#(even tho we know he’s hiding the truth in his pocket)

[chirpsythismorning]

Say it’s likely there will be a Brokeback Mountain reference in s5 and nobody bats an eye.

Say it’s likely that the final byler fight will be inspired by this scene and society goes wild.

[basset-babe]

five times: the second.

pairing: benedict bridgerton x fem!reader

warnings: unsolicited sexual advances

word count: 3.7k+

a/n: apologies for the late update! i've been sleeping in so bad lately lmao also, please do know that my writing isn't abided by the series' consecutive timeline bcs i just tend take away scenes and themes through s1 to s3 where it would make sense with the fic idea in my head, but all still well within the bridgerton series (S3 SPOILER! also i do not hold any grudge towards lady tilley arnold tho she is the rendezvous love interest of ben in s3, just made sense for me to add her here in this context) but nonetheless, please enjoy the 2nd! ciao belle!

five times series: the first. the one point five. the second. the third. the three point five. the fourth. at last.

spring divider from @thyming and, again, pattern banner from @cafekitsune thank you!

second time.

As the noon sun cast a bright glow over the sprawling estate gardens, Miss Y/N and Benedict strolled along the cobblestone path lined with vibrant blossoms and verdant foliage. The sweet fragrance of blooming flowers mingled with the earthy scent of freshly turned soil, creating an intoxicating bouquet that filled the air. Birds chirped melodiously from their perches in the ancient oaks, their songs adding a gentle soundtrack to the tranquil scene.

Miss Y/N paused by a bed of delicate gardenias, her fingers brushing lightly over the soft petals as she turned to Benedict with a teasing smile. "Have you no other plans than to spend your time watching me procure my plants, Benedict?" she asked, her tone light but her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Benedict, standing a few paces away with his hands casually tucked into his pockets, returned her smile with a warm, earnest expression. "Actually, I find great pleasure in keeping you company and wandering through your beautiful gardens," he replied, his gaze taking in the lush greenery and the kaleidoscope of flowers surrounding them. In truth, his heart swelled with affection for her, every moment spent in her presence a cherished gift.

A few steps behind, the chaperone lingered near a stone bench, her attention seemingly focused on the distant horizon. Although out of earshot, her presence was a reminder of propriety and decorum.

Miss Y/N sighed softly, her playful demeanor tinged with a hint of exasperation. "We are chaperoned! I mean, probably out of earshot but still," she said, shaking her head slightly as a wry smile curved her lips. "You and your subtle art of flirting."

Benedict chuckled, the sound low and pleasant. "Ah, but where's the harm in a little harmless flirtation amidst such beauty?" he replied, gesturing to the surrounding garden. "Besides, your company is far more captivating than anything." His words carried the weight of his burgeoning love, though he struggled to fully express the depth of his feelings.

As they continued their leisurely walk, the leaves rustled softly in the gentle breeze, and the world seemed to slow, allowing them a few precious moments of stolen intimacy amidst the natural splendor.

"My subtle art of flirting," he murmured, stepping closer and carefully looming over a bed of blooming roses. "Or perhaps it’s not so subtle after all."

She glanced up at him, a playful smile tugging at her lips. "I would say it’s as subtle as a peacock in a library."

"Ah, so it’s quite effective, then," he said, leaning in just enough to catch the gardenia’s sweet scent.

"You are impossible," she said, shaking her head but unable to hide her smile. "Even when you called on me, you've brought a grafted rose to plant, of all things!" She laughed fondly.

"Well, I thought it suited you," he said as his voice softened, casting her a glance full of admiration. "A growing thing of beauty, requiring patience, care, and attention." His heart pounded in his chest, the metaphor echoing his own feelings for her.

The sun glowed warm through the greenhouse window pane. Peering from the vines, the sunlight dawned and cascaded over Y/N, rendering her breathtaking in Benedict's eyes. The golden light danced on her hair, casting a halo-like aura that made her appear almost ethereal.

Her cheeks flushed a delicate shade of pink at his words. "For an artist, you do have a way with words, Benedict," she murmured, a soft smile playing at her lips as she averted her gaze.

Benedict, unable to resist the magnetic pull of the moment, reached out and gently touched a gardenia bloom, his fingers brushing against hers. The brief contact sent a subtle thrill through him, a spark of connection that felt both profound and delicate. "And I mean every one of them, you know," he said softly, his voice carrying the weight of sincerity and unspoken affection as their eyes met.

Y/N's breath caught slightly, her heart quickening in response. Her gloved hand now in his as he gently held it. The intensity of his gaze made her heart flutter, and for a moment, the world around them seemed to fade away. Her lady's maid, the estate, the very garden itself—all blurred into a distant background against the magnetic pull between them.

A gentle breeze stirred, carrying the intoxicating scent of gardenias and roses. Y/N's eyes widened slightly at the depth of emotion she saw in Benedict's eyes, a mixture of admiration and something deeper, something she dared not name yet. Her fingers, still intertwined with his, felt warm and comforting, a silent promise held in the delicate touch.

Her voice, barely above a whisper, broke the silence. "Benedict, do you ever, um, find yourself feeling, well, the same way I do in moments like these, when we're together?" Her eyes, tinged with vulnerability, flicked up to meet his, silently seeking a connection that transcended mere words.

Benedict's smile softened, his thumb lightly caressing the back of her hand as he leaned nearer to whisper, "Every moment with you, Your Grace," he said, his voice filled with a gentle ardor. "Your presence, Y/N, for if I revere you a dream, then I no longer wish to wake from my slumber."

Y/N's heart raced at his words, her cheeks flushing an even deeper shade of pink. She felt a rush of emotions, a blend of excitement and a tender vulnerability she had never experienced before. Her eyes widening in awe, "You speak as if I am something unattainable, a fragment of your mind," she said, a touch of playful skepticism in her tone.

Benedict's expression softened, nearing her as his gaze full of adoration. "Y/N," he murmured, his voice tender yet earnest, "you are not a fragment of my mind, nor are you unattainable. You are the very essence of my heart's desires, a beacon of light in a world of darkness." He reached out to gently cup her cheek, his touch conveying a depth of emotion beyond words. "To me, you are not just a dream, but the reality I never dared hope for. And I will spend every moment proving that to you, if you'll let me."

Meanwhile, the subtle clearing of her lady's maid's throat, positioned at a respectable distance, acted as a genteel nudge to observe the proprieties of their setting.

"Um, I, uh, apologize, Your Grace," Benedict murmured, his cheeks tinted with a shy flush as he took a small, hesitant step back, seemingly unsure of where to place his hands. "I… erm, it seems I, uh, forgot to, um, maintain my distance. Please forgive me," he added softly, his voice trailing off with a hint of uncertainty. "I, um, really didn't mean to, uh, make you uncomfortable." His eyes, a mix of nervousness and sincerity, briefly met hers before darting away, as if seeking refuge in the nearby foliage. "I'm, um, deeply sorry if I, you know, overstepped," he continued, his tone laced with a sheepish awkwardness as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, unable to find a comfortable stance. "I… I suppose I just, er, got a bit carried away in the moment."

Y/N's cheeks flushed deeper as she felt a rush of embarrassment mingled with amusement at Benedict's sheepish apology. She averted her gaze momentarily, suppressing a nervous giggle before meeting his eyes, she reached out to gently place a hand on his arm. "Oh, Benedict," she began, her voice soft with a hint of laughter, "there's no need to apologize. I… I must admit, I too got carried away in the moment." She glanced around, half-panicked that someone might have witnessed their closeness, but finding the situation more humorous than anything. "It seems we both found ourselves swept up in the enchantment of the garden," she added with a playful wink, her laughter bubbling forth despite her attempts to compose herself.

Benedict let out a sigh of relief, his shoulders relaxing as he returned to a more respectable distance from Y/N. He couldn't help but smile at her laughter, finding solace in her lighthearted response. "Indeed, it appears the garden has a way of enchanting us both," he agreed with a soft chuckle, his gaze lingering on her with fondness. "I guess we ought to keep a closer eye on decorum," he mused with a rueful grin, a playful glint dancing in his eyes.

Benedict entered his studio at the esteemed art academy with a purposeful stride, the faint aroma of charcoal and linseed oil pervading his senses as he stepped within. The grand wooden door emitted a gentle creak as he pushed it open, revealing a space that, while seemingly cluttered, held a unique order characteristic of an artist's domain. It's been days since Mr. Bridgerton had paid visit to Miss Y/N; days since his apparent confession unreturned with an answer, hoping of the most favored "yes".

The studio was suffused with the soft, diffused light of late afternoon, filtering through tall, dust-laden windows. Easels stood in solemn ranks, each bearing sketches and paintings in various stages of completion. The floor was a canvas in itself, adorned with a mosaic of paint splatters and crumpled sheets of paper, silent testament to his countless hours of diligent work.

His gaze was inexorably drawn to the central easel, where his latest sketches of Miss Y/N awaited his discerning eye. Countless hours had been devoted to capturing her likeness, her features indelibly etched into his memory and transposed onto the canvas from myriad angles. The delicate curve of her jawline, the subtle arch of her brows, the enigmatic depths of her eyes—each sketch narrated a different story, a moment either observed or conjured from his imagination.

Benedict set down his leather satchel upon a nearby stool, extracting a well-worn sketchbook and a selection of fine graphite pencils. He approached the easel with a sense of reverence, as one might approach a sanctified space. The quietude of the studio enveloped him, disrupted only by the distant murmur of the academy's other activities.

As he perched upon the high stool before the easel, he paused momentarily, allowing his thoughts to drift back to his latest sitting with Miss Y/N. He recalled the play of light upon her hair, the subtle shifts in her expression as her thoughts wandered. With a deep, steadying breath, he took up a pencil, its familiar weight a comfort in his hand, and resumed his sketching. He became immersed once more in the intricate dance of lines and shadows, bringing her presence to vivid life upon the paper.

As he worked, Benedict would lose himself in the intricacies of her likeness, his mind consumed by the challenge of translating her beauty onto paper. Every stroke of his pencil would be deliberate, every line a reflection of his perception of her essence.

In this intimate space, surrounded by the tangible evidence of his devotion, Benedict would pour his heart and soul into each etch, striving to capture the true spirit of Miss Y/N with every stroke of his pencil.

"Someone seems smitten, don't you think, brother?" Anthony's teasing voice broke through Benedict's intent stare as he drew, jolting him out of his reverie. A faint blush tinged Benedict's cheeks as he glanced up, his hand pausing mid-stroke.

Benedict's older brother stood in the doorway, a playful smirk playing on his lips as he observed the tableau before him. Benedict chuckled softly, the sound carrying a hint of embarrassment. "I'm merely capturing her likeness as an artist," he protested, though the affection in his gaze betrayed his true feelings.

Anthony's grin widened, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Of course, dear brother," he replied, his tone dripping with amusement. "But one might argue that your portraits of Miss Y/N are a tad... shall we say, inspired?"

Benedict rolled his eyes good-naturedly, a fond smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Perhaps," he conceded, returning his attention to the paper before him. "But can you blame me? She's quite the muse."

With a knowing laugh, Anthony stepped further into the studio, his presence injecting a sense of levity into the room. "Indeed she is," he agreed, his gaze drifting to the scattered sketches of Miss Y/N that adorned the walls. "But do try not to get too lost in your musings, brother. The real Miss Y/N might start to wonder what's keeping you so occupied."

Benedict nodded, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Point taken," he said, his focus returning to his work. But as he etched his pencil into the paper once more, his thoughts inevitably drifted back to the enigmatic woman who had captured his imagination—and his heart.

"Oh, and a letter arrived. It's for you," Anthony handed as sealed letter, "from a Lady Tilley Arnold. Seems urgent." Benedict stopped as he looked at his older brother whose held a knowing look. "I am not one to pry for I am one with your contentment, brother, but it seems you have unfinished business?"

"It is not what you are implying, brother. We are done. Lady Arnold had bid me done then. It is probably purely audience." Benedict replied focusing back to his work.

"Then I shall leave you to it, brother." Anthony left the letter on the stool and stepped out the studio closing the door, leaving his brother with his thoughts.

After his brother's departure, Benedict found himself unable to shake the lingering thoughts about why Lady Arnold had sought his audience. Their relationship had long evolved beyond the realms of a passionate love affair, and any such intimacies had faded into the past. Instead, he now saw himself as a respectable bachelor, poised to fulfill his societal obligations and perhaps find a suitable wife.

Despite this unexpected shift in their dynamics, the unexpected summons from Lady Arnold had stirred a curious blend of nostalgia and apprehension within him, prompting him to ponder the nature of their current connection.

As Benedict retired to his townhouse for the evening, his mind buzzed with conflicting thoughts about the impending meeting with Lady Arnold. While he harbored no romantic, nor amorous, feelings for her, the prospect of their encounter tomorrow left him feeling decidedly uneasy. After all, he had been actively courting Miss Y/N, and the mere notion of being seen with Lady Arnold had the potential to ignite scandalous gossip.

But then a knock sounded. In the dimly lit parlor of Benedict's townhouse, a cloaked woman stood before him, an air of melancholy clinging to the elegant form. "Lady Arnold, good evening! Do come in." He moved aside as the women entered. "To what do I owe--" He was cut off as Lady Tilley spoke, her expression tinged with a mix of determination and vulnerability. "Benedict, I sought you out because I'm leaving London soon. I wanted to bid you farewell before I go."

Benedict nodded politely, though a flicker of curiosity danced in his eyes. "Of course, Lady Arnold. It's kind of you to say goodbye."

But as their conversation unfolded, Benedict couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to Lady Arnold's visit than a simple farewell. Her demeanor seemed to betray an underlying tension, a sense of urgency that belied the pleasantries of their exchange.

"Lady Arnold," Benedict began, his voice laced with a hint of concern, "is everything alright? You seem... troubled."

Lady Arnold hesitated for a moment, her gaze flickering uncertainly before she squared her shoulders, as if steeling herself for what was to come. "Benedict, there's something I need to tell you," she confessed, her tone serious. "Something I've been meaning to say for quite some time." Taking a deep breath, she forged ahead, her words measured yet tinged with emotion. "I... I've realized that I can't bear the thought of leaving without expressing how I truly feel."

Benedict's eyes widened in surprise, his mind racing to comprehend the implications of her confession. "How you feel?" he echoed, his voice barely above a whisper.

Lady Arnold nodded, her gaze unwavering as she held his gaze. "Yes, Benedict. I know the risks of me being seen here in your residence but it seems that you have not responded to my correspondence... I have come here to say that I've been thinking about us, about our past, and... I can't deny that I still feel something between us."

Benedict's mind flew to the letter he placed on his desk earlier the night he reached his townhouse. He didn't even want to open it knowing what it could contain. A rakish past he, quite possibly, no longer wants to open. Benedict, then, felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him, memories of their shared history flooding back with startling clarity. Yet, beneath the surface, a sense of unease gnawed at him, a silent reminder of the boundaries he had vowed to uphold.

"Tilley," he began tentatively, his words hesitant as he struggled to find the right response. "I… I'm not sure what you mean. Our past is just that, the past."

But Lady Arnold was undeterred, her resolve unwavering as she leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "But what if it doesn't have to be? What if we could recapture the passion we once shared?"

Benedict's heart quickened at her words, torn between the allure of nostalgia and the reality of his present circumstances. "I... I don't know, Tilley," he admitted, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "Things have changed. I've changed."

Undeterred, Lady Arnold reached out to touch his hand, her touch soft and pleading. "Benedict, please. Don't you remember how good it used to be? Just one last time, before I leave."

Benedict felt a surge of conflicting emotions welling up inside him, his mind spinning with indecision. "I… I can't," he finally answered removing his hand from hers, his voice heavy with his conscience. "It wouldn't be right, just like you decided."

Lady Arnold's eyes gleamed with a mixture of longing and sorrow as she looked at Benedict. "Do you remember, Benedict," she began, her voice soft yet laden with emotion, "those nights we shared? How the world seemed to disappear when we were together? Every stolen moment, every secret touch… it was as if time stood still just for us." She took a step closer, her gaze never wavering. "The way we used to laugh, our whispers filling the darkness with promises only we understood. We explored each other's souls and bodies with such intensity, such reckless abandon. Every touch was a symphony, every kiss a sonnet. Our passion burned so bright, like a flame that could never be extinguished."

Her voice faltered slightly, a wistful smile playing on her lips. "We were invincible then, weren’t we? Bound by nothing but our own desires. It was a love that consumed us, left us breathless and wanting more. Even now, I can feel the echoes of those nights, the way your touch could ignite something deep within me, a fire that no one else could ever hope to spark."

She spoke of memories shared, of passion ignited long ago, and hinted at desires yet unfulfilled. Despite his best efforts to maintain composure, Benedict found himself ensnared by her magnetic presence, a faint echo of their past intimacy stirring within him as she caressed his jaw.

As the tension between them reached its zenith, Lady Arnold's advances became bolder, her fingers trailing lightly along the curve of Benedict's jawline as she leaned in for a kiss. For a fleeting moment, their lips met in a passionate embrace, igniting a spark of longing that threatened to engulf them both.

But as quickly as it began, Benedict pulled away, a confused expression clouding his features. "I am afraid it has ended," he murmured, his voice thick with regret. "This... it no longer feels right." His words hung heavy in the air.

Lady Arnold's expression softened, a hint of sadness clouding her eyes. "I know things have changed, Benedict. We have changed. But those memories... they still linger. A testament to what we once shared, a rendezvous that defied everything and everyone."

She reached out, her fingers grazing his hand. "Tell me you remember, Benedict. Tell me that those moments meant as much to you as they did to me."

Benedict felt a lump form in his throat as Lady Arnold's words washed over him. Her memories mirrored his own, a testament to the bond they had once shared. He swallowed hard, trying to find the right words to respond.

"Of course I remember," he admitted, his voice thick with emotion. "Those moments were among the most exhilarating experiences of my life. We had an affair, some rendezvous that was."

Lady Arnold's eyes softened at his confession, a flicker of hope igniting within them. "Then why can't we have it again, Benedict? Just one last time, before I leave. Let me carry that memory with me."

Benedict sighed, "Because things are different now," he said gently. "Our lives have moved on. What we had was rousing, but it's part of a past that no longer exists."

Lady Arnold's expression crumpled slightly, her hope waning. "But why?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Why can't we hold onto it, just for a little while longer?"

Benedict took her hand in his, his touch both firm and tender. "Because it wouldn't be fair to either of us," he replied softly. "I can't give you whatever temporary high you want, not when my heart belongs to someone else now. It would be a lie, a betrayal of what we both deserve."

Tears shimmered in Lady Arnold's eyes as she listened to his words. "I understand," she said finally, her voice barely audible. "I just... I had to try."

Benedict squeezed her hand gently before letting go. "I know," he said. "And I'm grateful for what we shared, Tilley, truly. But we both need to move forward, to find happiness in the lives we've chosen. You know it, this cannot be."

Lady Arnold nodded, her shoulders sagging with resignation. "I suppose this is goodbye then," she murmured, a wistful smile tugging at her lips.

"Yes," Benedict agreed, his voice tender. "Goodbye, Lady Arnold. I wish you all the best."

With a final, lingering glance, Lady Arnold turned and walked away, leaving Benedict standing alone in the dimly lit parlor. As the door closed behind her, he felt a profound sense of closure, mingled with the bittersweet pang of lost love. He knew he had made the right decision, but the echoes of their past would remain with him, a poignant reminder of a passion that had once burned so brightly.

taglist: @novausstuff // @pussyslayerhd // @amoosarte // @jupitervenusearthmars

again, please do send me a message or comment down if you would like to be added on the succeeding taglists for the five times series!

[matty-bear]

Could you write a fluffy fic where nick is insecure because of the hate online and his boyfriend (the reader) comforts him?

I love your writing btw<33

Insecure [N.S]

type: request !

pairing: nick sturniolo x male!reader

warnings: SFW, fluff, angst, slightly suggestive ?? (these parts are towards the end) negative self image talk, mentions of hate, fat-shaming, and slurs (last two are not specified they’re just mentioned !)

summary: after coming over to visit nick, you immediately notice his off behavior. your boyfriend reassures you that nothing is wrong and that he’s fine but when he comes back crying after filming a car video with his brothers, the truth finally comes out 

notes: hope this fulfills your request ! i enjoyed writing this even tho it was quite upsetting :3 best believe that if i see someone being hateful towards nick i wont hesitate to clap back 🔥 some people need to grow up and stop hiding behind screens when they post hateful shit . they’re just pussies 😒

WC: 4675

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　 ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　 ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　 ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　 ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

One thing you must know about Nick is that he is very expressive and is not scared of being himself. You could easily be able to tell how he was doing emotionally just by his facial expressions and body language. (This also meant that he was horrible at hiding things from you. This includes feelings and surprises and such) 

Which is why when you suddenly caught onto his off and quiet demeanor the day you came over to his place to hang out, you immediately knew something was wrong. 

 ✩₊˚.⋆��⋆⁺₊✧

It’s currently Thursday afternoon and you were gathering your belongings to head over to Nick’s. You knew that he and his brothers would be filming later today so you decided to head over to theirs as soon as possible. 

You also heavily missed your boyfriend even though you saw him two days ago. 

After slipping your headphones around your neck and making sure you have your phone in your possession, you grab your car keys and head outside. The sun immediately began to shine in your face the moment you stepped foot outside and you couldn’t help but squint as a result. After making sure your front door is locked, you walk to your car and get in the driver's seat. A soft huff escapes your lips as you start the car and adjust the AC with your right hand. When everything's to your liking, you finally start your short venture to the Sturniolo household. 

It only took 15 minutes until you were pulling up in the all too familiar driveway holding a black minivan. You can’t help the smile growing on your face as you hurriedly turn the car off and exit your vehicle. As you walk up to the front door, you take your phone out of your pocket to text Nick that you’re here. However, before you get the chance to open y’all’s chats, the door opens. 

You quickly lift your head, your eyes slightly wide, before you relax at the sight of Matt greeting you with a small smile. “Hey.” The brunette greets, stepping aside to let you in. 

“How’d you know I was here?” You ask as you step inside the house, the faint scent of fast food immediately filling your senses. 

“Heard your car pull up.” You hum faintly and nod your head at the male before the two of you start walking up the steps. “I smell food. What did y'all order?” 

“Chris was craving a ‘Mcdonalds' breakfast’ so I ordered some.” You can’t help but chuckle at the sight of Matt doing air quotations. “We have some leftovers so if you're hungry you can help yourself to whatever’s left.” 

“How much did you guys order if there’s leftovers?” An airy chuckle escapes your lips as you follow Matt to the kitchen, a single eyebrow raising as you glance at the two McDonald’s bags on the table. 

“Not much, just our regular. Nick hasn’t eaten yet so that’s probably why we have leftovers.” 

You quickly whip your head around to send Matt a worried expression as he excuses himself to go to the fridge. “Nick hasn’t eaten yet?” You ask as you open one of the bags. 

“Nope,” Matt replies with a soft huff. “He’s been in his room since this morning.” 

You hum softly as you close the bag you’re looking into. “This is Nick’s right?” When Matt looks over in your direction, you gesture to the bag in front of you. 

“Yup, that’s his.” 

“Alright, ima head up to his room and see if he’s hungry.” 

“Word. We’re going to film earlier than usual today so make sure he’s ready by five thirty.” 

“Will do.” Matt sends you a small smile before he grabs a root beer from the fridge and walks towards his bedroom. As the brunette enters his room, you make your way upstairs to go to Nick’s. The moment you arrive at your boyfriend’s door, your eyebrows furrow together when you don’t hear a single thing coming inside. Usually the male would be playing music out loud or watching a show but all you heard was silence. 

You hesitantly rest your hand on the doorknob and open the door with a soft creek, your features immediately getting illuminated by the LED lights in the room. 

“Nick?” You call as you step inside the room. You gently shut the door behind you as your eyes scan the room in search of your boyfriend. 

Where the hell is Nick?

“Nick~” You call again, dragging out his name as you set the bag in your hand down on the desk nearby. When you glance over at the closed bathroom door, you let out a sigh of relief when you see light creeping out from underneath the door. You quickly make your way over to the room and gently knock on the wood. “Nick? Are you in here?” 

The sudden sound of something clattering to the floor startles you and you instinctively take a step back. 

“Yeah, I- Hold on.” You hear Nick say, his voice muffled due to the shut door. More clattering runs through your ears before the faint sound of footsteps approaches the door. You quickly lift your head when the door opens and you can’t help the smile creeping onto your lips when you see Nick peek his head out from behind the door. 

“Hi, baby.” You greet softly. 

“Hi.” Nick breathes. Once the male fully opens the door, you quickly walk up to him and cup his face. You gently caress your thumbs over the redhead’s soft skin and forming stubble on his chin, your eyes momentarily shifting up to his blue irises.

“Have you eaten yet?” You ask, knowing the answer already as you land a quick peck on your boyfriend’s lips. At the redhead’s silence, you send the male a worried look and gently grab his chin with your thumb and pointer finger to make him look up at you. “Baby?” 

“I’m not hungry right now,” Nick mumbles, avoiding eye contact as he looks down at the hem of the sweater hanging on your shoulders. 

“You feeling sick or anything? It’s not like you to skip a meal.” As you set your hand on your boyfriend’s forehead to check his temperature, the boy quickly shakes his head. 

“No, I feel fine.” Nick sends you a small smile as you lower your hand. 

“Alright… Well, I brought you your food from the kitchen so if you’re hungry, it’ll be on your desk.” 

Nick hums softly and slowly peels out of your hold to walk to his bed. You can’t help but furrow your eyebrows at the male’s action and turn on your heels to watch the redhead climb into bed and bring his covers up to his shoulders. 

“Baby, what’s wrong?” You ask gently as you make your way over to Nick and take a seat on the mattress. Your boyfriend doesn’t respond and instead moves up to rest his head in your lap. He tilts his head a little so he can dig his face into your thigh, a heavy sigh escaping him as his shoulders drop. A frown makes its way into your lips as you gaze down at Nick. 

Something is definitely wrong but you know prying would get you nowhere. 

“Sweetheart, you wanna get up real quick so I can move into a more comfortable position?” Nick hums faintly and sits up to allow you to climb into bed. After comfortably situating yourself against the headboard, Nick immediately lays in your lap again. Your hand instinctively goes into the male’s red locks, your fingers carefully detangling some strands as they card through his hair. A content hum can be heard from the male in your lap as you quietly continue your actions.

“I missed you.’ Nick mumbles against your clothed thigh.

“I missed you too.” You say softly, a smile making its way onto your lips. 

“Can you stay with me tonight?” 

“Tonight?”

“Mh-hmm.”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll just have to go back to my place to get a change of clothes.” Nick quickly lifts his head the moment the statement leaves your lips. You peer down at the boy and raise an eyebrow at him when he narrows his eyes at you. “What? Did I say something wrong?”

“Don't act like you can't sleep in my clothes.” You chuckle softly as Nick lies back down. He takes a moment to dig his face in your thigh and comfortable before he continues, “I already put aside some stuff for you in the closet.”

“Did you now?”

Nick nods his head. “Your favorite hoodie is part of the pile. I seriously can't wrap my head around the fact that you can sleep in a hoodie without overheating.”

“I definitely overheat but I just like how your clothes smell.” 

“You're fucking weird for that.” Nick lets out a surprised laugh when you jab your hand into his side. You watch with narrowed eyes as the redhead rolls off your lap and sits up, the blanket that was once at his shoulders falling to his lap. “Don’t do that!”

“Don't call me weird.” 

“Well, you kinda are-” Nick gets cut off by you reaching over and grabbing his shoulders. The male lets out a small surprised yell as you force him down onto his back, his eyes widening when you hover over him. Before your boyfriend gets the chance to say anything, an anxious spew of giggles bubbles up his throat when you latch onto his sides. ‘Okay, OKAY! I take it back! Get off!”

“Are you just taking back what you said because I’m threatening you?”

“Well obviously… Now get your paws off me.”

A dramatic gasp escapes your lips as you gaze down at Nick. “PAWS?? Alright, you know what...”

“Wait, WAIT!’ Nick quickly grabs onto your hands and pries them off his body before you get the chance to do anything. “I’m messing with you!”

You hum lowly and narrow your eyes at the redhead. “Let go.” You state flatly.

“Promise not to touch me!” 

“I won’t touch you.” 

“Promise it!” 

You sigh and hang your head low, a smile creeping onto your lips. “Fine.” You huff. “I promise I won’t touch you.” 

“Okay…” Nick says slowly. He hesitantly releases his strong grip on your wrists and the moment you’re free, you plop down on top of him. Nick lets out a faint grunt the moment you do so and immediately wraps his arms around you. “God you're heavy.” You heavily sigh and dig your hand into Nick’s side the second that statement escapes his lips, your action immediately drawing panicked giggles from the male. 

“OKAY, OKAY!” The redhead exclaims through giggles. Nick begins to squirm underneath you and quickly grabs onto your shoulders. “You fucking liar knock it off!” Nick’s giggles ring through your ears as he curls his body around your hand, both his hands continuously shoving your shoulders to get you up and off him. You continue your actions for a few more seconds before you stop and wrap both your arms behind the redhead’s back. A large smile spreads across your lips as Nick heavily pants and throws an arm over his face, a few giggles still escaping his lips. 

“That’s low,” Nick mumbles. 

“You were being an ass.” You say with a shrug as you slip an arm out from underneath the male to fiddle with one of the strings of his hoodie. “You should be thanking me to be honest.” 

“THANKING YOU?!” You clamp your hand over Nick’s mouth at his loud exclamation. 

“No need to yell, I'm right here.” You scold softly. 

“Sorry,” Nick mumbles, his speech muffled due to your hand still being over his mouth. Once you remove your hand, the redhead huffs and frowns. “Again, thanking you?” 

“Yes, thanking me.” As you rest your chin on Nick’s chest, the latter stares down at you with a confused expression. “You were clearly upset when I came in.”

“Oh.” 

You lift your head slightly to lock eyes with Nick. “Is something wrong? You can tell me, you know. It’s not like I’ll judge.” You watch as Nick forces his lips into a straight line and averts his gaze to anywhere but you. After watching the male looking around the room aimlessly, you sigh softly and rest your head back down on his chest. “You don't have to tell me.” You say, your speech muffled due to the thick fabric of the hoodie covering Nick's body. 

“Sorry,” Nick mumbles, his hand gently resting on the top of your head. 

“Don’t apologize, there’s no need to. You can tell me whenever you’re ready.” You momentarily lift your head to land a quick peck on Nick’s lips before you return to lying on his chest. “By the way.” You start, earning a small hum from Nick. “Matt said to be ready by five thirty so you guys can film.” 

“Alright,” Nick says softly as he leans back against the pillow he’s lying on. “Can we nap real quick? You know, before I have to go?” 

“I was hoping you’d say that your warmth is making me tired.” You reply, your words slurring together as your eyes drift shut. You don’t even hear Nick’s response and only manage to feel his hand rubbing circles on your back before you drift off to sleep. 

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

LoveGame by Lady Gaga plays in your headphones as you make your way to the living room, a small pack of fruit snacks in your left hand and a can of coke in the other. You find yourself bopping your head along to the song, your lips mouthing the lyrics, as you seat yourself down on the sofa. 

The triplets have been out for about an hour and a half to film their new car video. You quickly became bored out of your mind being alone in the empty and silent house and you had to figure out a way to entertain yourself as you waited for the boys to come back. 

And that’s exactly what you’re doing right now. 

You shift your body a little so you're comfortably lying on your back before you rip open the fruit snacks. As you pop a few in your mouth, you fail to hear the front door opening, the loud music playing in your ears being the culprit. 

You also failed to see the triplets walk into the living room. 

That was until you felt a tap on your knee. You quickly sit up at the small touch and rip the headphones off your head, the music still somewhat audible as you rest them around your neck. You immediately make eye contact with Chris who looks down at you with a worried expression. 

“What’s wrong? Is everything alright?” You ask, an uneasy feeling settling in your stomach as you lock eyes with the male in front of you. 

Chris raises a hand to rub the back of his nape, his lips forming into a straight line before he replies, “Nick’s crying.” 

You feel your heart drop the moment the sentence escapes the brunette's mouth and you find yourself urgently standing up, the pack of fruit snacks and can of soda being long forgotten on the floor and couch cushion. 

“Where is he?” 

“Matt’s room.” You gently nod your head and make a break for the middle triplet’s bedroom, which is thankfully a few steps away. You knock on the door a few times to alert the people inside of your arrival before you let yourself inside. The moment you step foot inside, your eyes land on your boyfriend sitting on the edge of the bed and furiously rubbing his eyes. Matt is sitting on the left side of the male and pulls Nick into his chest, one of his hands immediately going to rub comforting circles on his back. 

You practically run over to the two boys and crouch down in front of Nick, a worried expression painting your face when you hear the male faintly sobbing. You momentarily shift your gaze from your boyfriend to Matt, who’s sharing the same worried and concerned look on his face before you turn back to Nick. You slowly set a hand on the latter’s knee and go to pull away when the male flinches at the sudden touch. 

“Baby?” You call softly, your thumb gently caressing Nick’s clothed kneecap. The redhead turns his head slightly and makes a small gap in between his fingers to look at you. “Can you move your hands, please? I wanna see your face, sweetheart.” 

Nick furiously shakes his head and goes back to tucking his head against Matt’s chest. You sigh faintly and lean forward to rest your chin on your boyfriend’s thigh. As you gaze up at the boy, you catch the redhead looking down at you, a larger gap being made between his pointer and middle finger. You manage to make out Nick’s irritated red eyes before he sits up and attempts to cover his whole face with one hand, the other reaching for yours to firmly hold. 

“Can you come up here, please?” Nick asks, his voice fragile and quiet as he squeezes your hand a few times. 

“Yes, of course.” You reply and quickly get up from your position. As you go to sit next to Nick, you make eye contact with Matt who’s gazing up at you. 

“Will you two be okay if I leave?” The male mouths. The moment you nod your head and ruffle Matt’s hair a little, the brunette slowly gets up from his spot on the bed and quietly exits the room. After ensuring the male shuts the door behind him, you take a seat next to Nick. The moment your boyfriend feels the mattress dip next to him, he immediately crashes into you, his face burrowing into your clothed chest. You slip your hand out of Nick’s hold to envelop the male in a tight embrace, your heart shattering into a million small pieces when you feel your shirt dampening. 

Nick slithers his arms around your torso, his nails digging into your back as he silently cries against you. You allow the male to get all his feelings out as you rub comforting circles on his back with one hand and card your fingers through his hair with the other. It took a few more minutes of comfort for Nick’s cries to subside and soft sniffles to emit from him. You wait for your boyfriend to remove himself from your chest and hesitantly look up at you before you look at him. 

“Oh, baby…” You mumble, your heart aching as you take in Nick’s puffy, red eyes and tear-stained cheeks. You cup the side of the redhead's face with one hand and keep the other on his back before you begin to gently caress the male’s damp cheek. “Are you comfortable with telling me what happened?” 

“Mh-hmm.” Nick hums, his eyes shutting as he fully leans into your palm. The male enjoys your delicate touch for a moment longer before he speaks up. “I saw some comments yesterday and they stuck to me. I saw more when we were filming today too. I’m usually able to handle hate comments because they’re fucking ridiculous and stupid but these hurt.”

“What were they saying if you mind me asking?” 

“Most were fat-shaming me and others were calling me slurs. I haven’t been called a slur in a while so I’m guessing that’s why it stuck. But you know how self-conscious and insecure I am about my body so seeing people nitpick at that stuff just…” Nick cuts himself off as more tears well up in his eyes. You frown deeply and quickly wipe the warm liquid escaping the redhead’s eyes before they cascade down his face. “It just made me feel more bad about myself.” 

“Sweetheart, can you do something for me?” You ask softly. Nick gently nods his head and sniffles as he wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. “Can you lay down? On your back?” 

“Mh-hmm…” Nick hesitantly hums and moves back on the bed so he’s no longer on the edge before he lays on his back. After the male shuffles a bit to get comfortable, you crawl up and reach your arm over to rest it on the side of Nick’s shoulder. After situating yourself so you're hovering over your boyfriend, you bite back the smile threatening to form on your lips as you take in Nick’s shocked and flustered expression. “If you want to make out, I refuse to do it in Matt’s room.” 

“We’re not gonna make out, hun.” 

“Then what are you doing?” 

“Can you just trust me?” 

Nick puts his hands up defensively and rests them on both sides of his head. You shake your head slightly before you lean down and begin to land soft pecks on Nick’s forehead. You slowly make your way down the side of your boyfriend’s face and make a trail of light kisses across his jaw, stopping near his right ear. You feel Nick shift underneath you, both his arms lowering and coming up to latch onto your shoulders. You take a glance over at your boyfriend and smile smugly when you see him squeeze his eyes shut, his lips forced into a thin line. You focus back on what you're doing and land a few kisses on the shell of Nick’s ear, a stifled chuckle escaping you when the male squeals softly and forces his ear against his shoulder. 

“What are you doing?” Nick giggles, his nails digging into your biceps. 

“Stay still.” You state, completely ignoring the redhead’s question as you continue your trail of kisses down the side of his neck. Nick subconsciously tilts his head back to give you more access to his skin as you litter his entire neck with kisses for a few more seconds. You stay on a specific spot near the side of your boyfriend’s neck for a moment and take his skin in between your teeth. 

“Baby,” Nick says warningly, a faint whine escaping his lips as you nibble on his skin. 

“I’m moving, I'm moving.” You mumble against his skin. You stay true to your words and begin a trail of kisses down Nick’s clothed chest. You shift down to continue to kiss down the redhead’s torso and both of his sides. “You know…” You start, lifting your head to make sure your boyfriend hears your voice clearly. “I love every single part of your body. Every inch of it. I find you so fucking perfect.” You lower your head back down to Nick’s hips, your lips continuing to leave a trail of pecks down his leg. 

You grab one of the male’s knees and push it up to allow yourself to leave longer kisses around your boyfriend’s thigh. You feel Nick tense, followed by his breath hitching, when you inch up closer to his thigh. When you get a little close to his crotch, you switch over to his other leg and repeat the same process you did moments ago. Once you get to Nick’s knee, you decide to tease the male a little by nibbling on his kneecap. The redhead lets out a surprised shout and immediately erupts into giggles as he pulls his leg away from your reach. 

“Sorry, I had to.” You apologize with a giggle. 

“Of course you and you. You can’t let me breathe for five minutes.” Nick huffs, his arms crossing over his chest. 

“Oh, please.” You latch onto Nick’s thigh and drag him back to his original position before you crawl up so you’re face-to-face with him. You send your boyfriend a small smile before you dip your face into his neck and start another trail of kisses down his shoulder and left arm. When you get to his wrist, you quickly do the same with the other arm. Before you lift your head, you nibble the skin on Nick’s shoulder and smile into his skin when he whines and shoves your shoulder. You pull back with a small chuckle and capture Nick’s lips for a quick kiss. When you pull back, you cup the side of his face with one hand and keep the other on the side of his shoulder to keep yourself up. 

“Baby?” You call as you begin to gently caress your boyfriend's cheek with your thumb. 

“Yeah?” Nick replies as he blinks up at you, a stupid smile on his lips as he leans into your touch. 

“Those people are fucking douchebags for leaving those comments. All they’re trying to do is tear you down and see you all down in the dumps. You don’t want them to win this stupid game, right?” Nick furiously shakes his head. “I know it’s hard to ignore all of the hate comments but I can guarantee that not a single one of these people will have the balls to say this shit to your face. And if one of them does, I will happily rock their shit because they have no right to say all these things about you. I think you are perfect in every way possible. I love your eyes, your nose, your smile, God how much I adore your smile, your tattoos, your hair, your arms which are getting a little buff if I may add.” 

When you remove your hand from Nick’s face to squeeze his bicep, the male smiles widely and lightly hits your arm. “I know I don’t see your bare body much since you like to have something covering your torso at all times but I am sure that you look fucking perfect.” You move your hand down and land a few pokes on Nick’s stomach. The sound of him laughing softly brings a smile to your lips and you quickly halt your actions when the male grabs your wrists. “Your laugh is perfect as well. It’s so cute and contagious.” 

“Alright…” Nick says, his voice trailing off as he looks to the side. 

“Do you not think so?” You ask, a single eyebrow-raising. Nick hesitantly shakes his head and looks at you. “Well, I think it’s perfect and I'm not taking a no for an answer.”  Nick sighs, knowing he can’t say anything that’ll change your mind and release you from his hold. When your wrists are free from his grasp, you lay down on top of the male and wrap an arm underneath him. “Also, one more thing.” 

“What is it?” Nick lifts his head to lock eyes with you. 

“I’m gonna post something on my story later to shut these fuckers up.” 

“y/n…” 

“You can’t change my mind.” You send Nick a large smile before you land a quick peck on his lips. After nibbling on his bottom lip, you pull back and rest your chin on his chest, and gaze into his eyes. Seeing that you’re staring intently at him, Nick grows flustered and covers his face with one hand and uses the other to softly push your face away. 

“Stop staring,” Nick mumbles. 

“I can’t help it, you're so pretty.” You can’t help but smile widely when Nick giggles and looks away. You gently pry the male’s hands away from his face and cup his face, the sight of his flustered face causing your smile to widen even more. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

“Mmm… Not as much as I do, I'm afraid.” 

“Really? You wanna bet on it?”

“Absolutely.” Nick hums softly and grabs the base of your neck to pull you close and crash his lips onto yours. You let out a small noise of surprise at the male’s sudden action however you quickly melt into the kiss. Before you allow yourself to get too absorbed in the kiss, you pull back. 

“Is that watermelon?” 

“Yeah.” 

“It tastes fucking amazing.” The second that sentence escapes your lips, you quickly plant your lips back on Nick’s to resume the small, yet somewhat heated make-out session. 

·:¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨:· TagList ·:¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨:·

@freshloveforthefit @nickuniversity @patscorner @frankdelreyy @sturnssan @kileybankzz @robins-scoop

[gaasuba]

First Kiss

A prequel to Disapproval

Link to AO3 1,108 words

Tags: fluff, idiots in love, they/them Hobie

"Excited for the extra time with you guys! Well.... I guess just 'you' today...." Miles wants to scream. 'Just you????' Come on, Miles, get it together! "I mean! Not 'just you' as in 'I don't want to hang out with you!' You know, I mean it like 'it's just us'," oh no that sounds too right! "Aaaagh! Look! What I mean is...." Miles takes a deep breath in an attempt to steady himself. It barely works.

Hobie is staring at him; amused, confused, and expectant.

Pav's and Gwen's portals close behind them, leaving earlier than usual, and now Miles is left alone with Hobie. It doesn't happen very often, but that was why Miles had planned this with them both earlier. He tries to hide his nerves as he takes off his mask and attempts to play dumb.

"They sure seemed in a rush. Wonder what's up with that," not that dumb!

"It happens," Hobie says with a shrug then pulling off their mask, "What about you? Usually busy with school work, innit?"

"All caught up, actually!" Pav had helped him get caught up two weeks ahead in case it took a while for a moment like this to come up. "Excited for the extra time with you guys! Well.... I guess just 'you' today...." Miles wants to scream. 'Just you????' Come on, Miles, get it together! "I mean! Not 'just you' as in 'I don't want to hang out with you!' You know, I mean it like 'it's just us'," oh no that sounds too right! "Aaaagh! Look! What I mean is...." Miles takes a deep breath in an attempt to steady himself. It barely works and he decides to commit to the truth.

He's already forgotten the number of this reality, too distracted by planning what to say in this moment, but its sunset is beautiful, so he feels it's a good enough place. Anyway, he's not sure he could handle coming up with more excuses for going somewhere else, and Hobie is staring at him; amused, confused, and expectant.

"Actually.... I asked them to leave early," Miles admits, "because I want to ask you something, but I'm not really sure how to ask it..." Hobie's expression softens and their eyes widen. They almost seem nervous as they shove their hands in their pockets.

"Oh yeah?" but their voice seems chill as ever, so maybe he's imagining things. "Well give it a go then." Miles bounces on his heels and closes his eyes as he focuses on his first words.

"When we first met, I thought you were the biggest jerk in the multiverse, but looking back at everything...." Miles' heart is pounding against his chest so hard that it's distracting. "You've been.... amazing ever since I first met you. Been rooting for me. Been looking out for me." Somehow the words bring a bit of relief. He manages to turn his bounce into a sway and to open his eyes, tho he can't bring his wandering gaze back to Hobie and he picks at the legs of his suit. "And I honestly can't imagine my life without you in it. So.... Look I know you don't like labels and this is for sure probably the wrong one but....!" He slams his eyes shut tight again, "Will you be my boyfriend!?" He's immediately embarrassed by how loudly he asked, but still, he opens his eyes again and finally forces himself to look at who he's been rambling at.

Miles has never seen Hobie this color before; pink and covered in scribbled hearts. That's good, right?

"Sunflower," the nickname makes Miles forget how to breathe for a moment. How long have they been thinking about calling him that?? "I'll take whatever labels you want to give us, so long as there's an 'us'." Miles is still stunned and processing their answer when they ask,

"Can I kiss you?" Miles considers his words for a second longer than he wishes he had, then quickly settles on a panicked,

"Of course!"

Still totally not smooth.... but Hobie doesn't seem to notice. They step closer, taking one hand out from a pocket to pull Miles' away from picking at his suit. He hadn't even noticed he was still doing it.

Distracted by attention being drawn to his picking, it takes him a moment to realize Hobie is holding his hand.

Distracted by Hobie holding his hand, it takes him a moment to realize they haven't moved again.

And he notices how their hand holding his is shaking.

So they are just as nervous as he is. So nervous they asked to kiss him and now are waiting to be kissed. Miles can barely handle how cute that is.

He uses his free hand to grab the back of Hobie's neck and pull them closer, taking in their awed expression before closing his eyes and letting his lips meet theirs. He feels Hobie's other hand rest on his waist, then gently pull him close....

Then shove him away with a shout!

"AH! Bleedin-!" They've turned pink and yellow.

"AHH!" Miles copies, jumping back before he realizes what happened.

He shocked them! And aren't those the colors they turn when they're angry?? Shit! He's already messed things up!

"I'm sorry!" he shouts, turning invisible. "I swear it was an accident! I'll focus better next time!" If there is a next time.... Please let there be a next time!

Hobie starts laughing. Miles just ruined their first kiss by shocking them and they're laughing!

"It's nothin, love," they say through the laughs.

Recovering from their amusement, they step forward and easily find Miles with one hand to pull him close again. The touch triggers them to turn back pink with the hearts. Their eyes are closed since they don't know where to look for him, but Miles can't stop staring at their smile. "You're amazing. I don't care if you shock me every time. I won't stop kissin you unless you ask me to."

Then why aren't they kissing him now?

Miles leans in again and kisses the heart scribbled across Hobie's lips. They tense for a moment, surprised, but relax into it quickly. While Miles focuses on not shocking them again, he also wills himself to turn back visible so they won't look like a weirdo kissing air.

He wraps his arms around Hobie's neck.

They wrap their arms around his waist.

They straighten their posture and it pulls Miles onto his toes but he doesn't mind.

He feels like he could stay here forever....

but he eventually notices the light though his eyelids fading as the sun sets, and supposes Hobie must have been serious when they said they'd never stop kissing him until he asked. He decides to make himself break the kiss.

The way Hobie is staring at him, gaze soft, lips slightly parted, illegible writing beginning to join the pink hearts, a barely readable cursive "sunflower" across their lips where the heart had been.... it makes Miles want to kiss them again so badly.

"I love you," Hobie says quietly.

"I love you too," Miles replies, then gives in and kisses them again.

[leossmoonn]

can i request a stefan imagine where bonnie locks you both into a room because you guys fight to hide your feelings, and when you're inside, you both finally talk it out and then when the next day the room is unlocked everyone makes fun of you because you fell asleep on each other

yes! this is such a cute idea :))

masterlist

warnings / includes - mild language, casual sex talk, underage drinking (you all are 18 tho), fighting, kissing, ugly crying (lol)

————

“i thought he was supposed to be the smart one,” you grimaced.

“boys are often enchanted by half-naked girls,” elena stated. “yeah, but not stefan,” you said, taking a big gulp of your beer.

“well, contrary to popular belief, stefan is like other boys. he got turned at 17, he didn’t have much time to mature.”

you gave elena a ‘are you serious?’ look before turning back to the man whom you were hopelessly in love with. it shattered your heart to see him dancing with another girl.

she was wearing a belly top with a skirt you knew that not even vicki donovan would approve of. she had her back facing towards stefan, running her hands through his hair as she moved up and down on him, obviously trying to get him riled up and fuck her in the bathrooms. meanwhile, his hands were on her waist, following the movements her body made. he had a big smile on his face, winking at her as he told her dirty little nothings.

the red solo cup crushed in your hand, beer running down your arm, some getting on your jeans. you didn’t even realize until elena started to wipe your skin with napkins, taking your attention off of the vampire for a few seconds.

“you had an accident,” elena snorted. “oh,” you frowned, helping her. “oops.”

“why don’t you just go and replace her? i bet stefan then would actually get hard,” elena suggested.

“please, it’s not like he’d even notice me. i mean, look at her, she’s gorgeous.” your insecurities took over your brain, and you couldn’t help but think of how many other pretty girls stefan could have.

“please, she’s below average, and she’s had herpes two times in the last four months. i know stefan is immortal and his body heals fast and all, but no guy, supernatural or not, wants to get involved with a girl like that,” elena assured you.

“then why is he letting her use him as a stripper pole?” you frowned. “maybe to make someone jealous?” elena raised her brow, looking at you and hoping you caught onto the hint.

“like who, you?” you smirked.

“he doesn’t like me anymore! and trust me, before we even got together, he was in love with someone else. he just used me as a jealous device,” elena shrugged, taking a sip of her beer.

“ouch. who did he love instead of you?” you asked, completely clueless. “oh, it doesn’t matter, but it’s okay. i was in love with damon, anyways, so really, it was fair. and he did love me, he just wasn’t in love with me, you know?” she asked.

“yeah, i guess there is a difference,” you nodded. “yep, and stefan definitely does not like that girl, so go and talk to him! you’re his best friend, and if you pull him aside to confess your feelings for him, he definitely won’t mind,” elena nudged you.

you looked back at him, your heart racing at the thought of you actually telling him you’re in love with him, and have been for the last year and a half. you shook your head, looking down at your shoes.

“no, no, it’s too risky. what if he doesn’t like me back? i can’t risk losing your friendship over some silly little crush.”

elena rolled her eyes, setting her drink down and taking ahold of your shoulders. she looked you in the eyes, causing your own eyes to widen.

“it’s not just a “silly little crush”, okay? you are in love with him, and it’s not going to get any better for you if you just stand here and push your feelings down. and look, he likes you, too. i know you don’t believe it, but he does. in fact, he’s also in love with you. just take a chance, y/n.”

“but what if he doesn’t like me and you guys have just been rallying me up for no reason?” you frowned.

“that’s not going to happen. now, go and be with your soulmate!” she pushed you towards him.

you glanced to her and gave her a glare, but complying once you faced stefan again. you walked over to him confidently, tapping his shoulder. he immediately turned to you, a bright smile lighting his face. oh, how you loved that smile.

“hey, y/n, what’s up?”

“i wanted to talk to you,” you prompted. “okay, sure,” he nodded. he abandoned the girl, letting you lead him to a quieter part of the grill.

“so, what’s this about?” he asked.

“um, well…” you weren’t sure you could just flat-out confess, so you decided it was best to have him confess first. “do you like anyone?”

stefan’s eyes widened, a flash of fear clouding his eyes. he shifted his weight, stuffing his hands in his jean pockets.

“u-um, no. why would you think that?”

your heart fell at his response, but you kept up hope. he was probably just scared because he didn’t know you liked him back, right?

“well, a little birdie told me that you liked someone. and me being your best friend and all, i thought it would be fitting for me to know. you know, i can help by getting you and her together.” you flashed him an eager smile.

“well, i don’t like anyone. and if you don’t mind, i’d like to get back to -“

“you’re really leaving me to dance with that slut?” you cocked your brow.

“n-no, well, yeah, but -“

“c’mon, stefan, i won’t judge. just tell me who you like.” you slipped your hand into his, interlocking your fingers together.

stefan’s dead heart dropped in his chest, giving him that somersault affect your touch often gave him. he looked into your eyes, seeing the desperation and pain that they held. he knew that he should tell you that it’s you, but he wasn’t 100% sure you even liked him back. like you, the thought of losing you was too risky for him to take the leap. so instead, he deflected.

“you don’t have to know everything about me! i know you’re my friend, but i have my own private life outside of our friendship. just leave me alone and let me dance with her.” he pulled his hand away from yours, the loss of warmth and comfort disappearing from you both.

you looked at him incredulously, not believing the words that came out of his mouth. you open and closed your mouth multiple times, not sure how to respond. you didn’t even know how to feel, really. you just felt your heart break for the millionth time that night.

he looked at you helplessly, guilt filling his chest as he saw the struggle you had with choosing to leave, or choosing to stay and work it out. he hoped you would choose the latter.

“you’re an asshole, stefan,” you spoke.

your words cut him like a knife.

“you’re right, you do have a personal life outside of our friendship, but you have always shared everything with me. you once told me that i’m the one that you trust the most, that you can tell anything that, that i’m your bestfriend. and-and what now? i-i’m only a friend? someone who you can’t even tell who you like? you told me that you liked elena, and i helped you with that. what is so different about this girl, huh?” you argued.

“nothing! i-i just… you just don’t need to know everything, is all.”

you looked at him good and hard, trying to decide if he was telling the truth or not. was elena wrong? did he really not like you, but like someone else?

“i don’t believe that,” you shook your head, speaking to yourself more than him.

“why not? you are never this… grueling.”

“because i… i just…” you couldn’t tell him that you really thought.

“you what? you think you know who i like? please, enlighten me,” he taunted.

you gritted your teeth, your hands balling into fists. you lifted your first up, ready to hit him, but bonnie and elena came over, restraining you.

“okay, let’s calm down, yeah?” bonnie suggested, pulling you back.

you started to cry as bonnie led you to a different part of the restaurant.

“you-you guys are wrong. he doesn’t like me,” you sobbed.

bonnie sighed. “he does, we swear. he just doesn’t know you like him.”

“are you serious! what is he, blind?” you scoffed.

“guys are pretty clueless, even immortal ones.”

“yeah, that’s what elena said,” you sniffled. “well, what do i do now? we can just resume being friends.”

bonnie pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. “here, let me show you something.”

she took your hand, leading you to the storage room. you went along with her until you saw stefan there.

“what? bonnie, what are you -?”

“have fun you two,” elena winked as bonnie closed the door.

you heard the lock click. you ran up to the door, banging on it and begging for your friends to let you out.

“hey! this isn’t funny! i’m claustrophobic, you know this!”

“no can do! work it out, you two!” bonnie shouted from the outside.

“here, let me,” stefan said.

you moved away, crossing your arms as you watched him try to kick down the door. he took ahold of the handle, pulling it off. he then tried to open the door, but it didn’t budge.

“well, good job. you’re a genius, you know that?” you remarked.

he turned to you with a glare. “as if you could do anything else.”

“well, maybe if you let me find something to unlock the lock, then there would still be a door handle!” you hissed.

“don’t blame me for trying to help!”

“well, it’s the truth! you always think you can fix things. just accept the fact that you can’t.”

“woah, when did this turn personal? if i remember correctly, you once told me that my determination was admirable. why the sudden change now?” he hummed, crossing his arms and looking at you like a smart ass.

you sighed deeply, your eyes filling with tears as you answered him.

“because you hurt me. i-i’m hurt, okay?”

he softened up immediately, his arms falling to his side, his smirk disappearing. remorse shined in his eyes as he tried to reach out to you.

“i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to hurt you.”

you stepped back, putting your head down. “it’s fine.”

“no, it’s not. you don’t deserve it.”

you turned your back to him, your eyes settling on the boxes full of kitchen supplies. you sniffled multiple times, your shoulders shaking as you tried to keep your weeping to a minimum.

you heard stefan sigh behind you. his feet dragged along the steel floor, his hand coming up to gently rub your back.

“please, look at me, y/n,” he whispered.

you turned to him slowly, the sorry pit in his stomach growing. you looked at him, your eyes drooping, tears lining your cheeks. your lips were swollen, your nose running. you sniffled once again, trying to calm yourself down.

stefan walked away for a few moments, bringing back a towel. you looked at him, heart fluttering as he wiped the snot that surrounded the bottom of your nose. he wiped your tears away, running the cloth carefully under your eyes to capture the remaining moisture. you watched him as he kept his eyes on yours the whole time. you felt yourself falling for him again.

he set the rag on a shelf, taking your hand and slipping his into it. you couldn’t help but smile at the gesture. stefan smiled with you, looking at you sweetly.

“i’m sorry. you are my best friend. you are the person i trust the most. i will continue to tell you everything and anything. i just… i was just scared to tell you who i liked,” he explained.

you nodded, understanding his explanation. “no worries. i get it. i don’t like being interrogated either.”

“you didn’t interrogate me.”

“oh, please,” you snorted. “we both know i did.”

he shrugged with a little smile. “well, i know you mean well.”

you nodded, “i do. i really do.”

“i know, y/n, i know,” he reassured you.

you looked away from him, the tension in the room weighing on your shoulders.

“you know, i think bonnie also put a spell on the door,” you stated.

“i was thinking that, too,” he sighed.

“well, what do we do now? we’ve made up,” you asked, looking back at him.

“i don’t know. are you hungry?” he asked.

“no. i am tired, though,” you said. “wanna lay down? i can be your pillow,” he suggested.

you smiled and nodded. “yeah, sure.”

he took your hand, getting on the ground. he laid flat on his back as you put your head on his chest. your heart hammered against your ribcage as he slipped his arm around you, holding you close to him. you fisted his shirt in your hand, closing your eyes and breathing in deeply.

his scent filled your nose, making your mind foggy and muscles relax. he smelled of sandalwood, leather, and jasmine. jasmine was something most guys didn’t smell like, but he did, strangely. it was a sweet, yet musky smell. it fit him very well, and you loved it.

your heart stopped as you felt him rub your back. his fingers scratched your clothed skin softly.

“so, can i ask who you like now?” you hummed.

stefan laughed. you felt the rumbling in his chest, making you smile.

“what?” you looked up at him, batting your eyes innocently.

“why do you want to know so bad? i thought i told you i was done dating for a while,” he stated.

you looked away and back at your hands that held the material of his shirt. “just wondering. and we both know that you’d love to have a girlfriend. one that isn’t in love with your brother.”

stefan laughed again, making you smile to yourself as his chest came up and down in multiple breaths.

“i mean, yes, but i don’t want to just date someone to prove that there are people that like me and not damon.”

“i know, but… what if the girl you like likes you back?” you suggested.

stefan stopped breathing for a second, his hand that was scratching your back stopping to a halt.

“you sound so sure of that,” he said.

you shrugged, looking up at him, hoping he could read the look on your face. “it’s because i am.”

he looked at you, his eyes giving away his emotions. he looked uncertain, but you knew that he understood what you were hinting at. he just couldn’t believe it.

“i love you, stefan,” you spoke, sitting up in his lap.

stefan’s face shone brightly as his lips upturned into a smile. you could physically see all the weight lifted off his shoulders. the hot tension in the room filtered out, being replaced with a cool breeze of relief. he sat up, putting his arm back around you, reaching his hand up to cup your face. he looked deeply into your eyes, his pupils running into his emerald irises. your hands went up to his neck, your fingers entangling in his hair.

“i love you, too, y/n,” he spoke, as if he had said it a million times before.

both of your reactions were minimal, but spoke a thousand words. the words felt natural, right.

you leaned in, eyes flickering from his lips to his eyes. your chest heaved up and down in anticipation, your heart ramming itself against your ribacage. stefan was the one to close the gap.

tingles shot up your spine, goosebumps lining your skin. you pressed into him - no space was between you now. you kissed him quicker now, opening your mouth and taking initiative.

he caught on in an instant. his hand that was on your cheek was now on your neck, cradling your head closer to his. he pulled you impossibly closer to him, sparks flying between you two as your chests rubbed against each other. you pulled on his hair that was at the nape of his neck as his hands reached further below your lower back.

his tongue ran across yours deliciously. you explored his mouth, tasting the bourbon and fries he had eaten earlier. you took a shallow breath as your lungs were gasping for air. you would’ve passed out if it weren’t for him.

“did you really like that girl dancing against you?” you blurted.

stefan tilted his head, chuckling. “no, i did not. and also, that’s really the first thing you’re going say after our first kiss.”

you shrugged. “a girl’s gotta ask.”

“well, then, no, i did not. i was trying to make you jealous.”

“well, good job, because it worked,” you snorted.

“yeah. i’m sorry again for making you cry. that was unfair.”

“it’s okay. i now know that you were just being a scared jerk,” you smirked.

“yep, that’s me,” he chuckled.

you hummed contently, placing your head on his shoulder. stefan resumed rubbing your back, setting back onto the floor again. it only took a few minutes for you two to doze off. you awoke again to the sound of laughter.

you opened your eyes, confused as you saw your friends standing over you.

“man, i thought you two were going to have sex, but this is worse!” damon cackled.

you grimaced, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes.

“shut up, damon. at least i know how to treat a girl right,” stefan muttered.

everyone but damon snickered. damom crossed his arms, glaring at his younger brother.

“i do know how to treat a girl right. right, elena?” damon asked.

“mm, i’m not so sure,” elena said with a shit-eating grin.

“okay, you all suck. i’m out!” damon walked out of the storage room, leaving only you two with elena and bonnie.

“so, did you two make up?” bonnie asked.

“yep,” you nodded. “and we are going on our first date tonight,” stefan added.

your head whipped up to him in surprise. “really?”

“yeah, if that’s okay with you.”

“oh, it’s more than okay,” you grinned.

“well, just don’t fall asleep on each other during the date,” elena smirked.

you rolled your eyes. “we aren’t rabbits like you and damon!”

“okay, and like damon, i am out!” elena exclaimed, walking out of the storage room.

“they’re children,” you rolled your eyes.

“so were you two last night, but i’m glad you made up,” bonnie said.

“thanks. us, too,” you smiled at stefan.

stefan returned the expression, leaning in and kissing you softly.

“ew, okay! i, three, am out. please don’t have sex on this dirty floor,” bonnie stated before leaving.

“wanna have sex at my house?” stefan whispered.

“buy me dinner first!” you scoffed. “what about breakfast?” stefan cocked his brow.

you pursed your lips in thought. you couldn’t help but grin.

“i think that would be lovely.”

————

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[tinysushimark]

Pick my calls up (Mk, 1.2k Words)

fluff 💖

*Calling Mark*

You were scared that something which you'd never know about must've happened. He was the kind to pick calls up in an instant. You had called him more than twice, but he still didn't pick up, making you even more anxious.

*Calling Haechan.*

"HELLOOOO!" Haechan yelled through the phone.

"Where is Mark?"

"Not with me."

"Can you look for him?"

"Y/n, did you call me to ask about him?"

"Yes, he isn't picking calls up."

"How many times did you call him?"

"Thrice."

"Omg, little y/nie is scared coz her boyfriend didn't pick her calls up and she called more than twice."

"You're an asshole."

"He's probably sleeping in his studio."

You cut the call when you heard Haechan say that. He probably fell asleep while working, yes. Of all the days, today was your day off so you couldn't even call anyone to pick you up and go to the company. You could always drive yourself, but you didn't want to. Its not like you had a choice, what if something had really happened.

When you reached the building, you saw your manager walk out from her cabin.

"Unnie!" You shouted to grab her attention.

She walked towards you with a smile on her face and grabbed your arm.

"Did someone call you here? You should've called me."

"Where is Mark?"

"How would i know that? How did you get here?"

"Drove myself."

Your manager didn't know where Mark was, no point talking to her anymore. You swiftly removed your arm from her grip and ran towards his studio.

The door was locked, so you knocked on it and waited. There was no response, so you knocked again. Then you noticed that the main switch from outside was switched off.

"Did he have recording today?" You thought to yourself.

You ran towards the recording studio which was just a few turns away from his studio.

You flung the door open and saw your producer.  You greeted him and he gave you a warm smile.

"Was Mark here today?" You asked him in a rush.

"No." He said, looking confused.

"Are you looking for him?"

"Yes. He hasn't been picking calls up."

"He's probably in the other recording studio, with the other producer."

"Got it, thank you."

The other recording studio was on another floor and on the complete opposite side of this one. Weighing your options, you swifted through the flight of stairs and walked as fast as you could. When you reached the recording studio and flung the door open, you saw him.

He was bitting his nails, hair a mess, mask down to his chin.

"Ahhh." He groaned.

"Pd-nim let's do this one again, it sounds so off key."

"Mark, come back tomorrow ok?"

"No, i wanna get this over with today."

"Listen to him." You said, all eyes turning to you.

You bowed to everyone in the room and took a seat next to him.

"We'll take 10." The producer said, making everyone walk out of the studio except for you and him.

"What's wrong?"

"I keep getting stuck at this one part." He said looking down at his lyric sheet.

"Its not the end of the world, you can record it tomorrow." You said grabbing his hands to make him stop fidgeting.

"I want to get it over with."

"Getting it over with, isn't gonna be your best shot. If you do it tomorrow maybe you'll do better than today." You tried to make eye contact.

"I'll make you the honey tea i drink before recording, tonight."

"Ok fine." He mumbled playing with your hands. "But u have to help me, with this part, i am just-" He looked up eyes almost on the verge of tears, he snuggled into your arm and let his tears slip. You patted his head from your other hand, resting your hand on his hair.

"Its ok baby." You said trying to silence him.

"I dont know how to make it not boring, why do the give me such boring parts. I always improvise and do my best, do u think I've lost my touch?"

"No, Mark. What the hell are you talking about babe, you're the best rapper I've ever met. You always put in so much hardwork and you always hide intricate details when you're recording your parts."

"You're saying that because you love me."

"No, I'm saying that because its the truth." You said hand resting on his cheek.

He stayed in your arms a little longer, burrying his face in your chest.

"Where is your phone?"

"Hm?" He looked up at you and then his eyes went wide, realisation hitting him.

"I dont have it."

"Yeah, but where is it?"

"I dont know."

Johnny opened the door and saw you two sitting close together and walked right back out.

"You're not interrupting anything, come in." You said loudly for him to hear.

"Thanks man." Johnny said, handing Mark's phone to him.

"You had his phone?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Coz he gave it to me before recording, and i asked for it coz i wanted to click pictures."

"Couldn't you pick my call up and say that he was recording?"

"You called?"

"Johnny hyung what the fuck?" Mark said, "Did you come here coz i didn't pick your calls up?"

"Of course, i got concerned."

"Ah hyung, what the fuck man?" Mark said again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you called, i dont know how to use androids in my defense."

After Johnny left, Mark snuggled up to you again.

"Thank god he didn't pick up." Mark said.

"Why?"

"You wouldn't have come over then." He smiled at you leaving a small kiss on your hand, which was on his cheek and then snuggling again. You giggled watching him behave this way. Who'd say that he was the same guy from when he performs. You poked his mole, making him look up.

"Let's go get dinner?"

"Yes, but can we eat something recording friendly?"

"Soup from your favourite restaurant."

"Ok."

He said getting up and putting his lyric sheets in his bag. He started to wrap stuff up when his producer walked in. Mark informed them that he'd record tomorrow evening and the producer smiled at you, knowing how you always convinced him that he could do better tomorrow.

You slowly walked out of the studio, holding hands when he asked you the question, you had hoped he wouldn't ask.

"How did you get here?"

"Drove myself." You said taking the keys out from your pocket.

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did."

"Omg, is my car fine?"

"You mean, our?"

"Y/n if there's a scratch, I'm not forgiving you."

"Who are you to forgive me? You don't remember when you straight up drove into a telephone pole?"

"Dont make me shout."

You spent the night trying to help him with his lyrics, the fact that you were a vocalist wasn't helping because he'd just end up laughing.

"I'm trying." You said and gave him puppy eyes.

"You made me take note of some changes which i should be making. So you did well."

He smiled at you, "You rap well."

"Don't make fun of me, Mark Lee." You said climbing in his lap.

"You did well tho." He said pinching your cheeks.

"Ooh, the tea! I'll make it and then we'll go to sleep, your throat needs rest." You said walking urgently to the kitchen.

The next evening you were anxious, hoping Mark was doing well during his recording.

*Message from Mark💖*

"Recording went well, see you at home."

You sighed in relief.

You knew he was getting you a present tonight.

[howisavedtheworld]

enough | hanamaki takahiro

genre: heavy angst to fluff, a *lil* bittersweet lmao, timeskip!hanamaki takahiro x fem!reader/gn!reader, established relationship

warnings pls pls read: money problems, cursing littered in a lot of places, mentions of feelings like depression, exhaustion, loneliness, crying, etc., blood mentioned *once* (it’s from a callus, it is nothing extreme but i want to state it explicitly anyways) if there’s anything else brought to my attention ill fix accordingly

a/n: hi!!!! it’s been like two weeks since i’ve posted, i’ve been in a slump, but i’m going to genuinely try to be more consistent and kind to myself abt wat i create! also every thing i’ve ever written on here is ib my personal experiences

heads up tho, i havent read the manga and this is just my dramatized take on his life post-time skip and certain things may be inaccurate 

enjoy!

also proofread at 4 am lol

wc: 1385

PLS GIVE THIS FIC A CHANCE ITS NOT ALL SAD I PROMISE

                                               -

if hanamaki takahiro were to say he’s “tired,” one would deem it a grave understatement.

he’s not just tired.

he’s drained.

for starters, he’s worked three back to back shifts and it was barely reaching wednesday. monday at the deli was tough, considering he spent twelve straight hours packaging and stocking prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches and arranging bags of kettle-cooked chips by flavor across the aisles of the store.

tuesday was even harder, the double shift at the restaurant hitting his already fatigued body like a brick. it was tiring enough to run around speedily clearing dishes and wiping down tables for six hours but it was absolute overkill to then spend the entire night cleaning the restaurant and prepping it for the morning crew.

6:39 am.

that was when takahiro finally left the restaurant, forcing his sluggish sore limbs to make the trek to the train station for the long ride back home.

in truth, the word “tired” barely even scratched the surface.

but he needed the money.

he needed it badly.

bills were always lingering on the brim of takahiro’s mind: the rent, the light bill, the water, the electricity. it left with him the constant urge to move, to work, to always be on the lookout for his next paycheck.

and of course, this wasn’t the best arrangement nor was it the life he’d hoped for.

of course, regret encompassed him, bound itself to his very being.

he wished he went pro after his glory days at aoba johsai, that he’d tried a little harder to be something. maybe then he’d have the opportunity to play in argentina, to travel the world, or to get signed by a sports brand just for the sake of it.

of course, he always felt a pang of jealousy for the ones that made it big.

even the ones who didn’t.

the ones with stable incomes, who could sustain themselves with only one job, who owned compact sized cars, who could actually save a single dime with hopes of eventually going on vacation.

deep down, he was jealous of them, too.

and he wondered, as he finally stepped foot on the train heading north, feeling the ache in his heels settle, if this would ever feel like enough.

if working two jobs back to back would ever amount to any feeling of satisfaction, if it was okay that he would only ever be remembered as the guy who didn’t go pro, who never got his degree, who was barely getting by.

he really didn’t think so.

because how could it be enough?

how could he have nothing to show for the life he lived?

sometimes, takahiro felt almost as if he was cursed. that life had dealt him the worst of cards just to see him crack underneath the pressure.

a lot of times, he did.

he had his fair share of low moments: the time he found himself shedding tears in the back of the deli, hiding behind loaves of rye bread and cold cuts hoping nobody would catch him.

or the time he bandaged his own bleeding foot by himself at the restaurant because his calluses broke open and everyone else was simply too busy to help.

in these moments, hanamaki felt so alone.

as if the world had forgotten him, had continued to spin on its axis, leaving him alone to figure out its rotation.

in these moments, he really just wanted to run away from it all.

to quit his jobs and just disappear for some time.

but he couldn’t.

because hanamaki takahiro had also learned that in every shitty day or moment, there was a flip side.

there had to be a sliver of hope in the midst of darkness.

7:32 am. 

that was when hanamaki got home.

he stood for a moment, fumbling with various receipts and trinkets in his pocket before he finding his keys and opening the door.

it was quiet. 

he could only hear the whirr of the shaky air conditioner and the hum of morning birds outside the bay windows of the living room. he took one step inside, wincing at the ache in his legs and sharp jab of pain up his spine.

locking the door behind him, he slipped off his shoes before the silence was broken.

“baby?” your soft sleepy voice rang through the apartment, making his body jump.

he was sure you’d be sleeping by now.

“hey, babe.” he let out a exhale of relief that you were the source of noise. “sorry if i woke you.” 

you sat up from your position laying on the couch, shaking your head incessantly while wiping the grog from your eyes.

“no,” you quickly spoke. “i was waiting for you.”

his heart skipped a beat looking at you, your eyes half-lidded from exhaustion with dark circles underneath them, your hair completely disheveled from your awkward sleeping position on the couch, and you wore his old seijoh jersey that was too large and slipped down your shoulders, the hem falling just above your knees.

you looked at him, offering a soft smile before beckoning him over to you. “work must’ve fucking sucked, c’mere.”

and you were so right.

it was awful.

he took lengthy strides over to you before dropping onto the couch, his head finding its way to your lap.

your fingers instinctively reached to stroke his soft locks and he sighed, leaning into your touch.

“are you hungry?” you murmured. “i made udon earlier. it’s cold now so you’ll have to warm it up.”

he was hungry, desperately so after not having a moment to get even a small snack in at work, but he wanted to stay here for just a little longer, pressed into you, feeling the pads of your fingers against his scalp, smelling your conditioner and listening to the softness of your voice.

he shook his head, and you laughed, knowingly nodding. “okay, you can eat it later.”

“how was work for you?” he questioned, eyes fluttering closed at serenity of the moment.

you hummed, fingers still locked into his hair. “shitty. you know, usual bullshit with customers. but i think with my next paycheck, we’ll make the rent.”

his eyes snapped open to look up at you, and you were staring down at him, an excited smile on your face when you locked eyes.

and takahiro knew you had hopes and dreams, that you wanted to go back to school and get your degree and have a normal job, and eventually buy a house and car, and maybe have kids, but you always said that part wearily, claiming you both should start off the family off with a pet first.

he knew you wanted something different. you’d told him.

but even now, in this moment as he stared up at you, saddened by the fact that the future you hoped for was nowhere in sight, there was no inkling of disappointment in your eyes, no what-if, no questioning of if it was enough.

you looked at him like the life you had was all you’d ever asked for.

as if of course it was enough.

before he knew it, a single tear rolled down his cheek.

your eyes widened and you moved a hand to his cheek, wiping the tear away.

“i love you.” he stated, a few more lone tears sliding down his face.

your face softened before you squeezed his cheek with your hand.

“hey.” you beckoned him to sit up.

he followed, sitting up to face your frame on the couch. “don’t cry ‘cus we made the rent. there’s always other bills you can pay. if that’s what you’re worried about.”

and he laughed, nodding while tears spilled over his irises and he watched you through bleary eyes, wipe each one away and pull him into an embrace.

“i love you. you know that, right? i’ll always love you.”

hanamaki takahiro realized that in this lifetime, he doesn’t need a sports deal, or a compact car, or trips to argentina. even if life were to always be this hard, if he was always teetering on the in-between, if this was all the universe had to offer him, that was okay.

because it had granted him you.

and you, alone, were more than enough.

[deathchamber6172]

Short Story: Day Six

It's June, yayish. I made myself cookie dough today, and I tossed in sunflower to finish it off and now, I can't tell if it tastes peanut-buttery or not.

And I'm finally finalizing Avery a bit more, I haven't decided how tall tho. This story is set in Infinite, where Avery is brought back to the field to fight, but gets to meet the revived Noble team.

Halo belongs to 343 Industries.

My spartan oc (Avery) belongs to me.

Repost with credit.

1. Day Six.

Avery paced around the room; she was told to wait by Commander Agryna. There was something for her. It wasn't here until the afternoon. That did not freak her out. She didn’t circle the base for most of the morning. She argued it could just be new gear coming in. Yeah, that could be it. Avery fished her phone out of her pocket, something Roza insisted on having when she was in her recovery period after…

She didn’t enjoy waiting. She didn’t like being kept in the dark. The commander hadn’t let a single detail slip, nor would anyone, for the matter. What was so important to keep her? Avery narrowed her eyes. 1:02, yet no one was here. She took a deep breath, tugging on her collar. Maybe she could put her armor back on. Regular clothes felt too light.

A creak jerked her out of her thoughts. She saw the door opened reveal someone standing there. Avery blinked twice. The tattoo of a fist holding 3 arrows reminded her of… Jun? His green spartan armor was gone, replaced by a suit. She didn’t think he would even like that clothing. She heard there was a surviving member of Noble, but couldn’t find anything.

Then the guilt came crashing down. It squeezed her stomach and she couldn’t talk. She wasn’t ready to face him; how could she when she let the rest of Noble die? Avery turned her head away, staring at the ground.

“What? Didn’t miss me, huh?” Jun stayed in the doorway. They told him no one made it, not that they found Six’s body and did whatever. He didn’t know what to feel when he found Avery still alive.

“Jun.” The silence felt suffocating now. “I… shit, I’m sorry.” Her heart pounded in her chest. She wanted to run or hide, to do anything, but this. “I… I failed.”

“What do you mean?” He ignored how his hands twitched at his sides. “I should’ve been there, Six, not with the doctor. She could’ve made it on her own.”

“You were following orders.”

“So were you.”

“My mission was to…” Avery cut herself off, letting out a snort. It was ridiculous.

Jun glanced up at her, his head tilting to the side. “What’s funny?”

“It’s just… I thought you would hate me.” Her earlier panic was slowly catching up to her body, clinging to her eyes. “I didn’t visit, didn’t bother with making sure they were telling me the truth. And now, I’m thinking I was being stupid with worrying.”

“You won’t hear any disagreement from me.” Jun shrugged at her glare. “They… they lied to me too, said Noble was dead. Not bothering to tell me your body got found on Reach.” He looked up at her, his hand hovering over her arm. “Avery, there’s something else as well.”

“It’s been ten minutes!”

“Kat, we shouldn’t-”

Her heart dropped into her stomach. Did she hear that right? Kat… Kat? Avery took a step back from the door and brushed Jun’s hand away. This couldn’t be right; she saw what happened, there wasn’t a way- didn’t the second voice sound like Carter?

“Avery, listen-” Two figures appeared at the door, the one behind trying to draw them back away from the room. Jun tried to block the view. “I haven’t told her yet.”

“Told me what?” Avery tried to focus on Jun, and not the person who looked exactly like Noble One and Two. Nope, not looking. “And who are they?” She didn’t know what answer she wanted.

“ONI did something. Poke at something they shouldn’t, like always, and brought them back.” Jun slowly moved away from the door. “Noble is back. Shocking, I know.”

“... what?”

[honeypirate]

I don’t knowwww what this is but I love this senbon user.

Genma x femreader

Part two here

Your feet land on the road a little ways away from the gate, jumping from the treetops and landing silently.

You’ve been gone for awhile, on a deep undercover mission that kept you away for a few years and you were ready to finally be home again.

You get to the closed gate and feel your heart skip when Genma appears in front of you

“State your name and business” he says and clicks his senbon against his teeth.

You place a hand on your hip, fingers messing with your headband around your waist as a belt as you smirk “I know I’ve been gone a while Genma, but I didn’t think I was that forgettable to you” you raise your hand and cover your heart “my heart actually hurts”

You watch the recognition enter his eyes as he smiles with the senbon in his teeth “y/n. It’s so good to see you” he says and pulls you into a hug. “You too Genma” you say into his neck, closing your eyes tight so you don’t cry.

“Sorry about the gate” he says as he closes it again behind you both “we’ve had some assassination threats” you say a soft oh and nod your head “no worries. I’m happy to be home I gotta tell you. I should find a place to stay” you scratch your neck and laugh softly “since all my things are in storage” you go to turn but he grabs your hand “can I find you later? To catch up?” You smile and nod “I’d love that”

After debriefing with the Hokage you found an inn to stay in not far from where your things were stored then you went to go buy some food and new clothes that weren’t from your mission.

You had a few bags in your hand as you walked the streets of the village, a small smile on your lips and a light heart as you familiarized yourself with your home town again.

“There you are” he says as he hops from the room of the buildings to standing next to you.

“Nice to see you again Genma” you said with a soft smile and a sparkle in your eye that make his heart race.

Even after all this time his feelings for you remain unchanged.

He takes the bags from your hands and offers you his elbow, which you take with a small laugh and a “thank you”

“Have you eaten yet?” You ask, looking up at him your chin brushing his shoulder. He smirks at the way his skin comes alive at your touch and the way his stomach fills with butterflies as you easy fall back into your old closer than just friends ways.

“No I haven’t. Where would you like to go?” You notice the way his eyes soften when he looks at you and the way his usual smirk seems more genuine. “Take me to your favorite place” you say and he laughs with a nod “you got it”

“I’m so glad this place is still here” you say as they place two bowls of pumpkin soup down on the table. “I’m pretty sure we’re still in business because of Genma here” the owner says from the back and you laugh “I bet. I’ve seen him put away a lot of pumpkin soup before” you wink at him as you blow softly across your soup to cool it down.

“Tell me about your mission” he asks as he takes another bite and you smirk “well. I guess it isn’t really classified anymore” you say and wipe your lips with a napkin

“I had to go undercover and infiltrate the growing army of rouge ninjas that were in the north” his eyes widen slightly, he’s heard stories about them and even tho they were a lesser version of the Akatsuki they were still a tough group.

“I went through the ranks until I was the right hand man of the head of the group who turned out to be a girl. She was an amazing person if she wasn’t so absolutely crazy.” You take another bite and he leans forward a little “that’s where you’ve been all these years? It makes sense as to why the missions involving them suddenly stopped” he says and scratches behind his neck

“After I made my way to the top, they were planning on wiping out the village hidden in the mist . I sent word back to the Hokage who told the Mizukage, I worked hand in hand with them to take down the entire army and now I’m here” you shrug and he’s looking at you with shocked eyes.

“What?” You ask with a laugh and he just chuckles “nothing I just.. I always just thought you’d be my cute little best friend from daycare” you laugh and run your hand through your hair

Before you can respond a member of the ANBU appears beside your table “the Hokage needs to see you both right away”

Your hands run down your face as you sigh deeply “so she survived and then escaped and is coming after me?” The Hokage nods “I’m placing Genma as your bodyguard and for now you’ll go into hiding, to one of the safe houses” you scowl, wanting to protest, to say how you can take care of yourself, but you honestly didn’t even know if it was the truth.

You nod once “yes, lord sixth”

Genma beside you tenses his jaw and nods once, he won’t lie, he’s excited to spend so much time with you, he just wishes it was with better circumstances.

“How long has it been? Since we were Chunin I think” he says as the gates close behind you

“Since we went on a mission together? Yeah since I was placed on your team because my team was all out of commission. You iced me out for the first day because you thought I was cute”

He gasps “I did not!”

You laugh and chase your head “yeah sure. So you ignored me but stared at me the entire time for the first day but then your excuse the second day was” you imitate his kid voice “I had something in my eye”

He can’t help but laugh with you, his cheeks dusting a little pink “it was true. I had something in my eye” he sticks with it and you just sigh and shake your head “yeah it was awkward 12 yr old feelings” you say back and he just scoffs, sticking to his original story.

You get to the safe house around nightfall, a small farm house on the outskirts of a smaller town that consisted of a small market and a couple shops, guessing that less than 200 people lived around here.

You flick the light switch and wait in the doorway as the lights flicker before staying on, a low light cast across a small living room with a hallway and an attached kitchen. Genma checks the house and secures it as you kick off your shoes and look through the kitchen.

“We will have to hit the market in the morning. Maybe we could go back to that ramen place we passed” you say as you meet him in the living room.

“There’s only one bedroom since were supposed to be acting as a couple, you can take the bed and I’ll take the couch” he says, twisting his senbon in his mouth and avoiding your eye as he tries to not imagine sharing a bed with you.

You laugh “that’s not fair though. How about we Rock Paper Scissors or thumb war or something else?” You can see the pink on his sheets and you’re pretty sure he’s thinking of the same thing you are, sleeping in the same bed.

“Yeah okay. Thumb war” he says with a nod, still not looking at you. He knows he could lose it easy and still give you to bed.

You cross the room to him and hold out your hand, he finally meets your eye as his finger slick with yours. His fingers were warm against your usual cold fingers and you could feel his calluses against your skin. “Ready?” You asks, eyes locked on his and a small smirk on your lips.

“Go!” You say and his longer thumb reaches for yours as you dodge it with a giggle, your left hand reaching out to hold his bicep as you dodge his thumb, he’s feigning trying to win until your thumb locks across his and for a second he forgets what he’s even doing, he’s too caught up in the way your eyes sparkle as you look at your thumb, your laughter that hasn’t changed since you were a kid. All those times you would joke together as kids and hanging out when you grew up. Meeting you again after your days in the ANBU, then seeing you again this morning, the way his heart has only beat for you his whole life.

He gasps softly when you squeal, looking up into his eyes with a grin “I win!” You say and his cheeks flush, your hand still on his arm and your fingers still locked with his, “congrats! You get the bed” he says, throat a little dry.

“Now let’s clean up and head to dinner” you say, dropping his hand. His hand feels empty without the feeling of your fingers against his but he swallows hard and shoves his hands in his pockets with a nod, pretending that your grin isn’t making his heart race.

There’s two bathrooms, one downstairs and one connected to the bedroom. You get ready in the bedroom bathroom and him in the other.

You know you’ll bathe later but for dinner you still want to look good. You’re supposed to sell that youre married to Genma so you dress like you would if you were going out with your husband.

You take off your headband and wash your face with cool water before putting on a little makeup and fixing up your hair. You change into a dark green dress that hits just above your knees. You spray a little perfume that you just bought before your mission, then head down the stairs.

You smile when you see him, sitting on the couch and twisting a kunai in his fingers as he waits.

“I have something for you” you say with a smirk as your reach the bottom of the steps.

“What is it?” He asks and stores his kunai before looking up at you and gasping softly, his eyes widening as he takes you in, his eyes slowly moving down your body before landing back on your face

He stands and walks to you “you look good” he says in a whisper and swallows hard, his cheeks blushing and warm.

“Thank you. So do you” you say and nod as you look him over, he’s changed out of anything that would give him away as a ninja. He’s wearing a dark shirt and dark pants that you realize are just a little bit fancier than you would have guessed he’d own. You look nice, like a couple that would blend in with the village.

You hold out your hand and open your palm, showing two matching rings “whataya say Genma? Will you fake marry me?” You smile softly and he takes the ring from your palm “I do” he says with a smirk and you chuckle as you slide the ring down your left hand finger.

“One more thing” you say and reach up, untying his headband and running your hand through his hair as you fix his headband hair. You hand it to him and he smiles softly “now we look like any young couple who moved to the country” he puts his headband in his bag and then held the door open to you “shall we?” He asks and you nod, taking his arm with a smile.

ꕥone month laterꕥ

You’re weeding your garden you have out front, the small sprouts bringing joy to your heart. So far they haven’t been able to find her so for now you’re still stuck here.

Genma is fixing a leak in the roof, the sound of his hammer reaching your ears as you wipe your dirty hands on your apron. You place the weeds in the compost pile at the back edge of the yard as Genma climbs down the ladder.

“All fixed?” You ask with a smile, your sundress flowing against your legs in the breeze and he feels his heart hammer against his ribs. You looked like the prettiest housewife he could almost picture this being his real life.

“All fixed” he says with a grin, a spare nail still in his teeth instead of his usual senbon. He had sweat lining his forehead and his hair tied back in a low bun, his face looks a little sun kissed and you couldn’t stop your mind from wandering to imagining him as your househusband.

Your cheeks feel warm and you wipe your hands on your apron again before taking it off and walking up to him, folding it and using a clean space to dab his forehead “let’s go inside, I’ll make something light for lunch” he clears his throat, grateful for the sunburn on his cheeks that he knows won’t show his blush. “Sounds good” he says with a semi strained voice, trying not to show how flustered you made him.

That evening, after dinner and bathing, you head downstairs to find Genma but pause when he’s nowhere to be found.

You find the door open but before heading out you grab his sweatshirt he had over the side of the couch and throw it over your head.

You take a few steps off the porch and hear a soft whistle, pulling your attention to the roof. You feel your heart skip when you turn and spot him laying against the roof, the moonlight glistening off his usual senbon he still used at the house.

You appear beside him and sit down, pulling your knees up to your chest and tucking them inside your sweatshirt.

“Isn’t it funny that we went from being apart for years to being thrown together for who knows how long?” His voice was a whisper but it felt loud because of how alone and quiet you where on this little farm.

“I’m sorry you got dragged into this. You probably have a girlfriend back at the village who’s gonna hate me when we get back” you say as you rest your forehead on your knees

Yes you’ve lived together for a month but you haven’t brought up relationships because then you’d have to admit the feelings you had for him.

He laughs and leans up, his elbows around his knees “no ones gonna hate you” he says and you meet his eye

“So then she’s really nice? That’s good. I always hoped you’d end up with someone nice” your voice was strained and he tilts his head, his tongue turning the senbon

“No” he says and you raise your eyebrows “so she’s mean? I didn’t expect you to be ..” he cuts you off with a laugh “no I mean.. no she”

Your eyes widen a little then you laugh “ohhh so you have a boyfriend. Well if you’re happy that’s..” he groans and falls back, his arms above his head exasperated.

He takes his senbon from his mouth and then lays his arm back down, looking up at the stars as he says in a monotone voice “I’m sorry I should have made it more clear. I’m not dating anyone”

You feel your cheeks heat up as your soul fills to the brim with embarrassment. “Oh”

You wait until your face cools off before you lean back and look up at the sky with him. You look up at the stars for just a moment before you decide to make a move and adjust your body, scooting up to lay your head against his arm.

“I’m glad” you whisper and pause for a moment “that no one is going to hate me when we get back”

You were glad he wasn’t dating anyone. Glad that he was single and that your feelings have an option to be reciprocated.

His heart was racing in his throat, his fingers holding his senbon in a vice grip as your hair tickles the skin on his arm.

Over this last month all of his feelings from childhood had returned with a vengeance. He thought that maybe they were the same feelings but as the days progressed he’s learned how much stronger they have become for you. How he’s been desperately yearning to kiss you every night here.

The way your hair is crazy in the mornings, the way you yawn and rub your eyes as you drink coffee, the way your eyes sparkle in the sun as you work in the yard, these little sides of you that he feels lucky to be witnessing.

He loves the way the house smells like your shampoo after you bathe, the way you laugh at his jokes even if they aren’t very funny but your laughs are always genuine.

The way you hold his hand and kiss his cheek when you go to town makes his heart race every time, he won’t ever get used to the feeling. He’s a ninja but how hard he’s tried to dig out all his feelings and do away with them, he can never seem to do it. You’ll give him one of those looks where he feels like he’d do anything for you, your smile and the way your eyes soften when they see him, and he can’t do it. He knows this is an act but he can’t help but wish it was real.

“Y/n I need to tell you something” he says and as you turn to look up at him, you sense chakra. He’s caught it just a moment before you and he’s pulling you to his chest, throwing his senbon. the sound of it hitting a kunai making your palms sweat as you quickly get your shit together.

“It’s her” you say and then she appears on the ground, looking up at you both with her hands out and a smile.

“I’m just here to talk” she says and you feel a chill down your spine “you don’t talk, Mina! We both know that” you shout back and she just laughs.

Genma goes to attack and you watch as it goes in slow motion, one moment he’s throwing a kunai and flying through the air, the next he’s pinned to the ground by another Ninja who was hidden in the ground, popping up from your garden and holding him fast. A little part of your heart twinges with sadness for your baby garden.

You move into the defensive, not knowing what to do next since you didn’t have any weapons with you expect for your jutsu. You didn’t what to do, Genma was trapped and you had to fight her with no weapons and who knows how many people she had in hiding.

“I’m seriously here to talk so you can come down now” she says with an excited lilt “don’t do it!” Genma shouts but it’s cut off by the sound of his agonized groaning “i think you should do it!” She sings and you don’t hesitate in jumping to the ground and walking through the dirt path towards her

“Take me and let him go” you say and she laughs hard, wiping away tears, “how about I kill you first and make him watch” she says and then immediately throws a handful of Kunai your way.

You gasp and dodge them easily, not seeing her move through the dark and and cutting your arm with the kunai in his hand.

“The ritual is compete” she says with an insane laugh and you feel your body become frozen, paralyzed.

Your eyes look to her and notice how her skin has changed to black, covered in white symbols where bones would be. “She’s like Hidan” Genma says in shock as you watch her cackle in front of you, her arms out wide with the kunai still in her hand.

“Do you know how much trouble I went through to find you?” She asks and then brings the Kunai down into her thigh making you gasp when your thigh starts to bleed from the deep slice.

“Don’t worry tho, I’ll make sure to miss all your vital spots until we’re done talking”

Your heart is pounding with fear. There isn’t much you can do right now, you know you can’t get out of this and Genma is detained. You’re going to die.

“I’m sorry Mina” you say between deep gasps of air through the pain “I was just following orders”

She cackles and you can feel her hatred coming form her in waves. The Kunai comes to her neck and you watch blood trickle down the side of her skin before you even felt it start to run down your own.

You gasp when she slowly pushes the knife deeper, the wound in your neck flowing more. “Maybe I’m done talking now” she whispers out and goes eerily quiet as she stares at the blood coming from your neck.

“No.. stop!” Genma is fighting against the other ninja, struggling but not getting anywhere.

“Genma” you whisper out but he stills when he hears your voice “it’ll be okay” you say, feeling your eyes sting but refusing to cry in front of her.

“Mina just go. Why are you doing this? You could run. You could go live the life you’ve always wanted and hoped for. The little farm you told me about. You can go do that you have been given this chance you don’t need to use it for revenge. You can be happy”

“Shut up!” She shouts at you, her eyes overflowing with tears

“I wanted that life with you!” she says through gritted teeth and you gasp softly, your heart racing. You never knew that’s how she felt for you.

“But if I can’t have you” she says, eyes wide and crazy, the tears suddenly stopping and turning to crazy chuckles “then no one can” she finishes her sentence in a quiet calm voice that’s even more eerily sounding than her laughter.

She raises her arm back and then screams as she brings it down to her throat with all the force she can muster! Your eyes widen in shock and you gasp, expecting to have it be your final moment but feeling relief flood your body when you hear the words from Shikamaru in the dark “shadow possession, complete”

Turns out Shikamaru and a few ANBU had been tracking her for a week. They would have caught her sooner but Kiba was on a different mission and couldn’t help.

The fight was quick after that, you don’t really remember most of it. Once Genma was free he was by your side and holding gauze to your leg while you held one to your neck.

“Thank you” you whisper to him as you sit in the dirt, watching as he dresses your wound.

“This is all my fault. I let my guard down. I was thrown off by seeing you in my sweatshirt. You look so good I got distracted. I’m sorry I let you get hurt” his eyes were on his hands and your leg as he finishes tying the bandages, you’re pretty sure he doesn’t even know what he just confessed to.

Your hands take his into your own, the wound on your neck stopped bleeding and isn’t more than a scratch.

“Genma” you say softly and wait until he meets your eye. His senbon was back in his teeth and you heard the gentle grinding sound as he bit down against it.

You reach up and cup his jaw “I worry about your teeth” you joke and he rolls his eyes, relaxing his jaw before looking back to your eye.

“We should get going. You should see a doctor about that wound” Shikamaru said, coming back from taking care of Mina and her accomplice and sending them off with a couple ANBU.

Your eyes don’t leave Genma’s but you drop your hands “okay. My leg isn’t too bad so I can pack up my things real quick. Could you help me?” Genma nods immediately and picks you up into his arms bridal style, carrying you back towards the house.

As you stand on your good leg at the bathroom sink, Genma goes to clean up his things. A quick sweep of the home since you kept it spotless normally in preparation.

You look at yourself in the mirror and sigh, brushing your hair behind your shoulder as you look at the cuts on your neck.

“Do you think they’ll scar?” You ask when he appears in the doorway, his pack over a shoulder.

“I doubt it. They aren’t very deep. If they do scar it will be gone in a year” you scowl and look away, going to grab your small bag if things to add to your pack on the bed.

You go to hop your way out but he drops his bag and puts his arm around your waist, easily taking your weight as he helps you back to the bed.

“Shikamaru will take my bag, I’ll carry you back” he says and doesn’t wait for you to say anything, just turns and crouches, waiting for you to climb up.

You chuckle “I’ll be fine” you say and he clicks his senbon before leaning back and grabbing your calves, gently pulling you so you lose balance with a gasp and fall into him.

“We’re ready” Genma says, not even ten minutes after Shikamaru said it was time to leave. You’re scowling but holding on to his shoulders tight.

Genma throws his pack to him and he catches it in silence, putting over his shoulder. “Let’s go”

His hands are firm against your thighs as he carries you and you notice how he never forgets about your wound, is always gentle with you whenever he has to adjust or move you.

“It’s gonna be weird not living with you” you admit with a small chuckle and his hands squeeze your legs gently “oh yeah. I bet you’ll miss having fresh coffee made for you in the morning and never having to wash a dish” you laugh and playfully slap his shoulder “and you’ll miss my cooking every meal!” He chuckles and nods “you know it. You’re a queen of the kitchen” you feel your cheeks warm and are grateful that he can’t see.

“We’re here” Shikamaru says and you feel your stomach fill with relief until it gets taken over by worry when you realize you still don’t have anywhere to stay. Shikamaru heads off to talk to the Hokage as Genma brings you to the hospital to get looked at.

“I’ll be here when you’re done” he says as he sets you on the exam table and your eyes widen “you will be?” He raises his eyebrows with a smirk “of course I will be” you feel your cheeks warm, the mission was over so you just expected him to go his way as you go yours. You nod, feeling your eyes sting again with your feelings as you smile shyly “thank you Genma”

A few medical ninjas heal your leg up and disinfect and bandage up your neck when you exit the room, true to his word, Genma is sitting on the chair across the hall with his head relaxed against the wall behind him. His eyes are closed and you can tell he’s sleeping, his senbon hanging in the edge of his lips.

You crouch in front of him and smile softly as you look him over. His messy hair and his recreational clothes, he was missing his headband still and has dirt on his cheeks.

You reach up and softly run your fingers through his hair, smiling when his eyes flutter open. “Good morning sleepy head” you say softly and he takes a deep inhale, a soft smile on his lips as he meets your eye. “Good morning beautiful” he says and rubs his eyes.

“Wanna get some breakfast?” You ask, fingers still moving slowly through his soft hair. “God yes” he says and you laugh, standing with a groan before offering him your left hand, which he takes without hesitation and stands.

“How’s your leg?” He asks, lacing his fingers together with yours and making your heart flutter. “It’s fine. Nothing major was hit, should just be a bruise now.” You want to ask why he’s holding your hand. Want to point out how he doesn’t have to do that anymore since this is your village and you’re not pretending anymore, but you don’t. You don’t ask. You just savor the feeling knowing it’s probably the last time.

You yawn hard as you sit across from him at the table, waiting for your food to be delivered as you sit quietly with him. You both looked exhausted, exactly like you’ve been traveling all night. You look up from the picture on the wall you were zoned out staring at and feel your cheeks warm when you catch him looking at you.

“What?” You ask with a small chuckle and he just smiles “nothing. Just looking” he says and it makes your heart flutter. “Would have thought you looked enough over the last month” he chuckles “not nearly enough if I’m being honest” he admits quietly and you chuckle at the softness.

“Stay with me” he says as he takes a bit of his pumpkin soup. “What?” You ask, choking on your own spit.

“Stay with me while you find your own place. Your stuff is still in storage right?” You feel your cheeks warm as you wipe off your mouth “yeah that’s true but I don’t want to impose I can just stay at the inn” he shakes his head “no. Stay with me. I have more than enough room” you laugh “I’m not gonna be able to change your mind Huh?” He shakes his head with a small smile “I insist”

He takes another bite of his soup and sighs “it’s not as good as yours” he says a little sadly and for some reason it fills your heart full of pride. “I’m sorry I ruined your favorite meal” you say and he laughs, running his hands through his hair and sticks his senbon back in his teeth. “It just means I’ll need you to make it for me now” he says and you laugh “anytime. But just for you” you say back and you feel as if your heart could burst.

After your meal he takes your hand again in his, lifting it and using his thumb to twist the fake wedding band “I guess we should take these off Huh?”

You nod “yeah probably. Since the mission is over” he sighs and slips yours off before he takes his off and puts them both in his pocket before he takes your hand again, your pack over his shoulder.

“We don’t have to hold hands anymore either. And I could take my pack..” your voice sounds as sad as you feel but you doubt you’d even be able to hide it.

“Oh” he says softly “yeah. You’re right” he hesitates for just a moment before dropping your hand and shoving his roughly into his pocket. He doesn’t give your bag to you though, which makes you smirk, your hand moving behind your back to hold your elbow.

The first night at his place was nice, you insisted on taking his couch and he couldn’t find a good enough excuse to change your mind. You helped clean off the dust and air out the apartment before he went out to stock up on fresh groceries as you shower.

When you get out the shower you wander around his bedroom, more or less snooping. You open his closet and hum in approval at the collection of comfortable clothing he has as well as his nice fancier clothing. You take one of the comfy jackets off a hanger and throw it on before you continue your trek through his apartment.

His apartment was spacious even though it was one bedroom. His room was large and open, a bed in the middle with amazing light when the sunrises. It has a couch at the end of the bed, a large bathroom, and decent closet. It had a sliding glass door and a small balcony that had a chair and table.

You sat on the side of the bed and opened the top drawer of the bedside table.

Exactly what you expected from him, a kunai and a box of condoms that were a particularly larger size than you would have assumed he would have.

“You big snoop” he says with evident laugh in his voice as he catches you with condoms in your hand.

You gasp and flail, the box hitting the headboard of his bed and falling behind you on the bed as you just sigh and hide your face in your hands.

“That was funny. You shoulda seen your face” he says with a laugh and you just keep your face hidden, your cheeks hot under your palms.

“God Genma you scared me” you say and he just laughs and sits beside you on the bed.

With a low groan, he leans slowly behind you and grabs the box of condoms. “If you wanted to know what size condoms I use, you could have just asked” he said with a twirl of his senbon and you let out a squeak that makes his skin tingle.

You decide to try and tip the scale of his cockiness so you quickly move, throwing your leg across him and pushing him down to the bed with your hands.

You lean in close to his ear and his hands move to grip your thighs “would you have told me... or shown me?” You ask, teeth connecting to his ear as you bite him gently, smirking when his breath hitches.

You lean up, sliding your hands down his chest and looking down at him with a smile for a moment before you take his senbon from his mouth and stick it between your teeth before you wink and slide from his lap to your feet. Walking out of the door with a satisfied hum and a swing of your hips.

You walk down the hallway into his spacious and homey living room, your toes appreciating the soft rug as you cross the living room to the dining room and kitchen, towards the brown paper sacks he must have left on the table.

“Oooh you got melon. I love melon.” You say with a smirk, twisting the senbon around with your tongue as you make eye contact with him as he comes across the room.

“I know you love it” he says and stands beside you, placing his hand on your low back as he leans down and takes the end of his senbon into his teeth and you smile, letting him take it from your mouth.

You know the condom moment made the air more tense between you, but you really liked it. It felt real, like the mission was just a show but now this, this!, is real flirting! Real feelings!

“That wasn’t very nice what you did in there” he says and you laugh “I’m sorry Genma. Did I get you worked up just to leave? How rude of me.” You say as you cut the melon.

“Maybe don’t dish out the teasing if you can’t handle it back” you say and offer him a small bite of melon. He rolls his eyes and leans down but instead of popping it into his mouth you quickly put it in your own with a grin

“Hey!” He says and you chuckle “what are ya going to do about it? Huh?” You tease and he places a hand on your hip and pulls you to his chest, a little squeak leaving your lips making him smirk.

“I wanted a taste” he says his voice low and his eyes playful. you smile, your hand on his chest can feel his racing heart and you reach up, taking his senbon as you say “then take one” his lips hitting yours less than a second later.

[aphrodite-would-be-proud]

overlordred said: Heyyyyyyyyyy Doll Face, it me again 🥸🤓, so I saw that you’ve had Porco on the brain and it made something in my brain click again. I don’t know what it is with my need for characters with devoted animal companions but it’s just my thing. Like Porco’s S/O has had her tortoise since she was a kid and it’s HUGE now and since I’m sure you’ve mentioned Udo loves turtles, in a last ditch effort to keep the kids occupied while babysitting them Porco’s like I have a turtle and the kids just lose their minds from this tortoise (who for some reason has a name like Speed or something 😆) If you don’t see it I very much respect that but I just thought I’d share lol. I hope you’re having a beautiful day and good fortune smiles on you. Laters!

Porco & you babysitting pt.2

{ Porco x reader | tw:none | fluff, light drama | modern }

{ "De Forest Interior" 1878 by Walter L. Palmer  1854-1932 }

"What's wrong?" He said with a frown, stepping back to give you space. "Did i do som-"

"No. It's just that…" you interrupted him, "Porco, what are we exactly? Is this a relationship or are we just friends wit-" 

Before you could finish, a high pitched scream came from where the kids were, snapping your attention to the closed door. Porco was the first to move, not wasting a second in pushing it open before hurrying to the living room, you followed behind.

The room was dark, with the tv blue screen illuminating it, whatever was on it was forcefully turned off. It was mostly quiet except for the shallow breathing you'd hear the closer you got to the couch.

Your eyes landed on a small figure, curled into a ball beside the couch, wasn't it for his glasses reflecting the tv light you wouldn't have spotted him.

Before Porco would trip and fall on his face, you flicked the light switch on, so he could avoid the pillows littering the floor.

Udo was looking sickeningly pale, glasses pushed to his head with his face buried in his arms while hugging himself.

Falco was kneeling to him, hands visibly shaking as he tried to soothe the other, growing more nervous as you approached them. "We… we were playing this game and then this-" he hiccuped between his stuttering as he tried to explain what happened.

Porco quickly carried Udo who clung to him like his life depended on it while Falco continued trying his best to form coherent sentences.

You went around the couch where the other two were. Gabi was hugging a pillow in a tight grip, eyes damp as if she's holding back tears while glaring at the floor to avoid meeting your eyes.

She only shook her head when you asked if she's okay.

Meanwhile, Zofia was just...sitting still, too still. Her stare blank and empty at the tv screen, keeping silent and barely acknowledging you when you approached her.

Part of you felt responsible for leaving the kids alone with a horror game when seeing their state now.

"Let's just move them to the kitchen, it'll be okay. Can you carry Zofia?" Porco said with Udo in his arm as Falco trailed after him while clutching his shirt.

You nodded before going to pick her up, she didn't resist but she seemed too stiff and uncomfortable. 

Falco actually came back to hold Gabi's hand and guide her with him after Porco, she took her pillow with her too.

When All of them were huddled in their chairs near the table, you could clearly see how visibly shaken they were.

You attempted to soothe them as Porco gave them some cookies and milk that they drowned quickly.

After time, reassurance and Porco lighting up the mood by making some snarky comments about the horror game they were playing that got them giggling, they slowly calmed down.

Falco was the first to feel better

Gabi soon enough followed. 

He was telling Porco about how he got the highest score in the game so far which made Gabi object and say she's the one who got the highest score, soon enough forgetting why she was scared in the first place.

They started another fight that basically was one saying "no you didn't!" and the other replying with "yes i did!!" over and over.

That actually managed to make Zofia laugh, more at them than with them. 

The only one left who hasn't spoken a word since the beginning was Udo.

Still holding onto Porco with shaky hands.

You and Porco watched as the three of them attempted to cheer him up, each with their unique way.

Gabi saying it's okay he shouldn't be scared because she will protect him and beat up the scary monster if it showed up.

No one dared to bring up the pillow on the table.

Falco said they can just go back and watch some Minecraft let's play instead.

It almost worked but the mention of going back to the living room made Udo even more scared.

Zofia suggested that they can play some animal crossing together and she'd even water all his flowers for him.

That made him perk up, only to frown again when he realised he forgot his switch at Reiner's place.

They kept listing off suggestions but nothing seemed to work or make him smile.

And the fact he still was actually scared and shaking made you and Porco more concerned by the second.

And then Falco said, "maybe we should...call his mom, she usually knows what to-" 

"Absolutely not" only to be interrupted by Zofia, "she'd never allow him another sleepover for at least a month."

You and Porco shared a look, as the adults in this situation it was your responsibility to make sure he's safe and call someone who knows what to do. 

Holding Udo closer to him with one arm while the other reached for his phone from his pocket, Porco scrolled through his saved contacts. "I think i have his mother's number saved somewhere...here it is, ms-"

In a quick motion, Zofia snatched his phone away. Surprisingly not only you but Falco and Gabi too with her strong reaction.

"No. You don't understand she won't allow him near us again." She explained in a firm tone, grip strong against the phone while looking at Porco in the eye. "Call Reiner instead."

Porco stiffened at the mention of the other's name, a sour look on his face. He was about to refuse but seeing at Zofia's pleading eyes made him stop at the last second.

He looked at you, you gave him a nod.

"Fine." He caved in, running a hand through his hair, "I won't call her, I promise.". 

Some seconds passed by as Zofia was eyeing him to determine if he's telling the truth, her grip only softening when her gaze fell on Udo who's still clutching the other's shirt. She reluctantly handed him the phone.

You watch the weirdly intense scene unfold, unsure if you should say something or not.

In the end, you decided not to interrupted. Although noticing how unusually quiet Gabi and Falco were, you realised that they weren't even in the room anymore.

Porco seemed too busy glaring at the air while murmuring something under his breath as the phone rang, while Zofia had her full attention on Udo.

Thankfully, you didn't have to say anything since Both Gabi and Falco came running back into the kuchen, huge smiles on their faces.

"Udo! Udo you won't believe this, there's this giant turtle in Porco’s room!" Falco yelled in excitement.

"It's this big!" Gabi stretched her arms as wide as she can, "and it's black all over with yellow dots! It looks so cool!"

That seemed to get Udo's attention, slowly turning his head from where he was burying it against Porco’s now ruined shirt.

"Really?" He whispered, eyes hopeful and colour returning to his face.

"You went inside my room?" Porco said, alert in his voice.

"What?" Came a voice from his phone, "why would you call me to ask that?...no i didn't. Are the kids okay? I can hear them yelling." Reiner said.

Apparently, that was what it took for Udo to finally calm down.

You watched as Gabi and Udo sat on the ground, faces pressed against the tank glass while attempting to coax the shy turtle out of hiding.

"Her name is lady dash, and if you step back and stop scaring her like that then i might let you feed her some meat." Porco said.

With that, both of them were under lady dash's love spell in no time. 

Gabi thought she was the coolest thing in the world, Udo agreed while counting the yellow dots on her shell.

Keeping true to his word, Porco let them give her some food.

They watched with anticipation as she emerged from the shallow water, slowly gliding towards the food.

They both held their breath as she extended her neck, opening her mouth as wide as she can before taking a big bite of the meat, slowly munching on the piece she cut off.

As soon as it ended, they turned around begging Porco for more food to give her.

Zofia and Falco joined too complaining that it isn’t fair since they didn't have a turn.

Porco looked at you for support, you just smiled before saying how come you don't get a turn too?

In the end he gave you all strawberries to give her to munch on.

After that roller coster of emotions, it came no surprise that the kids started getting sleepy and yawning, having used all their sugar energy from ice cream in the previous freak out.

If there's something you know, is that you should never tell a kid that needs a nap, that they need a nap.

Never ever.

Apparently Porco didn't know that.

And now you have four sleepy kids being defensive and offended that you'd even suggest that.

Thankfully tho, they seemed too tired to agru too much as they decided to finally sleep.

Gabi said she isn't even tried, she's only joining because Falco wouldn't stop whining.

Udo and Zofia agreed, despite the three of them being minutes from dozing off.

Falco ended up being their excuse for a nap, but he didn't complain...too much.

Realising that there's still two hours remaining before Reiner comes to pick them up, Porco seemed too eager to get them to sleep to get some time alone with you.

Hell he even grabbed the blankets and pillows and made them makeshift beds in the living room himself just so him and you can go back to his room alone.

"What…no we're not sleeping there." Said Gabi, standing in the middle of the doorway to the living room, arms crossed as the other three stood behind her.

"Yeah...it's still scary." Added Udo, stepping closer to Zofia. 

"Can we just sleep in your bed instead? Please?" Falco too was hiding behind Gabi, eyes avoiding the tv at any cost.

Porco gave a stern look, lifting an eyebrow as he too crossed his arms. "No. You're big kids you can handle it." 

"If you say so" Zofia poked her head from behind Gabi, "although, it'd be a shame if these pictures of Udo crying, Gabi drinking energy drinks and Falco eating a hot pepper pizza reached Reiner huh." 

And in that moment, you remembered exactly the fimilar sense of unease you felt about these kids some hours ago. 

You looked at Porco’s unbelieving eyes, knowing fully well he must accept this defeat gracefully. 

[love-peterparker]

In Extremis || Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: After the reveal of Spider-Man’s secret identity and the release of Quentin Beck’s murder video, there isn’t a lot going right for Peter Parker. But he has you. 

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Warnings: Cursing, protests and rallies, mentions of murder, a gun that is never shot, and some hair description for Y/N for plot purposes (but it should still be generic enough).  

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: I’m first a Captain America and Agent Carter fan, and I wanted to recreate what makes their relationship so special, but with Peter and Y/N… ‘cuz I also love Peter Parker. I really loved writing this, and I hope you enjoy it.

Also, thanks to @marvelouspeterparker, @sinisterspidey (she actually has a blurb called I’ll Follow You and it builds off of Spider-Man’s identity reveal) and @stuckonspidey for answering my anon asks for general writing tips and Peter’s character. And @spideyspeaches with her kind words after reading one of the final drafts of this fic. Lastly, a special thanks to @peterbenjiparker encouraging me with this fic and for making me so emotional with her series Invisible String (Read this!... but only if your heart can take it) that I needed to write something. This story has nothing to do with it, but it does make some small generic references to her fic, and I would like to think that Y/N and Peter are soulmates in this story.

***

This takes place in a universe where a FFH-esque identity reveal happens when Y/N and Peter are young adults.

***

This fucking city didn’t deserve him.

Peter rarely admits it, but you say it all the time. When you hit a dead end in the Avenger’s database. When checking for your gun before leaving another safehouse. When reaching for him in the dark of night.

This fucking city didn’t deserve him.

It had been over a year since Peter’s identity as Spider-Man was revealed and the dubious video of Quentin Beck’s murder was released. But it felt like a lifetime.

These two Peter problems were like ivy. They rooted, twisted, and spread. Winding into chokeholds around their victims.

But heroes knew how to play with fire.

Peter’s identity was dealt with in a straightforward fashion. Plenty villains who would do anything to exact revenge on Spider-Man, but they would have to find Peter Parker and identify his loved ones first. And for someone like Peter? Well, it was going to take some time.

To you, Peter was lifegiving. A shining ray of golden hope. You fell to sleep and rose to press kisses into his face. To cherish and hold. To share tears. But to the world, or even New York City? He was a nobody, one who couldn’t even hold a steady job.

You all worked fast while the wicked played catch-up. The Avengers searched and wiped all, but ultimately little personal information Peter had on the internet, as well anything that might connect him to your shared inner circle. Everyone was given an Avenger’s signal watch. And both you and May opted to move as a precaution. May to Brooklyn. You to Avenger’s Tower.

The case of Quentin Beck’s murder was a much more grinding process. Through polished superhero reputations, the lawyers secured an Avenger’s Tower house arrest during court proceedings. An overwhelming amount of evidence in Peter’s favor was gathered. Press conferences were held. Speeches were given. And when it all seemed like it was too much for too long, you and Peter would lie in bed, arms and legs entangled, whispering that everything would turn out all right. Good will win. You just had to keep going.

It was taxing, but not impossible. And just when you all thought you were pulling at the end of the thread with the jury in your favor, the ground beneath you crumbles into nothingness. You spiral and crash into a labyrinth, lush and high-walled. Maybe this was the way out- oh wait, you’ve been here- or have you? You all turn and turn only to face a new dead end. A new set of incriminating videos were released. Spider-Man’s videos took the spotlight, but videos of Wanda and Bucky were also revealed. The streets of New York bustled in whispers.

Can we really trust these heroes? What if these videos are the truth?

And what happens when these powerful people think they are right when they are wrong?

When public protests against Earth’s heroes sprouted and jury members started to disappear, it was clear that the whoever or whatever was behind this had greater motives and powerful allies. It was time to buy time.

Everyone had tried to convince Peter to go into hiding somewhere else. Anywhere else. He had enough super-friends where anywhere was possible. Lay low while everyone else above ground scrambled to unweave this massive web of lies. But Peter was infuriatingly adamant that New York, regardless of her wavering loyalties, was his to protect.

So two months ago, he started bouncing around New York City, investigating when he could, and making polarizing headlines with every swing he took.

You tried to continue as if Peter was still by your side. After being terminated from your junior journalist job for “suspect ties to Spider-Man,” Spider-Man became your mission. You originally attended press conferences and rallies as moral support, but after Peter’s first awkward mumbles of a speech, it was painfully clear that he needed a new voice. The public herself needed a normal person who interacted with superheroes. Who better than Spider-Man’s girlfriend? But after the last kidnapping attempt and the Avengers’ numbers shrinking, it was clear that this wouldn’t last. The world now knew who you were too.

The thick ivy had caught up, and you were on fire.

But to hell with it because there was no universe where you would be leaving this nightmare without him. So the next time you looked in the mirror, you donned short red hair and heavy eyeliner.  

Days were spent questioning possible witnesses. Nights were spent in the light of a computer. And when you could barely drag yourself to continue, moments were spent staring at your beautiful boy’s picture. He needed you.  

You had only heard from him twice since he went into hiding, though there were a few times answered unknown number calls would lead to abstract rustling and distinct web shooter noises. To those, you always whispered “I love you,” before hanging up.

That was until last night, when you noticed small slip of paper in the crack of the window of the safehouse you had been staying at. Only a time and an address were written, in messy, but undeniably Parker script.

You spent the next day visiting arbitrary places in the Bronx, trying to determine if anyone was following you and collecting items in an unsuspecting backpack.

It was a balancing act between comfort and practicalities. An extra stealth suit. A waterproof jacket you both shared. Protein bars. Extra web fluid and a first-aid kit. A hefty wad of cash, just in case. And in the smallest pocket, things to help him in the darkest days to come. Letters from you, May, Ned, and your other friends. A few packs of gummy bears. And a picture of you and him, laughing in Central Park on one of your many dates. Sunlight casting halos on your heads. Bright. Carefree. Brimming with love.

Your heart cried and cried and cried, begging for those days.

But they were gone. And as much as you didn’t want to admit it, so were the people in that picture.

You travelled to the building location and made your way to the rooftop. Rows and rows of white sheets were hung, all whipping in the wind to dry.

A small smile graced your lips. You had to hand it to him. He was smart.

You folded yourself into one of the corners of the rooftop, gun in hand and waited. Eerie silence slowly lulling you to…

You woke up to the soft footsteps, sleepy eyes registering a shadowy figure behind one of the bedsheets.

“Hans?” you whispered, pointing your gun with a finger on the trigger.

“Leia,” the figured replied, equally hushed. The shadow lifted the curtain. It took a second to register, but it was really him. You raced towards each other, quick hold each other, beaming. Today, you existed in the same place at the same time.

“That was so stupid. I can’t believe you got me to do that,” you laughed, pressing your face into him, holding him tightly as if he could disappear at any moment.

“Oh, come on, you loved it!” he quipped. You hummed in appreciation.

“True, but I love you more.” His eyes brightened at your confession, pink dusting his cheeks.

“I know.” You shook your head, smiling at his response before turning your head and taking in who he had become. Gone were the luxurious curls, replaced with a buzzcut. A pair of fake glasses perched on his nose in further attempts to conceal his identity. Hallowed eyes. His skin tinted gray from the stress. You ran your fingers through the fuzz on his head, massaging his scalp. A sigh escaped his lips, eyes fluttering shut, with hands reaching to caress yours.

“You cut your hair.”

“You did too.” His fingers danced in the ends of your own tresses. A sad smile furnished your face.

“It had to be done,” you replied, before pressing your lips to his cheek and gently removing yourself from his embrace to get your laptop. “We need to get started. We’ve found a lot since you left.”

With his head on your shoulder, fingers laced with yours, and your laptop on your lap, you recounted the on-going investigation to him. The deep web that just kept going and going. Your theories and suspects. And when that was done, you kept talking. How Aunt May and his friends were fine but missing him. How the remaining Avengers were fairing. Peter was oddly quiet, sharing only a few thoughts here and there, but you attributed it to his weariness.

As the sun continued to dip, the silences between sentences stretched, but you mustered more words. As if your sentences were the delicate string that grounded him to you.

“Y/N,” he interrupted. You looked at him and hummed in reply. He began playing with your fingers, eyes never meeting your own. “I love you more than I ever I thought I could, and I’m really thankful for everything you’ve done. And you’ve done so much. Like, I don’t know if I would have even made it this far without you, but here you are, and well, you can’t keep doing this.” You cocked your head, before shaking your head, hair rustling.

“What? Peter, we are getting somewhere! I just need to visit the-“ He lets go of your hand, fingers clenching into trembling fists.

“No, no more visits. No more investigating. This can’t be your life. When this started, we thought there was a way out. But it’s been over a year. Clearly whoever or whatever is doing this won’t stop until we’re all gone. This may never stop. I can’t have you throwing away your life for me. Hell, I don’t even know when I’ll see you aga-“

“Peter,” you cut him off, your voice pitched lower in concern, “Where is this coming from? We’re gonna make it. It is just a matter of-”

“I can’t give you what you deserve! I’m Spider-Man, so we don’t get to have a house and two kids! We get this-, this fucking disaster! I live like this because I have to. I don’t get a choice. And you shouldn’t be stupid enough where you are doing the same thing!”  

Your mouth fell open, ready to spit back poison when he looked at you. It was in his eyes. Behind the falling tears and redness was the glint of insecurity that Peter had always carried. This was the child whose parents died. The teenager who didn’t stop his Uncle Ben from getting killed. Who held Tony Stark in his last moments. The man who was on the run.  

The hero who would never stop giving to a world who would never stop taking.

Your thoughts frenzied. If you held on to him too tightly, he would resist. The more he would thrash, determined to save you while slowly sacrificing himself until there was nothing left. Your brain was frozen, so your heart gave you the words-

“Marry me.”  

Peter’s eyes widen before retracting into a tight furrow, scrunching his nose.

“What?! No! Did you not hear anything I just said-“

“I’m not leaving you. I will never leave you. The one thing you never get to doubt in the world is us. So, I’m gonna ask you again; will you,” you took his hand, went to one knee, and let your voice soften as you held his gaze, “Peter Parker, marry me?”  

You both bathed in silence. His chocolate doe eyes boring straight into yours, searching for truth. The thought that maybe you had gone about this the wrong way started to crawl into your mind, but then a smile slowly creeped onto his face, bright red with blush. More salt-water pooled in his eyes. He pulled you into a near lung-constricting embrace, smothering wet kisses into every inch of your face. Mine. Mine. Mine. You could practically hear his thoughts as you basked in each kiss. I missed you. I love you. And oh my god, you’re here to stay.

“What did I ever-, I have no idea know what I ever did to ever deserve you.” A smirked formed on your lips.

“Is that a yes?” The gold stars in his eyes shined at your playfulness. There was the man you always loved.

“Yes, yes, oh god yes. I do, Mrs. Parker,” he said pulling you in for a passionate kiss. And you both stayed there, melting into the ground beneath you. Breathing each other in as moments passed. Tender “I love you’s” flowing generously from both of your lips. As if the world had vanished and all that existed was you and him, and him and you, and this understanding that this, this was a love until death do you part.

Peter was the one to break the string of kisses, leaving you to chase his lips before touching his forehead with your own. His breath hot on your face. “I- , if you go to my lab there is a secret compartment. In my desk. The code is your birthday. I was going to ask you myself, but then, well… this.” You chuckled as he stumbled on his words.

“I’ll get it as soon as I can.” You both leaned in to close the gap again when a cacophony of sirens and lights echoed in the streets below.

Frustration filled Peter’s eyes as he sat up. “Shit. I-, I gotta go. Are you gonna be okay?” You let out a shallow breath, but quickly forced a smile.

“Go get’em.” And with the whip of his webs, he was gone.

You sat there for a moment, taking in the new quiet. Your fingers graced your lips, still warm with the memory of his. A lightness had settled in your chest, and with every breathe you could feel it pulse stronger.

Because no matter what it took, no matter how long the wait, there was two things for certain.

He was going to protect the city. And you were going to save your husband.

[shinymooncolor]

Hi!

So - had two prompts that I’ve combined into this chat!

As always @lumosinlove is the mastermind of this wonderful fandom. 💖

I want to thank you all! Over 20 snippets and chats now. You guys are absolutely incredible and I can’t believe the feedback and love and good vibes I get from you. Thank you! I’m all done with prompts except for one which is the next chat - so I’ll be open for your ideas 😍

@frombeauxbatons and @canesinthecrease just because you inspire me ❤️

The boys are being naughty at a team event. Don’t worry. Consent was given on all accounts - they’re good boys! But they’re also a bunch of frat boys with muscles.

Remus plans a prank. He blames dumo and James. Nado organizes. Sergei wins. Timmy loses. Dumo is a prankster too. Olli is sneaky. Sirius is not in on the prank. Kuny is Kuny. Nat is amazing. Kris is an ally. Nado is also the team’s phoebe. (Friends reference)

Sweater weather chat #14

——

Saturday 5.22 pm

Nado created a group chat.

Nado named the group chat THE BIG LIONS HEIST 2020.

Nado added James, Remus, Dumo

Nado: hey Re. Remember the plan? We need to get all the boys to take the selfie before he notices

Remus: Nado. We’ve gone over this multiple times. I’ll get the phone from Sirius. I still think this is a disaster but you and James are very convincing

James: it’s a fucking awesome plan. He won’t notice I bet

Nado: also extra points if you get him all worked up😂

James: I don’t wanna spend an entire evening looking at Sirius trying to hide a hard-on

Nado: why not? It’s funny 😂

Dumo: why did remus get the easiest job?

Remus: I’m the only one who gets to put my hands in Sirius’ pocket.

Nado: awwww jealous?? You know we see him naked like several times a day?

Dumo: you’re not supposed to look.

Nado: I’m curious about the human body!

James: well we’ve all had sneak peaks. Still scared of Sergei

Dumo: he should hAve a tramp stamp saying heavy machinery

Nado: lets get him drunk!!!! Brady can ink him!!!!

Remus: you are not inking anyone without their consent. Also; have you met his wife? She’d skin you all alive.

Dumo: she would. I’ve seen her make a reporter cry.

James: why?

Dumo: the reporter insinuated things about Kuny. Not sure what he said but based on the cursing and sunny having to physically restrain her I think it was bad

Nado: yikes anyways we got everyone on board. I’ll kick cap out the group chat once you’ve swiped the phone. Now go get your tuxes on. We’ve got rich old ladies to woo.

Dumo: you’re not supposed to take them home.

Nado: I never saw that rule. Older ladies knows some shit. Damn. Cougars are wild!

Remus: I’m not treating sex injuries

Nado: you treated Kuny’s groin last month?

Remus: that was from the ice.

Nado: sure it was 😜

Dumo: I’m ending this. Go change and BEHAVE tonight

——

Saturday 8.54 pm

Nadotheman removed siriusly from the group chat

Nadotheman added Remus to the group chat

Nadotheman changed Remus to Loops

Blizzard: did you do it? You have the phone?

Loops: yes. I did my part. Your guys are up

Nadotheman: okay here are the rules for the 2020 lions heist (this year we’re doing truth and dare the lions way - so mostly dare)

1. We have 3 hours and cap’s phone. Each team member has to get a selfie with cap in the frame. The best (dirtiest) photo wins 😜

2. CAP CANT KNOW

3. Leo and Walker are starting and they get to chose the next one. You’ve all got one photo each

4. To be considered we need the photo sent to this chat before midnight.

5. Remus is the ref on this little game.

6. If you lose. You’ve gotta tell us 3 secrets. He he we get to pick when.

DamnFoxy: how is this a prank on cap?

Prongstar: he’s always being swarmed and it’s fun. He’s our canvas and we need to fill in the blanks. It’s like hide and seek meeting truth and dare meeting Pictionary meeting Snapchat

CarbO’Hara: so we can start? Cause Kuny’s been snogging that girl for 4 minutes now? Does he not need to breathe?

Nadotheman: that’s two points for Leo!

CarbO’Hara: @newt-leo? WhY? I saw him first?

Newt-Leo: he’s snogging someone at the shrimp buffet. That’s open season. Also he’s still not come up for air? And it was my turn to start @krisvolley and @prongstar you’re it

KrisVolley: @blizzard & @lewilliam you’re up

LeWilliam: blizzard is cheating!!! He got his girlfriend’s friend to kiss him!!!! And Nat was touching cap’s butt

Blizzard: read the rules man. I’m not cheating

LeWilliam: but it’s unfair?

Blizzard: not my fault. I’m winning.

Loops: @lewilliam I’m pretty sure Nat and blizzard saved cap from a handsy old lady.

Blizzard: @sergei_81 & @kaneyoudigit you’re up

Kaneyoudigit: Hahahaha hahahha pretty sure sergei and me are gonna win.

Dumodad: sergeu just manhandled a very confused looking Sirius all the way back to the toilets?

Nadotheman: wait. Where’s Kuny?

KrisVolley: yeah Sergei definitely won.

Kaneyoudigit: I’ve got a pic too!!!

Logantremblayzzz: well you’ve got only half a cap. Sergei got himself and cap giving thumbs up.

Sunnysideup: you forgot you were supposed to be in the photo @kaneyoudigit 😂

Prongstar: so it’s not even 10 and Kuny’s already half naked in the bathroom. It’s like you guys aren’t even tryin. Didn’t even get a selfie with cap in it yet. Also he wasn’t supposed to know.

Sergei_81: he not know game he think I just want pic for Kuny. Keep try but I’m win.

Krisvolley: well that was smart. Back to the game boys. @dumodad & @logantremblayzzz you’re up

Sergei_81: why you sound surprised? Brat. I’m smart.

——

Nadotheman: everyone got their pics in?

Walkietalkie: yeah. Finno was last with Olli. They’ve just sent it - nice job Olli 😜 timmy didn’t send one tho

Loops: I don’t think I want to know. Olli. How the hell did you get cap to do that?

Ollibear: I just asked him to get some fresh air with me. How could I know timmy was getting acquainted with a girl behind the curtain? 😇

DumoDAD: acquainted? Is that what it’s called now?

RussianGod: at least I go to toilet for hookup

KrisVolley: you’re all terrible.

Sunnysideup: you sent a selfie with you and cap in front of the girls kissing in the corner....

KrisVolley: I’m a proud ally!

Talkiewalkie: to be fair you both look incredible uncomfortable

KrisVolley: it’s a stupid game

Timmyforrealz: HEY?! You losers hear about privacy?

Ollibear: if you want privacy don’t hook up with someone behind a curtain at a fancy nightclub.... also you didn’t send a pic. You’ve lost.

Timmyforrealz: I didn’t lose hah. Maybe I lost your dumb game

Prongstar: don’t blame the game for her dumping you. Also you lost some buttons on your shirt, your tie is a disaster and your dignity is hanging on by a thread

Timmyforrealz: she didn’t dump me. I decided not to pursue it further!

Russiangod: whatever u say. Come on who win?

Loops added siriusly to the group chat

Siriusly: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? Why am I in all of these selfies?

Loops: you’re cute when you’re annoyed. I had nothing to do with this😇

Prongstar: captain my captain. It was all loops’ idea. We’ve got a selfie collection for you.

Siriusly: you idiots have spent an entire evening running Around trying to take selfies with me and not tell me?

DumoDAD: it was fun. You didn’t catch on when Sergei asked you to pose in front of Kuny clearly going at it?

Siriusly: I thought it was a prank on Kuny? Like steal his clothes and all/ wait didn’t you steal his clothes?

Nadotheman: we should’ve. Dammit

Sergei_81: loops who win????

Loops: timmy lost.

Siriusly: wait it that why Nat was patting my butt? She said I’d been sitting in something? @blizzard!!!!

Blizzard: 😜

Siriusly: should I be offended? She did ask if it was okay. Wait. Why did I have to be in the photos? You’re not doing another collage?

Prongstar: of course! Last year was cap sleeping in different places.

Siriusly: you’re all idiots. How did you even get my phone??

Loops: ...

Siriusly: oh.

Talkiewalkie: awwwwww... 😜

Timmyforrealz: anyone seen my wallet?

Ollibear: I give up. 🙏🏻

[astraeass]

[1] start once again;

[cross-posted in ao3 • fem reader]

pairing: levi ackerman/reader (first three chapters doesn’t have Levi at all tho..)

warnings: cursing, talks about adoption, panic attack, dissociative amnesia

words: 2145

Summary:

you just wanted to know the truth, so why not be a reckless dumbass and join the scouts

"I’m joining the survey corps"

Laria froze, she couldn’t believe what her sweet, little girl was saying.

Wait, she’s not her sweet little girl anymore.

"What..?"

"You heard me Laria, I’m pretty sure you know what does that means, right?"

"[Y/N] please you can't do this to me... you can’t do this to David!"

"Or what..?"

You know this is cruel, you totally know, but your current desire to go outside the walls and see what the fuck is happening dominated your thoughts.

Laria fell to her knees, staring at the floor, apparently the old wood texture was more interesting for her than what you wanted to say.

With a deep sigh, you kneeled before her, holding her shoulders softly, when noticing your presence, Laria almost instantly grabbed yours in an opposite manner, with a tight and aggressive hold.

"[Y/N]... please don’t do this, tha-that’s suicide!"

You looked at her pale green orbs with intensity, sending her a sign that no matter what, your choice will not change that easily

"If you want me to stay, I just want to know from where I actually am, tell me Laria"

The older woman flinched, it was such a foreign sensation to hear her name coming from her daughter.

Silence.

"I..."

Laria looked down her palms closing and opening with hesitation.

"I don’t know"

You rolled your eyes standing up, you couldn’t take more of this bullshit.

Laria without your hands supporting her shoulders, fell down. Tears falling down her cheeks and meeting the creaking floor no long after.

"You are telling me you adopted me without knowing where the fuck I am from?"

The only sound you could hear were Laria's sobs, you know she’s trying to control them, but she can’t hold them a second more.

"You know I’m not from inside the walls...?"

More silence.

You don’t really know what’s going on in Laria's mind right know, her face was hiding in the floor, it was impossible to see the expression of shock in her usual calm features

"What...?”

Her voice was cracking again, that sent a pang to your heart. After all, she and her husband David were the ones who raised you.

But, you will move on.

You need to move on.

"I want to know from where I am, that’s why I’m joining the survey corps. I’ll go outside the walls"

Your turned away from her, slowly walking to the door you recently came from, without looking back, because you knew that you wouldn’t be able to continue forward if you see her pained expression again.

24 hours before;

It was another normal day, you were going to the market, David, your father, needed some fresh tomatoes for the plate he was cooking today. Even thought your butlers could go out and buy them for him, you insisted enough, just like always.

"You started being a really stubborn girl since you came to the world, [Y/N]" Said David with a smirk in his face when you managed to convince him. This time was harder, it was like he was scared about me going outside, it was... strange.

You loved going outside.

The chattering from people doing their chores, the sun's bright light and slight breeze softly caressing your skin brought you to a state of comfort that made you unconsciously smile.

After a short walk, you reached your destination, a small stand that sold fresh ingredients, most of them vegetables. You weren’t fond of their taste at all, but the smell was added to your list of comfort ambience.

"Hey [Y/N]! You’re doing the shopping today again?"

You nodded to the old woman, she was already used to your presence and usual shopping. You maybe were outside way too much

"Yes, Miss Anderson! However this time was harder to convince my father, I think it’s because I’m getting older"

After grabbing the necessary quantity David asked for and payed for it, you followed the way to go to home, this time you went faster, an uneasy feeling wandered you for a strange reason, making you want to go home as fast as possible.

However, a familiar voice made you stop in your tracks.

"Claire wait a minute!"

You turned around when you heard your last name and meet big bright blue eyes, a tall form with broad shoulders. He was person of your age and apparently he was panting a little, it seemed that he ran for you to catch you before you decided to go home.

Erwin Smith, the golden boy in your class.

You didn’t know a lot from him, you just knew that his father died when he was younger coincidentally after he spread some rumors about what’s outside the walls, oh and that he was a little bit older than you.

Not that you care anyways.

"Erwin, what do you need?"

After gaining some air after running for you, he handed you a little bag with some money that you recognized as what David gave you for the tomatoes

"This fell from your pocket and I couldn’t help but notice that I was from you"

"...Thank you"

The both of you stood there, an awkward silence invaded your comfort, and that bothered you a lot. You were a quiet person since you were small, so it was always hard for you to start a conversation but ended up getting used to it.

This was so embarrassing.

"I can walk you to your home, if you want to"

"No"

You didn’t even hesitate and continued with your way back home.

"Thank you again, uh.. I’ll get going"

And with that you left, you were close to your house anyways. But a feeling of regret started to eat you up. You hated your boldness.

that’s why you don’t make friends [Y/N]...

However, Erwin didn’t actually move from his spot, he decided to stay there watching your form slowly decrease its size. There was something strange about you.

He was finding it out.

;;

You finally reached home, opening the big doors of you house, don’t caring if your maids scolded you for doing it because it was their job.

"[Y/N] how much times we need to tell you that you don’t need to open the doors?"

Giselle, the head maid told you for the nth time this week with an already annoyed look. It was getting irritating, couldn’t anyone see you were trying to be independent?

You just passed by, Giselle after all wasn’t way too much older than you, her mother worked for your family for a long time, so she just got her title thanks to her, which to you, was an error since she sometimes thought a superiority aura would intimidate you.

At first you thought she was jealous, but why? Your looks? Your sharp but at the same time soft features are beautiful, they contrasted perfectly. Mayhap your intelligence? ...no.

This is ridiculous.

"[Y/N] sweetheart, you’re already home?"

Laria with David at her side interrupted your thoughts, making you jump a little and hoping that they didn’t notice.

David Claire was a tall man, strawberry blond curly and slightly long hair, usually tied up in a low ponytail and his chocolate dark wide shaped eyes complemented his face very well.

Meanwhile Laria Claire has her platinum blond almost white hair trimmed in a bob cut, her light chubby face was cute, but her sharp hazel eyes kind of scared you sometimes, the way her bangs sometimes covered them didn’t help at all.

But you.. you were strange, preciously strange, a girl unique with unique features.

Way too unique.

"Yes, I didn’t need to buy a lot of things"

You approached your kitchen, leaving the bag were you carried the tomatoes besides David, him sending you a sweet thankful smile. When you were bringing your hands to your pockets, you felt a bulge, noticing that it was the little bag that Erwin picked up from were it fell.

"Oh, I almost forgot giving your money back father, where do I leave it?" You asked playing with the bag bouncing it between your hands

David chuckled seeing your cute mannerisms and pointed upstairs. "Just leave it in my office, inside the first drawer if you can, please" He looked at you with pleading eyes.

Huh...?

You nodded, grabbing the money bag before it fell and headed upstairs. Wondering why your father gave you that look, he seemed even desperate for you to place the pouch back. David's office was the last one in the hall, giving you more time to think about what just happened.

Entering the room, you expect something coming out for you. How dumb. Slowly, you went to the desk and opened the first drawer, inside a paper with your name and another last name.

[Y/N] [L/N]

[L/N]...? What.

The money pouch you were holding, fell down because you were holding it tightly, the force increasing the more you read the coins falling everywhere and making a loud noise that probably reached your parents in the kitchen. Shit.

Before picking up and collecting the coins you fell down on your knees, an heavy headache suddenly hitting you.

I’m.. I can’t I’m not an object

Why did they sell me..?

You were lying down the floor of a carriage, the wet and cold wood hugged your soft cheek. The rocky path making your body jump from time to time. Your wrists and ankles were tied tightly, you moved a bit, but it burnt. You also had some type of clothing around your mouth preventing you to scream for help.

The only thing keeping you conscious was the beautiful nature you could see by a hole in the cloth that was hiding your body from the outside world so no one could see that the carriage had a kidnapped girl in the back.

It was beautiful, pink... trees? A large body of water that reflected the mountains and the full bright moon. The mountains had some snow at the top since it was very white. However you couldn’t see a lot more since your vision started to fade.

You suddenly gasped loudly, opening your eyes widely. Your hands were gripping your hair with a strong hold and you barely noticed you were crying after seeing some wet spots in the floor below you. What.. was that?

"[Y/N]"

The voice of your fath- no. The voice of David startled you, making you look up him with a tear stained face. His eyes sending you pity.

You hated that.

You stood up rapidly pushing past him with so much force, that it made him fall on his butt, you were about to help him but as fast as you stood, you face contorted in anger leaving the office to run to your room.

Closing you door behind you and locking it up, you turned your back to your door, supporting yourself on it and carefully sliding till you sat in the floor, bringing your knees to your face and hiding it.

No, you weren’t crying, you were confused, you were angry. Why that memory decided to appear in that exact moment? To much in such a short amount of time.

You expected David or even Laria to come and knock to her door to see if they cared. They didn’t. Was that also part of your illusion? The loved and cared for you... right?

Not that you cared, again.

Next day, after coming for whatever your were doing, probably just spacing out, collecting your thoughts. You confronted Laria, apparently David didn’t tell her about your little panic attack, it was heartbreaking, he wasn’t even there.

The more you walked from your house, the more determined you were to join the scouts. You’ll finally know your origin, it didn’t matter if it was tragic or not, your curiosity apparently won. How sad.

;;

"So yeah... that was pretty much what happened"

You didn’t expect meeting Erwin when joining the training corps, however it didn’t surprise you at all. What really surprised you is his look of amazement in his eyes when telling your story.

The bright look being more noticeable when he was listening to your theory of yourself not being from inside the walls.

"I know Smith, the idea is basically impossible, it could be a dream, y'know those fiction ones" you said after seeing how he kept on silence after some minutes when you told him what happened in your household not long ago.

Nothing.

"Could you say something? This is awkward as fuck"

Erwin pupils widened, he's back to the real world. His expression know shooting you an apologetic smile, making you frown.

"My apologies [L/N], I was in my own mind. I’m sorry all of tha-"

"Don’t pity me, I did it myself"

Next Chapter

[cloudshapedpatch]

take my money (take my heart, too)

the awkward julie & luke sugar daddy/baby au no one asked for

rated teen and up for swearing and semi-mature themes such as the concept of a sugar daddy/baby arrangement

no smut! insane tooth-rotting fluff tho

slow burn juke

and disaster lesbians flarrie side plot and (eventual) willex

also a coffee shop au because i said so

read on ao3 (chapter 1 and tag list below the cut)

* * * *

Julie is nervous. No, nervous is an understatement. Her knees bounce uncontrollably under the table, shaky fingers twirling the straw in her iced coffee. And the knot in her stomach seems to grow ever tighter.

She pulls out her phone to check the time for the third time this minute. How is it still 10:57 am? Just as she is about to put her phone back in her pocket, it buzzes with an incoming text from her best friend/roommate, Flynn.

Flynn: calm down

Julie smiles despite herself, turning around to look at her friend a few tables away. Thank goodness for her friend, willing to throw away a morning to make sure she is safe and comfortable on her blind date. She shoots Flynn a small smile. Flynn, to their credit, is taking their job very seriously, wearing an absurdly large sunhat and sunglasses, sipping on a mug of hot tea with a decoy book under her nose.

Julie turns to anxiously watch the baristas, moving around the small space with ease, mixing drinks hot and cold alike. Twirling around each other without even looking. And she lets her mind wander.

How had she gotten here? Waiting for a man whom she had never spoken to, let alone seen? And she isn’t counting their text messaging. Not really. Not even if they had been talking for weeks. Not even if they regularly stayed up well into the night just to keep talking to the other. Not even if he had her blushing furiously, toes curling from giddiness and hiding under her sheets, smiling at the flirtatious speech bubbles on her phone for longer than she’d like to admit.

Because that doesn’t count. She has never heard his voice. She has never seen what he looked like. Anyone could be a charmer, and she is undoubtedly nervous about who she might find walking through the door and towards her.

How had she gotten here? It is a simple question, and one she has the answer to. Doesn’t mean she likes it. She had made an offhand comment to Flynn at work one day. Julie is sick of working 12 hour days in the cafe (not this one. she would be dumb to meet a stranger in her workplace) and barely scraping by. She had joked she needed someone to fund her shopping sprees.

Flynn had suggested a sugar daddy.

Julie wants to bang her head on the table. Past Julie is an idiot. And now Present Julie is going to pay the price.

Why had she let Flynn convince her to download that dumb app?

(Because she has a virtually useless college degree, bills to pay, and school loans creeping up on her and she is cutting back every month. Living in L.A. isn’t cheap.

And, if she really lets herself think about it, Julie is lonely.)

She checks her phone again, pleased to find it is finally 11 am. He should be here any minute. Luke should be here any minute.

Is it a red flag that he had only been willing to share his first name? Should it have concerned her that he didn’t have a profile picture on his online dating account? Is she dumb for letting him change the subject every time she asked about his job? Solid ‘maybe’s to all of those, but! After they had started talking, they had instantly clicked. He loves music almost as much as she did, maybe even more. They bonded over that, and many other things.

This is fine.

She straightens her posture, glancing down at her dress to make sure all is in order. It’s baby blue with golden sunflowers all over, and she had slipped a cropped denim jacket on top, the one with patches of all her favorite bands. She fusses with the loose curls hanging by her face, her hair pulled into a half bun at the top of her head, leaving a clear view of her sunflower earrings. It’s the perfect outfit to be noticed in, she had told him she’d be wearing blue and sunflowers, certainly he wouldn’t miss her.

Whenever he decided to show up.

Wait. he would show up, wouldn’t he?

Of course he would.

...Right?

Before she can get too far down that rabbit hole, the chime above the door is jingling, and Julie has to fight hard not to turn and see who it is. The anticipation crawls up her spine and settles in her neck, jaw tingling.

A man comes in, approaching the counter with confidence in his step. One barista takes one look at him and gapes like a fish, turning to a coworker to nonchalantly point at him. Both girls look at each other and quietly squeal, letting one of the male cashiers help him.

Must be attractive, she thinks, and she isn’t disappointed by what she can see from the back. His sleeves are short, showing off his muscular arms and he’s tall. She’s always liked tall men.

Supposedly handsome stranger orders his drink and waits at the counter for it. One of the girls hands it to him with a gleeful smile. He accepts, then says something to her before the girl’s smile falters and points right at Julie.

Wait, she’s pointing at Julie?

Definitely handsome stranger follows her finger and lands on Julie, eyes scanning up and down her body (at least, what he can see from above the table), his face instantly lighting up in the most gorgeous smile she’s ever seen.

And then he’s turning back to say thank you and then making his way towards her and oh no what what what--

Because this isn’t her date. It can’t be, right? But Luke Patterson is stepping up to her booth, sliding into the seat across from her.

“Hey, you’re Julie, right?” His voice, sweet and thick as honey, and Julie would know that voice anywhere.

“Luke Patterson? You… you didn’t say--” She cuts herself off before she can say something foolish.

Because there is no way in hell she’d unknowingly put up her sugar baby services to Luke fucking Patterson. Not rockstar Luke Patterson. Not lead guitarist and singer and songwriter for her favorite band, Sunset Curve. Not literally in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Luke Patterson.

“Yeah, about that… I am really sorry about not telling you. It’s just not something I like mentioning to everyone I meet, you know?”

She’s having a hard time processing what he’s saying. He’s so close. Why is he leaning on the table like that? Why is he so close?

“Yeah! Yeah, totally. That’s understandable.” She laughs nervously, taking a sip of her coffee to avoid speaking any further.

“This… this is okay, right? You’re not mad?”

“Mad?” This clears her mind a bit. She takes in the way his hands fiddle with the rings on his fingers, his shoulders raised, and while his smile is easygoing, his eyes say otherwise. Why would she be mad?

She expresses this to him, and he just looks at his hands.

“Well, because I wasn’t completely truthful with you. And I totally understand if you want to walk away.”

“No!” She says before she can filter herself. His eyebrows raise in amusement. “I mean, it’s fine! I was just… surprised, that’s all.”

And surprised is correct. Luke Patterson is the same Luke she’s been talking to for the last three weeks, the very same one who’s been making her laugh and who’d almost made her miss work last week because they had texted about everything and nothing until the sun came up.

He seems to like her answer. His smile never leaves his face.

“You seemed to recognize me. You a fan of Sunset Curve’s?”

And maybe it’s the way his cocky smile burns her cheeks, or just the fact that he’s talking to her. Panic sets in and she lies.

“Never heard of Sunset Swerve.”

“You knew my name.”

“You know it’s a household name, right?”

“Your jacket says otherwise.”

And shit. She had forgotten about the Sunset Curve patch right over her heart. In fact, it was the first patch she had put on the jacket. But he doesn’t need to know that.

“Fine. You caught me. I’m a Curver. Happy?”

And though she’s teasing, he couldn’t seem to be happier. Seriously, she’s worried his dopey grin is gonna break his face. Then an ugly, ugly thought rears its head in her mind.

“Wait. You let me gush about Sunset Curve so many times and you didn’t say anything?” Her sentence ends in a laugh.

“Oh, Julie, I wanted to so bad. You have no idea!”

Julie finds herself not really registering the second half of his sentence. She had missed it, the first time he said her name due to being starstruck, and her face warms a bit when she recalls just how good her name had sounded when he said it. Like a splash of cool water on a hot day. Like sap dripping fresh from a tree, glinting in the sunlight.

“Then why didn’t you?”

He sobers a bit at this, though his eyes still hold the same fire as before. “Well, I didn’t really want to go around announcing that. Can you imagine how many matches I’d get if I put that little tidbit in my bio?”

Julie laughs at this, the absurdity of it hitting her. Of course. He’d want someone who’d like him for him, not for his status, or name, or fame or money.

Oh. Shit. She was literally here for his money.

“For sure! Must’ve been hard.”

“Oh, not really. I matched with you on day one and deleted the app once we exchanged phone numbers.”

“Really?” Julie felt a little guilty for still having the app on her phone now, even after she was pretty sure Luke was a good match. There was still the possibility that mystery man was a total creep. If she’d have known who he was, on the other hand…

“Totally! I’ll be honest, my bandmates put me up to this, but once we started talking I just knew I had to meet you.”

Julie’s mind still feels a bit foggy, like she was dreaming. A fantastic dream, might she add.

“I’ve been really excited to meet you too. My best friend also convinced me to get the app. She’s actually over there.” Julie smiled, nudging her head over towards her friend, where they were certainly trying their best to eavesdrop.

“Brought a plus one, I see?” Luke chuckled, giving Flynn a wave. Flynn hid her already shielded eyes from view with her book.

“Hey, you gotta remember I was meeting someone whom I had never seen before, and the fact that I didn’t know your last name was not helping.”

Luke’s smile turned bashful again. “Ah. She’s backup.”

“Yep! But I think they’re good to go.” Julie whipped out her phone and sent Flynn a quick message, relieving her of her duties.

“You sure? I might kidnap you.”

“I’d let you kidnap me.”

Oh god. She so did not say that.

He seemed to think it was funny. At least she was amusing. At her own expense, maybe, but amusing nonetheless.

Amusing to Luke Patterson.

If she doesn’t stop saying his last name, she’ll go insane. This is just the dorky guy she’s been talking to. The one she’ll hopefully get to talk to tomorrow.

Despite the rocky start, Julie would say it was a successful date. Coffee turned into lunch at a nearby bistro, and he walked Julie to her car a few blocks away. She didn’t get to her apartment until after 4 o’clock, and Flynn was waiting with two glasses of wine in their shared living room. Julie is eager to spill all the details, and Flynn is the perfect listener, oohing and ahhing at all the right moments.

As Julie crawls into bed after her eventful day, her phone dings on her nightstand.

PayPal: Luke Patterson sent you $500.00  “I had a great time today :) hope to see you again soon!”

Well. If she had calmed down any, this just undid all of her efforts. A wave of guilt floods over her. The concept of a sugar daddy sort of seemed too outlandish to really fathom. But now she feels awful taking his money.

She’s really doing this, isn’t she?

Julie: you really didn’t have to

Luke: but i wanted to

Luke: it’s ok tho right?

Julie: i guess it’s fine, it’s just a lot of money

Luke: i realise how conceited this is going to sound but its no sweat off my back. just think of it as a gift

Gifts. She could live with that.

* * * *

taglist! @ladyblanche :)

[taxicabinmemphis]

“You promised you wouldn’t forget me.” with any ship, human au, they were childhood friends but then one moved and they've met again for the first time in years

So yeah this one is long sorry.

(tw mentions of a panic attack, no description or anything tho)

Virgil kicked his tire angrily. Of course the vile creature had to flatten on him in the middle of nowhere. Now he was stuck on the side of the road in late September, cursing himself for not taking a spare the one time he should have.

The sun was shining down on him, bright and hot in the early afternoon. There were a few trees in the area, but they did nothing to shield him from the heat. Virgil didn’t really want to go back into his car as he had just had a panic attack in the driver’s seat, so he figured he would stay despite the hot weather.

Virgil groaned, pulling out his phone to call roadside assistance.

It was just his luck that his phone died the second his phone app had loaded.

It took Virgil all of his willpower to not throw the phone into the pavement out of anger.

He sighed, leaning his back against the car. What would he do now?

After about ten minutes of sitting there, he figured it would be best if he started to walk. The nearest town was a long way away, but he could hopefully get there by nightfall. He got up and grabbed his belongings.

As soon as he was fully ready to start walking, a car pulled in front of his. Virgil stiffened, worried that the person may be taking advantage of his situation and was going to hurt him.

A man got out of the car and turned to face Virgil. He had brown eyes, brown hair with a streak of white in it, and a mustache. He was wearing a forest green leather jacket over a ripped and dirty white t-shirt, ripped black jeans, and dirty combat boots.

The two made eye contact, and there was no denying it.

Remus Knightley.

Virgil’s worries about being harmed calmed immediately, but now he had a new set of anxieties to deal with. He knew everything about this man before he knew how to walk. They were best friends up until college, where Virgil got accepted into a prestigious art school and Remus went to prison for aggravated assault. Yeah, he committed the crime, but the victim deserved it.

As it appeared, Remus had served his sentence.

And now Virgil had to see him again. In any other instance he would be running into his arms, but there was a problem.

Virgil didn’t lose all contact with him for no reason. Yes, the prison and the art school made things difficult but they had been so close even that wouldn’t have stopped them.

Virgil had been in love with Remus since they were sixteen.

And now, he was apparently his best shot at getting out of his unfortunate situation.

“Flat tire?” Remus called out to Virgil, walking towards him.

Did Remus not recognize him?

Virgil could pretend he didn’t either. “Yeah, unfortunately.”

“Dead phone battery? No spare?”

Virgil sighed in annoyance. “My phone is at zero percent. No spare. I gave it to my friend Patton when he parked on a glass bottle outside my house a few days ago. Since I have never needed a spare in my life, I didn’t think to get one.”

“Even when driving out in the middle of nowhere?”

Virgil glared at him.

“I’m not judging!” He put up his hands in surrender. “Just curious.”

“It’s a three hour drive, dude, I’ve gone for twenty-six and never needed one.”

Remus raised an eyebrow. “Twenty-six hour drive? I’d go crazy.”

I’m sure you would.

Virgil shrugged. “Yeah, whatever. What are you here for?”

“I am offended. I come here to help and you don’t even entertain my conversation.”

“Maybe when I have food, water, charged phone, no flat tires and am not riding through the aftermath of a panic attack, mmkay?” Virgil’s rude tone was able to conceal any anxiety. “So what is your name and are you gonna help me or not.”

“I’ll help you.” Remus pulled his phone out, opening it to see the lockscreen. “My phone’s at sixty-eight.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Precise. Name?”

Remus looked away from his phone and to Virgil’s eyes. “Don’t tell me you don’t know.”

Oh. So he did recognize him. Why didn’t he address him by his name then?

“No.”

“Virgil.” There it was.

“That is my name, great guessing.”

Remus paused.

“You promised you wouldn’t forget me.”

His voice wasn’t Remus’ anymore. It was weak, broken, and vulnerable. He no longer exuded confidence and danger.

Remus sighed at Virgil’s silence, turning around. He refused to face his old friend and crush. He opened up his phone to call roadside assistance.

“I did, didn’t I?”

Remus turned back to Virgil, eyes lighting up with hope. Virgil gave him a small, fond smile, and shrugged.

“Yeah, I didn’t forget you. Did you really think I could?”

Remus ran to Virgil, closing his phone and stuffing it in his pocket. He wrapped his arms around Virgil, lifting him into the air and spinning him around.

“R-Re-Remus!” Virgil laughed. “Put me down and let me hug you properly.”

Remus slowly set Virgil down, but kept his arms tight around the emo. Virgil hugged him back, nuzzling his head against Remus’ shoulder.

They pulled back after a long time.

“Don’t you dare pull that stunt again, you hear me?” Remus said firmly, pointing at Virgil with his index finger.

“What? How could I be sure of your identity? You have a twin brother after all.”

“Jerk. You knew it was me.”

"Yeah,” Virgil conceded. “I did.”

Remus raised en eyebrow. “Why’d you lie then?”

Virgil gulped. He didn’t want to tell him. “Does it matter?”

“Yes.” He frowned. “You weren’t scared I was gonna assault you too, were you? ‘Cause I would never hurt you. And either way, no more prison; it took me away from you.”

Virgil snorted, but put a hand to his forehead. There was no real harm in the truth, was there? “No. I was scared about that before I saw it was you, ironically.” Remus laughed at Virgil’s admission. “But...well, we never reconnected.”

“Because of prison.”

“Oh come on, Remus, our friendship could’ve survived anything if we tried hard enough. It was me.”

Remus started to pull away from Virgil, the emo immediately pulling him back.

“I was scared. I still am.” Virgil took a deep breath. “See, I may or may not have gotten the biggest crush on you when we were sixteen. You remember how gay I am. I went through the painful process of having an unrequited crush for a couple years, then you were convicted and I went to college and I couldn’t help but take it as a way to get over you. But as we both know...”

“Distance rarely helps,” they finished together.

“Yeah. So now I’m scared the same thing’s gonna happen.”

“You’re scared you’re gonna fall in love all over again.”

Virgil nodded. “I’m sorry if that hurts things between us.”

“Well, as someone who realized they were gay at thirteen because of how hot you looked in a purple button-up and black ripped jeans, fell in love with you not long after, and thought about you every day in prison, I’d say you’re confession poses no risk to our reunion.”

Virgil’s eyes widened. “You liked me too?!”

“Of course!”

“You bat! Why didn’t you tell me?”

Remus shrugged. “I could tell you didn’t like me like that at first; then I just got used to hiding it. I didn’t want to risk what we had.”

Virgil sighed, running a hand through his hair. “What’s done is done, I suppose.”

Remus nodded. “Do you have anywhere to be?”

“I mean, I was driving out to meet with my parents but I’m not gonna make it on time and they were supposed to fly out to Boston right after our meetup. So not anymore.”

“How’s about this? I call roadside assistance, they tow your car back where you came from or whatever, you use my phone to tell your parents what happened and that you all should reschedule, we drive to the nearest city which is farther than the nearest town so we get there at an appropriate time for dinner and get to sing songs from my CD collection together and catch up, and we eat at a good place I know?”

Virgil smiled. “Sounds marvelous.”

~

Hope that was alright, sorry it got so long! If you’d like a redo if it wasn’t what you wanted, just shoot me an ask. Thanks for the prompt!

[pamgkrthwrites]

Flame of Healing | EraserMic x Reader | Chapter 5 - Back Off

Masterlist | AO3

Warnings: Angst, crying, reveal, shouting, soulmate au

Word Count: 2064 

Taglist: @stargazingaloneatnight​

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. The image below is of one of the character mentioned in today’s chapter. Be warned, Shouta yells at reader in this chapter.

Cover by @pamgkrthart​

The week had passed slowly. Tuesday, Shouta came in to get paperwork from you so his agency could report it correctly, Wednesday came and many people were celebrating Hizashi’s birthday and on Thursday, Ms Joke saw you in the morning and was teasing you about your chose to avoid your Soulmates.

But today,

Today was Friday.

Which meant the Anti-Soulmate group meetings.

The group was named Heart’s Desire for Wronged Souls. Its leader was a man who divorced his soulmate who he was three kids with for an older woman who rejected her soulmate. The group is a mix of many things, counselling for soulless, counselling for rejecting soulmates, parties, get to gathers, and the main event, dating centre for “wanting souls”. 

They started to label people who rejected their soulmates as “rejects”, and started to be rejected by people around them.

You were more than glad Ms Joke didn’t go around confessing what she found out about you, and that all she did was simple teasing.

But you were happy the day was done and sighed in relief as you closed your apartment door, dropping your bags to the floor. You crash onto your couch and let out all the stress in your back with your quirk.

“Time for some stress release.” You sighed as you got yourself ready for that afternoon of fun activities.

---

Shouta and Hizashi eyed the building from one across the road, watching and counting everyone who entered. Shouta tried to make himself fancy looking and Hizahi tried his best to not look like himself.

“I like it when your hair is tied back, Shou.” Hizashi flirt as he watched his partner.

“Get back to work, ‘Zashi.” Shouta shushed him as he continued to watch the people down below.

Hizashi puffed as he leaned onto the wall and watched. “Why did we get assigned to do this mission? Don’t they know I am the last hero who would want to do it.”

“Which is probably why they chose you. You had your 21st the other day so the doubt that I’m not your soulmate might be there. It could also be you don’t like me and have doubts about the relationship but as a Pro Hero you have to keep up the idea you are happy with me-”

“Shou stop please you’re concerning me.”

“What if that’s why we haven’t met her yet, Hizashi?” Shouta turned to Hozashi. “She must have seen you at the very least name us as soulmates and figured it out, yet she hasn’t come looking? What could possibly be the reason-”

“Shouta shut up.”

“Hizashi I-”

“No look!” Hizashi grabbed Shouta’s face and made him turn to look at a girl walking towards the building.

“What on earth is she doing here?” Shouta asked he stared down at the girl walking into the building.

“Why is M/N L/N here?”

---

“Chase Saito!” You greeted the young man.

Chase Saito was the son of the founding member. Even tho he was 24 he already had built a massage medical Company that sold to Japan, China, Korea and Australia. 

Chase and you had on and off flirty relationship. He seemed to always start them and you would end them if he got too creepy. He was respectful when he crossed the line and would back off until you were okay with him again.

You two may not have clicked all the time but the small relationship you two had would work out with effect. 

“L/N!” He smiled as he walked over to you in a fancy suit. “I saw you on the news healing that hero! I didn’t know your quirk could do that.”

His voice was like honey to the ears, sweet and smooth that attracted bees and butterflies, yet also wasps and flies.

The reason for that effect on people was his Quirk, Ease. He can ease people around him, making them calm. He was easy to be around, and only after you walked away did you realise how sticky and annoying he can be, just like honey.

Annoying people aren’t bad to be around, they just had moments, moment about them they didn’t know about or couldn’t change about themselves. Sometimes they were too much and you can stay away and they are usually respectful about it, sadly because it has happened to them so much.

Chase may have been annoying sometimes, but he was a good person, and he goes towards those people as well. He always called people by their last name in public, that’s what he had to do as a public figure. He didn’t mind people calling him by his first name. He spent half his life in England so he used to it.

“If I had known you had a healing quirk I would have used my quirk to convince you to join me!” He smiled brightly as he made his way over to you and a respectful distance away.

“Ha, yeah. I don’t like advertising my quirk.” You blushed in embarrassment. “People used me during my childhood for having a regeneration quirk.”

He looked shocked at your response. You didn’t really talk about your childhood to him or anyone there.

“Oh, I’m so sorry about that.” He said with full honesty. “Your quirk is designed to be used by others but that doesn’t mean people have the right to use you as an object.”

You felt small at that moment.

You don’t know what you feel.

Happiness or grief.

Oboro said something similar when he first started to get to know you too.

This wasn’t Oboro in front of you though, this was someone else.

Someone who even fully understood staying away from one’s soulmate.

His short honey-orange hair shaping his face defining his features. You look Chase deeply into his dark green eyes. They reminded you of Hizashi-

Your blood turns cold once that names crosses you.

Even In a place like this, you can’t avoid the bitter truth.

Chase noticed the changes in your face and wore a worried face.

“Hey, are you-?”

Hands grip you by both shoulders and pull you away from Chase.

“Are you harassing her, reject?!”

Everyone goes dead silent and you feel anger rise within you.

“What the fuck you say?” You snap your head to the tall man.

To say you were shocked to see Shouta glaring down at Chase would be an understatement. 

Where his hands where on you burnt your skin. You wanted to fall into his body and wrap your arms around him. Looking up at him trying to protect you gave you butterflies and pushed a blush onto your checks.

So forcefully pushing him off of you with harshness not just hurt him, but hurt you, and the way he looked down at you with shock also hurt.

“Chase isn’t harassing me, Asshole!” You yelled at him. “You’re just being a dickhead who wants to shame us for not choosing our soulmates!”

The shock and hurt on his face hurt you. It hurt knowing you were hurting him.

Why was he wearing a fancy suit.

You felt your eyes burn as you held your ground, seeing him hurt.

You wanted to cry.

You needed to leave.

You rushed passed Shouta and headed towards the exit fast.

“M/N! Please wait!” Shouta spoke and went to move to go after you.

“M/N?” Chase said softly. “But her name is Y/N…”

Chase may have spoken softly, but Shouta still heard him and froze.

Shouta snapped his head around. “What did you just say?!”

Chase was too scared to respond to from the harsh tone, but Shouta didn’t really need him to respond. His reaction was enough.

Shouta moved back around to chase after you.

M/N L/N was Y/N L/N this entire time, she was just hiding from them.

---

This was supposed to be your off day, your relaxed day.

Not your hot soulmate insulting your friends-

What did you just say?

You puffed as you walked down the street to the train station, only to hear running footsteps coming for you. 

You quickly grabbed pepper spray from within one of your pockets only to hear Shouta.

“You lied to our faces!”

You stopped and turned around.

“What are you talking about?” You asked as you made it clear you were putting away your weapon.

“You knew who we were, didn’t you?!” He huffed and puffed. “Oboro told you and pushed you yet you still gave us a fake name! You even hid our names on your wrists, don’t you!”

You were shocked that he figured it out. Chase must have corrected him on your name and it clicked in for Shouta. 

You stared at the angry hurt Shouta, tears threatening to leave his eyes.

You did this to him.

“I’m right, aren’t I?!” He yelled at you as he walked close to where you stood. “What is so wrong with us you had to hide from us? Why don’t you love us?!”

“Love you?!” You glared at him as tears threaten to leave your own eyes. “I do love you! I love both you! I watch everything you two do! Sometimes I regret hiding I’m not going to lie, but you two were happy and have been happy without me this entire-”

“YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT!” He yelled in your face as tears ran down your face. “We ask ourselves all the time why we haven’t found you! We are a public figure and Hizashi is very public about having two soulmates so we knew you were hiding, but we didn’t know it was for this long! All we ever do is wonder what type of person you are! What your life was like! But no, you found out through Oboro and fucking hide from us since!”

You two both glared at each other. Your names were burning at the skin. Your high emotions were hurting both of you and your soulmate marks. 

You were both crying at this point as you glared at each other. Were faces were so close yet all you could both feel were each other’s names on your wrists.

Shouta held your face in his large hands and rested his forehead onto yours. You both sobbed.

“Please… Just give us a chance…” He asked in a soft voice filled with sobs.

You cried into his hands as you pulled up your arms to wrap around him. He pushed your head into the crook of his neck and rubbed your back as you sobbed onto his shoulders.

You never felt so warm in your life.

“The last time I saw you cry your hair turned into fire.” Shouta admitted.

You remember that day, the day he told you Oboro died. You sniffed and rubbed your eyes onto his fancy jacked. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Your just as emotional as Hizashi.”

You two stood there for a couple of minutes before you heard footsteps approaching.

You felt Shouta tense up and you gripped his tighter as you hid your face.

“Shou, where are you-?” You heard Hizashi’s voice and you tensed up. 

You could feel Shouta’s arm move as he silently talks to your third half. Even if you are trying to not pay attention you hear a small gasp from Hizashi at one point and Shouta’s arm made a motion with his arm that got Hizashi to stop.

Silence falls and Shouta breaks apart from you. 

“We are going to drop you home, but we will be having a discussion in the morning.” He says with a stern voice.

You hesitantly nod your head. Shouta puts his hand on your back and leads you to their car.

Hizashi and Shouta continue to have a silent conversation with you right there only for it to end once you enter into their black car.

“Address.” Shouta says with a stern voice, you answering softly.

The car ride to your apartment was awkward, but you couldn’t stop the butterflies in your stomach from the hug earlier. 

Shouta leaves Hizashi in the car as he walks you up to your door and leans on the door frame once you enter.

“I will tell Hizashi what happened and in the morning we will be discussing how we will proceed.” He says as he looks down at you. “Don’t run off, Y/N.”