump in order to be together, including breaking a curse. They were such an unlikely couple with fate itself seemingly trying to intervene and tear them apart, and yet nothing could keep them from loving one another. It was greatly inspiring in Philippe's eyes: he'd be truly blessed to experience a love like that someday.

@beatingheart-bride

"Funnily enough, it never made me afraid of the water o-or whales o-or anything like that, when I first heard it," Susannah confessed with a small shrug and a smile: She could understand why it would frighten some children upon hearing it, but to her, she never questioned the inherent strangeness of the story, nor did it frighten her the way the tales of the Fae did. She just went along with its fairy tale logic, never giving it a second thought as a child.

"I just...thought it was very...well, very romantic, as a girl," she continued, her tone softening as she brushed a loose black lock of hair from her face as she recalled those childhood days of laying in a patch of sunlight in the living room, laying on her stomach as she reread the tale over and over and over again, always loving that the prince remained so true to Trembling, even when Fair tried to pass herself off as her sister. His putting the sword between them in their marriage bed, noting it would be cold come morning if she were trying to deceive him (and sure enough, it was), to say nothing of his determination in rescuing her from the whale, was so chivalrous and grand to her as a child that she always found her eyes roving over those paragraphs in particular, and those beautiful accompanying illustrations.

(Now that she thought about it, there was something strikingly similar about Philippe and the prince on the page...both in their personalities and in their angelic appearances, blond-haired noblemen who loved fiercely and loyally...)

She was quick to discard this overly-romantic notion, averting her gaze as she tucked the lock back out of her face, saying simply, "It...it was my most favorite fable growing up. Still is, I suppose. I...I enjoyed the love story then, and I...I still do now."

Even if I don't believe in love at first sight... she thought somewhat bitterly to herself.

[santanaveralopez]

Changes coming

It had been a few days since the long, emotional exchange with Brittany, and Santana had been processing a lot since. She had started back her normal routine of classes and dreaded the possible judgment or questions from her classmates, but other than a couple asking if she was okay, she was ignored, as Brittany had predicted, much to her relief. Eating was difficult still, with Santana still emotional and struggling at each meal and never able to finish all of whatever she had. She was trying, usually, anyway, but only her desire to please Brittany and her fear of being forced to be put inpatient drive this.

She had, with great discomfort, braved talking to Kurt and Rachel yesterday. She had certainly not wanted to, and actually talking about her feelings being hurt by their texts had been actively avoided. What had actually happened was she had texted both saying "u can have a 1 time free pass cuz im awesome like that. Never happened and that means shut up bout it Berry."

Of course, that hadn't exactly worked. What had happened instead was they had both met her after class in the same spot she now met Brittany, filled to the brim with apologies that Santana immediately cut off and deflected, firm in her insistence that the entire situation not be talked about. She had "suffered" Rachel's insistence at a hug and Kurt's awkward, timid shoulder squeeze and listened to them talk for a little while- very little- before saying, with effort that felt huge and vulnerably out there for her, "Can we not stand here talk talk talking and not walk walk walking in the dark?"

Glancing at Brittany, she had added with less snappiness and far more softly, her shoulders braced from the effort it took for her, "It...makes me nervous."

Both Kurt and Rachel had looked startled, as though the idea had simply not occurred to them, which it probably hadn't. And they had immediately agreed and done as she asked, without any further questions or demands for explanations. Santana was still amazed by that aspect alone. She was hardly excited at the idea of continuing to talk *feelings" with them, but it wasn't a horrid start.

Mostly thought, she had pondered what had occurred between her and Brittany. Ever since that night, she couldn't stop remembering how Brittany had explained her reasons for leaving her, how very different they had been than what Santana had believed. She couldn't stop thinking of how Brittany had told her how she was still in love with her, how she had promised her she would never leave her again. Santana replayed those words and those moments to herself over and over, a soothing litany when she felt anxious or upset.

That was why when Brittany took her by the hand a few nights later after they got home from her last class, told her to sit down on the couch with her, and told her she had something to talk to her about, Santana's mind immediately jumped to panic.

She should have known things were starting to get too calm, too good to be true. Talk was never a good thing, not when someone told you to sit down to do it. So what terrible, scary thing was Brittany about to make her talk about that required her to sit down?

She was already heading towards a silent inner panic attack before she even had reached the couch. What if Brittany was sick? What if she was really hurt and couldn't dance anymore at all and just got good at faking being okay? What if she had changed her mind and was going back on tour? What if she was tired of Santana after all and was going to leave, what if she was about to tell Santana she had to go back to the loft? What if she was DYING?

By the time Brittany sat beside her Santana was nearly hyperventilating.

"Oh my god, what is it, just say it!" She demanded, as though she had been waiting twenty days instead of about twenty seconds to hear. "What's wrong, what did I do, what is it, what?!"

[buckyownsmylife]

Them - Chris Evans Smut

The one where Chris is your professor.

Warnings: smut, professor au, reader is a postgrad student, so no underage business, but definitely some age gap, reader is very clear about what she wants here, lots of dirty talk

Chris’ P.O.V.

Looking out of the window of the fancy bistro I had been waiting on, I just couldn’t believe my luck. Y/N, the woman I had been thinking about for the last three months, that one that had made me accept this stupid idea of a blind date to try to get over her, was standing just outside the restaurant, looking from side to side, clearly waiting for someone that was nowhere around. 

I pondered over what to do, weighing the consequences of what I truly wanted, but in the end, I said, “Fuck it,” and jumped out of my chair, explaining to the host that I only needed a minute.

“Fancy seeing you here.” I knew I was grinning from ear to ear, but that was just the effect she had on me. When her eyes widened as she took in who was talking to her, I had to laugh. “What? Not used to seeing me in more casual clothes?” I was convinced her chuckle was enough to end wars. 

“I don’t think that can be considered casual, Professor Evans,” she said, but with the cutest teasing smirk on her face. Right. There was a reason why coming out here to talk to her could possibly bring severe consequences to my life. She was my student, after all, and even though she was pursuing her PhD and we weren’t currently in an academic setting, her politeness served to remind me of the distance that remained between us.

“Well, I’m not sure I could consider what you’re wearing casual either, but I must say, sweetheart… You look beautiful.” I took pride in the blush that spread through her cheeks, making her almost as red as the dress she was currently wearing. Fuck if I didn’t want her desperately.

“Thank you, sir.” I was convinced she knew about the effect those words had in me, but then again, it wasn’t like I could call her out on it. Clearing my throat, I decided to change the subject before I brought more difficulty for my own situation.

“So, what brings you here on this delightful friday evening?” I forced myself to look away from her as I spoke, mostly because I felt like I’d been staring for too long. But I’d happily look at her for as long as possible, if I didn’t fear for what she’d think of me.

“I’m guessing the same thing that brought you here, Mr. Evans.” To my raised eyebrow, she simply responded with a shake of her head, her delightful giggle going straight to my pants. “C’mon, you’re dressed like this, on a friday night, and waiting for someone in a bistro? You’re obviously on a date!”

Well, I was most definitely impressed, but that didn’t serve to distract myself from the disappointment that pierced through me at the realization that she had dressed up so pretty to go out on a date with someone other than me.

“If that’s the case, then where is the lucky gentleman?” That seemed to be the wrong thing to ask, by the way her beautiful face fell.  Immediately, I felt terrible for being responsible for sucking the light out of this woman.

“Oh… I guess he’s not coming. I’ve been waiting for him for at least an hour, it was supposed to be a blind date. My friend thought he’d be perfect for me or something. Guess he didn’t agree, huh?” She tried to chuckle, but the fact that she couldn’t meet my eyes was enough to demonstrate how embarrassed she was by the whole ordeal.

“Sweetheart…” I itched to touch her, to pull her body to mine and comfort her anyway I could, but she continued to avoid my eyes, keeping up with her own monologue almost like she couldn’t physically stop.

“And the worst part is that I can’t stop thinking about how he probably walked in, saw me and decided to go home. God, this is mortifying. Why am I even telling you this?” At that, she finally looked up to find me looking back at her, and whatever it was she identified in my gaze at last made her stop.

“Come eat with me,” I offered, not even thinking about what I was saying, although capable of admitting that it was all I truly wanted. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but she wasn’t able to structure a proper sentence, looking up at me with those big bright eyes.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

I didn’t know what to say. I was completely taken by surprise by his invitation, but I couldn’t really say it made me uncomfortable. I wanted nothing more than the chance to spend some time with him, away from the university environment.

It was no secret that he was attractive, of course. I knew that, but it wasn’t because of it that I wanted the chance to share a meal with him. It was for all of the little things I’d managed to learn over the course of our meetings, the bar trivia he liked to share randomly over cups of coffee when it would make more sense if we were sharing a beer. It was the fact that his mind fascinated me, and I’d never met anyone who had captivated me so much, so easily, in such little time.

Even with so little to go off on, he occupied my mind. And perhaps half of the attraction came from the taboo of it all, but I couldn’t deny that it was there. I wanted to get to know him better. I wanted to say yes. Didn’t I deserve it, after such a lousy night?

“We shouldn’t,” I decided to remind us both, but he only smiled, reaching out for my hand. The touch surprised me even more, but I found myself accepting it easily, even smiling as I looked up at him from underneath my eyelashes to see an answering grin in his handsome face.

“No one has to know. Come on.” He tugged me in the direction of the restaurant he was in, apparently, some place definitely fancier than where my date was supposed to happen, and with a curt nod towards the greeter, he quickly took me to the table he’d been occupying before pulling the chair for me.

Such a simple gesture, not at all romantic, really, but it sent butterflies all over my stomach, and I bit my lip to stop the giddy giggle that wanted to break free. “Thank you,” I recognized, and he only flashed me another perfect smile in return.

“It’s my pleasure. Would you like some wine?” He gestured for the waiter, his eyes barely leaving mine before returning to me again. “It’s okay if you don’t. Choose whatever you want, I’m usually more of a beer guy myself, but with this being an italian restaurant and all…”

I waved his fears away, rejecting the menu the waiter was offering and pointing to the glass of wine that was sitting in front of Chris. “I’ll just have the same, please.” The waiter nodded, already turning to grab me a glass when my professor called him over again.

“Wait! Just bring us the bottle, would you?” I raised an eyebrow at him, a smirk making its way into my face. If there was one thing I had already learned about the man I was about to have dinner with, was that he loved to be teased.

“Planning on getting me drunk, professor? That’s not the right way to keep me quiet.” His eyes grew big at first, before he caught on to the teasing nature of my comments, and then he laughed, a hand going over his chest as he threw his head back and closed his eyes, fully in the moment.

Chris’ P.O.V.

Fuck, this was exactly what I’d hoped for when I took the chance and invited her over here. She was just so damn *funny. I was thrilled to have this opportunity to spend some quality time with her.

“Oh, believe me, sweetheart. I really don’t want to keep you quiet.” Shit. It was only after it was out in the open, and her eyebrows were raised high, that I realized just how weird that sounded, given the context. “I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant was, I really want to hear you.”

By now, she was pressing her lips tightly, clearly trying not to laugh about my awkwardness, so I saved her the trouble by breaking into a fit of laughter myself. “That’s okay, Professor Evans. If it makes you feel any better, I really want to hear you too.”

… Was she flirting with me? The idea caught me by surprise and sent a jolt of thrill up my body, making me sit up straighter in the restaurant’s chair. I pressed my lips tightly together in an effort to suppress my laugh, and looked up at her from under my eyelashes.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she teased, and it was my turn to raise my eyebrows.

“Why not?”

“It makes me nervous.” The answer surprised me. I never considered that I could affect her in any way, much less that one, and so I found myself leaning in her direction, my elbows on the table so I could talk more quietly and she could still hear me.

“Why are you nervous? It’s just me. We’ve been alone in smaller environments than this one,” I reminded her, watching with delight as she giggled but avoided my eyes, opting instead to play with the glass of wine that had by now been delivered to us. I knew she was thinking about the tiny office we shared and all the times we had to ignore this sexual tension as it filled the air between us. When her eyes met mine, the mischievous glint in them was unmissable, and so I braced myself for her answer, knowing it would definitely be something as out of the ordinary as herself.

“Yes…” She started, leaning closer to me and lowering her voice, and while I was sure I didn’t want to miss one single word of what she was saying, it was impossible not to look down at how her breasts threatened to spill from her dress. “But this time it’s harder to ignore just how much I want your cock down my throat.”

I was stunned to silence for a minute, staring back at her with my mouth opened as I felt my cock unmistakably harden at her directness. This was so different from the reserved and polite woman I had to work with at the university, and if that one was already enticing, I had no words to describe the minx that stared back at me with deviousness in her eyes.

“Well, now I feel bad,” I settled on saying, eyes dropping to her cleavage before meeting hers again, making sure she saw just how hypnotized by her body I was. “And here I’ve been, picturing you on your knees all this time.”

I *knew she was hot and bothered by my comment, it was pretty obvious by the way she fidgeted in her seat, squeezing her thighs together, I was certain. There was nothing I wanted more than taking her away from here, and just… well… *take her. Preferably more than once, but it didn’t even have to be on a bed. I wasn’t sure I’d hold back enough to get her close to one, even. Especially when she stepped it up a notch, her heeled foot caressing my leg under the table as she whispered, “I think I made a smart choice when I decided to wear this dress tonight.”

Inevitably, my eyes fell to her breasts once more. It was obvious that I agreed, but still, I licked my lips to be able to agree, “Yes, I’m very fond of it as well.” The corners of her lips twisted up, a clear indication that I’d fallen right onto her trap.

“I’m glad you liked the choice. Wanna know why I’m happy I ran into you while wearing it?” I just nodded, dry swallowing at the thought of what she was about to say. “Because I can’t wear anything underneath it.”

My knuckles turned white as I held onto the edge of the table, practically urging myself not to leap out of my seat. “Careful, sweetheart…” I tried to warn, the months of restraint and tension taking a toll out of my patience and control. “You should think about what you’re saying. *Pay attention to what you’re asking of me. I’m not exactly great at resisting something that I want. You have to be sure,” I murmured, eyes never leaving hers as I watched her breathing grow more laboured.

She let the silence simmer the anticipation between us, until I felt like *I was about to collapse.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

“I think I’ve made my desires clear.”

That was all it took for him to dart out of the chair, fishing out his wallet and throwing some bills on top of the table before reaching for my hand. “Come.”

I followed easily, body buzzing with excitement as I accepted this first touch from a man I believed to be unreachable only a few hours before.

Nothing was said as he directed me towards his car. Once inside, I took advantage of the few seconds it took for him to reach his own door and took a deep breath, both to calm my nerves and take in the delicious scent of the familiar cologne that seemed to be ingrained in the vehicle. How many days had I spent clenching my thighs as I tried to focus on my research because his scent took over our tiny office? Too many to count. But now he was right here, ready and willing to take care of the mess he made of me.

A shiver went through my body when he finally made his way inside the car, and instead of turning on the engine, fixated his gaze on me. It was heavy with lust and primal need, that much I could recognize - mostly because I knew those two feelings all too well when it came to him.

“I’m going to kiss you now.” It wasn’t a question, and immediately after he was done speaking I was already leaning over to meet him halfway. 

Chris’ kiss was nothing like I expected it to be. While I imagined a gentle lover, he was more on the eager, almost desperate side. I was surprised how much I liked it that way. He took control of our kiss so easily, it made me feel small and under his spell. Like I’d do anything he wanted me to, just as long as he kept devouring me like this.

I lost myself to the kiss, to *him, to the taste of wine and something that was undeniably just him, but then a hand fell on my lap and I gasped, instinctively opening my legs to feel more of his touch. It made him grin, but he didn’t stop kissing me, instead cradling my face between his hands before returning one of them to the spot that was throbbing for him.

“I just really need to feel you, only for a second,” he whispered against my lips, and I could only nod, too lost in his eyes to care about the implications of his words. “Maybe if I have your taste on my lips I’ll feel motivated enough to drive all the way home, instead of just taking you right here.”

Needless to say, paired with two of his fingers curling inside of me before they were gone and wrapped by his lips, the fires of desire had grown to such heights I could no longer control them. “Hmm… Delicious,” he hummed, dark eyes opening to meet mine only for a second before he was turning the engine on. “Let’s get out of here.” 

Chris’ P.O.V.

The second we were inside my apartment, I had to unbuckle my belt and curl my fist around my member - that’s how badly it hurt from the lack of attention. At least I wasn’t the only one desperate to get things going, her dress was on the floor just as I sat back on the couch, moaning both at the feeling of my jerking motions and the sight of her naked body.

“Come here, Miss. Y/L/N,” I instructed, beckoning her over while keeping my other hand occupied with my cock. “Isn’t this what you wanted? Join me.” She didn’t seem to need any further invitation, small frame quickly making her way over to where I was sitting before she dropped to her knees in front of me, right between my thighs that she held to support herself.

“God, you’re sexy.” She smiled up at me from underneath her eyelashes, hands reaching out to take my member from me before she began to lick at my already weeping head, and I had to take a deep breath in order to control myself. “Fuck.”

She was a tease, alright - but that much I knew, already. Instead of immediately starting to suck me off, she opted to get acquainted with the taste of my cock by licking it like a damn ice cream cone, until every inch of it was wrapped in a coat of her saliva and I was trembling underneath her attentions, hands curled into fists in an effort to let her keep her own pace but desperately wanting to gag her on me.

“You taste so good,” she teased, but it did sound more like an absentminded comment. It was just my need that made me believe she was doing it on purpose, trying to get me to break, but I wouldn’t let her win.

“Put it in your mouth, then. I promise I’ll give you more to taste.” If I had been worried I’d scare her away with how open I was about what I wanted, the smirk she gave me assured me it was well received, just as the way she finally wrapped her perfect lips around the head of my cock, tongue swirling over it briefly before starting to slowly suck more of it.

“Shit, yeah. Just like that. Swallow that cock, darling.” She did just so, all the while making sure to keep eye contact with me, which only added fuel to the desire I felt for her. I knew I couldn’t resist for too long, so I reveled in the feeling of her warm mouth, the sloppy blowjob easily the best I’d ever had, before I pulled her to me, making her climb my lap so I could fill my hands with her fantastic ass.

“God, I’ve dreamt about this ass,” I groaned, palming it and using it to rub her pussy over my member, that twitched at the slight contact, making us both gasp. “And this pussy…” the connection was obvious. Of course I’d imagined it too, but the little mynx wanted to hear it for herself.

“Did you think about it at night?” She asked, taking control of the motions I could no longer direct as she rubbed her wet cunt over my member, making me growl on her ear.

“At night, in class…” Maybe I should have felt embarrassed to admit it, but as it were, I didn’t. I couldn’t, not when it was the truth, and not when she was right here, ready to sink down on my cock, looking at me with those sinful eyes. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

She bit down on her lower lip to stop the grin from taking over her face, I could see that, but it didn’t stop mine as I watched her rub the head of my member between her lips before finally starting to sink down on it.

“Fuck!” My head fell back on the couch, and I had to hold on her hips to keep control of myself, but still, she was being too slow. Opening my eyes, I saw by the smirk on her lips it was purely to tease me, but two could play at this game. 

“Keep going,” I ordered, slapping her ass before sinking my fingers on it again, for good measure. She gasped, momentarily losing control and falling further down, which was really all I needed to fuck up into her until I bottomed out.

“God, you’re so big!” She really did know how to get a man going.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

Once I relinquished the control to him, there was really nothing else I could do but to hold on tight and enjoy the ride. He fucked me like he was trying to cherish every single second of this act we were sharing, probably conscious that we’d never be able to do this again.

“Such a fucking great pussy,” he groaned, fingers now probably bruising my skin as he used his grip on my hips to force my movements to match his. “I bet I can make you even louder.”

I hadn’t even realized I was screaming until he said that, feet raising to the sofa so he could find even more grip to fuck me silly. “Hold tight, sweetheart.” My hands slipped from his shoulders to the back of his neck, as I tried to keep my chest glued to his despite the brutality of his movements.

It didn’t take long for his thrusts to lose their rhythm, and I was dancing on the edge of my own orgasm too, watching a single drop of sweat make its way from his hairline until his jaw, where I leaned down to collect it with my tongue.

“Fuck.” His eyes met mine, holding my gaze hostage as the next words that fell from his lips brought me to my release. “Oh God, please tell me you’ll be mine. I need to know I’ll be able to have you like this whenever I want. Please.”

The aftershocks of my orgasm, paired with the way my pussy clenched around his member, milking his own release, had him cumming as hard as I had, eyes closed tightly and beautiful mouth hanging open as I tried to catch my breath and not lose the show at the same time.

“Do you mean it?” I had to ask, once both of us were able to speak again, still tightly embraced and deeply connected. I could feel his cum slowly seeping out of me and into his own lap.

“Of course.” His eyes searched mine for any inkling of my own feelings in regards to the revelation of his. “You’re worth the trouble it’ll be trying to keep this under wraps. Besides, Professor Stan had mentioned he’d like to seduce you, and I can’t imagine having to watch you be with another man.”

A giggle and a kiss sealed the deal, but we renegotiated the terms of our agreement a dozen of times before finally falling asleep wrapped in each other’s embrace. Thank God I was stood up today.

[justmypartner]

Safe - 8x14 Speculation Fic

Writer’s Note: The idea for this came from the 8x14 synopsis, and while it technically still is a speculation fic, I don’t imagine the episode happening exactly like this. However, I did use what I’ve seen from bts photos and videos, as well as things Tracy has said in interviews to develop some of the scenes/details. This is probably my favorite piece that I’ve written in a while, so I hope you enjoy & thank you for reading!

Hailey rustled through her closet looking for her black wedged boots, trying her best to hurry as she knew Jay was waiting for her in the kitchen. She wasn’t much of a boot with a heel kind of girl, but she and Jay had special plans and she wanted to look nicer than usual. While they had been together for months, that night was the first time they were going on a proper date. They each decided at the beginning of their relationship that with both of their histories, they wanted to keep things simple and to themselves, which meant a lot of take-out and a lot of nights alone in their apartments. However, after Hailey mentioned something in passing about their clandestine time together starting to feel restrictive, Jay made plans at a fancy restaurant where he knew they wouldn’t run into any of their fellow team members.

“I don’t mean to rush you, but our reservation is in 45 minutes and it will take us about 30 to get there,” Jay said softly, peeking his head around the door frame.

“I know, I know. I’m trying to- finally!” she shouted upon finding the boots in the corner of her closet. She brought a knee into her chest as she pulled a boot onto her foot before switching to the other leg and doing the same.

“Okay, I just need to get my phone and wallet and then I’ll be-“ her words were cut short as she caught sight of him for the first time that evening. He was wearing a dress shirt with a light jacket, and his dark jeans curled over the top of a pair of black dress boots. It was much different from his typical, rugged workwear, but she took note of how well the look suited him.

“Wow you clean up nice, Halstead,” she told him with a dimpled smile as he blushed, extending a hand down to help her rise from the floor. Once she was standing, the small space between them closed quickly as she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her lips to his briefly. While the heels added extra height, she still needed to raise on her tiptoes to meet his mouth.

“Not too bad yourself, Detective,” he uttered as her lips pulled away. His hands grasped her waist, holding her steady as she remained on her toes. They stayed pressed against one another for a moment looking into each other’s eyes, and just when he was about to go in for another kiss, she fell on her heels and pressed the tips of her fingers against his chest.

“Normally, I would indulge in this further, but we’re going to miss our reservation and I’m starving,” she teased, moving past him to retrieve her phone, keys, and wallet, along with her jacket slung over the back of the couch.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Hailey was charmed by how nice it was. It was far different from the usual dive bars and pubs they went to after work, and part of her even felt like it was too nice for them to be at.

“Halstead, party of 2,” he told the hostess, holding up 2 fingers with the hand that wasn’t intertwined with Hailey’s.

A stifled smile came across her face and she nodded her head towards the floor as they waited for someone to guide them to their table. It seemed surreal to be standing in the middle of a fancy restaurant with him, holding his hand and waiting to be seated for a romantic dinner. She couldn’t tell if it was because of how long she secretly pined over him or if it was because being with Jay felt like her first real love story, but there were many moments when being with him felt like some fantasy, and that moment was one of them. At one point in time, being with him was something she only dreamt about. It was a thought that crossed her mind when his gaze lingered a little longer than it should or when an accidental touch sent her heart racing. Before they took that leap, she worried being with him would mean giving up being his partner. It was that fear that made her keep her feelings bottled up for so long, but as they proved time and time again, as partners, as lovers, and as both - they were good together. She turned her head and placed a light kiss on his shoulder. It was a tangible reminder that he was hers to kiss, but it also grounded her in that moment that felt like just another dream.

The dinner itself was incredible. Hailey officially added the restaurant to her list of favorite food spots in Chicago, and they spent the entire meal giggling and sharing stories they had never shared before. By the end of it, Jay was stuffed, but Hailey insisted they order a dessert, her sweet tooth getting the best of her. Jay teased her for ordering the lava cake, the most indulgent option on the menu, but she was able to tease him right back when he asked the waiter for a second spoon when it was brought to the table.

Just as Jay was about to pay the check, his phone began to ring, Voight’s name popping up across the screen as he pulled out his wallet.

“Uh oh,” Hailey said as he picked it up to answer. Jay spoke with their boss briefly, mainly nodding his head and muttering brief affirmations every few seconds.

“I think she’s out tonight, but I can call her and swing by to pick her up wherever she is,” Jay said, shooting Hailey a wide-eyed look as he quickly came up with an excuse as to why they’d be riding in together all dressed up.

“Alright hot stuff, as much as I’d like to keep this night going, it seems we caught a case,” he told her, as he stood from his chair. He took out his wallet, counting out enough money to cover the check and tip before resting the bills under his glass on the table.

“At least we made it through dessert,” she said, sending him a childlike smile.

“Oh, that was dessert? I had something else in mind for that,” he replied smugly, Hailey’s face turning bright red at his suggestive words.

“Oh really?” She questioned, taking a step towards him to close the gap between them. “You’d better clean up that mind before we get to the scene,” she whispered with a chuckle, twirling around swiftly and making her way towards the door as he shook his head at her tease. His hand found the small of her back as they made their way out the door, and he placed a kiss against her temple, knowing it would probably be the last display of affection he could show before they had to enter partner mode.

When they arrived at the house, Kevin and Voight were outside talking to a few patrol officers. Hailey’s mood had changed drastically upon arriving at the scene. She couldn’t explain why, but she felt uneasy as she jumped out of the truck and secured her badge and gun to her hip.

As they approached, Kevin pursed his lips together and let out a two-tone whistle as he caught sight of Hailey.

“Damn girl, sorry to pull you away from whatever had you all cleaned up,” he told her, cocking his head to the side as she shook her head at him with a smirk. Her eyes caught sight of Voight’s as they darted between her and Jay and she became nervous, imagining that he was putting two and two together. She decided to change the subject quickly before any further comments could ensue.

“Oh, shut up,” she told him. “What do we got?” She asked, spinning her head around the scene and taking in the myriad of patrol cars.

“I think it’s something you have to unfortunately see for yourself. I do have to say, you might want to brace yourself for this one,” he said, turning to lead them inside. Jay and Hailey met eyes, sharing a look of concern before turning and following Kevin and Voight inside.

Walking through the front door, they collectively grimaced at the overwhelming smell of blood that tinged their noses. They hesitantly made their way deeper into the house and Hailey’s heart dropped when she caught sight of a family of four, a couple and their two kids, all tied up and shot dead on the living room floor. That uneasy feeling from before suddenly made sense. She clenched her jaw, groaning at the sight as she looked away, recognizing the same unsettled look in the face of each of her fellow officers.

“What the hell happened here?” Jay asked, looking over at Kevin for the answer.

“This is the second home invasion robbery in this neighborhood this week. Robbery-homicide has been working these guys since the first one, but so far they’ve come up with no leads. Whoever these guys are, they’re professionals. It’s a two-man crew, they come in through the back, dressed head to toe in dark attire, get what they need, kill the family, and get out. They’re in and out in less than 10 minutes and they’ve got a getaway driver who knows how to avoid traffic cameras. Robbery-homicide tells me these guys killed a family of three earlier this week, and that the dad had bruises on his body in addition to the gunshot wound that killed him. Now, what’s interesting is in this case, the mom is the one with these bruises. These families were definitely targeted, we’re just not sure how or why,” he explained causing them each to frown.

While Kevin explained the case, Hailey fell silent as the details brought her back to a string of cases she had worked during her time in robbery-homicide. She spent weeks chasing after a crew targeting families who had shopped at a high-end jewelry store, only that connection was missed for the first half of the investigation. By the time she and her team had finally caught on to why the families were being targeted, four families had already been killed, five kids below the age of ten among the victims. Hailey beat herself up for months knowing if they had caught onto the pattern sooner, they could have saved more of the families - more of the kids. This case sounded eerily similar, and she was bound to not let history repeat itself.  

“How’d we catch this if robbery-homicide was on it?” Jay asked, shoving his hands in his pockets as his gaze intentionally avoided the gruesome scene before them.

“Miller assigned it to us. She wanted a fresh pair of eyes. She’s getting a lot of heat from the press about there being no leads, especially since this is a high-end neighborhood. Plus, these guys have already killed three tender-aged kids. I want the animals on a stick,” Voight replied straightly.

“Do we know what they’re after?” Hailey asked, her brain already working to establish a connection.  

“No, and that’s what’s given our robbery-homicide guys so much trouble. The only connection is that both families have had pretty high-tech safes somewhere in the house. Last house it was in a bedroom closet, but this one was in the basement. It seems like these guys make their way in, beat the location and combo of the safe out of one of the parents, get what they need, and off the entire family before hauling ass out,” Kevin told them.

“Well, I’ve worked cases like this one before. If we’re going to get anywhere, we need to figure out what it was they wanted and how they knew about it. We’re on a time crunch now, because it’s only a matter of time before these guys strike again,” she said, turning and leaving the house without waiting for any of their responses.

After leaving the scene, they all made their way back to the district to go over the files robbery-homicide had sent over. They browsed over the files for a couple of hours before Voight sent them home, needing them to rest up and refresh before they dove completely into the case the next day. The familiarity of the case was itching at Hailey, but as much as she wanted to see something that everyone else was missing, she came up short in every place she looked.

The next morning, she and Jay got coffee together. She had been quiet since they caught the case. Jay picked up on her shift in mood that occurred from the restaurant to the scene, but he left it alone to give her the space she seemed to need. He eventually built up the nerve to ask what was wrong. She told him about her old case and how much it meant to catch the guys and quickly. He agreed, admitting to her how much seeing those dead kids struck a nerve. He reassured her they would catch them one way or another. As they walked out of the coffee shop, a call came over the radio:

Units over the city-wide, we got calls of a home invasion. 1433 N State Street

“Gold Coast, that’s the same neighborhood as the other home invasions, you think that’s our guys?” Jay asked looking over at Hailey as he held the radio up.

“Could be, let’s roll on it,” she told him, rushing towards his truck as he followed, telling dispatch they were taking the call.

They rolled up to the scene, carefully clearing the house together, but they arrived too late, and the offenders were gone. They found the couple who lived there in the same position as the last two families, only they still had a pulse. Hailey tried asking them what the offenders were after, but all she got were incoherent mutterings from each victim. They both died before ambulances could arrive, but just the same as the other cases, only the husband had signs of bruising in addition to the gunshot wound, and a safe was found in the back of a linen closet. While crime techs combed the house, Hailey made her way out to the back garden, finding a hose to rinse the victim’s blood from her hands. Her hands were shaking so much, she couldn’t quite scrub enough to get them clean. Jay caught sight of her through the window and wade his way out to her, grabbing her hands in his to steady them. She looked up at him as he nodded his head, taking the hose and helping her scrub her hands clean. Once they were clear, he held her hands in his for a minute longer, quickly releasing them when someone cleared their throat behind them. When they turned around Voight was standing there, his hands deep in his pockets, eyeing the two of them as they took a step back from one another. If he didn’t know about them before, he definitely did then.

“You get anything new on these guys?” He asked, a knowing look plastered across his face.

“No, Sarge. They were gone by the time we pulled up,” Jay told him, dropping the hose to the ground.

“Well, get back to it. We’ve wasted enough time as it is, we’ve got to catch these guys,” he said bluntly, turning and making his way back into the house. The two of them stayed there frozen, shaking their heads at how careless they had been to let him walk up on them like that.

Back at the district, they scrubbed the lives of all of the victims, still coming up with no connection between any of them. Nighttime arrived once again with no leads and no suspects, so they decided to call it and head home. That night, Hailey laid awake, tossing and turning for hours. She tried every method she knew to fight off the insomnia that had kept her restless, but nothing was able to lull her into a slumber. It was the case that was keeping her up, and her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling while a million theories circulated through her mind. Something about it just didn’t make sense, and she couldn’t shake the idea that they had been missing an obvious connection. The faces of the couple she tried to save earlier that day remained at the forefront of her mind, and after a while of fighting off the urge to get out of bed and chase that gut feeling, she finally slipped out from the grasp of Jay’s limp arm, carefully retreating from the bed as to not wake him. She made her way over to her closet, pulling on a pair of jeans and slipping a sweatshirt over her head before grabbing her badge and gun from the nightstand and sliding her phone into her back pocket. She made her way to her office, retrieving a sticky note and pen to write Jay a message letting him know where she was going.

Couldn’t sleep. Gone back to the district, needed to go over the case again. ♡

She tiptoed back into the bedroom and placed the note on her pillow where she knew he’d see if he happened to wake up. She grabbed her coat and opened the front door, slowly guiding it closed on her way out, still trying her best to be as quiet as possible. She wasn’t sure what she would be looking for when she arrived at the district, but she had hoped that studying it alone and in the quietness of the empty bullpen would provide her with a new perspective. She made herself a cup of coffee before walking over to her desk and opening up every file they had on the case. She paced the floor of the empty space, flipping through files and studying photos until she was sure there was nothing to see. Finally, she hoisted herself onto the top of her desk, pulling her knees into her chest and eyeing the board for something they may have been missing. Suddenly, she heard the beeping of the keypad and the clanging of the door opening and closing downstairs. She checked her phone to see the time. It was 4 am, and she couldn’t imagine who else would be up that early. She did a double-take as Jay made his way around the corner, a look of exhaustion on his face as he sent her a lazy smile.

“What are you doing here?” She asked him, unclasping her hands from around her knees and pulling herself to the edge of the desk.

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing,” he said with a smirk, pulling his jacket from his shoulders and resting it on the back of her desk chair.

“I couldn’t sleep. Something about this case was keeping me up, so I figured instead of lying in bed and staring at the ceiling for hours I would try and make myself useful. You didn’t have to come check on me. I’m fine,” she told him, the corners of her lips curling up into a reassuring smile as he came to stand over her.

“I couldn’t go back to sleep once I realized you were gone,” he told her softly with a slight pout before turning to lean on the desk beside her. “So, what have you figured out?” He asked, his attention turning to the board before them. She sighed, crossing her arms and staring at the crime scene photos as he waited for her response.

“I don’t know. I mean these families have no connections. The kids all go to different schools, they all work at completely different places, they don’t even shop at the same stores, I can’t seem to figure out where their lives intersect, so I just don’t understand why they’re being targeted,” she ran down, looking over at Jay whose eyes surveyed the information on the board.

“Maybe it’s about more than just the robbery. I mean they’re taking time to kill every member of the family, including the kids. Unless these guys are just straight-up psychopaths, it sounds like whatever is going on could be personal,” Jay suggested, looking over at his partner whose eyes were transfixed on one particular photo on the case board. His words sparked something in her, and she caught sight of the words Resurgence Tech written in bold font on a magnet on the refrigerator from the second crime scene. She knew the name was familiar, but she couldn’t remember how.

She pulled out the files from each of the cases and found what she was looking for. An email address registered in the husband’s name from the first robbery ending in resurgencetech.co. Looking at the other files, she was able to establish a connection between all of them leading back to a company previously known as Resurgence Tech. As she and Jay investigated through the night, they were able to figure out what was being stolen and why it was worth killing over. Resurgence Tech was a company co-founded by four individuals, Ryan Ethers, victim of the first robbery, Scarlett Jameson, victim of the second, Max Lin, victim from the third, and Lianne Meadows, who lived in a house in the Gold Coast District close to the previous victims. Five years prior, Resurgence Tech created a breakthrough idea for a high-tech medical device that had the potential to significantly change the practice of medicine. However, after hours of gathering information and records, the two detectives found out that the design was actually stolen from two brothers who had developed the original idea for a project they were working on in college. Resurgence used their power and influence to discredit the claims of the brothers, blacklisting them from the entire industry, and eventually pulling the design before it could ever meet the market. Not long after, Resurgence shut down for good, liquidating its assets and washing its hands of its shady actions for good. Digging deeper into the four co-founders of Resurgence and knowing more about where to look, Hailey and Jay were able to find email exchanges between them all discussing what to do with the patent plans for the stolen design in case there ever came a time to reintroduce the tech to the market. The strategy was to split the plans between the four of them, each keeping a piece locked up on a thumb drive hidden in a safe.

As soon as the sun rose that morning, Hailey called Voight and the rest of the team to come in. She explained the connection and identified the brothers as suspects, describing how the robberies must have been to obtain the thumb drives and get vengeance for the way Resurgence screwed them over. The situation had a significant impact on the brothers’ lives, leading them to turn to a life of crime, describing how they got connected with an armed robbery crew, and began pulling jobs across the city before getting caught only a year after Resurgence blacklisted them from the tech industry. They were released early due to overcrowding and good behavior, so they got out, hacked into the emails of the individuals that ruined their lives, and found out the design was out there, still viable to be profited from. Running on anger and revenge and using the skills they developed in their time with the robbery crew, they sought to take back what was theirs. They were operating under the theory that the two brothers were committing the crimes, and a guy that used to run with them in their old robbery crew was taking on the role as the getaway driver.

“Well, let’s go scoop ‘em up,” Voight said upon hearing the rundown of the case.

“Sarge, as much as I want to bring these guys in, we don’t have any evidence on them. There’s been no DNA, no prints, no witnesses tying these guys to these cases. There’s no way they’re going to talk, and if we bring them in, they’re just going to get released even if we keep them for the full 48 hours. By then they’ll have already made plans to run,” Jay said.

“These guys have killed nine people, three of those people being little kids. If we don’t act now, they’re going to strike again and that’s going to be blood on our hands. We bring them in, and we make them talk. I don’t care if we have to threaten them, or if we get ‘em to flip on each other. Either way, we’re not just going to sit around and wait for something to happen on this one. Not when we’ve got a pile of bodies growing the longer we sit here with our thumbs up our asses. So, Hailey, Jay, I want you two going to pick these guys up,” Voight bit back, a distinct annoyance in his voice. He had been on edge throughout the entirety of the case, but his temper seemed to have only increased after walking up on Jay and Hailey at the scene a day prior.

As much as Hailey wanted to side with Voight, she knew Jay was right. Bringing them in with no evidence and no witnesses placing them at any of the scenes would only guarantee them getting to walk, something she was determined to not let happen.

“Sarge, we can’t,” she muttered, swallowing what felt like a rock in her throat as his face fell with bitter surprise.

“What?” He challenged, his head dropping down as he cut his eyes at her.

“Jay is right. We can’t just jump on these guys with no evidence or else we risk losing them for good. I know you want to get these guys quick, but there’s got to be a better play,” she replied, taking note of the uncomfortable looks expressed by the other Intelligence members who quietly observed the interaction from the other side of the room. She watched as he pulled the inside of his cheek between his teeth.

“Remind me, who’s the sergeant of this unit?” The question carried a great deal of weight, and everyone in the room fell silent as his eyes travelled between each of the five intelligence members. “You don’t have to agree with what I say, but there’s a chain of command here and I expect you to listen to me. Now, unless there’s another sergeant in this unit I’m unaware of, I’m in charge. So, I’m only going to say this one last time. Jay, Hailey, go pick these guys up. I have to go update Miller on what’s going on. Those guys better be sitting in interrogation when I get back. End of,” he roared, making his way past the officers who remained frozen in place.

While Adam, Kevin, and Kim went back to work, Hailey grabbed her jacket, heading down the hallway out to the parking lot to follow the sergeant’s orders.

“Hailey, wait,” Jay called after her, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the observation room where he knew the others wouldn’t be able to hear them.

“What?” She questioned, a look of concern on her face as he silently thought through his words.

“I think I have another play,” he told her.

“Jay, he seemed- “she began before he cut her off.

“No, I know, but you know I’m right. We bring these guys in now and these families will never get the justice they deserve. We know there’s only one family left on their list, Lianne Meadows. The only move we have left is to catch these guys in the act. I say we sit on her house and wait for the robbery to go down, snatch them up, and then we have the guns tying them to the other cases and we have leverage to get them to flip if we need to,” Jay told her, the look in his eyes pleading with her to agree.

She knew Jay was right, but she also knew what going against Voight’s orders would mean. By that point, it was safe to assume he knew about their relationship. She knew that alone would be cause for him to assign them to different partners or even to different units. Teaming up and going against him would only increase the chances of him pulling the trigger on that. From the start of the case, she knew she wanted to catch the guys no matter what, but she never imagined it would involve making a decision that could possibly jeopardize her partnership with Jay. Every part of her knew his way was the only option that gave them a chance of making things right, yet she knew there would be a cost to them both going against Voight’s orders.

“You’re right… but let me do it alone,” she told him, causing him to frown at her words.

“What? No, I can’t let you go after these guys by yourself,” he argued, a combination of concern and annoyance in his voice.

“Jay, if we do this together it’s only going to give him reason to split us up. I have a feeling we’re already on his hit list after everything that has happened these past few days, and if he sees that we’re siding with each other… going rogue against his orders? He could reassign us partners, or worse, ship one of us off again. You, this partnership, our relationship, it all means too much to me to risk. If I go alone, only I take the fall, and he doesn’t have reason to use our relationship against us,” Hailey told him, moving a hand to his chest as she spoke.

Pushing him away and crossing that line by herself was the only way she knew how to protect both their relationship and their partnership. With her history of crossing lines, she had hoped it would just seem like another questionable decision she made all on her own, and he wouldn’t have reason to punish both of them by splitting them up.

“Hailey, I’m not just letting you go there without backup,” he finally said, his jaw set tightly as he peered into her eyes.

“I’ll have Trudy assign some patrol guys for backup. That way you and the others don’t take fall back from Voight, but I won’t be going in alone,” she replied, moving the hand from his chest to cup his face. “I’ll be fine,” she told him.

He nodded hesitantly before sliding his fingers down her arm and wrapping his hand around hers.

“Be careful,” he insisted, squeezing her hand lightly.

“Of course,” she nodded back before opening the door and disappearing down the hall.

She sat out front of the house, the patrol officers waiting a street over for her signal. It had been about an hour and she had already dodged two calls from Voight. Her patience was running thin with every minute that passed without a sign of the crew. Then, she spotted a dark van creeping down the street and she slumped down in her seat, trying to avoid being seen. As the van approached the house, two men rolled out of the back door as the van maintained a low speed before stopping down at the end of the street. The second the men made it around the back of the house, Hailey radioed the patrol guys, climbing out of her car and drawing her weapon as she followed the offenders around the back. When the patrol guys caught up, she nodded to one of them, signaling them to open the back door and enter the home. The second they made it through the doorway, they were catching fire. Hailey took cover behind a door frame, keying her radio attached to her vest.

“10-1, 10-1, shots fired at the police, 1327 N Dearborn Street. Be advised patrol and plainclothes officers on scene,” she yelled into the radio, securing her free hand back on her gun before motioning the officers to press forward. They made their way into the house, carefully clearing each room as they passed through. When they made it to the front of the house, she caught sight of one of the guys escaping out the front door.

“5021 Henry I’m in foot pursuit of a suspect in an alleyway going west across the street from the original location,” she called out into the radio as she pumped her legs with each step, trying to control her breath as she chased after the suspect. He rounded a corner and she slowed down, holding her gun out to peer around the corner before continuing the pursuit. The next thing she knew, her gun was being kicked out of her hands and she was being thrown against the wall, hitting the side of her head against brick and feeling blood trickle down her face. She brought a knee up into her attacker’s groin, giving her a brief opening to connect an elbow with the side of his head. Falling to the ground, the man grabbed at her ankle, bringing her down with him before grabbing hold of her vest and laying a fist into her jaw. The blow sent her backward, shooting pain into the side of her face. She caught sight of her gun on the ground a few feet away and went to crawl for it, but he grabbed at her leg, drawing her backward toward him as she stretched her fingertips towards the handle. He was stronger than her, and he managed to pull her back enough to regain hold of her vest, winding up to lay another fist into her face. Before he could, she wrapped a leg around his, twirling him over so she was hovering over him. She began laying fist after fist into his masked face until she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She flinched, sending her elbow backwards towards the person. It was grabbed instantly, and she wiggled in the grasp before turning around and taking in the familiar green eyes of her partner.

“Hailey, we got him,” he said, holstering his gun and grabbing her by each arm to pull her up from the ground. Kim came from behind him, removing the mask from the offender and rolling him over to place him in cuffs. Meanwhile, Jay wrapped Hailey in his arms, bringing his chin down to her head as they swayed together in an embrace. Her breath was heavy and shaky, and she felt tears pool at the corners of her eyes. She was overwhelmed by everything that had just happened, but his arms wound tightly around her helped steady her breathing.

“It’s okay Hailey, you’re safe. I’ve got you,” he reassured her through a whisper. She took comfort in his words, and despite the pain surging through her head, she buried it deeper into his chest.

Luckily, they had reached the target and her family in time before the offenders could do any harm. Hailey went to Med to get her head checked out. A few stitches and several scans later, she was cleared, making her way back to the district to take whatever repercussions Voight had in store for her. The second she made it up the stairs, everyone’s eyes fell on her and she just flashed them a gentle smile and nod, signaling to them she was okay. Voight came to the doorway of his office, and she didn’t miss a beat heading straight towards him. However, just before she reached the door, his attention shifted over towards Jay at his desk.

“You too, Jay,” was all the sergeant said before turning and moving back into his office. Jay stood, making his way over and closing the door behind him before coming to stand beside Hailey across from the Voight’s desk. He looked over at them silently for a moment, Hailey setting her jaw tightly as she braced for whatever was to come.

“Are we just making a habit out of disobeying me and questioning my orders? Is that what we’re doing now?” He asked them. They remained silent. “Because if that’s what we’re doing and you’ve got a problem with how I run things, there’s the door. You can get out right now,” he told them sternly.

“Sarge, we needed to get those guys. Catching them in the act was the only way. I did what I had to do to make sure those families got justice,” Hailey said, her eyes remaining fixed with his.

“I told you to pick them up, bring them in, and instead you went your own way, putting that family, yourself, and a couple of patrol officers at risk. I could suspend you over this,” he argued, a distinct tension building in his voice.

“Sarge, it was my idea. If anyone deserves punishment, it’s me,” Jay admitted, causing Hailey’s head to swivel his direction, a cross look on her face as the words left his mouth.

“No, that’s not… Look, I went there on my own. I’m the only one to blame here,” Hailey argued causing him to shake his head before them.

“Okay, look. I know there’s something going on between you two, I have known for a while,” the second the words left his mouth, their eyes met briefly, and they both swallowed hard before turning back to him. “I decided to turn a blind eye because you two were able to keep it strictly professional here at work as far as I was concerned. But what happened today, what’s happening right now… this lying to me and covering for each other is not welcome in my unit. This is your warning and it’s the only one you’re going to get. As long as I’m in charge of this unit, you listen to me. You don’t go off-book, you don’t go behind my back because you disagree with what I say, and you certainly don’t let whatever is going on between you two change the way you make decisions. I know you guys are going to have each other’s backs… as partners and as whatever else, but the second that trumps having my back and the team's back, the way it did today, it undermines my authority and puts all of us at risk. If anything happens again like what happened today, you’re both done, and I’ll make sure you never work in the same unit again. Is that clear?” He asked them.

“Understood,” Jay replied.

“Yes, Sarge,” Hailey uttered, her heart rate dropping significantly with relief.

They drove home that night in silence, partly from exhaustion and partly from trying to process everything that had happened in the past 72 hours. Three days ago, they were on their first official date, celebrating their relationship for what felt like the first time, and now they were coming down from what could have easily been the end of their job and their partnership. Even though she hated the way it had to go down, she stood by having Jay’s back and trying to protect their relationship, even if it meant muddying the waters between them and Voight. From the start of the case, she was determined to catch the guys, chasing a small sense of redemption she felt she needed for that case she worked so many years prior. She wasn’t happy about everything that happened, particularly everything that went wrong, but she was able to save a family and get some form of justice for the others, and she stood by that firmly. It wasn’t the first time she had challenged Voight or crossed lines, but it was the first time she was genuinely fearful of the consequences. She was just glad her fears didn’t come to fruition. She looked over at Jay in the driver’s seat, and she remembered the way he told her she was safe after pulling her from the attacker only hours prior. Safe wasn’t something she had felt often in her life, but she certainly felt it when she was with him. She smiled to herself in the dark, satisfied to know that at least for that day, despite everything that happened, their relationship and their partnership were two things she could still consider safe.

[mymoonagedaydream]

ps, idk what the biker/college bucky story will include but i can throw out the idea of doing the modern day army veteran Bucky as a one shot or something? or whatever you don't include in the series lol

Recluse

Summary: You barely even expected to get a conversation out of Steve’s reclusive roommate, never mind anything more than that.

Pairing: Modern Veteran!Bucky x y/n

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: Language, smut references, references to military service

Author’s Note: You bet your butt I can do that for you anon. This one really got out of hand idk what happened man I couldn’t stop.

---

You’d been living with your friend Sharon for a couple of years now, and it was still going pretty well.

Your ground-floor apartment was very compact, but she was so considerate and easy to get on with, you barely even noticed the lack of space. She cooked for you occasionally, always paid rent on time, even did your laundry without being asked.

You just couldn’t help thinking that things were much more fun when you were both single.

Nothing much had changed in your life, you were still a lone wolf, but she’d been with Steve for almost six months now and you barely ever saw her anymore. 

Most nights you were just left to your own devices, clattering around the apartment like some sad old spinster.

It got to the point where, one Friday when you got home from work, you heard Steve and Sharon talking in the kitchen and got excited at the prospect of just having some company for the evening.

Sharon almost jumped on you as soon as you walked in. ‘Y/n! Are you free tonight?’

‘Yeah, totally, completely. You guys sticking around?’

‘You think he’d ever agree to that?.’

‘We were actually thinking of going out for some drinks. You in?’ You contemplated for a second, not wanting to come across too eager, then gave her an enthusiastic nod.

As she grinned back at you, you saw an idea dawn on her. ‘Steve, you should totally bring Bucky.’

Sharon frowned in resignation. You had no idea who they were talking about, their conversation going completely over your head.

Steve went home to change, leaving you and Sharon with a couple hours to get ready before heading out, so you thought you might as well try to probe a little deeper.

‘Who’s Bucky?’ You asked casually, sitting on her bed, watching her hold dress after dress up to herself in the mirror.  

‘Steve’s roommate.’

‘I didn’t know Steve had a roommate?’

‘I’d be more surprised if you did.’ She turned towards you. ‘In six months I’ve only met him twice.’

Your eyebrows darted up. She spent so much time at Steve’s place, that made no sense at all. 

‘What? Why?’

‘I’m pretty sure he makes a point to avoid people generally.’ She flopped herself down next to you on the bed, her tone lowering to one of deep sincerity. ‘He was in the army with Steve. Apparently he just really struggled to adapt when they got back, collapsed in on himself for a while. I think he’s a mechanic now but Steve is still the only person he really speaks to.’

‘Shit, that’s awful.’

She gave a grim nod and shrugged slightly, before standing back up and starting to get changed. 

You figured you should do the same, shuffling back to your room and finally taking off your work clothes, relieved at the thought of getting out of the apartment for the evening.

Just as you were about to leave, Sharon’s phone pinged.

‘Holy shit.’

‘What?’ You’d never seen her look so shocked. She put her index finger up at you while quickly typing something back. ‘You’re killing me here Sharon, what the hell is going on?’

‘Bucky’s coming.’

---

You managed to find a cramped table in the back of the bar. Sharon made you wait for Steve to arrive before ordering drinks, because for some reason he always insisted on buying the first round.

About ten minutes after you arrived, she glanced over to the door, grinned and waved her hand above her head. Following her gaze, you saw Steve pushing through the crowd, followed closely by a statuesque, tower of a man.

Studying him intently as he approached, you noticed how visibly uncomfortable he was, his jaw clenched tight and his hands folded into slowly whitening fists. You let your eyes dance over his huge shoulders and wide chest, feeling your stomach flip a little as he got closer.

‘Hey guys. Sharon, you remember Buck?’ Steve gave his friend a proud pat on the shoulder. Sharon nodded and grinned at Bucky, getting only a short, tight smile in return. ‘And this is y/n.’

Looking up to his face, his sharp blue eyes briefly met yours, prompting you to quickly avert your gaze. He looked tense enough without you gawping at him.

‘Nice to meet you.’ You adopted the friendliest tone possible, doing your best to put him at ease.

Steve went to grab some drinks and Sharon volunteered to help him, leaving you at the table with Bucky, bracing yourself for some intensely awkward small talk.

‘So, you’re a mechanic?’ He nodded. ‘Do you enjoy it?’ Another nod.

Alright, he obviously wasn’t in the mood for chatting. 

Christ. If you didn’t break free from this spinster shit soon, that’s exactly where you’d end up.

You didn’t want to force it if he wasn’t comfortable, you could happily sit in silence if that’s what he’d prefer.

You moved your eyes to scan the room, eventually landing on an older woman propping herself up at the bar, downing martinis, eyeing up young men and wobbling on her insanely high heels.

‘What do you do?’

It was barely a mumble, you hardly heard it over the bar’s background music. 

Your eyes returned to Bucky’s face, meeting his hesitant gaze.

‘I work in HR, so boring admin stuff mainly.’ He nodded slightly, his eyes flicking nervously between the table and your face. ‘But occasionally I get to use the shredder, which is pretty rad.’

He cracked a brief smile, the sight of it giving you a wave of goosebumps. ‘Sounds thrilling.’

‘I’ve never been here before, have you?’ You were determined to keep this conversation going, especially if there was a chance that you’d be able to make him smile again.

‘No. I haven’t been to any bars recently.’

‘You’ve got quite a bit of catching up to do then.’

Resting your head on your hand, you gave him a mischievous smirk, and felt a little smug as you noticed his shoulders relax slightly and the corners of his mouth curl upwards.

Hours passed, the bar called last orders, and the four of you traipsed out to begin walking home.

Then Steve and Sharon came back with the drinks, pretty effectively ruining the moment you’d been setting up.

Bucky went quiet again, keeping to himself for most of the evening, only speaking when spoken to. You felt his gaze fall on you occasionally, but each time you tried to meet his eyes they were quickly averted.

‘Oh hey, I forgot to ask.’ Steve gestured towards you. ‘Sharon said you went to visit your parents last weekend? How was that?’

‘I couldn’t go in the end, my car's fucked. It’s my own fault, everyday there was a new rattling sound but just ignored it.’

‘I’ll take a look at it.’ Your eyes snapped over to Bucky, a little shocked at how enthusiastically he’d come out with that. ‘If you want.’

You gave him a wide smile. ‘Wow, yeah, that’d be amazing. Thank you.’

---

A few days later, you were faced with another evening alone while Sharon was at Steve’s.

You unenthusiastically pulled a ready meal out of the fridge and poked some holes in the plastic, shoving it in the microwave and reaching for the half-empty bottle of wine on the counter.

‘Hi. Sorry. I was coming this way and Sharon said you’d be in, I thought I could take a look at your car?’

Just as you went to grab a glass out of the cupboard, you were stopped by a faint knock at the front door.

Shuffling over and yanking it open, you saw Bucky standing on your doorstep, looking just as uncomfortable as he did walking into that bar.

You were a little embarrassed that he’d caught in your pyjamas at 6:30, but that feeling was hugely outweighed with how pleased you were to see him.

‘Yeah, great.’ You gave him a warm smile. ‘I’ll just grab my keys.’

You found your gaze pretty quickly drawn to his arms, propping him up as he leant over the machinery like thick, hefty tree trunks. It was amazing how entranced you were by them, but considering how long it’d been since you’d even brushed past an attractive male, it made sense. God the things you’d let him do, if he-

You slipped on your shoes and led him over to the rustbucket, badly parked on the street outside. He flicked open the bonnet and immediately started tinkering.

You had less than no idea what was happening, but it looked very impressive.

‘Could you start it up?’ His deep voice pulled you out of your hazy fantasies.

‘Hmm? Oh, yeah.’

You tried your best to hide how flustered you were as you climbed into the driver's seat and turned the key. An intense rattling started, which he listened to for a second before signalling for you to turn it off and closing the bonnet.

‘You were right, it needs a lot of work. It’s definitely not safe to drive.’

‘Shit, stuck with the bus then.’ You sighed and climbed out, slamming the door behind you. ‘Thank you so much, you really didn’t have to do this. I appreciate it.’

‘Anytime.’ He smiled politely, taking a couple steps backwards before turning, dropping his head and starting to walk away.

‘You can come in for a drink if you want?’ You called after him, a little shocked at your boldness but not at all mad about it. He spun round. ‘It’s the least I can do.’

He took a sip and turned himself slightly to face you. ‘Look, if you bring your car to the shop where I work, I can probably keep the price down.’

His polite smile evolved into a wide grin as he nodded, following you inside.

You grabbed him a beer from the fridge and gestured for him to join you on the couch, smiling to yourself at how nervous he seemed as he balanced himself right on the edge of the seat.

‘Are you sure?’ He nodded. ‘That's so nice, you barely even know me.’

He looked a little sheepish at that, scurrying around for his words. ‘Sharon was pretty keen for me to come take a look, it’s probably best to keep Steve’s girlfriend on side, y’know.’

‘Oh I do know, Sharon can be terrifying.’ You both chuckled as Bucky edged back, settling himself into the couch a little more. ‘So you and Steve met in the army?’

‘We’ve been friends since we were kids, we signed up together.’

‘That’s nice.’ You tilted your head at him, deciding to take a slight gamble on your next question. ‘Do you miss it?’

He fixed his eyes on the ground and faintly shook his head, nervously starting to pick at the label on his bottle.

Shit, you really didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable, you were just curious.

A swift subject change remedied the situation somewhat, and after a while you sensed him beginning to relax again.

You finished off your glass of wine and checked your phone, your hand shooting up to your forehead in shock when you saw that it was close to midnight.

Over the next couple hours he slowly came out of his shell even further, eventually chatting and laughing with you like you were his good friend. The two of you unconsciously edged towards each other throughout the evening, ending up face to face with legs folded up on the couch, as close as you could get without touching.

‘Shit, I have work tomorrow.’

‘I’m really sorry.’ He put his bottle on the coffee table and stood up quickly. ‘I didn’t mean to keep you up.’

‘Oh you don’t have to apologise, it’s not your fault. I had a really nice evening.’

‘Me too.’ He smiled and buried his hands in his pockets, following you to the front door. ‘I’m working every day this week, you can come in whenever.’

‘Friday would be great? I have the day off.’

‘See you then.’

You watched him disappear down the street, feeling your limbs tingle with excitement at the prospect of seeing him again so soon.

---

You usually used your days off to sleep in till midday, but on Friday the tow truck showed up at 7am to take your car to the shop. You didn’t even get up that early on workdays. A pint of coffee was barely enough to keep you from passing out on the ride there.

He eventually noticed you stood there, staring, and your face immediately heated up as he approached.

You hurried inside the garage, scanning the room and eventually spotting Bucky underneath a hoisted truck, reaching up to work on it. His arms were glistening with oil and sweat and his shirt was riding up, exposing the faint trail of hair starting underneath his bellybutton.

Lord in heaven, what a view.

‘Sorry, didn’t want to interrupt.’

‘That’s alright.’ He pulled a dirty rag out of his pocket and roughly wiped his hands. ‘Did you bring the deathtrap?’

‘Yep, just outside.’

‘It’s gonna be a while. I finish at four, d’you wanna come back then?’

‘Sure.’

You walked up the driveway ten minutes early, which you thought was reasonable, and asked the very intimidating guy out front for Bucky. He just eyed you up and down and gestured vaguely to the side of the building.

On the way home you kept accidentally walking into roads, your mind completely occupied with Bucky’s midriff.

The whole day dragged. In your boredom you ended up leaving for the garage about an hour too early, meaning you had to loiter in an off-license, probably looking like you were shoplifting.

Turning the corner, you were met with a pretty impressive, cinematic wide shot of Bucky’s arse as he was leaning over the inside of your bonnet.

You should probably say something. Tell him you were there. Say hello.

Yeah, probably should.

Yeaaah.

You sighed and reluctantly shuffled towards the car.

‘How’s it-’ Bucky jumped and whacked his head against the propped-up bonnet. ‘Fuck! I’m so sorry, are you alright?’

He smiled at you, standing up and rubbing the back of his head. ‘Yeah, all good. Happens all the time.’

‘Oh, really? In that case you might want to consider a career change, could end up with some permanent damage.’ Chuckling, he reached up and slammed the bonnet with one powerful movement. ‘How’s it looking?’

‘Not bad. Want to take it for a spin?’

‘Sure.’ He held up the keys and you grabbed them out of his hand, excitedly hopping in the driver’s seat while he walked around and got in the passenger side. ‘You coming?’

‘Can’t just let you drive off without paying, you might never come back.’

You shot him a wide smile as you fired up the engine, amazed at how smooth it sounded, and pulled away from the garage.

‘I can’t believe it, it didn’t even run this good when I first got it.’ He smirked a little and nodded. ‘Thank you, Buck.’

You were already in the outskirts of the city, so you decided to drive out into the sticks a little, eventually pulling up into a dusty layby on a narrow side road.

Glancing to your side, you saw that Bucky was struggling not to look very pleased with himself.

As he began stroking his thumb along your knuckles, he cautiously pulled his gaze up to your face, looking at you like you’d just told him he’d won the lottery.

His hands were resting on his thighs and, almost unconsciously, you reached out to grab the one closest to you and squeeze it lightly.

He stared down at it for a few seconds, eventually turning his hand over and squeezing back.

You could barely even remember what happened next. You remember the back of your neck tingling, your stomach tightening almost to the point of becoming painful, the feeling of Bucky’s rough, calloused hand against your cheek and the way your heart jumped when he leaned towards you and pressed his mouth against yours.

Eventually pulling away, he buried his face in your neck, planting short kisses along your jawline between laboured breaths. You pushed his head back against the seat and pressed your forehead to his, closing your eyes and letting your hands dance down his chest.

It was slow and tender at first, but it quickly picked up, becoming feverish and passionate.

He threw his arms around your waist and roughly pulled you over onto his lap, holding you so tight to his chest that you couldn’t tell whose heart you could feel thumping like a steam engine.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve done that.’ He sighed, bringing a hand up to bury itself in your hair.

‘Me too.’ Your mouth curled into a smile. ‘It’s been even longer for other stuff.’

Melting into each other in a cacophony of limbs and flesh and tearing clothes, both of you eventually found the release you so desperately needed. 

There was a loaded silence, you opened your eyes to see Bucky staring at you intently, wearing an expression that made your toes curl.

You dived clumsily into the backseat and pulled him after you, giggling as you both adjusted yourselves, trying to get even slightly comfortable in such a tight space.

And both of you did all you could to savour the feeling of finally having someone to hold close.

---

[yer-cute-when-you-scream]

Prince Jackson Wang~ Royal!AU

WARNINGS: Narcissistic Parent, Angst, Fluff, Jackson Being A Brat, TW Violence. (I’m probably forgetting something)

A/N: Don’t ask me why this one is so long, I couldn’t stop writing for this one haha, although I feel like it could be better. I hope y’all enjoy it!

Prince Jackson was snobby, conceited, and arrogant.

Prince Jackson is brave, wise, and gentle.

He thought he was the best, and he only cared about himself.

But he humbled himself, and he is more caring towards his people now.

His mother was a very gentle woman, and she was able to keep the King from neglecting the Kingdom.  

She wanted to teach Jackson how important it was to be kind and considerate.

Unfortunately, the Queen had died when Jackson was a child, leaving him to be raised by an egotisical man.  

His father had spoiled him and imprinted a God-like complex in his mind.

He had made Jackson think that he was above everyone else, even their own people.

Jackson had grown up watching his father push around their servants and thought it was okay.

The King didn’t care for the Kingdom, even though there was a rising in crime.

The King let the Kingdom come to despair when the Queen died, for he did not care.

The King was obsessed with war and being the best, so Jackson was taught how to fence, handle a sword, spar, etc.

Jackson is very strong because of this; he can handle himself very well.

Fortunately, Jackson had never fought in a war, for others had managed to steer clear of his father.

The way Jackson was raised is something he is ashamed of, even if he is no longer the man he once was.  

He changed a lot of his ways after getting his portrait painted by you.

Crime, poverty, and pain was something his Kingdom no longer had to suffer.

When you had been requested to paint a portrait for the Prince, you were nervous. You had always wondered what the Prince was like. Was he noble and sensitive? Or was he just like the King?  

You had silently hoped it was not the latter, but to your displeasure, it was, you could tell he didn’t care about anyone except himself.  

As you sit on a stool with a canvas in front of you, Prince Jackson sat proudly on a throne encrusted with jewels, you would’ve thought he was so dreamy...if he didn't have an annoyed look on his face.  

“How much longer is this going to take?” he asks you, the insolent tone in his voice had you irritated. “Well, if you would have quit moving and just shut up, I would’ve been done by now.”  

Jackson looked taken back by your words, it was clear no one had ever talked to him like that before. He squinted his eyes towards you as your paintbrush softly glided on the canvas, “Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?” he scoffed, “I am the Prince, and you will treat me with respect.”  

You put the paintbrush down and stood up in a huff, “Respect, huh?” you begin while taking your art smock off, “You don’t even care, let alone respect your own people. Do you even understand what we all must go through while you live carefree up in that palace? No, you don’t, you’re just a spoiled brat who only cares about himself. Don’t you dare talk to me about respect, your Highness.”  

You felt your blood boil as venom dripped from your words. You threw your smock over the stool and began walking towards the door, Jackson furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to process everything and quickly stood from the throne, “Where are you going?” he asks confused.  

“I have been painting you for hours, I am hungry. You can either wait here for me or come back later,” you sighed.  

Jackson followed you out the door but turned and started walking back to the palace.  

The rest of the day your words replayed through Jackson’s mind, it distracted Jackson and made him mess up a few times while sparring. He felt guilty, no one had ever scolded him like that, he began questioning himself.  

Was he truly so self-absorbed that he didn’t see how much their people were in need?  

Why would his father tell him to not worry about the Kingdom?  

He decided he needed to talk to you, so the next day he readied himself and started walking to your art studio, as he started walking up the few steps that lead to your door, he heard a noise coming from one of the alleys.  

Curiosity got the best of him and he went to investigate, when he turned the corner, his eyes grew big. Some man had you cornered and was trying to rob you, “Come on, I know you have money, I saw the Prince leave your workshop yesterday, he must have paid you.”  

“Please, I don’t want any trouble! Just let me leave!” you pleaded while slowly trying to move past him, you felt very intimidated by the man and knew that you were going to be beaten, if not killed, if you didn’t get out of there.  

The man harshly grabbed your arm and slammed you against the wall, “You’re not going anywhere,” he growled and raised his fist.  

You closed your eyes and braced yourself for the impact about to come but instead heard a grunt from him, you opened your eyes and see Prince Jackson fighting with the man, Jackson was dodging swings and skillfully landing his own, the man knew it was a losing fight, so he quickly took off.  

Jackson wasn’t even panting, but his heart was definitely racing; along with yours. You stood there bewildered about the entire situation, “Are you okay?” he concerningly asks you.  

You simply nod, “Thank you,” you softly let out.  

“Can we talk?”  

You agree and lead him into the Tavern you often go to, you ask the Tavern Keeper, Martha to bring out two orders of your usual and then sit at a table in the corner. Jackson looked tense; it was his first time in a place like this.  

“What did you want to talk about?” you asked curiously, you could see something in his eyes but couldn’t make it out.  

“I don’t know anything about what goes on in the Kingdom, my father had told me to not mind anything that happens to our people. Please, tell me what is going on, I need to know.”  

You were taken back, he sounded sincere. He was no longer sitting proudly like he was the day before; and you could see what was in his eyes now, it was remorse.  

“Well...as you saw before, crime is the biggest one, a lot of people have lost their home or their shop because they were robbed, trade caravans have stopped visiting here because they’re afraid, so we can’t even trade,” Jackson intensely listened as you explained, mentally taking notes of it. “Poverty is the second one, but I’m sure you can guess why. Everyone is in pain; people have died because they were too poor to afford food or medicine when they were sick,” you tell him with a heavy heart.  

Jackson, who was clearly upset, grabbed your hand from across the table and held it in his own, his eyes locking with yours, “I promise you, I will do everything I can to make things right.”  

Before you could respond, a servant had walked up with two plates, you pull your hand back and thank her as she places the plates down, then she quickly excuses herself to let you eat.  

Jackson curiously looks at the food, he was so used to extravagant meals and wasn’t sure if he would like the food in front of him, “Just try one bite, if you don’t like it, I will gladly eat it,” you chuckle at the last bit.  

He grabs his fork and takes a bite, he was delightfully surprised at how amazing the food was, it was enough for him to start devouring the meal, leaving his taste buds satisfied, “That was incredible, I’ve never had something so flavorful before!”  

Martha walked over to you both and you smiled, “Hi Martha! How are things?” you greet her as you pull out a few coins for the meal. Her smile was sorrowful as she stopped you, “It’s on the house, consider it a ‘farewell’ gift,” she informs you, you could hear the pain in her voice, as well as Jackson.  

“What do you mean?”  

“I’m going to lose this place tomorrow because I can’t pay it off.”  

You furrowed your brows, “But you told me the other day you were about to fully pay off this place?” you reminded her, not wanting to hear what she was about to say.  

“I was, until someone broke in last night and stole all of my money. I can’t make it all back in a day, it took me months to save it all up. I have no choice but to go back to my parent’s farm,” she explained with her head hung low. You stood up and hugged your friend tightly, “I am going to miss you so much. I’ll visit you tomorrow before you leave.”  

Suddenly, something hit the table with a small thud, you both look and see that Jackson had pulled out his coin pouch, “Will this be enough, or do you need more?” Jackson asked with a serious tone.  

Martha realized who he was and stood there in shock, trying to find words before giving up and nodding. “Okay, wonderful! I would’ve hated to see my new favorite place to eat go so quickly,” he tells her with a smile.  

Jackson took the throne as the rightful King very quickly and kept his word, crime vanished almost overnight, people had their homes and shops back, and trading caravans started visiting the Kingdom again.  

Everything was as it should be.  

Jackson had invited you to the castle to help him make decisions regarding the Kingdom, it wasn’t long until you both fell in love with each other. He loves you and always aims to be a better person because of you.  

The portrait of Prince King Jackson hung in the great hall; showing a man who truly is the best.  

[dreamsmp-au-ideas]

Can we get some fluff in the 2b2t!Eret au??

Eret’s been stuck in hell for almost a month straight, there’s been no sign of her friends, no word. She’s given up on them coming for her, but she’s going to get back to them even if it kills her. Anywhere is better than here.

She keeps an ear to the ground at all times. Information can be a life saver out here, so over a month in to the worst period of her life she hears about the strange new group of fighters almost immediately. They move in a group, probably some sort of new faction. It doesn’t affect her right now so she dismisses it. She’ll keep an eye out if she needs to.

It’s been two months when Eret walks right into an ambush. Her glasses had been shattered beyond repair in a crystal explosion her second night on the server. She’s given up on trying to hide them, ignoring the usual unease at people seeing them for the advantage of night vision and the intimidation factor they give her. The night vision doesn’t save her. There’s an explosion, her ears ringing as she hits the ground. The shine of enchanted armor emerges from the dark, at least five people, possibly more. She tries to push herself up but a foot lands solidly between her shoulder blades and pushes her back down.

“Well well, look what we have here”

“I’ve heard of you. Ghost eyes. Herobrine’s descendent.”

“Bet you’d look lovely decorating our base.”

“I say we just take the head”

Eret presses her forehead into the dirt and tries to breathe. She just needs to get her hands on something, anything from her inventory.

Someone grabs her wrists and she manages to push past the ringing in her head enough to struggle. Her helmet is pulled off and someone starts tugging at the straps of her chest plate. There’s tears pricking at the corner of her eyes but she viciously pushes them away, this is hardly the time or place. She considers calling out, but that would only make things worse, though she might just have a chance to get away if whoever shows up decides to fight.

She’s still struggling under the weight of the people pinning her down when there’s the familiar whistlling thud of arrow fire. Some of the weight disappears from Eret’s back, sliding sideways to crumple to the ground with an arrow put precisely through the small gap between their armor plates. The people around her stand at attention, pulling out crossbows and axes, “the fuck? Is this you?” one demands, kicking her solidly in the temple. Eret isn’t sure if she cries out or not, but she’s definitely sure she’s bleeding now. He goes down in the next moment with a choked off cry. His buddies start to shift, looking nervous. One says “fuck this!” And takes off, he screeches as a figure looms out of the darkness. Barely raising his enchanted sword in time to block a heavy axe blow. More figures drop down and the person sitting on Erets back stands up and nervously backs away, “heyyy let’s talk about this” they gesture to Eret, “you want it you can have it, seriously. Just let me go and that’s all yours”

Eret scrambles for her helmet, her chest plate, anything. She’s alone and unarmed and vastly outnumbered and she dearly want to cry but this is quite possibly the worst possible moment for that. Someone touches her shoulder and Eret nearly jumps out of her skin, instead she dives forward. She’s got no gear, and no chance of beating a single armed fighter, let alone a group as clearly organized as this one. Her only chance is to get away and hope the two groups will be too distracted killing each other to go after one lone runner. She’ll have to start over, but at least she’ll be alive.

One of them is still coming after her, armor gleaming in the faint moonlight. Their arms are out stretched and they’re saying something but Eret’s ears are still ringing from the blast and her breath is starting to quicken. They reach for her again, get a hand around her wrist. Eret panics and plants a foot on their chest, sending them flying. They must not have been expecting it because they’re in full armor and Eret has nothing. She scrambles to her feet, swaying and starts to run. She only manages a few steps before she slams into something solid and unyielding. She bounces off of what must be someone’s chest before they tug her back, her back slamming into their chest plate. “Eret!” The person is shouting right next to her ear, pinning her arms, how did they know her name? “Eret calm down!”

Eret’s temple throbs, her eyes hurt from overuse, and her wrist aches where one of her first assailants had ground their heel down on it. She’s been hunted down for weeks, ambushed and trapped and finally caught and she’s so tired. She just wants to go home. She sobs and her knees go out from under her. The person pinning her -it’s funny she could almost swear it feels like a hug- sinks with her, murmuring something.

The last thing Eret sees before she passes out is the stars.

When Eret wakes up, she’s lying in a bed. She panics immediately, flailing upright. She’s not restrained and she’s wearing a loose shirt and pants. But the last thing she remembers doesn’t exactly fill her with confidence for her safety. The room looks almost comfortable, cluttered. It reminds her of- Eret shuts that thought down hard. She doesn’t have time to break down right now. Whoever is keeping her has obviously underestimated her because there are multiple things she could use as improvised weaponry. She refuses to entertain the thought that her captors are good enough that they don’t have to worry about her not insignificant combat skills, because that means she’s fucked from the start.

She’s deliberating over what to do when footsteps sound out from the hall. Eret grabs whatever’s nearest, long fingers wrapping around a metal candlestick. She flattens herself against the wall behind the door and slows her breathing. The door opens and the person hums as they walk in. Eret shoulders the door closed and gets a hold of the back of their jacket. She jerks them backwards against her chest, the candlestick braced against their throat. The person squawks and drops the tray they were holding.

Eret licks her lips and tries to sound as threatening as possible as she says, “You’re going to tell whoever’s-“ she breaks off as she gets a good look at their face, “Fundy?”

The fox hybrid stares up at her, blinking owlishly, “uh, hey Eret.”

Eret blinks, dropping the candlestick from Fundy’s throat, “I... what?”

Fundy shifts, “sorry it took so long to find you, we’ve been looking for ages. That server is crazy, it’s a good thing we showed up when we did, huh?”

Eret stumbles backwards, sitting down hard on the edge of the bed, “Fundy? I-what?” She repeats.

Fundy crouches down, looking concerned, “Eret? are you alright?”

“But- but-How are you here?” Eret bursts out, sounding like she’s second away from tearing her hair out, she feels about three seconds away from screaming into a pillow and not stopping.

Fundy wrings his hands together, “oh I yes-I guess you wouldn’t know, huh? So uh Dream? You know Dream?” Eret flinches at the name and Fundy hurries to continue on, “of course you know Dream. So anyway, we kind of figured out, finally, that’s he’s been um. Manipulating everyone. Yeah, really creepy hall of things people cared about. Like there was a cage for Skeppy? It was weird. Then someone pointed out that there wasn’t anything for you and then someone else pointed out that they hadn’t seen you in a while. And then Dream started laughing so Tommy made him tell us what he did and um. yeah.” He fidgets again, his voice going quieter, “sorry we didn’t notice sooner.”

Eret blinks, “so I’m, I’m back on the smp? We’re not in- we’re not... there anymore?”

“No! We left as soon as we got you, and Techno finished murdering those assholes who jumped you. It kind of took a while to convince him to stop.” Fundy grimaces, looking squeamish.

“Oh,” Eret says faintly, the thought of Technoblade in a protective rage over her causing some cognitive dissonance.

“Are you alright though, Eret? You never answered my questio-“ Fundy is cut off as Eret envelops him in a tight hug.

Her voice is choked as she says, “I am now.”

“Oh! Eret, you’re awake!” Niki claps her hands together delightedly in the doorframe, before the door slams open wider to reveal Tommy and Tubbo and Ghostbur standing there, behind them is the entire rest of the server, “We’re so glad you’re ok! Everyone was so worried.” She hurries inside, everyone pouring in after her and suddenly Eret is surrounded in the biggest cuddle pile she’s ever experienced. There’s legs tangled in hers and someone is running their hands through her hair and Ghostbur is humming something soft and soothing. She lets out a slightly choked laugh and tugs Fundy closer. It’s good to be home.

I love this. Oh god this is good fluff. Just fluff after hurt and hurt/comfort is something I love. Oh my god.

[smol-and-grumpy]

Golden Cage - Prologue

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: She’s a spoiled little princess — at least that’s what people say. Her father is the King of all Kings, the man who everyone fears. Then, along comes Dean Winchester, the one guy who manages to see into her soul, but — — is Dean really who he says he is?

WC: 3165

A/N: This is the start of the series. If you want to read ahead, please check out my patreon. This is also written for @spnaubingo​​ but I can not reveal the square yet as it would give a lot away.

Beta’d by: @deanwanddamons​​ <3

Series Masterlist ~ SPN Masterlist

Become a Patron ~ Buy me a coffee

Y/N screws the coffee piston into the machine and pushes a button. The loud rumbling sound of the machine coming to life can be heard above the chatter of the people in the restaurant as brown liquid spills into two espresso cups she placed underneath. 

While she waits for the coffee to finish dripping out, she takes a look around the restaurant. They don’t own a fancy one, because that wouldn’t be the family tradition. It’s a restaurant that opens for the breakfast crowd and stays open for the night owls, so there’s always a crowd gathered around here from morning till night. This means that she has plenty to do and organize and the workdays keep her occupied.

The morning faces are mostly the same. People stopping for breakfast before work, but mostly they are people who have some kind of connection to her father or they respect his organization enough to come here. There are a lot of people who avoid it, though, and she can’t blame them. Y/N nods at them as they lift their hands, telling them with her eyes that she’ll be right with them to take their orders. She has employed some waitresses and cooks, but she’s involved here as much as they are. Working here is something that gives her meaning. She’d probably die if she can’t work and get her mind off the stupid life she lives.

Placing the espressos on the tray, she turns around to grab the waffles which her cook, Garth, had laid out on the counter for her to take. 

Balancing the tray, she moves to the table of the people who were waiting for their orders, and brings them the breakfast they’ve been asking for. They are regulars, and they usually leave a good tip, so she smiles some more. 

When Y/N’s about to walk back, the bell above the door chimes, which prompts her to look. 

A tall man in a dark suit walks in, brown hair, his face slightly scruffy. She always checks out suspicious looking guys. It’s mandatory for survival. But guys in suits are nothing unusual in this place, since her dad operates from the basement of this restaurant and sometimes they would come in through the front instead of the back. The only unusual thing is, that she’s never seen this man before.

His shoulders are broad and the smile sits brightly on his face when he notices her staring, the crinkles around his eyes running deep. He nods at her as he takes a seat close to the register. 

She feels blood rushing to her head and immediately looks away.

Oh god, he looks so good. Maybe a little mysterious. That’s probably why she’s all flustered. It doesn’t happen often that a good looking guy finds his way in here. Mainly because people around here know what kind of restaurant it is, people know who the restaurant belongs to. And they certainly know that she works here, the only daughter of Azazel Lehne. This part of the city belongs to her father. No, who’s she even kidding? The whole fucking city belongs to her dad. But it’s especially this part of the city that people are more aware of him, because it’s where their HQ is based. 

Besides working in the restaurant and being at home, there’s not a lot of places she’s allowed to go and that’s really absurd since the city belongs to her dad, but there are still enough enemies around, she guesses. She’s not allowed to a lot of places, and especially not on her own. Dating is only allowed when the guy she wants to go out with undergoes a thorough background check or is a son of one of her dad’s business associates, and honestly, they all are the same macho men who disrespect women. She doesn’t want anything to do with them.

She’s gnawing on her bottom lip and tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she makes her way back to the counter, the tray hugged tightly to her body. When she’s back there, she has to face him, and she’s trying to breathe evenly to calm herself down.

Placing the tray back behind the coffee machine, she clears her throat before she speaks, “Hi,” 

Wow, great, Y/N. That’s a good start. Fabulous. 

“Hey,” The man greets her and he smiles a really cute smile. She notices that he smiles with his eyes too. That’s not something a lot of people do.

She can flirt with him, right? There’s no harm in flirting. Her dad’s not here anyway. Yeah, she can flirt, but how does it work again? It feels like it has been ages! 

“What can I get you?”

He’s still smiling, like he knows something she doesn’t and she wonders if she has some breakfast leftover around her mouth? Maybe there’s something in between her teeth? She pushes the irritation out of her head and channels her inner Aphrodite, not that it probably would matter.

“A coffee, please.” 

Y/N raises her eyebrow at him as she stares him down.

The man’s smirking, “What? You do serve coffee, right?”

“We serve espressos, yeah. It’s probably not like the regular coffee you’re used to. It’s much stronger.” She braces her hands on the counter and leans forward, her lips curve into a cocky grin, “I hope that’s going to be okay? Or do you want me to weaken it and make you a cappuccino…” She stares at him some more, grins too, a little cocky maybe, and he takes the hint.

His grin replicates hers. Probably as cocky, and she can’t say that it doesn’t suit him, “Dean, you can call me Dean.”

“Okay, Dean, can you handle it? Or do you want for me to pour some milk into it?”

“Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea what I can handle.” He laughs and fucking winks. 

Dean’s good at flirting. She has to give him that. She hopes she wasn’t that bad either. And now her cheeks feel hot as she nods and begins to work on the coffee machine. 

Her dad loves coffee and he always hated the pot coffees they used to have, so he bought this real fancy machine where it’s actually more work but she enjoys it. Enjoys the whole process and it really does taste better than a pot that’s been sitting warmly on its stove for hours.

Just when she sets the coffee in front of Dean, she hears the bell chime again. She tears her eyes away from the man to see her dad walking in.

He nods at her and she abandons Dean quickly, walks over to the place where he always sits. Her dad hates to be kept waiting.

“Breakfast, Dad?” She asks when she’s standing before him and watches him sitting down.

“Please, Y/N. Only coffee. I just ate at Bobby’s place. Can you bring it, and one for yourself too? And please come sit down, I need to talk to you.”

She nods but her heart thumps in her chest. Was it the flirting? Did he watch her? But again, if he did, Dean wouldn’t be sitting here, would he? Her dad would make sure to bring him down to the office and beat the shit out of him probably.

As she walks back behind the counter to make two espressos, she feels Dean’s eyes on her. He’s still sitting there, sipping on his espresso. She wonders if she’s made it too strong, because she actually did, just to throw him off and rile him up, but when she looks up again, Dean’s downing it and smiles at her after. 

She snorts. Show off.

When the two espressos are ready, she carries it over to her dad and sits down on the chair across from him, feeling a little nervous because he rarely wants her to join him. Also, he’s rarely alone and she’s glad that he is now. She hates his little soldiers, if she’s honest. They’re all spineless dicks.

They drink their coffee in silence and when he finishes, he leans back into the booth seat he’s sitting in, his fingers playing with the little mug. 

“How are you?” He asks and Y/N raises her eyebrows with irritation. Her dad doesn’t even look at her, still staring at his own fingers that are toying with the mug.

They see each other a lot since they’re living under the same roof, so she doesn’t know why he’s asking, really.

“Good.” 

“Is the restaurant keeping you busy, dear?” 

“Dad, what is it?” She blurts out. Mainly because she wants him to cut the chase. Dad can always go on and on around the fucking point.

He takes a deep breath and exhales loudly, “It’s Bobby.” 

She frowns. Bobby is the consigliere in the family. As far as she can remember, Bobby was always there. She grew up calling him Uncle, even if they’re not blood related.

“What’s with Uncle Bobby?” She can’t hide the concern in her voice. 

“Eh,” Her father says, “He’s old, you know that. He wants to retire.” 

Oh, there’s an exhale of breath she didn’t know she had been holding. She was worried something else had happened.

“And you let him?” 

Bobby’s not old old. There are people working for her dad who are much older.

“I respect the wishes of my people, Y/N.” Her father says and she almost snorted out loudly. Yeah, just not mine, she thinks.

“And you’re telling me that because?”

“I was wondering how happy you are here. I think it’s time I get you into the business too, since Bobby will be gone and I need to have someone around whom I can trust.”

You had Mom, she wanted to say, see where that got her. Her mom worked for him, or with him. She was the one he would trust the most, but her mom got killed while she was standing in the way of someone who was out to get her father. Y/N’s sure that it isn’t the life her mom wanted her child to grow up in. 

It’s really the moment she dreaded the most in her life. Her dad always let her live her life the way he thinks is suitable for her. After what happened with her mom, he actually never wanted her to join, too heartbroken with the loss. She never wanted to either, and she doesn’t think she ever will.

“But Dad—”

“—Think about it, okay? Right now, I need you by my side and it would be good if you would join us.”

Good if you would join us is translated into her language to You have no choice but to join us.

This is it, right? This is the day she’s been dreading all her life. Dad wants her to join his organization. Dad wants her to become a fucking criminal along with him. 

She looks around the restaurant. It would mean that she has to give up the place she came to love. And while her eyes are scanning the room, she notices that Dean’s not sitting there anymore. She wonders when he left, thinks about asking Jo, her other waitress if she’s seen him leave. Y/N must have been so wrapped up in her conversation with her dad that she didn’t even hear the doorbell going off. 

No, is what she wants to say. I’m happy the way things are. But instead, she trains her gaze down to the table and sighs before she speaks, “I’ll think about it.”

Right, we’ll have a party at our house tomorrow to say goodbye to Bobby. I want you to take the day off and help prepare the catering at the house.

“Okay,” 

“I’ll do some announcements then. There will be some changes within the organization. I hope you will have your mind made up by then.” 

Her father leaves to walk to the back of the restaurant without saying goodbye. 

***

On the day of the party, there’s a knock at her door. Y/N’s about to change into something more presentable after having helped with catering and setting up the party the whole day through. She just came out of the shower and her hair’s still dripping wet. Quickly she wraps a bathrobe around her body.

“Y/N?” There’s a knock again and she knows that it’s Nick. 

Ugh, she has no patience whatsoever for Nick. The biggest of dicks is what he is. Bobby once took Nick under his wing and he’s been making a move on her since he set foot into the organization. Nick’s a complete sleazeball and he probably thinks that she’s super into him. She bet he’s already planning on asking her dad if he could marry her. Ew. Oh my god, she hopes that Nick won’t become the new consigliere because that would mean that he has to live here for some time, because her father wants his consigliere close, and she doesn’t want that. Bobby used to live here himself, up until about two years ago. She guesses that he was already planning for his retirement then.

“I’m coming!” She yells as the knocking won’t stop. 

Nick’s such a pain in the ass, she swears! Y/N opens up to Nick’s smug smile but she doesn’t return it. Instead, she rolls her eyes.

“What is it?” 

“You didn’t need to cover yourself up for me, honey.” Nick grins. 

She doesn’t say anything to it. Instead, she stares him down until the grin is wiped out of his face.

Nick clears his throat, “Your dad wants to see you. In his office.” 

He eyes her up and down afterward and there’s that fucking grin again. She feels a strong urge to slap it out off his face. 

“I’ll be right there.” She mumbles and is about to close the door when Nick stops her.

“No, he wants to see you now.” 

“Ugh, fine!” She pushes past Nick and stomps away and down the stairs, walks along the hall into the east wing where her father has his office. Nick scrambles to catch up. 

When she opens the door to her father’s office, she bumps right into something firm and that something smells good too. It’s not a smell she’s used to around here. She could pick out the cologne of the people who worked for her dad from a police lineup, and most of the time, they don’t smell that nice. 

“Oh, sorry,” She says out of habit, even though she knows that she’s the princess daughter and she technically doesn’t need to say sorry to anyone but her own father around here. It’s just, she’s never been that kind of girl. She always treats people like she wants to be treated. Dad always said that she got it from her Mom. 

There’s a deep chuckle as she takes a step to the side and she remembers that voice. Remembers the deep sound of a bass. It’s smooth and light. It sounds super nice. 

Looking up, she almost has to clasp her hand over her mouth. 

Dean.

He smirks at her then, but he doesn’t say anything. Because why should he, they all only speak when they are spoken to. Little cowards who read her dad’s mind and do what he says, no fucking questions asked. 

Y/N’s a little sad that Dean’s in here, though. A little sad that he’s one of dad’s little soldiers.

Her dad sees her and clears his throat before he speaks, “Is everything ready for tonight, Y/N?”

“Yes,” She answers and looks around the room. Bobby’s here, and so are a couple of other men. She knows them all. The only new face is Dean.

“Good, I want you to wear something nice, can you do that?” 

“I’ll see.” 

Her father laughs and it sounds uneasy. He hates it when she undermines his authority. But that’s just how she is. He can bet she’s going to find some ugly thing to wear, for sure. 

“Kids, huh?” Her dad says to one of his capos, she knows as Crowley, the weasel. 

The man nods with a chuckle.

The only people in the room who aren’t laughing are Dean and Bobby. 

“You can go now.” Her father says.

“Okay,” She turns around and stomps away, but not without slamming the door shut, for fucking good measure.

While she walks back to her room, she can’t help to think what that was all about? He called her in just to say that she should wear something nice? What the fuck? What happens to phones or texts? She had to walk half a mile to tell him that his party is set up? God, her dad can be such a fucking dick, too. She thinks he’s the biggest dick of them all.

Also what the fuck is Dean doing here? What part does he play?

“Hey,” She hears the voice now as she takes the first step on the stairs that leads up to the bedrooms.

Y/N freezes mid-walk. She knows exactly who the voice belongs to. 

“What?” She turns her head to snap at Dean.

“Just wanted to see if you’re okay,” 

She turns around to see him clutching at the railing looking up at her with a frown on his face.

“Yeah, I am.” 

It’s a lie but it feels like this whole damn life is a lie. She doesn’t belong here in this fucking golden cage, but she doesn’t need to pour her heart out to someone she barely knows, so she bites on her tongue.

Dean snorts, “Yeah, you sound just peachy,” 

She snorts, “I’m sorry, why are you here again? Shouldn’t you be in the room with the big boys? My father will notice you missing and I don’t think he’d like for you to talk with his daughter unsupervised.”

“Eh,” He shrugs and there’s that cocky grin again, “‘M not afraid of your father, and besides, I like taking risks.”

There’s something about the man that stands before her. Something… defiant. He’s like her. They are similar, she realizes. There’s also something else… something she can’t quite put her finger on. He looks absolutely gorgeous in his suit, and his eyes — they are so green, but also dark as they stare at her. There’s a cloud of mystery surrounding him and she knows that she should be alerted, should maybe be careful, but instead, there’s something that draws her to him.

After she notices that she’s probably been staring at him for too long, she clears her throat, “Right,” Y/N says, “I’m okay, and you can return to your stupid meeting.”

Dean doesn’t answer and she turns around to walk up the stairs. Y/N feels his eyes on her all along the way up, but when she turns around on the landing, he’s gone.

Chapter.01

Please share your thoughts with me, I’d love to hear your feedback.

[talesofesther]

Anchor - Part 7

Five Hargreeves x Reader

Masterlist with the other parts

See part one for important notes

A/N: First of all, thanks for 730 followers, you guys are the sweetest ♥

So here, new part yay. I think the beginning is kinda shitty, because I was in lack of ideas, but I guess the rest is good enough. If you wanna be added to the tag list, let me know. ♥

"Do we really need to keep him tied up?" Y/N asked as she looked at Elliott, who was tied up to one of his chairs.

"Yes" Five simply responded as he intently watched the footage that Elliott developed, it was just a video from an old couple, Y/N couldn't really tell why it was so important. The room was dark, the only light illuminating them being from the projector.

Y/N sighed "I'm sorry Elliott" she mumbled to the man. "Humm, that color suits him" she said, bracing herself on the back of Lila's chair and looking down at the woman painting Elliott's nails.

"Yup" Lila smiled.

As the footage went on, the people on it said the date. November 22, 1963. And that was six days from their current date. After Y/N heard that, she started to pay attention to the film. Not long after, shots could be heard from the film, apparently, the president was being murdered. And as Five turned back the film and stopped it, much to their surprise, Five and Diego recognized their father. The man was just standing there, with his black umbrella on a sunny day.

Y/N tensed a little upon seeing his image on the projector. So he was here then. She only knew him from what Klaus had told her, but he didn't seem like a good person at all, not to his kids at least.

Five started to pace around the room, nervously scratching his head. He and Diego started to discuss about their father, if he was or was not involved in the assassination of the president. And seeing as they didn't have much involvement in all of it, Y/N and Lila stayed out of the conversation.

"Are you from the weird family too?" Lila asked the girl.

"No, I'm just a friend... That got involved in all of it" Y/N smiled at her.

_________

After a couple of minutes, Five and Diego made their way to leave the room. Seeing that, Y/N quickly made her way to them.

"It's okay to leave him like this?" Diego asked as they walked, referring to Elliott.

"Yeah, he's fine. What about the girl?" Five asked back, his hands on his pockets.

Diego looked back as Y/N reached them, and when he didn't see Lila, he went to find her. Leaving Y/N and Five alone to wait for him.

"Hey, where are you two going?" The girl asked.

Five let out a sigh, he moved from feet to feet, his eyes not looking at Y/N. He didn't feel much comfortable around her anymore, because he felt like he shouldn't be around her at all. "Pay a visit to dad, try to at least"

"Okay then, I'm coming with" Y/N happily said.

This made Five look at her. Why must she confuse me like this? Does she think she has to help? Five thought to himself. After last night, he presumed she wouldn't want anything to do with him anymore. He presumed that all he was to her now was... A killer. And the fact that she wasn't totally wrong made him sad, this was one of the few things he knew after all. "No. You don't have to"

"But I want to, Five. I wanna help" Y/N said as a matter of fact, as she looked at him.

Maybe if Five wasn't so insecure, he would have known that nothing had changed. That her opinion on him didn't change just because he confirmed he was an assassin. But his mind was clouded. And now the only thing he could think about is that she was being like this out of obligation. That it wasn't real, because now she was probably scared of him. And it hurt him because he wanted it to be real.

Five gulped and opened his mouth to answer, but Diego arrived and suddenly the boy had nothing more to say. And so the three made their way to Reginald's Company.

_________

It didn't take long for them to arrive, the company was a huge white building. But it looked empty, abandoned even. It was already dark outside, the only sounds being from the crickets and the rustling leaves. The only lights being from the weak light poles of the empty street. So hopefully they were the only ones there.

Five, Y/N and Diego exited the car, making their way to the front doors. The place had grass around the front with a stone path leading to the entrance.

"D.S. Umbrella, this is it" Diego said as he looked at the building.

Noticing that Five had stopped walking, Y/N looked back at him. The boy had his hands on his pockets, but he looked nervous.

"You alright?" The girl asked with a gentle voice.

"Yeah, fine... Just..." Five answered, his tone made it seem like he didn't really pay attention to her question. But he started walking again.

"How long has it been since you've seen the old man, Five?" Diego asked as he crouched down in front of the door, trying to unlock it.

Five glanced at Y/N for a second before he leaned beside the door and answered Diego's question. "Forty-five years".

"Wow" Y/N's voice was barely audible, but Five heard it. The girl furrowed her brows, thinking about the new information. She knew Five had been lost for some time, but she had no idea it had been that long.

Noticing the tension between his brother and Y/N, Diego broke the silence. "So Y/N, how long have you been here?"

Y/N blinked at his question, bringing her focus back to them. "Um- three months"

"You were here longer than me" Diego mumbled to himself, stopping his work at the door for a moment and turning towards Y/N. "Did you hold up alright?"

"Yeah, for the most part" Y/N sighed, fidgeting with her hands. "I found work at a pet shop, kept me distracted"

Diego gave her a kind smile "good"

"Five told me about you" Y/N chuckled a little. "If you were out for a little longer, maybe we would have found each other"

Diego laughed as well "yeah it would have been nice to have a friendly face around" and with a small smile, he turned his attention back to the door.

Five watched their interaction silently. It wasn't often he saw Diego being so... Gentle? Y/N seemed to have such an easy way when interacting with people, even with his siblings. He found himself wishing he could talk with them that easily as well. And with her. Lowering his head, Five pursed his lips and looked inside the building. Teleporting in, he easily unlocked the door.

"Right" Diego scoffed. "Gotta remember that"

"Are we just gonna break in like that?" Y/N asked as the brothers made their way inside. She took slow steps behind them, looking around.

"Of course" Diego looked over his shoulder at her with a smile on his face.

Five turned on one of the table lamps, but not a second after, it was off again. The three of them furrowed their brows, that was odd. Y/N patted one of the armchairs and her hand came out full of dust. Abandoned indeed.

"Guess dad wasn't much of a home decor" Diego wondered. That was an understatement.

"Feels more like a front" Five's voice was serious as he analyzed the place.

"For what?" Y/N asked, walking closer to the brothers.

"I don't know"

Diego looked between them. "Well, I'll take the left. You two go right. Yell if you uh... Get in trouble" and so he made his way to the left door.

Five let out a sigh. He held the right door open and took a quick glance up towards Y/N. "Let's go"

Walking in, Y/N saw herself in a gray corridor full of doors on both sides. Five was walking close behind her, in case something were to happen.

Y/N tried to open one of the doors, but it was locked. But Five was luckier with his try. Turning on the lamp inside the room, they could see what was supposed to be a living room. But instead of real people, there were mannequins sitting on the couch. It all seemed like it hadn't been touched for a long time.

"What is all this? It's all... Fake" Y/N said as she braced herself on the threshold. She couldn't deny she was nervous, the whole place felt... Sinister in a way.

Five was standing right beside her, their shoulders almost touching. And he was doing his best to keep focused and not let the tension take over his body because now was not the time. "I don't know"

Eventually, they found more rooms, and all of them seemed to be staged to look like rooms from a normal house. They were all decorated with mannequins in places where people should be. Some of the rooms even had cameras on it. A literal stage, Y/N thought.

Right now Five and Y/N were inside of what was supposed to be a dining room, the place was full of dust. Long forgotten.

"Your father is a strange man Five. What is he doing here? Why are the rooms like this?" The girl said as she took some steps backward, looking at all the fake decorations.

Not looking where she was going to, Y/N eventually bumped into Five. She quickly turned around to look at him, an apology already on the way. But when she turned, she wasn't expecting him to be so close. Their noses brushed ever so slightly with her movement, a blush coming up to both of their faces not a second after.

Y/N quickly took a step back and blinked a couple of times, trying to focus her mind, her mouth opened and closed a few times in search of words. But Five beat her to it, barely.

"W-why don't you just go and check another room instead of bothering me with all these questions?" The boy hissed, his voice way harsher than he intended to. It was the tension speaking, the sudden closeness made him panic.

Y/N gulped and looked down, taken aback by his rudeness. "Sure" she muttered and made her way outside.

Once she was nowhere to be seen, Five let out a long sigh and ran his hands through his hair. "Shit"

Y/N entered an office, or what was supposed to be one at least. The desk was full of dust, which she blew away and sneezed in the process.

Rummaging through all the papers that were there, she found something about an invitation to a gala at the Mexican Consulate. Running her fingers through the neat typography Y/N figured that this might have some value, so she put the paper in her pocket.

Not long after, she heard a loud noise of glass shattering and then Five calling out for Diego. Y/N quickly made her way back to where the boy was, scared he might have been hurt or something.

Pushing the door open, Y/N saw the shattered window and Five sitting on the ground, with a hand on his neck.

"Jesus Five, I leave you alone for one goddamn minute..." the girl walked to Five and crouched down beside him. The boy let out a small grunt of pain, Y/N carefully removed his hand from his neck and saw four scratches. They weren't so deep, thankfully. "What the hell happened?"

Five averted his eyes from her. The touch of her hand on his made him feel uneasy. "It was Pogo"

"Pogo? The chimpanzee?" Y/N asked with a confused expression.

"Yeah" Five sighed. He felt kinda stupid for thinking that Pogo would have any other reaction. After all, he didn't know Five, not yet.

They both looked around the building for Diego but they couldn't find him anywhere. Eventually, Five said they should head back to Elliott's place, Diego would probably find his own way back anyway.

When they exited the building, Y/N's skin was hit with the cold air of the night, making her shiver a little. But nonetheless, she stopped to look up at the sky before entering the car. A small smile tugging at her lips. The sky was mostly free of clouds and due to the poor illumination of the street, most stars were visible. It was beautiful.

Five opened the driver's seat door, but when he saw that Y/N hadn't followed, he looked back to where they came from. He furrowed his brows when he saw her just standing there, looking up. "What are you doing?"

"The stars... They are still the same..." The girl finally looked down at him, and slowly walked in his direction. Her voice, her eyes, she looked so... Serene. Five tightened his grip on the car door.

"Still the same from our timeline. I used to look at the sky almost every night on the first nights that I spent here. It was... Comforting, in a way" Y/N confessed to him in the calmest voice he had ever heard. Five even felt the tension leave his own shoulders, just slightly.

Upon entering the car again, Y/N started to search in the glove compartment for something to clean up Five's scratches. She found a clean cloth and damped it with the water from the water bottle they had in there. Then she turned to Five, who was already sitting in the driver's seat.

"Turn around" Y/N said to him, holding the cloth in her hand.

Five looked at her, then down at her hand. "That's not necessary" His voice was serious.

"You have no idea where his hands were, I doubt you want an infection in there, so we have to at least clean it. Turn around" Y/N said more sternly, demanding even.

Five clenched his teeth and pursed his lips, suddenly feeling his palms start to sweat, and his heartbeat starts to quicken. But he complied and turned around to Y/N's direction.

Y/N gently brought the wet cloth to his neck, making Five hiss a little when it made contact with the open wounds. He refused to look at her, looking anywhere but at her direction. And Y/N didn't fail to notice that, or his tension, or his behavior for the entire day. The girl let out a soft sigh.

"Five" she whispered to him and lowered her hand from his neck, trying to sound as gentle as possible, her eyes looking at him with an unreadable expression. Sometimes he really looked like a wild cat. "Can you look at me?"

Five made an annoyed face but finally looked up at her. He was more nervous than annoyed, to be honest. He was feeling so much, why did she have to make him feel so much? Feelings that he didn't even understand completely. He wanted them to just go away, but at the same time... He didn't.

"You've been... Different since this morning. Did something happen? Did I do something to upset you? If I did, I-I'm sorry" Y/N said as she looked deep into his bright eyes. Intensely searching his face for some kind of clue to what he was thinking, he was hard to read.

Five just looked at her for a couple of seconds. He looked at the way her brows were furrowed just slightly in concern. At how her mouth was just a tad open, ready to say her next words. And at how her eyes looked at him with such... Care. Has someone ever looked at him like that? He couldn't remember. It all felt so real. Could it be? Oh, he wanted it, so much.

But then a thought came to Five's mind. Even if it was, there was no way that he deserved someone like her, not after everything he's done. That reality hit him like a bullet in the chest, and a shaky breath escaped him, making his lip quiver. Y/N probably noticed, and Five kicked himself mentally yet again. But before she could say anything, he did.

"No. But this is not your problem to fix"

"But I want to, Five. I'm stuck here just as much as you are" Y/N said incredulously. "I don't care what you did in the past, I'm your friend now, I wanna help you Five. I wanna help you fix all of this, but you have to let me" she said with as much conviction as she could muster, trying to finally make him understand that they were a team now.

Five gulped when he heard her words, he averted his gaze and looked forward. His hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. Does that mean that she doesn't mind that I was an assassin then? Five couldn't know for sure, but he really hoped that was it.

"Why do you care so much?" Five's voice was incredibly small as he asked that. His gaze was no longer so serious, he looked genuinely curious, lost.

Y/N slightly shook her head at his question. Has no one ever showed him a slight bit of kindness, for him to be like this? Five looked like he honestly had no idea that someone outside of his family could care about him. And it made Y/N sad to think of what he had probably been through to be like this, what kind of things he had missed. "Because I like you guys. We're together in this now"

"Alright then" Five said to her in a low tone, not trusting his voice to speak any louder.

Y/N let out a huff of breath and looked forward as well. Five was definitely a hard person to crack, but she was almost sure this harsh exterior was just a facade. More times than one now, she sometimes would catch a glimpse of the real him. That look in his eyes that sometimes escaped him. Lost and sad, almost begging for help. And she was more than willing to help, if only he'd let her. But if he wasn't going to let her in now, Y/N wanted to make sure to let him know that she was there. She would be there if he ever needs someone.

As none of them said anything else, Five turned on the car engine and drove them back to Elliott's.

The way back was spent in silence, both Y/N and Five lost in their own thoughts. When they finally arrived, the place was partially dark, the only lamps that were turned on didn't really do a good job of illuminating the place.

Diego was laid down on the couch, with Lila taking care of a wound he had in his abdomen.

"Huh, he isn't dead" Five said, unamused. His hands in his pockets while he looked at his brother. Y/N looked at him with an incredulous look.

"Disappointed?" Lila asked.

"Oh to see you? Always" Five gave the woman a malicious smirk.

Y/N just rolled her eyes at them and made her way to Diego, placing a careful hand on his shoulder. "Hey Diego, you alright?"

"Just fine" the man mumbled, half unconscious.

Y/N smiled and walked to stand beside Five again, until she spotted Elliott, still tied up to his chair. Her mouth opened in shock. "Oh my god, Elliott" she hurried beside him and started to undo the ropes in his hands. "I am so sorry for that".

Five chuckled at the scene. Making his way to the kitchen counter to prepare himself a cup of coffee. But before he could pour it, Y/N appeared beside him and grabbed the coffee pot from his hand, putting it down.

"I don't think that's wise" she raised her brow at him.

He looked at her ready to say some snarky comment, but she beat him to it.

"It's very late, Five. You'll be of no use for anyone if you are exhausted tomorrow" Y/N said as a matter of fact, with a small knowing smile on her face. "Try to get some rest"

Five huffed but put his mug down. Slowly but surely he was starting to feel himself become more comfortable in Y/N's presence again. He felt himself a little lighter, and it felt nice.

Y/N's smile grew and she put a hand on Five's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Goodnight Five"

Five felt his cheeks heat up, he just nodded at her and said "goodnight". His mouth formed a thin line as he saw Y/N leave the kitchen.

"Someone has a crush" Lila sang in a low voice once Y/N was gone.

Five gave her a deadly stare "shut up".

***

Thank you for reading ♥ the next part should be out soon. And if you have any idea about how this story should progress or anything you would like to see in it, please send me an ask or message and I’d be happy to include it. All opinions and feedback are appreciated ♥

Taglist

@alexander-hamilhoe​ ​ @noneyeahbusiness​ @anapocalypseinmymind​ ​ @yikes-matey​ ​ @vicfull​ ​ @flowertoty @shlokage​ @flaminghotcheetoos​ ​ @moneyyhoneyyy​ ​ @n1ghtsh4d3-67​ ​ @nappinggecko​ ​ @megasimpleplan4ever​ ​ @precious-parkerr​ ​​ @greeknerd007​ ​ @my-things-things​ ​ @moatsnow​ @tired-of-this-shit​

[baby-grayson]

ahhh girlll i swear we need a concept on college football player bf gray after those gifs 🥴

((the way I made a 4k word fic out of this))

tw: hospitals

//

Vanessa’s week had three highlights: pumping Grayson up before the big game, sitting on the stands and watching him play, and bending over while he exhausted all his remaining energy as she screamed his name into the night. Grayson’s highlights paralleled hers: she was his biggest cheerleader, before, during, and after the game. The game was an integral part of their relationship, being at the center of Grayson’s life and the reason they met in the first place. A year after meeting, Grayson started every game by looking out into the stands, to see her perched under the second overhead light from the left side of the field: cuddled in a fleece blanket and wrapping her fingers around a hot chocolate thermos on the brisk autumn nights. From her seat in the stands, she knew he always looked for her, even though she couldn’t make out his features under the shadow of his helmet, she swore she could see his eyes sparkle when they landed on her before he ran out to the field.

Their Friday nights belonged to football. Grayson’s game was the focal point of the week: birthdays, anniversaries, and vacations were scheduled to best accommodate Grayson’s seasonal schedule. When her friends would ask if it annoyed her, if it made her feel trapped, Vanessa would laugh brightly and tell them that it was the opposite. Seeing Grayson running around that field, tackling, sweating, and chanting gave her surges of pride that she had never felt before. Watching his games brought back Vanessa’s memories of her old high school softball career, of which she was forced to retire early from.

Her memories of being forced to retire from sports turned from nostalgic to traumatic when she watched Grayson’s legs be swiped from under him, sending him hurdling through the air before landing on his back. His head hit the ground with a bounce while his body laid limp.

For a second, her breath hitched watching him.

She exhaled when he picked himself up, first on his knees and then on his feet when Ethan ran over to help him up. Ethan wrapped an arm around Grayson’s shoulders and lead him off of the field, where they both disappeared behind the bench. The weight of the helmet on Grayson’s head made his neck sag as Ethan helped drag him out of sight.

Vanessa lurched forward on the metal bench underneath her. Her fingers tightly gripped her fleece blanket, adorned with the logo for Grayson’s team. Her teeth chattered, the sharp cold finding its way deep into her veins.

The team began to play without Grayson.

She gulped, starting to think the worst as memories of flashing lights and medics flooded her mind. She touched her phone to illuminate a picture of Grayson holding her in a piggyback in front of an apple orchard from a few months earlier. Something about Grayson’s bright, happy smile in the picture triggered her enough to send a text to Ethan to ask what happened.

Vanessa locked her phone and sighed. She tucked her phone under her blanket and tried to wrap the fleece around her shoulders to help fight the cold that was teasing her skin. She earnestly tried to pay attention as the game continued but it was growing less interesting in his absence while his whereabouts were growing more interesting to her.

She reached back into her blanket to check if she had missed her phone vibrate. She hadn’t. No word from Ethan.

Her anxiety only grew as time went on. She frequently looked over her shoulder to check for ambulances before reminding herself that she was being silly. The knots in her stomach grew larger with each passing moment without word from Ethan. She spent so much time locking and unlocking her phone that she barely noticed when the game finished. Her eyes wandered from the players to the people in the stands as she wondered what to do.

According to their normal routine, she would throw out any wrappers from snacks, collect her blanket and thermos in her purse, and walk down the bleachers to meet Grayson at the door to the locker room. She sat paralyzed in place, looking out at the field for any sign of Grayson. She sat until the marching band and fans had cleared the stands: leaving nothing but metal seats and dirty guardrails. Her hands shook when she stood up. She told herself it was from the bite of the cold against her skin, but internally she knew it was triggered by the deep seeded fear that something had happened to Grayson. Tentatively, she stepped down the bleachers.

Vanessa felt some level of relief when she arrived at the locker room at the same time Ethan swung the door open to poke his head out.

“Hey,” she walked a little faster to catch him in the doorway, “What happened?”

Vanessa was used to the tired, sweaty, nervous energy of football players after a game: but something about Ethan emanated more tired and nervous and less sweaty. His eyes seemed darker than normal: both in the skin around them and in the color of his irises.

He sighed before speaking, as if he was slowly releasing an invisible weight with his breath. “He landed on the uh-“ he pointed a finger down the back of his neck, “the base of his head.”

Her eyes opened wide and she did not hide any of her panic, “What?”

Ethan nodded slowly and held a hand out, as if to hold back the proverbial river of emotions that was about to run out of Vanessa before he finished speaking, “He’s fine. Or he’ll be fine. It’s not a bad concussion, just enough to stop him from watching TV for a few days and uh—he probably wont be getting much sleep,” Vanessa’s shoulders relaxed hearing Ethan’s calm tone, “That’s what the doctor said.”

“Doctor?” She tensed back up again.

Ethan nodded and let out a breath while looking around. When he was sure no coaches or referees were in the immediate area, he held the doorway open for her and ushered her in.

“You sure?” She asked. She had waited on the outside of that door for Grayson countless times but had never actually been in the locker room.

“C’mon,” Ethan ushered her in, “He’s in the little room on the left.”

The tiny building smelled like ivory soap and old socks, nearly every surfaced was covered in grass stains. From behind a door on her right side, she could hear the familiar voices of Grayson’s teammates and friends laughing and joking. Something about the flickering light made the tiny structure seem eerie, almost creepy and medical.

She turned into the doorway on the left to see Grayson sitting on a raised bench: his legs swinging underneath as they failed to touch the floor. He was slumped over, with his hands on his knees and his eyes closed tightly shut. She moved quickly to be next to him but stepped back when she saw a man with looking down at her from his glasses.

He didn’t look like a doctor. That is, he wasn’t wearing a long white coat and he didn’t have a stethoscope draped over his shoulders. But something about the distinguished way he carried himself, and the salt and pepper hair, screamed doctor to Vanessa loud enough to make her stop in her tracks.

“Hello,” the man started, “And who might you be?”

At the sound of his voice, Grayson looked up from where he had been hanging his head. His eyes were full of pain but opened wider: so grateful to her face, a beacon of comfort in a night that was nothing but disturbing. “Nessie…” his voice was hopeful, but exhausted.

“I’m his,” she swallowed softly, “girlfriend. Sorry- I was” she pointed at the front door to the building, “Someone told me I could come in here, to see him. Is that okay?”

The doctor nodded his head and gave a small shrug, “Sure, we’re just about done here anyway.”

Vanessa rushed to Grayson’s side, where she quickly took his hand in hers from where he sat and took a moment to inspect the lost look in his eye.  

“He took a hard tumble,” the doctor started, “but he should be alright in a few days or so.”

Vanessa nodded and looked up, “Do—I didn’t know college football teams had doctors.”

The man chuckled, “They don’t.” He closed the folder in his hand and set it down on a counter, “I’m Tucker’s father. I was hoping to see my boy play but” he gestured to Grayson, “duty called.”

“Sorry about that doc,” Grayson groaned and scratched at his head, jostling his hair around.

“It’s quite alright,” with a few words of goodbye the doctor stepped out of the room to leave Grayson and Vanessa alone.

“What happened?” She asked for what felt like the millionth time that night. Everything about her tone and body was laced with worry and fear.

“Some guy got me by the ankle, I landed” Grayson spun a finger in the air, “actually I don’t remember landing, I just remember Ethan dragging me back here.”

“How do you feel?” She braced her words as if they hurt her mouth to speak them.

Grayson shrugged with his slumped shoulders, “The lights hurt my eyes,” he sniffled, “and I’m tired but he said I shouldn’t sleep.”

Vanessa nodded softly. She sighed silently. Grayson looked like a crumpled-up gum wrapper: something with the potential to be shiny and captivating but was too busy being folded in and helpless. She moved a shy hand around his shoulders to gently rub circles onto his back. He moved his eyes up to look at her, fighting the pain that stung from the lights in the room. He winced.

She stood up straighter and stopped her hand from rubbing circles when she said, “You hungry? I think it’s time to go home.”

Vanessa was no nurse. In fact, she was a bit of a baby, herself, when it came to being sick. Last semester, she caught the flu right after midterms and drove home for three days so her mom could take care of her while she sniffled and shoveled chicken soup into her mouth. Grayson tried to make fun of her for it, but he knew he would run to Lisa the minute he so much as sneezed in the wrong direction.

Despite her lack of experience at taking care of anything, she tried her best to make Grayson comfortable in his time of need. She helped him up the stairs to their apartment and let him rest on his bed, with the lights off. Grayson closed his eyes to achieve some mental piece. She rummaged through the cabinets to find a box of pasta and some left-over meat sauce to reheat. While the water boiled, she tiptoed into Grayson’s room. “Gray?” she whispered into the dark, expecting him to be napping.

“Yeah,” his voice was bold enough to startle her.

“Sorry, I thought you’d be sleeping.”

“MnotAllowedTo” he said, his voice muffled by a pillow.

Going to the edge of the bed, she slipped off his socks and shoes. She giggled when the sound of, “mmThankYou” came from his pillow. She moved to lightly take hold of the edge of his Jersey, but Grayson sat up to help her. Together, they stripped him of his jersey, pads, and undershirt until he was in his boxers. He kept his eyes closed through the entire ordeal, not wanting to feel the sting of the few rays straying from the kitchen into his bedroom.

He sat on the edge of the bed and rested his head against Vanesa’s chest. She gently ran one hand through his hair and let it stray to his back, where she started to massage deep circles into his back. She enjoyed the low grunts coming from his mouth as she used the edges of her palms to run along his spine. Normally, she looked forward to their post-game sex. When Grayson lost, she had the opportunity to make the night better for him and remind him of how much of a man he really was. When Grayson won, and he seldom never lost, he would kiss her sloppily as their clothes made a trail from the front door to the bedroom and he would nearly lift her in the air while using all of his pump and energy making love to her. Although there was nothing romantic about that night, Vanessa found something sweetly sexual in massaging Grayson’s back as he leaned into her: he was hardly ever vulnerable, and she welcomed the change of pace.

Their moment was interrupted by the sound of sizzling coming from the kitchen. “The water!” Vanessa ran out to tend to Grayson’s dinner, leaving him sitting on the edge of the bed with his head hanging.

Grayson spent the next week out of classes: armed with a doctor’s note from Tucker’s father about light sensitivity and the mental effects of mild concussions. He spent most of his days sitting in the dark. At first, he would put on podcasts and playlists to listen to but quickly grew bored of them. He tried to open a book under the shyest of lights, but even the idea hurt his eyes.

Vanessa walked home during lunch to eat with Grayson, sitting on the floor of his bedroom with the lights off and curtains drawn. At first, she tried to find something romantic about being in the dark with Grayson. But trying to find the bright side quickly faded when she realized that Grayson wasn’t getting any better.

“Have you thought about going to the hospital?” She suggested on Thursday night, laying with her head on Grayson’s torso.

“Why do I need that?” he asked curiously.

“Well,” she fidgeted from where she laid, “Weren’t you supposed to get better in a few days? It’s almost been a week-“she bit her lip when Grayson started speaking.

“I’ll be fine, it happens all the time.” Grayson said nonchalantly, “Derek was out for two weeks once and he’s fine.”

“Derek’s so dumb he thinks a serial killer is a risk to Cheerios.”

Grayson laughed; the sound made Vanessa smile in the dark. She had been spending too much time worrying about him in the past week, “I’ll be fine babe. Besides, tomorrow’s the start of playoffs- I have to be fine.” She sat up from where she was laying on him, “You’re not actually playing are you?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well- because- because- well Grayson,” she huffed, “You can’t even go to the bathroom without help right now.”

“It’s not my fault I couldn’t see the counter.”

“It’s your fault you couldn’t turn off the lights.”

Grayson sighed, “I’ll be fine, I promise.” He reached out to take her hand, “I’ll be safe.” He thumbed circles into the back of her hand.

 Vanessa could feel something menacing in the air that night. A cold so deep not even her fleece could protect her from it burning against her skin and pressing against her soul. She watched Grayson with a nervous attention, noticing every head turn and movement. He started running in a curved pattern. She wondered if he couldn’t see. She wondered if his head hurt. She wondered if he didn’t know where he was going. At the tail end of that thought, he knocked over a player from the opposing team. She exhaled, wondering if all her worrying was starting to get to her.

It was during the second half of the game; Vanessa finished her hot chocolate and was tapping her fingers against the metal of her thermos. Time stood still. A player ran toward Grayson, something that happened nearly a hundred times every Friday night. But instead of running clear or charging forward to push the guy down, Grayson stood there and absorbed every bit of force as the guy ran into him and knocked him flat onto the field.

Vanessa’s fingers went limp and she dropped the thermos. It hit the bottom of the bleachers with a clang.

Her mouth went dry. Her bottom lip started to quiver.

Nearly a replay of last week, Ethan ran out from the bench to help Grayson. But this time, Grayson didn’t get to his knees so Ethan could help him.

Ethan leaned down. Vanessa wondered what he must have been saying. Grayson didn’t get up. He laid on the grass.

Vanessa didn’t know when she stood up and started running down the bleachers, but she recognized the medics walking onto the field with a stretcher. A far part of her mind wondered if this was her mother’s view at her last softball game. “Where are you taking him?” her voice came out as a cry. Ethan moved forward from the shadows to place a familiar hand on her shoulders, stopping her from running toward the paramedics.

“Mercy General,” one of them said while three men lifted Grayson’s body off of the ground and onto the stretcher. “Only one can ride in the ambulance, I got a note that it was the brother,” he read off of a iPad.

“You can go,” Ethan nearly whispered in her ear.

She looked up at him, feeling tears stinging the corner of her eyes, “What?”

“Go,” Ethan said with more strength, “I’ll meet you there.” Before Vanessa could ask anything else, Ethan started toward the locker room behind her.

The men hoisting the gurney had started bringing Grayson past the field and toward the parking lot, where the ambulance was undoubtedly waiting with sirens blaring. “Are you coming miss,” the medic with the iPad had stayed back to wait for Vanessa. She nodded before following the man.

Tears started to stream down her face as the ambulance rushed toward the other side of town. Grayson stayed unconscious while she took his hand in hers and squeezed it gently, “You’ll be fine, you have to be fine,” she repeated his words from earlier.

The ride flashed, before she knew it the medics were opening up the back the roll Grayson toward the emergency room. Stepping out of the ambulance, she felt stupid for not calling his mom on the way there. She wondered if Ethan had called her, and if Ethan was on her way when one of the medics started asking her questions about insurance and preexisting conditions. She felt guilty for not being more help to Grayson, even in the smallest way, in his time of need.

While Vanessa was questioned about Grayson’s date of birth, height, and weight, a few nurses rolled him behind a curtain to dispose his helmet, pads, and clothes to change him into a hospital gown. Frustrated and scared, Vanessa went to sit by his side when her phone rang. For a second, she wanted to cuss out whatever person wanted to call her in a moment like this. Her attitude shifted when she saw Ethan’s name shine across the screen. “E?”

“Hey, I’m stuck in traffic by I-95,” he groaned, “Mom and Cam are on their way but they’re coming from out of town.” He sounded tired, angry, and everything in between. “Did they tell you anything?”

“Nothing yet,” Vanessa said shyly, “We just got here, haven’t seen a doctor yet.”

Ethan was the calm twin, the levelheaded twin, the rational twin. When Grayson got too overly emotionally invested in a game, Ethan was the voice of reason who would bring him back to Earth. During that phone call, Vanessa heard no trace of Ethan’s collected demeaner when he said, “Alright. Keep me posted.”

The dial tone sounded before Vanessa could respond. She shoved her phone into her pocket and gently pulled the curtain back to see Grayson. He was lying in a hospital bed, wearing a thin cotton robe, and his hair was a sweaty mess. Vanessa’s heart dropped. There was something peaceful about the relaxed way his features sat on his face. She lowered herself into a chair next to him and started to cry. Silently, in a way that none of the nurses and patients around her would notice, she cried stress and fear. She leaned forward to take Grayson’s hand in hers, studying it intricately and dredging what the rest of the night held.  She was slumped over, her head pressed against his hip. She had completely resigned to the emotionally trauma of the night. She perked her head up when Grayson’s hand, that was once limp, started to squeeze hers back. She looked up to see his eyes start to flutter open, confused and dizzied.

“Ness?” he said softly, blinking quicker by the moment.

“Hey,” she sniffled and smiled wide, her tears touched the corners of her mouth.

Grayson squeezed her hand again, “Hey Ness?” She sniffled a few more times, using her free hand to wipe her face and try to collect herself. “Yeah?”

“I loveyou Ness,” his words came out garbled, running over each other, but she heard it nonetheless. And something about the power of his words reassured her soul that they would get through that night, and the many hard ones to come.

[haledamage]

Alone, finally, for Kurt and Nadia?

I’ve tried to keep anything potentially spoilery vague because I know you haven’t played the game yet (you should 😉) but this takes place later in the game after Kurt and Nadia are finally in an actual relationship!

---

Nadia kicked the door to her bedroom shut with a relieved sigh. Home, at last. A chance to spend a few hours blissfully, blessedly alone, finally. Weeks of travel and constant meetings and negotiations had run her ragged. She set about removing her bags, weapons, armor, hat, boots, and coat as she made her way across the room, collapsing to her bed in nothing but a shirt and breeches.

It really was a very comfortable bed. She didn’t think anyone would blame her if she stayed just like this for a few hours. Someone would fetch her for dinner, probably, or if any emergencies popped up. They would be fine without her.

A quiet knock sounded at her door. She stifled a groan and instead called out, “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” Kurt replied, voice muffled by the thick wood door but still instantly recognizable to her. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

Unlike her, he was still fully dressed. He hadn’t even set his weapons down yet, standing in her doorway like a beautiful, one-man army.

He shut the door carefully behind him, then walked over to the side of the bed, staring down at her with amusement. “Are you busy, my lady?”

She shrugged as best she could while laying down. “Just hoping to enjoy a few minutes alone before the next disaster arrives.”

A subtle look of resignation crossed his face before his features smoothed out to a neutral expression that gave away nothing of the emotions behind it. “I should leave you to it, then.” He took a step back before she had a chance to reply, already on his way back to the door.

“No!” Nadia bolted upright and caught him by the wrist before he could get far. When he turned to face her again, she let go, sliding her hand down to twine her fingers with his. “My dearest Kurt, you are never an imposition. You are always welcome here.” She slid off the bed to move closer to him; he watched her approach with the same gentle awe that she watched the sunrise. “I just mean I want a little time where I can be… me. But if that means some time where we can be us, even better.”

Kurt relaxed by inches as the truth of her words sank in. His free hand rested on her waist, lightly at first before wrapping around her to close the distance between them. “Good. I had hoped that we might spend some time together, while we can. Just the two of us. But you have so many people demanding your attention, and I don’t want you to ever feel like I’m one of them.”

She lifted a hand to his face, cupping his cheek. He turned his head to kiss her palm before leaning into her touch. “I could spend every minute of every day in your company and never tire of it.” In truth, she did spend nearly every minute with him already, and even so she missed him on the rare occasion they were apart. She would be embarrassed about it if he wasn’t so obviously pleased by the admission.

“My sweet Excellency…” His lips found hers and he pulled her in, kissing her deep but slow, unhurried. This, more than anything else, felt truly like coming home, and Nadia melted into him, letting him take his time. If she could do nothing for the next few days but kiss him like this, she would be happy.

Well, except for one minor obstacle.

She pulled away just enough to allow her to talk, her lips brushing his with every word. “Help me take this off.” She fumbled with the straps of his gorget, trying to unbuckle it without looking. “I wish to reacquaint myself with the man underneath.”

They probably could have removed his arms and armor much faster, but kept getting distracted by each other. Every time a piece of armor clattered to the floor, Nadia’s hands found their way to the space it had just occupied. Every time she leaned close to untie a strap or loosen a buckle, Kurt’s lips found hers again, each kiss a little hungrier than the last.

Finally the last piece fell away, followed by the padded doublet underneath and - to Nadia’s delight - the shirt beneath it as well. She reached for him eagerly, relishing the feel of warm skin instead of cold steel and the way firm muscle twitched and bunched under her touch as he guided her backwards toward the bed.

As soon as she fell back onto the mattress, he climbed after, settling over her carefully as if scared of crushing her under his weight. She dragged him down to her anyway, unconcerned about anything except having him closer.

A loud, nearly frantic knock sounded at the door, and it swung open before either of them could react. “Hello, darling cous--”

On instinct, Kurt lunged for the knife Nadia kept strapped to the bedpost, but stopped short when he recognized the voice, instead burying his face in her shoulder with a frustrated groan.

For her part, Nadia kept her arms around him, making no effort to hide what they’d been doing or make the situation more comfortable for Constantin. “Can you come back later, dear cousin? We were rather in the middle of something.”

“Nadi, what is this?” His head appeared in her line of sight, wearing the wicked grin of a brother who just caught his little sister in a compromising situation. It twisted the dark scars on his face into something unfamiliar, for a moment rendering him nearly unrecognizable. “Is that Kurt?”

Kurt sighed and pressed a kiss to Nadia’s temple before pulling back to sit on the edge of the bed. He met Constantin’s eyes in something like a challenge and something like bracing himself for a hit. “I’m afraid so, Your Highness.”

“Fantastic!” He slapped a hand onto Kurt’s shoulder, catching him off guard enough to knock him a little off balance. “I couldn’t imagine a better man for my Nadi.”

“Why are you even here, Constantin?” Nadia dragged herself into a seated position reluctantly, unsettled by having her cousin looming over her in such a way. “Don’t you have work to do?”

“Don’t you?”

“Not until tomorrow,” she said patiently. “And you didn’t answer my question.”

He flopped down on the bed next to Nadia, shrugging dolefully. “I was bored. So I left.”

“Alone?” Kurt asked sharply, frowning at the prince.

Constantin waved away his concern. “No, I brought a guard. Bernard or Bertrand or something like that.” He tapped his lower lip in thought for a moment, then sat suddenly straighter, snapping his fingers triumphantly. “Brandt! He’s downstairs trying to make conversation with Father Petrus, but I wanted to come surprise you.”

“Well, you certainly did that,” Nadia laughed. "Good thing you showed up when you did. Five minutes later and we'd be having a very different conversation."

His icy eyes went wide, as if he’d finally realized what he’d walked in on, and stood up to back toward the door. “I should--I’m going to go. Now. And let you get back to…” He paused, then crossed the room again to pull Nadia into a tight hug. “Come see me, when you have time. It seems we have a lot to catch up on.”

“We do." She hugged him back just as tightly until he pulled away first. "I’ll see you later.”

Thankfully, he left quickly after that. 

Kurt closed and locked the door after Constantin was gone, chuckling to himself. “Well, it’s nice to know that some things never change. I’m surprised he didn’t come in through the window instead. A few years ago, he would have.”

“True.” Nadia frowned in thought. Even a few months ago, Constantin would have likely come in the window. He only stopped when he got sick, but that was just one of many things that had changed since… well, since he had. It made her nervous, in a way she couldn’t yet articulate.

With effort, she shook the thought away and turned her attention back to her handsome and still very shirtless bodyguard. She held a hand out to him in invitation. “Come here, beloved.” Kurt shivered visibly at the endearment, but didn’t hesitate to do as she asked, taking her hand and letting her pull him to the bed. “Now where were we?”

[chaoticpirates]

Wine and dine (Jack Sparrow x Barbossa!Reader)

Basically a rewrite of the dinner scene in Potc 1 that includes reader. Might do a part 2 if anyone's interested

You were sitting quietly in your father's quarters with all the food you could dream of lying in front of you, yet you weren't hungry. You gaze was fixed on the ocean outside the window, you weren't looking at anything in particular, you were just thinking. You were thinking about who you always thought about when left alone, Jack Sparrow. He was probably dead, rotting away on that godforsaken piece of land your father left him on, you would neverforgive him for that. Jack at least deserved a grave. You had a dream one night that Jack was on the ship with you, holding you just like he used to. You woke up that morning sobbing.

"What's worrying you darlin?" Barbossa asked. You hadn't even noticed him sitting down. You blinked and sat back in your chair, fighting the urge to glare at him.

"You know exactly what's worrying me, father" You snarled. Both of you had argued for hours over that bloody mutiny, before and after he'd done it. He was furious when he found you asleep in Jacks bed that night.

He was silent for a second and you braced yourself for an onslaught of excuses and reasonings. However he only sighed, shaking his head in defeat.

"The girl is joining us for dinner tonight" He muttered. Oh right, the Turner girl. Bootstrap Bill's only child. The cure for the curse who even came with the last piece of gold they needed.

"I've given her one of your dresses. One of the ones you never wear"

"One of them ones you got me? Good riddance"

At that moment, the girl was pushed into the space. She looked nervous, eyes darting around, only lingering on the food. She had every right to be scared. Kidnapped from her home in the dead of night by pirates. Poor girl. Your father told her to sit at the top of the table so she was flanked by both you and him. You lazily picked at the food on your plate, you only really ate out of necessity nowadays. You did put on a better show than the captain who watched the girl eat intently, no doubt wishing he could taste like she could. The girl - Elizabeth you think her name was - delicately used her cutlery to cut herself tiny pieces.

"No need for formalities here Miss. You must be hungry" He offered. She studied him for a moment before digging into the feast before her like a man starved. She was a man starved.

He offered her a piece of bread which she snatched off him in a hurry. He glanced at you across the table, catching your eye just as you took a bite of a bright red apple. You only raised an eyebrow in response.

He then offered her wine which she also took without question.

When he offered her an apple, something clicked in her pretty little head.

"It's poison" She whispered, horror crossing her face. You almost wanted to chuckle at her naivety.

"There's no use killing you now, Miss Turner" He replied. Jack the monkey jumped onto your shoulder, the little bugger made you jump slightly. You gave him a quick scratch under the chin then he jumped away.

Your father began to explain the gold and the curse to Elizabeth. You watched her closely, she seemed hooked on his every word. Like a child listening to a story from their father just back from a trip, you used to love your fathers stories. As he began to walk around, she slipped a knife under her napkin. You smirked, would be quite clever. If only she was paying attention.

She tried to run, he chased her. She plunged a knife into his chest, he pulled it right back out. You admired her resolve, desperation is one hell of a motivator. She tried to make a run for the deck and you rolled your eyes. Here comes the horror show. You heard her screaming as Barbossa watched from the door, a bottle of wine in his hand. You turned to look out the window again, absently biting at your apple every so often. This should be over soon. Everything should be over soon.

"You best start believing in ghost stories Miss Turner. You're in one"

If you rolled your eyes any harder they would fall out of your skull.

Elizabeth burst back into the room, eyes wide and panting heavily. You picked up a goblet of wine and walked over to offer it to her. She flinched as you approached her.

"I'm not going to hurt ya." You assured "Here, drink it. For the nerves."

She hesitantly took the wine from you and sipped at it, watching you intently over the rim. You sighed and held your hand out to help her up. A beam of moonlight hit your skin and her eyes widened.

"You're... You're not like them"

"No Miss Turner. I am burdened with a different curse"

She took your hand and stood up. You gestured to the table and you both sat down again. The food wasn't as good as it was when it was first served but you picked at it anyway. Elizabeth was still shaking while she sipped at her wine. Silence fell for a few minutes.

"How?" She asked. You looked at her as a prompt to go on "How are you not cursed?"

"They wouldn't let me near that bloody gold. Said I was hysterical. I'd like to see them go through everything I did and come out sane. I never even seen the cove they keep it in." You explained

"So why are you even on the ship?" She questioned, confusion covered her face "You could leave"

"Captain Barbossa is my father, Miss Turner"

She looked shocked then she seemed to understand. She took another sip of wine, a longer one this time. You decided it was time for some questions of your own.

"Do you have a father Miss Turner?"

"Yes. He cares very deeply for me, I'm sure he's terribly worried." She nodded. You knew it. She didn't look a thing like Bootstrap. You sat back in your chair and drummed your fingers against the arm of it. Silence fell over you both once again.

"What's your curse?"

"Hmm?"

"You said you were burdened with a different curse, what is it?"

"Love. Love is my curse." You sighed. Her brow furrowed together in confusion.

"Love is joyous is it not? However could it be a curse?" She questioned. You chuckled humourlessly and finished your wine in one gulp.

"Tell me Miss. Turner, what do you know of Captain Jack Sparrow?"

[little-igit]

Crimson Roses

A/N: This is based on a dream I had. No matter how hard we try some things just won't make sense. Feel free to ask questions about me, the dream, or the book. constructive criticism is always welcome as well as tips and ideas!

Here is a little key you might need before you start!

Y/N - Your name

S/N - Little Sisters Name(If you are an only child make one up!)

H/C - Your Hair Color

Summary: You make a last minute decision to let your sister go alone to a summer camp. After a week of no contact from her you decide to go on a rescue missing and bring your sister home.

Warnings Of The Chapter: Anxiety

~

Three pale figures: One with green hair, one with blonde, and the last with red and white stand in a darkly lit room talking about something in hushed voices. As if they are afraid that the wind will carry their words somewhere they do not want them to be.

“So she's supposed to be coming, right?” Green curls bounce against each other as a head tilts to the side giving the peppermint haired one a questioning glance, accusing him of a lie he has not yet told.

“Of course you damn nerd!” Spikey blond hair is thrown in front of the green-haired figure and yells.

Emerald eyes roll in their sockets, a sigh soon following, more sassy than angry, “Shut up Kacchan…”

“Stop arguing and don’t worry, she's supposed to arrive at some point this evening.” The one that had kept his silence up until now finally speaks his mind. His voice was smooth and quiet, he doesn’t seem to be a very expressive person.

“Are you absolutely sure? There’s no possible way something could keep her from being here? We need her, you know. If something keeps her from coming we can’t waste time we need her…to live. We might not be able to keep ourselves together if she arrives too late. We would be too hung-” His rant of worries and woes is cut short by someone else.

“Just, shut up already!” Kacchan takes a threatening step towards the greenette with furrowed brows which seems to effectively quiet him.

“What did I just say, Bakugou?” The calmer figure scolded.

“Whatever half and half!” ‘Kacchan’, now known as Bakugou, screamed at him.

The figure with green hair spoke in a monotone voice, “Todoroki, are you positive she's coming?”

“Yes Midoriya, I am as certain as ever,” Todoroki states as if it’s set in stone.

It might as well be with all of the thought and effort they put into this.

---

H/C hairs wisp around under the gust of the cool air coming from the air conditioning system of the airport. A girl looks out upon a sea of small heads, all of them hugging and saying their goodbyes to their mothers and families. That is if they happen to be lucky enough to have them all there. The pace of her heartbeat quickens as she starts to realize she would be the only one her age going to this camp. The feeling of her heartbeat trying to beat out of her chest isn't new to her. She's felt like that a lot lately, not to mention having anxiety doesn't help either.

Tears spring to her eyes and she turns around to cling to her mother in one last goodbye. Something about this summer camp seems wrong, the whole thing gives her the creeps. She can't tell if she's being rational, though she's never liked being in an unfamiliar place for more than a night or two, this is meant to last all summer. Not to mention that this is Japan that she would be going to. It's not like she could just drive home.

She feels tears spring into her eyes, but before she starts to cry in front of the entire plane she pulls away. She holds onto the sleeve of her mother's arm, and with a quivering voice she speaks, “I don't want to go anymore!” An unstable breath trails behind the words that leave her lips. It feels like a weight has been lifted from her with just a simple sentence.

Her mother simply looks at her for a moment, and for that short time, she is afraid of what her mom will say. She's always been quick to call out her daughter when she's being irrational or dumb, even when she isn't. Though, this time, it seems as though she understands the girl. “But you were so excited. Did something happen?” She was questioning her. Of course, she was questioning her but her voice was softer than it usually would be, maybe she sensed how uncomfortable her child was.

Y/N shakes her head, “No. I don't know what it is. I just don't think I should go.”

Her mother is confused, but at least she's trying to understand. “I won't make you go,” She said,” but what about S/N? Won't she be on her own?” The woman’s eyes flicker over to a small girl, barely eleven, with long brown hair sitting in one of the chairs, waiting for the flight. She had already said her goodbyes.

She feels heavy guilt again for leaving her sister alone. “She'll be alright…She's a little social butterfly compared to me. She'll make friends, I'm sure of that. She has her phone, she'll be able to call us if she needs to. If she doesn't I'll be sure to kick her butt when she gets back.” She softly smiles at her last statement. She had always been very passive-aggressive towards her little sister but would claim to fight anyone who would dare be even half as mean as she was to the girl. She cared about her a lot.

Her mom smiles too, giving a nod. Something still doesn't sit right with her when she thinks about the fact that she's letting her sister go alone. Especially when she suckered her way out of things because she has a bad feeling. Her sister is strong though, she has faith that she'll be alright.

She lets out an emotionally frustrated puff of air, some of her immediate distress and anxiety leaving her. At least it does for the moment. At least she wouldn't be the only eighteen-year-old on the trip anymore. She would have been the oldest going by far.

She looks at her mom again, letting go of her sleeve now, “I'm gonna go let S/N know I won't be joining her…” It takes a second of bracing herself before she walks over to her sister, seating herself in the chair next to her. “Hey…”

S/N looks up at her, “Hey??” She was puzzled, that is obvious enough. Probably because Y/N is speaking to her instead of waiting with their mom until the absolute last minute as she does at any social event. “Is there something wrong?”

She shakes her head, “No, not really…I'm not gonna be able to come with you though…I'm not feeling too great about all this.”

For some reason, whatever it is, S/N doesn't seem surprised at all. “Oh…Alright. Is there a particular reason?”

She shakes her head again, there wasn't, at least not that she could figure out.

Their conversation was cut short by the echoing ding from the speakers above them, “Flight number N571A now ready for boarding.”

The two give brief comforting smiles to each other as S/N stands, grabbing her carry on bag, and walks away into the never to be a straight line of other passengers. Her worries remain ever-present in her mind, she tries to ignore them for now burry them away, and be happy for her sister. She is happy for her, just worried.

She must be sitting there for a while watching the line because the next thing she knows, her mom is placing a hand on her shoulder, and motioning for her to get up. Calming circles are rubbed into her back as her mom seems to sense her nerves still. She knows her mom must feel nervous as well, she's never liked crowds at all.

The two wait until they are sure S/N had to have gotten on the plane safely. Her mom's voice, calm, but not comforting as it was before rings out to break the comfortable silence between the two, “Ready to go?”

Y/N nods before standing, sticking close to her mom as she starts to guide her away. The children had been told that they wouldn't need more than a carry on bag, everything that they couldn't fit would be provided for them. She didn't need to worry about needing to retrieve a suitcase thanks to that. Her mom would have made her go if losing her luggage was a part of backing out. As they walk she starts to notice how unnaturally dark the airport seems to be. She writes off though, it's probably just her imagination.

She exits the building right behind her mom thanks to the automatic doors, they hadn't had to go through security twice thank god. That was a relief at least. She covers her eyes from the burning bright sun of early morning as the pair make their way to the parking garage in which they had parked. The only reason Y/N was even awake at this time was due to the early hour of the flight. She could sleep till noon and beyond if given the chance.

The garage was close and luckily they had been on the lowest floor. No one was really up this early. Neither she nor her mom says a word as they hop in the car. It's a silence they're used to. Y/N plugs her white earbuds into her phone, opening Spotify. Not wanting to listen to anything specific she chooses to listen to her liked songs playlist. She knew full well she was going to try and fall asleep during the drive anyways so what she listened to didn't matter as long as it wasn't screaming in her ear.

She reflects a little as she tries to fall asleep. Her mom letting her come home like this isn't normal. She thought she would have to put up a fight. Especially since travel isn't cheap, though, Y/N has a close friend whose mom was able to get them deals on their tickets. Maybe that's why she didn't complain about the cost.

She hums deciding that was enough overthinking for now.

---

The week passes by slowly. Much slower what she ever would have imagined. The bad feelings she had stuffed away about the flight grew. They festered inside of her since the very first day.

Two days passed without contact from her sister. She and her mom sat in the living room eating their dinner. Her dad was at work, he worked nights frequently ever since she was little. Thankfully he gets to choose his schedule.

Y/N scrolls through Tiktok on her phone, checking her messages every few minutes. Her mom is watching some dumb movie on the hallmark channel. She's praying she gets a message from S/N soon. It's been two days of silence since she left. That isn't normal, not for S/N.

Maybe she doesn't get service where she's at but there should be wifi. It doesn't make sense for her to just not answer.

Y/N knows her mom is worried by now too, S/N usually messages her first and she hasn't done that either. She hasn't shown any nerves though.

---

By the third day, Y/N has panicked. She called her friend and asked her to get another deal on tickets. She hadn't seemed too surprised. After she had made sure the tickets were taken care of and that she would have a flight-ready she started to pack. She didn't plan to stay for long so she didn't pack much other than necessities. She stuffed it with anything else that she could.

She was going to bring S/N home with her. That's the plan, she should have made her stay back with her in the first place but she would have felt bad if she did.

One week after the original departure she found herself driving back to the airport. She was alone this time, her mom hadn't been able to take another day off of work and her dad was asleep from his late night. Her phone was connected to the stereo of the car instead of her earbuds, which were tucked away into her carry on bag. She let her liked songs playlist play again, she couldn’t pick and choose now as it would be too risky to do while she's driving. She didn't want to wreck the only car she has, not to mention how angry her parents would be with her.

It takes around an hour for her to get to the airport. She parks at the same garage her mom had parked in one of the upper floors this time. Her flight wasn't as early as it was last time so the bottom-most floors were filled. She disconnected her phone from the car before turning the key and taking it out.

The trunk pops open with the click of a button. She drags the suitcase with her items out of the car, throwing her carry on over her shoulder. She reaches up, pulling the trunk shut. There's a moment of her fumbling around with her keys before she locks the car.

It took an unusually long time to pass security, granted everything was taking unusually long this week. It takes her a good while to find the desk to check in her bags, the process itself was a normal time. She walks and wanders, making sure she knows where her boarding area is beforehand. She was looking through a nearby store when the echoing ding from before rings out again, “Flight N295EV ready to board.”

Next Chapter

[fratboyivy]

How You Get the Girl Hiccstrid one-shot

A loud crash woke him up in a panic as he frantically looked around the room to find the source of the noise. “Toothless, what are you doing half out the window?” The dragon turned back to him with an excited look on his face as he looked back and forth between outside the window and Hiccup, obviously wanting Hiccup to look outside. He rolled his eyes and slowly stood up from his chair, trying to stretch the cramps out of his leg. “I really gotta stop falling asleep at my desk,” he mumbled to himself as he walked over towards the window. He peered outside but saw nothing. “What am I supposed to be looking at here, bud?” he asked the dragon who was still looking overly excited. He looked around outside a bit more, and was about to go back to sleep when he saw a figure not far from where he was. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to make out who it was, when he finally recognized who it was, “Astrid!”

He landed quietly near her, trying not to startle her, but Toothless had other plans. He bounded over to Stormfly, causing Astrid to gasp and whip out her knives, though she almost immediately recognized him. “Toothless? What are you doing out here,” she then realized that wherever Toothless is, most likely Hiccup is there too. She turned around and saw him nervously standing there. “Hiccup? what are you doing?” 

“Well,- I uh- I- I mean not me I didn’t like- go looking for you or something uh- Toothless got all excited cause he saw Stormfly and ended up knocking a candle off the windowsill, which woke me up and brought me over to the window where I saw you and uh now here I am,” he smiled that awkward sideways smile he always did when he was nervous, which seemed to be frequent around Astrid. She loved it, but fought back a smile and said, “so you came out here to...?” 

“Oh I just uh I guess I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean I saw you standing in front of your destroyed childhood house and I just wanted to see if you needed a friend…” he trailed off. She stared at him for a few moments, and fearing he’d done something wrong, he started to say, “I mean I can go back, when I say it out loud it sounds stupid, you probably just want to be alone right now.” He started to motion for Toothless to come, but she grabbed his hands and stopped him. “It’s fine. You don’t have to go. A friend wouldn’t be so bad right now,” she let go of his hands and he brought them back down to his side. They both turned to face the house, and figuring she just wanted company, not a therapist, Hiccup kept quiet and just let her do what she needed to. 

“Why wasn’t I here?” Astrid mumbled after a few minutes. Hiccup turned to her. “What?” he asked softly. She looked up at him and spoke a little louder, “why wasn’t I here? I could’ve helped them. I could’ve prevented their home from getting completely destroyed,” she wrapped her arms around her stomach and turned away from him. 

“Astrid, you can’t possibly blame yourself for this. We were at the Edge! How could you have possibly known an attack was coming?”

“Exactly, Hiccup. I wasn’t here. I couldn’t have known there was going to be an attack. But maybe I could’ve, had I actually been here with them.” Hiccup started to speak but before he could get a word out she started again.

“I mean I know the dangers Berk faces. I know the enemies we have. I know that at any moment, we could be attacked. So why did I leave? I should’ve stayed here and helped protect Berk-”

“Astrid, Astrid, slow down, this is not your fault,” Hiccup said as he gently grabbed her hands to calm her down. “There is no way you could’ve prevented this. Whether you were here or not, no one saw this attack coming, which means you wouldn't have either. It wouldn’t have been any different if you were here.” He let go of her hands as she looked up at him. He couldn’t tell if she was angry at him or not, but he braced himself for a punch that never came. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. This was the last thing he’d expected to happen, but regardless, he knew she needed him. He hugged her back and held her head against his chest as she cried. He wasn’t that much taller than her, but he was tall enough that the top of her head fit right under his chin. He didn’t know what to say, or if he should even say anything at all, so he just held her and did his best to comfort her. They stayed like that for a while, until he heard Astrid whisper, “what if they’d died, Hiccup?” He pulled away and without thinking, put his hand on her cheek. She froze at the gesture, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“But they didn’t. I know it’s scary to think about what might have happened, but you can’t think about that. What matters now is they’re okay. Nothing happened to them. They weren’t home when the attack happened, and the worst thing that happened was your house getting destroyed.” They fell silent for a moment, and Astrid looked up at him, but didn’t say anything. Their eyes remained locked, and Astrid moved closer to him. They were nearly face to face, and Astrid leaned in a bit, clearly wanting Hiccup to meet her halfway. 

“I- uh- um- you- you know, Astrid,” Hiccup stuttered as he walked over to Toothless, “whenever I feel upset or- or something like that, I usually take a relaxing flight on Toothless. Would you maybe wanna…?” He gestured to the open spot behind him on the dragon. She wanted to be upset with him, but she told herself it wasn’t worth it, so she walked over to him and climbed onto the spot behind him.

 “At least I’m not dangling from a tree this time,” she teased. He laughed, remembering that night he’d gained her trust, and motioned for Toothless to fly up. Once they were in the air, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. Hiccup knew it was probably just comfortable for her, and it didn’t mean anything, but it still made him smile like crazy. He had strong feelings for her, this he knew. But he promised himself he’d never let her know, for fear that it would ruin the friendship they’d built over the past 3 years. He told himself that no matter what way it was, romantic or platonic, as long as she were in his life, he was happy. He did, of course, think about what it would be like if they were together. Hell, he was thinking about it now. He thought about waking up next to her every morning, and being able to hold her close to him at night. He thought a lot more than he’d like to admit about kissing her. Sure, they’d kissed two times before, but the first was in a “thanks for risking your life to save the entirety of the village” type way and the second was at Thawfest, when he’d purposefully failed a competition so that Snotlout could win, so that was more of a “that was a nice thing you did out there today” type of kiss. He didn’t think either of them were romantic, at least not on her end. He thought of them as mere “thank you’s”. But that’s not how he wanted it. He wanted to be able to run his fingers through her hair, and kiss her goodnight, and in the mornings. 

He snapped himself out of his thoughts, and told himself it wouldn’t be fair to put her in an awkward situation, and unless she made it clear she felt the same way for him, they had to stay platonic. He realized he hadn’t heard from her in a while, so he peered back at her. Her arms were still around his waist, but she’d moved her head so her cheek was resting on his shoulder, and her eyes were closed. She’d fallen asleep. He whispered her name a couple of times, just to confirm, and when she didn’t respond, he told Toothless to drop them by her Aunt’s house where she and her parents were staying while their house was repaired. However, no one was home. Multiple ships had been sent out to collect new resources to replace what was lost in the attack, and aboard those ships were Astrid’s parents and their siblings. He knew he wouldn’t be able to carry her all the way to her bed, and he didn’t want to wake her up, so he carefully led Toothless inside. He figured no one would mind, as long as they didn’t break anything. They made their way to the room she was staying in, and he carefully got off Toothless and carried her to the bed. He pulled some blankets over her and hesitated before placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. He began walking towards the door when he heard Astrid say, “um, Hiccup? Could you possibly stay? There’s no one here and I don’t want to be alone right now.” He turned towards her and nervously sputtered out, “I- yeah- are you- uh- are you sure?” He could barely see her but he knew she was looking at him with a serious expression, so he told Toothless to head to the arena and stay there for the night. Once Toothless was gone and Hiccup knew he’d made it safely, he lit a candle, detached his prosthetic, laid down next to her, and blew out the candle. His thoughts were racing, and he knew he wouldn’t sleep much, but he wanted to be here for Astrid, so he stayed. A few moments passed and Astrid spoke.

“I can’t close my eyes without imagining what would’ve happened if my parents would’ve been in the house,” she admitted. Hiccup turned to face her and said, “I know what that’s like. Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine what would’ve happened if Toothless hadn’t caught me during the Battle of the Green Death. It scares me. I imagine the people I would’ve hurt if I would’ve… you know…” they both knew what he was going to say, but neither of them said it, “look the point is,” he continued as he began to move her bangs to the side. He quickly froze and pulled his hand away, “Oh Gods uh- I’m so sorry I dont kno-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence. Everything happened so fast, and all he knew was that one moment her lips were on his and the next moment she was pulling away, babbling an apology, “Sorry, I don’t know what- I mean if you don’t feel the sam-” but it was his turn to cut her off. 

He leaned forward and kissed her. She hesitated for a moment before kissing him back. This was nothing like any of the kisses they’d previously shared. He was bolder this time, taking most of the control, which, to Astrid’s surprise, she didn’t mind. His lips were soft and he was gentle as he ran his fingers through her hair. She realized that this- he- was all she wanted. And it was all Hiccup ever wanted too. He remained calm on the outside but his mind was spinning with a million thoughts- but the only one he could pay attention to was the one saying he loved her. He loved her, he loved this. The quick pauses to take a breath, and the reconnecting of their lips, which sent a fire throughout his body each time, the feeling of her hair in his hands, all of it. He didn’t want it to end, and neither did she. Neither knew how long they stayed like that, but eventually they pulled apart, the feeling of each other still on their lips. 

“Um lips okay wow that just…” she had no idea what to say.

“Did you just seriously just say ‘um lips’ to me?” he joked. She laughed and lightly punched him on the arm, “I just never expected you to initiate something like that, Haddock,” she teased back, though she meant it. Astrid had always been the one to initiate any intimate moments they shared, and she hadn’t expected Hiccup, the boy who got flustered whenever they made eye contact for more than 3 seconds, to do something that bold. Not that she was complaining though. Hiccup faked a smug smile and voice saying, “yeah I just did that.”

“Do I need to humble you Dragon Boy?” and with that, she pushed him off the bed. He landed with a thud but quickly got up in a play fighting stance. “So this is how it is huh?” he lunged at her on the bed, attempting to grab her around the waist to tickle her, but she quickly dodged. 

“You can’t win against me,” she said with a smirk

“Oh yeah, Hofferson? Let’s see,” he said as he went for her again, but to neither of their surprise, she was just that much quicker than him. She maneuvered by him so that she was behind him, grabbed his arm, and pinned it against his back, “what was that you were saying, ‘let’s see’?” 

“I’m not giving up yet, I’ve- I’ve got something coming you’ll never expect,” he said attempting to sound confident, but it really just came across as struggling. 

“Oh yeah? That’s okay, I can wait like this. Take your time,” she said in a sly tone. She knew she had him beat, but she didn’t mind letting him pretend he’d thought of something. After a few minutes, he caved in, “alright fine, fine I give up! You win,” he said, and Astrid dropped his arm, laughing hysterically.

“I almost had you!”

“I’m sure you did,” she said, her laughter slowly subsiding. They were both exhausted and laid down on the bed, this time, Hiccup’s arm wrapped around Astrid, and Astrid’s head on his chest, feeling the slow rise and fall of each breath he took. This was the most comfortable she’d ever felt in her entire life, and she wanted to stay like this forever. 

“Astrid, I promise you none of this is your fault. You can’t blame yourself for what happened here while you were gone.” She didn’t say anything for a moment, and Hiccup figured she was asleep. 

“Thank you, Hiccup. For everything tonight. Taking me on Toothless, getting me back home, staying with me, everything. It really means a lot to me.” He smiled and held her tighter, gently brushing his hands through her hair. 

“Astrid I will always be here for you, no matter what. I know you think you have to deal with things alone, but you don’t. You have me, the dragon riders, your parents, so many people that care about you and wouldn’t hesitate to help you with something. You don’t have to go through everything alone.” He was right, but he also wasn’t. No one would be there for her the way he is. 

“The truth is, Hiccup- you’re the person I trust the most. I know that sounds crazy because it should be my parents, but they’re traditional vikings, they think the best way to handle emotions is with axes and sharp things. And I love the dragon riders, don’t get me wrong, but I probably wouldn’t trust them with too many things. Fishlegs is nice, but he’d probably just try and get me to meditate, the twins, well that’s pretty self explanatory,” Hiccup laughed and agreed with that one, “Snotlout is the last person I’d trust with anything, and Heather isn’t around enough for me to talk to her frequently. Hiccup, you’re the only one that let’s me deal with things the way I need to. You make me feel… safe. You always have. That night you took me on the first flight on Toothless, I remember me yelling at you ‘I am not listening to anything you have to say’, and instead of getting angry, you worked with me and said, ‘then I won’t speak, just let me show you.’ You never try and argue and you don't get upset, you just let me be myself,” she confessed. 

“Well I guess you didn’t really have a choice to trust me when you were stuck up in that tree,” he joked, “but I never knew I made you feel that way. I mean, I’m glad I do, I just never knew. And it doesn’t sound crazy, I don’t trust my dad with a whole lot, and obviously I don’t know my mom. And the dragon riders can be a bit much sometimes, that is true. I guess the same goes for me, you’re the person I trust the most too.” She gave a content smile and lifted her head up and kissed him gently. She placed her head back on his chest and closed her eyes, feeling happier than she ever had.

Once Hiccup thought she was asleep, he whispered, “I love you, Astrid Hofferson,” and closed his eyes, which were almost immediately reopened when he heard a quiet, “I love you too, Haddock.” He wanted to stay awake, just for a little bit longer. He wanted to live in this moment forever. Astrid curled up against him, peacefully sleeping, her hair cascading down her back and across his chest, her head perfectly placed in the crook of his neck. But sooner than he cared for, sleep overtook him and they were both fast asleep, still holding onto each other as tightly as they could. 

[doc-pickles]

right where you left me

I think this is the fastest I’ve ever finished a two part series haha. I honestly thought I was done Saturday but decided to add some more to it and the whole thing ended up being almost 9K words so.... I hope you guys enjoyed this! I had a lot of requests for this fic and I really enjoyed writing it :) and if you need it here’s a link to part one

Sunday 10:38 AM

You two doing good?

doing fine, just a little tired

Need me to bring anything by? I’m off at 2

I think we’re okay, i’ll text if I think of anything

thank you :)

No problem. Talk soon.

Sunday 11:15 AM

I’m going to grab a late lunch. Do you want anything?

Sunday 11:52 AM

Heading into surgery, shouldn’t be too long.

Sunday 1:47 PM

About to head out.

Sunday 2:08 PM

Missed Call from Alex

Sunday 2:15 PM

Missed Call from Alex

Sunday 2:22 PM

You okay? I’m getting worried

Sunday 2:39 PM

On my way over.

Sunday 2:45 PM

Missed Call from Alex

Jo is exhausted if she's honest with herself. At six months pregnant she’d thought that things would get easier from here on out, but she’d been foolishly wrong. She’d been dealing with a nasty resurgence of her morning sickness the past three days and her once abounding second trimester energy had now dwindled down to practically nothing. After leaving work the day before she’d barely gotten out of bed, only leaving the warm blankets to go to the bathroom or grab a snack.

She’s laying in bed, finally settled down after another bout of morning sickness, when the door to the loft slides open loudly. She ignores it at first, knowing it’s probably Alex coming to check on her, but she bolts up from her position in bed when he starts practically screaming.

“Jesus Christ Jo! I thought you were dead, you can’t reply to a text or pick up your damn phone,” Alex is clearly frantic as he paces the loft, barely acknowledging Jo’s presence. “I’ve been worried sick about you.”

“I’m sick Alex, I’ve either been asleep or throwing up since I texted you,” Jo’s voice had an edge to it as she stared Alex down. “And I don’t need you coming in here and trying to guilt trip me or whatever this is.”

“I’m not trying to guilt trip you, I’m trying to make sure you and our kid aren’t dead!”

“Well now that you know we aren’t you can leave Alex. You probably wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for Meredith getting sick,” Jo could feel her anger boiling as she looked at Alex. She knew her words were a low blow, but her anger and her hormones won out as she continued to yell at him. “I am more than capable of taking care of myself and our son without you constantly keeping tabs on us. That’s not your job anymore, you’re not my husband! You’re just the guy who knocked me up and then left for three months after telling me for years that you would never leave. You left and you weren’t coming back and the only reason you did is because I’m pregnant. If I wasn’t then you wouldn’t be here acting like you care… Do you think I don’t realize that? I get it, I’m nothing to you anymore and you’re only here for the baby. Well your son is fine and I’m fine too so please just get out.”

There was a moment of silence as Jo and Alex stared at each other, her eyes alight with anger and frustration. She settled herself back into bed with her back facing the door, holding her breath until she heard the door to the loft slide shut again and Alex’s footsteps retreat downstairs. When she finally released the breath she had been holding, a shaking round of tears followed it.

She didn’t know if she believed the words she’d spat at Alex, at one point she did but now she wasn’t so sure. He’d shown her over and over that he genuinely cared for her outside of his parental responsibilities to their son, even if he had left her behind. In truth, no matter how many therapy sessions she went to or how much her and Alex talked things out there was still a gaping hole in her chest created by the man she loved. She’d work through it, she always did, but right now all she wanted was sleep.

-

She sleeps for three hours, the longest stretch in the past few days that she’s been able to manage without throwing up. When she finally wakes her stomach is growling at her which almost makes her roll her eyes because she hasn’t been able to keep anything down lately. Jo slowly rolls out of bed and heads to the kitchen to find something to eat, but instead stops at the sight of her dining table.

There’s a large bouquet of tulips, her favorite flowers, along with ginger ale, soup, and her favorite snacks. Next to that she spots the tiniest blue striped onesie she’s ever seen, the sight bringing tears to her eyes. As she scans the spread once more, she grabs the card on the flowers and reads the barely legible writing.

Jo,

I’m sorry for the past few months. I know I’ve put you through hell but I’m trying my hardest to make it up to you and I promise I won’t stop trying. I’m a better man because of you and I hope I can be that man for you and our son.

Alex

Wiping up her tears, Jo grabs her car keys and heads down to her car. She knows she probably looks a hot mess but she drives the few blocks to Alex’s apartment anyways, barely noticing the thick sheets of rain that soak her thin pajamas as she bolts from her car into the brick building.

When Alex opens the door, she knows she looks insane but she forces the words out before he can say anything, “I’m sorry for snapping at you, you didn’t deserve that. I said a lot of things I didn’t mean because I was angry and my emotions are all over the place. That doesn’t make it right, it’s just… I’ve had a hard time lately. With everything. And I lashed out at you and I shouldn’t have.”

Alex stared at Jo for a moment before stepping into the hallway and pulling her into his embrace, “I’m sorry too, for freaking out on you, that’s the last thing you need right now. I meant what I said, I do want to be better for you. For both of you.”

“And I’m sorry for telling you that we’re having a boy by yelling it across the room at you,” Jo let a quiet laugh out as she looked up at Alex, a blush forming on her cheeks. “Maybe we can just talk things out from now on? And try to contain our tempers. Oh god, I hope our kid doesn’t have a temper.”

Alex chuckled, pressing a light kiss to Jo’s hair as he ushered her inside his apartment, “He's probably going to but you can teach him how to throw stuffed animals at the wall.”

+

“Hey, how’s your day going,” Jo tried to act as casual as she could as she leaned against the wall next to Alex who was typing up something in a chart. “Just out of curiosity, you know for a patient, how do you tell the difference between Braxton Hicks and real contractions?”

Alex’s head whipped up, eyes moving from Jo’s bump to her face. She had kept a calm demeanor as she left her surgery early, but now standing next to him she felt nervous, “You’re having contractions? Are you in labor?”

“If I knew that I wouldn’t be asking you would I,” Jo huffed as she pressed her hand against her stomach. The movement didn’t seem to calm Alex as he stared her down, his own hand coming up to sit right above hers on her belly. “I don’t think I am, I’ve just been super uncomfortable since last night. I spent an hour just sitting on the couch because I was in so much pain I couldn’t move. Actually I was kinda convinced I might just give birth then and there, but my pain went away and I got a few hours of sleep.”

Alex pressed his hand against Jo’s back as he led her down the hallway, his eyes not leaving her as they walked, “I don’t like you being alone in there all the time. What if you had actually gone into labor?”

“Then I would’ve called you.”

“And what if you couldn’t reach your phone? Or you lost too much blood and passed out,” Alex stopped walking and braced his hands on Jo’s shoulders. “I’m just worried about you and the baby. You know I always am, especially with your due date being so close.”

Eyes narrowing, Jo reflected on the past few months as she stared Alex down. After their blowout fight, Alex and her had begun to slowly work on their relationship and building it back up. It wasn’t an easy task, there had been a lot of yelling and crying and talking through things, but she was happy with where they were as the weeks leading up to their son’s arrival dwindled away on the calendar. She didn’t know what the future held for them, but she was content to just have him by her side for now.

“Well I’m not moving out of the loft if that’s what you’re insinuating,” Jo crossed her arms across her chest. “I know you’re worried but I’ll be fine.”

Alex fixed her with a serious stare, one hand coming back down to her growing bump, “Well then I'll move in, I mean if that’s okay with you. I really don’t want you to be alone and I can help when he gets here. I’ll even sleep on the couch.”

A groan left Jo as she looked up at Alex. She appreciated his help, but she didn’t need to be under constant supervision, “Alex, I’m fine. I love that you’re worried, but I don’t need a babysitter. Now I am going to go home and take a long nap, I’ll see you later.”

Jo walked away from Alex, not letting him get another word in as she headed for the residents lounge to grab her things. She knew being due next month meant that things would only get harder from here on out, but she was determined to do as much as she could by herself.

-

“Jo? I brought you dinner.”

Jo’s head popped up from her position leaning against the back of the couch, her body protesting at the sudden movement. She held back the groan she wanted to release as she watched Alex throw a takeout bag onto the kitchen counter. She’d been trying to relieve the pain that had been building in her back all day, but it seemed to have heightened as soon as she got home.

“Hey, sorry for barging in but I figured you were hungry,” Alex eyed Jo for a moment, brows crinkling when she didn’t verbally answer him. “You okay? You look a little pale.”

Jo nodded, but immediately dropped her head to her hands and let out the loud, pained groan she’d tried so hard to hold back. Her hips and back were on fire, the baby’s positioning not helping matters at all. As she tried to hold back another frustrated moan, Alex came up behind her and settled his hands on her lower back, fingers working down into her skin to release some of the pressure building there. The feeling was the first relief she’d felt all day, prompting her to immediately burst into tears. For his part, Alex was unfazed by Jo’s outburst, his fingers continuing to rub her back as she let out loud sobs.

“Hey, look at me,” Alex’s voice rang out softly after a few minutes, prompting Jo to turn and meet his eyes as he held her close. She cursed her heart as it beat out of time, stuttering at the intimacy of her and Alex’s positioning. “You don’t have to do all of this on your own. I know you can, but I’m here and I want to help you. Will you let me help?”

Pressing her head against Alex’s chest, Jo nodded as she took a deep breath. She hated to admit it, but Alex was right, she did need a little help. She hadn’t slept properly in days, her back was on fire, and her Braxton Hicks were coming at an almost constant rate now. More than anything, Jo just needed someone to support her and Alex was the best person for that role.

“Good, now let’s get you in bed. You look like you haven’t slept in a week,” Alex chuckled as he pressed a kiss to her head. The small move sparked something in Jo, despite Alex having done it more than once since returning home. Her fingers curled into his shirt, eyes turning up to meet his with a dark glint behind them. “What? What’s that look for?”

Before he could say anything else, Jo moved one hand to tangle in his hair and bring his lips down to hers. The feeling was indescribable, something she’d craved since she had dropped him off at the airport so many months ago. As if sensing the same thing, Alex kissed her back hungrily, his fingers readily finding purchase against her hips. After a moment, he pulled back and met her eyes.

“You were just crying and now you’re kissing me,” Alex chuckled, brushing back a strand of hair from her face. “I think you do need to get some sleep.”

“Will you lay down with me, I haven’t been able to sleep for like three days,” Jo’s eyes were pleading with Alex as she crawled under the covers. “He calms down when you’re around, I might actually be able to sleep for more than an hour.”

Alex obliged, kicking his shoes off and crawling into the other side of the bed. As he wrapped one arm around Jo’s expanding stomach, she closed her eyes and let her mind believe that this was a normal day for them. That they’d come home from work and were settling in for the night, that they didn’t sleep in separate apartments, that they weren’t divorced and Alex had never left. For a moment Jo let herself believe everything was okay.

Those thoughts and Alex’s presence lulled Jo into the most peaceful sleep she’d gotten in weeks. Her mind drifted off, letting her aching body rest and giving her much needed relief.

-

“He’s gonna be in the bassinet for the first few months, I don’t see why you insist on setting up the crib now,” Jo groaned as she sat herself on the couch, propping her bare feet up on the coffee table. “Can you just shove your clothes in the dresser and come sit down? Your nagging has exhausted me.”

A chuckle leaves Alex as he settles himself across the couch from Jo, reaching for her feet and pulling them into his lap, “Sorry that all of my heavy lifting and asking you where I should put things has bothered you.”

A noncommittal groan left Jo as her eyes fluttered closed, one hand floating down to her bump as Alex rubbed her swollen feet. He’d been at the loft every night since their agreement last week, making sure that he was able to help Jo sleep and stopping their son from keeping her up all night. Jo was thankful for the reprieve, even more thankful when Alex hadn’t batted an eye at her request for help relieving some of her more… primal urges that had sparked since her raging hormones had taken over her body. She’d fight anyone that insinuated that her and Alex were together, because they definitely weren’t, but she had a hard time denying the fact that sex with him was just as great if not better than it had always been.

Even being so far along in her pregnancy, Alex seemed to know what her body craved even more than she did. The way that they still worked so well on a physical level was no shock to Jo, but Alex’s uncanny ability to make her come undone and feel completely satisfied still shocked her. The first time they’d had sex again Jo had come three times before he’d even taken his pants off.

“You want me to order dinner? We can get Chinese if you want,” Jo barely registered Alex’s voice as his fingers moved across her skin. She could tell her body was already reacting to the feeling of him so close to her, her mind desperately trying to fight off the growing heat between her legs. “Jooooo? You in there?”

Jo peeks her eyes open, meeting Alex’s gaze with a grin. She moves one hand to grab his shirt and pull him closer to her, a chuckle leaving him as he understands exactly what she’s asking for.

“You’re insatiable,” Alex’s tone is light as his lips trail down to Jo’s neck. “I wouldn’t be shocked if sex is what sends you into labor.”

“Your dirty talk needs some work,” Jo groans as one of Alex’s hands trails up her body to brush against her breast. “But you might have a point…”

+

When Jo rolls over to glance at the clock, she's beyond frustrated that it tells her it’s midnight. She’d fallen asleep not even two hours ago after tossing and turning for 45 minutes trying to get comfortable between intermittent Braxton Hicks contractions. Resigning herself to another night of insomnia, she rolls out of bed and heads for the bathroom.

“You know, you’re being a real pain in the ass,” Jo groans as she looks down to her belly, a kick hitting her bladder as she flips on the bathroom light. “Yeah, you’re definitely a Karev.”

Finishing up in the bathroom, Jo walks quietly back to bed and settles herself above the covers. She knew she’d have to pee again soon and didn’t want to bother climbing all the way into bed again only to climb right back out.

After her scare early on in her pregnancy, Jo was just grateful to be carrying her baby still. But with only a few days left until her due date, she was growing more and more frustrated as her body began to prepare for labor. She hated how she couldn’t go more than an hour or two without feeling like she was going to pee her pants, how her back was constantly in pain no matter how she laid herself across the bed, how her son was now so large that even taking a deep breath was a monumental task.

It didn’t help that she’d been on maternity leave for the past two weeks and had been home alone bored out of her mind most of the time. She’d cleaned the loft, organized both her and Alex’s dressers, washed and folded all of the baby clothes, and watched every season of Friends. Jo almost wanted to go into labor just to have something to do that wasn’t cleaning.

Just as she’d predicted her bladder began screaming at her once again, prompting Jo to pull herself off of the bed and head back towards the bathroom. To her shock however, a loud pop sounded as soon as she stood, her feet instantly soaked by the rush of liquid now pooling on the ground.

“Alex… Alex! Wake up,” Jo tossed her pillow at Alex’s sleeping form across the bed, watching as he slowly began to wake. She felt bad knowing he’d just come off a long shift the night before, but she needed him. “Alex!”

The lights in the bedroom flicked on as Jo let out a low groan and reached for the edge of the bed, a sharp pain running through her stomach as she clenched the blankets tightly. A warm hand settled on her back, calming Jo slightly as her mind began to race, “How long have you been up?”

“Twenty minutes, but my water just broke,” Jo took a deep breath as she blindly reached for Alex’s hand. “Sorry I woke you up.”

“Don’t be sorry, what else am I gonna do right now,” Alex pressed a kiss against the side of Jo’s head as his hand continued to rub soothing circles into her back. “Will you be okay if I go throw the bags in the car real quick?”

Jo nods at him, but as soon as his hands aren’t on her anymore she wants to call out and bring him back to her. She’d gotten used to being so close to Alex, his hands constantly near her as he rubbed her aching feet or back and moved his hand across her belly to feel the baby’s movements. She’d even made it a habit of curling up next to him when he crawled into bed after a long shift, his hands always moving to pull her closer as she buried her face into his chest. When he’d moved back into the loft to make things easier when the baby came she’d been hesitant, but Jo couldn’t help how comforting she found his presence.

“Cars packed and I called the hospital so they know we’re on our way,” Jo looked up, Alex’s voice startling her out of her thoughts. His hands fell to her lower back again as she leaned against his chest, the feeling relaxing Jo as another contraction rushed through her body. “Those are pretty close together, how long have you been having contractions?”

“On and off since you left for work yesterday morning,” a groan left Jo as she braced her hands on Alex’s shoulders, the pain radiating through her stomach growing stronger. “Nothing this bad though.”

“Well let’s get going then, I’d like to avoid you giving birth in my car,” a small chuckle left Jo as Alex led her out of the loft. The next time they’d walk through the doors they’d have a baby with them. “Hey I was wrong! Sex didn’t put you into labor!”

“Shut up Alex.”

+

The exhaustion that falls over Jo as she leans into Alex is only surpassed by her joy at the squirming bundle that’s being placed on her chest. A head of dark curls greets her as she presses the infant close to her, fingers coming up to brush the soft skin of her son's cheek.

“You’re here, you’re real,” Jo laughs wetly as she looks down at the baby in her arms, her son, tears instantly welling in her eyes. “Oh my god your head is huge.”

“Sorry about that, that’s my bad,” Alex’s voice rings out from behind her, prompting Jo to shift closer to him as he presses one hand on the baby’s back and another against her arm in a comforting gesture. “You did so good, you’re a freaking rockstar.”

As she sits with her newborn snuggled against her and Alex’s arms wrapped around her, Jo thinks that she could stay right there forever. The pain, the heartbreak, the worry, all of it fades as she relishes in the feeling of the two people she loves most by her side. She’d been through so much in her life, lows she never wanted to relive, highs she would remember forever. All of it seems to pass by her eyes in a flash as she zones into this moment, the one moment she’s sure she’ll never forget as long as she lives.

In a second, without warning, Jo realizes that nothing else mattered. What had happened before, the grudges she’d held, the words spoken and not between her and Alex over the past year didn’t matter. He was here, with her and with their son and she knew he wasn’t leaving. He didn’t have to say it, didn’t have to promise anything or beg for her to let him in. His arms holding her close and his fingers brushing at their son’s curls reminded her that things had changed so much already.

“I love you,” Jo whispers as she lays her head on Alex’s chest, her eyes still trained on the baby in her arms. “I love you so much Alex.”

There’s a pause, a stillness in the air as Alex freezes next to her. The words that they’d exchanged so freely before now held a heavier meaning, they meant more this time around. His fingers moving slowly up and down her arm stop for a moment, continuing again as he presses a kiss to her temple, “I love you too Jo.”

She doesn’t know how long they sit like that, both of them staring down in awe at the little boy they’d created together. Alex tells him about how he was certain that they’d conceived him in the backseat of his car, Jo chuckling at the ridiculous story as her eyes fought to stay open. She’d been in labor for almost five hours and had been pushing for another, the event taking its toll on her as she leaned against Alex and shut her eyes.

“You sleep, I'll take him and we’ll be here when you wake up,” Alex grabs the infant from her arms, Jo peeking her eyes open to marvel at the sight of their son nuzzled against him. “Tell mama to take a nap, she deserves it.”

Jo watches the two for a moment more before closing her eyes and letting the joy she felt wash over her, lulling her into a peaceful sleep.

+

Jo wakes to small cries and the sound of someone singing softly. The cries lessen as the singing gets a little louder, the rough melodic voice singing some rock song that was not appropriate lullaby music. Sitting up in bed, she lets her eyes adjust before making out the silhouette of Alex rocking their two week old son to sleep.

“Is he hungry? I can take him,” Alex’s head popped up in surprise at Jo’s voice, his face illuminated by the low light shining from the kitchen.

“No, he’s almost back down. I gave him a bottle already,” Alex rocked back and forth a few more times before smirking up at Jo. “You go back to sleep, you need it.”

Settling her head back into the pillows, Jo watched both boys for a few minutes until Alex settled the baby back into his bassinet. Satisfied that the infant was going to stay down, he crawled back into bed and pulled Jo into his arms, “I thought I told you to go back to sleep.”

“Mmm yeah but you and Max looked too cute,” one hand trailed up to Alex’s face as Jo snuggled against him. “Besides it gets cold in here without you.”

A chuckle left Alex as his hands wrapped around Jo, bringing her flush against his chest as his lips brushed a kiss against her hair, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Jo settled her head against Alex’s chest, letting the steady beat of his heart calm her own body.

Jo’s eyes close again, her mind drifting to think of Luna, of the concern she’d had that her son might end up alone and scared like she had been. She knew that the little girl was probably sleeping in her crib at home, her mom healthy and snoozing beside her, the thought comforting her slightly. As she thought of Alex and the way he cared so deeply about her and Max, Jo knew she’d never have to worry about either of them being alone again.

[whatcouldgowrong-ohthat]

Within These Walls Chapter 1

Summary: It’s the morning after and while Natasha wants answers, Y/N isn’t sure there are any she can provide. And Steve has a conversation with Bucky.

Warnings: Frustration, longing, that sort of thing.

Word Count: 1965 words

--

Silence – deafening in its own sort of way. Even the passing of cars and the arguing inside seemed to drown in it. She had no idea what to say, something that was rather uncommon for Natasha. In their group, she always had the words. She always knew exactly what to say.  Yet, in this moment, there was only one.

“How?”

A small, self-loathing smile tugged at Y/N’s lips. She shook her head, averting her eyes and playing with one of the cords around her wrist. “I wish I knew.”

Natasha felt as if her heart was breaking. She had to ask, “You – You’ve been dead this whole time?”

“Nope. Ran away to the Bahamas and here I am.” The sarcasm, though unnecessary, was something Natasha had come to miss. Finally, Y/N met her gaze. “What the fuck do you think, Nat? Of course!”

“And you – “ Natasha took a seat on the concrete steps, her leg passing through Y/N’s before her friend scoot over. “You’ve what? Been by Bucky’s side?”

“Uh…yeah.” She looked over her shoulder, catching sight of him in the window. “Can’t help it.”

Natasha saw the pain in her eyes. “What do you mean?”

Y/N was silent for what almost felt like eternity. “You remember the ring?”

“Yeah. He always said it was made of the strongest metal.”

She smiled. It was real this time. Not broken. “Look at his hand, Nat.”

Natasha moved to the window. Her eyes first caught Steve nursing a beer with red rimmed eyes. He was so scared. She’d never seen him like that before. Shaking her head, Natasha ducked her head, barely catching sight of Bucky. He was talking to Sam.

Sure enough, there it was. Visible even under his shirt, hanging from a chain and nestled against his heart.

“He’s wearing it.”

“Hasn’t taken it off since the police gave it to him.”

Natasha turned away from the window, watching Y/N. Finally looking at her. There were pieces of her hair that had dried in clumps. Was it blood? She looked at her jeans – stained in mud and holier than usual. And her tattoos, lovely works of art that took so much time and money, were scratched up. It looked like there had been cuffs on her wrists. “Y/N?”

She looked up and Natasha’s stomach twisted in knots. Dark circles were under her eyes. The remnants of dried blood on her lips and under her nose. Crouching in front of her, Natasha got a better look at the rest of the damage. Fingerprints marked her neck. A thin line that could have been a wire had dug into her skin. So much dried blood.

“Oh, Y/N,” she murmured, lips trembling. How did she miss all of it?

Y/N’s fingers instinctively went to her throat, brushing that thin line. “Nat, breathe. I can’t have you freaking out on me.”

“But you – your neck – It…” Natasha brushed away the tears that slipped down her cheeks.

“I know.” A sigh and another, “I saw my body.” There was sympathy shining in Y/N’s eyes. She understood how and why Natasha was so scared. “I know.”

Silently, Natasha touched her own neck. Did she look like that? Did she have injuries she had no recollection of getting? Judging by the way Y/N studied her – the slight frown and remorse – Natasha had her answer.

She pressed her lips in a thin line. The police had said it was sheer luck that they had found Y/N’s ring. That the odds of finding her were… She closed her eyes. Y/N had needed them. And they weren’t there. Opening her eyes, a whimper of an exhale slipped out.

“Thought you were our tough girl,” Y/N joked, trying to get her to smile. “C’mon, why’re you crying?”

“I – I missed you.”

A small smile was tugging at her lips. She had missed this. Missed her friends. Missed being seen. “I know,” she whispered. “It’s going to be okay.”

The guys had stayed the night. Hoping. Praying that maybe Natasha would stumble through that front door. Maybe she would surprise them all.

Steve jerked. The sheets fell around his waist as he sat up. The last thing he had meant to do was fall asleep. He wanted to stay awake…just in case.

“Good, you’re awake.”

He looked towards the door, surprised to see Sam still there. “Uh…yeah.” Steve realized he’d been clinging to Natasha’s pillow, still holding it in his arms now. Setting it aside, he forced himself to stand, ignoring the silent pleas his body made. All he wanted to do was curl back in her bed and surround himself in her familiarity.

“We got breakfast if you want it.”

“I thought Buck and Clint left last night.”

“Like we’d do that to you.”

Bucky’s voice, a little more cheerful than Steve had anticipated, was enough to bring a smile to the blonde’s lips. Bucky’s head appeared behind Sam; his arm braced against the doorframe. It had been a long year for him. And Steve…he was worried a similar year awaited him.

No. Don’t think like that. She’ll come back.

“Steve.”

Bucky once again pulled Steve out of his thoughts. Sam had returned to the kitchen, leaving the two alone. Steve looked around the room, noting all the pictures and details that were so…Nat. He hesitated, nervous about the question that had been plaguing his mind. “Is this what it felt like?”

His friend was silent, noticing a picture on Natasha’s nightstand. The softest smile ghosted his lips as he picked it up. It was all of them. Clint and Sam had squished them all in for a picture. Natasha was planting a big kiss on Steve’s cheek, turning him bright red. And Bucky had been holding Y/N, the two of them laughing.

The six of them had been a family.

“Probably,” Bucky finally told him. It was the most honest thing he could say. “I mean, everyone experiences this sort of thing differently.” His fingers brushed against Y/N’s image before he set the picture down.

Steve’s gaze shifted from the picture to Bucky. “It still hurts?”

He chuckled, fingers instinctively reaching for the ring. It wasn’t funny. And yet it was. “Every day.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have – “

Bucky shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry about it.” There was that brave face. The one he’d shown to everyone but Steve. And now…

God, what was happening to them?

“Let’s get some food in you, yeah?”

Steve followed Bucky into the kitchen, completely oblivious to the fact that they hadn’t been alone.

Natasha sniffled, tucking her knees under her chin. “They’re alone now. Aren’t they? I – I really can’t fix this. I can’t tell him how sorry I was. How sorry I am.”

Y/N shifted on the windowsill, staring at the doorway. They could hear the men talking, trying to ease the tension.

It wasn’t working.

Softly, Y/N admitted, “Yeah.”

Natasha ran a hand through her hair, a shudder running up her spine. “I just want to tell him I love him. That the argument was so stupid.” She slammed her hand against the nightstand, growing even more frustrated when her fingers passed through. “Fuck!” A choked sob caught in her chest. “Damn it, Y/N, I don’t even remember that night! I don’t remember anything after walking out that door.”

“I know.”

Natasha looked at her, brow scrunching. Her eyes were red. Voice stuffy from tears and snot, she asked, “You don’t remember what happened either?”

Y/N shook her head. “No. I remember telling Buck I was going to run to the store. I wanted to get him those pumpkin chocolate chip muffin tops that he likes so much.” Her gaze found the floor, fixating on it as if it would swallow her whole. “I remember kissing his cheek. I said I loved him and…The last thing I remember is getting in the car.”

Natasha knew for a fact that Y/N and Bucky had been in love. Hell, they all had joked about wanting a love like theirs. Y/N wouldn’t have just left him. Especially not two weeks before they were supposed to get married. The only reason the cops had looked as long as they had was because they all insisted Y/N wouldn’t have just abandoned him.

“So someone took you.”

“That was the only piece of the puzzle I had figured out.”

Natasha looked back at the doorway. “What if they did the same to me?”

Y/N raised a brow. “I – I don’t know.” She sighed. “Nat, it doesn’t matter how it happened. What matters is why you’re still here. Don’t you think?”

Natasha stood up, a look in her eyes that made Y/N sit back. She knew that gleam all too well. Stubbornness. Determination. Strength.

The redhead had no intention of letting this go.

“Nat, where are you – “

And she was gone.

Y/N huffed. Great. Just great.

Y/N appeared outside, watching Natasha run towards the sidewalk. Where was she going? “Nat – “ The nickname barely left her lips before Natasha realized she couldn’t go any farther. It was as if there was a rope tied to her, tugging her back to her home.

Spinning around, Natasha kept looking from the house to the sidewalk before finally turning her attention to Y/N.

“You can’t leave. You have something in that house that you’re tied to - like me and that engagement ring. You can’t go any farther than the property it’s on.”

Natasha scowled. Fine. If there were rules to play by, she could do that. She started walking back to the house, stopped only when Y/N reappeared in front of her. Stumbling back, Natasha looked where her friend had been standing moments before. “What the fuck?”

“You’re dead. A ghost. The rules are different for us. You can stop acting so human.”

“Human?” Natasha couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I hate to break it to you, Y/N, but that’s what we are. Human first.” She stepped around her, unable to bring herself to even keep the conversation going.  

Y/N let her walk away. She didn’t even turn around.  Natasha had to come to terms with this in her own way. In her own time.

But how long was that going to take?

In a blink, Y/N was inside. She stayed quiet. Now wasn’t the time to say anything. Instead, she watched. Natasha was standing in the corner of the kitchen, smiling as she listened to the boys. They were trying so hard to keep their spirits up. Trying so desperately to keep Steve distracted.

“If they’re going to move on, they have to know what happened.” She swallowed thickly, as if the words were determined to stay lodged in her throat. “They can figure it out.”

Y/N was surprised to hear Natasha’s voice. She took a step closer, still staying outside of the kitchen. It had been a long time since she had been a part of this. Y/N spared them all a glance. Even after all this time, she couldn’t stop herself from looking at Bucky the longest. Weakly, as if the answer might shatter her, she asked, “You think so?”

“I really do.” Steve was her world. So determined and genuinely smart. If anyone could figure this out, it’d be him. But, “They’re going to need help.” She appeared next to Y/N, smiling only when she saw Clint pouring what she guessed was a fourth cup of coffee. “They’re going to need both of us.”

Y/N was quiet for a long moment. Her hand brushed her ring finger. The one that still held the indent from her engagement ring. If they could figure it out…Bucky could move on. And maybe she could too. A tear slipped down her cheek followed by a sharp inhale. “Okay. I’ll help.”