#(she marks her mugs AND her partners like that)

[character-obsessed-fem]

meeks would wear the type of dark red lipstick that leaves an imprint on EVERYTHING. most transferable thing ever. im talking on the rims of glasses and mugs, around where she bit down into a pastry, on the insides of her shirts and on the collars, etc.

which is why everyone knows when someone's been with meeks because her iconic red kiss marks are all over them :))

[authorhjk1]

SNSD OT9 reaction of them waking up after sex and finding out their partner is 10+ years younger than them.

Taeyeon

"Oh wow."

Taeyeon groans as she moves a little. The two of you are lying side by side in her bed, the dim morning light starting to warm your faces.

"You really wore me out last night."

She leans over and rests her head on your chest.

"I could've gone the whole night."

Taeyeon scoffs in disbelief.

"I hardly doubt that. You're my age, so you wouldn't be able to go round after round."

"Your age? I'm 26."

Very slowly, Taeyeon lifts her head off your chest.

"What?"

She looks up at you, her eyes wide open.

"You're what?"

"26."

"Holy..."

Taeyeon gets off you and sits straight on the bed.

"Why didn't you tell me before? You're way too young."

"I tried."

You chuckle.

"But if I remember correctly, you told me to shut up and eat your pussy like I mean it."

Shame heats up Taeyeon's body. Her cheeks show a deep shade of pink.

"Did-Did I say that?"

Jessica

"Thank you."

Jessica smiles at you as she takes the hot coffee mug out of your hand. She gives it a taste after blowing at it for a moment.

"Mmm, it's delicious."

"Nothing big."

You sit back down next to her and Jessica let's her head rest against your arm.

"Right. You said you're a barista last night."

"Yeah, I traveled around for about four years while learning it right after school. And now I own my own coffee shop since three years ago."

"Oh, that's so cool."

As Jessica takes another sip, you see her eyebrows furrow.

"Y-You finished school seven years ago?"

"Yeah. When I was 19."

You can tell that she's taking a moment to calculate how old you must be now. Then she does it again. And again. The disbelief marking her face.

"You're 10 years younger than me?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, my god."

Jessica sinks into the sheets, staring up at the ceiling. She doesn't dare to look at you as she realizes she slept with someone 10 years younger than her.

Sunny

You're still asleep when Sunny wakes up. It takes her a while, but eventually she's sitting up, looking out of the window. Her head still hurts from last night's drinking. She glances at her nightstand, looking for a glass of water. Instead, her eyes land on your wallet. Sunny's brows furrow as she hesitates. She doesn't remember much from last night. To avoid any awkwardness, she just wants to take a quick peek at your ID to confirm your name.

When she takes it out, her eyes lock onto your birthday after reading your name.

"10 years?"

Sunny chuckles before putting your wallet back.

"Seems like you got really lucky last night."

She looks at you, your eyes still closed as you continue to sleep next to her.

Tiffany

"Happy birthday, I guess."

Tiffany's gorgeous smile makes you melt, before the two of you engage in a passionate kiss.

Your friends wanted to throw you a birthday party, which started the night before your birthday and was supposed to end after midnight. You met Tiffany at the club during that time and since she lived closer, she took you back to her place.

"How old are you now? You still look kinda young to be over thirty."

You chuckle at her assumption.

"I'm 26 now."

You almost hear Tiffany's heart stop.

"26?"

Her eyes are wide in disbelief, her hand is tugging at her hair.

"Oh my god. How could I sleep with someone this young?"

"You're acting like I'm 18 or something."

"That would be even worse."

Tiffany groans, visibly embarrassed.

"I don't see the problem here. Age doesn't matter. As long as you had fun last night it's fine."

Her cheeks turn pink as she recalls what she did to you last night.

"Oh god...."

Hyoyeon

Hyoyeon wakes up to her phone buzzing again and again. It must be the middle of the day, but you're still sleeping next to her. Half asleep, she reaches for it to check who's blowing up her phone with messages.

"Nice catch, Hyo. He looked like he could go all night."

Hyoyeon groans. Not just because Sooyoung is teasing her, but because she is doing so in the group chat. The other members now know what happened after her and Sooyoung went to the club and why she alone isn't home yet.

"How was he, unnie?"

Yoona attached a winking smiley to her question.

"Oh god."

Hyoyeon sighs in frustration.

"You think they're doing it again in the morning now?"

"Yuri..."

Hyoyeon says through gritted teeth.

"Probably. He looked really young too."

"Did you take care of him like a good noona, unnie?"

Hyoyeon throws her phone onto the bed, after reading Seohyun's daring question. When she glances at you again, she realizes that you do look young. The dim light in the club made it hard to figure out your age, but now that you're face is illuminated by sunlight, Hyoyeon realizes you can't be a day over 26.

A satisfied smile plays around her lips as she leans back again the wall behind her. Despite all the teasing taht is still to come, she knows that she had a really good night.

Yuri

"And what are you gonna do after you wake up?"

You let out a weak groan when you feel Yuri's soft lips against your neck. For the last couple of minutes, after waking up, she has been torturing you by kissing your neck again and again while making you tell her what you're doing today and tomorrow. Now you're starting to talk about your Monday, while Yuri sticks out her tongue and drags it from your collarbone to your cheek, licking your skin along the way.

A shakey breath escapes your lips, before you continue.

"And then I need to go to class."

"Class?"

Yuri asks into your ear, her voice a little higher in surprise.

"Yeah, class."

"Wait, how old are you?"

You swallow hard. You don't want to lie, but you also don't want her to stop kissing you. Eventually, you decide on speaking the truth.

"I'm 26."

For a moment, Yuri doesn't move or say anything. You're scared she's now disgusted by your age difference. But then she gives your ear a teasing little bite before whispering:

"You better do what your professor tells you to do now. Or I'm going to make you fail my class.

You feel Yuri's panty covered pussy rub against your cock. You didn't expect her to suddenly start roleplaying. But you can already feel your cock harden as you think about Yuri being your professor.

"Yes, ma'am."

Sooyoung

Sooyoung wakes up with a massive headache. The sun that shines into the room through the curtains hurts her eyes. When she moves her head, she finds you still sleeping next to her.

"What have I done?"

She murmurs and eventually starts to get off the bed. When the blanket glides off her body, she realizes that she's completely naked.

"Where are my clothes?"

She looks around the room with half open eyes. Her bra and her panties are lying on the table, her top is hanging over the backrest of the chair. Her pants are lying on the floor while her shoes have been thrown into the bathroom.

"What the hell? How much did I drink last night?"

Like a sloth, Sooyoung slowly starts to get dressed. It takes her a while, but eventually she's wearing everything from the night before. Well, almost everything.

"Where is my tie?"

She searches for it, but can't find it anywhere. When she is looking for it on the nightstand on your side, she almost lets out a surprised yelp. Sooyoung's tie is tightly tied around your wrists.

"Oh god."

She groans in disbelief. Staring at your face, small pieces of her memories from last night come back to her. A dumb smile plays around her lips when she remembers how good you felt inside of her. But then, she remembers something else. Something important. She tries to recall it to the best of her abilities. It must have been inside the elevator last night, after you got this hotel room for the two of you.

"I'm twenty six."

Sooyoung's heart stops, her eyes grow wide as the number echoes in her head. Twenty six. Twenty six.

"Oh, fuck this."

She quickly slips out of the room, leaving her tie behind.

Yoona

Yoona yawns as she wakes up, wrapped in silk sheets. Her whole body still tingles from last night's adventures. She lazily rolls around, her face landing in your empty pillow. Yoona can still feel your warmth, despite you not being in the bed anymore. The smell of your cologne brings a smile to her face.

"Mmmh."

She hums, her smile widening as she remembers slowly riding you last night, while her face was buried in your neck.

Yoona opens her eyes again when she hears you coming out of the bathroom. Her gaze lingers on the towel around your hips, before she admires your otherwise naked body. Then she notices the tattoo on your abs.

"What does the 2000 mean, by the way?"

"My birth year."

"You're... 25?"

You nod as you study her face. She's surprised, but not turned off or anything. You catch her biting her lower lip as her eyes trace along the lines of your tattoo on your abs.

"Why don't you get over here and I ride that cock of yours again?"

Seohyun

"What were you celebrating anyway?"

Seohyun's head lies on your shoulder, while she draws circles with her finger on your chest.

"What do you mean?"

You use your hand to play with her hair as you talk.

"Don't you remember? One of your friends shouted 'she must be your gift for today' while the two of us walked out of the club."

You chuckle, slightly embarrassed. But you can't deny that spending the night with Seohyun did feel like a gift from heaven.

"I got my degree in mechanical engineering yesterday. That's why we celebrated."

"Your degree?"

"Yeah, took me a little longer than I had hoped. I wanted to be done when I was 22 but now I'm 25.

"Twenty five?"

Seohyun lifts her head off your shoulder.

"Yeah. I know the beard makes me look a little older."

"Yeah...."

Seohyun seems to think for a moment, so you're surprised when she suddenly straddles you.

"I've always wanted to try this."

You raise an eyebrow as you feel Seohyun reach into your boxers.

"Call me noona."

"What?"

"Call me noona while I ride you. Beg for my pussy while you call me Seohyun noona."

[flamingpudding]

Substitute City Ghost

Clockwork had a plan. Their young king needed to learn how to take care of people without the kind of hero like fighting he did in Amity Park. There was a lot to learn for the young halfa and his king classes could only cover so much. Thus he had found a plan that would give his king the perfect learning expirence while also helping out his recently new friend. Well not that new since his friend was quite an old ghost of their own. But he had only recently made direct contact with her.

Lady Gotham was an old and powerful ghost. Born from the beliefs of her city and strengthened by the once living and protecting it. But she was stretching herself thin. Managing her city, helping the dead find their way, looking out for the shades, and protecting the weaker entities, was already a lot of responsibilities for a city ghost. But Lady Gotham has added more to her plate, supporting those that protect her city. Mortals that she called her knights. Aiding them by controlling the shadows, guiding those that need help toward them, or the other way around, guiding her knights to those that needed help. She was strong, but even a ghost like her could grow exhausted. His friend needed rest and recharge. Surely Lady Gotham wouldn't say no if he invited her to a vacation to the Realms, and in that same invitation, he would direct his king to his new hands on training.

The bats and birds knew something was different about Gotham lately. It was strange and slightly unsettling. The change felt like it had just happened overnight. They were suspicious, wondering if they were sensing one of their rogues planning something big. Jason and Duke appeared to sense it the most.

At first, it didn't appear to be too big of a problem, but then strange things started to happen. Their rogues started tripping over, seemingly nothing. And if that wasn't enough it appeared like their rogues were a whole lot more inattentive to their surroundings. Now the Bats and birds were good at sneaking, but they had human limits. Yet there were times they snuck up on them like they weren't even seen.

Dick swore that one of the goons had stared at him and didn't see him, even though he had tried to pull the tap their shoulder and greet them before punching them act. The guy had turned around and stared at him before looking around like no one was even there until he punched the guy anyway.

And that wasn't even the weirdest part. Bullets, throwing knives or anything aimed and thrown at them never hit their marks. Not for the lag of them dodging but for the things they were sure they shouldn't have been able to react in time for. Tim espacially had pointed out that a bullet should have hit him once but it never even graced him. Yet when he checked the place after the arrest. There had been a clear bullet hole in the wall where he had been.

They weren't sure if it was a blessing or a curse. They had even tried to get a member of the Justice League Dark to look into it. But strangely enough Constantine had refused to even set foot into Gotham for once, and even insisted that the other do not either.

To say that Batman was not amused would have been a very big understatement. The man was brooding. And of course Dick had to jinx them too. The eldest bat kid had to mention that it at least wasn't getting worse.

And don't you know it. It got worse. Like weirdly alarming strangely worse.

Because, how else would you define it when you're in the middle of a briefing with your patrol partner for the night when suddenly a Lazarus Pit look alike portal opens below your feed swallowed you up and the freaking drops you into the middle of a crime scene or mugging.

It was only thanks to their training that they were able to react quickly enough after a bound of disorientation. But fuck did that gave them all a good damn heart attacks when that happened the first time to Damian of all people.

Something was definitely wrong with their city. Thankfully they had some sort of hint, because the first time the Pit portal happened to Duke, he claimed that he saw a white haired figure right before it had swallowed him hole and spit him out at a bank robbery.

Danny was honestly believing he was doing a good job as substitute city spirit while Lady Gotham was enjoying her vacation. Sure , he still had trouble with some things, but he was sure he was getting the hang of the whole supporting the cities vigilantes gig Lady Gotham had going on. The whole managing the shades and the dead spirits was still up in the air, though. But at least he had figured out a way easier way to guide the vigilantes towards the once that needed help.

Now he just needed to figure out what was wrong with that one guy in the red helmet and he was sure that both Clockwork and Lady Gotham would be proud of him and how he had managed her city during her vacation.

[a-hazbin-reader]

Hello! I just found your blog a couple days ago and I love your stuff!! I like that you mark everything as either being romantic or platonic (as an aromantic, I would like to say you are a saint for doing that) , and all the little pictures and memes bring me immense joy

I was wondering if you could do a platonic alastor x reader where reader makes/made a deal with Alastor. Like full on, sold-their-soul-to-him, no-takesies-backsies kind of a deal.

And like, maybe Alastor doesn't care about them that much at first, but they slowly grow on him? And reader doesn't like alastor that much either, but they have the same dark, chaotic energy and they just sorta click eventually. (and maybe some Rosie in there too??)

Omg you're so sweet for this 😭 Some of the platonic ones are my FAVE! Plus, I get that not everyone is looking for romance 🤧

Alastor X Reader Headcanons

Plus a little Rosie X Reader

❌️Romantic

✅️Platonic

TW: Cartoonish antics, little bit of violence, Alastor being Alastor, Reader lost their soul

Description: ☝️⬆️

You didn't think Alastor was serious when he said he wanted your soul, who tf does that??

Alastor, that's who, you dummy

To be fair, you totally thought you were going to win but imagine your shock when chains suddenly appeared on you like a leash

Bullshit bullshit bullshit

He has you working at the hotel with Husk and Niffty but you go out of your way to mess things up for him

If you're gonna be his pet then you're going to be a nightmare pet

Maybe he'll decide you're not worth the trouble and give your soul up?? That's a thing that happens right?

So you do little things to fuck with Alastor, big enough to annoy him but subtle enough to be an accident

He wants you to make him tea? Oops!! You've poured salt instead of sugar and now he's choking down salty tea because he's too proud to admit you pulled one over on him

Not him giving you a death glare from over his cup

"How is it~?"

"Delightful."

He wants you to wash the dishes? Fine but you're going to drop and break his favorite mug and every replacement he gets

You're so clumsy

You have to carry his bags?? Fine then-

No, you know what? Niffty can carry the bags she's much more strong and sturdy than she looks

You're no fun

The point is, if Alastor is going to make your life miserable because he owns your soul, you're going to give it right back

You don't even make the punishments fun for him

He doesn't stop seeing you as his worst deal until your both suddenly faced against the same foe

Some idiot Vox hired to pick a fight with Alastor and for some reason Alastor picked you to handle it

Watching you play with your prey reminded Alastor of himself, giving him a few good chuckles

By the time you were done, your opponent had practically pissed themselves to death, terrified by your maniacal nature

After the fight while you're being patched up, you and Alastor share a few laughs as you retell what happened

And then you two laugh about Vox

And then you two laugh about how your opponent died

Nobody else is laughing you sick fucks

There's a change in your dynamic after that day, the two of you becoming partners in crime

Those pranks and punishments you two used to use on each other? Now you're combining forces to use them on everyone else

Everyone thought things would be better once you two put aside your differences

But this is so much worse

They find excuses to just send you two out of the hotel so they can have some peace and quiet

You just feed off each other's worst energies and keep making each other worse

The only mitigating force for you two is Rosie, she's the only one who can get you two to slow it down

"Alright! Hold it!"

Not the two of you being scolded by her, looking like two little kicked puppies because Rosie won't let you two blow up a shop

But the owner is so sleazy!!!

No, you two can't pretend to be repairmen so you can break into people's homes and destroy their tvs

She won't even let you write fake fan mail to Vox, slowly gaining his trust as his number one fan only to shatter his heart in some devastating and public way

Wtf is wrong with you two

She just knows how best to handle the two of you and doesn't really mind how twisted the two of you get to be

She finds it adorable

You are besties by that point, an unstoppable force that wreaks havoc on anything in your path

Oh and sweet Rosie is there too

Holding the leashes for you two

You almost forget he owns your soul and so does he most days, the two of you seeing each other more and more as equals

Or at the very least, friends 🧡

Maybe you've earned your soul back

Nah, keep it

This was so fun! I really hope you liked it!

[midnightshindig]

I think a fun prompt would be rex hcs/drabbles of what it's like having karaoke with him and the reader over some pizza and beer because of course they'd be having those around in the Guardian's headquarters to celebrate a successful mission HAHAHA. May/may not include the other guardians as well 🫶🫶

Rex Splode X Gn!Reader

Yeah I gotchu <3

fic under the cut:

It had been a long, difficult mission

youd all barely escaped with your lives

You know what that means-

PARTAYYYYYY

Okay but Rex has the habit of roping the Guardians (including you) into post-mission Karaoke and drinks

He orders pizza, or rather he bullies Mark into flying you pizza, and there’s beer in the fridge. Perpetually.

He had to threaten Cecil he’d quit to get that.

and so here you and the guardians are, watching Rex perform “Girls” by The Dare

He’s a terrible singer

but he knows all the words!

more than anyone can say for Rudy, who’s up next

Bros AWKWARD

Amanda does her best after him, some girl band song, Spice girls or something she sounds just tween enough to pull off

everyones having a pretty great time, duets around the group and a group rendition of YMCA

It’s a jolly ass time, you even rope Bulletproof in on it

Rex has proven his taste in music to be the equivalent of a mating call

”Take me Down”, “Dumb Dick”, that sort of thing

Until the fourth round of Karaoke where he’s like eight drinks in, and everyone’s just slurring through their songs

This is when he busts out— and dedicates you to— “I’ve been waiting for you” by ABBA

”Th8a THIS is for my PARTNER y/nnnmmmmmmMMOKAY LETS GO! A five six 7 nine!���

and he starts singing “I’ve been waiting for you” by ABBA

which would be romantic if he wasn’t butchering it

He ends the song dropping to his knees, fully raptured by the song

oh my god Rex get off the floor

everyone's staring at him, considerably less drunk

“I’m gonna get him some pizza…” you excuse yourself as he chokes through the second verse

When you come back and get some pizza in his system, he’s just finished his song

a minute later, he’s chewing down his third slice of pepperoni pizza, and very softly goes

”You left my song….”

oh he’s so sad

”I was singing it js for youuuu” he whines, tilting his head back and leaning against your shoulder

He wraps his arms around you waist and buries his face into your chest and collar

Rex looks up at you, like borderline pathetic

“Shhhhh, cmere-“ you pet his hair, which had been hair whipped out of its man bun an hour earlier

Soon the alcohol takes you too, the both of you fall asleep on the couch

It’s actually insane

Cecil Teleports into the living room the following morning to find:

you and Rex cuddling on one end of the couch, Amanda next to you sleeping with her head on Rudy, who was curled up with his back against her and his legs just barely not kicking Bulletproof

On the smaller couch adjacent, The Immortal and Black Samson sat, leaning onto opposite arm rests, with the Immortal sleeping with his arms crossed

Shapesmith is on the floor with Rae, both using the couch as a backrest

Mark walks in with a cup of coffee and smiles at Cecil “They made me bring them pizza. Black Samson sung Black Pink, you missed it it was great.”

Mark, whose mommy told him he wasn’t allowed to drink, was the only one without a hangover, and he took a long slow sip of his coffee before spitting it into the mug

”Ew is that what coffee tastes like??”

Cecil groans, pinching his temple “I guess training can wait for these dumbasses to get some rest. Wake them up soon. And with that he’s gone.

[hello-gloomy]

I love your writing!!! 💕 Can I request StanXeno with an alien partner (starefire inspired maybe) thank and pls continue writing for dr stone 😭😭🙏🙏🙏

This is super cute, honestly might have to do more alien reader, it would be really cute.

Sorry it's short T-T

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A Fire From The Stars

XenoStan x Fem!Alien!Reader

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

Description: Our two rulers make a new bond with a girl from the stars, and she in turn shares her world with them.

Warnings: Mild injury mentioned in the beginning, kissing, heights, cigarettes. Poly XenoStan.

A/N: IM SORRY IF ITS SHORT. I wrote this when I got off work and was doing this half awake in the dark so excuse the shortness of it.

Words: 622

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Xeno brushes his Gloved hands against his lips, thinking back to the day you kissed him, gaining the ability to speak their language. You fell from the stars in a bright light of green, crashing not too far from where he and Stanley had been foraging; they raced over to the crash sight and found you covered in ground debris. Stanley checked to see if you were breathing still before he picked you up and carried you back. When they returned to the colony, Xeno checked you and cared for your injuries. When you had awoken a few hours later, you spoke in a language that he had never heard before. He walked closer and tried to calm you down and take your temperature; you reached up, wrapped your arms around his neck, and pressed your lips softly to his. When you pulled away, you thanked him for his kindness and promised to repay him.

"Are you okay?" Stanley came and sat beside him, handing him a mug of coffee. He rubbed a finger along the 'x' mark on his head. Xeno nodded, kissing the blonde as a 'thank you.' They sat in a peaceful silence before hearing an explosion outside the lab; you burst into the with a big smile, and you floated over to the two of them, leaning on Stanley while poking Xeno's cheek.

"You and the commander are having a lunch break." You tell them with a smile, and they both nod; Xeno takes the moment that you are distracted by Stanley to look over at the firey ends of your hair. He holds his mouth in thought before reaching over and running his clawed fingers through it; he takes note of the warm glowing yellow and orange strands.

"How do you fly?" Xeno asks bluntly, halting the conversation you were sharing with Stanley. You pursed your lips before coming to an answer to give him. You explain how you use UV light to make it possible to fly. Xeno let a hum, and Stanley even looked interested.

"Would you like to engage in the bonding of friends?" You put your feet back onto the ground. They both looked at you, confused, waiting for you to explain further.

"I shall take you on a flight with me." You grab both of their arms. Stanley rises gracefully to his feet while Xeno stumbles. You help balance him quickly before heading out the lab door. The three of you walk the fortress halls before leaving for the fields near the forest. You stop, and the two of them look at you expectantly. Stanley stomps out the last of his cigarette; you go to hover and then move a few feet higher; you grab Stanley's hand while throwing Xeno over your shoulder, his front facing the same direction as your face. Stanley goes to laugh but can't because of the sudden speed of your flying towards the clouds. They both quickly tighten their grips on you, respectively, and you stop at a nice view of the sun setting.

"Maybe a warning next time!" Stanley huffed out while trying to catch his breath; you giggle out an apology to him before sparing Xeno a glance. He was awe-struck by the sight before him; the pinks and oranges of the current sunset were a scene to behold, much different than seeing from the ground or on a plane. You shake Stanley to get his attention off the ground below you onto the sunset before you; he mellows out after a bit and watches the clouds and sun.

"A camera would be lovely right about now." Xeno thought aloud to you and the blonde; you nodded in agreement.

"Next time." You offer them.

"Indeed."

[ribbonsncherries]

The Contract

Warnings: Lots of smut, P in V, Oral (both m and f receiving), BDSM!, Sexual Assault, Stalking, Angst, Alcohol mentions, Dominant and submissive plot, Virgin user, mentions of drugs.

Chapter 2

Pairing: CEO!Dean Winchester x inexperienced! User

Summary: When her roommate and work partner gets sick, she is in charge of interviewing famous billionaire businessman Dean Winchester for his new bar's grand opening which leads to a passionate and tumultuous affair where she discovers his dark sexual desires, marked by control and dominance. The one catch? He doesn't do romance.

Based on the trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey.

(4004 words)

Divider credits: @dollywons, @anitalenia, @selysie

“I’m home!” (y/n) shouted as she threw her purse and work bag on the couch, she took off her coat and hung it up, “Jessica come out here I got some good news!” (y/n) heard the ting on her cellphone, she looked at it for a good minute before she began digging through her small shoulder bag to see Dean had texted her. 

‘Let me know any information regarding tomorrow, Goodnight Ms. (l/n).’ 

“God what is it…” Jessica mumbled wiping slobber from the side of her mouth, she looked like she just woke up from a long nap. “Make love to me or something 'cause you’re gonna love me even more.” (y/n) smiled. “So Dean came by my office and-” Jessica’s eyes widened immediately before running up to (y/n) “WHAT! You’re lying! What did he say?!” 

(y/n) laughed “Well he heard about your problem with the photos so, he’s asking you if you want an original photo for Runway tomorrow?” Jessica stayed quiet, “(y/n), If you’re fucking with me you’re out of this house.” She said pointing at her. (y/n) lifted her phone to show Dean’s number. “Just tell me and I’ll let him know right now, he does want to know by today…” she smiled. Jessica jumped for joy while she squealed. “Oh my god! Ok, tomorrow at around 7 AM,” she said immediately running to her room with her computer to prepare for the next day, although it was last minute Runway was more than happy to ask their photographers to take pictures. This included one of their photographers ‘James’. (y/n) got ready for bed and cleaned up her things from the sofa. She collapsed on her bed and covered herself with her sheets. Before she closed her eyes to sleep she texted him. 

‘Hello, Mr.Winchester. Sorry for the late message. Thank you for doing this for Runway, I was I was just wondering if tomorrow at 7 a.m. would be a good time for you to come to our studio.’ 

‘Yes, of course, that’s a good time for me. After the shoot do you want to grab some breakfast?’’

(y/n) didn’t know what to say or think, all she knew was that she was stunned, she took one more glance at the text and saw it was real. He did ask her out for breakfast. Was he interested in her? Or was this a business casual thing? She began typing away at her phone. 

‘Sure, I would love to thank you :)’

‘Good night Ms. (l/n), see you tomorrow.’ 

(y/n) felt like she released a huge breath. She couldn’t believe this at all, the billionaire man every girl wanted, asked her for breakfast. “Holy shit” she sighed out before covering her face with a pillow in disbelief. 

The next day (y/n)’s alarm rang out at 5:00. She was confused, she set her alarm for 6:00. “Wake up! Rise and Shine!” Jessicas shouted out from her door. She came into her room and opened the curtains to the morning dawn. “You’re insane.” (y/n) mumbled as she turned around. Jessica went to her side grabbed (y/n)’s sleeping mask and snapped it back on her face. (y/n) immediately got up and dragged Jessica down to her bed “What the fuck?!” she shouted while Jessica just laughed “That never gets old! C’mon sleepy head get ready, you’re gonna see your rich boyfriend.” she teased. (y/n) threw her stuffed elephant at her. “Shut up,” she mumbled as she removed her sleep mask and ran her hand through her face and hair. Jessica warmed up some coffee for her and (y/n) in their assigned mugs. As (y/n) stood in the shower, she could only think of his rough voice and his biceps that were underneath his flannel when he came into her office. As she washed her hair the warm water made her suddenly flinch as she thought about his rough hands around her waist, and thighs, Kissing her softly. Before she was about to release a moan “(y/n)! It’s 6:00! We have to get to the office by 6:30!” 

“Shit!” she shouted. She quickly washed the soap out of her hair and turned off the shower. She dressed in casual flared jeans, Dr. Martens, and a nice comfortable shirt just enough to barely show cleavage. Jessica made two sandwiches and handed (y/n) her bottle of coffee. They quickly scrambled to their car and made their way to the Runway Headquarters. (y/n) and Jessica looked out the window to see a slick 67’ Chevy Impala parked in the private garage. “Woahh,” they said in unison. As they began getting out of the car (y/n) took a good look at the sleek black car. “C’mon (n/n) James just messaged me he’s here already. 

James began taking pictures of Dean. He was in his usual Black Tux with a gray tie, his hair combed out and messy, just the way he liked it. He was standing normally and looking into the camera while James was taking the pictures but he couldn’t help but look over James to look at (y/n) who was only a mere feet away from him with Jessica. “Thanks again for doing this Mr. Winchester,” Jessica exclaimed blowing her nose in the distance. Dean looked at her for a moment and nodded his head “I’m happy to help.” he said. James looked through his camera and realized Dean had a straight face the entire time. He looked up at him and saw he was looking at (y/n) “Uh..how about we try one with a smile this time?” James said with his smile to try to encourage him. As the flashes continued Dean’s facial muscles didn’t move an inch ‘’right…guess not.” mumbled James. 

Jessica leaned into (y/n)’s ear “You realize that his eyes are literally glued to you. He hasn’t stopped looking at you.” she whispered. (y/n)’s lips slightly curved to a smile “He asked me to go for breakfast after the shoot.” She whispered back and cleared her throat. Jessica smiled and teased her with a slight nudge and giggling. 

When they were finished Jessica went home on her own since (y/n) was getting driven by Dean’s assistant Benny. James went up to (y/n), “I kinda need to thank you too, This is gonna look great on my portfolio.” (y/n) smiled at him politely, “Of course, anytime for me and Jessica’s favorite photographer.” James laughed awkwardly, “Are you doing anything later?” 

While James was talking with (y/n) he felt his jaw clench at the scene so he went up to them and stood next to her “(y/n), we should start heading out.” (y/n) looked up to him confused “Now?” she asked. Dean nodded his head before he saw her saying goodbye and giving him a friendly hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow James.” She smiled. Dean gave him one last look before catching up with her.

“Is he your boyfriend?” he asked her. (y/n) looked up at him “Who?” 

“The photographer.” 

(y/n) laughed like it was a joke “James? He is a very good friend and long-time co-worker of Jessica and me.” She put it simply as she continued walking with him. “I saw the way he was looking at you,” he said in a rough voice as he began unbuttoning the first two buttons of his dress shirt. “He’s more like a family friend you’d invite to a barbeque.” she scoffed. When they walked to the parking garage (y/n) stopped dead in her tracks as Dean walked towards the Impala. “That’s yours?” she asked shocked as she caught up with him. “Yes, family car that’s been with me and brother for years.” He said. (y/n) smiled at the sight “Wow, it’s a beautiful car.” she sighed. “Thank you.” She was confused when she saw him open the door for her and looked around the garage. “I thought Benny was going to drive us?” She asked. “No, he’s on his day off, I’ll drive you.” (y/n) got in the car and Dean closed the door, walked to the other side, and got in the driver's seat. He whipped out his keys and turned on the car making the engine purr. (y/n) smiled to herself when she ran her hands along the interior of her door. Dean smiled small when she wasn’t looking and began taking the car out of the parking garage. 

“Here you go, is there anything I can get you both?” asked the waitress. Dean looked at (y/n) for a quick second before he shook his head, “No thank you, we’ll call if anything.” he said. The waitress nodded as she walked away. (y/n) smiled before looking up from her food to his eyes, “Thanks for this by the way.” she said as Dean started eating his pie. He noticed that she was trying to pretend everything was good and cool but he could see the small hints of red in her cheeks and ears, and her jaw and shoulders were tensed. “You seem nervous?” he said as he took a bite of his pie. (y/n) laughed a bit. “Well this is my first time with a businessman and you seem intimidating.” Dean scoffed as his lips curved to a small smile. “Not to mention very high struck,” she added on. Dean looked at her and observed more of her body, “I'm used to controlling things and getting my own way.”

“That must get pretty boring easily.” she smiled. Dean scooted her plate closer to her “Eat.” he ordered. (y/n) dug her knife into the small batch of pancakes and drank some orange juice that was beside her. “Tell me more about you. What’s your family like?” he asked. (y/n) stopped chewing for a minute and continued once his words were processed and she swallowed. “My family? Well, My dad is out of the picture in my mom’s life since she doesn’t like him very much. My mom and stepdad live in California, I have a little sister named Flora who lives with them over there, I try to see them at least twice every year. I’m rambling aren’t I?” she laughed softly. “I’m sorry.” she apologized. Dean smiled a bit “It’s alright, I did ask about the topic, didn’t I? Tell me more about your father.” He asked. (y/n) smiled, “he liked music, especially romantic ones, he was always that sappy guy when talking about my mom when they were together.” she smiled remembering. Dean looked at tightening his grip around his cup of coffee. “Are you one?” he asked her. She looked up at him confused “Am I what?” she smiled. 

“A romantic?” 

“Well, I’m a writer for a gossip magazine, sometimes I have to be.” she smiled. His smirk went down a bit. “Thanks again Jessica is so beyond ecstatic and-” 

“I have to go, I can’t do this..” he mumbled, he got up from his chair immediately “What?” she questioned softly. “I’ll walk you out (y/n).” Did she do something wrong? Did she say something that somehow upset him? These thoughts in her head were everywhere, As Dean paid for the bill (y/n) had enough of waiting for him so she just walked out. “(y/n). (y/n), I’m sorry but-” 

“Do you have a girlfriend or something?” she asked. Dean looked at her “I don’t do the whole romance hand-holding girlfriend stuff.” (y/n) rolled her eyes in annoyance as she walked to cross the street. “What the fuck does that eve-” 

“Watch out!” he shouted, a speeding car had almost hit her, he grabbed onto her arm and pulled her into his chest on the sidewalk. She looked into his eyes as his piercing green eyes looked into hers. His rough hand grazed upon her cheek as she rested her face on his hand. “(y/n) You need to listen, I’m not the man for you, you need to stay as far back from me as possible,” he said with a low rumble. 

“Dean wha-” 

“I have to let you go…” he said. He took his hand off her face as she backed away from him. She looked at him one more time with an angry expression. “I don’t understand, but I’m tired of this, whatever this is anyway. Bye, Mr. Winchester,” she said as she crossed the street. Dean’s eyes followed her every move as she crossed the street until she disappeared when she reached the end of the block. 

As another few weeks passed by, The article about Dean in the magazine made a hit making this month's issue one of the biggest ones yet in Runway. (y/n) was working on a few finishing touches on a new article she was working on with Jessica, a small beep rang from her desk phone. “Ms. (l/n).” Jenna rang on her desk phone. (y/n) clicked the button to answer. “Hey, Jenna. What’s up?” “Castiel wants to see you quickly,” she said. (y/n) was a bit in a mood but this was her boss she couldn’t say no. “Send him in, thanks Jenna.” Castiel came in with a big smile on his face. “There is one of my two heroes! Since our department finished the article and the photographers did that photo shoot we are partying tonight at the new Winchester bar and you are one of the VIP guests for making this happen.” (y/n) smiled and shook her head. “I can’t, I don’t do parties or bars; it’s crowded everywhere, and there is always some couple having sex that occupies the bathrooms,” she said putting her pen to her bottom lip from habit. “But this is Winchester Elixers, this is not one of those cheap bars you and Jessica go to. It’ll be fun.”

Castiel could see her facial expressions on not wanting to go, “Listen it’s fine if you don’t want to but, it’ll be fun. Hope to see you there,” he said with a warm smile. He said as he began walking out of her office. The more (y/n) thought about it the more she wanted to go, after this whole dean situation she needed to be let off some steam, even if it was at his bar he opened up. “Cas!” she said walking to her doorframe. Castiel turned around “I’ll go.” (y/n) smiled. Castiel looked beyond happy, “You sure?” he asked. (y/n) nodded her head as Castiel smiled even bigger with his eyes. “I’ll see you and Jessica tonight,” he replied as he walked down the hallway. 

“Ok, you’re putting on too much this is a lot even for me.” (y/n) said, Jessica was putting on a tremendous amount of blush since apparently the amount (y/n) put on was too little. “God Jessica ’m not a tomato.” (y/n) laughed. “Well, I'm sorry it was bothering me it looked like you had just two circles on your cheeks.” She joked, (y/n) grabbed a makeup wipe took off the excessive amount of blush, and left little on her cheeks. They both looked at each other in the mirror as they released a deep breath “We deserve this” Jessica sighed, and their doorbell rang, “Huh, he’s early.” Jessica mumbled assuming it was James who wasn’t going to drink that night and was their driver. While she went to get the door, (y/n) began putting on her lip liner and lipstick to complete her nice basic look. “Package!” Jessica shouted. (y/n) immediately ran to the living room assuming it was Jessica’s. Whenever either roommate got a package they opened it together for fun. “I hope it’s those shirts I ordered a while ago,” Jessica said as she looked at the address. “To (y/n) (l/n).” Jessica took out the note paired with the giant box as she gave it to (y/n). “Echoes of emotion, and the visions of a fool, echoes of forbidden ground’-”

“And it’s too good to be true..’, that’s Fleetwood Mac, Love is Dangerous.” (y/n) said while confused, she opened up the box to reveal an unopened copy of the first print of Rumors that was originally made in 1977. (y/n)’s hands started shaking when she saw a purple and black shawl, this could only belong to the Stevie Nicks. She immediately put it down along with the album carefully. “This has to be from Dean, this is too much, he’s fucking insane I'm sending this back,” she said. Jessica pulled her aside as (y/n) put down the box, “No, (y/n) you’re not sending them back, if he wants to chase you he can go right ahead, don’t feel obligated to send shit back just cause he bought them, if I were you I would fucking keep it, hell if he pulled some shit as he did to you weeks ago I’ll resell it.” Jessica spoke with confidence to her friend. (y/n) nodded as she put the box in a safe space. “Let’s just forget him and go to this bar and have fun 'cause we worked our asses off, we deserve this.” (y/n) nodded once more and smiled. A honk beeped out the window. “That must be James, we should probably get going.” 

The bar was crowded, of course, people were dancing and grinding on each other. People were drunk and just having fun. Castiel welcomed (y/n) and Jessica and offered them drinks. It had a current party atmosphere and was fresh, brand new, and open to the public. (y/n) and a group of her co-workers gathered around a table surrounding shot glasses with Tequila in them. (y/n) had already had a few to deal with the anger she still had for Dean, especially since she was at his bar. “Shots! Shots! Shots!” They shouted. “Drink all of it ya’ll!” everyone in that group drank the tequila shot but still a little lingered in (y/n)’s throat which caused her to cough and laugh drunkenly. (y/n) laughed and laid her head on James’s shoulder “I gotta pee!” she shouted hoping her message would follow through the loud music. She stumbled through the crowd to the long line leading to the bathrooms. She took out her phone to Dean’s contact and as she was about to delete it she smirked to herself and was going to give him a piece of her own mind. 

Dean however was doing paperwork in his office and heard his phone ring. He saw who it was and he was confused. “You ok?” Sam asked who was sitting across from him. Dean looked up to his younger brother and got up from his chair. “I’ll be right back give a second.” He said before walking away. “(y/n)?” he answered. 

“Yup, It’s me (y/n), sooo I have that album thanks and a shawl that works perfectly fine ‘m sendin' them back, actually no ima resell em. But thanks a lot,” she slurred. Dean furrowed his eyebrows confused “You’re welcome, sweetheart where are you?” She laughed through the phone, “Don’t call me sweetheart, ‘n its none of your business to know where I am~ I’ll tell ya anyways ‘m in line cause I have to use the little lady room~” she said. Dean could hear the music and laughter through his phone, “(y/n) have you been drinking?” he asked sternly. She giggled through the phone once again, “Yeah~ so what? You little Mr. Fancy Pants.” she laughed. (y/n) looked over towards the girl next to her in line, “What a bossy guy huh?” she asked. Dean cleared his throat “(y/n) Listen to me, I need you to go home right now.” 

“Oh my god~ you’re so so bossy in the first half it’s “(y/n), do you wanna go to breakfast?” She giggled as she made her voice low and gruff like his, “(y/n), do you wanna got for breakfast? No, sweetheart stay away, I don’t need you, sweetheart. Get away~” she laughed. “That’s enough, tell me where you are right now,” he said sternly. 

“‘M not tellin’ you shit, but I’ll tell you I'm far away from you like you wanted~” She slurred out, “(y/n) where are-” she hung up her phone and sighed, she looked to the girl next to her once more and smiled, “I showed him huh?” she asked. His phone rang out again to see Dean calling her. She answered the phone, “Listen I had enou-” 

“I already know where you are I’m on my way.” (y/n)’s giggling stopped “wha- Hello?” He hung up this time on her. She looked at her phone and rolled her eyes. And looked to the girl once more.”People need to stop interrupting me I swear.” When she was done using the bathroom she stepped outside to get some air from the crowded bar. “(y/n).” someone called out. She turned around and saw James holding her sweater. “Here it’s freezing outside.” James helped her put on her sweater. “Thanks,” she said. “You ok?” he asked her. She nodded her head. 

“Yeah just never really been this drunk in a while ‘n it’s cold so~” James grabbed her arms and clung her to him. “Here let me keep you warm.” He said. (y/n) tried pulling away but she was too drunk to “No it’s cool I'm good James thanks.” James looked at her flushed face and pulled her closer, “I don’t know when I’ll be able to do this again, (y/n) I like you.” She was confused and dizzy at the same time “Wha? No you don’t” she said. “Yes, I do, very much.” (y/n) scrunched up her face “No~” James grabbed her arms a little tighter to prevent her from getting away “What are you doing, stop, no, no, no.” James began kissing her while she hit him still drunk. A sudden punch to the face hit James, “She said no!” (y/n) knew that voice anywhere. “Dean?” before she said anything else she puked in the parking lot and crouched. Dean immediately came up next to her and grabbed her hair away from her face as she puked. “Don’t look at me,” she said embarrassed. Dean looked away to James who was backing away inside. When she finished she leaned on his shoulder while he gave her his handkerchief that had his name embroidered to wipe her mouth on. “C’mon sweetheart let's get you home,” he said. She looked up at him and wiped her stray hair away from her face, “But I’m with Jessica~” she said. “Sam will tell her.” He said. 

“Who’s Sam?” she asked. “My brother, he’s inside telling her right now.” Dean took her hand and led her inside to get her things. When they got inside they both saw Sam and Jessica dancing together to the music playing Dean went up to Sam and whispered something, he then bent down a little to Jessica’s height to tell her what was going on, she then whispered something back to Dean before he came back to her, “What did she say?” she asked. Dean smirked “She warned me if I tried something stupid she knows a place to summon a demon.” (y/n) laughed as she started moving back and forth. “The world is spinning…why are you spinning?” she mumbled as she fell back and Dean wrapped his arms around her preventing her fall. He held her head to prevent it from falling back, he carried her bridal style, placed her in his impala carefully, and buckled her up. They made their way to the hotel he had still stayed in for the past few weeks. Waiting for her. 

Taglist: @applelovesposts @ladykitana90

A/N: yurrr, the tag list is open! So am I writing the next one instead of doing my assignments? yeah, I'm doing that. First of all, the love for the first chapter omg, I freaking love you guys. and to the new followers, welcome! I'm happy you're here and already interested in my book I'm eternally grateful for you all! Currently, the tag list for this book is open! So message me or go to my inbox to let me know if you wanna get tagged. Thx so much for all the love and support for this book. Until we meet again!

[witchygagirlwrites]

Mistake

Jay Halstead x Reader (Nicknamed Jinx)

You're only back a week before your resolve fades when it comes to him. How the hell can you manage this with your heart intact?

Smut? Angst?

You were raised by your uncle Russ, a marine who’d done four tours before being handed a baby girl and being told “Congratulations you’re the only one there is that’s there to raise her” the man had done a pretty decent job if you said so yourself. He gave you a good sense of right and wrong, of who you were as a person and of what lines to draw in the sand. You knew what you could take and what you couldn’t.

You never thought you’d end up falling for Jay when you got partnered with him. He was gorgeous, yeah but damn you had eyes. He was also coming off a serious relationship. He loved Erin, he had lived with her, you’d heard Adam talking to Kim about how Jay had once considered proposing to Erin. You really wouldn’t want to be the act to go on after that and yet you found yourself falling for him within about two months of being his partner.

You’d gotten hurt, not bad mind you but you’d ended up getting tossed through a fence underneath a six foot five perp. The chainlink had bit into your side and dug in to the point you had to pry it out of your flesh. Jay went to Med with you, stayed in the room while Connor sewed you up and had given you his extra shirt to wear back considering yours was shredded.

He’d asked you out around the six month mark. You’d ended up in his bed around the seven month mark and your heart was his. Unfortunately that was also the same time you started hearing the word “rebound” being tossed around with your name attached to it. “Poor thing doesn’t see he’s using her to get over Erin” “She doesn’t see she’s not even his usual type?” “Jay has a type and Jinx is not it” “She’s a rebound to get him back into the game, that’s it”

You tried so hard to not let it get to you, you really did but Jay had photos of Erin on his wall. He’d been with her a while. You wouldn’t be one of those girlfriends but you couldn’t ignore the knot in your stomach every time you thought too hard about it. You knew you loved Jay, you were in love with him but you were not telling him that. A part of you knew he still loved Erin, things like that didn’t burn out over night but maybe he could love you too if you just tried hard enough? 

You were at his place one night, one of his buddies called. Jay said he hadn’t spoken to him in a while. You knew he hadn’t. Yet when he asked Jay how Erin was it made your stomach churn. What the fuck were you doing? 

That was the night you decided you couldn’t be a rebound. You loved Jay, you truly did but it was best for you both for you to be the one to do a break.  Sergeant Benson had already contacted you once about the prospect of a temp position in New York so you sent her an email to accept and told Voight as well.  

The only problem was you couldn’t leave Chicago without being in Jay’s arms one last time because you knew when you left he’d find someone new.  You sought him out and let yourself pretend, just for a few hours, that it meant to him what it meant to you then when he fell asleep you left a kiss on his lips and slipped your clothes on before leaving.

Now, being home in Chicago? It felt so damn strange. “So, Voight put you right back with Halstead?” you cut your eyes up over the rim of your coffee mug “You don’t have to seem so damn smug about it uncle Russ” 

He shrugged “Like I told you before I aint telling you how to live your life, I’ve never tried to but baby girl that man looked whipped when he came here looking for you. You didn’t even tell him you were leaving” you sighed “Jay’s a good man. I never said he wasn’t but he came here looking for his missing partner. Not as a man looking for a woman” your uncle Russ raised an eyebrow “Do you think I’m an idiot because I’m a man or because I’m old?”

You laughed and shook your head “I gotta get to work” he grinned “And that is what we call problem avoidance Jinxy” you shook your head “See ya later old man” and blew him a kiss before walking out of the door.

___________________

You parked your suv next to Jay’s truck and took a deep breath before getting out. You grabbed your stuff and headed inside. When you walked past the front desk you smiled at Trudy “Morning” she nodded “Morning Jinx. Good to have you home”

You walked up the stairs and stopped at the palm scanner before heading up. You knew Jay would be there, those eyes boring into you. A part of you wished he had moved on while the other part died inside at thinking of it. You walked up the stairs into the bullpen and your eyes met Jay’s first thing. “Morning” Adam spoke and you tore your eyes from Jay to tell him “Morning”

You walked over to put your stuff away as Voight came out of his office “Gear up, we roll in five. Bank robbery on the north end” everyone stood to head down to roll up and you could feel Jay’s presence at your back without even looking. 

____________________

When you slipped your vest over your head Jay reached to double check it. You swallowed hard and moved your hair out the way as he tugged one of the straps “There ya go” you nodded “Thanks” and finished gearing up before grabbing your long gun to follow him out to his truck.  

You double checked everything as he pulled out on the road between Voight and Adam. “We good?” he asked and you nodded “Perfect” he nodded slowly “Ok” and focused his eyes on the road.  “Can we talk later?” he asked and you laughed lightly “Bank robbery Jay” he nodded “Right” and turned his eyes back to the road again “Right”

“I got it!” you hollered, chasing one of the men who’d ran out of the safe house and hearing Adam’s footsteps fall in next to you “On your left Jinx” he called out as you and him split the alley to catch up on the perp.

Your boots slammed against the concrete as you hollered “CPD FREEZE” and the man spun to fire on you. You hit the ground and rolled behind a dumpster.  Fuck. You scrambled to hit your com “Adam?” “I’m good” he called across the coms, the back feed squealing from how close you were but it wasn’t like you could get up and look.

You scooted to the edge of the dumpster and aimed for the perp’s knee. He went down hard “Offender down. I repeat offender down” you called over the com. You slowly moved out from cover, Adam doing the same. You both had your guns at ready as you approached the man. You kicked his gun away as Adam cuffed him. 

“Son of a bitch, you took us for a run” you muttered then hit your radio “We need an ambulance for a gsw to the left knee” and heard the dispatcher repeat it. You nodded to Adam “You got him? I need to grab the first aid kit out of one of the cars to get the bleeding stopped” he nodded “Yeah I got it”

By then Hailey and Kevin had caught up and luckily Hailey already had one of the first aid kits with her “Jinx” she held it out and you took it with a smile “Thanks”

___________________

You were standing to the side as the perp was loaded onto the ambulance. Adam was going with him and Kim was following. “Good shot Jinx” Voight commended and you nodded “Thank you sir”  Jay was standing about three feet from you “You must have been up to a lot in New York” you laughed “If only you knew Halstead” and turned back to a conversation with Hailey.  You spent one too many days chasing offenders down in way too tight of spaces and avoiding gunfire. 

You cut your eyes at Jay and saw him watching you. God your heart ached when he looked at you like that.

_________________

Jay watched you as you put your gear away in roll up. Fuck he’d missed you. He’d wanted nothing more than to have you home and now here you were. You’d been back a week and had yet to speak to him over a few words. He clenched his hands into fists to resist the urge to touch you. You weren’t his, no matter how bad he wanted you. You weren’t his. You leaned up to put your vest away and Kevin who was standing next to you let out a low whistle “Damn Jinx, the hell happened?”

Jay’s feet were moving before he thought of himself. Kevin was holding your shirt up and he could see a long jagged scar running up from your hip across to just above your naval. You glanced down at it then up at Kevin and shrugged “Knife. Some asshole sliced the shit out of me in close quarters but I got the eight year old he had hostage back so, a win’s a win”

“A win’s a win? That had to have been over twenty stitches” Jay blurted out, making Kevin and Hailey’s eyes widened. You nodded “Was twenty eight as a matter of fact and yeah, I didn’t die and I got the kid back” 

You were mentally kicking yourself for not paying better attention, especially when Jay walked over and his fingers reached out to brush across the still pink scar. Your body automatically reacted to his touch, goosebumps rising in the wake of his fingers. “Honey” he breathed out and

you tensed at the name “Don’t call me that” before you snatched  your shirt down. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked and you shrugged “Didn’t really seem right to only call to say I was in the hospital” he nodded slowly “I would’ve taken what I could get” you swallowed hard, eye flickering towards Hailey and Kevin, “Yeah, not doing this” then turned and walked away.

Jay caught you when you were going out to your suv. “Can we talk?” you sighed “Fine. I’ll follow you to your place, it’s closer and if Russ sees your truck he’s gonna annoy the hell out of me”

He smirked slightly “Ok” and walked to his truck. This was a bad idea but you couldn’t take any more of the little looks, the touches, the concern. It was time to bury it.

_____________________

You parked behind Jay’s truck and walked up to his door. When you knocked he opened it with a smile “Hey” and stepped back to let you in. You walked into his living room and stopped. God everything looked just like it had the last time you’d stepped foot in it. You turned to face him “Ok, I’m here. Talk so I can go home” 

He took a step towards you, pushing your hair back from your face “This is the first time you’ve been alone around me since getting back. Can I just look at you for a second?” you looked up at him and felt your eyes tear up “I’d rather not” “Honey, what did I do?” he whispered and you shook your head “I said don’t call me that” his eyes teared up slightly then “But you are my honey, remember?”

It was just a stupid joke. You’d asked Jay to grab you something out of the bakery for breakfast so he grabbed a fresh honeybun. When he’d brought it out to you he’d grinned as he handed it to you “A Honey for my honey” and brushed a gentle kiss against your lips. That was your first kiss.

“No, I’m not Jay” you breathed and he shook his head “Why did you leave me? You were here that night, you let me touch you, taste you, fuck you then you left me. I don’t understand. I called, I texted, baby I went to Russ” he shrugged, his hand cupping your chin “I tried so damn hard to treat you good and you still left me” you closed your eyes, swallowing hard “It doesn’t matter Jay” 

“Ok now open your eyes and tell me that” he ordered and you managed to open your eyes and stare into his and this time you phrased it “I don’t matter Jay” and he shook his head “Don’t you dare say that Jinx” you shrugged “Can I go please?” he shook his head “No” you stared him down “I’m just a stand in Jay. Even on the task force, I was a stand in for Rollins to finish her pregnancy” 

_____________________

You weren’t sure what happened next or how but when his lips crashed against yours, every other thought was chased out of your head. His hands slid down your side then back up, bringing your shirt off with them. You lifted your arms to let him pull it over your head, breaking from his lips just long enough to toss the shirt. 

He stared at you once you were down to your bra then leaned down to grab behind your thighs “Come here” he muttered picking you up and you wrapped your legs around his waist. He groaned when you ground your hips down against his. “I need you Jay” you breathed and he grinned “You got me” he carried you to his bedroom and laid you on the edge of the bed before pulling his shirt over his head. 

You watched him strip his shirt off then pulled him back down to you, eyes rolling back slightly when he moved from your lips across your jaw then down your neck. Your hands fumbled for his belt as his went for the buckle of your jeans. What was once a synchronised dance the two of you could do without a thought was now struggle.  You laughed against his lips when you finally got his zipper down and he helped you to get your jeans tugged down your hips.

His hand dipped between your thighs and a shaking gasp left him “There’s no fucking way you’re that wet from me kissing you” you moaned when his fingers teased at your slit “Try me and find out” you replied and he grinned “There’s my girl” you pushed at his jeans and he took the hint, pushing them off his hips. 

His body weight on top of you was so achingly familiar as he kissed you. You knew you should stop this, you knew it but good fucking god. You missed him. You felt the head of his cock teasing at your entrance and slipped a hand between you to line him up. You didn’t want emotion, you didn’t want anything but him to make you feel good. You needed it.

He pushed into you and pressed his forehead over onto your collarbone, breathing heavily “Fuck baby” you closed your eyes against every emotion besides pleasure that was trying to nip at you. He gave a slow roll of his hips and your head fell back against the pillows. This was too much, too close, too intimate. You pushed at his chest and he raised an eyebrow but pulled back regardless of course “I’m sorry” you shook your head “Different position” he nodded and grabbed a pillow before helping you turn over, tucking it under your hips. When he slid in you cried out from how it felt when he stretched you around him, your hands balling into his comforter “Jinx?” he spoke softly, pressing a kiss to your tattoo “Fuck me Jay” you whispered and he chuckled “Ok then”

His hips rolled into yours, one hand pressing your shoulders down into the mattresses as you moaned out his name. “Did you miss me” he asked, cockily and you nodded “So much Jay” what were you doing? He snapped his hips into yours and your head fell over onto the mattress. 

He found a pace that had you unable to do anything but lay there and take it. “Fuck Fuck fuck” you gasped, him pushing you closer and closer to that edge. He folded himself over you, one hand on your waist and the other around your neck to pull you up off the bed as he brought your body back to meet every snap of his hips. You felt your orgasm slam into you as you shook and sobbed in his grasp. 

“Can I still cum inside” he asked and you nodded “Please Jay, let me feel you please” his hips snapped into yours, twice more before he pulled your hips back against his tight enough you grunted from the force, imagining you’d probably have bruises from his fingertips but didn’t care as you felt him cum, it spurting deep inside of you as your walls clamped down onto him. He stilled, pulling you up to where your back was flush against his chest, his lips trailing down your neck “I missed you honey, god I missed you” he breathed as he kissed your skin.

Jay was asleep, turned on his side. You laid staring at his back for too long. You wanted to believe him but the photo on the wall told you everything you needed to know. The old unit. The one before you stared back at you. You slowly slid out of his bed, gathering your clothes as you went. How could you have let this happen? Dammit you’d fallen right back into this. You were so damn weak when it came to Jay.

You quickly got dressed then looked back to make sure he was still asleep before heading for the door. You could not possibly risk falling asleep here. Nope.

Jay woke up and turned over to pull you into him and found an empty bed. He felt his heart drop. He reached for his phone and sent you a text Please tell me you’re at least still in Chicago then laid the phone down and groaned. He thought last night meant something. He thought he was getting you back. “FUCK” he threw the pillow against the wall, not caring that it knocked a picture down. 

He wanted his girl back, not just to get his dick wet. He dragged his hands down his face as a text came through and he checked it That was a mistake. It can’t happen again Why. why was it a mistake??

That’s what he wanted to ask. Why couldn’t he have you back? What did he do to begin with? Why couldn’t you just talk to him? How do we handle work?  He texted and you replied act like you did before we ever dated. Just pretend you’ve never touched me like that 

@desimarie12

He scoffed “Easier said than done there Jinx” he muttered to the empty room. Looking at you like he’d never wanted you? Might as well tell him to not breathe. Hell it would probably be easier to forgo breathing than you. Honey, I’m not a begging man yet I’m begging you yet again to talk to me he waited to see the bubbles pop up that meant you were replying but they never came. He sighed and tossed the phone. He had to get ready for work. He had to be shoulder to shoulder with you like his heart wasn’t aching for you. If only he knew what he did, he could fix it.

Last Time

@allisonargent144

@nevaehstreater18

[lockes-woods]

9; Naughty or Nice

Day 9 of Locke's 10-day countdown to the new year!

Prompt: I was thinking a sub leaning shanks x AFAB reader, ice skating scene with a marking kink?

Requested by: @crow-twink

Taglist @nocturnalrorobin

Warnings: Cumming in pants, brat Shanks, marking kink

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Shanks, stop,” you laughed, as your partner magically recovered from almost ‘falling’ by grabbing your right hand in his left and interlacing your fingers.

“Stop what?” He asked, tone neutral until a laugh bubbled in his throat at the sight of you giving him side-eye.

“You’re not gonna gaslight me. Not today, not ever,” You say in a faux serious tone, “Speaking of you seem to be doing really well for someone who’s ‘never’ gone ice skating before.”

“Beginner’s luck?” he suggested, you’d believe he was being genuine if it weren’t for the wide smirk plastered on his face. You shook your head, unable not to smile back at your partner’s antics. A peaceful silence settled over you, as you enjoyed each other’s company. None of the children acting out, the adults trying to discipline them, or the loud Christmas music playing on a loop could ruin the joy you shared at being in each other’s presence. You stayed on the ice for about another half hour. Once you’d felt like you had got your money’s worth you both made your way back to the entrance to get off the ice. You were almost too focused on untying your borrowed skates to notice the hot smell of food surrounding the outdoor ice rink. You immediately perked up at the smell of hot apple cider wafting over you by a nearby stand. Your stomach grumbled at the idea of food, just now realizing how hungry you were.

“Would you like a snack before we leave?” Shanks asked, smiling down at you.

“Yeah,” you replied, as your face began to warm, “Do you want to get some cider and funnel cake?”

“Sound perfect,” Shanks confirmed as you exchanged your skates back for your shoes.

“Kay,” you nodded, “I can get the cider,” you said gauging the lines, “want to meet over there?” you asked nodding at a small area with picnic tables.

“Sounds like a plan,” Shanks said, the soft look he always gave you plastered on his face. Despite how long you’ve been a couple you don’t think you’ll ever not get flustered by the way he looked at you. You parted ways after lacing up your shoes. The line for cider had doubled in the time it took for you to get there. You waited patiently scrolling on your phone to pass the time. You perked up at the sight of the reusable novelty mugs they offered. You opted to get Shanks the one shaped like a Santa head with extra whipped cream, while you got the more grown-up version of a plain mug with golden reindeer etched into the sides. You unconsciously hummed to yourself as you made your way back to the sitting area. You paused as your partner came into view. Even with all the red decorations around you were easily able to spot his tall form against the crowd. You unconsciously frowned as along with him a woman dressed in a short-cut red dress, with a white trim and Santa hat, came into view as well.

You normally weren’t one to get jealous, but something inside of you snapped when she gently squeezed his bicep, stepping into his personal space. It wasn’t just her nerve to touch him like he was hers, no what really made you mad was how natural she looked doing it. You walked over to them with purpose, slowed down by the crowd and your two hot drinks. Once you were within shouting distance, Shanks immediately perked up at the sight of you.

“Hey, love,” he greeted you with a warm smile, giving you all of his attention, “I know we might not be able to finish it all, but I couldn’t choose between the ice cream-topped funnel cake or the churro one, so I got both.”

“They look great,” you said with a tight-lipped smile, ignoring the women altogether. You gave her a chance to walk away, which she did not take. Instead, she opted to clear her throat, pulling both your and Shanks’s attention back to her. Your smile dropped.

“So, yeah anyway,” she started completely ignoring you, “Their food’s amazing I can give you the address.”

“O-oh, um actually I don’t have my phone on me,” Shanks replied, a slight tinge of red appearing high on his cheekbones.

“Oh, can you just take it for him?” she asked, finally acknowledging you. You took a deep breath through your nose, trying to calm yourself from her blatant audacity.

“That’s not gonna happen,” you dismissed, doing your best to ignore her antics altogether. You brushed past her and made your way to the seating area; you didn’t have to look back to know Shanks was hot on your tail.

“So, is this one plain with the ice cream?” You asked as Shanks sat down across from you. You opted to ignore what just happened for the sake of not making a scene.

“Yeah, it’s Neapolitan ice cream, and the other is made with a churro dough with cinnamon sugar and caramel drizzle,” he explained, taking a long swig from his Santa mug. You talked mindlessly as you dug into the desert. Shanks was right, despite your best efforts you weren’t able to eat both of the massive portions of funnel cake. While you still weren’t over the earlier interaction you did your best not to let it ruin your day.

You made your way home hand in hand, silently enjoying each other’s company. Despite how lovely the outing was for the most part, your mind kept going back woman from earlier. While you didn’t want to admit it out loud, you were 100% jealous along with angry at her brashness. You began to fester in it the closer and closer you got to your apartment. To the point that any of Shanks's attempts at a conversation were immediately shot down. Once you were home you let go of Shanks’s hand in a huff before going straight to the kitchen to wash your new mugs. Shanks put his mug down next to yours as you ignored him. He perched his head on top of yours and wrapped his arms around your middle.

“Everything alright love?” he asked as you aggressively scrubbed at the dishes from the night before.

“Yeah,” you answered, not diverting your attention from the task at hand.

“This has nothing to do with that woman, does it?” he asked, as you placed the last dish on the drying rack.

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask her?” You said putting down the sponge with twice the amount of force needed.

“Love, we only talked for a minute.” Shanks started.

“Yeah, well it was a minute too long,” you said, clearly agitated as you turned around in his arms to face him.

“She touched you,” you huffed.

“Baby, nothing happened, she was just being friendly,” Shanks said, moving to cup your face with his hands.

“Yeah, too friendly,” you argued, puffing out your cheeks slightly in annoyance.

“Love, I’m sure it wasn’t intentional.” Shanks started before you cut him off.

“She continued to try and get your number after I showed up. It was obvious to anyone who was listening that she didn’t care whether or not you had a partner!” You argued.

“Maybe she missed that?” he offered up knowing he was never gonna win this argument.

“But you’re mine,” you finally broke, full possessiveness on display.

“What do you want me to do?” he prompted, “Wear a collar with your information on it?”

“No, but I can think of something else that might help,” you said grabbing his wrist and dragging him over to the couch. You pushed him backward onto it, before straddling him. You pulled him into a desperate kiss, grinding down on his lap. He let out a muffled moan, you took the small window of time and thrusted your tongue into his mouth, dominating the kiss. He groaned in response, rubbing up and down your sides with his hands. He gasped as you pulled back and began to start nipping and sucking at his neck, openly moaning as you continued to mark him up while still grinding down on his lap.

“Fuck, love,” he moaned out. You reveled in the small gasps and groans you were able to pull from your love. He began to grind up to meet your core. He gasped and moaned unabashedly, getting closer and closer to his release. You listened for the telltale sounds he made before cumming, taking the opportunity to still your hips.

“Fuck, please,” he said desperately, a whimper pulling deep in his throat. You pulled back from his neck, admiring the hickey and nips blooming against his tanned skin.

“I don’t know, do you think you’ve earned it?” you asked teasingly.

“Nhg please, I’ll be a good boy please,” he pleaded, closing his eyes as he basked in his pleasure. You finally relented, meeting his desperate grinds, he only lasted a few seconds before ruining both your pairs of pants.

“Fuck, you’re so hot when you’re jealous.” He confessed, still spent from his high. His eyes immediately snapped open once he realized what he just said.

“Is that right love?” you asked, smirking down at him.

“N-no, I just meant-”

“Oh, baby I know exactly what you meant.” You said, “You should save your breath though. You’re going to need to ration your energy.” You finished, stripping off your shirt as you stood up and began to make your way to the bathroom. Shanks was hot on your tail, needing no further explanation to know he was fucked in the best possible way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Just wanted to say a very merry christmas and happy hannukah to all those who celebrate. I hope you enjoyed this first fic of the day ^-^

MASTERLIST

[americas-ass-writing]

Written in the stars

Steve Rogers x reader

Words: 2.7k

Summary: The internet was a wonderful, helpful thing until it wasn't. Until one misstep, one accident gets spread around and ruins your life. Or does it lead you where you're meant to be?

Warnings: none? Stan Lee cameo maybe, me sucking at writing dialogue

A/N: This was written for @lunarbuck Soulmate Au Writing Challenge! I had the prompt "You and your soulmate share matching tattoos." I hope you enjoy it!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Gif by me

The sound of rain against your window is the first thing you register as you wake up. The sounds of your street in New York slowly adding themselves in. You let out a yawn and stretch. These were the best days. Waking up to the rain serenading you on your day off. You have nowhere to be, no plans, just a day for yourself. So you lay in bed a bit longer, just listening to the sounds.

Once you get up, you start your day. A nice warm shower, comfy clothes and breakfast with your favourite tea. Your phone dings with the daily reminder of your best friend to leave your apartment today so you'd have a chance finding your soulmate. You roll your eyes. She found hers in high school - lucky bitch. The matching tattoo of a weird shaped heart, that to you looked more like a bean, on her ankle sealed her fait to the high school jock. You were scared for her at first but he turned out to be the best partner she could ever have wished for. You on the other hand weren't so lucky. The little star constellation on your shoulder blade hasn't met it's match yet and you weren't sure if it ever would. With a sigh you put down your mug and text her back, promising you'd leave the house if the rain stopped.

The internet was a wonderful, helpful thing until it wasn't. Until one misstep, one accident gets spread around and ruins your life.

Steve was always good at hiding his soulmate mark. Back in the 40s when he was sickly he partially did it because dressing warm enough prevented him from getting sick and to protect whatever dame had the matching mark on her shoulder from having him as soulmate. As soon as he became Captain America he solely did it so no one would lead him on by pretending to be his soulmate. He was glad his soulmark was on his shoulder blade, easy to hide under the shirts he wore. Even though he was hiding it he couldn't help the disappointment that in all his years on this planet he hasn't even had a slightest tickle of the feeling of his soulmate being close to him.

But then his years of hiding were ruined by a very public mission. He was doing his best to lead his team and make sure they were all safe. He was in his element until a Hydra agent attacked him with a knife. This happened way too often these days and every time Howard Stark's voice mocks him in his mind. "Hydra won't attack you with pocket knives." Yeah right.

Steve was quick to react and instead of stabbing him in his shoulder all the attacker did was rip open his suit. This shouldn't happen this easily, maybe it wasn't a common pocket knife and Howard was right after all. Steve knocked him to the floor and made sure the man was unconscious. He didn't even think twice about the rip in his suit before he went back to the mission. He should have... He should have took a damn second to check then he wouldn't be stuck in the Tower.

The rip exposed his soulmark. And of course some onlooker took a picture that spread like wildfire on the internet. Promptly the Tower was overrun by people claiming they're his soulmate. His morning runs through central park were turning into him being hunted down by them too.

When the first woman came he had hope. He really thought that maybe, just maybe the stupid mistake would bring him his soulmate but the feeling never came... Nothing ever snapped into place. He didn't have the feeling.

His soulmark soon graced the shoulder blades of thousands of people like some stupid fashion accessory which caused him to swear off his soulmate and accepted a life of being alone. He just hoped that this hype around his mark would soon die down.

His fists hit the punching bag in front of him hard. The bag swinging back and forth wildly as he tried to let his pent up anger out. His usual sparring partners tapped out a few days ago since he got too cruel during it, not pulling his punches anymore. He understood, he didn't want to hurt them but he couldn't help himself but be disappointed. Those social interactions flew out the window too which didn't help him with feeling so alone.

"We gotta get him out of the tower... He's been cooped up for two weeks now." Natasha mumured to the fellow assassin next to her as they both watched their friend. "Sam and me tried... Either we get overrun immediately or he refuses to leave the tower." Bucky answered, his arms crossed. He felt for his friend, he deserves to find his soulmate and live happily ever after with them. "Maybe we can fly him out to Clint's farm?" He added only to be met with a snort of the redhead next to him. "Yeah he'd love that. Clint would make him take care of the chickens. Imagine all the pictures of him and Cap Jr." She smirked at the image of Steve holding up his chicken counterpart in several pictures.

Just as Bucky was about to answer their little conversation got interrupted by the bag hitting the floor and Steve marching or rather stomping off to get a new one.

"I have a plan to buy you guys some time" the redhead said after a moment of silence and beckoned her friend to follow her.

Picking at his cap and the borrowed clothes, Steve sends Nat a sceptical look. "This isn't going to work..." He sighs and sits down. His face falls into the palms of his hands. Soon enough there are soft strokes on his back. "Yes it will work. You just gotta be positive for once, Rogers" she says with an encouraging smile. "Sam and Bucky are currently distracting the masses, making them fill out forms so you can find your soulmate. All you gotta do is take the back exit and vanish into the crowds. It's a simple mission." Nat ever the optimist. There was so many things that could go wrong with this plan. Steve lifts a sceptical eyebrow at her.

"Look it's either this or Bucky's plan that involves a horrible granny dress and a wig. So choose your poison, Cap" she smirks at his furrowed eyebrows and claps on his shoulder. "That's what I thought. Let's get you out of here." With a smile she beckons him to follow her. They walk through the hallways and take the stairs down to the lobby. Instead of taking the usual door Natasha leads him around the corner and through some storage rooms before they stop in front of a door.

"Alright, sunglasses on. I texted you the code to get back into this door but I expect you to not use it before lunchtime." Like a mother scolding her child she points a finger at him. "The door leads to the back alley. The security guard has been informed that you'd take this way so no need to worry. Just make a swift exit from the alley into the crowds. Keep your head down, cap and sunglasses on, ok?" Steve nods at that and hugs her. "Thank you" he whispers and before she can answer he slips out of the door.

He nods to Stan the security guard, a nice old man that he often talked about art with, and slips out of the alley into the masses. To his surprise everyone's minding their own business and soon he's a block away from the tower. His shoulders relax and he lets out a breath. The rain probably helped him stay unrecognised.

Much to your dismay the rain stops after a few hours and you have to keep your promise. You sigh and get dressed to leave your apartment. Maybe a coffee in the park wouldn't be so bad. The park near your apartment always was empty on rainy days, except for a few people walking their dogs. So you could still enjoy your day without too many people around you. Once you're all dressed you grab your bag and an umbrella, just to be safe, before you leave. Your feet carry you to the little cafe at the end of your street. You weren't surprised with how busy it was. People would come here to escape the cloudy skies, to study, to meet others or to simply just get coffee. You weren't bothered by the masses though since it was your plan all along to get your order to go and sit in the park.

With your drink and snack in hand you enter the park a little while later. It wasn't big but still beautiful. You make your way to your favorite spot, a little bridge over the lake that housed two benches. It was a quiet and beautiful spot and you're were sure no one would hog the benches today. Well you were wrong. As you approach you see one of the benches taken by a tall stranger with a sketchpad. He seemed relaxed as his hand moved the pencil over the paper. His cap and hunched over form hid his face from your view but you didn't mind. Something inside you told you he was safe and even pulled you a bit closer to him. It's a weird feeling but you chalk it off to the two of you just doing the same thing - trying to enjoy the silence in the park.

You sit down on the bench across from him and take in the nature. You don't even notice his surprised face when he looks up and sees someone across from him. Or when he absent mindly scratches his shoulder. Or when his lips pull into a small smile at the added person in his sketch. You sit in silence for a while, trying to ignore your itchy shoulder, occasionally stealing a glance of the handsome stranger until he stands up and approaches you. Your heart beats faster as you look up at him. Why was he approaching you? Was he not the nice strange...

"Here..." He holds out a piece of paper to you with a soft smile on his face. Fuck even his voice was handsome. You hesitate for a second before you softly take it from him, which just makes his smile grow wider. Your eyes land on his sketch of the park... the lake, the trees, the flowers and you... You on the bench with your drink in hand, smiling as you take in the nature. It's breathtakingly beautiful. Your surprised eyes find his and you're met by a bashful smile. "I uh... It's a thank you..." He scratches his neck, his face blushing as he tries to avoid your eyes. "A thank you?" You ask confused, the small itch in your shoulder growing. You look up at him. Why would he thank you for sitting across from him?

"Yeah... The last week's... Have been crazy and you're the first person who treats me... normal?" He fumbles with his hands as your confusion just grows, brows knitted together. "My soulmark was released to the public after a mission and so many people got it as a tattoo and they hunted me down on my jogs and they waited for me everywhere and I was stuck in the tower and my friends wouldn't even spar with me and I felt so alone and when I was finally able to sneak out and spend some time outside you didn't even lift an eyebrow at Captain America sitting across from you so thank you" he rambles and your eyebrows shoot up in surprise. You didn't even recognize him. Not in casual clothes that seem a bit too big for him. He nervously fumbles with his hands again at your silence. "I..." "See I even signed it. If you don't want to keep it you can sell it" as he tries to point out his signature he grazes your hand with his fingers and both of you wince. The blinding pain in your shoulder was gone within a second but it was replaced with warmth. As your eyes meet his you realize it wasn't just you who feels it. His hand is still on his shoulder as he looks at you with wide eyes and his beautiful lips apart.

"Please tell me you felt that too..." He whispers, his voice almost breaking. You nod as answer and continue to stare at him. He lets his hand fall and gets on his knees in front of you, his eyes stare in yours so desperate you want to wrap him up in a hug and blanket and protect him from the world.

"I didn't even recognize you" is all you bring out and he laughs. A beautiful melodic laugh as his hands softly grab your free one. Thousands of little butterflies spread in your body, the tingly sensation wandering through you until it reaches your soulmark. "I'm pretty sure you have a little constellation of stars on your shoulder" the blonde still kneeling in front of you says with a smile that's brighter than the sun. You chuckle and bite your lower lip. "What makes you think so?" You tease. He licks his lips and squeezes your hand softly. "Because I have the same" he whispers as if it's a secret for just the two of you and maybe just maybe it would be if he would have used his brain a few weeks back.

You stare at each other for a while longer till the rain starts again. "Shoot! I have a cap you can wear uh..." The Adonis in front of you gets up and hurries over to his bench to get his things. You chuckle as he comes back and pull out your umbrella. "We can just share this and sit for a while longer" you suggest as you open it. He stops for a second but then smiles easily as he plops down next to you and offers to hold it.

You spend the afternoon talking, smiling and laughing. The conversation flowed easy and Steve even gave you a peek at his mark which was to no one's surprise the one you have too. Thus followed a lot of star related jokes from Steve. You laughed at every adorable pun and that seemed to spur him on even more. His eyes shining brighter with every laugh or giggle you gifted him, almost like the star littered night sky was trapped in them.

When the sun started to set Steve walked you home. He insisted that he did so because he wanted to make sure you're safe. You agreed, that was obviously the reason. Not the two of you wanting to spend more time together. And him holding your hand obviously was for keeping you safe too. And the kiss that you pressed on his lips when you arrived was definitely just a thank you. And the promise to see each other again after exchanging numbers was just part of your extensive security plan.

Steve slips into the tower through the door in the alleyway. He smiles at Stan before he takes the stairs, two steps at a time. He has never felt this happy and carefree before. He found his soulmate and you were the most beautiful and kind and amazing human being he knows. As he enters the common area he finds Bucky and Sam in front of a stack of paper and Natasha enjoying their aggregation.

"What's going on here?" Steve asks, his left eyebrow lifted. He grabs some water from the fridge and walks over to his friends. "It's all the soulmate applications that were filled out. We're going through them to see if maybe one of them is actually your soulmate." Sam explains and holds up one of the filled out forms. Steve smile widens. "But most of them are so obnoxious. Like this one" Bucky holds up another form. "I'm meant to be yours even if I had to get the soulmark tattooed." He reads, his frown deepening. Steve just laughs and takes the stack in front of his friends. He throws the stack in the recycling bin, much to the outrage of Bucky and Sam. He takes a sip from his water before the smile finds his lips again. "Well... Thank you for doing all this work but it was unnecessary. I found her and she's pretty amazing." His smile widens at the shocked faces of his friends.

"Excuse me, what?! You walk in here like nothing happened and then out of nowhere drop that bomb on us?!" Sam cries out. Steve chuckles which just seems to anger his friends even more. "Oh I'll hand your ass to you in tomorrow's sparring session!" Bucky promises as Steve skillfully avoids him. Finally Natasha just gets up and hugs him. "I'm happy for you. You deserve it, Cap." She says sincerely. "I hope you know that I'm doing a background check on her." Steve chuckles but hugs her back. "And that you're gonna break poor Clint's heart by not visiting him on his farm." Steve's laugh turns into a snort. "You mean I'm making him really happy because he now has an excuse to buy a new chicken? Can't have Cap Jr. without his soulmate. And I'm pretty sure she'll love the chicken once I take her for a visit." Natasha smiles fondly before she punches his shoulder slightly and leaves him to Sam and Bucky's complaining and investigations.

[sevenop]

Billie Eilish x Fem!reader: Fever

A/n: You fall into a strange fever dream, burning from the temperature. You wake up next to her, burning again, but now a sense of shame.

Inspired by the song "hostage."

You open your eyes half-asleep time after time, and the first thing you see is the invigorating coolness of her eyes, where you want to dive in headfirst.

"I would love to drown in you," you babble in a fever delirium, and Billie smiles knowingly gently, laying you back down. You feel her firm hand on your back before plopping back down on the sheets. The bed seems to be getting endless.

"Don't strain yourself until I get you some tea," her hand touches your forehead and a silver snake of sadness runs in her eyes for a second. - "You're hot as hell again."

"Of course, I'm right next to you!" - God! You'll be so embarrassed when the mercury column slowly creeps downward, releasing you from the captivity of the fever, mark my word.

"Little fool," - a smile and a pleasant chuckle adorning the next precious verbal clarification. - "My little fool."

Billie goes off to get another mug of green tea, the amount of which makes you feel nauseous, as if you were standing on the deck of a seagoing ship with your hands resting miserably on the rail. A new wave of heat sweeps over you and makes you want to peel off your skin, to say nothing of your ill-fated home T-shirt. Covering your eyes is the worst idea imaginable. The ceiling or any other interior object you throw your tired gaze at, zooms in at an imaginary x4 zoom. This only makes your ship rock more, causing more misery. You hear the button of the electric kettle in the kitchen click and the spoon rattle against the walls of the full cup. God, not the green tea...

Eilish returns with the mug in hand, sets it on the wooden stand resting on the bedside table. You watch as the green surface of the herbal tea reaches almost the most ceramic edges and your appearance becomes deader than dead.

"I understand, my heart," Eilish's hand accurate strokes your face, and you only caress closer because her hand is so cool and just because it's her, Billie.

"I'm going to throw out all the green tea in our house."

Billie nods and assures you of her help as swornly as if you were two partners in crime dumping a corpse in the river.

"We'll have a Boston Tea Party together, you just get better."

She bends down to touch your lips with her own, but you immediately put your hand on her shoulder, resisting. The previously sluggish muscles are now as tense as possible. Eilish meets your categorical "no" again, which is the only stoic thought in your infernal delirium.

"I don't want you to get sick." - Eilish doesn't make any extra effort, but you're in no hurry to remove your hand from her shoulder either, just in case.

"Please." - An ingratiating, pitiful whisper crawls into your skull, mingling with the sickening heat. Reality slowly slips away from you again, and Billie leans a little closer to you, participating as your muscles loosen again. - "I've missed your lips so damn much these past three days, Y/n. I miss being in bed without you at night so much."

"No." - you catch her sad look overriding all prudence and something breaks inside. You hastily try to make things a little better. - "Not until the temperature breaks."

Eilish sighs, but tacitly agrees to your condition. It's not clear what prompted her to do this more - the string of interviews next week or just a deep moistening to your wishes. It seems to be all of the above together. The sadness from her eyes travels over her entire face, freezing her like a mask: the corners of her plump lips are lowered, and the inner corners of her straight eyebrows are raised upward and slightly drawn together. Your resolve cracks, and you soften your sentence a little.

"If..." - The line is suddenly torn by a fit of your dry cough as you reach for the pills on the nightstand. - "If you take some antivirals, I think you can lie next to me for a while."

Billie's face shines brighter than the many gold figurines on her living room shelf, which will soon run out of room. She immediately scrambles out of her seat on your bed and disappears into the gradual silence of the house, retreating to the bathroom. You wash down the bitter pills with green tea, drowning in the world's sorrow with each sip, and fall back tiredly. You cover your eyes and return from a state of half-awakeness, only when you feel something fall sharply to your left on the bed: Billie is back and the smile on her face simply cannot be erased by anything in the world, which greatly alleviates the bitterness of any colorful pills.

"Do you want me to put some vinyl record on in the background?"

You nod, a little suspended in your thoughts, while she's already going through a lot of records. The albums slap against each other amusingly as Billie flips them back, as if digging through a filing cabinet. Slap, slap.

"Any number from one to forty?" - her neat fingers freeze in anticipation of your answer.

"Seven." - You squint, and yellow and red flashes flash before your eyes, giving you some sort of foreboding feeling. Eilish hums and you look at her with interest, lifting yourself up and folding your legs into a lotus position on the bed. She raises her arm as proudly as if it were a flagpole, and her flag cloth is indeed yellow and red. The "Don't smile at me" vinyl. The hunch really worked.

"You love me so much that you only pick my songs?" - she purrs contentedly like a cat, deftly pulling out an iridescent, two-color CD. Yellow and red echo the gamut of the cover and the smell of lemon and strawberries suddenly hits your nose. Sometimes you feel like the more you live with Billie, the more you feel this artificial synesthesia clinging to you.

The glass lid swings back, reflecting the rays of the setting sun from the window, and the record lies flat in its proper place. Billie gently lowers the turntable claw, and with a click of the button the needle runs leisurely along the embossed tracks of the record, filling the room with the sounds of her own voice, but younger and not as strong as it is now. Eilish is slightly embarrassed, and it's so beautiful to you.

"I love you always." - you spread your arms out to the side, inviting her in. - "Come here."

Billie smiles, settles on the bed with you and practically agrees to your terms, but adjusts them slightly. While you are sick, she is your caring big spoon, no objections. You feel the warmth of her body against your back as she chops the rhythm of a playful "my boy" with her fingers, hear her soft soprano entwining your heart with a satin ribbon as she intimately sings "party favor" in your ear and endlessly kissing your entire face, except for your lips, of course, which you have vetoed. You're basically her little spoon most of the time, though she so pleasantly loses and relents when you masterfully take the reins of leadership into your own hands.

"Rest, my girl," she whispers affectionately, biting you on the lobe (revenge for the kissing ban), "I'll be right there."

And with the first chords of "ocean eyes", filled with her two-voice, you fall into slumber.

×××

"I wanna steal your soul," - the hems of Eilish's white robes sweep upward slightly as she dives predatorily toward you, kneeling down for eye contact. - "And hide you in my treasure chest."

The two of you are in some incomprehensible space, where dark emptiness and the cool ripples of water on the floor coexist peacefully. You are the water-chained prisoner kneeling on your knees, she is your personal devil. The loneliness shared by two and the coolness of the water. Nothing more.

Eilish's lips bend in a tempting smile, so devilishly seductive that you feel attraction mixed with fear of incomprehension as goosebumps run through your body. Strangely, you freeze under her gaze, filled with Edenic blueness, and she just stares at you silently, and you don't try to free your hands behind your back again. The water chains no longer rattle.

She bends down a little closer to you and touches your neck with her lips gently, almost weightlessly - she leaves her mark on you. It feels like your body is being hit by a high-voltage current, although you are physically fine.

"What do you want from me?" - you mutter softly, not taking your dumbfounded gaze away from her. It is still unclear where you are, whether this is reality or something else, but the coolness unobtrusively enveloping you is pleasantly soothing. As if you needed it.

"Let me crawl inside your veins, I'll build a wall, give you a ball and chain," - she rises to her feet, towering over you. Her words have a musical tune to them that draws you in even more. And indeed: one click and you feel the weight of the water collar around your neck. Another click, and then she lifts you up, yanking you by the chain of the collar that appeared out of nowhere. It doesn't hurt at all. - "It's not like me to be so mean."

You reach up to her face to make sure it's just a dream. Your fingertips twitch with excitement, but Eilish walks calmly toward your thought and actions, her cheek resting against your palm. Devils dance in her blue eyes. It is completely tangible. You yank your hand away, like accidentally fell under a stream of boiling water, reflexively examine your palm and only further nurture the seed of confusion in the depths of your soul. O'Connell is still smiling the same way.

"What is it...?"

"Gold on your fingertips," - she approaches you with a soft step, like a misty haze over water, - "fingertips against my cheek."

"Say, I'm asleep now, aren't I?"

Billie shrugs her shoulders in a childishly funny way, and it seems to you that she really sincerely does not know what to say. Her hand gently touches your shoulder while the other finally weakness the tangle of water chains, opening up to you a great variability in the distance. In the end, you decide to relax, despite the curiosities of the environment: You trust Billie even in your sleep. She does not utter a single word, just looks at you with some mysterious note in her eyes, and the answer to her dumb question already comes into your head, which you are in a hurry to denounce in words.

"I don't know what feels true," - your lips almost touch hers, so close together, - "But this feels right so stay a sec."

"Gold leaf across your lips," - the chain rattles, the free end touching the water surface, which is why circles began to form on the surface under you, driven by the white foam of the splash. Both her hands gently touch your face, without pressure, but you feel that you personally want to obey her completely. Through her beautiful raven-colored hair, falling over her face, you catch a glint of precious yellowish luster: gold is spilling on her cheek, which you recently touched, resembling a thin twig. Her eyes hungrily catch the glare, as if turning greenish. So mesmerizing. - "Kiss me until I can't speak..."

You feel the heat on your lips and wake up.

×××

The record has stopped playing, the room is completely silent, and Eilish is kissing your lips more unabashedly than ever before. After such a strange dream, you juxtapose reality so difficult that you pull away in consternation at only the third kiss. Billie laughs loudly, bringing you back into her arms. You frankly remind her of a chicken just out of its shell. Slightly disheveled and completely lost.

"You were mumbling in your sleep and I couldn't find a better way to wake you up." - her voice sounds so playful that you don't even need to turn around to see her confident-skanky face. - "Foreshadowing your concern - your forehead is absolutely not hot. The fever's gone down."

"Such a crazy dream..." - you snuggle into her shoulder, and she's only glad, pulling you closer to her.

"I don't know what feels true?" - you see her eyebrow raise ironically. The gears in your head wind up, returning to their usual healthy mode and you bounce on the bed again, nearly falling off it from the weight of understanding the situation.

You experienced her song "hostage" in your fever dream and even spoke lines from it out loud! Oh my god...

Billie realizes just in time to keep your still sluggish but recovering body from an incredibly "pleasant" encounter with the floor: her hand deftly grips your waist and pulls you back. She smiles just as she did in your dream and you're instantly pierced by the ubiquitous lightning bolt of deja vu.

"Will you tell me more about it? Maybe we can even do it again?"

In her humble (no) opinion, your face in color now resembles the most beautiful pink rose while your state of mind is completely withdrawn under the aegis of feeling embarrassed. And before you can open your mouth, choosing words to describe the dream, she kisses you. With a groan of long-awaited pleasure and absolutely no modesty.

[acapelladitty]

Have a wee indulgent Riddler/Reader nsfw snippet with Edward suffering through some very wicked "temptations" at the hands of his partner as he's trying to work hard.

Staring daggers into the back of her head, a frustrated indignation curled around Edward's chest as his fingers tapped against the heavy wooden desk beneath his hand.

It was a typical annoyance and the irritation of it only served to make the throb of his cock even more distracting as he once again adjusted his slacks at the groin.

She was tempting him and he knew it.

An oversized shirt, one which looked similar to his own, hung off her shoulders as she pottered around his workstation, clearing up empty coffee mugs as she hummed a nonsensical tune and allowed the open fabric to hug her curves.

Every time she bent over to collect some of the mess, the shirt would ride up to expose the thickness of her thighs - livid red marks and developing bruises in the shape of fingerprints marking up the skin in such a way that even the slight peek of them made his lips curl into a satisfied smirk.

He had more than his fill of her the previous night and the taste of her lingered on his lips like the finest wine, something sweet and rare that was to be savoured.

A temptress and a minx, her vicious wiles would not drag him from the task at hand and his fingers curled against his knees as he willed away the thoughts of just how tactful a little afternoon delight could be. Her bra, hitched up roughly to expose her ample chest while her legs lay spread wide across his desk as he dragged blunt teeth across her neck. His cock, disappearing between the pillowy folds of her-

No.

He would resist and she would not win this little game.

x-x-x-x-x

On the other side of the room, your face mildly twisting in distaste at a small plastic bowl which held the stiffened remnant of snacks that should have been binned days ago, Edward was the furthest thing from your mind. Humming away some song you vaguely remember hearing on the radio earlier, you roll your eyes at nothing as you focus on cleaning up the various messes that the self-proclaimed genius seemed incapable of dealing with himself.

[cultkinkcoven]

I worship Inanna, Lucifer, and Aphrodite as the most powerful and greatest Gods, yes even beyond Ra and El and Ashirat and everything. I know that’s a bold fucking claim but I’ll explain why.

As glorious and incredibly divine and powerful as Gods like Ra and Ashirat and the primordial creators are, and as much as I respect, love and honour them immensely, my personal connections to the Gods come from my perspective as a human being. To us, the most powerful and influential force in the entire universe is Love. It is why Cupid’s arrows will always be more powerful than Apollon’s. Love is the primary motivation behind anything a human has ever done, created, or nurtured, beyond the basic instinct to survive. As soon as you transition from a state of being a human to a person, you become a slave to the Goddess of love.

Even if you’ve never experienced carnal love, romance, even if you never had a family to love familially, if you’ve never had a friend or a pet, you’ve still fallen in love in secret ways a million times. When I wake up in the morning and decide to wear something, it’s because I love myself. Or at least, I love some idea of what I am beyond what is essential to my survival. I add a little bit of icing sugar to my pancakes because I love the way it tastes when I do that. I draw a picture of a flower, because for some reason I loved it enough to study its petals. I wanted to remember it as it looked in that exact moment. I took a picture of a worm I saw on the sidewalk. I didn’t know it at the time, but I loved it too. I have music preferences, a favourite color, a favourite pair of pants, and they are all mine because I fell in love at one point or another.

I had a stuffed bear when I was a kid, and I loved her for some reason. I gave her a name, I even gave her a gender, and I called her my friend. But one day I had to take a bath and I decided to bring her into the bath with me because I didn’t want to stop playing with her. She got water logged and I think my mom threw her away, and I mourned her. Love is like a sin to the ones that feel it the most.

Every lasting grudge in human history was formed out of love. Because nobody believes that everyone loves everyone else as much as they do. I feel like I love my partner more than anyone has ever loved in the history of the universe. And yet I know that everyone loves something or someone as much as I love him. If someone hurt him, I would never stop hating them. If someone killed him, I would kill them, and the person who loved them would want to kill me. That is why the Goddess of Love is the Goddess of War. The height of my love is the depth of my hatred.

Because humans are social creatures and we love each other in order to love ourselves. Because love gifts us with the highest bliss and the deepest mourning. Because I would shrivel and waste away if my lover wasn’t with me. Just with me, beside me. That’s all I need.

Everything that has ever lasted maintained itself because someone loved it enough to create it. The pyramids, ancient temples of worship to Gods that were loved, adored. Markings on the bark of a tree that promise that two people were there, and loved each other. Every trinket at the thrift store, from the dog wearing a dress to the ceramic angel, that mug with that old man’s face on it, were made by a human that loved something enough to make art in its image. Whoever felt so strongly about a girl that their words turned into lyrics and their yearning turned into symphonies.

Humans are slaves to the power of love. When the end of the world comes and everything is done, we will embrace each-other dearly as if we were all that ever mattered, and we’d be content with that.

I champion the heralds of love because I am forever in dept to them. How incredibly lucky I am to have been born as a creature that can experience her bliss. How foolish and drunk I am on her infinite pleasures. How cruel it is of her to erect the most wonderful place in the universe between the arms of my lover, knowing that one day those arms will return to dirt, and hopefully, hopefully, I will still be in them.

Lucifer is the harbinger of Venus, and i love that so much. He ushers in her presence and does so with the fire of rebellion on his wings. What does it mean to love oneself more than any rule or doctrine? Or to love knowledge and self discovery? No wonder the angel of the rebellion is the harbringer of the Goddess of Love and War. The one who screams “Love is here! Love is here! She is more powerful than any system, any rule, any law, she is stronger than the mightiest warrior. She is loud! She is quiet! She always saves the day. I am proof of that.”

Lucifer tells us that even if we are not lucky enough to love and be loved by others, if we can love ourselves, we will always be free.

That is why I say that Venus is the greatest God. That is why I chose Lucifer to be my patron and why I express my loyalty to them above all others. Without her I could not have loved all those other Gods I adore. Without her they would be nothing to me, because I would be nothing to me.

You are the greatest God, Inanna. I will forever be your loyal devotee.

[delespresso]

ALWAYS ━━ Antonio Dawson x fem!reader

author's note; first songfic so i consider this an experiment lol. i'm also not so sure of a timeline especially for eva and diego's ages so let's just go with it

prompts; always — gavin james (song)

summary; antonio left without a word for years, leaving her clueless and heartbroken. but sometimes, all you need is a little time to heal without ever forgetting one another

━━ ☄. *. ⋆

“What am I supposed to do without you?

Is it too late to pick the pieces up?

Too soon to let them go?”

He was gone.

Antonio had left without a word. She knew he was struggling. With his messed up shoulder and the rabbit hole of oxycodone, she knew he was at his breaking point.

But she never realised they were at their breaking point too. It was like it had been so easy for him to just leave that way. Leave Chicago and never look back. He didn't even have the decency to say goodbye to her.

It was Voight who told her. Who looked her in the eyes to tell her her partner had sent in his papers and left. Who offered her a day off because everyone knew how close they were.

They weren't dating. But they were something. And they were so close to everything but he just disappeared.

She couldn't help but ponder; what if she'd taken that leap of faith and just held him close? Let him into her heart and soul and give him everything that she was. Maybe he would have stayed. Maybe he would've let her help him.

Or maybe it was never an option. Maybe she never stood a chance. She'll never know.

“And this feels like drowning

Trouble sleeping

Restless dreaming”

Antonio had been in Puerto Rico for months now. The different environment did him good. The new faces and new job with Gabby's crisis response team.

He was doing well. Or at least, he was trying.

But everytime he laid in his bed at night, he dreamt of her. Of what they could've been.

It would always end up with him sitting up in cold sweat, his hand gripping onto the chain around his neck — the dog tags hanging from it. He'd never forget the day he got it. A stupid little joke but now it was so much more than that.

She couldn't stop giggling. His eyes narrowed as he stared at her, holding the little box in his hands.

“Alright, what the hell is so funny?” Antonio questioned as he shook the box.

“Open it! You'll see,” she laughed.

He couldn't help but smile. This woman had only been in intelligence for a year by his side, and yet she'd managed to put so many marks in his life. She was like a walking sun. Always so positive and bubbly.

How could he not keep her?

He opened the box, wondering what sort of Christmas present she'd gotten for him. She had matching sweaters with the girls, cute mugs for the guys. But for him it seemed different.

A chain. Two tags dangling at the end of it. One with his name and badge number engraved, the other with hers — along with a small note at the bottom that said ‘the best partner ever’.

Thinking back to it now, he knew she was right. Because she was the best partner in every sense of the word. He'd gone through many different partners in his career, but none ever reached out to him the way she did.

And it still haunted him that he had the heart to just leave her without so much of an explanation.

“You're in my head

Always, always

I just got scared

Away, away”

It was a bad case. A terrible one that will forever plague them both.

A child trafficking ring that was spread out wide all over the country. And even if they did manage to bring it down at the end — it was brutal. The image of the children that didn't make it, or the ones that did but will forever be traumatized, it hurt them deeply.

It was the first time she'd come to his apartment. The first time he held her in his arms. The first time she cried to him.

They shared a bottle of wine that night. The tv playing some soap opera neither of them bothered to pay attention to. Instead they were quiet. They sat together on his couch, a comfortable silence wrapping them both up.

They'd been partners for nearly two years then. And when he turned to look at her, the lights from the tv casting a soft glow over her features — her hair down, eyes a little bloodshot and yet the most relaxed he'd ever seen of her — he knew he was in trouble.

He knew he was in love where he shouldn't be.

“I'd rather choke on my bad decisions

Than just carry them to my grave

You're in my head

Always, always, always”

Three years of being his partner, meant three years of knowing the good and bad of each other.

She'd accepted it. She knew he had his pressure points. She knew he could get temperamental. She knew he preferred to colour within the lines — even if it was practically impossible when you're working under Hank Voight.

She also knew how he liked his coffee. She knew how he preferred phone calls over voice notes. She knew he'd rather have a night in with some microwaved pizza than to be out in town at some fancy restaurant.

She knew him like the back of her hand. And she knew he was going to jump in to save that kid from the line of fire, using his own body as a shield. Which was why she knew she had to take the kill shot to save her partner and the victim.

It didn't matter that they were in public. That civilians were around. She saw the suspect raise his gun after letting the kid go. She saw Antonio rush to grab the kid, his gun still in his holster. And she saw the way Antonio was directly in the line of fire.

One loud shot rang through the air, and the suspect was down with a bullet to the brain.

She'd never forget that. She was never the kind to easily pull the trigger on the job. In fact, out of all of them, she was the one least likely to even use her gun. But she didn't regret anything. She didn't even blink when she pulled the trigger and killed that man.

Because the alternative was so much worse. And she knew right then, she'd do anything for her partner.

Even now, years later, it was still something that haunted her. Not the fact she killed someone on the job. But the fact that she killed for him.

He'd been gone for two years now. Somewhere in the Bahamas, apparently. Gabby had come down to Chicago to visit — and the two women caught up for a quick chat.

“He's doing well,” Gabby had told her. “He joined a crisis response team in the Bahamas. But I know he misses Chicago.”

He misses you, was what Gabby wanted to say, but she refrained. Especially when she noticed the charm bracelet on the other woman's wrist.

The one Antonio had gifted her all those years ago. The one with an anchor charm on it because at the end of the day, they always kept each other grounded.

Gabby knew then that both her brother and her friend were nowhere near forgetting one another.

“I remember we were strangers

So tell me what's the difference

Between then and now”

Six years of being away finally brought him back to Chicago. It didn't seem like a lot had changed but he knew it had.

He remembered what it was like to live here. As he sat in the back of the cab, watching the city pass by, he remembered the times he used to drive them around the city when they were working.

“You're being overdramatic,” she chastised.

“I’m being realistic. You should never hold a steering wheel again!” Antonio exclaimed.

They'd have this quarrel at least once a month. But Antonio never budged. He'd never let her drive.

“It was one time, and it was warranted! We were chasing a suspect, how was I meant to follow rules?” she argued again as he laughed at her words.

“You used the car as a weapon against the suspect by ramming him and his car into a brick wall. You're lucky no one took action on you.”

“It was a good bust!”

Antonio found himself smiling softly as he recalled the memory. His hand absentmindedly went over his heart, before finding his chain and fiddling with it.

He wondered if she was well. She probably was. But did she find someone? Maybe she'd settled down. She always wanted a nice little house with a little family.

God, was she a mother now? With who? There were so many questions that he hadn't even noticed the cab had stopped at his destination. He left a tip, getting out and entering the coffee shop.

The one he always went to to get her complicated coffee order that no other coffee shop managed to get right except this one — even if it was a whole different way to work. He'd stop and get it for her everytime.

He got in line, focused on his phone as well as glancing up at the menu from time to time. Nothing about this little place had changed and that made him glad. It was still familiar.

It was when he reached the counter, about to say his order when he heard it. Her name. Called out by the barista who'd prepared her order.

He looked over, and he'd recognise her anywhere. Her hair was short now, stopping over her shoulders. Her smile was still the same, just as soft as before as she took the coffee from the barista.

She looked good. She always did but the years seemed to do her well.

She didn't notice him. Not yet. It was when she was heading for the sugar packs by the main counter that she glanced over. Then she did a double take.

Their eyes locked and it felt like a movie. Like a music video of some sort as she felt a rush. It was like a sudden jolt was sent through her every nerve and her whole body tingled.

He looked older. His jaw was covered with stubble and his hair had grown out a little. It wasn't immaculately styled as it usually was. But the leather jacket was still him. He never ditched that.

His eyes were still the same dark ones. The ones that always reminded her of the night sky.

It felt like she was staring at a stranger. But this stranger knew everything about her, didn't he?

“I know there's nothing left to cling to

But I'm still calling out your name

You're in my head

Always, always, always”

He should really leave her alone.

Yes. That was the best thing to do. The smart thing to do.

She walked out the door so quickly it was like she was running away from him. A few seconds passed before he went right after her.

He'd called out her name. Jogging up the sidewalk to reach her despite his better judgement.

She exhaled slowly, pausing as she glanced at him.

Six years of no contact and suddenly he was back in Chicago. Suddenly he was right here in front of her and she wasn't sure if she wanted to shoot him or hug him.

They stood on the sidewalk, finally facing each other. He'd practiced what he wanted to say. But every vocabulary he'd ever known seemed to escape him as he looked into her eyes.

He couldn't say a word. He didn't dare. And if she wanted to slap him he wouldn't have faulted her.

“Was it worth it?”

It was her who broke the silence. The six years they'd gone without saying a word to one another or even knowing about each other — broken by a simple question.

He blinked. He looked down, his hands slipping into his pockets. He was anxious. He wasn't sure what to do with himself.

“Yes,” he answered. “And no.”

He sighed, shaking his head.

“I got clean. It was good. But… it wasn't what I wanted,” he said softly.

She looked up at him, her eyes almost blank. But there was still that familiar softness in them that made him realise she didn't hate him.

Or at least, to a certain degree.

“Why are you in Chicago?” she then asked, glancing away briefly before looking at him again.

She felt like someone was picking the skin of a fresh wound that was starting to heal. Seeing him seemed to do that.

“Eva's graduating. I'm here for her,” he answered after a beat.

She nodded. He was here for his kid's graduation, of course. Not for her.

“Tell her I said congrats,” she then said with another nod.

For a moment they just stood there and stared at each other, drinking one another in like they'd been deprived of water for days and finally got a sip. It was frustrating because he wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch her. Hug her like he used to be able to without even thinking.

Now it was like they were strangers that just started to know each other. Like they were nothing before this when they were so close to being everything.

He took a step forward. She stayed put.

Then his arms curled around her and pulled her in. He breathed her in, his eyes closing as the familiar sweet floral scent invaded his senses.

She froze. Her head was buried in the crook of his neck. Her eyes were closed as she inhaled deeply. His warmth was familiar. His cologne was familiar. Everything about him felt like coming home after a long day at work.

“It's been too long,” he mumbled against her hair.

Her arms slowly circled his middle, finally holding onto him.

They both knew it couldn't go back to normal so easily. But they were willing to allow this moment of a reunion. This brief moment of peace as they held onto each other after years.

The long years of torment where they were constantly living in each other's minds and dreams. But he needed to get better. And to get better, he had to leave.

He's back now, better than he was when he left. And for now, that was enough. That was the silver lining of all the pain and torture.

“I'll make up for it. I promise,” he vowed.

liked this tale? be a member and buy me some coffee!

[wheresmynaya]

Out of Order Ch.1 | Brittana

A/N - Today marks 10 WHOLE YEARS of our favorite cheerleaders being MARRIED which is crazy! I need everyone to tell me what they were doing when the episode aired. Personally, I cooked a nice steak dinner, displayed calla lilies I bought, drank bubbly moscato lol and watched the episode with my grandma.

Summary: It's Valentine's Week and Santana owns a flower shop. Brittany is her best delivery driver. They've danced around their attraction for one another for months but they're gay and useless. And Oh no! There's snow on the forecast, what could possibly happen?

I returned to being a florist over Valentine's week so ofc I'm throwing Brittana into an flower shop AU. This will be a TWO SHOT! Speaking of shots, if you'd like to throw a couple my in the form of espresso here's my Ko-Fi lol. Cheers! ☕

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) & under the cut!

Santana made her way to the front of her shop and flipped the hanging sign on the door to OPEN, signifying the start of the busiest time yet: Valentine’s week. This was her third year since she opened up Snixmade and, true to Lopez fashion, she was killing it!  The number of pre-orders verged on record-breaking, but as a small business owner, Santana wasn’t complaining. At the end of the day, a girl’s gotta eat.

Valentine’s Day landed on a Friday this year, a weekday. While some orders were for pick-up, the number of deliveries nearly tripled with customers wanting to surprise their significant other at work before the weekend. With the impending holiday rush, some customers even scheduled their delivery a day early and that meant more routes for the drivers.

Well, one driver in particular.

Santana loiters by the front window with her coffee mug in hand. To some, she’s observing the daunting, grey sky, trying to decide if the meteorologist she overhead on the radio this morning is full of shit or is it actually going to snow. To others, she’s counting down the minutes until the most attractive delivery driver on the face of the Earth arrives. Santana supposes both could be true, she’s great at multitasking.

“–it’s embarrassing, really.”

���Like clockwork.”

Santana glances to her left and finds her best friend and business partner, Quinn, also staring out the window at the empty parking spot soon to be occupied by a baby blue Kombi. On Santana’s right is one of her best designers, Sugar. At some point during her observations they flanked her, both watching the scene play out with knowing smirks on their faces.

Like clockwork, Santana rolls her eyes at what they’re suggesting. “I’m saving a front row spot.”

Quinn lifts a brow silently, judgmentally.

“What? You know old geezers from the bank will take them if I’m not standing here,” Santana reasons. “God forbid they have to park in the second row like the rest of us.”

“Yet you only do this on Mondays and Fridays,” Quinn says while tapping her chin with her finger. “Hey Sug, which driver does routes on Mondays and Fridays?”

“Funny you should ask, that would be Santana’s future wifey.”

“Is that so?” Quinn responds sarcastically.

“Can we not call her that?” Santana huffs. “She has a name.”

Quinn and Sugar only shake their heads, chuckling.

“Why doesn’t she park around the back? This isn’t a loading zone.”

“Because Santana can’t be bothered lifting the roller door.”

Santana narrows her eyes at the pair talking to each other as if she’s not still standing between them. “No, Santana doesn’t open the roller door because Hank only treated the front of the shop and she does not want anyone busting their ass on the icy ramp. It’s a safety hazard.”

“Okay. That’s a good excuse,” Quinn replies.

Sugar nods. “Can’t do anything to put an ass handcrafted by goddesses in danger.”

Santana cuts Sugar with a glare but it’s void of its usual bite because–

“Hey, those are your words not mine.”

It’s true. Santana did say that.

In fact, she said it with her whole chest because holy hell witnessing the way those Levis stretched around that perfect ass nearly put Santana into cardiac arrest–she just didn’t intend for Sugar to be right behind her when she said it.

“Then again, busting her ass might give you a reason to actually see her outside of work?” Quinn suggests.

“I’ve seen her outside of work,” Santana defends although she knows crossing paths at the grocery store isn’t what Quinn’s talking about.

“Nearly running her down with your shopping cart doesn’t count,” Quinn challenges.

See? Meanwhile, Sugar’s quick to devise a plan.

“Oh my God, yes! I’ll jam the lock so she’ll have to use the ramp, throw down some ice cubes and make it really slippery and bam! Consider that ass busted. Then Santana comes in and like, nurses her back to health! Cook her soup or whatever and like seduce her so she doesn’t file a lawsuit.”

Santana and Quinn both gape at Sugar, but Quinn’s the first to address her ramblings.

“Santana can’t cook, but she does have that ridiculous nurse costume from last Halloween…”

“I can work with this.”

Again, Santana has to break up the conversation happening around her as she turns her back to the window. “One: the tag-teaming isn’t cute. Two: that costume was sexy as hell and you know it. Three: don’t you have work to do? The drivers will be here any minute.”

“God, you’re good,” Quinn notes as the distinct rumble of an engine approaches then shuts off.

Sugar looks around Santana’s shoulder and starts to smirk again. “Like seriously, down to the second!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Santana dismisses.

Quinn snickers. “So you’ve said.”

“For months,” Sugar adds.

Santana does her best to ignore them and keep calm in the face of the two, but her heart is thumping like crazy! It’s her favorite part of the day–or rather, one of her favorite parts of her day so she can’t help the giddiness. She has about thirty seconds; crap, she can’t even check her reflection to make sure she hasn’t got crumbs from breakfast on her face still or make sure her makeup hasn’t smeared or–

The sound of the Kombi door shutting shakes her from the daze.

Fifteen seconds.

“Admit it, boss. You’re down bad,” Sugar throws over her shoulder as she returns to her work bench.

“Oh my God, can you stop!” Santana grumbles but again, no bite to it.

“You have a crush,” Quinn points out for the millionth time. She’s also walking back to her work bench. “I think it’s sweet.”

Santana only shoos them away, cheeks burning.

To call it a crush seems…immature, childish, fucking disrespectful.

Santana was well into adulthood; she thought about things like her credit score, health insurance and ignoring the oil change light on her dashboard. She thought about maintaining her shop’s prestigious record of Best Boutique Bouquets for the fourth year in a row. Santana was a booked and busy businesswoman; the last time she labelled anything as a crush, the word celebrity preceded it.

So, this was not that.

The bells hanging from the top of the entry chime as the front door pushes into them. The sound normally jolts everyone in the shop to attention, ready to help a customer, but not when it comes to the most attractive delivery driver on the face of the Earth. The sound is rhythmic, angelic, the greatest song Santana’s ever heard.

“Good morning!” Brittany greets upon entering the shop. She’s her usually overly cheerful self, which would be a red flag for Santana in most cases–just not this one.

There’s a chorus of Hey Brittany from Sugar and Quinn, while Santana’s momentarily starstruck. Brittany’s wearing her dark denim overalls today, the ones that hug all her curves and makes Santana’s mouth water. How can someone be cute and sexy at the same time, it isn’t possible? Brittany seems to defy logic though.

When those blue, blue eyes land on her it’s followed by a mega-watt smile that makes Brittany’s cheeks bunch and then her arms are up, hands in her hair pulling a mess of blonde into a ponytail. Fingers tangle through the strands and for a second, Santana imagines those deliciously long fingers dancing along her panty line and –

“Ready for it?” Brittany’s asking her.

Santana blinks. “Huh?”

Behind her, Santana can hear a disappointed oh wow and real smooth. She straightens her back, quickly reminds herself that she’s a boss ass bitch and she has rendered many women speechless, too!

“For the week?” Santana clarifies before nodding coolly. “Yeah, you know it.”

“I meant the snow,” Brittany chuckles. “You think we’ll get any? They’re saying a few inches Tuesday night.”

“Oh.” Santana wills herself not to blush, though she can feel her face heating up. “Is it actually going to or are they wanting us to ransack grocery stores?”

“Either way, I’ll be sure to steer clear of you. You’re dangerous behind the wheel of a cart,” Brittany chuckles.

Santana wants to crawl into a ditch and die.

Apparently, she will never live that day down.

“Yeah. Sorry about that,” she mutters with a hand griping the back of her neck.

“I’m only teasing,” Brittany jokes. “You pull the cutest faces when you’re flustered.”

“Right,” Santana brushes off the comment with an awkward laugh. Behind her, she can hear the telltale sounds of Quinn and Sugar slapping each other and giggling–no doubt eavesdropping on their conversation. “Thanks?”

God, she has no game. When did this happen?

Brittany only shrugs before shoving her hands into the pockets of her puffer jacket. She bounces on her toes; nervously or excitedly, Santana isn’t really sure. “Well, I’m glad you’re ready for the busy week. Valentine’s is on a Friday this year, I bet you’re loving that.”

“We’re slammed,” Santana confirms. “It’s really good, lots of return customers.”

“That’s awesome!”

“Totally.”

“So…” Brittany looks around the shop stocked with buckets and buckets of flowers as they slip into a lull. “Am I the first one here?”

Right.

They’re meant to be working.

“Of course you are. Hank’s running behind,” Santana snaps to attention and leads the way to the service desk where she has Brittany’s routes ready to go. She reaches for the thickest pile out of the two and hands it to the driver. “Your furthest trip today is Paloma Heights. It’s a little far than your usual but Greg’s off and I rather you go than Hank.”

“I get it,” Brittany replies while she looks over the routes. “Hank’s the sweetest grandpa I’ve ever met but he’s not very…”

“Efficient?” Santana supplies. “I know, but he fixes up the little things around the shop and he always salts the entry when snow’s expected so none of us slip. How could I ever replace him?”

“I hear you,” Brittany chuckles. “If he would just take the backroads every once in a while, he’d avoid so much traffic. There’s so many apps he could use, too.”

“He’s old school, he has his routine.”

“Speaking of routines…” Sugar calls out but she’s immediately met with a glare from Santana. “Brittany, weren’t you saying you’re available to drive more days this week?”

Santana drops the glare and her brows furrow. When would they have talked about that? Santana practically lives in the shop so she’s in earshot of nearly every conversation.

Unless…

“Oh, yeah! Thanks for the reminder!” Brittany beams and turns her attention back to Santana. “Sugar and I went out for lunch over the weekend and she was telling me about all the deliveries scheduled later this week, so I thought I’d offer my services. Well, more of my services if you need an extra driver.”

Again, Santana’s thrown for a loop.

One: apparently Sugar and Brittany hang out after hours which is brand new news to her! Who knows how long that’s been going on. Two: there’s an opportunity to see her favorite driver more than twice a week.

“That…that would actually be really helpful,” Santana replies.

“Consider it done then!” Brittany beams.

“Are you sure? I know you have your other job.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Brittany assures her. “Anything to help my favorite florist.”

Santana swallows dryly at the title but does her best to stay professional. Many people have called her their favorite florist, most of the time it’s in hopes of getting a discount or just as a mere compliment from a return customer, so she doesn’t read into it.

“I appreciate it,” she says instead. “I’m sure Hank and Greg do too.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Brittany replies with a wink that renders Santana useless for the next seven seconds.

\\

After Brittany’s Kombi is loaded up with her day’s orders, she’s on the road again!

Santana’s day is a little less bright without the driver around but she joins Sugar and Quinn at the work bench to get started on her share of orders. Everyone’s quietly immersed in designing their arrangements, but there’s music playing from the shop’s overhead speakers so it’s not entirely silent.

It only lasts two songs.

“So, we can all agree that Brittany was clearly flirting with Santana earlier. Right?” Sugar asks.

“Oh absolutely,” Quinn answers.

“No. She was only being nice,” Santana reasons but even she doesn’t fully believe that because she–

“–called you her favorite florist!” Sugar points out. “If you were ever unsure that she likes you, that confirmed it!”

“Honestly Santana, she’s right.” Quinn replies, “Unless being useless is actually a requirement for being a lesbian, this is your chance to ask her out.”

Santana shoves a rose into her arrangement and huffs. “What would you know about being a lesbian?”

Quinn rolls her eyes at the jab.

“When would I even have time to go on a date?” Santana asks. “This whole week is practically a write-off, then pack down afterwards, then we have that huge wedding order next week. Besides, do we even know if she’s single?”

“Are you seriously asking that?” Quinn questions.

“What? You can never be too sure!”

“Brittany is definitely single,” Sugar answers easily.

“Which you’d only know because you two have secret weekend lunches,” Santana quips. “And you conveniently didn’t disclose this information to us.”

“I knew.”

Santana gapes at Quinn while Sugar brags about how easy it was to text Brittany to see if she was available to hang out, because it’s super normal to just text someone you think is cool and hang out. It was even easier to plan lunch at this new café because they both hate breakfast foods.

“You can do it too! You already have her number,” Sugar reasons. “Just text her: Hey what’s up, it’s your hottie hot boss. Let’s go out for lunch and gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes.”

“That’s good, she can’t say no because it isn’t a question,” Quinn says.

“Then you two hit it off and you can finally put it on her like that Billie Eilish song,” Sugar adds before she and Quinn starts singing I could eat that girl for lunch, yeah she dances on my tongue.

“Again, Quinn, what would you know about being a lesbian?” Santana contests.

“It’s a popular song.”

“And to others, it’s a lifestyle.”

Santana’s pretty pleased with herself for that one.

Quinn, not so much.

“But seriously, you work hard for this place, boss. It’s time for you to do something fun,” Sugar replies. “And Brittany is right there, clearly interested in you. I think you should go for it!”

“Agreed,” Quinn adds. “Please put an end to the pining, it’s been months.”

“Look, I admit Brittany’s a knockout and we’d totally make a smokin’ hot couple and I’m sure we’d have awesome sex–which I say in the most respectful way possible,” Santana pauses when she spots the two looking at her like she’s finally had a breakthrough. “But she’s our best driver and I don’t want to make things weird by hitting on her.”

Sugar drags her hands down her face and groans while Quinn pinches the bridge of her nose.

“The both of you are so dramatic,” Santana points out.

“Yeah well, you’re hopeless!” Sugar counters.

Quinn’s quick to chime in too. “I’m only saying this because I love you like a sister, Santana, but you’re being such an idiot.”

“For keeping things professional?”

“For using that as your excuse!” Quinn replies, “People sleep with their coworkers all the time.”

“I’m her boss, though.”

“So? Tons of people are into that,” Sugar suggests. “I wouldn’t put it past Brittany to be one of those people either. I totally get a vibe.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t speculate on what she’d be into…” Santana warns.

“Hey, we listen and we don’t kink shame,” Sugar recites.

“I don’t know,” Santana worries. “I’ve worked hard to build an honest reputation; I don’t want to add sleeps with staff to the list.”

“I mean, you wouldn’t sleep with all staff…just her.”

Quinn nods in agreement with Sugar while Santana lets out an exhausted sigh.

She knows she sounds like a broken record, but she really is trying to do the right thing here. Unfortunately, Sugar and Quinn aren’t deterred by her reasoning and the two spend the rest of the day testing her patience. Somehow, after months and months of the same, they actually start to wear her down.

It doesn’t help when her mind starts entertaining their possibilities either.

They tell tales of what her life might be like with Brittany filling her free time, how they’d go on cute dates to the aquarium or the movies or whatever. Brittany apparently knows all the best places to go, hidden gems, since she grew up in the area. They’d do coupley shit like hold hands, take cute pictures together, share goodnight kisses…

Hell, if Santana plays her cards right she might even have a Valentine for once!

But embarrassingly enough, what really gets Santana thinking are the talks of what could happen in quiet normalcy. She wouldn’t go home to an empty house, dark and quiet. It would be warm; it’d have that fireplace kind of glow that seems to follow Brittany. At the end of a long day, they’d tiredly come together, lounging on the couch in comfy clothes and a tangle of limbs. There would be foot rubs and back massages, chicken nuggets for dinner and glasses of wine, and sex, lots of sex…

The more Santana thinks of it, a life like that–a life involving Brittany–sounds better and better.

By closing time, Santana finds herself puttering around the front of the shop again. She keeps busy sweeping up while also glancing out the window at the empty parking spot, not-so-subtly awaiting a baby blue Kombi to take its place. This part is a little harder to judge with the extra stops added to Brittany’s route, but Santana knows she’s never later than 5:30PM.

A quick time check reveals that it’s currently 5:27PM, so she keeps sweeping.

“How many times you gonna go over that same spot, boss?” Sugar teases as she heads for the door.

Santana only playfully swats her with the broom on her way past. “Drive safe, Sug.”

“Sure thing! See you tomorrow,” Sugar salutes before shuffling off to her car.

Santana watches her go, half worrying she’s going to slip in the parking lot with the way she prances between the cars. Sugar doesn’t, much to her relief and disappointment. She could’ve used the laugh.  

“It’s up to 85% chance of snow tomorrow night,” Quinn calls out to her from their shared office.

“Fuck,” Santana grimaces.

“Fuck is right,” Quinn agrees. “Thankfully, we don’t have any deliveries scheduled for the Wednesday. I’ve put a block on it to be safe, don’t want any orders slipping through.”

“Good thinking.”

If they get anything more than three inches, the city practically shuts down so Santana will have to close Snixmade.

There’s no way her little Honda is going to make it through the snow, there’s also no way Santana will make it through the snow. As for Quinn and Sugar, she genuinely cares about their safety so she wouldn’t do that to them either. Maybe they should think of that the next time they give her a hard time about her love life.

But shop closure, even for a day, would put them way behind for the week, Valentine’s week at that. The thought sends Santana into overdrive. They’ll have to get through the remaining Wednesday orders tomorrow in addition to Thursday’s which is insanity when there’s only three designers. Then they’d need to shove all arrangements in the cooler to keep the buds tight so they don’t blow by Friday.

The only problem is, will there be enough room?

Probably not.

Fuck.

In her deep thinking, Santana hadn’t heard the Kombi pull up so when the bells above the door chime, the second favorite part of the day takes her by surprise.

“I’m back!” Brittany announces as she strolls into the shop while twirling her keys around her finger. She’s let her hair down and has shed the puffer jacket she wore earlier which reveals rolled up sleeves pushed up strong forearms.

In her denim overalls and flannel button-up, Brittany looks like a farm girl. Possibly the hottest farm girl Santana’s ever laid eyes on. All that’s missing is a cowboy hat and boots. Are farm girls and cowgirls the same thing?

Now she’s imagining Brittany as a cowgirl.

Wait.

What’s that saying about saving a horse and riding a–

“Long day?” Brittany asks Santana, who’s just staring into space.

Santana clears her throat and smiles. “Sorry. Yeah, super long day. How was your drive?”

“Easy-peasy,” Brittany answers simply. “You made a lot of people very happy today.”

Santana fights a blush although she knows Brittany’s only talking about the arrangements. They typically have that effect; who doesn’t love being surprised with beautiful flowers? But like all things Brittany says to her, it hits a little different.

“Hey Britt! You hear about the snow?” Quinn interrupts as she leaves the office.

“85% chance last I heard!”

“it’s up to 3 inches now!”

“Don’t remind me,” Santana cringes, her mind slipping from her cowgirl fantasies and back into problem-solving mode.

“What’s the plan for you guys?” Brittany asks. “Gonna close on Wednesday?”

“Depends on how much we really get, but honestly, I think we’ll have to,” Santana admits. “Thankfully we don’t have any pick ups but losing a day to prep for Valentine’s Day is a huge loss.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Quinn assures Santana with a pat on her shoulder. “Don’t stress yet.”

Santana lets out a laugh. “Kinda hard not to. We’ll have to do the rest of the week’s orders in one day! Tomorrow. You, me and Sug are fast but not that fast. We need Wednesday.”

“Well, we won’t have a choice if we’re closed.”

“Maybe I can come in–”

“We’ll be closed.”

“I know that and we’ll still be closed. I’ll just finish off what we don’t get to tomorrow.”

“No way. You aren’t driving in the snow, Santana. Your car wouldn’t make it.”

Brittany glances between the two, bouncing on her toes. Again, Santana’s not sure if it’s out of nervousness or excitement. She’s considering pinning this conversation for later when Brittany raises her hand.

Santana and Quinn stop talking, bewildered.

“I could drive you?” Brittany suggests.

Quinn’s eyes practically bug out of her head. It’s a miracle Santana’s jaw doesn’t drop from the sound of the offer. While the two are momentarily stunned, Brittany starts rambling.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude but you were also talking around me so…” Brittany shoves her hands into her overall pockets and rocks back and forth from her heels to her toes.

This time, Santana knows it’s out of nervousness.

“It’s a lovely offer, Brittany, but I don’t think you’re any better off than Santana with your van,” Quinn replies because, well, Santana’s still at a loss for words. “I’d hate for you to get stuck out there, too.”

“I only use the van for deliveries,” Brittany replies. “I have another car, one better for the snow.”

“Oh.” Quinn glances to Santana, subtly gives her a nudge now that the ball’s in her court.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Santana manages to get out.

“Technically, you didn’t,” Brittany says. “I offered.”

“Well, she got you there…”

Quinn’s right.

Brittany’s right.

Santana’s a fucking mess.

“Well…I…you…she’s…I’m…”

“How about you think on it?” Brittany interrupts Santana’s flailing with a damn giggle. “You can text me tomorrow, let me know what you decide but the offer’s there.”

Quinn glances at Santana again, practically rattling from anticipation. Santana swallows thickly, hypnotized by Brittany’s soft smile, drowning in her blue, blue eyes.

“That…sounds like a capital idea,” Santana finally says.

Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit!

“Awesome.” Brittany grins widely at her reply. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow then.”

“Okay.” Santana can’t help but smile back, feeling like she’s agreeing to so much more.

“Okay!” Brittany pulls her hands from her pockets and twirls her keys. She heads for the door with a little more pep to her step and calls out over her shoulder, “You guys have a good night!”

“Drive safe, Brittany!” Quinn says.

Santana just watches that glorious ass leave, still reeling from the implications of what she’s agreed to. It takes all by three seconds after Brittany’s exited the shop before Quinn’s squealing.

“I can’t believe this! I can’t believe Sugar missed this! I have to call her immediately!”

\\

The following day, the three florists are knee deep in orders and flower stem trimmings for the majority of the day. They’ve never worked as fast as they have all morning and well into the afternoon, but the hard work pays off when they make a sizeable dent in their stack of orders.

A dent.

Though they’ve prioritized the orders for early deliveries, there’s still a quarter of the stack to go. With only an hour left of their workday, a workday they’ve already extended, Santana realizes they’ve run out of time.

It’s also starting to snow an hour earlier than expected, and it’s coming down fast.

Fucking weather forecasts.

With another glance at the front windows, a glimpse of powdery white coating everything, Santana sets down her cutters and sighs.

“I’m calling it,” she says.

“Good idea,” Quinn agrees. She looks over at the windows too. “Better clean up fast and get out of here before it gets any worse.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Sugar says and jets off to get started.

Between the three of them, they clean up shop quickly. It isn’t the most thorough job they’ve done but given the circumstances Santana isn’t stressed. She wants to get out of there just as quickly, but the remaining stack of orders taunt her any time she looks their way.

Thursdays orders are done so there’s that, but Friday? She’d hope to have all the pre-orders done to make room for the walk-in’s, because there’s always last-minute shoppers on the day. Between that and having someone on register and another wrapping bouquets, how can she make the time to finish off the orders?

She can’t.

Unless…

“You gonna text her?” Quinn asks. She doesn’t have to clarify for Santana to understand. Since Quinn filled Sugar in on what she missed, it’s been all they’ve talked about.

Still, Santana hesitates because…well…she’s nervous, okay? Brittany’s blonde and awesome and so smart, of course she’s fucking nervous! Who in the right mind wouldn’t be?

Which is what she tries to explain to Quinn and Sugar.

…it doesn’t go well.

“Give me your phone, I’ll do it!” Sugar says.

Santana’s quick to stuff her phone between her tits. “Just give me a second!”

“You’ve had several seconds already,” Quinn tells her. “It’s time. Do it or Sugar will.”

Sugar makes grabby hands and starts chanting Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! as if she’s a member of the Swedish Pop sensation ABBA.

“Fucking fine!” Santana huffs and takes out her phone again, scrolling her contacts. Sugar and Quinn rush to crowd her. “No way, back up! I can’t do this with you two gossip girls hovering.”

“Oh my God, she has Brittany’s number saved as Hottest Delivery Driver Ever!” Sugar teases.

“Fuck off!” Santana swats at her, hiding her phone screen because neither of them can be trusted to look. She moves to the corner shelving and peeks at her phone to quickly type out a text:

Hey, it’s Santana! I think I might take you up on that ride if you’re still offering?

Santana zeroes in on the word ride and wonders if she could’ve used a less provocative word or maybe it’s her who should steer clear of the gutter. What word could she have used anyway? All thoughts stop when three little bubbles pop up on the screen and a new text immediately follows.

Totally! Just tell me when and where?

Suddenly, it dawns on her.

Brittany will be coming to her house in the wee hours of the morning to take her to work. Then when she’s done, Brittany will pick her up and take her home.

To her house.

Where she lives alone.

Because she’s miserably single.

Holy shit.

“Quinn, she’s doing it again!” Sugar calls out.

By it, she means gay panicking because apparently; despite having lived out of the closet for year and years, no out and proud lesbian is safe from its wrath.

“Pull yourself together, Lopez!” Quinn demands.

“Seriously!”

“It’s just a seven-minute ride to work.”

“A lot can happen in seven minutes!”

“Duh,” Sugar chirps. “Why do you think it’s called seven minutes in heaven?”

“Oh dear God, I didn’t’ think of that,” Santana worries.

“Sugar!” Quinn chastises before turning back to Santana. “Look, it’s fine…you’re fine…”

“Brittany’s fine,” Santana notes dreamily. “Brittany’s fine as hell.”

“So we’ve established,” Quinn agrees.

“Don’t overthink it,” Sugar tells her. “I mean, this is the perfect opportunity to thank her for such a selfless favor by–I don’t know–asking her out on a date…”

“Sugar!” Santana huffs.

“She’s right.”

“Quinn!” Santana huffs again.

“Hey, it’s just a suggestion,” Quinn reasons.

“Yeah. You do you, boo,” Sugar adds. “You could even put on the sexy nurse costume if you need the extra confidence.”

“I don’t know about all that,” Quinn replies. “But come on, you’re Santana freaking Lopez. You’re the hottest bitch straight out of Lima Heights and–”

“Lima Heights Adjacent,” Santana clarifies. “I’ve told you so many times, there’s a difference.”

“There’s not.”

“There is and you’d know that if you were from the wrong side of the tracks, but you’re not.”

“Ask her out,” Quin says with finality.

Santana lets her shoulders fall, the thought rolls around in her head and bumps into her daydreams of Brittany. They have a point; it is the perfect opportunity to ask Brittany out and she is doing such a huge favor for her. Treating her to a meal is the least she could do.

“She’s thinking about it,” Sugar notes excitedly.

Santana rolls her eyes but can’t fight off the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

[coff33andb00ks]

Recipe for the Perfect Christmas 8/12

One part small town girl coming home from the big city. One part handsome stranger. Five parts lifelong friends (don't forget to include their partners). One part stubborn father. A dash of Christmas spirit. Part: Eight of Twelve Pairing: Oscar Piastri x ofc (with appearances from Mark Webber. Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, Pato O'Ward, and George Russell) wc: 4,689 warnings: smut!!! mdni!! soundtrack: spotify ⋆❆⋆ apple music nav: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve

"The number you have called…"

Natalie groaned and ended the call, scowling as she leaned to plug it into the charger. "He still won't answer."

"I'm sure he's fine," her father said, not looking up from his book.

Turning to scowl at him, she softened when she saw Penny curled up next to him on the couch, her head resting on his lap. During the week she had forced him to stay home and rest, he had discovered he liked stretching out on the couch, especially when the dog came for a visit. He had said the uncomplicated company of the dog had helped him feel better. Natalie wasn't sure if it was Penny or the rest, but he had bounced back to almost normal, resuming his morning duties at the bakery and not being quite as grouchy in the evenings.

"He always answers, though," she pointed out. Feeling restless, she crossed to look out the front window. Though it was past sunset, she could see the trees swaying in the increasing winds and the steady fall of snow. The across-the-street neighbors had put their exterior lights up that day and she watched them bounce and sway as the cedar they were wrapped around bent with the wind. The storm was supposed to have only lasted the afternoon but it had stalled after passing Halifax. She could see the cars starting to turn white, as well as the driveway and walk. The sky lit above and she gasped as, seconds later she heard the faint rumble of thunder.

"Thundersnow?" Mark asked, glancing up from his book.

"Yeah," she said, letting the curtain fall back. The wind seemed to pick up, straining against the windows, and she shivered despite the warmth of the living room. "I hope it ends soon."

"The thunder? Or the snow?"

"All of it." Natalie picked up his empty mug. "Do you want more coffee?"

"Make a pot of tea," he requested, slipping the postcard from Hawaii he'd gotten from his cousin between the pages of his book. He set it aside and reached to rub Penny when she squeezed closer to him. "And you should probably check the soup."

"Right." She should probably check other things, too. If the storm got bad, the power would go out. She wasn't worried about the cold. Years ago when her parents had upgraded their heating from the baseboard propane heaters to central heating, her father had kept the baseboard heat installed and had it regularly serviced to make sure it was in proper working order. They wouldn't freeze. But she had to go down to the basement and make sure the furnace was working, and she had to slip outside to get some firewood for the fireplace in the living room. And she had to get out the candles and kerosene lamps. And—

Her phone began to ring and she nearly threw the coffee mug aside. Grateful it was empty, she tightened her grip on it and rushed to get her phone from the end table. She hated that she sighed, disgruntled, upon seeing it was Susie and not Oscar. Unplugging the phone, she answered the call and headed into the kitchen. "Hey, Susie."

"Just checking in. You guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. Things okay out there?" she asked, setting the mug in the sink and reaching for the kettle.

"The horses are all cozy in their stalls, the barn is battened down, and Estie's pacing like the nervous wreck he is." Susie let out a soft laugh. "He's really not, he's outside triple-checking the generator."

"Does he think the power's gonna go out?" Natalie filled the kettle and carried it to the stove.

"It's blinked here a couple times, so it probably will. If this stupid storm would just go away…" Susie groaned. "We'll be fine. Esitie said he can come out there if you need help getting Mark's furnace going."

Natalie opened her mouth to say she was sure it was already working, and sighed when her father called out from the living room.

"Tell Esteban the furnace is already on, we won't freeze!"

"Dad said to tell Est—"

"I heard him. I won't keep you, I just—"

"Have y'all heard from Oscar?"

Susie paused. "I haven't. I'll ask Estie when he comes in. Why?"

"He came by this afternoon with Penny and said he'd be back to get her before dark." Natalie switched on the stove before lifting the lid off the pot of soup she'd made for dinner. "He had to run errands, but we haven't heard from him since he left."

"I'm sure he's fine," Susie said automatically.

"I know, I am too, I just…"

"Worry about him because you're a little bit in love with him."

Natalie set the lid down with force. "I'm not—"

"Gonna tell me the sun's shining, too?"

"If you guys hear from him can you let me know?" she requested.

"Of course. But I'm sure he's fine. The traffic is probably bad because of the snow so he's being careful. I doubt he has his phone in his hand the whole time he's in the car. Y'know, like I do."

Natalie snorted on a laugh. "How many tickets have you gotten for that now?"

"That's not important," Susie said quickly. "Okay, I'll – Hey babe, have you heard from Oscar?"

She could heard Esteban's negative reply, muffled, then Lucas chattering. Deflated a little, she moved to gather mugs and the tea. "I figured he hadn't."

"Estie said don't worry."

"I'm not worried."

"Estie said stop lying."

"I'm not—"

"Estie said yes you are."

"Estie didn't say anything!" Esteban protested in the background. "All I said was what's for dinner?"

Natalie laughed. "Go feed your husband."

"The feminist in my wants to say he can feed himself, but the realist in me knows he'd destroy the kitchen in the process. I'll call you tomorrow. Give Mark our love."

The call ended before Natalie could reply. While waiting for the kettle to start whistling, she tried Oscar again, worry increasing when it rolled to his voicemail. She thought about texting him, but he wasn't big on texting. Sighing, she typed out a quick one to him anyway, keeping the message short and trying not to come across as a worrywart.

It's getting pretty bad here. Just checking to make sure you're okay. Call me?

After she sent it she realized she definitely sounded like a worrywart. Sighing, she pushed the phone into her jeans and drummed her fingers against the countertop.

She and her father ate dinner in the living room. A rare occasion, but the crackling fire was warming and the old Christmas movie playing on TV was comforting. The soup and rolls were filling, and she brought out the brownies she had baked that afternoon. She whipped together some bland chicken and rice and vegetables for Penny, who had followed her to and from the kitchen with an eager expression on her face.

The winds rose, rattling the windows, and she had just finished the dishes when the lights went out.

"It's okay," she crooned softly to Penny when the dog whined. "Everything's alright."

Still no word from Oscar. She hadn't been really worried, just a little concerned, but now she truly began to worry. What if he'd had an accident? What if he were stuck in a ditch, injured and not seen because of the snow falling?

Memories of the night her mother had died came creeping back. Her father's worry when the hour grew late. The knock of a state trooper at the door—

Everything's alright, she told herself while lighting candles and two hurricane lamps in the living room. Her father got up and turned on the baseboard then went upstairs to change into pajamas and take his nightly medicine. Natalie busied herself with getting blankets and pillows for the couches, knowing they would camp out in the living room. She tried to get Penny to go outside but the dog shied away from the gust of wind that sent snowflakes swirling through the back door. Standing there, starting to shiver, she looked out at the dying storm and her worry increased.

"I'm going to see if Oscar's at home," she announced when her father came downstairs. She had already added an extra layer of clothes and put on her thickest, warmest coat, her boots, and was wrapping a scarf around her neck.

"Natalie, sweetie…" Her father frowned.

"I won't be able to relax until I do." She jammed a hat down over her head and reached for her gloves. "His phone might have died and he can't call."

Mark sighed. "Take your phone."

"I've got it. I'll call you when I get there."

He nodded. "And be careful."

"I will." She picked up the thermos of tea she'd prepared. "Penny doesn't want to go out in this, so—"

"She's a smart girl," he said, smiling fondly at the dog waiting for him in the doorway of the living room.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "There's tea if you want some. I made a pot right before the lights went out."

"Hurry along," her father said. "Call me."

"I will," she promised, heading for the door.

The winds had died down but the snow was still falling. It hit her cheeks like shards of glass and she realized there was sleet mixed in. Her boots crunched through the snow and she twice considered turning back to the warmth of home, but her worry drove her forward. There was absolute silence, broken only by someone's generator, and she had to use a flashlight to see her way along the two blocks to the yellow Victorian. It and the rest of the houses along Halifax Street were dark, though through some windows along her trek she could see the faint glow of candles or camp lights. Oscar's house – Max's, she corrected – was completely dark. She was relieved to see his truck in the driveway and ignored the light in the back yard of George's house next door, climbing the snow-covered steps to the front porch.

Next door she heard a chainsaw roar to life. Looking over while knocking on the door, she saw that the back yard was lit by car headlights, illuminating a tree that had fallen, some of its thick branches crumpled against the roof of the detached garage. Knocking again, louder, she winced as the saw began to grind through limbs, accompanied by the crackling as the heavy limbs and branches fell to the ground.

"Come on," she muttered under her breath when her knocks remained unanswered. There was no way he was asleep. She tried to peer through the beveled windows on either side of the door but could see nothing of the interior.

The saw died and she heard male voices. Recognizing one, she nearly dropped the thermos and spun to face the house next door. Of course he was next door, helping his neighbor. She left the thermos by the door and headed over, suddenly understanding and knowing what he had done.

And when she rounded the back corner of the house and he saw her, grin obvious in spite of the scarf shielding the bottom half of his face, she felt weak with relief.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, breathless, after crossing the yard to her. His brow furrowed with worry. "Is everything okay with Mark?"

"He's fine," she promised, reaching to brush sawdust from the sleeves of his coat. "I was worried about you when you didn't answer my calls."

He sighed. "My phone died on the way back from Fairview. I don't have a charger in the truck. Then when I got here, the power was out, and then George's tree fell, and Lilli insisted I stay inside until the storm died down and—"

"And you were only worried about lending a hand," she finished with understanding.

"We're working to get it off the garage." Oscar glanced over his shoulder. "Won't be much longer, then I'll take you home, okay?"

"I can—"

"Can you start the fire in the living room for me?" he asked, pulling off a glove and reaching into his pocket. His keys jangled as he handed them over. "It's already set, you just need to light it."

"Of course. I brought you some tea."

His eyes crinkled. "Great. I'll be over in a few minutes." His bare hand grazed her cheek briefly. "Get inside and warm up."

She nodded, then waved to George before heading back next door.

She took off her boots after getting inside then felt like a burglar, tiptoeing in her socks through the house in the dark. After lighting the fire she began peeling off her gloves, hat, and scarf, holding her hands close to the flames before venturing into the kitchen. She got a mug and sugar to carry to the living room, then found a jarred candle to light. Wondering if he'd eaten dinner, she was about to check for something she could warm by the fire when she saw a crumpled fast food bag on the counter, next to his dead phone and a stack of receipts.

There was a thump at the back door and she rushed to open it, stepping back as Oscar entered. "The fire's going," she said, taking his scarf and hat as he removed them. "I'll fix you a cup of tea."

"Thanks," he whispered, unzipping his coat.

He smelled of snow and wood. After he tossed his coat over the back of the old chair near the door the faint scent of gasoline disappeared, and she walked in front of him to the living room.

The fire gave off heat that warmed his chilled hands and face. The tea was still hot, warming his stomach, and he chuckled when she got up to get herself a cup from the kitchen. While she was gone he found the bag of candles Eve had brought down to go on the dining room table, making a mental note to replace them before she came down again. The silver candelabras were wrapped in bubble wrap and the sound of the plastic ripping sounded obnoxiously loud to his ears.

"You did eat, didn't you?" Natalie asked as she returned, empty cup in hand.

"Yeah, I had a burger and fries." Though he had a standing invitation to dinner at the Webber house, his plan had been to stop home and plug in his phone then go pick up Penny before the storm got worse. But he had got caught in the worst of it on the highway, forced to drive at a snail's pace. "I'm sorry. I should have stopped somewhere and bought a charger or—"

"It's fine," she promised, kneeling in front of the fire to fix her coffee. She moved the sugar and thermos to the side of the hearth and sat back on her heels. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Worried I was in a ditch, huh?" He chuckled, intending it to be teasing, but felt her tense from across the room. Frowning, he carried the candelabras to the coffee table and picked up the matches to light the candles. "I'm sorry, Natalie."

"No, it's fine," she said softly, looking at the fire. "I just… Yes, I was worried about you."

He nodded and lit the candles, tossing the spent match into the fire. They gave off plenty of light, but he couldn't let himself focus on how the glow of them made her hair lustrous, or how when she looked at him her eyes were luminous with the flames from the fireplace. Sitting next to her on the plush rug he'd put down that morning, he watched her sip her coffee carefully.

"I shouldn't have joked about being in a ditch," he murmured.

"It's okay." She leaned to press a kiss to his cheek. "I just – Oh god, I forgot!"

"What?" he grunted, wincing when she pushed away briskly. Reaching for his tea, he watched her crawl over to the couch, where her coat was.

"Dad. I told him I'd call him when I got here. He's probably worrying—" Pulling out her phone, she snorted when it began to ring. "And there he is! Hey, Dad, sorry…"

Oscar half-listened as she explained the reasons behind his not showing up. He thought she exaggerated a little about the tree on George's garage and lifted his eyebrows when she said they were still working and that she was going to start a fire. Keeping silent as she ended the call with a groan of laughter, he waited until she had tossed her phone back onto the couch. He leaned against the hearth, eyes watching her every move as she unzipped the thick hoodie she wore and shrugged it off, then followed her hand when she reached for the buffalo plaid blanket draped over the back of the couch.

She brought it back over with her, spreading it over her lap after she set, and looked at him with a soft smile. "He's glad you're okay."

"Am I okay? I thought I was still outside helping George," he said, flicking the corner of the blanket towards her.

Her cheeks colored. "Yeah… Sorry about that." She cleared her throat and picked up her cup. "I'm just not ready to leave."

"Oh?" He smiled.

"It's nice. Sitting in front of the fire with you and talking? It's more than nice. And if I told him things were fine he would have started—" Natalie cut off with a brief scowl. "Actually he said…"

"What?" he chuckled when she groaned.

"He said to tell you I like my eggs scrambled," she muttered.

"Well…" He cleared his throat, tongue darting over his lips when she tossed the edge of the blanket over his legs. "…Do you?"

"I prefer them over easy, but he can't cook them that way without busting the yolks." A giggle escaped when he caught her hand and pulled her to him.

"I can do sunny side up," he offered.

"Mm, perfect." She moved into his lap and their sigh was mutual as their lips met in a quick kiss.

"I can't cook bacon worth a damn though," he warned, hands sliding to her waist.

"I'll cook the bacon?" Her fingers swept over his jaw and cupped the back of his neck.

"Perfect," Oscar agreed with a grin.

She had no idea how much time, exactly, passed as she and Oscar kissed. Long enough for the fire to die down just a little. Long enough for her to grow overly warm. Long enough for her to push the blanket away and begin tugging the hem of his plaid flannel from the waistband of his jeans. She slipped her fingers beneath once it was free, nudging them beneath the soft cotton of his undershirt so she could feel the heat of his skin.

"I didn't plan this," he whispered between kisses. Hands sweeping down her sides, he caught her by the hips and brought her closer, sighing against her lips when her arms wrapped around him.

"Neither did I." Her skin was warm but goosebumps rose on her arms as his fingers danced to the small of her back. "I really came just to check on you."

"I'm glad you did." He broke his mouth free of hers and dipped his head to kiss her throat, clutching her to him while he guided her down onto the rug.

She had hoped their first time together would be in a bed, but she was too impatient to wait even the few moments needed to get candles and go upstairs. Later, she decided, running her fingers through his hair. They could go upstairs later. His lips were on hers again and she forgot about beds entirely, sandwiched between him and the plush rug.

He pulled back, gently shushing when she whined. She stared up at him, licking her lips as the firelight danced on face skin. His left side was in full light, the glow of the candles flickering along his right. She enjoyed the contrast and was about to sit up for another kiss when he began unbuttoning his shirt. She boosted up enough to wriggle out of her sweater and tossed it aside, hands moving to his waist and guiding the long-sleeved shirt he wore up his torso. He yanked it over his head then his lips were on hers, fingers slipping beneath the waistband of her fleece-lined leggings. She reached to push them down, getting them just past her hips when one finger traced the band of her panties.

The kiss grew desperate. Natalie gripped his shoulders, his back, her urgent cries dying against his tongue as he teased and delved. The logs in the fire shifted and she heard them snap and crackle. His fingers dipped lower, and when his thumb began to strum her clit she broke the kiss with a needy cry. "Oscar…"

"Off," he whispered, pulling his hand from her pants with a groan. She watched, panting, as he sucked the wet from his fingers, and fell back on the plush rug when he reached for the waistband of her leggings. Her hips lifted and she let out a shaky gasp as they were peeled down then tossed aside. Then he was reaching for his belt.

She sat up, pushing his hands away so she could do it. Her lips met his in a needy kiss and though she wanted to, she found she couldn't pull away to drink in the sight of him after she unfastened his jeans and pushed them down. Settling on exploring with her hands, she hummed into his mouth while her fingers wrapped around his cock, swallowed his little groan as she began stroking him gently. His hands tugged at her bra and she whined when she was forced to let go of him long enough for him to drag the straps down her arms.

"Fuck," he breathed, hands grasping her thighs and squeezing.

"Yeah," she gasped. Her hips squirmed closer. She was slick – his fingers had made sure of that – and when she had wriggled close enough to feel the tip of him glide along her slit, she moaned.

He whispered his name, a faint plea, fingers digging into her flesh as he shifted so she straddled his lap fully. He leaned back, breath hissing between his teeth, his eyes blazing brighter than the fire.

"Oh god," she moaned raggedly as she sank down on him, hands flying to his shoulders. He filled her, stretched her, sending ripples of delight through her that made her toes curl and her thighs shake. Oscar didn't rush her, hands gripping and stroking as she shivered through the sensations. She unclenched her fingers from his shoulders and found his lips for a kiss, rolling her hips slowly.

"Yeah, nice and slow," he whispered. His palms glided up her sides, thumbs reaching to stroke the outer curves of her breasts. She watched his tongue dart over his lips as he leaned back slightly. Then his fingers were gently pinching and pulling at her nipples, tugging until she was whining.

"Oscar," she gasped, grasping his wrists. Her hips rolled faster and she pushed down hard, need beginning to take over. She felt and heard herself grow wetter, then his low grown that signaled he'd felt it, too. Letting go of him, she focused on keeping her motions slow, ignoring the urge to bounce wildly.

His hands dropped to her thighs, landing heavy, stinging lightly. He squeezed, nails scraping, then pushed her thighs further apart. He released a harsh breath and she waited for him to lie back and continue giving her full control. One hand drifted upward and his eyes lit as the tips of his fingers grazed her clit and she squeezed her thighs together, pushing her hips forward to increase the pressure.

Then, in a blur, she was on her back. He was over her, expression intense and strained, her name a faint growl just as his lips met hers. In the brief moment of clarity she registered the juxtaposition of his tender kiss and the frantic, almost rough thrusts of his hips. Delight ripped through her, lifted her hips from the rug, sent one of her arms straight above her head, fingers clawing for purchase. A shriek tore from her throat, died in his mouth as his hand found hers. His fingers wedged between hers and squeeze, his hips never faltering their rhythm. Strumming her clit, he moaned when she trembled. Following as she shook and squirmed, he pushed harder, lips sliding to her cheek.

"C'mon," he whispered, hot and breathless.

"Yeah," she panted, tightening her hold on his hand. Squeezing her legs around him, she turned her head to one side, trying to snatch in a breath.

His hips shifted, sending him deeper, and his resulting moan made her weak. Head tipping back, she rolled beneath him, the faint understanding that it never felt this intense and wonderful before slipping to the back of her mind. The stubble on his jaw scraped her skin as his lips dragged down the side of her neck and she gulped in the bit of air she could manage, drinking in the scent of him.

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god," she whined. Her legs locked, muscles straining, and she heard his small sound of delight as her hips shoved upward. One second ecstasy was just out of reach and the next it was ripping through her, constricting her body then shaking it, forcing her lips to part and yanking a disjointed cry from her throat.

"Oh god," he moaned, low and deep, in her ear as she continued to shake. His thrusts grew irregular, harder, then suddenly he was a bundle of tension above her. She could feel the delight flow throughout his body, felt his cock pulse as he panted and moaned. Humming as he flooded her with searing heat, she parted her lips for his fervent kiss. A whine escaped when his fingers slid, trembling, to her hip, felt the shaking in his arm as it slipped around her, holding her to him.

Once the pulse in her ears slowed, she could hear the crackling of the fire. There was a distant, steady hum, and as the kiss grew tender she realized her ears were ringing. Her body was weak, covered in their sweat, and after his hand released hers she painstakingly lifted it to drape it around him. "Mm," she hummed when he sighed.

Oscar lifted up slowly, still panting, hair shining in the glow of the candles and the fire. Moaning as their flesh peeled away, he swept his hand from her hip to her face, thumb tracing her bottom lip. He didn't speak, merely stared into her eyes, and she thought she could read the emotion in his gaze. Licking his lips when she lowered her legs to the rug, he eased his hips back with a soft hiss.

She rolled to face him as he lay next to her, watching the firelight play on his face and highlight the sheen of sweat on his chest. He pushed his hair back, lips tilting into a smile, and she felt her heart skip at least four beats.

"Yeah?" he whispered when she smiled.

"Yeah," she echoed.

"You're beautiful, by the way," he murmured, stretching out his arm to grab the blanket.

"So are you," she said honestly, sighing as he brought the blanket over their bodies. His arm slipped under her, cradling her neck and she wiggled closer, enjoying the sensation of him smoothing her hair back.

"You are staying all night, right?" he asked after a moment.

"Mmhmm." She couldn't move if she wanted to. And she didn't want to. Ever, really, but more urgently, she didn't want to move right then. She wanted to feel the heat of his body against hers. The steady pounding of his heart beneath her ear. His hand in her hair. His lips on her forehead.

"For breakfast?"

She laughed, slow and with a groan, and lifted her head. "For you."

He grinned and it took her breath away all over again.