#(its why Cal is wrapped around his neck. Hes like a dog pulling at his leash and choking himself on his collar)

[badlydrawn-brostrider]

Would you mind elaborating on how exactly bro fought back against cal/ removed him? Unless that’s already been shown and I have yet to find it

In which case sleep is for the weak and tumbr digging is for the strong

/ / It's technically already been shown but I don't mind explaining!!

Throughout the arc Cal hijacks the narrative which are basically Bro's thoughts (Big big example that gave Milo brainrot: "You won't give him up without a fight." Who's narrating this? You (Bro) won't give him (Cal) up without a fight or is it You (Cal) don't give him (Bro) up without a fight?). Pre sburb their thoughts align near perfectly because Bro knows nothing else and there's no point in questioning him, post sburb he's become his own person with his own thoughts that instantly clash with Cal and he KNOWS that what's going on is Not Good. He falls back into the routine because its familiar and he's tired and he doesn't want to keep going through the difficulties of being an actual human- he doesn't actually WANT to become the way he used to be, its a trauma response.

The fighting back is more about mental strength like... What he didn't know/closed his eyes to back then vs what he knows now. He's actively questioning Cal's control and trying to take back little bits and pieces of the narrative, fighting back for full control of his body against Cal's strings. He Wants to be his own person and keep his family safe, he doesn't want to be a puppet, and that affects Cal's control on him

[shemarmooresfedora]

Rebuilding Family

Summary: Y/N and Spencer were college sweethearts at Cal-Tech but once Spencer got accepted to the FBI Academy, he ended things deciding it was not fair to make Y/N wait for him. When they meet again years later, he discovers something unexpected.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Content/Warnings: pure fluff and a happy ending as promised :)

A/N: the final chapter 😭❤️ see my full note at the end

Masterlist

Chapter 37

“What’s your location? Over,” the walkie talkie on the kitchen counter crackled.

“Dino chicken nuggets are coming out of the oven as we speak. Over,” you replied back.

“Roger that. Over and out,” Jo stated and the walkie talkie went back to static.

Spencer got them as a gift for her and she would constantly have one with her, giving the other to someone before leaving the room so they could talk through it.

You headed out to the back porch and down the steps into the yard with a big plate of nuggets and dipping sauces as well as some juice boxes and applesauce for the twins.

“Coast is clear. Do you copy? Over,” you spoke into the walkie talkie.

“Affirmative. Bring ‘em up,” Jo exited the main part of the treehouse and you saw her on its little porch.

Spencer had built her a little pulley system with a basket and rope so she could lower or raise items up into the treehouse instead of carrying them up the ladder.

You placed the food and drinks inside and then made your way up the wooden ladder.

“Thank you, Mommy,” Jo smiled as she bit into a nugget.

“No problem, Cadet Jo,” you ruffled her hair up a little as she giggled.

You ducked to get through the door of the treehouse and sat down on a cushion on the floor next to Spencer who had both the twins in his lap.

“What are we watching?” you asked as you clipped the twins’ bibs on.

“Cars!” Jo cheered.

“I wanted to watch a subtitled Russian film but I was ‘boo’ed when I made that suggestion,” Spencer grinned as he grabbed the spoon to start feeding the babies.

“Hm I wonder why,” you teased.

Once Jo got the movie playing on the laptop, she took a seat in your lap with the plate of nuggets and took turns eating one, then handing one to you, then Spencer.

Once all the kids were fast asleep in your laps and the credits were rolling, you turned to Spencer.

“You and Derek really did a good job building this treehouse, love,” you complimented him.

“Anything for my family,” he smiled, then leaned over to kiss you.

-

It was the morning of Jo’s 8th birthday party. You wanted to make it extra special in light of what happened at her 7th birthday party.

Spencer kept reminding you that it wasn’t your fault a psychopath shot you and sent you to the hospital but you just wanted to give Jo the party she deserves.

You rented a bouncy house and an inflatable water slide. Spencer was doing a magic show and Penelope was doing face paintings. You baked a huge stegosaurus-shaped cake from scratch. No kid would be bored and Jo would have an amazing time.

You settled for having it in your backyard instead of the park now that you had plenty of room. The whole team came over earlier to help set up.

Penelope got all her paints organized on the porch table as Spencer set up his mini stage for the performance. Hotch and Derek filled the slide with water while you and Emily carefully brought the massive cake to the table outside.

Jo came running outside already in her swimsuit, eager to get the first splash in the water slide.

“You have to come with me, Uncle Derek,” she insisted.

“Jo, I don’t have my swimsuit on,” he replied.

“You’re in athletic shorts. They’ll dry quick,” Savannah, his girlfriend, yelled from where she was setting up the food table.

Derek looked to Hotch to help him out. Hotch pointed back to Jo who was giving him puppy dog eyes.

“Fine,” he groaned, taking off his shirt which elicited a holler from Penelope.

Jo made her way up the steps with Derek right behind her.

Jo sat down in Derek’s lap and then turned around to face him.

“Okay, ready?” she asked him.

Derek nodded and then pushed off, sending them both down the slippery slide.

“Weee!” Jo exclaimed as they slid down.

“Again,” she demanded, “Where’s Daddy?”

“He went to put his swimsuit on, Baby J, so he can go with you,” you told her as you set Ollie down next to Ophelia in the playpen outside.

“Coming, Princess!” Spencer ran outside and scooped the little girl up in his arms as he trekked up the steps.

“How about we go down like a penguin this time?” he suggested.

Jo nodded enthusiastically as Spencer got onto his belly and Jo laid on top of him and wrapped her hands around his neck.

“1…2…3!” Spencer pushed off and they raced down the slide again, Jo giggling the whole time.

“Again!” Jo said.

“I think we are going to have to buy one of these, love,” Spencer called over to you, laughing and running up the stairs right behind Jo again.

-

“Please welcome my lovely assistant to the stage,” Spencer spoke in his magician tuxedo.

You waved as the audience clapped. You were wearing a sparkly red sequin dress to compliment Spencer’s bow tie.

“I am going to make my assistant…disappear,” he stated.

The kids in the audience gasped.

Spencer took your hand and guided you to the big black box in the center of the stage.

“Just like we practiced,” he whispered to you as you stepped inside.

You winked and he kissed your hand as he let go and closed the door.

Spencer knocked on the door a few times and wiggled his hands for some showmanship.

“Okay, on the count of 3. We’re all going to yell ‘Abracadabra’,” Spencer explained, “1…2…3!”

“Abracadabra!” all the kids yelled.

Spencer set off a small smoke bomb and quickly opened the door, revealing an empty box.

The kids all screamed in wonder.

“Bring Mommy back!” Jo yelled.

You had to stifle your laughter from behind the fake wall in the box you were hiding behind.

“Your wish is my command, Princess,” Spencer closed the door again.

“To reverse the spell, we need to say the exact same word,” Spencer stated.

“Abracadabra!” the kids yelled once again.

This time, you opened the door and the kids clapped enthusiastically.

“For this next trick, I need a volunteer from the audience,” Spencer smiled.

All the kids’ hands shot up in the air.

“I’m going to have to go with the wonderful birthday girl right in the front row,” you took Jo’s hand and escorted her up onto the stage.

“Jo, I need you to pick a card, any card. Show the audience but not me,” Spencer fanned the cards out in his hands and closed his eyes.

Jo picked the ace of hearts and showed the audience.

“Now, put it back in the pile,” he said.

“Alright,” Spencer opened his eyes and began to shuffle the cards, “Is this your card?” he asked, holding the eight of spades.

“No, Daddy. Try again,” Jo said.

“Is this it?” he questioned, holding the queen of diamonds.

“No, Daddy.”

“Oh,” Spencer smacked his forehead, “I know where I put it,” he pulled off his top hat.

Spencer then proceeded to pull a bouquet of flowers, an endless handkerchief, a rubber chicken, and many other silly things out of his hat that had the kids in tears from laughing.

Finally, he pulled out the ace of hearts, “Is this your card, Princess?”

“Yes, Daddy!” she beamed, hugging him.

-

Jo’s birthday was a complete success. She was completely worn out by the end of it and slept in late the next morning.

But when she did finally wake, she was eager to try out her gift that you and Spencer had gotten her: a big kid bike with no training wheels. It was purple which was her favorite color with a white basket on the front and a little bell on the handlebars.

You and Spencer were going to teach her how to ride it today. She padded up with some knee pads and elbow pads and her helmet.

You had the twins in their double stroller with mini bucket hats on to protect them from the sun.

“Okay, Jo. Me and Daddy will run with you for a little but then we’re going to let go but you’re going to keep pedaling,” you explained to her.

“I’m scared,” she replied, looking at the street in front of her.

You were practicing in the street in front of your house because it wasn’t very busy and it was flat. Plus, you could leave the twins in the stroller in the driveway.

“It’s okay, Baby J. You’ve got all your padding on so even if you fall, it won’t hurt at all, I promise,” you assured her.

“I believe in you, Princess,” Spencer kissed her helmet-covered head.

“I’m ready,” she nodded, moving her feet to the pedals.

“That’s my girl,” you smiled.

You and Spencer began to jog alongside her as she pedaled.

Spencer looked at you, “Okay, Princess. We’re letting go.”

You and Spencer both removed your hands from her bike and she continued to speed forward.

“Yes, Jo! You’re doing it! ” you encouraged her.

“Princess, can you turn around and come back to me and Mommy?” Spencer asked.

Jo carefully steered her bike and headed back to you both with a massive smile on her face. You and Spencer were loudly cheering her on.

“Okay, try to brake,” you said.

Jo slowly came to a stop right in between you both.

“You’re a pro!” you grinned as you both knelt down to hug her.

-

Jo had been biking for the past hour and she was still having a blast.

You and Spencer were laying in the front yard with the twins in your laps.

“Mommy, Daddy! Look!” Jo exclaimed as she did donuts on the bike.

“We’re looking, Baby J,” you laughed, “Great job!”

You leaned your head on Spencer’s shoulder.

“Y/N…” Spencer began.

“Yes, Spence?”

“Thank you,” he replied.

“For what?” you looked up at him.

“All this,” he motioned to Jo, the twins, the house, the yard, the chalk drawings on the driveway, the rocking chairs on the front porch, the doormat that said ‘The Reids’, everything he ever dreamed of, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” you kissed him, “I’d give you the world if I could.”

“You already have,” he smiled.

A/N: thank you everyone so so so much for reading, commenting, reblogging, etc.! i love you all so much. i’m probably going to miss this too much and do one-shots of this series in the future. also, this series hit 14,000 on ao3! that’s crazy that that many people read my work. thank you, just thank you! -dory <3

main taglist (just ask to be added/removed!): @samuel-de-champagne-problems @g0lden-cth @spencerreid9 @averyhotchner @coldlilheart @k-k0129 @ickleronniekinsemotionalrange @harrystylesandthegoobs @cmily @jswessie187 @rem-ariiana @hoodpankow @mochionly @spencerreid-187 @babymetaldoll @fics4arainyday @ssavanessa22 @all-tings-diego @idonotexiste @beepbooptoop @tvandfanfic @mggsprettygirl @big-galaxy-chaos @navs-bhat

series taglist: @doctorreiding @reidsfish

[simpleserendipity]

Pool Party | Calum Hood | Mature

Pairing: Calum Hood x Reader (best friends with benefits)

Warning: smut, talk about sex, public sex, cock warming

Word count: 1,990 words

You insisted on doing nothing for your birthday but Calum refused to let you go without some celebration, so after a bit of arguing you agreed to get together, your best friend, Jordan, and the band at his house. You weren’t exactly sure why Calum cared so much about having a party, you were nothing more than friends who occasionally hooked up when you were feeling lonely. Both of you were okay with that, it’s just how it is. But you let him have his way and throw a pool party for your birthday anyway. You’re snapped out of your thoughts as the uber had finally pulled up to a stop outside Calum's house. You started to talk to the door but your best friend stopped you. "Cal said to just go through the back gate." She said as she guided you to the gate. You both took a few steps into the yard, hearing the guys talking. "Hi!" You both called out, walking through the yard. Luke was sitting on a floatie in the pool with a beer in his hand, Ashton was laying in the sun next to Michael who was covered by an umbrella and Calum was nowhere to be seen. "Happy birthday!" Michael, Ashton, and Luke all shouted at the same time. "Thank you!" You smiled, setting your stuff on a table out there. "You're old now!" Michael shouts. "That sure is how aging works Clifford." You laughed. "You're growing up too fast!" Ashton wipes a fake tear from under his eye. "Oh shut up." You rolled your eyes. Your best friend had started to pull off her clothes to get into the pool and you copied her actions. Just as you finished pulling your shirt off, the door to the house opened up. "Jordan, _____, you made it!" Calum comes out of the house. Jordan waves before flopping on a floatie next to Luke and begging Mikey to join her, which he eventually does. "Of course we did Cal," You laughed, "What else would we be doing?" "Happy birthday _____!" Calum chuckles. "Thank you." You smiled at him as he stopped in front of you. "Come here," Calum opens his arms, pulling you, "You look so cute." You wrapped your arms around him, "Thank you." You smiled as he hugged you. "Especially when you're wearing my bucket hat." He reaches up and plays with the brim of the hat that you forgot you had stolen from him once. Something brushes against your leg and Cal leans down, scooping up whatever touched your legs. You looked down at his arms, "Duke" You gushed over the dog, that you have begun to think of as your own, buying Duke treats and toys often. "Hand him over!" You held your hands out. Calum put Duke into your arms and the dog nuzzled into your chest, his fur was incredibly soft against your skin, "Look at you guys. So cute." Calum chuckled. You rocked Duke like a baby, "He's so cute and I love him so much." You cooed at the dog. You finally let the dog down and he wanders over to a chair, laying under it. Calum laughs at you, "You talk to Duke like he's a baby."

"He is a baby," You purse your lips together, "He's so cute." We were interrupted by Ashton yelling from where he sat at the edge of the pool, "Are you guys just going to stand over there and talk or come hang out with the rest of us?" “Or are you going into the house to go at it?” Michael jokes it was no secret that you and Calum have been hooking up since the incident where Luke caught you two in the backseat of Calum’s car outside the studio one day. So by now, you were both used to the ridiculous taunts from all of them. "We're coming," Calum answers, shaking his head with a laugh. "You just wanna lay in the sun." You stretched a bit before walking over to a chair beside the pool and sitting on the edge. "Come in the pool with us." Luke whined, "Or get me another beer." "Dude it's her birthday," Michael splashed him, "Let her do what she wants." "But it's not fun if you aren't in the pool with us." Ashton agreed with Luke. "_____ you're being so boring," Jordan whined as You laid on your stomach on the pool chair "Let me relax." You whined and squeezed your eyes shut. They all went silent and you laid there nervously for a moment before they resumed their conversations. You relaxed further into the chair before You felt hands on you. My eyes flashed open, just in time to see Calum grab your arms and Ashton grab your legs. "Do not throw-" You were cut off by them doing exactly what you were going to ask them to not do. They threw you in the pool. You resurfaced and pushed your hair out of your face slowly. I looked around seeing everyone had vacated the pool in favor of the hot tub. “Alright, I’m sorry _____,” Calum says between laughter, “Come here and let me make it up to you.” “No fuck off.” You climbed out of the pool. “Come here,” His voice was demanding enough that you knew you had to go, “_____.” “There isn’t enough room for everyone in the hot tub.” You roll your eyes, walking over to the edge of the hot tub anyway. You stood there having a staring contest with Calum before Luke interrupted. “Just sit on his lap,” Luke rolled his eyes, “It’s not like that isn’t something you’ve done before.” Amongst everyone’s laughter, you climb in seating yourself with your back against Calum’s chest, “Fine.” The idea of the perfect way to get back at Calum for throwing you in the pool strikes you. You had to make sure he’s completely engrossed in the conversation. The guys began talking about some interviewer and Jordan was caught up in the conversation too. This was your window of opportunity, you slowly reach your hand behind you like you’re going to scratch your back. Instead, your hand finds its way to the waistband of Calum’s swimsuit. You feel Calum’s breath hitch against your neck, “What do you think you’re doing?” Instead of answering you continued to pull the shorts down a little, knowing that the bubbles of the hot tub would hide exactly what you’re up to. “What do you think Cal?” Ashton asks Calum a question. “Sorry what?” Calum shakes his head, trying to tune back into the conversation. “We’re asking about when you think you’re gonna go home next...” Ashton gives Calum a weird look. “Oh uh...” Calum paused as your hand enveloped his dick, tugging lightly as you pull it out from his swim trunks, “Probably next month.” They all nod and return to their conversation. Calum leaves one arm around the edge of the hot tub as the other comes down to your hip, “What the hell are you doing?” “Nothing.” You bat your eyelashes and continue to stroke him. Calum is doing well to conceal his moans as his fingertips dig into your hip. “If you wanted to mess around we could have gone inside.” He whispers in your ear again, lips grazing it. “Now why would we do that?” You whispered back in a cocky tone. You stroked up and down a few more times, running your thumb through the slit, earning a hiss in your ear from him. You had finally grown tired of your teasing, so you stood slightly, looking as if you had to adjust where you sat. You carefully sat down again, this time sliding your swimsuit bottoms to the side and sinking onto him. You bit the inside of your cheek to hold back any sounds from the feeling of the intrusion. “What do you think you’re doing right now?” He hissed as you circled your hips slowly. “Hmmm…” You hummed, ignoring the questions and clenched around him. “In front of all our friends?” Calum whispers in your ear as you circled your hips slowly, holding back a groan. Calum’s breath was hot against your neck and it made you shiver with excitement, knowing where this would lead. “Mhm…” You hummed and pressed your back into his chest, relaxing while feeling his chest rising and falling rapidly. You lifted your hips before sliding down again. That was the final action that solidified your fate, Calum was going to be frustrated with you exactly as you wanted. Under the bubbles of the water, Calum’s fingers of one hand dug into your hips, “You’re gonna be in so much trouble later when I get you alone,” His breathing was shaky, “You’re gonna get it.” He murmurs into your ear, lips grazing the back of your head while everyone else too caught up in conversation to notice you two. His words sent a shiver down your spine, “Payback for throwing me in the pool.” You whispered, shakily as you can’t keep focused on your breathing even as you looked between your friends. You sat quietly observing as Jordan argued with Michael about what video game is better and the others are discussing random music and movies. You’re so caught up on the feeling of being full, his threats and fingers digging into your hip are slowly becoming too much. Your dominance is fading. “What are you doing tonight for your birthday, _____?” Luke asks, sipping his beer. Your eyes snap up in Luke’s direction, “I’m not sure.” You shrugged, trying not to move too much, knowing how hard this already was for Calum and that you would get in so much trouble with him later. “I can think of something she’s gonna do,” Ashton jokes, “But I don’t know if it’s more of a treat for her or Cal…” Ashton jokes as he makes a gesture as if he was sucking someone off. “I shouldn’t have asked,” Luke rolled his eyes, “I should have known you two were going to get at it tonight.” “I’m so glad we don’t have to live together anymore,” Michael added in, “I remember the first time you guys started hooking up.” “Oh god…” Ashton laughed, “‘Calum, please! Oh god Calum!’” Ashton used a high-pitched voice to mock you. “Oh shut up.” You roll your eyes and sink further back into Calum’s chest. “Okay, I think it’s time for us to go.” Calum’s arm from around the hot tub reaches down. Both his hands find your hips lifting you off of him, “Get up and go inside, upstairs.” He pulls you up. His demanding tone made you weak in the knees and the feeling of him slipping out made you want more. You were quick to hop out of the hot tub, following his commands. You walked towards the house, hearing all the laughter and comments from your friends. You stopped right outside the door. “Oh god,” Michael groaned, “Seriously Cal? _____?” Michael looks between us. “Really?” Luke laughs out loud at us as Calum hops out of the hot tub, heading towards the house. “We’re still here?” Michael laughed. “Jesus Cal we’re still here…” Ashton laughs. “Don’t care,” Calum flipped them off as he walked towards you, “Stay outside or leave, whatever you want.” Calum shrugged. “Dude seriously?” Jordan laughed, “You’re gonna go hook up and abandon us all out here? I mean it’s getting dark.” “You’ll be fine,” Calum chuckled and stopped right behind you, leaning into your ear, “And why aren’t you inside and upstairs like I asked?” His hands pushed his hips against yours. “Sorry…” You bit your lips and pushed the back door open. “You better be…” Calum groaned, pushing you forward into the house by your hips. It may be your birthday but Calum was sure about to get a treat, using you however he pleases.

[notanacousticsetcal]

3 and 6 with cal please 💕

a/n - this is such a cute combination. your wish is my command! i hope this was at all what you were looking for, i kinda just had an idea and rolled with it.

prompt(s) - “kiss me before i slap you.” & “i hate you so much.” “if you hate me so much, why is your hand on my ass?”

Your drink was watered down and your feet hurt and Cal still wasn’t there. You checked your phone again. He was officially an hour late.

You hadn’t seen him in a week. He’d been busy at meeting after meeting and promo after promo and you just wanted to hug him and tell him you missed him. He promised he would be here and he was an hour late.

You felt a tap on your shoulder and your stomach swelled with excitement only to turn around and find Candace, the birthday girl. You tried not to look disappointed. “Still waiting on him?”

You nodded sadly, sipping your watery Long Island iced tea wishing you had it in you to just get shitfaced and forget all about him when you really just wanted to go home and curl up in his t-shirt. “This is really not like him,” you said.

Candace nodded and gave your shoulder a squeeze. “Do you wanna come dance?”

You almost said no, wanting to sulk in the corner a little longer, but decided your pity party of one was getting a little too pitiful. “You know what? Why the fuck not. It’s your birthday, I don’t mean to be a downer.” You stood up and Candace smiled, handing you a shot.

“Hey, no worries. I’m just happy you’re here.” She gave you a warm smile which you happily returned, throwing your arm over her shoulder and hauling the blonde to the dance floor.

15 minutes of incredibly embarrassing dance moves later and you were already feeling winded, but you refused to be the first to tap out. Your vision was getting hazier as you downed more shots.

Club Can’t Handle Me was playing and it was impossible to not dance when this song came on so no matter how dizzy you felt, you kept going. The alcohol pumped through your veins and the only word you could think of to accurately describe how you were feeling in that moment was simply alive.

A pair of warm hands gripped your waste and you turned around. For the second time that night, you were expecting to meet a pair of brown eyes, but instead were met with intense green ones. Your eyebrows scrunched in confusion and you gave his chest a hard push.

He laughed, gripping your wrists. “That’s not very nice.”

“Get off me, asshole.” His grip was starting to hurt.

Candace had grabbed your shoulder and asked what was going on and you were about to knee him where the sun don’t shine when a pair of ring clad hands gripped the mans button up shirt, pulling him away from you.

The leather jacket was a dead give away. It was Calum.

“Back off, mate. Before I take your fucking head off.” Calum spat. He waited another moment to see if this guy was looking for a fight, but the man gave Calum one last glare before turning away and stalking off bitterly.

Calum turned to you, his eyes immediately becoming soft. “I’m sorry I’m late.” He looked like a guilty puppy. “Are you alright?”

You huffed out an annoyed breath. “Kiss me before I slap you.”

Cal smiled, closing the distance between the two of you quickly and pulling you into him by the waist. He wasted no time smashing his lips against yours in a desperate kiss. He tasted like mint and beer.

Your noses brushed against each other as you breathed heavily. Your lips tingled at the absence of his. “Why’d you leave me hanging for so long?”

He reached up and pushed your hands up from his biceps to wrap them around his neck. “Ash got in a small wreck and needed a ride. I texted but the service from Second Street Tunnel is awful.” He leaned in to steal another kiss but you pulled back. He groaned, tugging at your hips, but you wouldn’t budge.

“I’m still mad at you.” You pouted and turned away, attempting to escape to the bar to grab Calum a drink but he was quick to catch your hips.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His lips brushed softly against your ear.

“I’m getting you a drink, dumbass.” You pecked him on the cheek and his grip on you loosened.

You flagged down the bar tender and ordered Cal a whiskey and coke, sauntering back over to him.

“You’re going to be the death of me.” He accepted the drink, hand quickly falling back to its rightful place on your hip, then sliding a little further southward.

“Is that so?” You nuzzled into his nose with yours but before he could steal a kiss you pulled away quickly. “No kisses for Cal. An hour and a half late. Tsk, tsk.”

Calum groaned, whining like a child. “I hate you.”

“Mhm.” You smiled. “If you hate me so much, why is your hand on my ass?”

“Just one kiss? It wasn’t my fault, I swear.” He gave you the best puppy dog eyes he could muster which he knew was your weakness.

“Fine.” You rolled your eyes at his childish actions and gave him one short but passionate kiss before pulling away. “You’re gonna have to do a lot more than beg to earn my forgiveness, Cal.”

Calum’s eyes glistened with a mischief. “Don’t worry. I have a few ideas in mind.”

[jamesbbhoney]

The Brightest Light

summary: Your abilities have never struck you as something with value beyond aesthetic, but to Bucky, your light counts in more ways than one. [Bucky x enhanced!reader]

warnings: mentions of drunkenness, implication of PTSD

note: hi! this is not my first fic but it’s the first one I’m ever sharing so woohoo :) enjoy and please feel free to share feedback with me!

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

You opened your eyes to a dark room, only a thin stream of light coming in through your window from the crescent moon hung in the sky. With sleep still tugging at your eyes, you became aware of the smell of fresh coffee swirling in the air. You reached around for your phone to no avail.

“FRIDAY, what time is it?” you questioned into the darkness.

“The time is 3:41 a.m. Eastern Time, Ms. Y/l/n.”

You groaned gently, closing your eyes and leaning into your pillow. You knew very well who was up in the dark of the morning making coffee - Bucky. There was no one else on your floor of Stark Tower, and for that matter in the entirety of the Tower, who would be up and drinking coffee at this hour. Knowing that this meant you could steal some extra time alone with Bucky, you slowly propped yourself up, rubbing your eyes as they searched to make sense of the dark. You held your palm open in front of you, emitting a few marble-sized balls of light and releasing them like little fireflies into your room (first golden and warm, before you decided on a cool lavender color instead, watching the light dance and melt from gold into purple). You smiled softly at the way the light moved, perfectly tailored to your control yet almost alive on its own. 

Your ability had never been one you felt was particularly meaningful or valuable. Being able to create and manipulate energy from your fingertips, emitting light in beams, rays, balls, shapes, any form you could imagine, really, was never going to save anyone’s life. You could never shake the feeling that you just didn’t belong with the elite, talented, gifted people you lived and worked with. Yet as part of a wave of Enhanced offered the chance to live and train at Stark Tower two years ago, you had somehow managed to land yourself in the circles of people like Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. Moreover, if often put you in the kitchen at 3 a.m. stealing moments among the quiet with Bucky Barnes. 

That was largely the nature of your relationship with Bucky: stolen moments in the early morning or the dead of night, where the bustle of life seemed to still. When distraction waned and a certain super soldier found himself (more nights than not) unable to sleep. You couldn’t help but find yourself drawn to him whenever you were alerted to his presence, whether it was the smell of coffee in the darkness of the morning, or the fact that everyone else would go to bed and he would still be up, looking out the windows in quiet contemplation, eager to stay awake as long as he could muster.

- - - 

One year earlier - July 4, 2:15 a.m.

“I’m fine, really, Y/n. It was just a tough night. You should go to bed.”

Decently drunk from the 4th of July celebrations and more defiant than ever, you crossed your arms and pouted. “What, you don’t want me around?” you said, giving him your biggest puppy dog eyes, knowing damn well that wasn’t what he meant.

He chuckled, looking up from where he stood at the edge of the balcony, looking out over the railing at the skyline to meet those eyes of yours. “Trust me, doll, that’s not the case.”

You inched closer to him as the cold of the night hit you. “Was it the fireworks?” you asked, studying his eyes as they held yours.

He looked down at his hands gripping the railing. He nodded solemnly. “Yeah… I should have known I wouldn’t be able to handle it all - the party, the blaring music, the fireworks…” he trailed off. He looked back up at you, forcing a smile. “But really, I’m fine, you don’t have to stay up with me.” 

You rolled your eyes. A year you’d known him at that point, countless missions together, many late-night talks and hot chocolates, and you’d never let him stay up alone thus far, not when his eyes begged you to stay as he weakly encouraged you to go to bed. Why he thought his arguing would make any difference this time was a mystery. 

“I know I don’t have to, Bucky. I want to,” you said, closing the space between you, unable to resist the way his presence pulled you in.

Still woozy from all the drinks and commotion of the night, you reached out to his forearm to steady yourself, instantly floored at how strong and stable he felt. He looked down at where your hand met his arm, looking slightly confused. He looked up at you again, his eyes sparkling.

You smiled back, relaxing at how grounded you felt, one hand on the railing of the balcony, one on your best friend who you had had a hopeless crush on since the moment you met him a year prior. 

“I used to love fireworks, actually,” he said, almost breathlessly as he turned slightly to be facing you. “Just, the noise…” he trailed off again in a whisper. 

You inched closer to him, drawn to his warmth as the night grew colder. You removed your right hand from the railing, holding it gingerly between you and Bucky. You willed a ball of soft red light into your hand, and gently pushed it upwards until it floated between you and Bucky. You concentrated as hard as you could, which was difficult given the drunken state you were in, trying to imagine the ball splitting into little stars and sparks. As you focused, the light followed your vision, creating a beautiful dance of twirling light and mock-fireworks in the space between you and Bucky. You smiled at yourself, enjoying the display you brought to life without the bangs and pops of real fireworks. 

You looked up to see Bucky staring in awe at you through the light as it encircled you both. You met his eyes and the light transformed into a myriad of colors, brighter and warmer than you had any conscious intention of. Although you had lost focus on your control of the light completely, it seemed to mirror the butterflies in your stomach as Bucky looked at you with such wonder on his face. 

The tension between you was palpable. The space between you was inching closed as his left hand found your waist, cool metal against the gap of skin between your jeans and white top. Your right hand found his back and it felt like eons passed as you simply stared at each other surrounded by your homemade fireworks. 

He crashed his lips against yours, passionate but sweet. He tasted like bourbon and you breathed him in, desperate for this moment to last forever. You kissed him back with such intention, letting every moment of pining over the past year escape through your lips. Your heart swelled in your chest as you both pressed against each other, his soft touches turning into desperate arms pulling you against him. 

He eventually pulled away, the pair of you completely breathless, and the lights surrounding you twirling and exploding with vigor. As your breathing evened out, the lights calmed down to the softest golden glow, swimming slowly across the entire balcony.

“Y/n, I can’t begin to tell you how long I’ve been wanting to do that,” he said softly into you.

“Me, too,” you laughed. Although you had been jolted by your kiss, you still swayed from the drinks in your system. Bucky clung onto you as his eyebrows knit together slightly.

“But you really should go to bed,” he said lightly with a chuckle as you leaned into him for support. “Come on, doll, I’ll walk you to your room.”

From that night on, you stole more moments when no one could see; when sleep graced everyone but Bucky, you graced him with your light.

- - -

You pulled on a white hoodie and your fluffy slippers, trudging into the hallway of the floor you shared with Bucky and a shapeshifter named Cal, brought in around the same time as you were. The lavender light followed you out and you held your palm out again, willing the light to come into your palm as a mini lantern to guide you down the hall. You stared into the orb, wispy and pulsing, before stepping into the open space of the kitchen, letting your hand fall and the light dissipate.

“Morning, sunshine,” you said softly. Bucky, leaning over the counter clutching his mug of black coffee, lifted his head to meet your eyes. He smiled sweetly at you, although his eyes were tired and swollen from a lack of sleep.

“Hey there,” he said, his body clearly relaxing as you made your way towards him.

You passed behind him to get your own mug, letting your hand brush along his back as you did. 

You put the kettle on for tea, picking out an earl grey bag for your mug, and came up next to him, allowing your shoulders to touch comfortably. You looked up at him in wonderment, barely able to make out his features but even in the dim light of only a crescent moon streaming in through the big windows looking out over the skyline and balcony, you could see the light in his eyes, the jagged lines that carved out his face. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you steadily into him. You reached your arms up around his tense neck, gently massaging into his hair as he leaned into your touch.

“Nightmares, again?” you asked, watching him carefully.

He shut his eyes with a sigh and nodded as you continued rubbing circles at the nape of his neck.

“Mhm. Worse than usual,” he mumbled into the space between you.

“I’m sorry, baby” you whispered. “I wish you’d let me stay in there with you.”

Bucky refused to let you sleep in his room after he accidentally gave you a black eye from struggling in his sleep a couple months prior. Not wanting to reveal the full nature of your relationship to the team, you told them it was from sparring, and Bucky could hardly look at you for weeks given his guilty feelings.

“You know that’s not a good idea,” he said, his voice heavy, eyes still shut as he gripped at your sweatshirt.

You didn’t have it in you to argue with him; not tonight, at least. 

The tea kettle started to boil and you slid gently out of his embrace to get your tea ready. He leaned back towards the counter. 

With warm tea in one hand, you slid the other into Bucky’s right hand, pulling him with you towards the big windows in the living room, sitting on the floor in the corner, your usual spot. Bucky leaned against the wall, spreading his sweatpant-adorned legs open to make space for you to sit against him.

You nestled back against him, head resting in the crook of his neck as he set his coffee down and big arms wrapped around you from behind. 

“How’s the training going?” he asked after a while of just sitting together looking at the moon through the window.

You sighed. You had been working with Wanda to try and channel your abilities into something with a bit more power. With all the field training and martial arts they had taught you, you were as good as any other specialized SHIELD agent, but as part of a crew of Enhanced individuals, you felt vastly inferior. All you could do was play with light, albeit often beautiful and mesmerizing, and you were really beginning to question your place there.

“Not great,” you said dejectedly. “I’m really trying, but it’s just not destructive, there’s something missing. It doesn’t work that way no matter how hard I try. Other than aesthetics, I’m as useless as ever.”

“Doll, you aren’t useless by any means,” he said, gripping you tighter. “You are incredibly gifted, and if there’s something else that’s meant to come from your gift, you’ll find it eventually. If not,” he shrugged slightly. “You’re still pretty damn amazing.”

You smiled, setting your tea down next to Bucky’s coffee and turning to face him. He inched away from the wall so that you could straddle him, and he held your back so easily, propping you up to stay face to face.

“I love you,” you said, wrapping your arms around his neck again, noses brushing.

“I love you, too, doll,” he returned. 

You sat together for a while, drinking your tea and coffee, trading gossip from the team, venturing onto the balcony, gazing at the moon. You showed Bucky a new party trick you’d been working on, where you conjured light that took on the shape of a dancing couple, laughing and spinning together. You didn’t say it, but Bucky didn’t need to hear it to know it was the two of you you were thinking of.

Lying in comfortable silence on the balcony under a shared blanket, Bucky pulled you into him.

“It hurts, Y/n/n,” he said so quietly you barely heard him say it. “I hardly sleep because the pain in my dreams is so… real. It hurts, baby. I’m afraid to sleep.”

Your heart nearly broke in two. You rolled over so you were fully on top of him, elbows framing his head as your hands carded through his hair, the blanket cascading down, locking you into a safe little cove on the aid open balcony.

“I know, honey,” you said soothingly, leaning your forehead against his. “I wish I could do something to take your pain away.” A halo of white light began to form around your hands. 

Bucky glanced up at your hands, his eyebrows knitting together. He looked to your face to see you as confused as he was. 

You couldn’t explain it, but your hands felt like magnets drawn to Bucky’s head, fingers pressing ever so gently against his temples. As you did, you could physically feel the tension melt away, it was a sensation you’d never felt before - beyond feeling his muscles relax under your touch, this was feeling… his mind relax.

He exhaled deeply at your touch, eyes closing gently as he put his hands over yours so slowly and gently. You realized it wasn’t just your touch, it was your light, your power, that affected him this way. You had been right that your ability wasn’t destructive, but it wasn’t just passive entertainment. People had always been mesmerized by it in a way, in taking it in with their eyes, but you had never thought to try to use it to heal, to sooth strain. Now, you could feel the soft glow emitting from your palms draw out the strain, draw out the mental pain the man you loved shouldered every day and night.

“Baby,” he said, clinging to your fingers against his temples. “What are you doing?” he asked curiously, softly.

You let out a shy, breathy laugh. “I don’t really know. It just happened. I- I didn’t know I could do this.”

He opened his eyes to look up at you with the most adoration you’d ever been on the receiving end of. The connection between you only intensified with this newfound discovery. You could truly feel him, feel the tension he held, or rather didn’t feel at that point. 

The glow slowly faded from your hands as Bucky gently pried your fingers off of his temples.

“Amazing,” he said between kisses pressed to your knuckles. “You’re just… amazing, Y/n.” He brought his hands to the small of your back, pulling you into him as you continued straddling him. “There’s nothing you can’t do.” 

You leaned into him, pressing your lips to his, pulling back so slightly, not wanting to leave any more space than absolutely necessary between you. “It’s for you, baby. It’s all for you,” you breathed into him. “You bring out the best in me, the brightest of my light.” You kissed him again. “It’s yours, all for you.”

- - - - - - 

there ya have it! my first published fic on here. loosely inspired by Video Games by Lana Del Rey (mostly just the last part of dialogue heh) feel free to leave feedback for me in my inbox or wherever! hope you enjoyed :)

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

Tired of Feeling the Blues

The stress is a recipe for disaster, but thankfully Calum’s there to help her all through it.

This is what we call self-indulgence 101. Enjoy soft Calum. 

It is a female reader, only referred to as ‘she’. No specific race. 

Please stay safe during these uncertain times. Drop a sweet message to your favorite blogger. Reblog your favorite fic. Recommend a fic to me if you want! We need to spread some joy. If you feel so inclined and have the means, you can support me on Ko-fi. 

Enjoy my masterlist as well!

___________________________

The tension resides at the base of her skull, creeping its way up the back of her head, pulsing in her temple and right behind her eye. It beats the back of her skull on the left side of her head and the left side only. Her neck is heavy and not even the pillow beneath her neck is able to support it or alleviate the pounding. Closing her eyes hurt. Rolling onto either side hurts. It does not help with the lingering twinge of cramps in her lower back. Physically, she is falling apart. And mentally, she isn’t doing much better. The world in a panic to the pandemic and with her job now closed, she worries about bills. Thankfully right before the shutdown on her job, she had figured housing arrangements with Calum. But that didn’t stop the dizzying worry about her student loans, providing basic necessities for herself and her dog, Ace. 

The room is still dark when Calum peaks his head inside. She lays still, not fully under the sheets with Duke on her chest and Ace curled up on her side. It was a slight worry when she first moved at the end of February that Ace would be just too big of a dog around Duke with the German Shepherd abundantly clear in him. There were a couple other things, the best guess was Australian Shepherd. But the vets hadn’t been too sure and the people at the shelter couldn’t quite place it either. And though Ace did like to play rough, the moment she felt like he was getting too rowdy and called for him to cool it, he listened immediately. He was well trained and there was no doubting that. 

“Head still hurting?” Cal asks, stepping into the bedroom more. He uses his body to block the light from the hallway as he shuts the door close.

“If you have a guillotine hiding out anywhere, feel free to break it out.”

The bed dips as he settles and his hands settle onto her clothed leg not covered by the sheets. He rubs soothing circles over the black cloth. “You take something for it yet?”

She nods and it’s a fucking mistake. Immediately, it feels like needles in her neck. She groans, throwing her arm over her face. “Yeah. I did.”

Duke picks his head up and upon spotting Calum jumps up. Calum grins, petting the top of his head. “Taking care of Mamas?”

“He has great bedside manners,” she jokes. 

“It’s a little past noon. Care for lunch?” Her headache had been plaguing since the night before and she thought sleep would ease the ache. But now it was proving more stubborn that impeded her from going on their morning walk. Calum handled the dogs with ease. But he did worry the entire time about her. Part of him doesn’t want to admit that some of it was out of a panic that somehow she had contracted the disease. But a larger part of him knew that between temporarily losing her job, her period, and overall panic, that the stress wouldn’t be nice on her physical body either. 

Her reply is soft. “I’ll take leftovers.”

“I do have soup if you want. Easier to get down.”

“Hmm, I’m a chicken noodle soup kind of gal.” 

“Chicken noodle soup then.”

She can feel the bed lifting again. From her lifted arm, she watches him. “You don’t even eat meat. Why do you have chicken in this house?”

“Because you do.”

“I told you you didn’t have too,” she calls as the door starts to creak close with Calum slipping out of it. 

“It’s like a treat. A little chicken as a treat,” he winks and closes the door. 

Though it makes her feel like one of the dogs, she has to laugh. “A little chicken as a treat.” 

There’s a few moments of silence before Duke climbs off her chest. He pitters over to the door and a whine leaves his throat. Though it hurts, she stands and opens the bedroom door. The house isn’t in too bad of shape. She managed, in the time it took Calum to walk the dogs, to collect the trash bins from the curb. She washed the dishes from the late night snacking, put one load of laundry into the washer and scrubbed down the bathrooms. She had meant to sweep too but it hurt to be upright after that so she retired to the bedroom. 

Calum hears the click of paws and when he glances down there’s Duke at his feet. “What happened to Nurse Duke?”

“Missed his pops,” she returns sliding into the bar seating. Ace settles onto the couch, but keeps his attention trained onto her. 

“You could’ve stayed in the back. I was going to bring it to you.”

She doesn’t quite have the energy to respond, though she does simply wave off the comment before resting her head on her forearms. Calum stirs the soup on the stovetop for a few moments before walking over. His fingers take up the soft muscle of her shoulder. She hums as he guides two fingers up her neck, up and over the tension. It hurts just a little but it helps. The pressure combatting the pounding that seems to have taken up the whole residence of the entire left side. She knows amongst all this, the worry about her, Calum has meetings and promotion to do. She knows he’s got a million other things to juggle but he stopped his world for just five minutes for her. 

“I love you,” she sighs when his fingers run up her neck and even into her scalp. 

Calum’s laughter is a soft exhale. “You’re just saying that.”

“No, I’m not.” And it’s not that he ever thought that she was kidding. But his heart still jumps a little at the furrowed brows that face him as she lifts her head and turns. “I do love you and I would never just say that. Never. You got that?”

It was easy to just say a phrase. But it wasn’t lost on him that it was her that brought in the cans, or did the laundry, or washed the dishes. That was how she always showed her love, helping around the house, doing something to take it off his plate. “I know,” he says. It’s softly and she notices the tears pooling just slightly at his lower lashline. 

“Good,” she murmurs against his lips before pressing a soft kiss. “Don’t burn my soup being a sap though. I don’t think I have the mental capabilities to handle that.”

As their noses brush, Calum can’t help his grin. That’s his girl, forever honest. “On it.” The kiss is brief, yet again. His fingers are still kneading at her neck and though it hurts when he pulls away, she knows it’s better than burnt soup. She drops her head on her neck, eyes closed again. When is the pain going to end? When is she going to find relief? From everything really and not just the headache. She needs relief from debt, from social distancing, from panic. 

Calum can only watch as she carries herself to the couch. Wrapped in one of his hoodies, she curls herself around Ace. He’d offer sitting outside with him but the sun’s not going to help her headache. There’s almost nothing to do but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t do whatever he can. With the soup warmed and in a bowl, he carefully carries it over to her. Her groan is heavy and drawn out as she sits up. “Yeah, just decapitate me please.”

“I’m sorry, love. Eat, try to sleep, okay?”

“Have you eaten?”

“Yes. Don’t worry about me right now, okay? Cuddle Ace. They look so sad that Mamas is not in tip top condition.”

The lip roll is exaggerated, pulling out and down. Calum kisses her forehead, gently cupping the back of her head with the action. His breath is a whisp against her skin as he whispers something. She doesn’t even catch it, not if it were English or Maori. He turns out the lights in the living room for her and soon he’s gone. Not without draping a blanket around her shoulders. She assumes another meeting. He’s taken to sitting outside during those calls. Maybe it’s so she’s not interrupting with the cleaning and that noise and he’s not in the way.

She has every intent to wash the dishes from her quick lunch. But once the soup is settled and she’s curled up again with Ace, it’s just so much easier to sleep. The bowl rests on the coffee table and she can’t find it within herself to get up. And she thinks it’ll be a quick nap too, by the time she gets up, Calum will still be on his conference call. It’s just a quick nap that wraps her up. 

Until she finally blinks awake and the living is dark. The kitchen light is one still but there’s no sun peeking in from the blinds and she swears she couldn’t have slept the whole day away. When she pushes up, there’s less pounding in her head but a manageable dull ache. Her bleary eyes try to find the clock in the room to let her know what time it is but it’s much too far. She stands, eyes squinting against the light of the kitchen. It’s just about three and she spins, not sure if it’s three pm or three am. But there’s no way Calum would’ve just left her on the couch. 

The blinds are drawn up and the curtains closed. When she pulls them apart, the sun comes blaring through. Her racing heart finally settles. “Thank fuck,” she grumbles. 

“Ah, she lives,” Calum teases, peering into the living with a basket on his hip. Laundry. Not the load she started. 

“It was dark and I thought I slept the entire day away.”

“No, just a few hours.”

She remembers the dishes, throwing a quick glance down to the coffee table. The bowl and spoon are gone. As her eyes scan, the pot and everything sit in the drying rack. “I can fold laundry,” she offers. 

“It’s the last load.” And it’s meant to deter her, but she wiggles her fingers, stepping out from the couch. Calum shakes his head. “I got it.”

“I was supposed to clean my dishes and I didn’t. Let me, please?”

“How’s your head?” He knows as she walks closer that she’ll fight tooth and nail about making up for the dishes. But it’s not a big deal. She continues on and Calum shuffles into the bedroom to hide the basket from her. “Hey, no, you’re supposed to be taking it easy.”

“Give me the basket and no one gets hurt Hood.”

“It’s the last load, baby. Really, it’s okay.”

“You fixed me lunch and cleaned my dishes. Just give me the basket.”

“You’re not feeling well, so of course I did all that.” 

She stands toe to toe with him, the basket behind his back pinned between him and their shared dresser. “Basket, Hood.”

“You can use my last name all you want, love. I’m not giving up this fucking basket.”

This happens all the time with them. And she should’ve learned to give up the good fight a long time ago, but giving in was not in her nature. So they stand there, staring, sharing breaths. But neither one of them budges. Calum doesn’t give in and let her take the basket and she doesn’t walk away. 

“I have to pee but I’m not walking away,” she utters. The second she goes to pee, it’s over. Calum will start folding. 

“Don’t burst your bladder.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

Calum watches her, the way her leg starts to shake and he knows she’ll wait this out. There’s no sense in making her prove that point any further either. “Go pee, Christ! I’ll let you help, alright?” She sticks her tongue out, before racing to the bathroom. Calum hollers as she goes, “That’s not a victory for either one of us though!”

“Gray sock,” Cal calls before tossing the sock in her direction. It arches and lands in her waiting hands. To her left are all the unpaired socks. As she finds the matches, she rolls them together and places them into a pile to the right of her. The living room is scattered with clothes. Piles of underwear, separated by owner, and further separated from there, t-shirts rest on the top of the coffee table, alongside the bath towels. 

“Who’s shirt?” she asks, wiping the cotton material out so she can get a better look at it. 

“Merch,” Calum explains, holding his hand out for it. It takes more effort to toss, so it doesn’t land on their piles incorrectly. He folds it, like she taught him, hooking his pinkies to flip the sleeves back behind. It folds in half once and he folds it half again, creating thirds so that the screen print of the top of the faces peak out. The same thing that graces the cover of the album. 

Softly behind the quiet sounds of the dogs clicking about, is the hum of the latest binge that’s already been long forgotten. They’ll restart it again later on when they’re better focused. Calum sits with his laptop open and facing him. Notes for another meeting and he’s bored already just looking at the text. “Where’s the pile for kitchen towels?’ she asks. 

Calum, with his eyes still locked on the screen, thinks for a moment. “There’s no pile.”

“You have more space than I do.”

That’s all he needs before he tears his gaze away and catches the towel floating through the air. “What do you want for dinner? And you can’t say whatever is fine.”

In the midst of folding a bath towel, she huffs. “I’m fine with anything.”

He knew she’d find a loophole. She’d find a way to shove off the responsibility onto him. “Burgers?” he suggests, thinking of the patties that might’ve been lingering in the freezer. Her only response is a nod accompanied by a soft sound of agreement. 

It’s back to the notes, back to barely listening to the voices on the TV. When all the clothes are folded and tucked away, Calum pulls her onto the couch, into his chest, arms winding around her body. His fingers gently cradle her head. “Any more pain?”

“Just a little pressure.”

His heart is beating against her ears, the steady beat comforting as she burrows into his chest. All it would take to curl up inside the cavity, tuck herself away from everything. Though she can’t physically shrink herself, she happily accepts the soft brush of his fingers over her scalp. “Tomorrow we can make it a mile and a half walk, since you missed out today.”

“You are trying to kill me.” The sentence is punctuated by a kiss to his jawline. 

“Ace got scared by a bush today,” Calum relays with a soft laugh. “Some birds were in it and when they flew off, it shook the bush. He got a little freaked. I guess he was too occupied by the couple walking their dogs on the other side of the street.”

“He’s big but he’s a baby. Sounds like someone else I know.” The jest isn’t lost on Calum but he lets it slide for the moment being, taking in the feeling of her tracing patterns on his chest with her fingers. 

[gaygent37]

Calling the Wolf Within - JayDick

I had a lot of hope going into this. I got 4k words in, and just lost interest, so here you go. As per usual, no porn :/ because it would’ve taken another few thousand words to get to that actual porn, and a few thousand to wrap it up afterwards, and that was too long for me. So I scrapped it and wrote the other werewolf fic instead. Also it just started getting strange.

5,021 words, JayDick, werewolf Jason, human Dick, human Tim, almost kidnapping, almost Stockholm Syndrome, almost mating calls, almost explained why ‘almost’ towards end, fluff, borderline crack at time, h/c, no idea why Tim is there, OOC Tim, it’s a mess

For the past week and a half, Dick would hear shuffling in the woods behind his cottage. The first couple of times, he took it as a family of rabbits or raccoons looking for a place to live, but when the heard a tree crack and fall, Dick knew it was something much bigger.

His neighbors said it could be a bear or perhaps a mountain lion that had come down from the mountains. So Dick called the local ranger to take a gander.

“I dunno what to tell ya, kid,” the ranger said, shaking his head at the tree and the large muddy footprints that appeared last night. “Ya see these tracks?” he asked, pointing to the paws in the mud. “I grew up in Wyoming, so I’ seen my share o’ wolf tracks. And if I were to guess, I’d say it’s one hellava wolf ya’ve got there.”

“W-Wolf?” Dick asked faintly. “But Mr. and Mrs. Hanks said there are no wolves in this area.”

The ranger nodded and tipped his hat. “There ain’t.”

Dick nodded slowly, like the ranger was making complete sense. “Okay, so there’s a huge wolf coming around the woods and making a mess near my house every night. What do you propose I do?”

“Wolf of this size?” he chuckled humorlessly, nodding at the tracks. “Ain’t no shotgun in the world that could make a dent in this thing, so I’d move the hell out. Well, that or call in the military. This is way outta my jurisdiction.”

“But you’re supposed to deal with these kinds of things in this area!” Dick said in frustration. “You can’t expect everyone to just move out when there’s a problem to can’t handle! Think of something!”

The ranger stood and scratched his head. “Well, I gotta friend a state over who specializes in catching these kinda beasts. He might have an extra-large bear trap or two?”

“Yes!” Dick said in relief. “Please call him.”

“You got it, kid.” The ranger stepped away for a few minutes to call his friend.

Dick shoved his hands into his pocket with a sigh, looking around the forest. He could see his cottage no more than thirty paces from the fallen tree and the tracks. There were also snapped branches and a dried bloody trail leading to a chicken carcass, more signs of the large animal that had popped up throughout the past week.

Dick shivered slightly and glanced over at the ranger, who was laughing into his phone. Suddenly, he shivered, a chill running over him. Dick glanced around again, but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary in the sunny forest.

“Good news!” the ranger said, jogging back over. “My friend said he could come with a couple of his huntin’ buddies! Bad news, they can’t come until the weekend.”

“The weekend?” Dick asked. “That’s- That’s not for another four days.”

The ranger gave him a shrug.

Dick took a deep breath. “Okay. I- I guess I’ll just pack some stuff and go stay at the town inn until then. I don’t want to be up here alone when there’s that giant… whatever it is, running around.”

The ranger smiled. “That’s the spirit, kid! Want me to give you a ride into town?”

“Nah,” Dick said. “I need to do some packing first. I’ll head over first thing tomorrow morning.”

Dick awoke to the sound of his downstairs window breaking. Immediately, his hand went to his phone, which was charging on the bedside table. There were several more crashes and the banging of pots clashing, the sound of something very large moving through Dick’s tiny kitchen.

Dick slid off his bed and rolled under it in one smooth moment. He dialed 911 immediately and pressed the phone to his ear, his breathing erratic and loud. His eyes were pinned to his bedroom door, which was cracked open slightly.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“Someone broke into my house,” Dick whispered.

“Okay, and where are they now?”

“In my house,” Dick repeated, barely daring to speak.

“And where are you, sir?”

“I’m- I’m hiding, under my bed. Can you- Can you please send a squad? With guns.” Dick tensed even more when he heard the bottom stair creak, louder than it has ever creaked before. “Please.”

“Is there only one person?” There was another creak. The second step. Then a third.

“I don’t know!” Dick hissed. “They’re- They’re making a lot of noise, and they’re coming up the stairs!”

“Okay, stay calm, sir. I’m going to-” Suddenly, there was loud thump, right outside his bedroom door. Whatever it was, had jumped eight entire steps up to the second floor. Dick shoved his phone underneath him and pressed his hand tightly to his mouth, not even daring to breathe.

His bedroom door was nosed open. Literally nosed open. The first thing that appeared was a huge snout. The nose twitched a couple of times before the rest of the beast entered the room as well.

Dick’s eyes grew wider, and he felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest in fear. He could only see the huge paws of the creature, but it took up all the space in Dick’s room. Its tail knocked over Dick’s lamp, and the glass of watch he always set by his bed.

A soft growl filled the air and the creature shifted, stretching down so that its head was pressed against the ground. Golden eyes met his, and Dick let out the tiniest of squeaks.

The last thing Dick heard when he fainted was the emotionless calls of “Sir? Sir? Are you still there? Please stay on the line. We’re sending someone over right now.”

“…look! You scratched up his face!” There was a growl and a snapping of teeth. “Damn, that’s gotta hurt… Oh, wait, I think he’s waking up!”

Dick blinked his eyes open slowly, feeling dizzy and disoriented. The first thing he saw was the smiling face of a young teenager.

“Hullo,” the boy said. “You alright?”

“Where the hell… am I?” Dick asked, looking around. Everywhere he looked, he just saw jagged stone.

The boy gave a light laugh. “I couldn’t tell you,” he said. “Some cave in the middle of nowhere, probably.”

There was a snuffle and a growl from somewhere behind the boy.

Dick craned his neck and peered behind him. His eyes widened, and he tensed. The largest wolf Dick had ever seen was curled up lazily against the opposite wall, its head resting in its paws, and it was staring at Dick.

“Oh my god,” Dick said hoarsely. “I’m having a nightmare.”

“That’s what I thought too, at first,” the boy said, strangely cheerfully. “But you’ll get used to it.”

“What?” Dick asked, staring at the teen like he was crazy.

“Oh, I should introduce myself,” the boy said. He held out his hand. “I’m Tim.”

Dick stared at Tim’s hand for the longest time. He looked over at the wolf again. Then, he took Tim’s hand. “Dick… my name’s Dick,” he said very slowly, unsure of what was going on.

“So, where are you from, Dick?” Tim asked.

“Um… Brighton Springs… in Pennsylvania,” Dick said.

“Never heard of it,” Tim said.

“It’s a small town,” Dick said absently. “Wha- What about you? What are you doing here?” He kept a cautious eye on the wolf.

“Los Angeles,” Tim said.

“California?”

“Yup,” Tim said. “My parents were in Pittsburg for business, and I tagged along. Didn’t know I’d be kidnapped by a giant wolf though.” Tim laughed.

“Wait, you were- you were taken by- by that too?”

Tim nodded.

“And- And you’re not freaked out by it?!” Dick exclaimed.

“I was,” Tim said. “I’ve been here two weeks though, so I’ve had time to get used to it. Besides, Wolfie isn’t bad at all.”

“Wolfie.”

Tim grinned. “Yeah. I couldn’t keep calling him ‘it’ or ‘the wolf’. And I don’t think he really minds anyway. Isn’t that right, Wolfie?”

Wolfie yawned and flicked his tail.

“Oh my god, I’m stuck in a cave with a giant wolf and a crazy kid,” Dick muttered. “What the ever-loving fuck.”

“Hey, I’m not a kid,” Tim said. “I’m seventeen.”

“Seven- You look no older than thirteen!”

Tim gave him an annoyed look. “Right, and I guess you’d assume I also attend high school and nerd out over video games with my friends at lunch.”

Dick blinked at him. “…Do you not?”

Tim threw his hands in the air. “Oh my god, the people of this world! I’ll have you know that I’m in my sophomore year of college! At Cal Tech!”

Dick squinted at him. “And you still named the wolf… Wolfie?”

Tim huffed. “I- Okay, fine, it’s a stupid name! My parents never let me have a dog because my mom’s allergic, and I’ve always wanted one, and I wanted to name it Doggie, so sue me if I’m living my childhood dream a bit!”

“That’s not a dog, Tim. That thing can eat you up in one bite!” Dick said.

“But he hasn’t!” Tim shouted.

“Doesn’t mean he won’t!”

“Holy shit, Wolfie, you’ve picked up the most annoying person ever!” Tim yelled. “You get him out of here, or I’m leaving!”

“You know what? I don’t want to be here anyway!” Dick fumed back. He stood up and shoved Tim out of the way and started storming towards the exit.

In a flash, Wolfie was on his feet and in front of Dick in a threatening stance, lips pulled back in a growl. He snapped his teeth at Dick.

“Wha- What’s he doing?” Dick said, taking a step back. Wolfie took step forward.

Dick stepped back again. Wolfie continued to follow, growling and snapping his teeth. “Tim, call him off!”

“He doesn’t listen to me,” Tim grumbled. “Besides, you yelled at me, so I don’t think I’m going to help you.”

Tim sat down, crossed his legs, and produced a bag of chips from somewhere. He popped it open and started eating, watching as Dick was slowly being cornered against the cave wall.

“S-Seriously, I- I think he’s going to eat me!” Dick whimpered, his back pressed tightly against the cold stone.

Wolfie opened his mouth wide, and Dick screamed, his knees giving out as he curled up in a ball, waiting for the inevitable.

Suddenly, there was a heavy floomph of air and fur tickled Dick’s nose. He waited a few more seconds before opening his eyes.

He was still curled up against the wall, but now, Wolfie was sprawled in front of him, on his back, giant legs up in the air.

“What’s- What’s he doing?” Dick asked, pulling himself in tighter.

“Making sure you don’t try running away again,” Tim said, licking his fingers. “And asking for belly rubs. He likes the spot under his chin the best.”

“Huh?!”

“Rub his belly,” Tim said.

Dick stared at Tim like the boy was crazy. But Tim did not seem like he was kidding, and the way Wolfie was lying, it really did seem like a dog waiting for belly rubs.

Wolfie turned his head towards Dick, his golden eyes wide. And holy shit, he looked sad.

“Stop- Stop that,” Dick said weakly. “I thought you were going to eat me.”

Wolfie let out a whine and wiggled even closer.

Dick stared at him for a couple more seconds before giving in to the puppy-dog eyes. He placed his trembling hand on Wolfie’s stomach, pushing down several inches of fur, which were surprising soft.

Very tentatively, Dick moved his hand back and forth. Wolfie gave a rumble of pleasure.

“Oh my god, he likes it,” Dick said in a near-hysterical voice.

“Told you,” Tim said smugly, opening his second bag of chips. “Get the spot under his chin.”

Dick looked over at Wolfie’s head, which was arched back in response. “Er, how? I’m stuck here.”

“Climb on top of him,” Tim said. “And use both hands.”

Dick was not keen on the idea of climbing onto Wolfie’s stomach, but after another brief stare down with the sad golden eyes, Dick uncurled himself and slowly put one leg over Wolfie’s stomach, straddling him.

Then, Dick slowly pulled himself up until his legs were behind Wolfie’s front legs, and he could comfortably reach over and scratch under Wolfie’s chin.

Dick took a deep breath and reached forward. Suddenly, he was slammed down flat against Wolfie’s chest, his face pressed into the soft fur. He could feel Wolfie’s giant legs wrapped around him.

“Aww, he wants a hug,” Tim laughed. “Lucky you, Dick. I’ve never gotten a hug before.”

Dick struggled, trying to put himself up, but Wolfie’s hold was strong. Eventually, Dick gave up when Wolfie did not seem to move. So Dick just lay there, half-scared, half-confused, with his ear pressed to Wolfie’s heartbeat.

The steady ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump, eventually lulled him off to sleep.

It took a bit of getting used to, but like Tim said, he got used to it. Mostly.

Four days into his capture, Dick awoke to his face being gently licked by a soft tongue. “No…” he groaned, pushing away Wolfie’s snout.

Wolfie snuffled and licked Dick again, this time, getting under his neck.

“That tickles,” Dick grimaced, his eyes still stubbornly screwed shut. “Go wake Tim first.”

“I’m already awake, dummy. You need to get up and make us food. I can’t cook for shit.”

Dick groaned and rolled over, pulling the blankets over his head, burrowing deeper into his bed. His “bed” consisted of large scraps of very soft material and larger, thicker scraps for blankets.

Wolfie hooked a paw around Dick’s waist and turned him over like it was nothing. Dick whined, but he eventually sat up and got breakfast going.

Dick had no idea where all the household items or any of the food was coming from. They just appeared out of nowhere, when neither Dick nor Tim was paying attention. The perishables were still cold.

“Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!” Tim chanted.

“Okay, okay,” Dick said with a laugh as Wolfie nudged him all the way to the fire pit.

Breakfast did not take long to cook up – as much bacon as either of them could take, and a large helping of eggs. Wolfie had the habit of nipping at the their fingers for bacon scraps, which would have terrified Dick before, but now, he found it endearing.

It was strange how quickly his mindset changed in four days.

“Hey,” Dick said after swallowing the last of his eggs. “You’ve been here for nearly three weeks now, right? Did you ever take a shower?”

Tim gasped, his eyes lighting up. “Can we go to the swimming hole?” he practically squealed.

“Swimming hole?” Dick asked, glancing at Wolfie, who usually curled around the two of them during breakfast.

“Yeah! There’s this huge swimming hole by here. A waterfall and everything!” Tim said excitedly. “I’ve been there a few times so far, to wash and then swim.”

“That… That sounds perfect,” Dick said. It also sounded like a way to scout his surroundings and gauge where the hell he was.

Not long after breakfast, Dick found himself standing in front of a large pool of water that very gradually became deeper, deepest at the waterfall.

“Wow,” Dick said.

“I know,” Tim said, already splashing into the water. “It’s fucking cold though!” He ran out of the water again, laughing.

“Get in here!” Dick said, splashing water at Tim.

“Hey!” Tim ran back in, sending a wave of water crashing into Dick.

Dick dunked himself under the water before coming up. “Hah! You missed.”

Wolfie lay down at the edge, content in just watching. At some point, he fell asleep. That was when Dick grabbed Tim and pulled him in.

“I’m gonna go climb the waterfall,” he whispered.

“Wh-What?” Tim asked, confused. “Why?”

“Duh, to see what’s up there. To see how far away we are from anything. Maybe I can signal help or something,” Dick said.

Tim looked completely baffled. “Are you crazy?” he asked.

Dick’s expression darkened. “What, you think we can actually stay here with that wolf forever?”

“Well, I-”

“Grow up, Tim, this isn’t some fantasy world. He kidnapped us. I’m going to climb that waterfall. And you’re going to distract him if he wakes up.”

With that, Dick dunked himself under the water and started swimming towards the base of the waterfall. Up close, the roar of the water was louder, but it was not a particularly large waterfall, only about twelve feet up. The rocks that made the wall were at a convenient slant. The only issue was that they were mossy and slick.

Dick pulled himself up onto the first rock, shivering as the air hit his wet body. Still, he continued climbing. A couple of times, his foot slipped, but he was nearly to the top.

Suddenly, he heard Tim yell, “Wolfie, no!”

Dick turned around and saw Wolfie leap from the shore into the water, completely clearing Tim’s head. Dick gritted his teeth and climbed a little faster.

Just as he was about to reach the top, Dick looked back down and saw Wolfie at the base of the waterfall. His front legs were on the bottom rock, but he made no attempt to climb. He just watched Dick with those sad golden eyes.

Dick had to turn away. Finally, with quite some effort, Dick made it to the top of the waterfall. He was very disappointed to find just more forest all around him. For a second, he considered running away, but he thought about Tim – the city boy who could not cook, ate nothing but chips, and was an all-around mess of a human being – and he could not bear to.

With a sigh, Dick turned around again, standing at the top of the waterfall, looking down at Tim. He gave the boy a little wave. Wolfie gave a whimper and a howl, patting the rock he was hanging onto. Dick understood that Wolfie wanted him to climb back down.

Dick gave a tiny smile and shook his head. “Watch this!” he called. He back up a few steps, took a running start, and leapt off the edge.

He did a total of two flips before hitting the water perfectly. It was quite exhilarating. Dick did not get a chance to enjoy the moment because he was suddenly being propelled toward the surface, his body being pushed by the nose of an extra-large canine.

Dick laughed as he broke the surface, allowing Wolfie to swim him back to the shore.

“Dick!” Tim said, splashing over. “Are you okay? I thought you were going to break your neck doing that!”

“I was on the dive team in high school, Timbo,” Dick said, sitting up. “I’m fine.”

“Well, I didn’t know that! It was scary, but also kind of cool.”

Wolfie obviously did not agree. He nudged Dick further onto the shore with rough flicks of his nose. When Dick was a good distance from the water, Wolfie started sniffing and licking him all over.

“W-Wolfie! That’s- That’s completely unnecessary,” Dick said. “I’m fine!”

Wolfie ignored him and continued with his sniffing and licking, occasionally letting whines from his throat. Finally, Dick succumbed to the mother hen treatment, just lying there and allowing Wolfie to turn him this way and that, checking for the tiniest of scratches.

When Wolfie was at last satisfied, he let his head drop down by Dick’s body, his eyes boring into Dick’s, sad and vulnerable.

“Look, you made upset him,” Tim chided. “He thought you were going to get hurt.”

Dick sighed and gave Wolfie a wry smile. “Sorry about that,” he said, patting Wolfie’s head. “I’ll tell you next time.”

Wolfie moved his head from side to side.

Dick raised his eyebrows. It was the first actual response he had gotten from Wolfie.

“I won’t do it at all next time?” he said slowly.

Wolfie huffed and moved his snout onto Dick’s legs, demanding more pets.

It was the full moon, the first one since Tim or Dick had been taken.

In the middle of the night, Dick was nudged awake.

“Stop it, Timmy,” Dick grumbled, pulling the covers closer.

“No, Dick, get up. I want to show you something.”

“’m sleeping.”

“Please, Dickie. You’ll like it.”

Finally, after some more grumbling and insistence, Dick opened his eyes. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the scant bits of moonlight that filtered into the cave and to register the face hovering above his.

It was not Tim.

Dick blinked several times to make sure he was not dreaming. He turned his head to the side and realized that Tim was still asleep in the bed next to him, cocooned tightly in his blankets.

“Who are you?” Dick asked. He slowly sat up, looking around the cave. Wolfie was nowhere to be seen.

The strange man grinned took Dick’s hand. “I want to show you something,” he repeated.

“Huh?” Dick, still not fully awake, stumbled to his feet, tugged along by the man. “Wait, who are you? Where’s- Where’s Wolfie?”

It was bizarre for Dick to be exiting the cave without Wolfie trotting behind him or Tim chattering loudly by his side. The moon was large and bright above them, lighting the way.

It was then that Dick noticed that the man was also completely naked, running barefoot through the forest.

“Hurry up, Dickie!” the man would occasionally turn and say.

“How do you know my name?” Dick asked, though none of his questions were ever answered.

Dick felt like they had been running for miles by the time they stopped. Dick had no idea where they were, nor did he have any idea who was leading him. Perhaps it was just a very realistic dream.

“Look,” the man said, pointing in front of them. Dick gasped softly when he saw the cabin. It looked like a rich person’s vacation cabin, three stories tall and very large. “Do you… like it?” the man asked.

Dick looked at him. “I don’t- I don’t understand,” he said. “Who are you? What is this place?”

“Home,” the man said with a smile. He stepped closer. “Home, Dickie.”

Dick got a good look at the man. He was a bit taller than Dick, with black hair and blue eyes and a deliciously sharp jawline. The rest of his body, which Dick may or may not have been admiring to distract himself from the burning of his lungs, was just as attractive.

“Is this your house?” Dick asked.

“Mine, yours, Timmy’s, ours,” the man said. “I want to show you the inside.”

“I don’t- what?” Dick asked, having no choice but to follow the man.

The inside of the cabin was gorgeous as well. The rich, dark wood gave the cabin a warm feel to it, and it was comfortably furnished as well. But the man ignored all of that in favor of pulling Dick up the stairs.

He pulled Dick into the first room on the second floor.

“What’s this?” Dick asked, looking around. It looked like a typical master bedroom.

“It’s our bedroom,” the man said proudly.

“…I’m sorry, did you say our?”

The man nodded.

“I don’t get it,” Dick said helplessly. “Can you please just tell me who you are?”

The man’s smile faded a little. “I’m your mate.”

“Mate?”

“I’ll take care of you and make sure you’re safe and happy,” the man said. He stepped forward, pulling Dick closer by slipping an arm around Dick’s waist. If Dick were not beyond confused by his situation, he would not have minded so much.

“I don’t even know you!” Dick said.

The man leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of Dick’s jaw. “You know me,” he whispered in Dick’s ear. “I’ve taken care of you and Timmy.”

Just like that, it clicked, though it made no sense either. “You’re- You’re Wolfie?”

“Jason,” the man said. “My name’s Jason.” The kisses trailed to Dick’s cheek, edging closer to his lips. “I’m a werewolf.”

“Werewolf… like- like vampires and werewolves,” Dick said, unable to wrap his head around it.

Jason pulled back, his expression puzzled. “N…o? Just werewolf. I don’t know any vampires. They usually congregate in the South.”

“Oh! How convenient,” Dick said as a hysterical giggle bubbled up his throat. “I was kidnapped by a werewolf who now thinks I’m his mate.”

Jason stepped back this time, his face contorted in a frown. “I didn’t kidnap you,” he said, his voice low. “You called me.”

“What?! That’s ridiculous!” Dick said. “Why- Why would I call you?”

“I don’t know,” Jason snapped. “You sat at your window every time for two weeks, calling to me! You told me to take you away.”

“I would never do that!” Dick said, a chill running through him.

Jason looked hurt. His arms crossed in front of him, defensive. “You did, though.”

“No, I didn’t,” Dick insisted. “I had a good life, and I didn’t need someone to ‘take me away’ from it. All you did was ruin my life by kidnapping me!”

Jason recoiled, stepping backwards again. “You don’t want to be my mate?” he asked.

“No!”

“Fine.” Jason turned and started walking away.

“Where the hell are you going?” Dick demanded. “You’re just going to leave me here?”

“You can have this place,” Jason growled. “I don’t need it anymore now that I don’t have a mate.” He stormed down the stairs, heading for the front door. “I’m going back to Tim.”

“He’s just a kid!” Dick shouted. “Even if you didn’t kidnap me, you certainly took him!”

Jason jerked the door open and turned for a second. “I did not! He found me! He followed me! He threatened to tell authorities where I was hiding if I didn’t take him in!”

“What?” Dick asked. “But- But why did he lie then?”

Jason just gave him one more withering glare before slamming the door behind him. Dick ran to the window, and all he saw was the flash of a large wolf’s tail before the dark forest was all that surrounded him.

That night, Dick tried to sleep, but he could not, tossing and turning on the couch. The next night, it got worse. Dick could not even find a comfortable position to lie still in. The third night, Dick spent pacing, exhausted but unable to rest.

Something just felt wrong. He just felt distinctly uncomfortable everywhere, despite it not being physical. Dick felt like he was going crazy.

On the fourth day, Dick crawled into the bed on the second floor master bedroom and sobbed for an hour straight before falling asleep. He slept through the night for the first time. But the next night, he kept waking up. By the end of the week, Dick could not sleep at all again.

He had taken to sitting by the window, staring forlornly out into the forest. Dick had no idea what was bothering him so much, nor did he know what he was searching for.

At the start of the second week, Dick propped the window open, his head resting on the windowsill as he stared into the forest.

“I miss you,” he whispered to the silent trees. “I’m lonely. Please come back.”

Not even the breeze answered.

Dick felt warmer than he had all week. The warmth was surrounding him completely, and Dick reached out for more, his hands grabbing fistfuls of the warmth and pulled himself closer.

Then the warmth moved, curling tighter around Dick. It made him inexplicably happy.

Dick’s eyes snapped open to find that he was pressed against a very furry mass. There was a large paw curled around his waist as well, keeping him close.

Dick pushed himself up as much as he could. “Wolfie?” he whispered, recognizing the dozing wolf. He also recognized the cave he had spent much of the past month in. On his other side, Tim was sprawled on his chest, starfish style.

Dick smiled, unable to help the flood of relief that ran through him. He was back, like the past week was just some terrible nightmare.

He lay back down, snuggling even closer and fell asleep again.

---

The second that morning broke, Dick was shoved awake by Tim.

“Where the hell were you?!” he demanded.

“Wha…?”

“You disappeared in the middle of the night, and Wolfie was worried sick! And he was depressed without you here. And I missed you too, you idiot!”

Dick sat up only to be hugged tightly by Tim. He patted Tim’s back and looked around the cave, his eyes lingering on Wolfie, who was sitting by the entrance, his tail flopped over his eyes.

“How… How did I get back here?” Dick asked.

“Wolfie brought you back,” Tim said. “He’s just been moping around the cave all day and night, and then last night, he just perked up and took off into the forest. When he came back, you were asleep on his back.”

“Oh,” Dick said, looking back at Wolfie. He extracted himself from Tim and hesitantly walked over there. “Hey,” he said, sitting down next to the wolf’s head. Dick took Wolfie’s tail away. “I’m sorry I worried you. I don’t… I don’t know if you can understand all of what I’m saying when you’re… um, in this form, but thank you. For coming back for me.

“I don’t really know what going on, but I just know I missed you a lot. Timmy too, but…” Dick trailed off, looking into Wolfie’s golden eyes. “Do you know what I’m saying?”

Wolfie stared at him. Then, he raised his head and licked Dick’s cheek.

“Okay,” Dick said. “I guess I’ll talk to you more when you… I don’t know, change back or something?”

He got another lick.

“Alright then,” Dick said with a small smile. He sat down and leaned against Wolfie’s side, finally feeling at peace.

[tirednotflirting]

on a summer evening (baby, you’re the end of june)

please enjoy more soft lashton that i wrote for stress relief after another week of job applications

special thanks to @another-lonely-heart for giving this a read last night and saying such kind things about it and also @calumcest bc she yelled at me enough the other day to convince me to start actually posting my writing lol. 

The early summer, golden hour sky is dark with swirling gray clouds and a windy rainstorm when Ashton realizes he’s in love.

There hadn’t been any rain in the forecast for the day. It was four days past the solstice so it should have been miserable out, but LA decided to give its faithful citizens a little treat in the form of a light breeze so sitting outside with a cool drink and a guitar was quite pleasurable. Which is exactly why when he received a text from Luke asking if he could play through some of the melodies he had been playing around with the past couple of weeks, Ashton replied to tell him that the front door would be open and to grab himself a drink before coming to the back deck.

Ashton locks his phone and turns when he hears the sliding door open and attempts to control the blush he feels rise to his cheeks when he watches Luke step toward the chair beside him in a white linen shirt that floats against his chest, one hand holding the neck of his guitar and a beer in the other. His hair is back in a tiny bun and his sunglasses threaten to fall off the end of his nose. He's a vision of a nice summer day, like the one they’re having right now, Ashton thinks to himself.

They spend the next couple of hours working through some of what Luke had come up with that he plays for Ashton from piecing together bits from voice notes on his phone. Luke giggles at the older boy whenever he stumbles over some of the more technical patterns, still not a native to the strings like Luke. (And okay, yes, maybe he was faking some of that a little bit. But it made Luke laugh in the way that his nose would scrunch up far too adorably so there was really no harm to it, he thinks.) The stuff he’s been working on is really good, Ashton repeatedly tells him. He can see all of them ending up in their future singles.

They've just started working on one of the last voice notes that Luke has when a raindrop splashes off of the body of the guitar Ashton was holding from when he had run down to his studio about halfway through the list. A matching pout appears against the lips of both boys as they gather up everything they had brought out as the raindrops pick up, their clothes dampening as they hurry through the glass door.

It’s within the next couple of minutes that the storm neither of them had noticed previously really rolls in and picks up. It's still relatively early, only about 4.30, but as Ashton stands just inside the sliding door looking up at the sky, he knows this is going to go on for a while. His weather app confirms the thought and Luke groans when he looks at the screen Ashton is holding out toward him. “Guess I should head home then?”

Ashton turns from his spot just inside the kitchen where he’s just plugged in his phone to the charger at the island. They’ve had a really good afternoon and for some reason he really really does not want it to end. “I mean,” he starts, a hand running through the hair at the back of his neck, the ends now wet from their escape out of the storm. “I wouldn’t mind the company. Unless you’ve gotta get back to Petunia?”

Luke shakes his head quickly, a small smile appearing as the curls that have escaped his bun fly around like a little halo. “I dropped her at Cal’s place on my way here for a playdate with Duke, I'm sure he wouldn’t mind her being there awhile longer.”

Ashton tries then to control the deepening of his dimples as he nods at the response. “Well, we should change then and maybe we can break for a bit and make an early dinner?”

Luke agrees to the plan and follows Ashton down the hall to his bedroom. Ashton hunts around for a pair of sweats and a long sleeve with the band’s logo from the previous tour, the current weather allowing him to ignore the calendar for the time being in terms of wearing something cozy. He turns to face Luke and gestures towards the closet as if to say “have at it” and changes on the opposite side of the room, leaving Luke to do the same inside the walk-in.

They all practically grew up living out of suitcases in shared hotel rooms, so naturally, all four of them have pieces that belong to the others in their closets. Knowing that any of his pants would run just a little bit too short on Luke, Ashton assumes Luke would go digging through the drawers for a pair of his own that are inevitably tucked away somewhere. He figures he’ll do the same with his t-shirts. So it comes as a surprise (though not one he’s even the slightest bit upset about) when Luke steps out from the closet with one of Ashton's bigger hoodies covering his upper half. The sleeves hang a bit long on Luke, his fingers able to wrap around the cuff to make sweater paws.

(Ashton silently prays that the lack of light in the room due to the storm blocking much natural light from entering will obscure the blush he knows is boldly sitting on his cheeks at the sight of the cozy boy.)

“Is it cool if I borrow this? Kinda chilly,” Luke asks.

“Yeah, no, of course,” Ashton nods back, knowing he answered the question far too quickly.

Luke grins his thanks. “Let's make something, I'm starving.”

Ashton soon realizes that when Luke asked if they could make something, what he really meant was if Ashton could make them something. Not that he minds at all, knowing that growing up as they did made learning skills around the kitchen a little difficult on the blonde. He needs to go to the store soon so he pulls out what odds and ends he can find - some chicken, some rice, random vegetables still in his produce drawer. Ashton sets to work cleaning and chopping up the vegetables after figuring out the spice situation for the chicken.

Luke watches him work silently from where he’s hopped up onto the counter, telling Ashton stories from his week. He talks about Petunia, talks about the call he had with his parents and brothers. They discuss plans for the Fourth of July (ignoring their lack of American citizenship in favor of lighting sparklers and eating loads of good food in Michael's backyard). It’s a nice, lazy (incredibly domestic, Ashton thinks) activity, catching up on the week while Ashton makes them a meal. He wonders if the simplicity of it all has Luke feeling as warm as he does.

Luke decides he wants a mug of hot chocolate and pulls the powder and milk from their respective spots, despite Ashton's complaints that it was too much sugar before a meal. Luke is stirring the powder into the microwave-warmed mug of milk when his phone starts playing a tone letting him know he’s getting a call. He drops the spoon in the sink before reaching into his hoodie pocket and swiping his thumb across the screen. He smiles as he brings the phone to his ear. “Hey Cal, my girl behaving?”

He picks up the mug and walks out from the kitchen, standing at the sliding door that leads to the backyard, a bright smile lighting up his eyes despite the lack of sunshine from beyond the glass, obviously laughing at something Calum has just told him. Ashton reduces the heat on the pan he’s just tossed the sautéed vegetables into with the chicken, knowing the rice needs a few more minutes. He turns then to lean against the counter and look at the boy standing in his living room as he wipes his hands on a dish towel.

And it's then that he feels it. Watching Luke giggle softly through his response to whatever he’s speaking with Calum about, his mug held close to his face to warm his cheeks, Ashton feels something. He’s watching Luke comfortably move through his home, wearing Ashton’s clothes, talking to their friend as he sips from his designated favorite mug while Ashton makes him dinner. It's a scene that has a mob of butterflies flying through his stomach straight up to his heart and taking over his thoughts because Ashton suddenly finds himself knowing he would give up anything to watch this exact moment play out everyday for the rest of his life if he could. Watching this person he cares so so deeply for be warm and safe and happy and with him. Ashton had always thought he had been in love before but now as he watches Luke's eyes squeeze shut as he laughs against the rim of the mug, the porch light illuminating his face with a soft yellow glow, he knows this is new to him and it’s love.

He's given about three seconds to process all of that before Luke turns to him. He's still smiling but his eyes give Ashton a confused look, as if asking if he’s okay. Ashton's lips turn up and he waves his hand as if to tell him to dismiss his concern. Luke lifts his mug to acknowledge the response as he lacks a free hand and turns away as he wanders to the couch, phone still pressed to his ear.

Ashton turns back to the stove, attempting to force himself to focus on plating the food he’s made rather than the thoughts swirling and racing through his mind about the man on his sofa. He’d come to terms with this crush a long time ago, not permitting himself to ever think about it for too long for this exact reason. He’s internally blaming the long spring of being cooped up inside his house with his thoughts when he feels a presence behind him. He moves to turn to face Luke, to try to make some joke about why he’s bugging Ashton while he cooks, when a gentle hand is placed against his left hip to hold him in place while Luke holds out his phone in front of Ashton's face.

“Look at Duke and Petunia,” he coos. “They’re cuddling.”

And the picture is incredibly cute, the two dogs cozied up together on the floor in front of Calum’s couch. Ashton tells Luke this in a tone that the drummer realizes probably sounds just a little too strained to be talking about dogs napping together. The tone must have been recognized by Luke as a puzzled look falls on his face as he squeezes the hip his hand rests at and bumps his head against Ashton’s temple. “You all good?”

Ashton reaches up, rubbing at Luke’s messy curls teasingly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just hungry.” He steps out of Luke’s hold then as he turns and hands him a plate, gesturing over to the bar where they can eat (his dining room table being covered with papers since the band’s tour meetings earlier in the week) and asks Luke to grab him a water while he finishes making his own plate.

They eat relatively quickly, neither of them realizing until they sit down that they never bothered to eat lunch before working on music earlier. Luke volunteers to clean up while Ashton flips through Netflix for something to watch while they wait for the storm to pass, the radar predicting the heavier part should be past the city within the next few hours. 

Behind him, Ashton hears the dishwasher close and start a cleaning cycle as he clicks play on some indie movie that’s been sitting in his queue for awhile. He takes a seat close to one of the arms of the couch as he watches the opening credits roll. Luke flicks off the kitchen light, leaving the room dark aside from a lamp near the hall that leads to the foyer and the glow of the TV. He takes a seat beside Ashton on the couch, his head immediately falling to rest against the shoulder of the other boy. 

Ashton tenses for just a moment at the pressure against his shoulder and the smell of Luke’s conditioner hitting his nose before he relaxes some. He sits up just a bit so Luke isn’t having to bend over to a weird angle to allow the position. Luke hums his thanks and pulls the sleeves of the hoodie back over his palms. 

They watch the characters on screen go about their lives in pretty normal situations that indie movies tend to be fond of romanticizing. Ashton still feels warm with all of his feelings and butterflies flapping around in his body when he feels a hand reach over, fingers slipping into the spots between his own, a slightly smaller palm pressing against his. He turns his head just slightly but makes no move to change the position, only moving their clasped hands to rest against his lap as Luke’s thumb rubs gently against his first knuckle.

“Days with you are nice,” Luke says softly, so much so that Ashton barely hears him over the dialogue happening between the characters on the screen. “And slow.”

Ashton lets out a laugh, one he hopes doesn’t sound as nervous as he feels. “Slow?” 

“They feel slower, but like,” he stops the motion of his thumb for a minute and Ashton lets his head tilt some to rest against Luke’s curls. “But a good kind of slow? Like the universe is allowing more time to fit into the hours somehow.”

Ashton’s heart is soaring at his words. It practically leaves him at a loss for them himself. “Nice of the universe to let us have that, I guess.”

“I feel pretty lucky, yeah.”

That’s all he says then, his focus returning back to the screen. Ashton isn’t quite sure what the short exchange just then meant but he can tell that it meant something and for now he decides that’s good enough. He wants to be big and bold but it’s obvious that Luke likes slow things. And Ashton really likes Luke. So he can do his best to do slow, for him.

He lifts his head then and shifts some to allow his hand to stay pressed against Luke’s but moves to rest his head against the fluffy arm of the sofa on his left. It’s still pretty early but Ashton suddenly feels so sleepy. He’s silently debating with himself about whether or not the exhaustion is due to his racing mind or the cluster of butterflies still flying between his head and his heart when he lets his eyes drift shut.

(It’s about twenty minutes later that Luke carefully slides a pillow under Ashton’s head and drapes a blanket over him, knowing he’s prone to getting cold during the night. He quietly moves about to slip his boots back on and leave his empty mug in the sink. He considers going back to the bedroom to change into one of the shirts he knows actually belongs to him in Ashton’s closet before heading out. But then he catches a whiff of the other boy’s sunshiney, bright cologne on the collar and thinks about the look in Ashton’s eye when he saw Luke walk out of the closet in it earlier and decides he can’t bear to part with it tonight - the hoodie of course, not the way he felt from that look. Definitely not the look.)

*

[mycupoffanfiction]

I’ll Be There For You

Biker!Tattooed!Steve x Reader

Summary: Biker!Tattooed!Steve admits his feelings when he sees you outside on a chilly night.

Warnings: Just pure fluff, mentions of no family for the Reader, though I never specify how or why.

Word Count: Approx 1600

Masterlist

A/N: @buckysknifecollection inspired me to write a Stevie fic! I’ve been in such a Steve mood recently. This went from tiny drabble to full fic, so there we go! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend, lots of love 😘💖💖

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Steve plopped down next to you on the front step of your static trailer, the cool Autumnal breeze gently shifting your hair as Steve draped his leather jacket  around your shoulders, Howling Commandos embroidered on the back. His smile was soft and sweet as you glanced across at him, his large hand reaching out to offer you a warm drink, which you took gladly, giving him a wordless thank you.

 He remembered the day he met you and smiled at the memory, remembering that he had once been someone you found intimidating until he’d shown you how soft and gentle he was. “What are you doing out here so late?” He asked, glancing down at his phone to check the time, seeing that it was close to two in the morning. “Couldn’t sleep.” You shrugged, gaze meeting his. “What are you doing out?” You turned the question around on him. Steve gave you a soft smile and shrugged. “Saw you from my window, had to come and see if you were alright.” He explained, causing the smile on your lips to grow.

 Steve always seemed worried for your welfare and to be honest, it wasn’t misplaced. You didn’t exactly live on a good side of town and the trailer park you both resided in wasn’t the safest place around. But despite how unsafe it was, especially with your creepy neighbour around who seemed to enjoy making you feel uncomfortable and the crazy woman who lived two trailers behind you who liked to threaten everyone with putting boiled meat in their mail boxes, Steve and his group of bikers made you feel exceptionally safe.

 He ran his group with Bucky Barnes, his long-time best friend and the pair of them had met you a few months ago when they had set up shop in the area and moved into the trailer park with a couple of their friends. They created a sort of community that felt like a family and they were so warm and welcoming, despite their initial impressions that left everyone on edge, thinking they were another lawless biker gang.

 At first you had avoided the group like the plague, especially Steve and Bucky. They were both extremely strong and tall, leaving you to question your safety. Perhaps you had been too quick to judge though, because as soon as you got into trouble with your creepy neighbour one morning and he began to harass you, Steve was there to help you out as soon as he saw what was going on.

  After that, you had invited him in for coffee as a thank you, your trust in the tall, tattooed biker suddenly growing and blossoming the more you talked. As the days passed after your first proper meeting, you spoke to Steve almost daily on your way to and from work. Then it evolved from small neighbourly chatter to hanging out together in the evenings, sometimes he’d invite you for breakfast on the weekend or for drinks on a Friday night.

 At first you hadn’t felt like you even fitted in with their crowd of mismatched bikers, but Steve insisted you were part of their family now whether you were tattooed, a biker or neither at all.

 “What were you doing up so late, anyway?” You asked, breaking Steve’s train of thought and bringing him back to reality. “Hm? Oh, just… Been thinking.” He nodded to himself. “Wanna tell me what’s on your mind?” He asked, directing the conversation back at you rather than himself. You considered it for a moment as you sipped the drink he’d given you in one of the mugs Steve had stolen from Sam. It had purely been a joke, just to rile Sam up but when Steve and Bucky had realised how much fun it was to see him complain about his missing ‘world’s best pilot’ mug, which he had only because there were no biker mugs, they kept it up a little longer.

 “I’ll tell you if you tell me what’s kept you up so late.” You nudged him in the side gently with your elbow. A soft puff and a smile across his lips practically melted your heart when Steve looked down at you. He mulled over it for a second as he scratched at his arm, drawing your attention to his tattoo sleeve. He made you so damn weak. His slightly grown out hair, thick stubble that was now close to a beard, his biker style turned lumberjack with his tattoos and his old black Harley he had fixed up. He was the epitome of handsome.

 Steve mulled it over for a moment as he drank deeply from his mug. “Alright.” He nodded, agreeing. “But you have to go first.” He nudged you back. You suddenly saw Bucky poke his head out of Steve’s trailer door and smiled smugly. The pair shared a trailer and were roommates, despite the fact that they could easily afford two separate places to live, they chose to stay together, like they always had, as brothers. Bucky nodded at you, taking in the scene of you wrapped up in Steve’s jacket, the front lapels that were absolutely covered in patches and badges from bike shows, rallies and the bands he liked.

 You took a deep breath as you watched Bucky shrink back into the trailer, your attention turning back to Steve, who looked rather ridiculous. He was perched on the top step of your trailer porch, hunched over and squeezed in to fit next to you. While you didn’t exactly take up much space, he was taller and more muscular than you, his broad shoulders taking up most of the room. Bucky had once made the comparison of you both being like a kitten and a huge guard dog.

 “I lost my family, it hurts sometimes.” You huffed. “Today was one of those days where it hurts.” You explained, resting your chin on your hands. “Oh.” Steve said so softly, it was almost a whisper. He was possibly the softest person you’d ever met, despite his appearance making the townsfolk think differently. Steve wasn’t quite sure what to say to comfort you, but his arm found its way around your back and rested on your shoulder, pulling you gently against his side. The warmth of him was comforting in itself and you sighed with content. You felt safe and calm in his presence.

 “Sometimes I don’t know where I even belong, if I even fit somewhere. Sometimes it just feels overwhelming.” You admitted, Steve squeezing you a bit tighter. “Right here.” He spoke just above a whisper. “You belong right here, with us. We might not be the most conventional family, but we’re a family.” Steve smiled down at you. “We’re your family.” He added, his free hand coming up to gently brush some of your hair back and behind your ear.

 You felt yourself blush, his touch was so gentle and sweet and it made you automatically lean into him without even meaning to. “What were you thinking about?” You asked quietly, Steve’s eyes studying your flustered features. He huffed out a soft laugh from his nose, hand gently coming to rest on your jaw, his fingers pressing against your neck softly. “Is this okay?” He asked, his hot breath fanning against your flushed skin. Giving him a slight nod, Steve kept his slate blue eyes on yours for a moment longer, drinking you in.

 “Can I kiss you?” He asked, the question catching you off guard and you gasped a little, cheeks warming even more. “Sorry, that was- it wasn’t right of me to-.” Steve rambled but you cut him off, a streak of confidence kicking in and before you could stop yourself, you had brought your hands up to turn his face towards yours, your lips brushing against his ever so slightly.

 Steve made a soft moan of surprise, his hand falling to your waist as he leaned into to the kiss more, his lips moving gently against yours. His lips were slightly cracked and dry, but still soft and so addictive. Your heart leapt when you felt his grip tighten on your waist and your hand came down to run your fingers over his exposed arm, fingertips trailing over his artwork. Steve’s tongue gently slipped over your lips and you welcomed him, his tongue eagerly, but still so gently caressing yours.

 Steve pressed a few kisses against your lips and your cheek before he pulled away, eyes blown wide and dark with excitement. His lips glistened slightly, a soft smile stretching them a little, creasing around his eyes as he kept his gaze locked onto yours.

 A comfortable silence loomed for a moment as you both enjoyed the moment. So many feelings were now out in the open and Steve wanted to do it right. “Was that what you were thinking about?” You asked, voice soft and quiet as you broke the silence. A smirk grew on Steve’s lips and he nodded slightly. “That and a question.” He murmured. You gave him a questioning look, while he paused to take in a long and slow breath, his fingers scratching at his beard before carding through his hair.

 “Will you go on a date with me, sweetheart?” Steve asked the question with such care in his voice, as if he was afraid to push you too far or ask for too much. You felt your heart leap and soar, cheeks warming again and you grinned at him, his fingers reaching to fiddle with your hair a little as he studied your reaction. “I’d love to.” You nodded.

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[angelicspaceprince]

The Doctor’s Lines

Author: Anna

Title: The Doctor’s Lines

Pairing: Doctor/Time Lady/Lord!Reader (9-12)

Character/s: 9-12 Doctors, Time Lady/Lord!Reader, Gender Neutral!Reader, mentions of and actual various companions cameos, few OCs

Word Count: 5, 222 words

Warnings: Nothing but fluff and cringe-filled pickup lines. There is a minor mention of depression in one of them.

Tags: elyshakate

Notes: I know I’ve been a way for a while and I’m sorry, uni and stuff. But thanks to the amazing inthisformiambadwolf and their amazing Ten/Reader story called To Have and To Hold, and their other stories too (check them out guys like seriously, they are all perf), plus the current marathon I’ve been having has led to this. I’m hoping this will lead to either a series or be a trial run of a Doctor/OC fic I’ve been thinking of. We will see what happens. Also, I don’t have access to any Classic Who…so it’s all from 9 to 12. You also be married (aww.) Also, sorry its jumpy I’m working on a fic idea so its kinda put into this as well so practice run? Also some of them (like the Snowmen episode) I chopped a massive bit out because I was going off of memory and didn’t have the time/energy to fix it, but if this does become a series and I do use these scenes again, then I’ll just rewrite as I can. Also, sorry about the shit title, I kept changing it. Still not happy with it, might change it later.

Buy Me a Coffee

The Doctor’s Lines

You had been married the Doctor through nine regenerations and ten faces, so you’d think you’d know him like the back of your hand by now. But every now and again, he’d pull something new out to keep you on your feet. And with his tenth face, his stupid, big-eared, leather-jacket-wearing face, his love of puns also formed its way into the form of extremely cheesy pick-up lines.

The first instance of this was just before you met the lovely Rose for the first time. When travelling by 1837 to view Queen Victoria’s coronation ended up with the two of you on the run from a small group of rogue fish-like aliens. His hand in yours, pulling you along somewhere were the two of you could recalculate your position.

“Doctor, over here!” You call out, pulling him towards an empty shop at the end of the street. Closing the door behind you, you simultaneously release a sigh of relief. You take a few steps back as his hand leaves yours as the Doctor goes to investigate the shop. “Alright, what now? Clearly, they are scared and trapped here. Not an invasion, we just need to figure out how to communicate with the-”

“Hey love?” You spin around to see your husband sending you a cheeky grin. “You had me at cello.” He declares proudly, holding the neck of the said instrument. You try to hold back your smile.

“Not the time, dear.” You state softly as he puts the cello away. He pouts.

“I thought it was clever.” He looks over at you and you try not to laugh at the fully-grown man sending you puppy-dog eyes.

“It was very clever love, I’m very proud.” He perked up, grabbed your hand and started to plan what to do next.

~

After that, it was like the Doctor made it his personal mission to find the cheesiest and worst pick-up lines to use on you. His next body was more flirty, and loved to think he was smooth.

The two of you raced down the corridor, trying your best to avoid DALEK fire. The two of you wait in the corner, waiting for a clear path out. “You alright, Doctor?” You quietly ask as you keep a look out.

“Fine, fine.” He mutters. “Ready?” You hum in agreement. “Before we go, here, hold this.” He holds out an empty hand. You turn to look at him, his hand, then back up to his grinning face as he wiggles his eyebrows at you.

“You think you are so smooth.” You grab his hand anyway as he begins to pull you away.

“I think you’ll find that I am so smooth.” His face turns from saucy to pouty again. You quickly kiss his cheek before the two of you take off running once again.

“You are so lucky that I love you.”

~

During one of your more quieter days was when the bow-tie wearing Doctor retook up his hobby of bad pick-up lines. After attempting to fix the Doctor’s fiddling with the TARDIS, you were taking her on a test flight when you felt two arms wrap around your waist. He kisses the side of his head as he watches over what you were doing.

“I bet 20 credits that you’ll turn me down.” He whispers into your ear.

Without hesitating, you place 20 credits into his hand and work your way out of his grip, moving to check another part of the panel, fighting a smirk. When you look up, you snort at the look of disbelief still plastered on the Doctor’s face.

“You alright, dear?” You can see what just happened computing in his brain as you grin. Feeling slightly bad (not really) you saunter over and pull him down for a kiss by his suspenders, trying to wipe the look off of his face. “I love you Doctor.”

“I love you too.”

~

The big eared Doctor wasn’t impressed with you. After you had saved Captain Jack Harkness from certain death, the two of you got into a massive argument. You were still fuming over the stupidity of the fight and were too hot headed to apologise, demand an apology or try and talk out the situation. Knowing this Doctor the way you do meant you seriously doubted that you were going to get an apology, even though it was equally both your faults.

You turn onto your side and pull your blankets up to your chin as you curl up on yourself. You just wanted to sleep and tomorrow forget that today ever happened.

You hear someone shuffling along the corridor outside your door, causing you to retreat into your warm hideaway just as they gently knock on your door. Once. Twice. You hear a sigh before something is slipped underneath your door.

You try to ignore it, but curiosity eats away at you until your feet lead you to the door almost automatically. The fancy, thick paper has clearly the Doctor’s messy handwriting scrawled in the middle. You hesitate before seeing what he has to say.

‘If I had a star for every time you brightened my day, I’d have a galaxy in my hand.’

You wanted to stay mad as you bit your lip, he was a jerk after all. But as the blood rushes to your face, you release that in this generation, this was the apology you wanted. Or as good as you could get anyway.

You open the door to see his semi-sheepish face looking back at you. “Ready to go?” You look back down at the paper before nodding, leaving your room with your arm through his.

“You are a massive sap, you know that right?”

~

You rolled your eyes at the Doctor as he rushes around the TARDIS, trying to back her up to get the side of the Titanic out of her. “Why did you have her shields down anyway?”

“I was rebuilding her!”

“Doctor, the last time you were rebuilding her, you froze her Chameleon circuits!” When you don’t get a response you huff and move to move the TARDIS for him before putting up the shields once more. “Doctor, its like you are a white dwarf. Extremely hot, but not very bright.” You mutter to yourself. His saucy look returns as he wiggles his eyebrows at you.

“You think I’m sexy?” You raise an eyebrow.

“And overconfident.” You add sarcastically. “Go get changed, I want to go dancing on the Titanic.”

~

Today was just one of those days. The Doctor had just gotten his sight back, which was a relief, but he was already getting into trouble. After the situation was resolved with the Ice Warriors on Mars, you were helping the Doctor, Bill and Godsacre finish the message to be seen in the future when the Doctor looked over to you, excitement clearly plastered over his face. ‘Oh no,’ you thought as he walks over, ‘he’s got a bad one coming.’

“Do you live on Mars?” He asks as soon as he is close to you. “Cause you are out of this world! Ha!”

“Proud of that one?” You ask dryly.

“Extremely.”

“Good, glad one of us is.”

~

You look out for Donna as she searches for her perfect man now that everyone has been evacuated from the library’s computer. It had been a long day, not quite defeating the Vashta Nerada (you did need to be gone within the next twenty hours, but you weren’t going to be eaten so you were kinda in a stand still at the moment), losing River and briefly losing Donna drained all of your energy as you morn the loss of yet another innocent person in your life.

The Doctor could tell that you just wanted to sleep and forget today had happened, your body language was enough to alert him that you probably weren’t going to be wanting any amazing adventures any time soon. Still, he wanted to make you feel better as he came to stand next to you.

“There was nothing we could have done.” He offers. You hum. He’s right, River had knocked you out and chained you to the wall, you probably would still be there if Lux hadn’t walked past twenty minutes later. “We got her saved into the computer, we might be able to get her out one day.” You simply look at him.

“Doctor, I love you, but we both know she is stuck there for the rest of the CAL’s life.” He nods. “But she is alive.” Silence rings between the two of you before he grasps your hand.

“I have a library card, do you mind if I check you out?” He smirks for a second before looking down at you worried. “Sorry, I’ve been meaning to say that all day and I-” You cut him off, laughing lightly.

“They just keep getting worse.” You chuckle before laughing harder. The Doctor smiles. You were going to be okay.

“I was thinking somewhere relaxing for our next trip, less running and so on. Do you think Donna would like a spa day?” The Doctor offers as you look at the disappointed Super Temp returning to where you were standing.

“I think so. Have any spa in mind?”

“Thought maybe Midnight, the diamond planet?” You nod.

“Sounds like a plan.”

~

Clara, the Doctor and you landed in the middle of the snowy forest, you instantly start shivering. The Doctor starts rubbing Clara’s arms to warm her as she complains and he explains the heat loss filter would kick in soon.

“I wish we had actual clothes.” You offer as Clara walks off and he turns to give the same treatment to you.

“Do you know what this shirt is made of?” The Doctor offers, trying to hide his excited smile. You sigh, another one was coming up.

“Technically, you aren’t wearing a shirt.” You try to defuse the inevitable cringe-worthy, cheesy line that was going to come next. He pouts, ignoring Clara as she walks closer towards the hand in the snow. “Fine, what’s it made of?”

“Boyfriend material.” He declares proudly.

“We are married, you complete and utter dunce.” You state fondly as you give him a quick kiss.

“You look cold. Want to use me as a blanket?” He offers as you take a step back.

“Seriously, why are you like this?”

“Clara step away from it!” You both shout at the same time, the hand grabbing her ankle.

“Don’t look away from it, it’s a Weeping Angel.” You explain. “It looks like a statue, but isn’t a statue. Can you get out?”

“Only if I get out of my shoe.”

“You’re not wearing a shoe.” The Doctor reminds her.

“Good point.” She continues to struggle.

“Doctor, help Clara, I’ll keep an eye on the Angel.”

~

Donna was dying for a coffee and would not leave the TARDIS before she got it. Which was okay, meant you and the Doctor had some time together just walking the streets of London. It didn’t happen often, usually you were running around, saving lives and planets. It felt almost strange to be standing in a Starbucks waiting for your coffees.

You had gotten pretty good and noticing when another line was popping up, the Doctor’s eyes if not face would light up with excitement when he hears to thinks of a new tacky pick-up line. But you were certain that something as simple as coffee wouldn’t cause him to think of a new one.

Oh how wrong you were.

“Do you work at Starbucks?” He starts as you sigh, waiting for the end of this. “Because I like you a latte.”

“Where do you even find half of these? Do you have a book hidden somewhere or what?” You grab the coffees and walk out. “If you do, I’m going to burn it.”

“No you don’t!” He looks at you offended. “I thought you loved my pick-up lines.”

“Yeah, sure.” You roll your eyes.

“I love you.”

“Love you too. Where are we off to next?”

~

You were being marched down the corridor towards God knows where, looking around for the TARDIS, the Doctor, some kind of sign or signal that he was on his way to save you. “What are you looking for?” One of the guards demanded.

You pause. “You could say that I’m looking for my Mr. Right?” You offer right before a large chunk of the wall exploded, causing the six of you to fly against the opposite wall.

“Hi, I’m Mr. Right. I heard you were looking for me.” The northern accented Doctor makes his entrance as you make your way onto your feet.

“How long have you been sitting on that one?” You ask as he sonics your cuffs, releasing you from your chains.

“A while.” He admits. “Come on!” He pulls you away as you start to run towards the TARDIS and to safety.

~

You know you had done the right thing, Missy was both the Doctor’s and your friend, no matter what her previous regeneration’s actions had been. But going from adventure to adventure to being stuck in the University thanks to Nardole’s insistence that the TARDIS be more or less turned off.

The three of you were getting on each other’s nerves, thirty-five years of doing pretty much nothing. The Doctor was fine, he could teach. You on the other hand, as a married woman in the 1910, weren’t allowed to teach. Being in Wales didn’t help either.

Things were already getting tense, the Doctor couldn’t stand being in one place for too long and was becoming insufferable. The latest argument exploded over something minor said when you were found, yet again, trying to enter the TARDIS for something to do. The Doctor sided with Nardole, and after years of putting up with his attitude due to his boredom, you snapped.

In hindsight, there were better ways to deal with it, and you probably should have taken that path, but after been turned down from job after job due to your marriage, being told by both of the men that you couldn’t go see Missy because it was too dangerous even though they went in to see her almost daily and the Doctor not making an apparent effort to try and understand your frustrations at all, you couldn’t handle it. So, after a screaming match that would have woken up all of Cardiff if it wasn’t for the TARDIS’ covenant sound-proofing, you stormed out.

You had been walking around the town aimlessly, purchasing the few necessities you had run out of as you went to try and keep yourself busy as you worked off some steam. You had been walking for hours, the sun had gone down and you left at noon, before you finally made your way back to your shared apartment, where Nardole was pacing the living room and seemed to be a bit stressed.

“The Doctor and I have been looking for you.” He scolded lightly as sat down on the worn out couch. “After you didn’t come back after his next class, we both started to become worried. It’s not safe for you to be out on your own.”

“It’s Cardiff.” You rolled your eyes. “I was fine.”

“What about James Marks, eh? Could have run into another fellow like him.”

“The guy that exposed himself to a female with apparent intent to harm? Please, I’ve faced DALEKS, I can face a human criminal.” You looked over to him. “I get that you and the Doctor care, but you can’t assume I’m going to run off. I was trying to find something to do, the Doctor is an University professor and you are his valet. I have nothing. Can’t do anything, can’t help in anyway. Do you know how frustrating that is?” He thought for a second.

“Maybe we could open up a small business to keep you busy?” He offered. “That’d be nice, just something small to keep you occupied and make a little bit of extra money on the side.” You paused, trying to think of what you could do.

“I think that could work. Thank you Nardole.” You smiled over to him before you suddenly saw a small envelope on the table in front of you. “Who’s this?”

“Yours I think, the Doctor left it for you when he went out looking for you. I stayed here in case you came back.” Nardole sat next to you as you opened it to pull out the thick paper. Circular handwriting looks back at you as you read the Gallifrean.

‘I love you. And I was wrong. Your beauty makes the morning look like the dull glimmer of the moon.’

You smiled, cheeks reddening slightly as Nardole looked over your shoulder. “What’s it say, then?”

You paused, trying to think of what to say before you realised what it actually was. “An apology. It’s an apology.”

~

Your bow-tie wearing Doctor was out of the TARDIS, which was good. He had been stuck up there since the Ponds were taken by the Angels, which devastated you but the Doctor….the Doctor took it harder than you did.

The snow was something different, as it fell you had an eerie feeling that something was wrong. You were sure the Doctor did too, but he didn’t want to frighten or make you think that he was trying to find some alien mystery when there wasn’t one.

The Doctor wasn’t the same when the Ponds were taken, you made sure to go down and see Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax at least once a week, at the very least to get an update of London and you’d give them and update of the Doctor. You then had something to tell him, to distract him, even if it didn’t work until Vastra called saying someone said that the one word used to describe their problem was pond. That got him on the case quick smart.

So, here you were. Strax was struggling with the memory worm, the Doctor was telling him off, the governess that had the issue and you were giggling at their antics. The Doctor looked over at you to shut up as Strax, yet again forgets the gauntlets, which caused you to raise an eyebrow and continue giggling. He rolled his eyes before grabbing your hand and turned to Clara.

“Don't come looking for us. Forget about us. You understand?” He warned her before pushing her into the carriage, retaking your hand once he stepped back.

“What about the snow? Shouldn't we be warning people?” Clara insisted, looking over to the two of you.

“Not my problem. Merry Christmas. Take her back where we found her.” He instructed Strax after brushing her off and started to lead you away, the both of you hearing Strax’s ‘sir, ma’am’ behind you before he takes off. You moved to link arms with the Doctor to stop him from dragging you off.

“Doctor, we both know that if it’s a human problem, then it’s your problem.” You gently stated, trying to hide a smirk as you realise that Clara was, indeed, following the both of you. “Humanity could be in danger, and normally you make it your responsibility to, ya know, save them.” He frowns.

“No, not this time.”

“I know you are upset, luv, but we need to keep doing what we do.” The glare alone was enough to stop the words in your mouth. “Okay, just know whatever you decide to do I’m supporting you all the way.” The two of you walked in silence for a bit as you watched the snow. “Snowmen, low telepathic field. Very alien.”

“Y/N.” He warned.

“Yes dear.” You placed your best poker face as the next sentence formed in your head. “I must be a snowflake, because I’ve fallen for you.” The Doctor’s face tightened as he tried to hide his smile.

“Really?”

“I miss the pick-up lines.” You confessed. “But I love you.” You stated firmly as he pulls down the ladder and offered you his hand to lead you into going first. He kisses your temple as you grasp the rails of the ladder.

“I love you too.”

~

Visiting Van Gogh was partially difficult. You had a bit of a past with depression, and seeing the great artist himself caused a whole lot of feelings you didn’t want to address to reappear. After rereturning to the gallery post seeing his reaction to his paintings in the 21st Century, you caught Amy crying in the TARDIS.

“Amy? Are you okay?” She wiped away her tears in an attempt to hide her reaction to your current adventure. “Oh, come here sweetheart.” You pulled her close in an attempt to console her, the both of you sat on the stairs in the control room. “What’s wrong, love?”

“After everything we did, what we showed him, why did he still do that?” You hummed, understanding her confusion.

“Depression….it’s like herpes.” She looked at you really weirdly. “Hear me out. You have your oral herpes, your cold sores, that go away with time. That’s some depression. Then you have herpes herpes, the bad kind that never goes away. You say ‘tomorrow, I’m going to do all these changes, I’m going to keep up to date with my meds and make my life a better place and I won’t have herpes because of these changes’. The next day, the herpes are gone. But the virus is still there. The symptoms, they come back and sometimes they come back with vengeance.” You paused to pass her a tissue as she dabs her eyes. “The same thing is with depression. In the case of Vincent, it’s a disease that never truly goes away, he might have felt better for a month or two but the disease came back. And it got worse. But he kept his paintings because he knew they would help people in the future, and he knew you’d go see them one day. And do you know what.” You pulled yourself away and smiled down at her. “I bet you that he thought of you and how ginger your kids would be until the day he died.” She laughed a little.

“Did we make him happy?”

“Yes, I think we did.” She nodded, pleased with that answer.

“I think I’m going to go to bed.” She said after a few minutes of quiet thinking. “Good night.”

“Good night Amy, we will see you in the morning.” You let her to go her room without any fuss, knowing that she would be fine and in the later stages of grieving in the next few days. Getting up, you walked over to the control panel and started to plot where you would ideally like to visit next, even though the Doctor and TARDIS probably had other ideas.

“Are you okay?” You looked over to see a very nervous-looking Doctor. “I noticed that…..at the gallery….you seemed to be struggling.” You smiled over at him as he came up to hold you tightly.

“I’m fine. Just had a few moments where I needed to readjust myself.” You push away at the hair covering his eyes. “Thank you for worrying.”

“Always.” He kisses you lightly. “You know, if a thousand painters worked for a thousand years, they could not create a work of art as beautiful as you.” You rolled your eyes, smiling softly.

“Do you know what? I’m just going to take that.”

~

Bill was having the time of her life out on the ice, viewing all the different things that 19th Century Britain had to offer. Meanwhile, you had lost the Doctor. You kept careful guard of your sonic screwdriver, the only valuable you had, as you wander the streets looking for him. People bombarded you with advertising, entertainment and pleading for spare change and assistance, to all you said no to. You knew the game, you weren’t losing anything.

It wasn’t until a Scottish voice behind you scared you out of your guarded state. “Hello, are you married?” You turned to see a grinning Doctor.

You hesitated. “Yes….?”

“I didn’t hear you say happily.” You let out an annoyed sigh as you slap his chest lightly.

“I’m married to you, you twat!” You exasperated.

“I know. Lucky you.” You shake your head before linking arms with him and walking off in an attempt to refind Bill.

~

The Child was beginning to freak you out. Super strong, able to communicate through phones and God knows what else, all of them was setting you off when you realised that you were in the Child’s room. Jumping through the hole in the wall provided by with Jack, you are tossed the banana the Doctor placed in place of his gun. “Don’t drop the banana!”

“I won’t!” You called back out as Jack and Rose asked why.

“Good source of potassium!” Doctor called back. “Hey, Y/N!”

“This better be important!” You moved up next to him. “What is it?”

“Are you a banana? Because I find you a-peeling!” He laughed at his joke as you punch his arm.

“Really not the time Doctor.”

~

Bill was home safe and you had just found out the Doctor had not, in fact, regained his sight after fighting the Space Zombies from Hell. You weren’t happy about the lying but you were helping him adjust to his new blind status, even though you weren’t impressed that he decided not to tell Bill.

It had been a fortnight after the incident, and you had come up with a system that allowed you to communicate where he needed to move to avoid danger or to look in the right direction without anyone knowing you were doing so, and taught him how to read braille, along with coming up with a system in the TARDIS so the Doctor could find whatever he needed whenever he needed it. He knew you were still not impressed, but you were both coping with the new changes.

“Hey Y/N!” You popped your head out of the kitchen and into the hallway at the sound of the Doctor’s voice, wiping your wet hands on a tea towel..

“Yeah?!”

“I need you in the library!” The rich, accented voice rung out.

“Hang on then!” You ditched the towel and half-jogged, half-walked to the library. “What is it?” You saw him hunched over the desk in the middle of the room.

“Can you come here please? I need you to read my palm, I’ve written something on there but I don’t know if its legible.” You sighed as you walked over and placed your head on his shoulder, looking over to see both of his palms empty.

“Doctor, there’s nothing there….”

“Ah yes, I didn’t expect you to see anything because love is blind.” You took a step back. “Y/N?”

“Okay, no, seriously, run because I am going to kill you.” He laughed at your reaction. “That was so bad it’s not even funny.”

“You love it.”

“Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that buddy.” He stood up and you walked over to face him. “In front. Are you sure you are okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m always fine. I’m the Doctor.” He tried to reassure.

“I know. That’s why I worry.” He smiled down at you as you stood on your tiptoes and gave the tip of his nose a kiss. “We’ll be okay yeah.” He pulled you in for a hug.

“We will always be okay, I promise you that.”

~

After Vampire Fish in Venice, you needed a break. All you wanted was to watch a little bit of Netflix and relax with some junk food and maybe a nap between shows.

Rory was cool with that, he needed just a little bit to not so much process or accept, but just think over what had happened during the last 48 hours. Amy and the Doctor, on the other hand, wanted to keep going.

“An hour. Just an hour of watching Netflix, then we can go.” You pleaded. “Or you two go by yourself and do something, Rory and I don’t mind, do we Rory?”

“No, no, you lot go ahead. We are fine here.” He agreed as Amy pouted a little.

“It’s no fun if its just the two of us.” They all ignored the Doctor’s ‘hey!” in protest as they tried to figure it out. “If we watch one movie, can we go after that?”

“Sure!” Rory and you both state together.

“I have to choose.”

“Don’t care, Amy’s choice. Up to you.” You nodded as you directed the couple to the entertainment room. “Come along Doctor.” You called over your shoulder.

Forty minutes into some movie from the 22nd Century that Amy said looked interesting, the human couple were sound asleep, Amy draped over her fiancé as the Doctor sat behind you, playing with your hair as you watch the movie, staring at you as you do so.

“Alright there, dear?” You question.

“Are you Netflix? Because I could watch you for hours.”

“Hun, I love you, and I appreciate the attempt, but that’s very creepy.” You pat his arm lightly.

“I tried.”

“And I appreciate that.” You pull him in for a kiss. “Now shush, I wanna see the end of this movie.”

~

It had been five months since the Monks had taken over Earth, and the Doctor had nearly finished rehabilitating the men that were keeping you ‘captive’. With your small army nearly ready, you had to prepare a way to figure out if Bill was still Bill, or had given into the Monks reprograming.

“I think out of all the aliens we have encountered, the Monks are the worst.” You complain as the camera is taken away from the room after another recording was demanded from the two of you.

“Was your father an alien? Because there’s nothing else like you on Earth!” You looked over to the soldier who said that with a slightly raised eyebrow as the Doctor’s attack eyebrows furrowed together to form a lethal stare of death.

“Don’t you start too. I’ve never gotten it out of him.” You indicated to the Doctor.

“You’re married? He’s old enough to be your grandfather!” That angered the Doctor even more, and you knew you had to defuse the situation.

“It’s all about the experience, love.” You sent over a cheeky wink as you noticed the slight victory smirk accompanying the slight red tinge on the Doctor’s cheeks. The soldier laughs it off and moves on to complete his other duties. “You alright, love?”

“Am I too old for you?” He asked as he pulled you close. He was normally against the hugging, but never with you.

“Never! I love you always, regardless of your age, you know that.” You played with the few loose curls at the back of his head. “Can’t believe it wasn’t you who said that.”

“I was going to, someday. I had it saved away for another time.” You grinned.

“Ah well, I’m sure you have more.” You pulled away. He grinned, the red beginning to fade.

“You are out of this world you know.”

“I know. Thank you, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[flowercrownsandherondales]

Can u write a MareCal fic where Mare and Cal are just chilling in Mare's house at the Scarlet Guard/Montfort base, and all is good with her family and Cal (but her brothers still give them a hard time in a brotherly way), and everyone is safe and happy, and Cal teases and tickles Mare? Ugh I have so many feelings about these characters someone say a prayer lmao

A/N- I’m in love with this request! I would be even more in love with it if I hadn’t spent an hour or two writing it last night, and coming back  after eating to post it and seeing that tumblr deleted it. so here’s to the second shot!

Cal’s POV

Mare and I had trained all day. Running, sparing, and just trying to get used to her having her electricity back. I could tell she was starting to get tired, and I knew we should head back. 

“Your house or mine?” I asked, wrapping an arm around her as she yawned. 

“Mine’s closer, if you are alright with that. I think my brothers are at a meeting, but Gisa might be there.” she said, cuddling up to my side as we walked towards her small house. I smiled down at her, and we traveled in comfortable silence, the night air cooling my naturally hot to the touch skin. Her house was small, but comforting.

I opened the door lazily, and she ducked under my arm, throwing herself on their small couch. “Don’t you want a shower first?” I asked gently, and she shook her head no. 

“I’m way too tired. Besides, it’s not like I haven’t been covered in sweat before.” she lazily smirked, moving her legs to cover the couch. I smiled at her, she was really breathtaking. I debated to go and take one myself, but her whine interrupted me. 

“Cal….. aren’t you going to lay with me?” she said, giving me a puppy dog face. I sighed, knowing that I would be pulled in. I layed down beside her on the small couch, both of us squished together. She grabbed my head in her hands and started to spread small kisses down my nose, down my neck, but then stopped. Now it was my turn to whine. 

“Mare… what’s wrong?” i asked, my eyebrows coming together. She just giggle and let out a yawn. 

“I was going too, but I’m too tired. Maybe you shouldn’t have worked me so hard earlier if you wanted my energy later.” she smirked and closed her beautiful eyes, curling up closer to me. I held her close and started to drift off with her.

I woke up to laughter and the sound of someone shushing another. I peeked up at Bree, Tramy and Gisa, the three siblings of Mare Barrow . “What?” i asked, disorientated. I looked down to see the position I was in. Mare was sprawled out, her arms and legs covering my whole body. I was like a stick, straight with my arms and legs stiff. I felt the drool that had dried down my face, and opened my mouth to see that I had a few brown hairs stuck to my face, Mare’s hair. 

“You two are cute.” Gisa mused, taking a bite of her cereal. Bree just nodded his head before walking away, but Tramy stayed to grab my hand. “Come on, you have to be hungry.” he said and I nodded, leaving Mare to continue sleeping. 

It was still dark outside, and I scratched my head, wondering how long we were asleep.

‘It’s two in the morning” Gisa said, sitting down at the table. I felt my eyebrows tug and confusion hit.

“What are you all doing up? and why are you eating now?” I asked and Bree and Tramy let out a small chuckle. 

“It’s a Barrow tradition. We all used to come home late when we were younger. Mare would go out and be the thief she was, and Gisa would stay up for hours weaving. Shade, Bree and I would sometimes go out, trying to pick up ladies and such, and when we would come home, both of our sisters would be awake and hungry. Mom and Dad were asleep, so we would all make a feast. Sometimes the Warren boy would come too, but usually its reserved for family only.” Tramy finished, taking a bite of the bacon he was making. I nodded, trying to imagine what it would have been like, imagining a small twelve year old Mare coming home, pockets full of treasures from others. All of them sitting around, making jokes and eating burnt pancakes by the candlelight. A peaceful life, sweet and loving. 

I remembered when Mavey used to come in my room when he was seven. He would push me awake, begging me to help him train. We would spend hours training late, and when we were done I would take him back to my room and we would tell stories, until he fell asleep. Elara figured it out, and banned him from coming into my room, and I heard his cries for weeks until they just stopped. I should have helped him, I should have saved his innocence. 

“You alright there?” Bree asked, pushing some pancakes on the table. I gave a weak smile. “Yeah, just some memories, I don’t want to intrude on you guys. I’ll head to my bunker. Tell Mare when she wakes up.” I said, standing up. I felt a small hand on my back, and looked up to see the redheaded Gisa pushing me back down. 

“Stay. You aren’t intruding anything. You are part of the family now. So eat, tell us some stories.” she smiled and I felt like I could cry. It wasn’t manly to cry,just weak. But I had never felt like I had a real family. I had always been lonely, a father who expected me to be a perfect soldier, a mother who had left me before I could properly speak to her, a stepmother who hated me, a uncle who couldn’t look at me without seeing his dead sister, and a little brother who broke away from me, who was turned against me. But these Barrows, these red blooded people who I had been taught to despise, they loved me. They wanted me. 

I told them about my upbringing, about Maven before he was turned into a monster, about my lack of a mother. They listened, and Gisa hugged me afterwards. The conversation went back to a lighter tone as they told stories of Mare when she was growing up, how feisty and rebellious she was in school. How she had come to meet Kiliorn, and how she had taken care of the family the best way she knew when her brothers went off to war.

“I didn’t appreciate her enough. None of us did. Mom, Dad, and I looked down on her for thieving. She saved us. She saved us and now she’s helping everyone. She’s the true pride of the family.” Gisa said, looking down in regret. Bree and Tramy were quick to comfort their sister, holding her hand. 

“So Calore, you better be good to her. You better treat her like a Queen, because she is. I will not hesitate to kick your ass if you don’t. we all will.” Bree said, and Tramy nodded. I smiled at them, nodded my head quickly.

I felt arms wrap around my middle and a sleepy voice come from my ear. “My siblings giving you trouble?” Mare asked, and I smiled back at her, wathcing her snatch a piece of bacon from my plate and stuff it into her mouth. 

“No, but you are. I was going to eat that.” I said, and she just smirked. Mare looked at her brothers, raising her eyebrows. “Having our annual Barrow sibling meeting?” she asked and they both rolled their eyes.

“No actually its an initiation. Everybody’s favorite ex prince, flame of Norta is joining the gang. We had him kill a lamb and sacrifice it to the ancestors.” Tramy joked and Mare just smiled. “I take it he passed?” Mare asked, and Gisa nodded. Both girls shared a knowing look before the brunette pulled me from my chair, pulling me up the stairs. 

“Now I’ll be needing him back, goodnight.” Mare announced and I could hear Bree whisper “Use protection” before they all chuckled. 

We went to her room where we both collapsed on the bed. She smiled at me and kissed up my neck like before. 

“I love you.” i whispered to her through the darkness and felt her stop. “I love you too.” she whispered back and i went to her sides, starting to tickle her. I felt her giggle softly, squirming under my touch. Before I knew it we were making out, her lips on mine softly. I knew then that this is what I wanted. I would give up anything to have this everyday. I promised myself I would do anything to keep her, before falling asleep for the second time that night.