#2 months felt way too fucking short for my uncle. and i mean it Was

[orcelito]

I think the hardest part of it all is that this is just my fucking life now. For the rest of my life. It's so goddamn Permanent for something that I had barely over a day's warning for :/

[alohaemora]

THIRTEEN DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Not sure what to do with yourself during these strange few days between Christmas and New Year's? Are you a fan of Next Gen Harry Potter fanfic?

Relive the holiday spirit with thirteen days' worth of fun, festive Next Gen goodness — seasonal one-shots for each of the thirteen Weasley-Potter grandkids (including Teddy, of course). All chapters feature artwork by the lovely, talented @thecatisdrawing. 🎄 ❄️ ❤️

READ ON AO3.

⬇️ Chapter Breakdown Below the Cut ⬇️

Day 1: Victoire

Genre: Romance/Family Song Prompt: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Snippet: Victoire turned to smile down at her own mug of cocoa. It was bright yellow and ceramic, clearly homemade, uneven and chipped in a few places—one of the mugs Teddy had nicked from his grandmother's kitchen, when he and Victoire had first moved to Islington all those years ago. Painted untidily across the surface, in purple capital letters, was the word 'DORA.'

For a long moment, she gazed down at the mug, gently tracing her fingers over the messy handwriting. She could picture it vividly—a little girl with bright purple hair, perhaps as small as Isaac, her face scrunched up in concentration as she smeared letters on clay with a too-big paintbrush. Victoire pressed her lips together against the lump that emerged in her throat. She knew, in her mind, that they had lived—she had seen the photos, the Order of Merlin medals, the gravestone in Hogsmeade, and she'd heard the nostalgic stories from her parents, aunts, and uncles—but to Victoire, they had always felt most real when she tried to picture the mundane parts of their lives. The life they could have lived.

It probably would have been a lot like hers.

Day 2: James Sirius

Genre: Romance Song Prompt: Cold December Night Snippet: "I've got a date."

Somehow, that got her attention. She didn't look up from her report, but she briefly stilled, her quill pausing over her parchment.

"My cousin Louis sorted it," James continued in a rush, eager to capitalize on the short moment of her awareness he'd snagged. "His wife heard I was single again for the holidays and took pity on me. She's set me up with one of her old school friends from Beauxbat—"

"I should send this poor girl a letter," Alice cut in sardonically. "Warn her what she's gotten herself into."

He waggled his eyebrows at her. "You're just jealous you won't have me here in the office all month."

"You know, I am jealous. Jealous that she hasn't met you yet."

Day 3: Dominique

Genre: Romance/Family Song Prompt: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? Snippet: She swallowed, averting her gaze from Victoire's. Inexplicably, her thoughts drifted to Malcolm—to his easy smiles at press conferences, his teasing winks and his large hands ruffling her sweaty hair after matches, his friendly nods as he bought her and her teammates drinks at after-parties. She thought of the way her stomach erupted in knots every time he caught her eye, of the white-hot pulsing in her gut when he laughed at her sarcastic jokes—and she thought about how he never seemed to experience even an ounce of the upheaval that overwhelmed her when they were together. Not once had his relaxed grin faltered.

"I just…it's not like that, Vic," Dominique said finally, despising how small her voice sounded. "It's never been anything but bloke-y between us—I mean, for fuck's sake, he asked me to help him find a birthday present for that Ballycastle Beater he was dating last year," she added witheringly.

"He was dating a Ballycastle Beater?" Victoire asked with interest. "Ooh, was it that one Aunt Angelina always complains about—Violet? No, Vivi—"

"Vic! Focus!"

Day 4: Roxanne

Genre: Romance Song Prompt: All I Want for Christmas Is You Snippet: "I just don't know why…you want to marry me," she said at last; the words left an odd taste in her mouth, and Roxanne realized, faintly, that it was the first time she'd said them aloud. She clenched her jaw to keep her tone steady. "I don't understand why you want to sacrifice all these things that—that you probably never imagined a relationship without—all these things that, if you'd had drinks with a different girl in Hogsmeade…you'd probably have by now."

Henry's eyes were wide. "Roxanne, I don't—I have never once—"

"If you'd gone to Hogsmeade with Cecilia Hyslop, you might already be married! You might be buying a house in Maida Vale and having twins in three months!" she cried, her voice cracking. "Why can't you just admit it?"

"Because I don't imagine my life with Cecilia Hyslop!" Henry said loudly. "I never fucking have!"

They were both breathing hard. They looked at each other a second longer; then, in unison, they lunged forward and kissed fiercely.

Day 5: Albus Severus

Genre: Romance/Family Song Prompt: (There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays Snippet: "My parents might never forgive me if I take your dad's name," he said dryly, glancing past Emily at Zacharias's table. "Difficult as I've made things on Dad over the years, I think I'll draw the line at that."

Emily pressed her lips together against her amusement. "Fair enough."

Albus shook his head, tangling his fingers in Emily's long, dark hair. For a few moments, they sat in contented silence, and he found himself basking, as he always did, in the quiet ease. Everything with Emily had been like that, from the beginning, uncomplicated in a way nothing else had ever felt to him.

Dad had told him once, during one of their Mind Healing sessions, that things had felt like that with Mum, too, back when they were at Hogwarts together. After all the times in his moody teenage years that Albus had wished he could be less like his father, he was nothing but grateful now that this was something they shared.

Day 6: Molly II

Genre: Romance Song Prompt: Last Christmas Snippet: The shop assistant smiled bemusedly, but he leaned down and heaved the enormous gramophone into his arms again. "Will you be wanting some music as well?"

"No need," Molly said quickly, walking behind him to the clerk's counter. "I'm sure my aunt has something I can borrow for Christmas. But, er—thanks—" she glanced at his name tag, "—Desmond." Frowning thoughtfully, she cocked her head to the side. "Irish name, isn't it?"

Desmond set the gramophone down on the counter. "Dunno," he shrugged. "Cardiff, born and raised." As he said it, the lilt in his accent became more pronounced. "My mam just liked the name—from that beetles song."

Beetles song…Molly stared at Desmond, her mind so blank that she couldn't have rubbed two thoughts together if she tried.

Fuck. If this was an official work call, she would have been out a job before Christmas.

Day 7: Lucy

Genre: Romance/Family/Friendship Song Prompt: Please Come Home for Christmas Snippet: "Three years…" Lucy crossed her arms. "It doesn't seem like much now," she said quietly, "but what if he gets—bored?"

Molly frowned. "Has he given you that impression?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Has it seemed like he's looking elsewhere? Keeping his options open?" Molly asked, sounding angry.

"What? No—!"

"Has he been acting shifty? Working late? Throwing out his post? Cutting his hair differently?"

"No—fucking hell, Mol! Of course not…" Lucy trailed off, eyeing Molly with disbelief. "How the hell do you know so much about it?"

Molly snorted, but Lucy thought she saw her sister's expression shutter for a brief second. "I read too many of Mum's sappy Enchanted Encounters novels when I was a teenager—those books always expected you to be shocked the protagonist was about to uncover a shitty boyfriend in the second chapter instead of a surprise proposal."

Day 8: Lily Luna

Genre: Romance/Family Song Prompt: Angels Among Us Snippet: Lily took her husband's hand and together, they made their way into the cottage's cozy sitting room, where Dad had already lit a fire in the fireplace and was now settling into his armchair. Heart racing a little, Lily took a seat on the sofa opposite her father. She felt Jax squeeze her fingers.

"So," Dad smiled across the coffee table at her. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Well…" Lily said slowly, exchanging a half-glance with Jax. "We have some news."

"News?"

Lily jumped.

Mum had appeared in the sitting room doorway, and there was an expression of mingled hope and fear on her freckled face that was painfully familiar—it was an expression that Lily too had worn, off and on, for the past two years.

Day 9: Hugo

Genre: Romance Song Prompt: Blue Christmas Snippet: "They're all happy and coupled up," Hugo continued bitterly, swilling his drink in his glass. "They don't need me ruining the vibe."

"Hmm," Edgar said slowly. "You know, you sound like a bit of an idiot."

It took a few moments for the words, spoken so plainly, to permeate the hazy curtain of firewhisky around Hugo's brain. At last, he spluttered, sitting upright and gaping at the barman. "Excuse me?"

Edgar was unfazed. Bracing his tattooed arms on the counter, he leaned across the bar toward Hugo. "I bet your family would love to have you, even with all your whinging. Any of 'em reach out?"

Hugo felt his ears burn with heat, and he glowered at the man, opening his mouth angrily—but no words came out. Oh, they had reached out. Of course they had—one could expect nothing less from his enormous, noisy, nosy family. His mum, Rose, and Lily wrote every day, and Roxy and Henry had started popping by his office in Diagon Alley during lunch, as though they could irritate him into coming to their place for Christmas.

Day 10: Freddie

Genre: Friendship/Family Song Prompt: Happy Xmas (War Is Over) Snippet: Every year, for as long as he could remember, Freddie Weasley had spent the evening of the twenty-third of December at Oliver and Katie Wood's cozy cottage in Inverness. His parents called it the annual reunion of the best Gryffindor Quidditch team ever. Freddie preferred to call it an excuse for his parents and their friends to unblushingly work their way through twelve bottles of wine.

Every year, the little gathering played out in exactly the same way. Dad and Lee would start the evening off by testing a new joke shop product on someone—usually Uncle Harry. ("Don't worry, Harry, it won't kill you," Dad would say. "And even if it did, you'd just come back," Lee would add.)

It would take four glasses of wine, precisely, to reduce Mum, Alicia, Katie, and Auntie Ginny to a group of gossipy schoolgirls. The four women would spend the rest of the night giggling furiously whenever their husbands so much as looked their way.

And every, single year, at some point during the night—usually the halfway point, once he'd imbibed enough alcohol—Oliver became very emotional over his last Quidditch match at Hogwarts. He'd spend at least fifteen minutes sobbing into Uncle Harry's collar.

Day 11: Louis

Genre: Romance Song Prompt: Noël à Paris Snippet: "Vairy funny," she muttered, a small flush rising up her cheekbones as she brushed a curl of sweaty red hair back from his forehead. "You 'ave a fever—I do not know if you should see your family tonight."

"I'm not," he whispered gruffly. His eyes fluttered at the feel of her fingers stroking gently through his hair. "My parents and sisters are in Marseilles for Réveillon."

"You did not go with zem?"

"I'm on deadline."

"Why not your grandparents' 'ouse in England, zen?"

"I'm on deadline," he repeated.

"Zat is starting to sound like an excuse."

"It sounds better than 'I'm pining alone because the girl I fancy has ignored half a dozen of my letters,' doesn't it?"

Day 12: Rose

Genre: Romance/Family Song Prompt: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Snippet: "Hey," Rose said quietly, reaching out and taking his hand. "Where's this coming from? We're hardly ancient, Scorpius—we're wizards. We've got decades ahead of us."

Scorpius's jaw clenched. Rose peered at him closely, pressing her lips together against the sudden tightness in her throat.

They did not speak often of his mother. Her untimely death had devastated Scorpius—and his father—so thoroughly that Rose could not bear the pain it caused him to remember the many things he had loved about her. Albus had met her a few times, had been there for Scorpius in the very worst days of their third year, but Rose had learned of Astoria mostly in bits and bobs, in odds and ends of old, fond memories—and it had become clear to her, over the years, that the joyful, persistent, fiercely loving man she'd married was every bit Astoria's son.

She was certain that Astoria had loved Christmas, too. That she had roused her grouchy husband in the middle of the night to help her wrap presents for their son. That she had dreamed of many Christmases she'd never made it to.

That Malfoy Manor had become a much quieter place in her absence.

Day 13: Teddy

Genre: Romance Song Prompt: This Christmas Snippet: It took Teddy a good five minutes to realize that the pounding racket in his head was not, in fact, his brain attempting to escape his skull. Rather, it was coming from outside the comfort and security of his closed eyeballs—from the front door of his flat, to be exact. By the time he had come to his senses enough to recognize the sound for what it was, his best friend Travis had begun adding to the din by banging on the wall that separated Teddy's bedroom from their flat's shared bathroom.

"Get the bloody door, Lupin, or I'll bring my hangover into your room!"

Normally, Teddy might have argued. But after seven years of friendship, Teddy knew not to take Travis's threats—or nausea-filled hangovers—lightly. With a long, loud groan, Teddy slowly dragged himself out of his quilts and began staggering down the flat's dark hallway, grumbling under his breath all the while.

"Fucking hell…Boxing Day…some of us like a lie-in…"

Running a hand through his disheveled green hair, Teddy pulled open the front door. His jaw dropped.

"Vic?" he gasped. "I—I thought you were in France!"

[eddiemunsonswhxre]

Heyy! So I adore Eddie Munson, right? As we all do, and I came up with this idea where the reader and him are just lay in the readers bedroom with the window open at like, 2:00am and all of a sudden Eddie just starts coming out with this bulls**t about “Why do you love me” and “I’m a monster”. Then maybe the reader is all like “well if your a monster, I suppose I’m the village sacrifice, given to the monster in the hopes of it sparing their town” or something along those lines and it gets really flirty and fluffy at the same time, maybe leading onto a little bit of smut?

Anyways, sorry if your not taking requests right now! I just thought this was kinda cool, anyhow I must depart for it’s nearly 4am and I have stuff to do as I’m sure you do to!

From, Elsie xx

oh did i take this idea and run with it...

beauty and the beast / eddie munson

one shot

rated: m (18+, minors DNI)

cw: self-hate, sad eddie, comfort, mentions of drug and alcohol use, soft sex, fingering, light nipple play, light breeding (?cumming inside?)

you were his beauty, and he always feared he wasn't the right beast.

--

the time on the clock read 1:57am as you were deeply into the book you were reading. you laid against your headboard, bathed in the soft light of your lamp as soft music played in the background. the window above your bed was open, allowing your room to accommodate a comfortable chill and allow the last remnants of your boyfriends blunt to fall into the night. your boyfriend, slightly stoned, laid on your bed next to you with his arm strewn across your thighs. his calloused fingers drew gentle designs into the skin of your thigh as he hummed along to the music coming from your record player. 

eddie laid shirtless, only in his pair of boxers underneath your warm, fuzzy blanket. and you wore only in a pair of short sleep shorts and one of eddie’s shirts you had stolen at one point. times like this were your favorites. laying around just doing nothing with the man you loved more than life was a more than perfect way to spend your saturday nights. all you felt with him was pure love, he was your everything. 

but, you and eddie were two very different people. you lived in a big house with your two parents, siblings, and a dog. eddie lived with his uncle in a trailer he was ashamed to take you to for the entire first month you were together. eddie had a problem of not believing he was good enough for you, even though he was the perfect boyfriend. he had many insecurities, and all though they broke your heart, the fact that he shared them with you made you love him that much more. 

while you were reading, eddie had a lot of time to think. and, as per usual, his mind drifted back to those dark places. places that convinced him he didn’t deserve to be right here with you. places that told him he was worthless. places that told him he was a monster. his thoughts became too much to keep to himself, so he let out a sigh. “baby?” he asked you quietly.

immediately you were able to identify the sadness, no, the brokenness in his voice. you closed your book, setting it on your bedside table and turning to give him your full undivided attention. “yes, darling?” you ask, smoothing his wild hair down with the palm of your hand. 

eddie almost wants to cry at your touch, feeling as though you’re too perfect for him to even be near. “why… baby, how can you love someone like me?” he mumbles insecurely, burying his face into the side of your thigh. 

you frown, stroking his face gently. “what do you mean someone like you, hun?” you whisper.

eddie shakes his head, nuzzling his nose into your skin as he hugs your legs tighter. “someone so… so… worthless,” he says in a defeated manner. you go to correct him, but he keeps going. “i don’t do anything worthwhile. i mean, i’ve done my senior year three times. i drink all the time in front of you and i shouldn’t, i got you smoking, i fucking deal drugs for money, and i can’t do anything right. people are scared of me, and- and i really don’t blame them. i’m a freak… a fucking monster. you deserve so much better than me,” he says, more and more sorrow filling his body as he speaks. 

eddie looks up at you panicked when you move his arm from around your legs. he thinks maybe you’ve finally realized he’s no good. but you scoot down on your bed, closer to him and cuddle under your blanket. you tangle your legs into his and rest your hand on the side of his face. “you’re wrong, eddie,” you say quietly, watching as he closes his eyes. “you’ve had trouble with school, yeah, but if you hadn’t we wouldn’t be here. i wouldn’t have someone so amazing in my life, let alone as my perfect boyfriend. i don’t care that you drink, you don’t over do it. i smoke with you because i want to, and i still deny it if i’m not feeling it. you do what you can to get your money, baby, that doesn’t make you a bad person. look at me,” you comfort him, stroking the apple of his cheek until he opens his eyes.

they’re glossy, and looking into them makes your heart clench in pain. “what do you always tell me when people start talking shit? huh? people don’t matter, eddie. they don’t matter because they’re not us. let them think whatever they want because i know you’re not a monster,” you explain. eddie shakes his head, biting his lip and looking away from you. “hey, no, i’m not done,” you grab his attention once more. “i love you, eddie. you are the best boyfriend in the world. you always know what to do, you always make me feel loved, and you always do what’s best for us. above everything, you love me and i love you. i don’t want anything else, baby. you’re not holding me back, if anything you make me want to do more. you’re perfect, darling. and i hate that your brain doesn’t let you see that all the time,” you say, tears welling in your own eyes as they begin to fall from his. 

you thumb away his tears waiting for him to say something. “you’re too perfect,” he mumbles, reaching up and grabbing your hand before bringing it to his lips and pressing kisses along your knuckles.

with a shake of your head you lean forward, pressing a kiss to his nose. “no, because you’re also perfect. we’re perfect for each other. what’s the name of that song you wrote about us?” you ask him with a squeeze of his hand even though you know damn well what the name of the song is. 

“soulmate,” he says shyly, stroking your knuckles and focusing on them instead of your face. 

you smile solemnly at him and use your intertwined hands to pull him closer. his eyes drag up to yours, lingering on your smile for a moment. “exactly, because that’s what we are. we’re meant to be together forever, i will never find anybody better for me than you,” you say seriously.

“what if i can’t give you the future that you want?” eddie asks insecurely. 

you lean forward, placing a soft kiss on his lips. “the only future i want is with you,” you whisper with raised eyebrows, as if daring him to challenge you. eddie gives you a sad smile, another group of tears falling from his eyes.

you wipe them away before pulling him into a longer, more passionate kiss. “i love you,” he mumbles into your lips.

with a smile, you mumble back, “i love you, too.” you thread your fingers into his long hair, letting out a small sigh into his mouth. eddie uses his hand on the side of your neck to keep your lips on his, drinking you in as if he was dying from dehydration. you two kiss until you have to pull apart in order to catch your breath, chests heaving. 

you place your hand on his chest, looking at him in pure admiration. “if you’re a monster, then i think we’re definitely in a beauty and the beast type of love,” you say with a fond smile. eddie chuckles at that, comforted by your attempt to lighten the mood.

“you definitely are my beauty,” he says in a love-drunk type way, stroking your jaw with his thumb. 

a smirk falls on your face, as an idea comes into your mind. “do you think the beast is good at sex?” you ask teasingly.

eddie raises his eyebrows at you, a knowing smile falling onto his face. “oh, i know he is,” he smiles, nudging your shoulder to make you lay flat on your back. “want to find out?” he questions, climbing on top of you and nestling himself between your legs you so kindly spread open for him.

you giggle, wrapping your hands around his neck and playing with his curls. “i definitely do,” you say, and eddie wastes no time diving down to attach your lips once more. this time, they clash with more need but with just as much if not more love seeping into it. eddie wastes no time letting his hand wander inside your shirt, caressing your body as if it were a delicate statue. 

his palm covers your breast, his fingers squeezing you in the most delightful way. you let out a moan into his mouth, arching your chest into his hand. eddie bites on your lower lip, asking for entrance which you don’t hesitate in granting. moments later his fingers begin pinching and twisting your nipple, sending a wave of arousal towards your core. “mm, eddie,” you hum into his mouth, tugging back on his hair making him groan. 

eddie separates your lips, pulling back and grabbing the sides of your (his) shirt and giving you a look as if to tell you to sit up. you do so, letting him take off the piece of clothing and let it drop onto the floor. even though he’s seen them millions of times, his hands go straight to your boobs as he plays with them. he pushes them around before pinching at both your nipples, causing you to let out a moan as your head falls back. “my pretty girl,” he says to you, massaging your tits before leaning down to reattach your lips. you hum, grabbing the sides of his face as he uses one hand to hold himself up and the other to play with your tits. 

you buck your hips up against his, desperate for some friction. eddie grunts into your mouth, biting down on your lip as he ruts into your heat. his tongue then continues mingling with yours as he begins a steady rhythm of grinding into you. you let out small gasps into his mouth when he hits your clit just right with his clothed member. his hand then falls from your breasts down to your small shorts. he teases the waistband for just a moment before detaching your lips to hook his fingers into them and your panties and pulling them off in one swift motion. you replace your legs on either side of him as he removes his own boxers and settles between you once more.

eddie this time attaches his lips to your jaw, placing kisses along it as his fingers fall down to your mound. two gather some arousal at your entrance and drag up to your clit, dancing in small circles. “oh, yes,” you moan, cradling eddie’s head as he begins sucking and biting at the tender skin where your neck and jaw meet. eddie smiles into your skin, always loving when he was able to make you feel good. 

he stops rubbing sweet circles at your clit and pushes his fingers down to your entrance. “ready?” he asks into your skin, moving to start leaving another love bite on you. you nod, tugging on his hair as you’re rolling your hips against his fingers. “desperate girl,” he laughs into you and then pushes his fingers in slowly. you whine lowly at the feeling as he sinks in to his knuckles.

“so good, eddie, so good,” you say in content, letting your head fall back as he begins thrusting his fingers into you. he smiles, moving back up to your lips as he finger fucks you. you let out small moans into his mouth as he changes between thrusting, curling his fingers, and scissoring them as he got you prepped and ready for him. the warm walls of your pussy welcomed eddie’s fingers as if they were home which they practically were. eddie loved the way your velvet walls felt against his fingers as he slowly worked more and more drips of arousal out of your gorgeous pussy. but, he loved the way you felt around his cock even more. 

he swallowed your moans, curling his fingers inside of you until he felt you were ready for him. but, you were getting needy and wanted him to finally get something good too. “baby?” you moan in question.

“mhm?” he hums, sucking your bottom lip into his mouth before pulling away. 

you shiver as his fingers brush your sweet spot, but you didn’t want to cum this way. “i’m ready, need you inside me now,” you say, brushing his hair back so you can once again hold his beautiful face. 

eddie smiles, removing his fingers and using the slick on them to stroke his cock a few times. “you sure, baby?” he asks, waiting for an extra confirmation. you nod, reaching down to grab his hand that was holding his hard dick. “anything for my princess,” he says, leaning down to kiss your forehead before guiding his head through your folds. you assist him in pressing his tip into your waiting hole and the both of you let out short moans. eddie slowly sinks into you, letting you adjust to him before leaning over you and pushing all the way in.

“fuck,” you murmur, reaching around and holding his back. you tap his shoulder, giving him the go ahead to start thrusting and he begins withdrawing his hips from yours. he starts with small, shallow thrusts as he takes in the feeling that he’d never get tired of. your pussy clenching around him, sucking him back in and keeping him warm as he made you both feel so good. 

you hooked your ankles around his ass, pulling him closer to you as he dipped his head down into your neck. “feel so good, pretty baby,” he groans into your neck, peppering kisses. 

“mm, harder,” you moan, eyes closing in pleasure. eddie complies, pulling his hips further, leaving it so only his tip was left inside you before snapping them back forward and slamming into you. he lets out a shudder at the feeling as your nails dig into his back. he repeats this, reveling in the feeling of you spasming around him. 

your heels dig into his ass slightly, signaling him to pick up his pace. “getting close, already, babygirl?” he asks through breaths, beginning to fuck you at a steady pace.

you whimper, grasping his back as his cock hits deeply inside of you. “want to,” you moan in his ear. he grumbles, snapping his hips in particularly harshly before returning to his pace. he felt the pull begin in his naval, causing him to groan. 

“feel so perfect, so good for me, made for me,” he mutters in your ear, picking up the pace of his hips. you twitch in reaction to his words, heat further flooding your core as the knot in your stomach began to tighten.

you cling to him as your life depends on it, living for this calmer than normal sex you were having. this wasn’t sex, no, this was making love. and you couldn’t help but crave it. “my boy, my perfect boy, fuck you fuck so good,” you whine, moving one hand to tangle in his curls. eddie groans at your praise, moving his weight to one arm so he can move a hand to your clit. you gasp at the contact and thrust down onto eddie’s cock.

eddie moves his fingers at the same speed of his thrusts, feeling his high approaching quickly. “you getting close baby? want you to cum- fuckkk, want us to cum together,” eddie moans, feeling you clench around him. 

your head is thrown back into your pillow, whole body rocking with his thrusts as his fingers assault your clit. “m’close, baby, want you to cum in me,” you say to him.

eddie moans at your words. “you sure, darling? i can cum in you?” he asks for reassurance, his hips picking up speed as he drives his cock as deep as it will go. 

“shit, yes, i’m close,” you cry out, your nails digging into his shoulder blade, hand wound tightly in his curls, and legs holding him impossibly close to you. 

eddie grunts, chasing his own high, the pull in his naval becoming more and more prominent. “almost there baby, almost there,” he says, closing his eyes and letting the feelings take him over. you mewl as your legs begin shaking, signaling you were close. eddie moans, his breath hot against your skin as his cock twitches. “you gonna cum? c’mon baby, i’m right there,” he grunts desperately, knowing he was about to tip over the edge. he presses down on your clit more as you cry out.

your pussy pulses as you feel the brink of your orgasm hit you. “yes! i’m cumming, shit,” you cry, eyes rolling back into your head. your back arches off the bed, pressing your chest to eddie’s as your legs tremble, pussy clenching and unclenching around his cock as waves of white hot heat flood your body.

simultaneously, eddie’s hips falter, his cock spurting out his first string of cum deep inside you. he ruts into your clenching pussy helplessly as you milk him, more and more of his cum filling you up as the arm holding him up begins shaking. his mouth is fallen open, a string of low moans leaving his mouth as they mingle in the air with your high pitched whines. “fuck, i love you, y/n,” he grunts, as he rides through the end of his high.

“i- oh, i love you, eddie,” you whimper, whole body shaking as the last waves of your orgasm roll through you. the two of you fall limp, panting and touching each other everywhere possible as you try to regain yourself. 

eddie winces as he finally pulls out of you, you feeling his cum seep out causing you to shut your eyes in pleasure. eddie brings his mouth to yours, catching your lips in a kiss much softer than those previous. “mm, just as i thought, amazing at sex,” you say as he pulls away, running your hand through his now frizzy hair. eddie smiles at you confidently, pressing one more kiss to your lips. 

“come on, my princess, time to go clean up,” he says, patting the side of your thigh before getting up. he helps you stand, your legs feeling like jello from the sex you just had, and holds you up as you both walk to your en suite. you used the bathroom and both you and eddie freshen up with the help of some rags and then make your way back into your bed.

eddie tucks you into his chest after you flick off your lamp and you sigh contently. “i love you, so, so much, eddie,” you say, looking up at him. 

“and i love you so much more,” he whispers, brushing your hair from your eyes. you cuddle into him, closing your eyes and letting sleep take over you. eddie does the same, after taking a few extra minutes to appreciate just how much he cares about you. 

[nachohypno]

Nate and Dave - Ch. 15

Dave’s POV

I’m sure you already know how much a single person can change a whole lot of your way to see the world, or have your life take a 180° turn (Had to look this up, angles are weird.) just by standing in a corridor.

Now I was just happy to stare at my phone’s unlocked background. A pic I took of us while cuddling. I was kissing his cheek and staring at the camera, while he just laid below me, his face had a little smile and his eyes were closed.

He loved that pic. I loved it too, it was both cute and wholesome. Never been one to do those things, nor even Leslie managed to get me to change my Dallas’ Cowboys background, and we had a lot more pics together than Nate and I do.

It was a nice distraction. I would sometimes just unlock my phone to see that pic and feel a bit warm inside as I imagined spending more time with my soulmate. I loved him a lot, and I wouldn’t mind sticking around with him for a day, or two, or the rest of my life, just to make sure he has all he needs to be happy like I am when I’m near him.

We sat together at school, yeah. Nobody batted an eye. We hung out during our breaks, still no big catastrophe happened. After school, we usually have a date or spend some time together before heading to our respective houses (As much as I’d like, having daily sleepovers wouldn’t be wise).

According to… everyone in the world who knows that I’m hanging out with Nate (Which may be just 2 or 3 people that I’m aware of), the guy had a really positive impact on my behavior. He’s always encouraging me to help whenever I can and to be… nicer, in general.

I’ve already apologized to one of my favorite targets a few weeks ago, but decided to fully leave them alone. In my house, however, I’ve been trying to honor my soulmate’s wishes doing some house chores to help mom and pops around. I still don't think I'm ready to 'change my public image' that much. Kicking nerd's asses is fun... but mean and unnecessary.

Mowing the lawn, going grocery shopping, cleaning around whenever my parents seemed quite tired to do it, that kind of thing. My room wasn’t a messy place before, but now I could spend less time looking for my stuff!

And now… Nate was at his house. I left him there per his request, he told me we could hang out later today! But first, he had some homework to do.

I looked around and noticed the door was closed. I dropped my shirt and pants, felt the locket’s cold metal against my chest, and dropped on my bed.

I wasn’t intending to take a nap, just close my eyes and think of my soulmate was a nice enough plan for my evening.

As I closed my eyes, images of my first day with him invaded my happy place. Me getting his scent, slowly walking over to his locker, and noticing the guy I never paid attention to, the one that sat a few rows in front of me, and was usually in the middle of the way when I threw paper balls around.

Now that I thought of it, maybe I never noticed him because he always hid? He was hiding right now; it was obvious that he was using his locker as a cover. I stood there, though. Taking in the smell. Feeling myself realizing more and more of that nice thought I had never thought about after my pops told me about that weird phenomenon.

…I had found my soulmate. The love of my life… It wasn’t my girlfriend, but a guy from my class… I frowned both in the real world and in my fantasy.

In the fantasy world, I lifted and kissed him. He didn’t fight back, just returned the love I was giving him by returning my kiss. I didn’t care if anyone watched us. I loved this guy, and I still do now.

I love Nate Hall.

I rubbed my crotch in the real world, as I kept kissing him in my fantasy. That was more than enough. A single kiss, a single thought about my soulmate being happy and in love with me could make me so hard and horny…

“Dave?” A voice said. My soulmate’s? It sounded so different though… I kept kissing him. This was perfect. He was perfect. He was the love of my life, of course he was perfect! “Daaaaave?”

Was there someone invading my fantasy? Oh, wait…

I opened my eyes and saw a familiar face standing there, wide eyed. I had my hand on my hard crotch, rubbing it. This was definitely an uncomfortable position to be found at. I could normally hear when people are walking towards my room, but maybe I was so out of it this time that I didn’t hear him.

“Fuck, sorry— Didn’t wanna—” My cousin said. What the fuck was he doing here, anyway?! In my room! When the fuck did he arrive?!

“Shut the fuck up! And close the door!” I commanded, feeling anger building up on my chest, totally replacing the warm feeling from a few seconds ago.

Brad Walker. My cousin was my height, which was a bit funny given that he was a few years older than me. He was muscled too, but his shoulders seemed wider as his torso formed a sort of upside down triangle. He was a rugby player, maybe it had to do with that.

By looking at his face alone, he could pass as a brother because of the resemblance. He had the Walker’s smile, looking both chilled while also managing to look a bit menacing to keep everyone in their toes.

Doesn’t give him much use, given that he’s a Beta.

Brad closed the door behind him, and laid back on it. “Off to a rocky start, I guess. Let’s try that again… Hey, cuz!”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I could feel the anger diminishing. I thought of my soulmate, how would he react if he saw me like this. He would want me to be nice and polite to my cousin. I wanted that too, I wanted to be nice to him. I’m so hot-headed sometimes…

I smiled at Brad, and took a few steps forward to give him a bro hug. After that, I walked over to my bed and sat on the edge. “Hey man, wat’cha doin’ around here?”

“Uncle hasn’t told you? Pops and him thought about doing a little reunion, so we drove over and… here we are.” Brad left his hands in his pockets as he looked around. I noticed I was still almost naked, but didn’t give it much thought. I did put some shorts on, though. “Just the big guys, though. Mom was tired and decided to stay at home with the young ones, so it’s just pops, Logan and me today. The guys asked me to get you downstairs, so… shall we go?”

I pointed to my almost naked body. “Give me a few minutes, alright?”

-----

Dressed up in some shorts and a grey tank top, I walked downstairs with Brad following me closely.

Pops was there, with his brother and my other cousin. I walked over to Logan and gave him a brohug. I liked my cousins, they were like brothers.

“Hey man,” Logan greeted me after the hug. It was nice seeing him. Well, like, nice and not nice, because he was pretty annoying sometimes. So I hoped he didn’t get very annoying tonight. “Damn, you look buffed. Taking steroids already?”

I rolled my eyes. “Why do you ask? Need some to stop being so thin, cuz?”

“I swear I still don’t know how he's not broken after kicking that ball. Y’look like a stick, bruh” Brad backed me up. I liked that about Brad, he was pretty loyal.

Logan laughed. He’s not one of those chums who get mad at every tiny insult. He’s pretty easy going in that regard. Would need to learn from him, because I am one of those chums who get mad at every tiny insult. “Don’t pull my dick, assholes” He punched my shoulder, softly.

Even though Logan was a year older than me, he was an ass. And that’s coming from me.

Logan… He was alright, I guess. Not really very muscly like me or Brad, nor our parents for that matter. That’s because he liked soccer, ugh. Not even weightlifting, nah. Just soccer and cardio.

That got him looking well in a soccer uniform with long socks and knee pads, but… I really should reconsider his standing in my pack. Meh, might as well let him in just because he’s family, but I’ll most likely order him to start working out more to be a real wolf bro. (I’ll get into this later.)

“Uh… don’t wanna be rude or anythin’ but… how long are you guys staying? Thought about having a friend coming over and-”

“Ooooh, is it your girlfrieeend?” The soccer cuz said, moving his fingers towards my face. I slapped his hand off me, and he laughed. “Big meanie Daveee has a girlfrieeeend” He was like a little kid when it came to annoying others, and the worst part was that he nailed it.

“Oh, shut it, bro. You’re just jealous- Wait, that’s not what I was going to ask”

“Dad and uncle Adam thought about doing some beefs for tonight, soooo… family dinner, I guess? We don’t really hang out often, so I thought it would be nice. Besides, we all love beef” Brad answered, holding his arms behind his head and stretching for a bit.

“We’re about to leave, actually,” Uncle Thomas said, grabbing his car keys. “Gonna buy some meat and drinks for tonight. Y’guys wanna come? Hey cub, haven’t seen you in months...” 

I greeted my uncle with a firm handshake, before he gave me a little punch on the abs. “Strong as a rock. Not bad, kiddo.” He ruffled my hair, before turning his attention back to my pops.

I was a bit too worried to think about hitting the store. Nate was supposed to come after he finished his homework, so we could spend the night together. I was supposed to pick him up. Fuck, what am I gonna do?

I shook my head and remained silent. Brad followed suit with a “Yeeaaah… No, been in that car for an hour and I’d really like to move my legs.”

“Pussies,” Logan said in a snarky tone. I raised my eyebrow, but decided to take care of him later. “I’ll go, may find some hot chicks in this friggin’ town…” 

My uncle looked similar to my dad, just a few little differences. Dark blond hair, a bit longer. Their sizes were similar, but my dad was bigger. It was weird to think that my uncle was the one who activated the werewolf curse in a bar fight and not my dad.

If you kill someone, whether it was intentional or accidental, you can’t transform into neither your werewolf or full wolf forms without experiencing a lot of pain. Could be avoided by never turning into those forms but…

Transformation is mandatory during the full moon. This whole thing seemed really thought out to punish those who don’t follow the rules, right?

Brad grabbed my arm “Hey, since we’re staying behind apparently, wanna catch up?” He pointed back to the stairs, probably wanting to go to my room.

I nodded, nothing better to do. And it would give me some time to think about what excuse I could give Nate.

Again in my room, Brad closed the door behind me. “So… a friend? I mean, the locket already gave me an idea but I didn’t you were bringin’ her to your place already…”

“It’s nothing, really…” It was something, a lot. I loved wearing this locket, it reminded me of Nate. Thus meaning, it was pure bliss in a single necklace.

“So, what’s the locket for? Always thought you’d end up with that Leslie chick you talked so much about” Oh, I forgot. My cousins never met my ex.

I shook my head, but was kind of hesitant to talk about it. In the end, I eased myself to the idea as I thought more about Nate. “Got a soulmate now, cuz.” Was my answer. I was proud of myself! Not even a half of the average werewolf population gets to meet their soulmate once in their lives!

I was lucky, it was like, one in a whatever-number-of-people-there-are-in-Earth!

“Waitwaitwait, not gettin’ it. So, you and Leslie… or is it another girl?”

“It’s a guy, his name is Nate” I mumbled out quickly. I wasn’t embarrassed, but at the same time, I felt like a chunk of ice just fell through my stomach. 

Silence.

“So… you’re gay now?” Brad said, giving me a thumbs up. “It’s alright, I don’t mind gay people”

I honestly couldn’t get how he got that assumption. “What? What makes you think that?”

“You’re with a guy, like dating and loving him and you even have a locket… I mean, that’s pretty gay. But it’s cool, it’s not that weird. Lots o’ people take some time to discover their sexuality and stuff— Uh… Cuz?”

I stared at him. Not staring, actually. I was glaring at him.

Brad gulped. “I fucked up, didn’t I?” While he did sound afraid, his face displayed a mix of nervousness and worry. I always laughed at him when he asked if he fucked up, like it was a regular thing for him to do but still needed other’s approval about it.

I just glared at him, making sure he knew I wasn’t happy. I walked forward and held my gaze into his, trying out my favorite part of being an alpha.

As I focused on him, his expression slowly started to relax, then vanish, as his pupils dilated.

“On your knees” I commanded, making sure he got it as an order, not a ‘humble request’.

His blank face didn’t move an inch, as he dropped to his knees and looked forward. His eyes, besides the pupils being dilated, looked glazed over as his irises changed from hazel to pure yellow. The beta color!

“Who’s your alpha?” I mocked him, as he blankly stared ahead.

“You are, sir. David Walker is my alpha” Brad droned. I ruffled his hair. He was a good beta. 

“And who do you have to be respectful towards?”

“My alpha, sir. Being respectful towards their alphas is the sign of a good beta, sir” Brad answered, in a matter of fact voice.

…I should probably explain what the heck is going on.

I’m an alpha. I’ve mentioned quite a few times already, but I never mentioned anything about other ranks.

You have omegas, who are wolves without a pack. They’re usually weaker than alphas and betas. Then there are the betas, werewolves already in a pack.

Omegas can survive quite well on their own, it’s not a requirement to have a pack. But if you want to get stronger… Getting an alpha is the best you can do.

That’s one of the reasons Pops is so proud of me. He and mom conceived an alpha in their first try! Nate usually nerds out about me sounding like a “Jerry Stud” whatever the fuck that is.

So, since I’m an alpha, both my older cousins are ‘my pack’ to call it some way. And you just got to see one of my favorite alpha skills.

Much like a soulmate bond, being a beta for an alpha makes them completely loyal to the alpha, which means… I have some degree of control over them. Not as much control as my love has over me, but still… It’s fun!

“So, won’t you apologize for calling me a fag— Uh… gay?” I’m still getting used to not using that word. Everything for my Nate. Can’t be a bully anymore, right?

I didn’t have to ask twice. Brad seemed to struggle a bit against it, but after a few seconds he said “I apologize, sir. I didn’t intend disrespecting you like that…” It was a cold, empty apology. But it did the trick. I’m not a picky guy, he’s my cuz after all.

But that did make me wary. Should I tell Nate to not come after all, at least until these guys leave? Fuck, they were going to ruin my evening with my soulmate.

“Uh… what do you think about my soulmate being a guy?” I walked in front of him, back and forth. I was trying to think what would be the wisest decision here. A second opinion would be useful.

“I personally don’t care, sir. You can love whoever you want, especially if you met your second half.” My cousin answered.

“I mean, yeah. But what would Uncle Thomas and Logan say if they found out about it?” I should uh… ‘wake him up’ or whatever already. But I liked him this way. You can say I’m a dominant guy. Not saying I lust over my cuz, that would be incest, but ordering him around is fun.

“I don’t really know. He’s your soulmate, they shouldn’t say anything. Logan is a fellow beta though, it wouldn’t be wise to fear anything from him. He’s as loyal to you as I am, my alpha.” Not going to lie, I loved hearing that.

Being in control of the situation, having everyone in my surroundings looking forward to being with me, or do as I say out of fear/respect/whatever… That’s why I loved the not-studying-part of school!

As a little reward for his opinion, I did what Nate would have done to me if I did particularly good: Scratch the back of his ear. Brad’s head got some emotion again, as he got closer to my hand and started panting with his tongue out.

“There, there. Good beta cuz” I mumbled, as I machinated a plan in my head. I had an idea, but it would be a bit… not ideal. I stopped scratching the good spot, and his expression blanked out again. I crouched in front of him, and looked straight into his eyes. “I want you to listen very clearly to me, understood? Listen and do as your alpha says…”

If Brad wasn’t in ‘beta mode’ before, then he definitely was now. His irises were still a bright yellow, but his pupils were even smaller now. “I’d do anything for my alpha, sir” placing a hand on his chest. I knew what that symbolized, I used that expression with Nate before. It freaked him out a little.

“Y’know, my soulmate is kinda a big deal for me so… I want you to treat him like a king, alright? No mean or cocky comments, just be nice to him and I’ll be nice to you, got it?” I had to search for the words to say this, it wasn’t really a piece of cake as I expected. “Think of him as an extension of your alpha. Make him feel good and do what he says, and you’ll be good to go.”

He frowned a bit, but his face quickly eased up. “As you command, my alpha. Your soulmate’s wellbeing will be my top priority, sir.”

Yeah, that’s more like it. “Get up now.” I said and just… walked away from him. I wasn’t interested in bossing him around anymore, not for now at least. But actually…

“Lift your shirt.” One last command wouldn’t hurt, and he obeyed without a question, like a good beta. I walked towards him and gave him a little punch on his abs. Didn’t even flinch, he was keeping up with me! Of course, I wanted the best for my pack! “And… Beta out.”

My cousin snapped out of whatever that was, his yellow irises returning to a nice hazel, as his pupils got back to normal. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and smiled. “Huh, 5 minutes. Wonder what you did there” The guy said, smiling at me.

He couldn’t get mad at me. I was his alpha! I mean, he could… but there wasn’t much he could do about it!

“Meh, you don’t really care, do you?” I said, trying to sound uninterested.

Brad shook his head. “Nah, I really don’t. I really trust ya, cuz. Best alpha around!” Couldn’t tell if he was following the ‘you don’t really care’ thing, or if he was being honest, but I didn’t really care.

“That’s a good beta” I mumbled, going closer to him again to scratch the back of his ear. God bless Nate and discovering that hidden pleasure for me. I loved when he did that to me, as I mentioned, and I loved doing it to other wolves, too!

“What are you two ladies doin’ up here- What the hell are you two doing?” Logan entered the room. My other older cousin, although younger than Brad. Rather than being as muscular as we were, he was more chilled. Yeah, he was in good shape, but he didn’t look like a big gym bro like us.

This was probably due to him preferring Soccer rather than football or rugby. Each to their own, but soccer isn’t that fun to begin with? I tried to not give it much thought and respect his hobbies.

“Brad, close the door and put on some music.” I ordered him, walking over to Logan and wrapping an arm around his small soccer player’s shoulders. “You just made my whole evening way easier, lil’ cuz”

I wondered if Nate would like this. I’d have to send him a message telling him that I wouldn’t be able to pick him up… That felt bad, but at least these guys wouldn’t bother him tonight!

-------

Nate’s POV

Dave invited me to his house, but asked me to walk over. He told me we could have a family dinner, which was alright. I liked his family. Mr. Walker was funny and Ms. Walker was really nice to us. We just had one family dinner and Dave spent most of his time zoned out.

And also, there was a full moon, which I didn’t get to see.

Was I glad they considered me ‘family’? It pushed me out of my freaking mind when Dave sent me that text.

I was walking slowly. Not like a snail and doing baby steps, but I felt like I should slow down as much as I could and… be fashionably late? It was a good walk, from my house to his. But I didn’t mind.

The town was quiet, not much stuff happening as I walked out of my house, and on the way to Dave’s neighborhood.

I thought about buying some ice cream or some nice dessert to make a good impression this time, but hey, I don’t really think they’ll care about it that much. They highly prefer meat, as far as I know.

Stopping in the middle of the way, I grabbed my phone and checked my maps app. “Should have arrived 10 minutes ago… fuck, that shortcut would have been really useful…” I mumbled to myself, changing my route and getting back on the way.

I was nervous at fuck, that maybe explained my silliness. And I also never walked to this part of town. It wasn’t… bad, but it was a bit more private than the usual neighborhoods, which fits Dave’s family pretty well due to them being werewolves, and stuff like that.

I still had some time to cancel and be like “Oh, hey. My… hamster pet is sick and I want to look after him?” I kind of sucked at making up excuses, that's why I never wanted to be late on homework due to laziness.

It was late now, just another block and...

I reached Dave’s house. It was weird arriving here on my own. Guess I really got used to my soulmate acting as my personal driver.  

The rooms inside were on, Dave’s car and his dad’s were outside the garage. The closer I got to the front door, the louder I would hear laughter coming from inside. Were they having  visits? It didn’t sound like Dave’s laugh. His laugh was… deep and dumb-sounding.

I stopped now. What if they had visits? What if Dave didn’t tell them I was coming? I was shaking a bit, before taking a deep breath. 

Taking my final steps to be in front of the main door, I knocked and waited for someone. Loud footsteps later, Adam Walker (Dave’s dad) opened the door.

“Hey bud. Didn’t know you were coming, but uh…” He motioned inside with his head. “Come in, the big guy is in his room with his cousins. We’re having a family dinner”

“Thanks, mr. Walker-” But he stopped me as I set a foot on the door. The older man leaned in and started whispering.

“Don’t be afraid. If you don’t want to be picked on tonight, try your best to not sweat as you did the last time. Dave will probably have you covered, though.” He patted my back, and moved aside to let me in. After that, he closed the door behind me. “Dinner will be ready in a bit so… feel free to go mingle with the guys upstairs.”

Uh… that wouldn’t be needed, apparently. Dave and a pair of guys were coming downstairs, and as soon as my puppy boy saw me, he rushed towards me to give me a big tight hug. “Missed you a lot, bruh! Didn’t know there was going to be more family tonight so… I’m really sorry for that. But I’m sure we’ll have a good time!”

The other two guys just stared at me, arms folded. One of them was big, and buffed. He had an absent smile, a bit creepy but also inviting. The other was smaller than him (And Dave, for that matter).

“Uh… since your uncle is here, these are…”

“Cousins, yuh” Dave finished the sentence. I made the connection on my own, but it was good to get some confirmation. “Big one’s Brad, small one’s Logan.”

“Hey, I’m not small!” Logan complained, trying to punch Dave’s arm. He didn't seem to do much damage though.

“Yeah, and I’m a bottom, heh” My werewolf jock replied, obviously mocking his cousin. I noticed Brad chuckling, and I couldn’t help but find that funny though. I always wondered if Dave would like to bottom at least once. I feel like he’d be alright if I asked him for it, due to me having full control and all that...

After the introduction was over, and both guys shook my hand, my focus shifted again to who I wanted to be with: Puppy boy was looking at me too.

“I can’t find the words to tell you how glad I am to see you here, though” Dave said, before pulling me in for a good make out session. In the middle of the living room. He was feeling happy or romantic, I assumed? I was surprised his cousins didn’t react at all, and just looked like they were watching some kind of movie.

“Wait, what the heck?” Oh geez.

A man blasted in the living room, and tried to separate me from Dave. The puppy boy reacted quickly though, and pushed him away. “What the fuck, old man?! This is my soulmate!”

Before the guy could go back at us, Dave’s dad popped in to save the day! “You guys just had to hold on for a bit until dinner was ready!” I felt like the ‘complaint’ was more directed towards who-I-thought-was Dave’s uncle, and Dave himself.

The puppy boy seemed a bit angry, he got in front of me and made sure I was out of view. It was a cute touch. I noticed the other two guys taking a step towards us too, like siding with Dave in this.

“Just, calm down, all of you, and start setting the table. Try to not take your eyes out while you do, alright?!” Mr. Walker surely knew how to take care of these situations. Was this a normal thing?

After a long stare, both guys nodded, and we all scrambled.

-----

I was sitting next to Dave and that other guy, Brad. Across me, Mr. Walker looked around with a calm expression, as he chewed on his meat piece. Thomas, Dave’s uncle, wasn’t exactly subtle when it came to me. His eyes were like daggers, fixated on me as I nervously stared at my plate.

It was amazing, and terrifying. The resemblance and also differences between both werewolves were quite noticeable. Mr. Walker was probably calm because he already knew about my thing with Dave. The cousins seemed to be quite attentive towards my every movement and sound. I felt like their eyes would automatically fixate on me at any little sound I would make, which was killing me inside. (Were they glowing yellow? Maybe it was my head playing tricks…)

Was I doing something wrong or offensive? I should excuse myself from the table.

“So…” Uncle Thomas started, before biting a big chunk of beef and gulping it down quickly. “Uh… soulmates, that’s neat. How did you two meet each other?”

‘First family dinner all over again…’ I thought to myself, as I tried to find the words for my answer.

“School, I was just walkin’ around and smelled him. Knew he was the one so… tried my best, huhuh.” Dave saved my ass, although his story was different this time. We lied during the first dinner. I couldn’t remember the excuse anymore, and that’s what bothers me about lies.

They’re usually hard to remember. That’s also the reason I’m a bad liar, my memory is awful.

“Yeah, that’s how it usually happens. You just walk around and get the smell, all the soulmate stories start exactly like that, ain’t that right?” Dave’s uncle looked at his brother next to him, who gave him a really angry looking frown.

“Go fuck yourself, got’cha?” I understood that reaction, The man lost his soulmate, I guess the memories were still painful? I’m no psychologist to tell.

“Yeah, sorry, shouldn’t have mentioned that… So uh… back to you, kiddo.” Oh, fuck. Dinner was nice, the meat was delicious! But Dave’s uncle didn’t seem to be… really fond of me. I was glad to see (Not really, now I sound like a dick) that he was bothering Mr. Walker too, so it’s nice to see that the consensus was… Dave’s uncle was a loud mouth ass. “You don't seem to have big muscles, but that's pretty much a given when you're a human."

“I’m sorry…” I mumbled, looking up at him. I tried to sound nice and not afraid, like Mr. Walker suggested before but… it was hard. “Not really good at sports and stuff like that, I guess-”

“Can see that. At least you’re a valedictorian, right?” I shook my head. High grades weren't my top priority. I did well at school, but didn’t focus enough for high grades to be a given. “No? That’s too bad.”

“Tom…” His brother tried to calm him. I noticed Dave needed some calm too. The big guy was clenching his fist with a lot of strength, as he held his knife with the other hand. He didn’t seem eager to cut the meat though, so I decided to step in for him.

I grabbed his fist beneath the table, feeling as it relaxed the longer I touched him. At the end, he grabbed my hand too, and I noticed his expression relaxed as well.

“Dad, don’t be such a dick. The guy’s fine, cut it out.” One of Dave’s cousins, big guy, uh… Brad! He seemed to be standing up for me, for some reason. He angrily stared at Dave’s uncle, without an apparent reason.

Uh… I felt like I was missing a big chunk of information here.

The uncle just stared back at his son, a bit surprised by his reaction. But before he could answer, or even react at all, Dave’s dad spoke up. “Well, it’s been fun, a neat reminder of why we never have family reunions, heh.”

“Ow, c’mon. It’s just a big friendly talk between men and…” He looked at me, seemingly ready to strike another insult. I grabbed Dave’s hand tighter.

But Dave’s dad didn’t give him the chance. “Dinner’s over. You guys will be going upstairs.”

“Roger that” I mumbled, leaving my plate with still a good chunk of meat. I didn’t let go of Dave’s hand, but he followed right after me.

“But I wanted a bit more beef...” The other cousin said. Logan, if I remember correctly. He was small, rather than muscled and big. I related to him because of that, glad to see not all male werewolves are big muscular people.

“Take the plate” Brad whispered to him, before following us upstairs.

“Okay, what’s going on-” I started to say, but my boyfriend shushed me.

“I’ll tell you all about it upstairs, just follow me and don’t make loud noises. Remember that they can hear everything in here” Dave interrupted me, as we went to his room. ‘Great, now my werewolf seems to be part of a mafia’.

-----

Locking the door behind us and his cousins, Dave ordered his cousins to stand aside, and they obeyed right away. “I’ll put some music here and…” His phone started playing some loud rock, but not loud enough to make the place feel annoying. “There, we can talk now.”

“Whaaat’s going on? And just tell me already, it feels quite bad to be insulted for no reason.”

“You weren’t really being insulted, bruh. I was.” Dave explained, motioning for me to go closer before leading me to his bed. “Uncle has… a bit of a problem, like pops has. But while pops knows when to shut his mouth, my uncle doesn’t, huh.”

“I don’t really see the insulting part there but continue…” I pointed out, but Dave just chuckled. Which seemed to cause a chain reaction and the werewolves guarding the door in front of us chuckled too.

“Sorry, yeah. Uh, well… My uncle is just bitter because my dad got an alpha son on his first try, me of course” I could figure that out on my own. The ‘I’m an alpha’ part I mean, he says it all the time. “Brad and Logan here are my betas. They were born as omegas, yeah, but I got them in my pack by willing choice because betas are usually stronger than omegas.”

The cousins were on the other side of the room. The small one, Logan, was tasting his meal with delight, while Brad leaned in to… hear our chat? They looked directly at Dave as soon as he mentioned them, before each one of them saying a “Hey” “‘Sup?”

“Why are they so… attentive?” Nosy mode on. I wanted to get answers, mostly because my curiosity was triggered now. ‘Obedient’ would have fitted better than ‘attentive’ though.

“Asked them to take care of you for the night, because I wasn’t sure if It would look good for me to do it. Pops is usually really fond of my uncle, but I think he didn’t like seeing him insulting my soulmate to get to me, bruh” Dave then put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. “I can put them back to normal if you want me to, but… they don’t really mind, so why bother?”

Uhm… I risk myself sounding like a dick right now, but I found the idea of the two cousins under Dave’s control quite arousing… I’m not going to say it to him, of course! I didn’t want him to feel bad or anything if he saw his soulmate interested in other guys…

“Where are they going to sleep, by the way? Or are they leaving after a bit?” It was after dinner already so… it wasn’t a bad thing to ask. Like, we had school tomorrow...

“Living room, sofa. One of them, at least. I’ve got a sleeping bag, because they both can’t fit on the sofa, so while the guest room is occupied by my uncle and… yeah, I’ll go get that old thing. Gimme a sec.”

Dave got up from the bed and left the room, leaving me sitting there alone as the two cousins stared at me.

“Hope the meat is still good…” I told Logan, trying to sound nice. I felt a bit bad, Dave made them look after me, and that made them ‘defend’ me against their father. Yeah, I definitely feel bad now. “Sorry for crashing into the dinner.”

“You kiddin’? You seem like a cool guy, dad was just being an ass. It’s okay though, I think he likes you” Brad answered, and I feel like he’s the one “kiddin’” here. “He’s just… We don’t like family dinners, we do them out of courtesy. Nothing personal, dad can be naturally obnoxious sometimes”

I wanted to say sorry again or something like that, but that’s when Dave bursted in with the sleeping bag. “Y’guys play rock paper scissors to decide who’ll sleep with the alpha… Like, beside me, don’t get weird ideas.”

I chuckled, as Dave threw the sleeping bag next to the cousins, and started taking off his shirt as he walked towards me. “You’re sleeping over, right? It’s still early, but I can make up for the bad time by cuddling, if you’d like.”

To be honest, it felt like a good idea to distract me from that… failed family dinner night. Never again I’ll ‘crash’ into a Walker dinner (Even though Dave knew I was coming over). Too many surprises for a lifetime, thank you.

I laid down, rolled over to leave him room. We wouldn’t be sleeping yet, I hoped. The big guy laid down beside me and quickly pulled me in.

“Fuck…” 

“Yeah!” We turned towards the other guys and noticed Brad had won the rock paper scissors game. Logan just seemed defeated, he grabbed his empty plate and looked over at us.

“Well, g’night bros. Gonna be in the living room, I guess.”

“Buh-bye” Dave said, before turning around again and holding me in his arms. “Sorry again for all that before, bruh. Let's get some sleep, a’ight?”

Honestly, I think I didn't feel as offended as I should have. Best to just let things slide off, I guess. I decided to just nod, and doze off while hearing Brad setting up his sleeping bag. 

I didn’t pay him much mind, though. My puppy boy's hug felt nice enough to help me relax quite quickly...

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

Author’s note:

Took me long enough. But chapter 16 went up already, so gotta keep up with the content.

Chapter 16 is available in my Patreon, but it will go up as soon as I publish Chapter 17 there. Shouldn’t be long, I feel very inspired lately! (Hopefully it won’t take as long as this one did 😅).

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it <3.

[idunnoficsorsumthing]

JJ Maybank x reader

This doesn’t have a title. But, it will have a pt 2 soooooo

You had been working all day, cleaning dishes and serving tables. It didn’t pay a lot. But, it paid enough for you to chip in at home. Especially now your father was gone, and your shit uncle was off somewhere in Mississippi, you weren’t sure what John B was up to but he hustled around with his friends most of the time, making cash here and there. The person who said the oldest has all the responsibility was wrong. Your brother was older than you by 6 whole minutes, and he acts like he is 6 years younger. You open the front door to be met with loud laughter from John B’s friends. Your eyes immediately met those of JJ, he gave you a wink, it was barely even noticeable at first you thought it was just in your head. “Sis.” John B greeted you, holding out his blunt to you. He knew you wouldn’t, you hadn’t smoked in months. You declined the blunt, and made your way to the kitchen. “Did you guys eat yet?” you yelled out to them. You see the dirty dishes in the sink, but no pots or pans, making your way back into the living room. Kie was already passed out, snuggling one of the blankets on the couch, and Pope was hitting a new blunt that JJ undoubtedly just rolled for him. You were going to sit on the ground as Kie was taking over the entire couch except for JJ's seat. “Come here.” JJ said, pulling you into his lap, you hated when he did that. You hated a lot about him actually. He’d get high or drunk and want sex, you never gave into it because you weren’t dumb enough to fall for it but it did create a big disliking towards him. “Did any of you go to the grocery store today?” you asked. But, glared at John B, you already knew the answer to this question. JJ was being touchy as he snaked his arm around your waist. You were too upset to stop him, it was always like this with them. All they wanted was to get high, and cruise the waters with their dumb boat, not a care in the world. “Thanks for doing the one thing I asked you to do!” You snapped at your brother who in his state of mind didn’t care that you were upset. You take JJ's arm and push it away from you to be able to get up. 

Almost an hour later, and you returned from your trip to the store. Three big bags of groceries, and a twenty minute walk because everyone was too high to drive, and they never let you drive the van, meaning you could finally make some dinner for yourself. You opened the door, and this time completely ignoring the people on your couch, quickly making your way to the kitchen, setting down the grocery bags. JJ came stumbling in wrapping his arms around your waist, and leaning his head on your shoulder. For a second you let yourself lean into him. You take a deep breath in, and remind yourself not to fall for his stupid games.  “Can you not do that?” You ask him, as you take out the bread from the bag. “Do what, princess?” he asked. You take his hands from around your waist, and push him away from you. You turn your attention away from him. “Fuck off JJ” you tell him. He didn’t leave, instead he went over to the counter, and leaned his arm against it. He didn’t say anything, and just started lighting another blunt. Ignoring his presence you decided on making dinner, which was a fish stew. John B entered the kitchen opening the fridge for another beer, Kie and Pope had left some ten minutes ago, probably not sober enough to pass their parents suspicions but Kie had to help at the Wreck, and Pope wanted to study some more. How the hell they were going to do either of those things, when they were as high as a kite was not your problem. “What are you making? I’m starving.” he said, handing another beer to JJ. “Stew.” you said short, you couldn’t help but be annoyed with your brother. “She’s being bitchy today, man.” JJ said, you glared at the blond boy. “Yes, I’m mad. None of you did anything today.” you said, you look at your brother who just looked at the ground, trying not to look guilty. “That’s not true. I have been mowing lawns all mornin’” JJ defended himself. You didn’t even bother looking at him this time, you just stirred the pan. “I can smell that.” you said, and John B started snickering. “Grab some bowls.” You told your brother. For once he listened to you. 

Taking the meal to the living room, John B sat down on his lounge chair, and JJ was already on the couch eating from his bowl. You made your way to sit down in the lounge chair  Pope had previously been sitting in but JJ pulled at your arm to sit with him. Or rather sit on his lap like you had done previously. You didn’t agree with it, and slid down next to him instead. “If I catch some fish tomorrow. Will you make this again?” John B asked. You let out a laugh. “You haven’t caught any fish in months, but sure yes. If you catch fresh fish.” you promised him. After that, you let your brother and JJ talk, zoning yourself out of the conversation. You move yourself to the other side of the couch, and let your feet rest in JJ’s lap, your head on the armrest. It wasn’t a lot longer till you fell asleep. 

When you woke up, John B was already gone off to bed, and JJ was still there. Undoubtedly John B had promised him the couch to sleep on. He was staring at the tv, lightly drawing circles on your foot with his index finger. You couldn’t help yourself but start to tease him. Sliding your foot up and down his leg. He must’ve thought you were doing that in his sleep. After a few minutes JJ takes your foot, and makes you stop, taking his foot in yours he rubbed it once. “You think you can tease me like that?” JJ asked. He turned around to look at you with a stupid smirk on his face. You had expected him to push you away, instead he got up and crawled over your body, with his knee in between your legs, and taking your hands above your head. With his body towering over you, and his hot breath on your skin, you wanted to push him away, and tell him to go fuck himself. That was John B’s little sister talking, no, you wanted JJ to take you here, even if you’d regret it in the morning. He didn’t say anything, he just looked at you, and it made you intensely nervous. “Dude, stop looking at me like that” You snap. JJ quickly pushed his lips on yours, he hadn’t taken you by surprise but you still didn’t think it was possible. He tasted like weed, an intoxicating taste. He let go of your hands to touch your body, sliding his hands down your body to your hips as he made himself comfortable, leaning his body on yours. Your hands found themselves in his hair, slightly tugging at it to pull him closer. You could only think about the times he had picked you up from school or the way he’d pull you into his lap when he was high. Maybe he felt your hesitation because he pulled away from you. The absence of his lips made you lean forward to get another taste. “I- I don’t want you to think-” he started out but he couldn’t figure out the words to say. “Hey, just sex okay tough guy.” you said, giving him a smile. A slight frown appeared on his face.”Y/n, you are my best friend's sister.” he said: “It could never be just sex with you.” you chuckle, pushing him off you, making him sit up on the couch, as you follow his position. The two of you are now looking each other in the eye. “I don’t have time for a boyfriend, JJ. So either you fuck me as a favor or we go back before we kissed and forget it.” you tell him. The look in his eyes is of betrayal. “I’m not good enough for you, princess?” The hurt in his eyes was almost enough to just give into his wishes. “JJ. I am sixteen years old and every day after school I buss tables to afford living here. Because my father is dead. I know John B doesn’t want to face that possibility. But, he is dead, I can feel it.” You tell him. As you spoke your words, you saw JJ being patiently waiting for the moment you tell him he is deadbeat weight, like his father. “I am trying so hard to keep it together, JJ.” your eyes were filled with tears. “I can’t be what you want, I can patch up your bruises. But, it is killing me that he is killing you. But, I won’t be your girlfriend if you are on a self destructive war path.” Silent tears were on your cheeks as you explained to him. He hesitantly put his hand on your cheek. But, you pushed his hand away, getting up and running to your room. 

[pterodactylterrace]

Guys Like You Chapter 9

Title: Guys Like You

Chapter: 9

Chapter Summary: What happens when a busy schedule leaves you lonely?

Rating: 18+

Chapters:  {Prologue} {Chapter 1} {Chapter 2} {Chapter 3} {Chapter 4} {Chapter 5} {Chapter 6} {Chapter 7} {Chapter 8}

It had been weeks since Faye had seen Henry outside of work. Henry's schedule was packed with choreography practice, training, filming and hush hush phone and zoom interviews he refused to tell Faye anything about. She was starting to get the feeling he had given up on her and was moving on. Why else would he refuse to tell her anything about this 'project' he was working on? Not a single clue was dropped. He continuously sited 'not wanting to jinx it' as his reasoning for not telling her. She was banned from his house for the last three weeks, finding herself right back where this had all started. Could it even be called a relationship? They had never agreed to be exclusive or anything, so it wasn't like she could lay some sort of claim on the man. It seemed he was drifting further and further away with every passing day.

Briar was taking it harder than her mother was. He was the first male presence outside of her grandfather and uncle she regularly had contact with. To say she had quickly become attached was an understatement. One particularly heartbreaking evening, she had convinced herself he would be coming over and bringing "Princess Kal" as she had dubbed the poor canine. She sat by the front window, clutching her stuffed bunny stubbornly until far after her bedtime, finally breaking down into hysterical sobs when she realized he really wasn't coming. Faye's texts to Henry about the child's expectations went unanswered.

A few days ago, Mrs. Anderson was unable to babysit, leaving Faye no choice but to either call in sick, or bring her daughter with her to work. Last time hadn't caused much of a problem, so hopefully she would be able to get away with it again. Just as long as it didn't become a habit, it wouldn't be a problem, right? It really wasn't, either. For the first hour or so, the child sat in the corner of the makeup trailer, mesmerized by the movie playing on her tablet. Faye had breezed through the battle wounds on some dwarves and applied the prosthetic ears on the elves in that time, her daughter calmly tucked away the entire time.

Then came time for Henry to get into the makeup chair. The second he stepped foot into the trailer, Briar had latched herself onto his legs, sobbing and clutching his pant leg like her little life depended on it. To say Henry panicked would be an understatement.

"I told you she missed you." Faye shrugged. In fact, she had mentioned several times how Briar kept asking about him. It was a bit of a wakeup call as far as her dating life was destined to go. If Henry was only around for a few months and Briar had attached herself so firmly to him, what would happen if Faye actually dated someone and spent even more time with him? Briar would be devastated if it didn't work out.

"I'm so sorry, princess." Henry soothed, detaching the toddler from his leg and scooping her up, letting her continue to cry into his neck. "I've been busy, I wasn't trying to make you sad." He assured, sitting in the makeup chair with the little girl still clinging to his shirt.

Faye may have failed to mention the multiple meltdowns she'd had to endure due to his sudden absence, but why should she bother the man with it? It's not like it was his job to pacify her daughter. She just wished the little girl hadn't grown so attached to him in the short time she had known him.

Briar completely refused to be apart from Henry for the rest of the day, perching herself in his chair while he filmed, staring intently at him as she clutched her bunny to her chest, whimpering unsurely the first few takes of a particularly rough fight sequence. Thankfully, she had calmed quickly, Faye explaining to the little girl that he was just playing pretend and wasn't going to get hurt.

She had reattached herself to him the second he drew too close, practically climbing him like a monkey to cling to his neck again. Faye was past the point of trying to stop her by then. She had been the one dealing with it ever since he had decided to vacate the little girl's life. At least now he could see first hand why Faye had been so irritable with him lately.

He vowed to Facetime later that night to say goodnight to the little girl when he had strapped her into her car seat that evening, the child unwilling to let her mother take her to the car by herself. His promise didn't stop her from sobbing the whole way home. The poor girl cried herself out by the time Faye had pulled into the driveway, half asleep all the way through dinner, ultimately passing out at the table, a forkful of pasta clutched in her chubby fist.

To his credit, Henry had called later that night, well after Briar's bedtime. Again, he apologized profusely for his insane schedule in the voicemail he had left. Faye wasn't in the mood to talk anymore, too drained from her daughter's most recent meltdown.

Now, here he stood at her doorstep five days later, his shoulders slumped in defeat and a pleading look on his face as Faye blocked his entry into her home with her tiny body.

"Can I help you?" Faye asked calmly, crossing her arms and leaning against her door frame.

"Faye, please, can we talk?"

"What's there to talk about?" Faye brushed him off, fixing him with a cold look.

"You're avoiding me."

"Excuse the fuck out of you?" Faye hissed, stalking toward him and shutting the door harshly behind herself. "I'm avoiding you? Are you seriously going to pretend the last three weeks never happened? One second, you're around all the time, the next I only see you at work. You dodge my calls, refuse to see me and break my three year old daughter down into hysteria thinking she did something wrong. Please, go on, tell me how I'm the one avoiding jack shit here!"

"I deserve that." Henry sighed, roughly shoving a hand through his untamed curls.

"Goddamn right you do." Faye hissed, fury burning intensely in her usually wide, innocent brown eyes.

"Please, Faye. Can you hear me out?"

"What's there to talk about? You got bored and you left me behind. I don't want your fucking excuses."

"I promise, I wasn't trying to avoid you, and I didn't get bored of you!" Henry growled, anger taking over his once apologetic face at her accusations.

"Then what the hell is it? Please, tell me why I should be okay with only being in your life when it's convenient to you."

"I've been busy, Faye! My life doesn't revolve around you!" Faye's entire body tensed at his outburst, returning his fiery gaze with a cold stare.  

"And mine doesn't revolve around you either, Mr. Cavill. If you don't have time for us, that's fine. I understand we aren't a priority for you. You've made that much clear. That doesn't mean I have to be at your beck and call whenever you can fit me in. I have my own life. I have a daughter to take care of, and I don't need you breaking her heart every time you can't spare a goddamn second for her."

"I wasn't trying to hurt her. I wasn't trying to push you away." Henry seethed. "You think I enjoyed being away for this long? You think I liked not spending time with you?"

"You make time for the things that matter, Mr. Cavill. Clearly, that's not us." Faye replied, her calm tone slashing through Henry's heart worse than any previous rage or hostility could. These were not words created by anger and meant to hurt him in the heat of the moment. This was coming from a detached, practical place in her mind. This was something she had thought about, long and hard.

"Faye." Henry sighed, his tense shoulders falling in defeat. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt Briar. The time I've spent with you two these last few months have been the happiest I've been in years. I understand if you don't want to see me, but I really wish you would. I... damnit, I fucking need you two." He admitted shakily, his eyes falling to Faye's feet, taking notice of the black ink covering the top of her right foot for the first time. Had he really paid so little attention that he hadn't even noticed that? Was he really that detached from something that brought him so much unconditional joy?

"And what am I supposed to do when you vanish again? It's the life you live, Mr. Cavill-"

"Henry. Please, call me Henry." He pleaded softly, each utterance of the removed name feeling like a knife to his heart.

"You aren't tied down to one place. You travel all the time. Why should I let you continue hurting us? What promise can you possibly give us that you won't just leave again?"

"I never left, I've been right here." Henry whispered, unsure hands coming to rest on her hips, slowly lowering his forehead to rest against hers. He had no idea when they had gotten so close during their argument, but he had to admit, it felt good to hold her again. "Please. I promise, I won't vanish again. If I can't be here in person, I'll call, I'll Facetime, I'll send video messages, I'll text. I will do anything and everything I can to be here for you."

"Then what happens when you find someone else?" Faye countered, remaining stiff in his hold, her arms still crossed tightly over her chest, subconsciously trying to block him out and build a wall between them.

"I'm not looking for anyone else." Henry assured, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of her head.

"Doesn't mean you won't find her."

"Then this mystery woman can sod off. I'm not interested." Henry hummed, pulling Faye closer to wrap his arms around her, resting his cheek atop her head, her tension slowly fading away with his embrace. "Can you forgive me for being an ass?" He asked hopefully, peppering the top of her head with kisses.

"This time. There won't be a next time. I don't have time to invest in someone that won't make any time for me."

"I promise, I will make time for you two." Henry vowed, reluctantly taking a step back to look into her face. "Would it be too much to ask to come inside? I sure could use one of Briar's special cups of tea."

"Mmm, you might be out of luck then. She's decided she wants to be a knight instead now." Faye informed him, slipping away from his desperately clutching hands to push the door open, Briar freezing in the middle of charging through the house on her hobby horse, sword in hand when she saw the man standing outside.

"You're back?!" She gasped, dropping her toys and bolting past her mother, Henry catching her as she rushed him, hoisting her into his arms and letting the little girl sling her arms around his thick neck. "I sorry... I be good." She sniffled, her chubby hands gripping his collar tightly.

"Oh, sweetie. Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong." Henry soothed, rubbing her back softly. "I was the one that was naughty, can you forgive me for being mean to you and your mommy?"

"Don't go." Briar whimpered, burrowing further into his neck, her sobs only increasing at his apology.

"I won't, I won't." Henry promised, smoothing down her wild, uncombed hair, looking fearfully up at the child's mother. Was this what she had been dealing with since he had been away?

"She got it in her head you were mad at her, and that's why you weren't coming around anymore." Faye explained, nodding him inside.

"I'm so sorry." Henry repeated, holding the toddler a little tighter as he slid past her mother, perching himself on the arm of the couch as she sobbed into his neck.

"You understand why I'm not too keen on second chances?" Faye sighed, locking the door behind herself. "I'm not going to keep putting her though this. I don't expect you to change your lifestyle, so when we fall to the backburner again, please, do me a favor and stay gone. It's not fair to her."

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I truly have been busy."

"I know. That's your life." Faye shrugged, leaning against the archway to the living room.

"What can I do to make it up?"

"You can't. You just have to understand that this is the last time I will allow this to happen. If you get too busy for us again, I won't open the door the next time you come knocking." Faye's declaration hung in the air, the sureness of her voice leaving no room for argument or further exchange of words. A desperate sort of silence befell the two adults, the only noise in the house being made by the small girl in Henry's arms.

Briar's sobs slowly gave way to small sniffles and hiccups, her tiny hands refusing to release his shirt, unashamedly wiping her nose on the fabric. Henry was the one to finally break the suffocating silence that had taken over the room.

"Could I ask for your help with something?"

"What might that be, Mr. Cavill?"

"Please, Faye. Henry. Call me Henry, or anything else really. I didn't mean to hurt you or set us back months. Call me any number of mean names, just... not that." Henry pleaded, resting his head against Briar's.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I need to shave my head." Henry sighed after a long moment, turning sad eyes up to her.

"You want me to shave your head?"

"You're the only one I trust to do it right now."

"You literally have a hairstylist on set."

"This is different." Henry insisted.

"How is this different?"

"Believe it or not, I like my hair. Shaving it off isn't exactly a fun time for me."

"Is the tape getting to painful to remove?" Faye asked, raising an inquisitive brow.

"I mean, it will be a plus not having to deal with that for a while, but no. I... I have a screen test in a few days. Over zoom, but a screen test none the less."

"Oh, congrats."

"But the role calls for a military style cut." Henry continued. "Which means it all has to go."

"What role is it for?" Faye asked, crossing the room to run her fingers through his unruly curls.

"Mass Effect." Henry divulged, leaning into her touch.

"So you showed up for a haircut?" Faye asked, detangling his hair with her fingers.

"I showed up because I missed you, but it made me realize you're the only one I'm comfortable with doing it. I've been dreading it for over a week now."

"I only have scissors here. The best I can do is a hack job." Faye informed, continuing to play with his hair absently. It was so soft when he didn't try to tame it. The products that kept it in check, looking so neat and orderly, always made it stiff and crunchy. His natural hair was a thing of beauty.

"I have clippers back at my house. You're both more than welcome to stay the night."

"You know Briar won't stay in the guest room." Faye sighed, rolling her eyes.

"I'm fairly certain I'm not in good enough standing with you for us to be doing anything that young eyes shouldn't see." Henry chuckled, looking hopefully up at the woman gently running her nails over his scalp.

"You are not." Faye confirmed around a giggle of her own, playfully tugging at his hair.

"Easy, love, the baby is right here." Henry lightheartedly scolded, raising his brow at her.

"You should have mentioned you enjoyed that sooner. No time to take advantage of it before I chop it all off now." Faye sighed, reluctantly letting her hand fall away, Henry reaching out to pull her closer, looking up at her hopefully.

"What are the odds I can talk you out of a kiss?" He asked, staring longingly at her mouth. Faye smirked and rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, leaning down to allow him to press a slow, affectionate kiss to her lips, reluctantly pulling back when Briar began to stir from her crying fueled power nap against his neck. "There you are, sleepy head." Henry chuckled, easing the child down to his lap instead.

"You here?" Briar asked, rubbing her still red eyes, staring up at him with a wobbly lower lip.

"I'm here. Would it be ok if you and Mommy stay at my house tonight?" Henry asked, wiping away the dried tears from her face.

"I bring Bunny?" She asked, her face finally splitting into a grin when Henry agreed to her request.  

"You go get Bunny, I'll pack you a few things." Faye instructed, Henry reluctantly setting the girl down so she could do as her mother asked.

"Thank you, so much." Henry sighed, pulling the tiny woman against his large frame, dropping his head to rest against the top of her chest.

"For letting you use my tits as a pillow?" Faye teased, running her fingers through his hair again, wanting to memorize the feel of his curls before she had to chop them all off.

"Secuititty." Henry chuckled, pulling her in to straddle his hips, needing to be even closer to her. "Thank you for giving me another chance."

"Try not to blow it."

"I'll do my absolute best."  

@Xxxkatxo @Weallhaveadestiny

[libraryofloveletters]

Heir To The Throne

Chapter 2: Secrets 

There comes a day where all fathers pass their business down to their children. This was no ordinary business, this was the mafia. You were the sole heir to the throne and you didn’t want it. Your father’s right hands Derek and Aaron are tasked with convincing you otherwise, the last thing you expected to do was fall in love.

Mafia AU

Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader, Derek Morgan x Fem!Reader

Warnings: cemeteries, mentions of garvez, loss of a sibling and parent, smoking, mentions of death, alcohol and the consumption of, little bit of Matt x reader, mentions of sex and sex references, kissing, swearing, guns and use of, threats, breakups 

Word Count: 3.2k

Author’s Note: a chapter gives you a bit of a better insight on everyone! chapter 3 will be on its way soon!! 

Masterlist /// Chapter 1  /// Chapter 3

----

Fog filled the cemetery as Luke drove through the giant iron gates. He was outside when you had come down and offered to drive you. 

You glanced over at the man who had a permanent scowl on his face. “How’s Penelope?” you ask him, a little curl at the edge of his lips appeared. “Oh dude, you totally like her!” you squealed and hit his arm playfully. 

“Shut up y/n, we’re just friends. She’s fine” he answered you, pulling over by the tree. “Just fine?” you questioned and he nodded. 

“Didn’t sound like she was ‘just fine’ last night” wiggling your eyebrows at him, he gave you a stern look. You raised your hands playfully, “your secret is safe with me grumpy” you smiled and turned towards the window. 

Luke placed his hand on your shoulder, you glanced over at him. 

“Do you want me to come with you?” he said, you reached up and gave his hand a squeeze before shaking your head. 

“I’m alright. I won't be long.” 

“Take your time” 

Stepping out of the car after grabbing the bunches of flowers you had, you walked down the pathway to your mother’s grave. You replaced the old flowers that sit beside her tombstone, which you could only assume had been put there by your father, and brushed off dust from the top. Stepping away, you walked down a bit further and sat on the ground in front of a tombstone. 

James Rossi 

1989 - 2015 

Beloved son, brother and friend.

Setting the bunch of flowers beside the tombstone, you let out a sigh. “So I slapped Derek last night. I know it was wrong but he was talking about you like it wasn't his fault.” your hand ran across his name on the stone. “It’s not my fault though, I tried to control myself but he was being a bitch and don’t even get me started on Emily.” you rolled your eyes, “I threw a bottle at her head but she deserved it so I'm not going to apologize for that.” A wind blew through the cemetery, you brushed away the few leaves that fell by the flowers. “Oh! Luke and Penny are totally hooking up and yes, he’s still as grumpy as he was the last time you..” sighing, cutting your sentence short. “Anyways, she seems to make him happy and I'm happy for him” you glanced over your shoulder, you could see Luke standing outside the car on the phone and smoking. 

“I’ll come around more often J, I'll try and get dad to come too. I love you always” you pressed a kiss to your fingers and then pressed it to the stone before getting up. You brushed off the grass and dirt from your legs and headed back to the car. 

“She's coming back, I’ll talk to you later and I love you more” you could hear Luke say to whoever was on the other end of the call. Smiling at him, “tell pens I said hi, lover boy” Luke shot you a glare before you hopped in the car. 

“Stop eavesdropping” he turned the car around, you looked out the window and replied to him, “not my fault you decided to declare your love to miss Garica as I came back” Luke chuckled at your statement. 

“You’re annoying” 

“Oh you love me Al” 

He shook his head and drove back to the villa. Upon arriving home, he excused himself back to the armoury, or so he said. Luke didn’t realize that you too, had seen Penelope waiting down by the garden for him. Heading inside, your father’s laugh was the first thing you heard. 

He hadn't laughed like that since your mother passed. 

As you walked down the foyer, a woman's voice echoed through the empty hallway. “Dave stop it!” she laughed, you pushed the door to the dining hall open. Dave and a blonde woman sat side by side having lunch. “Oh bella, I didn’t realize you’d be back already” your father stood up from his chair as you walked in. “Yeah, I didn't want to stay too long today, I have things to do. Sorry for interrupting, I didn't realize we had company” 

“I, have company, not you” Dave corrected you, “but since you’re here, y/n, this is Krystall. Krystall, this is my daughter y/n” your father introduced the woman to you. She stuck her hand out and you shook it. “Nice to meet you” she smiled and you gave her a nod. 

“Please continue, I'm just here for a drink and then I'm off” you spoke as you walked towards the bar, filling a glass with some whiskey. You pressed a kiss to your father's cheek and walked out. 

“What the actual fuck was that?” you mumbled, walking down the staircase to the basement. 

The hallway lights had been turned off, you fumbled around and felt the wall until finding the switch. There were boxes and crates stacked on each other and lined up against the wall, a light peaked through a crack in the door at the end of the hall. Pushing it open, Spencer sat at a table and Tara’s back was turned to you. “Hello my darlings” you shouted, making Spencer jump. 

“Fucking hell, I told you stop doing that!” he shouted at you, you walked over and ruffled his hair. 

“Calm down pretty boy, no need to stress yourself out” you walked over to Tara, you slung your arm around her shoulder, “hey pretty lady” 

“Hello to you too, what brings you down here to see us?” she asked you, her eyes on the screen in front of her. 

“Other than the fact that my father is entertaining a woman upstairs and I didn’t want to hear nor see that ?” you cringed, “I just missed your beautiful faces” you laughed. 

“So you finally met Krystall ?” Spencer piped up from his table, dividing the cash in front of him, you looked over at your cousin. 

“Finally met her ? How long have you known about her ?” 

“A few weeks ? according to Penelope, she’s been around for a few months because uncle Dave asked her to give Krystall a code for the gate” 

“What?! And you didn't think to tell me?!” you screamed at him. Spencer shouted back at you, “I thought you knew!”  

“Obviously not!” you yelled again, “Spencer some random woman has the gate code to our home and you didn’t think to mention that to me?! She could be here to kill us for all you know!” 

 Spencer rolled his eyes at you, “No need to get your panties in a twist cousin, I'm sure Krystall isn’t here to kill us. She’s a harmless woman, and would it be so bad for your father to start seeing someone ? Maybe he’d finally get off you back about taking over.” 

“Spencer, are you crazy ? This is the worst possible thing, she’s gonna drag him off to some island and leave me here to be in charge. I despise that idea, you know that.” rolling your eyes, your cousin sighed, 

“Just talk to him if you don't like it, you idiot, but shut up now. Not all of us can spend our day shopping with daddy’s money, we have a job to do” he said, turning his attention back to the money, his statement made Tara laugh. 

“Okay fuck you too Spencer, I'll see you two for dinner ? We’re still good for 10 right ?”  

“Sounds good” Tara and Spencer said simultaneously, your brows furrowed, “that was weird but okay. Laters babes” you headed out and ventured back up the stairs and out the door. Emily and JJ stood in the clearing on the grass with maybe 10 or 12 young guys, you could only assume they were the newest recruits to your father’s so called army. Entering at the other side of the building, Matt was in the armoury smoking a blunt. “Is this what I'm paying you for Simmons ?” you walked in, Matt sat up from his seat, he was zoned out but he heard the voice and assumed it was your father, you knew that for sure. 

“No boss, I'm sor- are you kidding?” he saw you standing there with a rather amused look on your face, you bit your lip as you held back a laugh. “Does my father scare you Matt ?” you asked, taking the blunt from him and took a pull. 

“No?” he said, truthfully that sounded more like a question rather than an answer. 

“And the truth ?” you sat down, propping your feet up on the table. 

“Yes” he leaned on the table across from you, you laughed while leaning forward to pass the blunt back to him. “Scaredy cat” you smiled at him, Matt rolled his eyes “you have nothing to worry about, you’re his daughter” 

“Doesn’t mean I’m untouchable” 

“Yeah, it does, actually” 

“Mhm, if I'm untouchable, what happened the other night with you ?” you raised your brows, Matt blushed. “Not what I meant” he said, you stood up and walked towards him. 

“Did I make you blush ?” you slung your arms over his shoulders, your hands coming up to his hair at the nape of his neck, “no of course you don’t, I think it's the other way around” Matt’s hands were on your waist, he lifted you up onto the table. 

“Why are you even in here? Where’s Luke ?” you twirled his hair with your fingers, Matt’s forehead rested against yours, “he’s making out with Penelope in the garden” Matt stated casually.

Pulling away slightly, you looked at him, “what ?” 

“Oh fuck, you didn't know” Matt’s eyes went wide. 

Of course you knew, but Matt didn't know that you knew about Luke and Penelope. 

“I know about them, you can relax” you laughed, “Luke would've killed you if I didn't already know though” your hands cupped Matt’s face. Matt leaned forward, your lips barely touching his. His hands on your lower back, pulling you towards him and closed the gap between the two of you. Your hands fumbled with the buttons on his shirt as his lips moved from your lips to your cheek and then to your neck. 

“Luke I need a g- oh” Derek's voice rang through the room. Matt pulled away from you, he looked like a deer in headlights.

You on the other hand, were as Matt said, untouchable. 

Matt buttoned his shirt back up, “um Luke’s out but I can get you what you need” he told Derek who was still standing at the door watching the scene in front of him unfold. Hopping off the counter, you wiped the lipstick off Matt's lips with your thumb and pressed a kiss to his cheek, “I'll see you around love” 

--

Derek stood off to the side as Matt gathered the things he needed. “Does Dave know what you're doing with his daughter ?”

“I don't see how that concerns him” Matt’s back was turned to him, his response made Derek roll his eyes. 

“If you want to keep your fucking job, you’ll watch yourself” 

“And what does that mean ?” Matt turned, handing him the gun. Derek rolled his eyes, playing with the trigger of the gun. “It means stay away from her or I'll make sure you do.” spinning on his feet, he walked towards the door.

“What’s your issue with me dude ? y/n doesn’t even like you so why are you acting like this ?” 

Derek stopped in his tracks. his back still facing Matt, “and what do you know about how y/n feels towards me?” 

Matt scoffed, “after what happened to her brother, you think she’ll let you tell her what to do with her life?” 

The mention of James triggered something in Derek. James was one of his friends, his best friend in a way. What happened to James wasn’t his fault and he knew that. Derek had spent the last few years trying to get over that very thing. 

“What did you just say to me ?” Derek turned to face him,

“Her brother, his death was your fault wasn’t it ?” Matt repeated himself.

Derek shoved him back slightly, “watch yourself” he mumbled, he really wasn't in the mood to fight with Matt. 

“Or what ?” Matt challenged him and one thing you should never do, is challenge Derek. He has a habit of making his point no matter what. The muzzle of the gun pressed to the side of Matt’s head, Derek’s hand gripping to the collar of his shirt. 

“Let’s try that again” Derek gave him a smug smile. 

“Woah! Der, stop!” Aaron ran in, pulling Derek away from Matt. The gun was still pointed in Matt’s direction, Aaron looked over at Matt and nodded towards the door, Matt running out the door without looking back. 

“Okay, what the fuck was that about D?” 

Aaron took the gun from him and set it aside. Derek shook his head but Aaron knew him better than that, something was bothering him. “I know you man, you wouldn't pull a gun on him for no reason, what’s up ?” 

“It’s stupid” 

“C’mon” 

“It’s James” Derek muttered, his eyes focused on anything, anything that would keep him from looking at Aaron. 

“How- What ? How is that possible ? He shouldn't even- he couldn’t know about that” Aaron was confused, more than usual to tell you the truth. There was no way Matt could know about James, unless.. 

Aaron at Derek who was now looking at him. “Y/n..” he whispered, Derek nodded. 

“Did he say anything else ?” 

“Just that she didn’t like me” 

“Don’t take it to heart, she doesn't like anyone” Aaron gave his shoulder a pat before walking out. Derek stood in the middle of the armoury by himself. There were so many things he needed to fix, to mend, to make right so he could move on. Luke brows furrowed as he walked in, “can I help you ?” his voice startled Derek, “no, I'm good. Just came for this” picking up the gun and tucking it into the waistband on his pants.

--

The drive over was quiet, Derek stopped at the front by the gates and walked the rest of the way. It wasn’t cold but it wasn't warm either and the trees blocked the sun out. This place always gave him the creeps and you’d think a big, strong guy wouldn't get scared that easily but he couldn’t help it.

For the second time today, James had gotten a visitor. 

Derek stood in front of the tombstone. He wasn’t quite sure why he was there, maybe it was the mention of James’s death being his fault or just because his guilty conscience was getting to him. 

“I don’t know why I'm here, honestly. I haven’t been back here since your funeral man, I just- I couldn't.” Derek sighed. 

“It’s not my fault right ? you told me to go, I begged you to let me stay with you and you didn't let me.” he ran his hand over his face, “Your sister blames me. She thinks it’s my fault and she told her stupid little boy toy that.” 

The flowers caught his eye, red roses. 

“Your sister came to see you today didn't she? wait,” Derek chuckled “I'm asking you like you can answer me” he shook his head. 

“Do you know I’ve been getting her roses for her birthday for the past 5 years ? Red roses just like you used to. She doesn't know it’s from me though, she thinks they’re from your father” Derek sighed. 

“I don’t know why, I just- you know what ? I do know. I like her J, I do, like a lot.” he laughed, “holy fuck, I've never said that. I didn’t- wow” Derek paced back and forth for a few moments, he debated if he should tell her or not. She already hates him, what difference does it make ?

--

The heels clicked on the marble tiles as you walked down the staircase. You were just about to head out for dinner with Spencer and Tara when Matt walked past you. 

“Hey! I'm leaving, why are you going upstairs ?” you stopped, turning back and looking up at him. His back was to you, you could hear him sigh. 

“Matt, what’s wrong?” you walk up a few steps towards him, you reach for his hand but he pulls away. 

“y/n.. we can’t do this anymore” 

“What ? What are you talking about?” 

“This,” he refers to you and him, “we can’t keep doing this. You’re going to lead this shit one day and you can’t spend all your time with me, there has to be something more for you.” 

“Where’s this coming from ? What’s going on?” 

Matt didn’t say anything else, instead he met you in the middle of the staircase. His hands cupped your face, “I'm sorry” he whispered before giving you one last kiss. Your forehead rested against his, your hand on his. He stepped back, your hand still on his, he pulled away until your fingers were barely touching, he finally stepped away, leaving you there by yourself. 

There were so many questions. 

Why ? What had happened ? Did your father say something to him ? What was the reason ? Did Derek tell him something ? 

“Bitch, let’s go. We’re running late, Luke and Penelope are already on their way there” Spencer shouted for you from the bottom of the staircase. Your eyes fixed on the top of the stairs, you sighed and shook the feeling, turning towards Spencer with a smile on your face.

“Where’s Matt ? I thought he was coming with us ?” Tara asked as she walked over to the two of you. You shook your head, “he’s not feeling well” you lied, they both knew something was going on between the two of you but you weren't in the mood for it tonight. 

You just wanted one last night out with your family as a 21 year old. 

---

Ahh chapter 2 is done! how do we feeling ? I have something exciting in store for chapter 3! 

Taglist: @mac99martin @aaron-hotchner187 @tclaerh @luke-alvez @iconicc @lieberhers @pumpkin-reads @katexrichardson @sluttytears @thelukealvez @scandinavian-punk @laurenxreynolds @morcias​ @shotarosleftpinky​ @mrs-dr-reid​ @hqtchner​ @averyhotchner​ @ssahoodrathotchner​ @willlemonheadsupremacy​ @ssa-autumn-hotchner​ @potter-reid​ @sunshinepower17​ @emilysbau

[stab-the-son-of-a]

Whumptober No.2 - Talking Is Overrated

CW: Verbal abuse, selective mutism, bullying tactics, threats

“Don’t you ever shut up?” Sheridan asked Bryce.

At first he thought it was a joke, a bit of playful banter. He knew he was a bit of a motormouth and dealt with silences the way arachnophobes dealt with spiders: not well, and sometimes screaming. Frankly he’d been relieved- he and Sheridan hadn’t gotten along as children, but when Bryce’s best friend Leah started dating Sheridan, they both put in the effort for the sake of their mutual connection. Joking felt like a step in the right direction.

Unable to help himself, he laughed at the comment. “I’ve been known to sleep talk, so no,” Bryce joked back, nudging Sheridan’s arm.

His friend’s expression twisted and darkened. “Fuck, you’re insufferable and stupid,” they snarled.

“What are you talking about?” He took a step or two back from them, unable to help the motion. “What’s the problem?”

“You!” They exploded, meeting him step for step and then some, until they had him falling onto his ass on the couch and staring up. And then they leaned in, bordering him with their arms and getting right in his face. “You. Are. The. Problem.”

“I- I— what—”

“You’re obnoxious. You can’t keep your mouth shut about anything.”

He flinched at the reminder that he’d let slip a detail about the surprise party for Leah, but he also knew that people hiding and yelling surprise was the exact opposite of Leah’s idea for a good time. “Look,” Bryce began.

“Don’t say a word. For once in your life, shut up and listen.”

Bryce nodded. He was sitting down, to be sure, but he felt like he was sinking through the couch while his head floated away. It was stupid. He could shut up for a minute. His mouth felt too dry to speak anyway.

Sheridan continued, “You’re a fucking disgrace. No one wants to hear about your days scraping by through college or the little bronze trophy you got running a marathon once, or how your boss once gave you a raise because the minimum wage increased. I know these are the only things you have to be proud of but no one cares, Bryce.”

He… he had other accomplishments. He graduated college with honors. He landed a nice job. He had friends that liked him. He…

He had to put in too much effort to get a B. His uncle got him that interview, and his boss was too lenient and hands off to notice he wasn’t up to par. His friends only invited him out when they went somewhere loud, louder than him.

And the whole time, Sheridan remained in their position. Bryce’s chest tightened, wondering when this was meant to end and how. They didn’t lay a finger on him, didn’t even come close, but he felt penned in from all sides.

“You think you’re this great comedian, but you’re not. You don’t get it that just because no one reacted doesn’t mean they didn’t hear you. How arrogant can you get that you think the only reason people aren’t awkwardly entertaining at your stupid attempts at humor or engagement is because they didn’t hear it.”

Unbidden, Bryce remembered all those times when he had assumed they hadn’t heard him, when he said the same comment until someone answered him. That was… obnoxious. How hadn’t he noticed that pattern?

“Is it sinking in yet, Bryce? On a good day people tolerate you. But you go and fuck it up and make every regret trying to be nice and give you a chance.”

“That’s… that’s not true,” Bryce whispered, as if speaking any louder would prove Sheridan right.

They smacked the back of the couch, too close to his head— but they didn’t actually hit him. His heart still ground against his rib cage like a bonesaw. Sheridan lowered their voice as they stated, “It is.”

You’re an ass. You’re a jerk. You’re lying. But the words clogged in his throat, thick and sharp and cloying, like a razor thin wire cinching it shut.

“Try paying attention more and listening instead of talking constantly.” Finally, Sheridan relaxed and pulled back, granting Bryce breathing room. They smiled slightly, almost warm and definitely amused. “Now don’t you dare go and act ridiculous about our private discussion, Bryce. That mouth of yours could get you in trouble.”

Private. Bryce could do private. Just for now. Just because he still wasn’t sure what the hell just happened between them. Was Sheridan threatening him? Or was he just on edge and paranoid because he was overreacting to someone getting into his personal space? What would he even say? Who would he even tell? Leah adored Sheridan. She’d been over the moon and hopelessly in love since day one. She called them her soulmate.

Swallowing, and struggling to get the saliva past his too dry, too tight throat, Bryce nodded his agreement.

On their way out, Sheridan reminded him, “Try not to make an ass of yourself tonight. I have big plans and I don’t need your ego getting in the way.”

-

Bryce didn’t start out trying to listen to Sheridan’s… advice. In fact he wanted to talk more just to spite them, especially after he’d started on his second beer, but every time he tried to join the conversation, to throw in his two cents, to make a timely joke, his throat became tight and he struggled to speak past it. By the time he worked through it, the moment had passed and the conversation had moved on, so he kept quiet.

That night, while out with their friends, Sheridan asked Leah to marry them. She said yes. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes, and she peppered their face with kisses and showed off the ring to anyone and everyone.

She was so happy. The night turned out wonderful.

After, when everyone started to peel away from the conversation and the festivities to return to their normal lives, Leah pulled Bryce aside.

“You’ve been really quiet tonight,” she said.

So people had noticed. An odd feeling squirmed in his chest, but he smiled through it. “Throat’s a little sore,” he lied.

“You’ve probably strained something along the way, Sir Talks-a-lot.” Leah pulled him into a tight hug. Bryce sank into the contact, holding on to her and the comfort as long as he could, but too soon she pulled back. Where her hands lingered on his arms abruptly prickled, though she smiled at him. She was holding on to him, not holding him in place. “I want to ask you something.”

Shoot. Go ahead. I’m all ears. All sorts of answers sprung to mind but he just nodded.

“Would you be my Man of Honor?”

Bryce stopped. Thinking, breathing, probably other functions too. Yes. Yes. He wanted to support her on her day, hell he even wanted to support Sheridan, because they meant so much to her.

“Y-yeah,” he stammered. “Yes.” Could he say anything other than yes? He was repeating himself. That was annoying.

Shame burned up in his cheeks and he bit down on the rest of his mindless babble. Over Leah’s shoulder, he saw Sheridan approaching. Before Bryce could ruin the moment, he embraced her again, staring blankly over her shoulder as he tried to regain his regular heart rhythm.

“Love you,” Bryce murmured when they finally let go of each other.

“Love you too. Rest that voice of yours, okay?”

He just smiled back at her. It felt awkward and stilted, like he’d forgotten how to move his lips. To his amazement, Sheridan returned the expression as well as they wound an arm around Leah’s shoulders.

“Leah-bunny,” they whispered, “the car is all warmed up. Let’s head out.”

“Oh! Wonderful! Take care, Bryce. Text me when you get home safe, okay?”

He nodded. He swallowed and he nodded as he watched his best friend and her fiancé start to walk away.

Sheridan paused after a few feet and looked over their shoulder. “Oh, and Bryce? Thanks for tonight.”

Thanks for not ruining things. Thanks for not talking too much. It wasn’t just Sheridan who’d appreciated it. The whole group had laughed more, talked more, enjoyed the night more. Clearly they also had noticed the way Bryce finally stopped trying to hog the attention. Clearly they all approved.

He couldn’t think of anything to say in response to Sheridan’s comment, not even hours later, when he sat up in bed and stared out the window at a distant street lamp.

-

Bryce only really noticed it when, six months later, he tried to sit down and draft up a speech for Leah and Sheridan’s wedding, when he sat down in front of a blank piece of paper and couldn’t even consider putting a mark on it.

His mind was static. A heavy blanket of gray and black television snow, or maybe an all obscuring cloud of ash, so thick and oppressive that he couldn’t even breathe.

Gasping, Bryce crumpled the empty paper and threw it and the pen across the room. It was pathetic, it was overdramatic, he was an attention seeking, arrogant prick, and now he was crying and sobbing like a fucking child—

He didn’t know how or when each development occurred. It all seemed like one long blur, marked only by the knowledge that no one had stopped him, no one discouraged the progression.

His emails and texts were short and to the point, the bare minimum. He never reached out to anyone, only responding, and he turned down one on one invitations, so he could blend into the conversation carried by everyone else. Bryce became a detail in the background of life, something to overlook, rather than a participant. The only person not happy about the changes was him.

Bryce couldn’t remember the last time he said a word out loud. Curling up, he buried his head into his knees and tried. He tried opening his mouth and trying to say something frivolous, something at all to prove he still could, but his heart beat rabbit fast and his throat tightened, so narrow he couldn’t even breathe or swallow let alone speak. Tears wet the denim of his knees as he shrank up tighter in a ball.

Even his sobs were silent.

[cherryrogers]

➸ call me baby {2/3}

SUMMER NIGHTS

pairing: bucky barnes x reader | biker au

warnings: swearing, violence, implied smut, mainly fluff.

word count: 7.8k

synopsis: Returning to Brooklyn for the summer after a year of travelling from city to city, you hadn’t expected to find your best friend, Peggy Carter, hopelessly in love with a biker. And when she decided to introduce you to the rest of his club, you hadn’t expected to fall for one either. That was until you met one with pretty eyes and a habit of calling you baby.

series masterlist

a/n: ok so this has turned into a three part series!! the next part will likely be a bit shorter, but i wanted to wrap up the story properly and i felt that needed it’s own separate part. i’m gonna post a masterlist for this series tomorrow, and i might write some drabbles for this fic to add to it once it’s finished if anyone has any hc/drabble ideas they’d like to send in?? i need to stop rambling so much lmao,,, please enjoy!!

Sunsets; consisting of an array of warm tones, reds and oranges bleeding into each other, casting a dim, natural light over cities before the artificial yellow beaming of street lamps lit up the world instead. A comforting reminder that every bad day eventually ends, but a sad reminder that every perfect day ends too.

In your case, they’d been unsettling ends to a continuous string of perfect days. And following those, a bright sunrise poured light through your windows every morning, indicating that you were one day closer to the end of the summer.

Currently, the deep, warm sky was the background of a blissful ride through the city. Perched on the back of Bucky’s motorcycle, your arms enveloping his waist, fingertips grazing lightly over his stomach through his shirt. No destination in particular; just an excuse to be close to one another.

Since the night at Wanda’s bar, the night where you simply let yourself begin to feel for Bucky, things had been different. Better.

Rides around the city were a frequent occurrence, usually happening when Bucky offered to take you home on his bike, but taking the long way back to enjoy the view and the feeling of you next to him for a short while longer.

It was therapeutic, tranquil. Well, until your road rage got the best of you.

“Dude, it’s a green light,” You shouted at the car in front you. “Green means go, didn’t you learn that in kindergarten?”

“Christ, you realise you’re yellin’ straight in my ear, right?”

“Sorry, Buck,” You patted his chest apologetically, before proceeding to yell once again. “Not my fault some people don’t know how traffic lights work!”

It was entertaining to Bucky, anyway. Even if it did earn you some middle fingers, which you gladly returned.

As the sky began to lose its vibrant hue, the two of you headed back in the direction of your place, definitely your least favourite part of the ride, but you savoured it nevertheless.

You were friends. Teasing each other incessantly because you just bounced off one another like that, but you often found yourself gravitating towards him. During meals at the clubhouse, you sat in the same spot as you did when you entered the place for the first time; right next to Bucky. While that likely meant for Steve and Peggy that they were in for a painful time, consisting of them slowly losing their patience with you both, they didn’t mind. Well, they did a little.

It’d been almost two hours since you started your game of Monoply. You weren’t sure if you were anywhere near the end of the game, but everyone was still pretty into it. Clint and Sam were paired up as a team, Steve and Peggy shared the little top-hat token, you and Bucky had the wheelbarrow, and Natasha had the car. She claimed she worked better when was on her own team, which was proved to be true by the fact she was winning.

It was Steve and Peggy’s turn to roll, and their top hat was moved to land on the ‘Boardwalk’ space.

“Oh, that’s our space!” You chirped. “Pay up, my dudes.”

“_____, you don’t have a house on that space.”

“Well, could you pass me one? I want this space.”

“You have to buy one.”

“Then I’ll buy one.”

Peggy sighed. “It’s not your turn, you can’t buy a house. Your token isn’t even on that space.”

You furrowed your brows, turning to Bucky. Maybe you should’ve read the rules before playing; you’d never actually played Monoply before. “Oh. That kinda sucks then.”

After a moment, Bucky reached over to the little bag of houses, picking one out and placing it on the Boardwalk space.

“Buck, that’s cheating.” Steve glared at his friend, who only shrugged innocently.

“She’s never played before, let her just have the damn house.”

“You’re only sayin’ that ‘cause she’s on your team, jerk.”

Bucky just shrugged again, turning to shoot you a wink as you smirked in satisfaction and placing your little house on the space, missing Steve and Peggy sharing a look of annoyance as they passed a pile of yellow bills over to you.

It was safe to say the two of you weren’t allowed to play as a team during board games anymore. Natasha always won the games anyway, so it’s not like you and him cheating made much of a difference.

You thought things were moving smoothly with Bucky. You knew that you liked him, and you wouldn’t be surprised if he already knew that — it was pretty fucking obvious at this point. But it would be a rather dumb move to escalate things even if you wanted to. The summer would be over in two months, one third of it was already gone, and you would be too by the beginning of September. Naively, you’d told yourself that you simply wouldn’t take things further. Easy enough, right?

Wrong; so very wrong. You’d proved to yourself that you seriously needed to stop acting impulsively on one fateful after a day spent at the clubhouse.

You’d been about to leave, but had decided to head off to the office where Bucky had been pretty much all evening while everyone else was out in the backyard, which was odd considering you would’ve assumed he’d be the last to not spend the night drinking beer and hanging out with friends over, well, anything else.

You knocked loudly on the door, hearing shuffling and the clicking of a computer keyboard before a quiet ‘come in’ followed. Furrowing your brows, you stepped into the room, eyes landing on the biker slumped in the chair at the desk, forcing a small smile. Did he really think your were that oblivious?

“You’ve been hiding in here all night,” You approaches the desk, crossing your arms over your chest. “Is there something you wanna share with the class?”

Bucky’s eyes flickered between the computer screen and your face, before he shook his head. “Just dealin’ with club stuff.”

“Hm, and what counts as club stuff?”

“It’s stuff you don’t need to worry about.”

You scoffed. “Huh, what happened to not doing stuff you shouldn’t be? Not getting into trouble?”

“Do you ever mind your own business?” Bucky questioned bluntly, though there was a smirk tugging at his lips.

Mirroring his expression, you leaned against the desk next to him. “Not when someone is clearly trying to hide something.

The biker bit the inside of his cheek, contemplating for a few moments. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust you. Sure, he’d only known you around a month now, but you were... his friend. A good friend. He just didn’t want you mixed up in anything dangerous. Steve wasn’t lying when he said that the club tried to stay out of trouble, because they definitely didn’t go out of their way to get into shitty situations. But if they needed to get their hands a little dirty to deal with clubs that thrived off trouble, then so be it.

Eventually, Bucky sighed, moving a hand back over his computer mouse and letting the screen light up again. Crinkling your brows, your eyes scanned the screen. He’d been looking at a map of Brooklyn, and the little red location pointer was pinned onto a warehouse downtown.

“Peter Parker, he’s just a kid. Parents died when he was barely five, lost his uncle a few years back. He lives at home with his aunt in Queens since he’s still in school, but we sorta took him in a while ago. The night after his uncle died, Tony found him on the sitting on the curb a few blocks away from here, completely distraught. He managed to talk him down though, and found out he was pretty good with engineering. We said if he wanted, he could help out with fixing bikes and cars at the clubhouse, and he comes by every so often since then.”

You didn’t know Tony that well; he was a little older than the rest of the club, and he lived outside of the clubhouse with his wife, Pepper. You hadn’t met Peter at all, but you trusted Bucky when he said that he was a good kid.

“Last week, he showed up to the here with a busted lip and broken nose. Said that Rumlow and his guys had jumped him, and that they wanted him to do a job for them — collect a weapon shipment from this warehouse.” Bucky nodded towards the screen.

At the mention of Brock Rumlow, you felt your jaw tighten. Thankfully, he’d kept his distance from Wanda’s bar since your last encounter with him, but you were still pissed off about the show he put on there, and there was nothing you regretted more than not jumping over the bar top and kicking him in the balls. Now he’d resorted to threatening a kid and making him do his dirty work?

“So, what’s the plan?”

“Peter’s meant to meet the guy delivering the weapons next week, so I’m gonna take Nat, Sam and Tony down to the warehouse and deal with any of Rumlow’s guys that are nearby.”

Upon seeing your face light up, Bucky chuckled, standing from his seat. “And no, you can’t come.”

“Bucky, I’m not a woman of many talents, but if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s handing people’s asses to them.” You lifted your chin confidently.

“Baby—”

You held a finger up to shush him. “Okay, I know I said that I liked when you call me that, but not now. Brock is the guy that grabbed me, Buck. And the guy that punched you in the face!”

“I know, and we’ll deal with him,” A smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Besides, I thought you weren’t part of any club. Can’t do club stuff if you’re not a member.”

“Well, not that I want to... but how would one go about becoming part of your little gang?” You weren’t lying; you definitely did not want to be a damn biker, but you did want the chance to boot Brock Rumlow and his group of dipshits in the face.

“You could become an old lady.” The biker cocked a brow, and you chuckled heartily.

Not that you were up to date with the biker lingo, but you could take a good guess at what being an old lady meant. “Hm, if only there was someone that wanted me to be their old lady.”

Narrowing his eyes, Bucky glanced over your features, waiting for you to laugh and brush the comment off as a joke since the majority of your vocabulary was sarcasm, but you didn’t. The corners of your lips curled up slightly, not teasingly, but softly...

...Until you became painfully aware of the silence that’d fell upon the two of you, and let out a sigh to break it. It was already late when you were supposed to leave, anyway. Now, the dim moonlight was casting shadows outside of the office window, the only source of bright light being the yellow streams from lampposts dotted up and down the quiet street.

“Well, I should get going.” You reluctantly stepped back from him.

“You don’t have to go, you know. Peggy stays overnight when it’s late.”

You chuckled. “Yeah, cause Peggy has a boyfriend that she can share a bed with.”

“Hey, I’ve got a double bed.” Bucky teased, and you’d be lying if you said sleeping next to him in his bed didn’t make you feel a certain type of way.

Though, you definitely wouldn’t let him know that. “You’re stupid, Bucky.”

He shrugged, following you as you continued for the door of the office. “I mean, even if I had a single—”

“I would still not be getting in your bed,” You deadpanned, finishing his sentence for him and promoting the stupidly hot little smirk of his to appear again. “Okay, now I’m leaving. Goodbye, Bucky.”

“I’ll give you a ride.”

“No you will not,” You breathed out a laugh. “There are two bottles of beer on that desk and death isn’t on the cards for me tonight — can’t get rid of me that easily.”

A look of realisation washed over his face, a pink colour tinting his cheeks. Was Bucky Barnes blushing? That was certainly a sight, and what a sight it was.

“S’alright — I don’t wanna get rid of you,” The biker stepped in front of you, dangerously close as your back hit the door. “Not yet, anyway.”

You couldn’t lie; Bucky was hot, he was beautiful. Even when he was being a sarcastic ass, but he was just as much one of them as you were. God dammit, as much as you wanted to slap yourself for letting your insides melt for a guy you didn’t know all that well, you knew that if you didn’t fucking kiss him right this second that you’d regret the hell out of it later.

And so, you did.

You grabbed the collar of the leather jacket he never failed to make an appearance without— or perhaps he just had a lot of leather jackets, though leather jackets didn’t necessarily need washed so it was probably the same jacket— not the time, _____. Carrying on, you swiftly captured his lips with yours, relief washing through you as you felt him react almost immediately. Almost, he definitely wasn’t expecting you to do that.

The kiss was gentle; gentle enough so that you could simply savour the feeling of his lips on yours, the taste a mixture of smoke and minty chewing gum. It was slow, but quick. Bucky didn’t even have the chance to move his hands to your waist before you pulled back, raising your hand to trace his bottom lip with your thumb.

“You still planning on getting rid of me?” You grinned, amused by the biker’s dumbfounded expression.

He laughed breathily after a couple of seconds, nose nudging yours playfully. “Not if you keep kissin’ me like that, baby.”

“Hm, maybe you’ll just get lucky again.” You pushed at his chest softly, letting you step forward and open the door to leave the office.

Bucky let out a scoff. “You’re really just gonna leave? After that?”

You shrugged, cocking a brow. “I mean, I could stay if you let me come with you next week...”

“No chance,” He smiled smugly. “Shut the door on your way out, will you?”

“You know what? I’m never kissing you again.”

“Whatever you say, _____.”

You rolled your eyes at his cocky tone, turning to make your way out of the room. “And I’m leaving the door open!”

“Hm, get home safe.” He called back.

Trying to bite back a smile as you looked over your shoulder back at him, you mouthed a final goodbye and left the office, a rush of feelings suddenly emerging as you stepped out of the clubhouse and onto the street.

You’d just kissed Bucky. You had kissed Bucky. And he had kissed you back. Well, shit.

Did you need to talk about it with him? What it meant for the two of you? Did he just kiss you for the fun of it or did he actually have feelings for you? Ugh. You’d always hated serious conversations, because apparently using sarcasm to cover up actually talking about your feelings was inappropriate and unhealthy. That’s what Peggy always told you, anyway. Perhaps there was no conversation to be had. Bucky could be your summer fling; a couple of months of fun before you were off on your travels again. The only reason he kissed you back might’ve been because he knew you were leaving eventually, which meant he didn’t have to commit to you.

Whatever — you were simply going to go with the flow. If you and Bucky ended up becoming... something more, that would be great. If not, you’d be slightly disappointed, but you’d be out of Brooklyn soon enough to forget about it.

And now, as you tightened your arms around the biker’s waist, you just enjoyed the moment. As someone that rarely stayed in a city for longer than a couple of weeks, enjoying the moment was all that you could do.

* * *

“Pegs, I am working. You can’t just call and ask me this kinda stuff during a shift.”

“I certainly can, especially when I had to hear it first from Steve.”

A strained sign fell from your lips as you leaned against bar, checking that no customers were approaching the counter before you turned your back. “I was gonna tell you, I promise. I didn’t think Bucky was gonna kiss and tell as soon as it happened.”

“I don’t think it was exactly a kiss and tell situation,” Peggy chuckled over the phone. “Steve said it was written all over his face after you’d left the clubhouse.”

Feeling heat rushing to your own face, you lowered your head, hoping no one was observing the bartender getting all embarrassed. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to tell Peggy about your kiss with Bucky. She was your best friend, of course you wanted to tell her. But considering that you weren’t really sure what direction you and him were going in, you thought perhaps that it’d be better to just keep it between you and him, like a Danny and Sandy situation — if everyone had known about their summer affair, it wouldn’t have been the same.

“Can you... tell him to not question Bucky about it?” You asked. “You told me he’d never been in a proper relationship before and neither have I. I think we need to work out... whatever we are ourselves, you know?”

Since the kiss, you hadn’t had the chance to even see Bucky that much. Wanda had been asking you to work more shifts at the bar because one of your co-workers was going on vacation for two weeks, which you didn’t mind doing. Other than hanging out with Peggy and seeing everyone at the clubhouse, it’s not like you had much better to do. Plus, it meant more money to put towards your travels at the end of the summer. At the rate you were earning and including what you already had saved up, you’d be getting your dream London trip a lot sooner than you’d thought.

“Of course, I understand,” She replied. “_____, I— I don’t want to play devil’s advocate, but have you thought about what’ll happen when summer ends? When you leave Brooklyn?”

The thought had crossed your mind, yes, though it was also pushed to the back of your mind whenever it popped up. In all honesty, you had zero clue what’d happen when you left Brooklyn again.

“Nope,” You said defeatedly. “Do I need to think about that now? What if we don’t even last until the end of summer?”

From the pause in conversation, you could just tell that Peggy knew you were bullshitting. “Okay, I’m going to pretend you did not just say that. You don’t just kiss guys, _____. And Bucky doesn’t get all flushed from kissing any old woman. It’s obvious you two click easily, and I honestly don’t think it’s something that can just end once you leave.”

The girl was right, she was completely right, but you weren’t sure what the hell you were supposed to do. It’s not like you could stay in Brooklyn forever and abandon your travels. That wasn’t who you were; staying wouldn’t be you being true to yourself. You couldn’t throw that away for a man you barely knew, a guy that possibly may not want you anymore after the summer ends, though there was a large part of you that didn’t believe that.

“I can’t talk about this right now, Peggy, I’m sorry. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the kiss earlier, everything is just... it’s just confusing,” You rambled, wanting to steer the conversation away from your love life for the night. It was nearing nine o’clock, and with an hour still left of your shift, you didn’t want to waste your energy on a conversation that could be had another time. “Anyway, how is everyone? Has Steve heard from Bucky?”

This night was also the night that poor Peter Parker was meant to be carrying out Rumlow’s dirty work, and Bucky was going to get his club to back off. Well, hopefully. He’d already been punched in the face by that bastard once, you hoped that he’d be able to avoid having that happen again. You’d texted him earlier, telling him to let you know when he was home and safe because you would, in fact, worry about him. He teased you for your concern, but you frankly didn’t care. The fact they were having Peter pick up a weapon shipment implied that they wanted to use them to hurt people, and opposing biker clubs seemed like the type of people they’d target.

“They’ve been out an hour, so they should hopefully be back soon,” Peggy assured you. “We haven’t heard from them yet, though.”

“Right,” You exhaled, a little upset that there was no update from them. The sound of the door opening a few metered behind you reminded you that you were still at work, and that you should probably say goodbye to Peggy for the time being. “I’ve gotta go, Pegs — duty calls. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Alright, darling. Be careful going home.”

With a quiet ‘will do’, you quickly ended the phone call and shoved the device into your jean pocket, turning around to identify the source of the footsteps getting closer to the bar. Well, fuck.

An ugly smirk, scruffy jaw, messy hair — Brock fucking Rumlow was standing right in front of you.

You could’ve laughed, in fact, you did laugh. He was back, even after the embarrassing show he put on last time he was at the bar, and this time, he was alone.

Putting back the glass you’d pulled out from under the bar on instinct, because there was no way you were serving him, you cocked a brow, waiting for him to make the first move.

He slid onto the stool in front of you, the same place he’d sat during his last visit. There was a short silence as his dark eyes roamed your face, before he exhaled heavily. “You not gonna ask for my order?”

“No.” You answered instantly. It looked like he was expecting the cold shoulder from the way he chuckled at your answer.

You wanted to ask what he was doing here, why he wasn’t down at that random warehouse making sure the teenager he manipulated was doing the job correctly, but you didn’t imagine it was a good idea to let on that Bucky was telling you about that sort of stuff. He’d probably try to hurt him as opposed to you, and you didn’t want to put Bucky in any unnecessary shit.

“You know, it’s against the law to refuse service to an innocent customer.”

Clearly, he didn’t know the law at all, but you found it awfully ironic that he was claiming that you were in the wrong side of the law. You cocked your brow higher. “And you’re always abiding by the law, Brock?”

“What makes you think I’m not?” The man narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t know,” You shrugged nonchalantly. “Last time you were here, you were the one assaulting an innocent customer, and me.”

Brock scoffed. “You’re calling Barnes innocent?”

You only stared at him, waiting for an elaboration.

“Do you know where he is right now?”

Yes — dealing with your bullshit and the rest of your gang.

“Enlighten me.”

“A dirty warehouse across town, meeting a dude that’s sellin’ him weapons. Rifles, pistols, you name it.” He leaned forward on his elbows, pursing his lips.

Chewing on your bottom lip, you met his eyes, dark and full of hope that he’d somehow miraculously turned you against Bucky -- he was going to have to try a little harder than that if he wanted to sell his lies.

“Where are the rest of you pals, Brock?”

He furrowed his brows. “Down at the warehouse, shutting down the deal.”

“And why aren’t you with them, hm? I don’t think it’s ‘cause you decided you wanted a drink over the chance to screw Bucky and his club over.”

The guy clearly thought you were oblivious, that you’d be naive enough to believe that Bucky was the one having Peter collect the weapons instead of him. Maybe he thought it’d turn you against him, and then you’d carelessly join Rumlow’s club without a second thought. Even if Bucky hadn’t told you anything, there wasn’t a thing that could come out of Rumlow’s mouth that could convince you Bucky’s club was doing anything of the sort.

Unfortunately, the comment seemed to tip the conversation in the exact way you hadn’t wanted it to.

Brock’s jaw clenched, eyes hardening as he sat up properly on the stool. “What’s he been tellin’ you, huh?”

“I think it’s time for you to go, Brock.” You glared at the man. There was no way you were letting him sit and annoy the shit out of you when you weren’t going to serve him.

“You see,” He laughed emptily. “If Barnes has been spillin’ things that he shouldn’t be, I need to know. Can’t have any false information spreading.”

“False information, right,” You muttered. In your defense, all you knew about his club was about them manipulating Peter. Though you could assume that wasn’t the only stupid shit they were doing, you didn’t know anything else for sure. “Well, you’re wasting your time. I don’t know anything, so get out of here.”

Brock tutted, rising from his seat and cracking his knuckles. “You’re a good liar, but I ain’t buyin’ it.”

“That’s not my problem,” You glowered, loving quickly around the bar to pace towards the door, opening it in an attempt to lure him out. “You need to go, or I’ll call Wanda over.”

Stalking towards you, the man shook his head. “If Barnes thinks he can tell his little girlfriend all of our business, he’s a fucking idiot,” He took a grasp on your wrist, his other hand curling into a fist. “Someone’s gotta show him what the consequences of that are.”

Anger flashed in your eyes as you struggled against his grip. “Get off me, dude. I don’t know anything.”

“Liar.” He murmured, before taking his fist and colliding it with your cheek abruptly.

A groan of pain left your lips as you stumbled back, the clutch on your wrist gone as Brock eyed you cautiously. Carefully, you brought your hand to where you’d been hit, blood quickly staining your fingertips as they grazed over the cuts on your skin from Brock’s rings. He’d hit you. That stupid, fucking son of a bitch had punched you. If there was any justifiable reason for you to kick him in the balls, this was it, and you were going to take advantage of the opportunity.

He definitely thought you were done with him for the night; you could tell by the way his chapped lips curled into a sick smile. He thought he’d won — how cute.

When your parents made you take self-defense classes ‘just as a precaution’ when you were a teenager, you thought it was unreasonable. Now, you’d never been more thankful.

Brushing your hair out of your face, your eyes flickered up to Brock, who was still staring down at you. Slowly, you moved so that your back was pressed against the closed bar door, clasping your hands around the long metal handle. The man assumed you were just catching your breath, and wasn’t ready for when you forcefully pushed your body forward, raising a booted foot and slamming it into his crotch.

A string of swear words fell from his lips as his upper body fell forward, Fuck it, you thought, striding over to his hunched over form and smashing your own fist against his cheek. He staggered back, just catching himself on the bar. Eyes wide, he raised his head to scowl at you, spitting blood from his freshly split lip onto the floor beside him.

From the other side of the bar, Wanda jogged over to the scene, an unimpressed scowl on her face. “What the hell is going on?”

The woman knew it wasn’t you causing the trouble, and there was even a smug smirk threatening to peak through her annoyed demeanor at the sight of Brock Rumlow with a split lip. She strode over to him, pulling him up harshly by the collar of his jacket.

“You’re banned from this bar. If I see you in here again, you’re getting a bullet straight through your gut, yes?” Wanda practically spat at the man, who nodded reluctantly and pulled away from her grasp. She turned to you, a small smile on her lips. “_____, you’re free to go early. Do you need...?”

Wanda eyed your cut cheek and bruised jaw, but you only shook your head. “Thanks, Wan, but I’ll just head home.”

The strawberry-blond nodded, sending a final glare towards Brock before heading back behind the bar.

Of course, your stubborn self wouldn’t let yourself leave without having the last word, causing you to approach him as he haphazardly stood from where he’d fallen. “If I ever have the displeasure of seeing you again, and you try to hurt me or anyone else, I’ll cut off your fingers and force them down your throat, you got that?”

Before you could wait for an answer, you were spinning around and heading out the double doors of the bar, ignoring the throb on the left side of your face as a satisfied smirk crept onto your lips. You’d never considered yourself to be a violent person, but when it came to assholes like Brock Rumlow, you didn’t mind getting your hands a little dirty. When you told Peggy about what happened, she’d likely scold you for even just mouthing back at him. You had zero regrets, however. You’d always wanted to experience a bar fight, and now you’d experienced one first hand.

As if on cue, your phone buzzed in your pocket. Stretching out your aching knuckles, you swiped it from your jeans.

Back at the clubhouse safe and sound. You want me to pick you up from work in an hour?

You chuckled under your breath, typing out a response.

Can you come up now? Wanda let me off early.

Sure, I’ll be there soon. Did you do something special to get off at this time?

Pausing, you debated whether to let him know straight away about the incident. You decided against it; when he saw your face, he’d figure it out soon enough.

Something like that...

After twenty minutes of aimlessly standing outside of the bar, the familiar roar of a motorcycle engine caught your attention. As the bike came to a stop, the beaming headlights had you squinting to even make out the outline of Bucky in the dark. However, judging by the speed at which he was dismounting the bike, you were sure that the light had allowed him to see the state of you.

“Holy shit, _____,” Bucky paced over to you, hands coming to your shoulders. “What the hell happened?”

You let out a hesitant laugh. “Uh, rough shift?”

Scoffing, the biker narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, looks like it. What— are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” You assured him, removing his hands from your shoulders and squeezing them comfortingly. “Trust me, you should see the other guy.”

“You were fighting?”

“Bucky,” You intervened, for now deciding against telling him that it was in fact Brock Rumlow you’d gotten on the wrong side of. It’d only result in him marching into the bar himself and starting another disturbance, and you wouldn’t be surprised if Wanda pulled out her pistol again. “C’mon, can we go? My house, the clubhouse, wherever — I’ll explain when half of my face isn’t aching like hell.”

The man paused, eyeing you cautiously before a soft chuckle left his lips. “You’re somethin’ else, you know that?”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” You patted his chest, plastering on a smile. “Now come on; I didn’t wait this long to clean you up when you got decked across the face.”

With an amused eye roll, Bucky tugged on your hand and led you to the bike. He’d never seen someone so calm after getting a punch to the face, but then again — as cliché as it was — he’d never met anyone like you before.

Half an hour later, the biker had you sat on the counter-top in one of the bathrooms at the clubhouse, standing between your legs and gently dabbing at your cut with a wet cloth. The bleeding had stopped by the time you got to the clubhouse, but it still needed cleaned up. You were holding a cool ice pack to your jaw, watching him intently as he took care of you. Might as well take the opportunity to stare at the guy, right?

“I’m gonna put some antiseptic cream on the cut, just to make sure it doesn’t get infected.” He muttered, reaching for the tub of it in the wooden cabinet above you.

“Are you getting a sense of déjà vu too?” You quirked a brow, eliciting a smirk from him.

“Hm, a little bit; I guess we both just can’t avoid trouble,” Bucky cupped your jaw as he applied the cream, chuckling when you mumbled a ‘motherfucker’ under your breath at the sting. “You gonna tell me what happened?”

“Well,” You sighed. “Long story short... Brock Rumlow happened.”

Pulling back, Bucky furrowed his brows and waited for you to elongate the story, but you only shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. You knew that Brock being involved would only fuel a rage that he couldn’t relieve.

He bit the inside of his cheek, a frustrated laugh falling from his lips. “Rumlow did this to you? Why didn’t you tell me at the bar? Was he still there? I would’ve went in there and—”

“I know exactly what you would’ve done; why do you think I waited until now to tell you?” Though you were smiling, Bucky was still understandably apprehensive. Pursing your lips, you grabbed one of his loosely clenched fists and held it in your lap. “I meant it when I said ‘you should’ve seen the other guy’ — Brock’s face looks the same as mine and he got a boot to the balls. Plus, I think his ego was bruised enough without someone else going in there and knockin’ his lights out.”

Sighing, Bucky shook his head, unable to suppress a small grin. He never underestimated your power; anyone would be a fool to do so. When you were angry, you showed it. When someone hit you, you hit them back harder, metaphorically and literally. It wasn’t even that you had a short temper, you just didn’t put up with people’s shit, and Bucky highly admired that. “Well, I’m jealous of anyone that was there to see it — I bet it was damn hot.”

You scoffed, though seconds later you were shrugging in agreement. “It definitely was, you would’ve loved it.”

While he returned the first-aid stuff to their rightful places in the bathroom, you explained to Bucky what had gotten Brock so riled up. He wasn’t surprised that Brock tried to convince you that he was the bag guy in all of this; he’d tried to do it with Peggy too when she first started dating Steve. In his misogynistic mind, he thought that women were naive enough to be persuaded of anything that he wanted them to believe, and that by getting you on his side would mean he’d ‘won’ over Bucky. Perhaps he’d learned his lesson that night to not underestimate a woman’s power — dumbass.

Down at the warehouse, they’d managed to get Peter out of there before the person delivering the weapon shipment could arrive. There were one or two of Rumlow’s guys there keeping watch, but without him, they ran away like scared children. You teased Bucky about being a ‘big bad biker’ as he explained the night to you, but he insisted it was Natasha that had them crapping their pants; she never usually made an effort to hide the set of knives on her hip, and she apparently had a death-stare that could have anyone shaking in their boots. With him being banned from Wanda’s bar and unsuccessful with his plan of using Peter, they doubted Brock Rumlow would show his face around the area for a while. He’d only be embarrassing himself if he did.

Not long after your cut had been tended to and the pain in your jaw had subsided, you found yourself once again fighting the temptation to stay the night at the clubhouse — the temptation being a whiny biker named Bucky Barnes.

“But you’ve had a rough day,” He bargained, following after you as you made your way to the front door of the clubhouse. “It’ll save you the ride back if you stay.”

Chortling lightly, you turned around to face him. “A rough day? Buck, I gave an asshole a well-deserved kick in the balls, I’ve had a great day.”

“But what about your cheek? It might start bleeding again and—”

“Bucky,” You cut him off, biting back a smile. “Why do you really want me to stay?”

There was a short pause, heat pooling in the biker’s cheeks at the question as he raised a brow, silently asking you if he was supposed to actually answer the question. When you only quirked your own brow, he sighed, his lips curling into a fond smile. “...because I don’t like it when you leave? ‘Cause I like you a whole lot and I really wanna kiss you again?”

Slowly, you trailed a slightly bruised hand up his chest, stopping at the nape of his neck to tangle your fingers in the hair there. “You should’ve just lead with the kiss, biker.”

Before you could notice the doting grin on his lips, Bucky had looped an arm around your waist and pulled you flush to his chest, soft lips locking with yours tenderly. Your other arm was quick to wrap around his neck as you found yourself wanting to be impossibly closer to him. You tugged at his hair, eliciting a deep moan from his lips, and you pulled away with a satisfied smirk.

“So you’ll stay?” Bucky spoke against your lips, a hopeful glint in his eyes.

“If you keep kissing me like that.” You imitated his words from your last kiss, to which he shook his head and clasped his hand around yours, leading you out of the hallway and up to his room.

You hoped the rest of the club were asleep, because from the thump of your body being pushed against Bucky’s bedroom door after he’d dragged you inside and shut it, you were sure that they could assume who was causing the racket at almost midnight.

Bucky’s mouth was on yours in a matter of seconds, hands cupping your jaw, carefully avoiding pressing against the side that was bruised. Meanwhile, your fingers gently traced across the hem of his t-shirt, riding it up so that the pads of your fingers came into contact with his lower stomach, ghosting over the waistband of his jeans. He stepped back momentarily, shoving his leather jacket down his arms and letting it fall to the floor.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without your jacket,” You breathed. “It’s like you’re naked already.”

“Who said anything about getting naked?” He teased, hands coming to trace over your own exposed stomach. “Someone’s eager.”

“You’re stupid,” You rolled your eyes, unable to suppress a grin. “Coming from the guy who just said he liked me, sap.”

“Real mature,” He snickered, riding your shirt up to your chest and tugging it off when you raised your arms to aid him. His lips moved to the crook of your neck, trailing light kissed along the soft skin there. “I meant it, though. I really like you, baby.”

A whimper escaped your lips as his attached to a certain spot on your neck, your hand fisting his shirt in response. You didn’t even have to say it back; it was obvious that you felt the same way about him in pretty much every way. The way your body was reacting to his, the breathy way that his name was falling from your swollen lips, and the fact you’d kissed him the week prior was a good indicator too.

“And you said you’d never get in my bed.” Bucky smirked after helping you pull off his own shirt.

“Technically, I’m not in your bed yet.”

“Yet,” He tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear before trailing his hand down your jaw, along the curve of your shoulder and down to the hem of your bra. “Can’t wait to have you there, moaning all pretty for me.”

Your face grew hot at his words, but his lips were on yours again too quickly for him to notice. When he eventually pulled back for air, you bit your lip in anticipation.

“Hm, let’s not wait any longer then.”

And he didn’t let you wait any longer, leaning down to kiss you with a passionate hunger as he dragged you by both of your hands to his bed. Maybe it was the way he didn’t rush, that he took time memorizing every inch of your skin with gentle lips and wandering hands. Maybe it was the sighs and moans of pleasure that he’d managed to draw from you so easily, or the way he whispered praises and sweet nothings into your ear as he positioned himself comfortably between your legs. But after the two of you had reached your highs and were left grinning like idiots and panting for breath, you realised how fucking hard you’d fallen for the damn biker who’d somehow gotten you in his bed.

* * *

Soft snores gradually drew you from your slumber, eyelashes fluttering against your cheeks before you eventually squinted your eyes open. It couldn’t have been any later than 5am; daylight was peaking through the curtains of the bedroom, but the world outside was still quiet. Quiet for New York, anyway.

Bucky had his arms tucked under his pillow, face buried into the cotton, lips parted, brown strands of hair falling in front of his face. Back muscles relaxed, shoulders raising slightly as he breathed quietly. He looked pretty like that, innocent even. Innocent in comparison to what occurred in his bed the night before.

As you idly observed him in his peaceful state, you couldn’t help but think about what Peggy had said to you earlier the prior night. She was right, as always. Especially after the night you’d just had with him, there was no way that your feelings for Bucky would just leave along with you leaving after summer. Perhaps sleeping with him was the stupidest decision you’d ever made. Perhaps it would’ve just been easier to not stay the night and pretend like you’d never kissed him in the first place. But you didn’t want that. You wanted him, even if you could only have him for the summer.

A muffled moan jerked your attention away from your thoughts and back to the man laying next to you, who was shifting as he began to wake, the muscles in his back flexing as he did so. It was a sight you could get used to for sure.

Soon enough, his baby blues met yours, a lazy smile overcoming his lips. “Watching me sleep?”

“No.” You denied, though he could see straight through the lie.

He hummed, reaching a hand out to trace over your bruised cheek. You leaned into the touch. “Still hurt?”

“Not really. Had a good doctor fix it up last night.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Uh-huh. I mean, he slept with me afterwards which I thought was a little inappropriate...”

The biker scoffed, enclosing an arm around your bare waist to pull you closer. Sloppy kisses were planted down your jaw to your shoulder, ghosting over the dark bruises he’d marked you with only hours ago.

“I’ll miss you, you know. When you have to leave.” Bucky murmured, pulling away and laying back down against the pillow, his nose grazing yours.

You smiled sadly, pushing some of the hair away from his face. “Do you think this was stupid of us? To start something that’s just gonna have to end in a month?”

“Maybe, yeah,” He mirrored your expression, voice still a little raspy. “But I don’t regret it.”

“Me neither,” You twirled a lock of his hair sigh your pointer finger. “What’re you gonna do without me, huh? You might have to find another girl to take rides with you at sunset.”

Bucky shook his head, squeezing your waist. “Nah, I think I’d rather ride solo. Won’t be the same without you just over my shoulder.”

“Even when I get road rage?”

“Especially when you get road rage.”

“Well, we should probably make the most of the time we have left,” You propped yourself up on one elbow, a smirk playing on your lips. “How about a ride while the sun rises?”

“Sounds perfect.” He loosened his hold on you, letting you roll away from him and swing your legs over the side of the bed.

“Mind if I take a shower first?”

“Mind if I take a shower with you?”

You thought for a moment. It’d be saving water, wouldn’t it? “Screw it, why not. C’mon, Buck.”

You scurried off to the bathroom, still naked as Bucky followed after you, suddenly not so tired anymore.

Perhaps the summer hadn’t went in the direction you’d been expecting, but you had no complaints about the turn that it’d taken. You’d never believed in fate or destiny, much like you’d never believed in love. However, you’d like to believe that you were meant to meet Bucky when you came back to Brooklyn at some point. You’d never met someone— someone so perfect for you, if you were being honest. He didn’t scold you for your sarcasm, or shame you for standing up for yourself. He responded to your teasing with his own, he knew how to make you laugh, how to make your cheeks hot and your knees weak. You were always on the exact same wavelength, always knowing how the other was feeling, being able to bring out the best in one another.

It seemed like a waste to spend the little time left at home thinking about summer ending, so you simply pushed it out of your mind. Enjoying the moment was something you’d learned to do over and over again, because that was all you could do in the life that you led.

The moments spent with Bucky Barnes were just going to be a little harder to let go of.

* * *

Taglist:

@domolovee @oplunket16 @barnestruck @igotkatiepowers

[cblgblog]

Imagine that AU where Peter's accused of some very terrible crime(s), and while he has a rock solid alibi - he's on video and EVERYTHING! - he can't use it. Because it's Spiderman on video, with an alibi, and proof of where he was. Peter Parker just has a blank space of time with nothing to show for it, and nothing he can say. He's obviously hiding something, he's jittery, he's scared, and May trying to defend him when she doesn't even know what his alibi is (or who he really is in the mask)

So I have…basically an amalgamation of 3 scenes going in my head for this.

1.       The ‘Did you do it’ scene from Defending Jacob where Andy/Captain America straight up asks his kid if he murdered the boy people think he murdered.

2.       The ‘I can’t sleep!’ scene from The Amazing Spider-man (2012) which is a flawed but massively underrated film, fight me. Where Sally Field! May asks Peter where he goes at night, what’s happening to him, why he’s hurt, and, “Secrets have a cost, they’re not for free. Not now, not ever.”

3.       Marisa Tomei! May in Spider-man: Homecoming. The, “You have to tell me what’s going on!” scene.

All of these are Good Scenes btw, and short, and I recommend watching them if you haven’t but anyway. No Irondad here, because eww, no, never, but some references to actual Spider-man canon, whether Feige likes it or not.

Fuck Irondad, let Peter have his own movie, justice for May Parker.

****

May and Peter having to leave their apartment building. Neighbors they’ve known for years not talking to them, not looking them in the eye. Hell, maybe the ‘Murderer burn in hell’ bit from Defending Jacob shows up in there too, where there’s graffiti on their apartment door, you need a key to get into the building, but of course no one saw anything. Them having to stay with Ned’s family.

Peter’s getting all kinds of shit suddenly for being the weird kid who snuck off all the time, and the only ones who don’t treat him like a leper are Ned and MJ. And MJ digs murderers anyway, so while he’s glad of the support, it doesn’t exactly help his rep.

May who will defend him to anyone and everyone. No, no it isn’t weird that his computer stuff was completely wiped when the cops showed with their warrants. He’s a teenage boy, embarrassed of his search history, that’s all.  May doesn’t know that he and Ned had to scorched earth everything because of the weird shit one Googles as a superhero, but she knows he wasn’t looking up murder techniques, okay?

No, it’s not weird that he had cuts and bruises and things when they dragged him in. Boys and their roughhousing, no he doesn’t play any sports, but who hasn’t woken up with bruises they can’t explain?

Her nephew is a good boy. Her son is a good boy, damn you. Sure there were some fights last year, but her husband had just been murdered and those kids had been bullying Peter for years but no, no he doesn’t have anger issues, he’s not a murderer!

May and Peter alone at Ned’s place some night. Ned and his fam have gone to get food, give some space and get it. Peter and May…they don’t really walk around the old stomping grounds anymore. Them alone in the house after weeks of this and May just, “Are you on drugs?”

Calm as hell question that startles Peter away from the book he wasn’t reading. “What? I—what?”

“Are you on drugs?”

“No?” More a question than he means it to be but, the hell?

“Are you selling them? Were you selling them?”

“What? What are you—”

“I know you’ve been worried about money since Ben died. Even though I told you not to. But I get it. So if you were—”

“May! May, I’m not…no. No drugs. No using or selling or anything. I don’t even watch Breaking Bad.”

Slight relaxation of May’s shoulders, twitch of a smile that doesn’t go to her eyes. “Okay. Okay. Where were you?”

“May, I, I told you I can’t—”

“No. No more “you can’t,” Peter. Because this? Not going away. I thought these assholes would come to their senses, find the real person—”

“May—”

“But they’re not. They’re not, and they’re not going to. All they see is you, Peter, so you…”

And holy shit, May’s crying. Or so close to it that there’s no difference. Jesus, May is crying, and she’s already cried so much since Ben, but always when she thought Peter wasn’t aware. Now they’re here, in front of each other, and she’s just, just crying.

“All they see is you,” May says, clearing her throat. “And that’s all they’re going to see until we give them a reason to look somewhere else, so you have to tell me. You have to tell me, not them. Me.”

“May…”

“Peter, it’s just us, just me and you, okay? So you tell me, and we’ll figure it out. But you…you have to tell me. You have to tell me, because it’s just us. We’re all we have right now, baby. You’re…you’re all I have. And I can’t lose you, understand? Not you too.”

“Aunt May,” he rarely calls her that anymore, rarely adds the title, not since he turned double-digits. But Aunt May looks so small now, and she’s making him feel small. Smaller than he’s felt since Uncle Ben died. Because of him. And now Aunt May’s suffering again. Because of him. “Aunt May, you won’t lose me, okay? I prom—”

“Peter!”

She’s still in tears, but she says it sharply enough that he very nearly jumps to the ceiling. Literally.

“Peter,” she says, much softer, but still laced with steel. “Peter, I know you snuck out of our house every night. I know that half the time you said you were with Ned, you weren’t. I know you weren’t doing your robotics stuff because you quit that three months ago. I know you don’t stay late studying at the library. Who the hell goes to libraries to study anymore, Peter?”

Peter’s got no answer to that, hangs his head.

“Everyone thinks I’m this clueless, gullible, uninvolved parent, too stupid to know what her kid is doing.”

“That’s not true, Aunt May.”

“I know it’s not. Or I thought I knew.”

That one hurts, twists Peter’s guts even as May reaches for him, takes his face in her hands.

“I knew what you were doing. Knew enough, I thought. Ben gone, losing the house, me barely keeping us above water.”

“Aunt May, you—”

“I thought you had things to figure out. I thought—fuck, I don’t know what I thought. But I knew I couldn’t blame you for not wanting to be around here, around me.”

That’s too far. That’s too much, and Peter pulls her into a hug because he has to. “You’re so wrong. That’s—no, Aunt May. I love you so much. I love you so, so much.”

“I love you too.”

“I’ve never wanted to be away from you. I never will.”

May pulls back then, cups his face in both of hers. “Then you have to tell me, Peter. You have to tell me, baby, because they want to take you away. And I am never, never going to let that happen, but you have to help me, baby. I can’t…” What’s left of her composure crumples. “I can’t do this on my own. Any of it. Don’t you dare make me.”

Peter tries to say something, he doesn’t know what, but all that comes out is a sob.

“Secrets have a cost, Peter, always. And whatever this one is, whatever you’re hiding? It’s going to cost us everything. Were you doing something else illegal, something different? Are you covering for someone? Is someone threatening you, hurting you?” She looks sick at the thought, but her voice is steel and her grip on Peter goes painful tight, even for him. “Because if they are, Peter, I swear to God. I swear to God, baby, I’ll make them stop. I’ll make them stop; I’ll kill them. You just have to—”

He can’t hear anymore of this. He can’t. Because he is doing something illegal, he is covering for someone, and someone is hurting him, but none of it in the way she thinks. “You haven’t asked me the big question.”

“What?”

“You keep asking me questions, but not…you haven’t asked if I did it.”

May looks stricken at that. A strange combination of stricken and baffled. “No.”

“Because you don’t…” He can barely say it. “Because you don’t want to know?”

Somehow the horror on her face intensifies and Peter wants to die, wishes for the thousandth time it was him, not Uncle Ben, but he doesn’t have to see that look on her face for long, doesn’t get to. May pulls him down, holds his face against her shoulder, grips onto him with the painful, desperate, grounding hold.

“Because I know, Peter. I know my boy. I know who you are, Peter. I know who you are. Oh baby, shhh.”

He can’t though. He can’t be quiet anymore, and he has to, and it’s killing him, and all he can do is sob into her and sink into her until they’re both sat in the middle of the Leeds’s living room floor, shaking and crying in the dark, behind closed curtains.

[tweedlydumbtweedlydoo]

Right Person, Wrong Time (Part 3) | Bucky Barnes x reader

**DUPLICATE POST BC FIRST DIDN’T SHOW IN TAGS ** 

Summary: You and Bucky decided to go your separate ways, but the both of you had doubts about that decision. However, after Bucky is thrown into a secret mission and is gone for over a year, you have moved on and found someone else. Who will your heart choose?

| PART 1 | PART 2 |

A/N 11/1/2020: I AM POSTING THIS AGAIN BECAUSE I POSTED THIS DAYS AGO AND IT’S ONLY RECEIVED 12 NOTES SOOOO I DON’T THINK THIS IS SHOWING UP IN THE TAGS #tumblrbeingdumb // this may not even work but we’ll see 

A/N: FINALLY the next part is out. I am so sorry it’s took so long. I had those 3 exams and that took up a lot of my time. So, here you all go. Thank you for waiting patiently and I hope you all enjoy this! xx

Again, I’d like this to get to at least 100 notes before starting on the next part.

Tag list is at the end. Let me know if you want to be added xx

**MASTERLIST**

Requests: OPEN {CLOSED}

** Rules for Requesting **

** Who I Write For **

********************************************************************************************NOT MY GIF, CREDIT TO OWNERS

“Let’s go get lunch?” You suggest to Liam, ignoring Bucky’s stunned reaction. He was a dad? This little one in arms of the one he loved, is his? Half you, half him? But how? 

“y/n, wait.” Bucky begins, “We need to talk about this.”

“Bucky, I’m going to lunch. I’m starving and I won’t see her until later this evening.” You start to turn away from him, but he grabs your arm.

“Y/n, I’ve never seen her at all. I deserve an explanation.”

Liam becomes defensive and puts part of his body in between you and Bucky, “I’d get your hand off her.”

Bucky internally scoffs at the poor man’s attempt. He could snap this man like a twig. Bucky finally lets go of your arm, “I just want to meet my daughter.” He says defeatedly.

You glance down at the babbling girl in your arms and kiss her head before looking back up at Bucky, “I assume you’re staying here at the tower with the other avengers?”

He nods, “If they haven’t done anything with our room.”

our room. It hadn’t been called that since Bucky had left. “I’ll be back this evening with her. Okay?”

Bucky’s eyes are hopeful and he agrees, “Okay. I’ll be here..”

You give a short nod and turn around to follow Liam, leaving Bucky standing there with a million thoughts running through his head.

~

Bucky was anxiously pacing the common room. When would you be here? He really hoped you wouldn’t bring Liam along with. He wanted to talk to you alone, just you, him and his little girl.

“Buck, pacing the floor isn’t going to make her arrive quicker.” Steve says from his spot on the couch. He’d watched his best friend pace the floor for the last half hour.

“I can’t help it. I have a kid, Steve. A little girl.” He stops in front of Steve, “I mean.. how the hell is that even possible? HYDRA would never allow it.”

Steve gives a shrug of his shoulders, “We were all pretty surprised too.” He tosses the newspaper beside him on the couch. “Thought y/n had slept around and lied about it being yours.”

“Then she popped out a kid that was the spitting image of you.” Nat adds, coming into the common room and taking a seat next to Steve.

Steve nods in agreement, “We knew then it was yours.”

“Carried the little one for 9 months and she comes out looking like her dad. What kind of fucked up shit is that?”

They all turn to the sound of your voice. Steve can’t help but chuckle and Bucky cracks a small smile. Nat gives a small sound of excitement at the sight of her god daughter, getting off the couch. “There’s my girl.”

You hand her off to Nat, “You’d think she’d have something of mine.”

“She has your eyes.” Bucky takes a hesitant step to you and Nat, glancing at you, but then his eyes are fixated on the baby girl, “and your beauty.”

“You can hold her, Bucky.”

“She isn’t going to bite.” Nat teases, “Although I might if you try to take her from me.”

You slap Nat’s arm, “Give him his baby.”

“I’m just messing with him.” She mutters, handing her over to Bucky.

You can see Bucky is slightly uncomfortable and holding her like a fragile piece of glass. You place a gentle hand on his arm, “You aren’t going to break her.”

His eyes dart to you, your hand and then back at the little girl, he slowly moves her to his side, “What’s her name?”

She babbles away in his arms, grabbing at his henley, “y/d/n Barnes.”

He looks down at you, “You went with my last name?”

“Well, she is your daughter..” You fix the hat on her head, wiping the small bit of drool off her chin.

“I just figured..”

“We tried to talk her into using her last name.” Nat speaks up from beside you, “But she was adamant that y/d/n would have your last name.”

“We didn’t know this was even possible and I couldn’t take away that from you. She’s still yours even if we did break things off.”

"Thank you.” He says to you, “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

You give a small nod, “So, Rogers did you cook dinner or am I going to starve?”

~

You all had sat around the table, laughing and telling stories about what had happened while Bucky was gone. You’d been hostile toward him when you first seen him, but now, it was like old times when you four would have dinner; the laughter, the jokes, the smiles. It was like old times and Bucky couldn’t help but hope this would never end.

You were in shock when you’d seen him earlier and when Liam arrived with your daughter, you’d gone into a fight or flight response. You didn’t want to get your hopes up or get your heart broke again. Once you’d finally calmed down from seeing him, you’d decided to head to the tower; secretly excited to see Bucky again.

His heart couldn’t help but swell with happiness at the sound of your laugh. He’d missed it and he never once wanted to be without hearing it again. So, he decided then and there he was going to win you back, once and for all. But, would you choose him?

You were gathering the dirty dishes from the table and Bucky stood, grabbing his and Nat’s, “I’ll help.”

Nat and Steve exchanged a look, this would be a good time for you two to talk. So, Nat went to the high chair, “I think miss y/d/n wants to play with auntie Nat and uncle Steeb.” she coos, picking her up from the high chair.

Bucky stopped at the sound of Steve’s nickname, “Uncle what?” He asks, holding back a laugh.

You and Nat burst into laughter, where as Steve just groans, “I thought it would be easier for her to say when she got older.” You answer.

Bucky lets out the chuckle he’d been holding, “I never thought I’d hear the day that Steve would be called uncle Steeb.” He follows you into the kitchen.

“He lowkey likes the nickname though.” You tell Bucky, putting the dishes in the sink.

“I’m sure he does..” He chuckles, handing you the dishes. His fingers brushed against yours and there was a small spark. He knew you’d felt it too when your eyes darted up to his.

You cleared your throat and pulled your hand from his, putting the dishes into the sink, “So...”

“So...” He leans against the opposite counter, across from you.

You cross your arms over your chest, “Bucky...”

“You felt it too.” He says.

You shook your head, “Bucky, I’m with Liam.”

“Y/n..” He takes a step toward you, “You can’t deny we still have something there.” He takes another step and you shake your head, not meeting his eyes.

“I’ve moved on.”

His hand comes to your cheek and you finally look up at him. You two are chest to chest and butterflies fill your stomach, “Buck..”

“We messed up, breaking things off. Please. I’m here now. I want to make things work. We can be a family.” He says, rubbing the pad of his thumb over your cheek.

“Maybe we weren’t meant to be together.”

“You can’t really believe that.” He whispers, dipping his head closer to you, where your lips are within inches of each other, “Doll, look at me..” His eyes are locked on yours and you feel like you’re about to melt any second; falling back into his arms, just as you did before.

You feel yourself slowly leaning in and can see Bucky moving in closer as well. One kiss wouldn’t hurt. Right? Maybe this could give the answer for if you were still in love with him. Liam would never have to know. You could figure this out here and now.

“What the hell is going on here?!”

All my works tag list:  @blossomreed​ , @mggstyles  , @simonsbluee​ , @thewolf-and-thesheep​ , @obxrafe , @abbiesthings​ , @itstaskeen​

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[muertawrites]

The Lovers of Ba Sing Se - Part 1 (Zuko x Reader) [Modern Au]

Summary: Zuko isn’t used to being around people who aren’t afraid to share their every emotion. Meeting you during his time in Ba Sing Se changes that, and changes him for the better.

Word Count: 4,000

Author’s Note: Lmao the only person I’m writing this for is myself. Sorry not sorry. I usually try really hard to keep specifics to a minimum in my self-insert works, but this time I didn’t; I wrote about myself because, honestly, this fic is my love letter to me. I relate to Zuko so much and a huge part of the reason I love him is because he reminds me of myself - this fic is about me learning to love myself again after the people I loved and trusted most betrayed me, and saying a gigantic “fuck you” everyone who ever did anything to destroy my self worth. Part 2 is when I finally live out my fantasy of curb stomping Mai - tomorrow, same bat-time, same bat-channel. 

Also, shameless plug, but I’m about 100 followers away from 1k, and I have some really fun stuff planned for when we get there so if you like this fic or any of my others, please follow! I love doing this and my goal is to devote as much effort as possible to it as I can, and I truly wouldn’t be able to do it without your support. Thank you so much for all of it. I’m so excited for the future of this blog and everyone who makes it possible ♥

~ Muerta

Of all the things Zuko thought might kill him, falling dishware was the last thing he would have ever considered a possibility.

He was sitting in the alley behind the Jasmine Dragon, making the most of his smoke break, when a ceramic cooking pot rained onto the pavement in front of him, shattering into trillions of pieces. Startled, he jumped back, dropping his cigarette as he craned his neck upwards; he spotted a head of brightly dyed hair staring down at him from the third floor balcony above.

“Oh shit,” you cried.

Within a minute, you burst through the back door of the neighboring building, panting and looking just as terrified as the young man you'd almost killed. Zuko stared at you, mouth slightly agape.

“Oh my god I'm so sorry,” you gushed. “Are you okay?? I didn't see you standing there, oh my god, oh my fucking god please tell me you're okay.”

Zuko was taken aback, unable to do anything for a moment but gaze at you in confusion, almost wonder. People in the Fire Nation were never this publicly expressive, even when barely avoiding manslaughter - he didn't quite know what to do with you, other than mutter that he was alright.

“I'm so, so sorry,” you blurted again. “You're sure you're okay? You don't have any glass on you or anything? Or need to be treated for shock?”

“No, I'm fine,” Zuko flatly replied. He nodded towards the trash bins across the alley. “You do know your building has those, though. You don't need to throw your old stuff off your balcony.”

You blushed, smiling sheepishly.

“It wasn't old,” you confessed. “It was a birthday gift from my best friend. Well… ex-best friend.”

Zuko huffed, pulling another cigarette from the pocket of his jeans and lighting it, looking down at his hands.

“Never had a breakup, huh?” he guessed.

“Oh, I've had plenty,” you told him. “They just don't get any easier.”

Zuko looked up at you, taking a long drag from his smoke. Your eyes were cast into the middle of the alley, settled on the shards of what once had been a reasonably nice piece of cookware. The shock and terror had faded from your expression, falling into one that was pained, anger and despair shadowing your features; you may as well have roundhouse kicked him in the chest, the look on your face mirroring the ache between his ribs. You hadn't revealed anything to him, but he knew instantly that your pain was the same as his.

He slid another cigarette from the box, offering it to you. You shook your head, lowering yourself onto the back stoop of the Jasmine Dragon; he found himself doing the same without thinking.

“I'm sorry about your pot,” he said, clumsily attempting to lighten the atmosphere. “It looked nice.”

You smiled faintly, pulling your knees to your chest and letting your chin rest atop them.

“I don't cook much, so it wasn't a huge loss,” you replied. “It was kind of cathartic, actually. I feel better.”

Zuko chuckled, tapping a bit of ash onto the ground between his feet.

“Good. Maybe feeling better will keep you from accidentally killing someone.”

You laughed, covering your face in embarrassment.

“Have I mentioned I'm sorry about that?” you winced.

“Hey, no sweat,” Zuko assured you. “It's not the first time. I've had people try to kill me on purpose before.”

He stood, stubbing out his half-smoked cigarette and pocketing it. He offered a hand to help you up, which you took, finding comfort in the strength of his palm as it wrapped around your forearm.

“I've gotta get back to work,” he told you. “You don't have any other gifts from your ex-best friend laying around, do you?”

You giggled, shaking your head.

“No,” you promised, “just that one. Thank you. For not threatening to press charges.”

Zuko laughed, realizing he was doing so for the first time in what had probably been years. The light feeling in his chest got even lighter when he noticed he was still holding your arm.

“Will I see you around?” he asked, the words escaping before they were even fully formed in his head.

You nodded, finally letting go of his hand.

“Yeah,” you said. “I'll see you around …?”

“Lee,” he told you. “I'm Lee.”

You smiled.

“Cool. I'll see you around, Lee.”

You saw Lee again a few days later, but not in a way you really wanted to. You were at work, standing outside the bar on the district high street with a coworker, attempting to attract some business during the weeknight lull; Lee spotted you while on his way to the nearby market, seeing you from a block or two away but doing his best to approach you as if he was bumping into you completely by accident.

Of course, this would be perfectly normal and not at all a weird way to run into a new acquaintance, if only the bar you worked in wasn’t catered towards men with a lolita fetish. You were dressed head to toe in pink and white, corseted in a risque bustier and frocked with a poofy, frilly mini skirt that was purposely too short, revealing the bum of your equally as ruffled panties; when you turned around and came face to face with the cute guy from the tea shop next door, you hoped someone would throw a cooking pot on top of you, death seeming like a much better option than attempting to explain yourself to someone who’d already had the privilege of meeting you during an emotional breakdown.

Lee blushed as pink as your costume, smiling coyly.

“We did say we’d see each other around,” he greeted you.

You grinned, relaxing a little.

“You’re not here to have a drink, are you?” you teased him. He laughed, his face turning redder as he reached up to rub the back of his neck.

“No,” he assured you, “I’m actually on my way to get some groceries. Figured I’d say hey.”

“Oh!” you exclaimed, “My break is in about fifteen minutes! If you don’t mind waiting I could go with you? I’ll buy you dinner to make up for almost killing you the other day.”

Lee chuckled, nodding.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind that,” he agreed. “... I don’t have to wait inside though, do I?”

“I mean, my boss would like it,” you told him, “but it’s so dead in there I don’t think she’d let you leave if you did.”

“Noted,” Lee replied. “I’ll wait in the coffee shop across the street, then.”

Not long after, you tossed a hoodie and a pair of jeans over your bustier and undies, meeting him outside the cafe he was stationed at and making your way to the market. You bustled alongside each other in a fray of other people, rubbing shoulders or hips as you were jostled along with the current.

“So,” Lee blurted, attempting to break the silence between you (although it wasn’t nearly as awkward as it probably should have been), “how’d you end up working in a fetish bar?”

Your simpered, cheeks going ever so slightly rosy.

“How do you think?” you jabbed sarcastically. “I needed money and they pay really well. It’s nice knowing I’ll be able to afford rent every month. What about you? How’d you end up at the tea shop?”

“My uncle owns it,” Lee explained. “We’re the only family we have left, so… we stick together.”

You nodded, understanding and not pushing the question any further.

“It’s not so bad,” he went on. “At least I don’t have to wear pigtails to work.”

You huffed with laughter, leaning over so that your shoulder purposely, playfully shoved his.

“Honestly, my job isn’t awful,” you admitted. “My coworkers are cool, and my boss is really kind. It’s also pretty fun getting to dress up in costume every day; it's like Halloween, except I get to do it whenever I want to.”

Suddenly, you paused, gasping.

“Look!”

You grabbed hold of his arm, startling him a bit but too excited to care. You pointed towards a nearby stand, in which an elderly man was frying pieces of dough. He twisted each in an elaborate knot, every order getting a different design. They were like miniature sculptures, too ornate to even think about eating, but the smell of rich spices and molten sugar was too tempting to ignore.

“I love this stand!” you cried. “He isn't always here, but I get something every time he is. Come on, I'll get us some to split!”

With your hand still curled around his elbow, you dragged Lee through the market throng. As he watched you order, making friendly conversation with the old man, he found himself feeling perplexed; he'd never met someone so comfortable with their emotions, so willing to let every part of them be seen. He wondered how you got so fearless, or if you even had to put effort into being so candid.

He found himself thinking about Mai, how cold and empty she was. He was reminded of the chill he felt around her, the bitter sting she often left in his chest, even during tender moments. Being around you was different; even having just met you, you made him feel invigorated but at ease, the tension in his muscles loosening naturally just from the energy of your presence. It was strange, but refreshing - he found himself grinning along with you as you left the stand, finding a place to sit and enjoy your pastry.

“I got us one with curry, and one with cream filling,” you told him, ripping each serving in half to share. “This guy is an artist, I swear. You're not going to be the same person after this.”

You looked up as you took a bite of the savory half of your meal, halting when you noticed the strange look Lee was giving you.

“What?” you asked him.

He shrugged, fixing his eyes on the pastry in his hand.

“You're just different,” he answered. “Where I'm from, people aren't open like you are. You're really… yourself. It's nice.”

You smiled, unable to help but blush. Bubbles fizzed in your chest, making you feel lightheaded and giddy.

“I think it's because so many people told me not to be when I was a kid,” you mused. “They tried to make me hide the parts of myself I really liked, so I made them show even more, just to show them that they couldn't change me. That I was stronger than their cruelty.”

Zuko felt as if he'd been hit by lightning. He didn't know what it was, but something about you terrified him - it was the same thing that made him want to latch onto you and not let go. Despite having met you just days ago, he already felt as if he'd known you a lifetime - unbeknownst to him, you felt exactly the same way.

“Do you want to hang out tomorrow night?” he asked, stuttering the words.

“Yeah,” you replied, so excited you felt like shrieking so the whole market could hear. “I have the day off tomorrow. Think your uncle would let you swing that?”

“Yeah,” Lee assured you. “I think he would.”

You finished your meal together, sharing your favorite things about the neighborhood you lived in and simply enjoying each other’s company, as comfortable as if you were old friends. Instead of parting with you, Lee walked you back to the bar at the end of your break, stating that it was no trouble going back to the market to get the groceries he skipped to spend time with you.

When he left, you hugged him, and for the first time in a long time, you felt as if you'd truly made a friend.

On your date the next day, Lee took you to the local art museum - he remembered you expressing an interest in art history, and per his uncle’s suggestion, decided it would be the perfect place to take you. He loved seeing the awe on your face when met with a piece that captivated you, was drawn in by the impassioned way you spoke about cultures and myths from ages so long passed they felt as if they came from different worlds entirely. You spent the whole day together, ending the evening crashed on your couch with a pizza and a marathon of true crime documentaries.

From that day onward, you and Lee were connected at the hip. You spent every available moment you had either in the alley behind your building with him or having a cup of tea at the Jasmine Dragon, often staying long after closing with him and his uncle, Mushi, and feeling as if you'd finally found a family in your adopted city.

You learned that Lee was a skilled martial artist, asking him to teach you a little of what he knew and amazed at just how good he really was. He moved more like a dancer than a fighter, his comfort and ability with his body and a weapon captivating you. You learned that he also had an affinity for theater and had grown up completely cut off from modern music and pop culture, spending many of your nights together at local play houses and bars, introducing him to your favorite bands and shows. He learned that you were fascinated by literature and history - anything that had significant, profound meaning and beauty - and often found himself wandering museums and historic neighborhoods with you, loving nothing more than to listen to you talk about what inspired you. You also made him laugh, your sense of humor at times dark, but set into a personality that saw the world with childlike wonder, able to find immense beauty and value in things that seemed frivolous to the naked eye. You were kind, unwavering - everything his family and past lover weren't.

Zuko loved being around you because of how free you made him feel. The unbridled way you expressed your emotions encouraged him to face his own, following your lead in being unafraid of just how intensely the heart within his chest was prone to beat. You loved being with him because he made you feel safe, never judging you for anything and understanding the trauma of your past in a way nobody else had done before. You opened up to him about how the ones you loved did you the most harm, never giving themselves as fully to you as you did them, treating you as a means to take out their own pain and insecurities and convincing you that that was just the way love worked. Eventually, he confided in you the truth about his identity, confessing the horrors he fled in coming to Ba Sing Se. You never once blamed him for anything he'd done, knowing exactly what it felt like to have to read between the lines and give everything for those who gave you little in return. You fit together easily, never having to guess what the other was thinking; for once you both felt content, secure in the safety of your heart within the other’s hands.

One of your favorite places to go with Zuko was a cat cafe a few blocks over from where you worked, spending many a slow weekday off shift with fresh lattes, croissants, and cuddles from friendly, adoptable kitties. At first, Zuko was unsure, having never spent much time with cats, but after one visit he was enamored, gushing to you every single time you went how badly he wanted a cat and spouting multiple reasons why you should adopt one together. On a free Wednesday afternoon he showed up at your apartment unannounced (as he had made a habit of doing) and suggested you go together, an invitation you were more than happy to accept.

As you left the cafe, a couple walking on the other side of the street caught your eye - the man who stood nearest to you was horrifyingly familiar. You recognized him immediately, the shock of his sudden appearance shattering and hollowing out your insides.

It was your ex boyfriend, the man who broke your heart so far beyond repair, walking hand in hand with someone else.

“Zuko,” you mumbled, not even noticing that you used his real name in public, “I want to go home.”

Zuko furrowed his brow, taking you by the shoulders and gently turning you to face him, concerned with the sudden shift in your tone.

“What's wrong?” he asked softly.

All you could do was shake your head. He wrapped his arm around your shoulder, leading you to the nearby subway station and back to your apartment.

Once safe inside the confines of your home, you changed into a baggy sweater and the softest sweatpants you owned, curling up under the kotatsu in your living room with Zuko, arms wrapped tight around his waist as you drifted in the tide of blood that poured from your newly reopened wounds. He didn't have to ask what you'd seen - he could tell from the vacant, glassy look in your eyes exactly which ghost haunted you.

“I can't believe he'd be with someone else,” you whimpered. “After everything he did to me… always giving me mixed signals and never telling me exactly how he felt… how could he be able to do it with another person? What was so wrong about me that he hid all of it from me, when all I needed was to hear it?”

You sniffed as Zuko pressed a thumb to your cheek, wiping away a tear that had fallen. He hugged you tightly, pressing you close as if to remind you that he was there - he was your present, and there was nothing your past could do to harm you.

“There's nothing wrong with you,” he promised. “He's taken enough from you. Don't give him any more.”

For a long while, you sat together in silence, cradled in Zuko’s arms while he rocked you slowly back and forth, the tenderness of his touch sucking the poison from your veins. After what felt like ages, he finally spoke, giving you the piece of his past he'd been too heartbroken to offer until that moment.

“My girlfriend, Mai,” he told you, “she was like him. Everything she felt, she forced herself not to. We were together for a long time, but… I never really felt like she actually cared for me. If she did, she never let me see it. I gave her everything for nothing.”

“Why did you stay with her?” you wondered, voice meek and quivering with tears.

Zuko sighed, letting his chin fall so he could bury his face in your hair.

“Because she was the first person who ever accepted what I offered her,” he explained. “I was so used to everything I did being unwanted, it was just nice to not be pushed away for once. But she didn't love me like I needed it. I wish I was strong enough to see that and walk away, like you did.”

You propped yourself upright, leveling yourself so you could look him in the eye. You rested your hands at either side of his neck, your thumbs grazing delicately over his hot skin as you hooked your legs around his hips, your body nestled in the gap between his crossed legs.

“Zuko,” you breathed, “I love you. Those aren't even the right words to tell you how I feel about you, but it's the closest I have. You're so passionate and kind, and you love so fiercely… I truly don't know how to tell you how beautiful I think you are, or how much you mean to me. You deserve so much more than how the people you loved have treated you.”

Zuko curled his arms around your back, pressing his chest to yours and burying his face in the crook of your neck, embracing you as closely as he'd ever done. Tears soaked the collar of your sweater, and in return you cried into the exposed skin revealed by his t-shirt as you tugged on the fabric, gripping him as if letting go meant losing him forever.

“I love you, too,” Zuko murmured. “You make me feel strong enough to show it.”

When Zuko left Ba Sing Se, it crushed you. You were furious, at first unable to understand why he'd throw everything away to return to the place and the people that destroyed so much of him. Most of all, you missed him like mad - you missed how easy it was being with him, how you understood each other as if you were another part of yourselves. You missed his laughter and his warmth, the side of your mattress he often slept in feeling colder than ever without him there.

You were relieved when Mushi - who you now knew to be the infamously disgraced General Iroh - returned, showing up at your door out of the blue with tea and baked goods from the shop. You hugged him tightly, crying like a child as he settled you at your table and told you about his escape from prison, as well as his conversations with Zuko the few times he'd visited him. Your heart ached, but it finally felt clear just how lost and confused he was; you were still angry, but you knew you could forgive him.

“His heart is lost,” Iroh explained, “but because of you, he knows how to listen to it.”

For the next month and a half, you took Zuko’s place at the Jasmine Dragon, spending your days off helping Iroh wherever he needed you. He became as much a part of you as his nephew did, and started to consider you as much a daughter as he did Zuko a son. Iroh’s presence soothed the burns left on your soul not only by those you loved, but by your own ferocity towards them.

Everything changed again the morning you woke to and find that Zuko had left the Fire Nation a third time, his face plastered across the news as a missing person with a bounty on his head. You knew based on everything Iroh told you what he planned to do, and immediately set to packing your bags. Travel into and out of the Fire Nation was difficult, but a few of your coworkers had connections to smugglers in the seedier parts of the district - they’d be able to get you onto a ship or a plane that could get you where you needed to go.

Before you left, you went to the Jasmine Dragon and told Iroh of your plans, asking him to keep watch over your apartment so that you could return if need be. You expected him to try and stop you - instead he pulled you into a strong, affectionate hug, telling you to be careful and call him whenever you were able.

“Go to him,” he hummed into your ear. “He needs you.”

Later that night, you met a group of other refugees at the docks, piling into the hull of a cargo ship bound for the Fire Nation’s imperial city. For the entirety of the journey, you wore one of Zuko’s necklace’s around your neck - one of the few things he’d kept from his life before his banishment and subsequent disappearance - keeping it tucked under your shirt and pressed to your chest for good luck.

[ Part 2 ]

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[wordsfromthesol]

You’re a what... (2/4)

Author: @wordsfromthesol Taglist: @zalladane @ghost-brocolli Pairing: Dick Grayson x Reader Summary: Your life is turned upside down when you suddenly land in Gotham. Thankfully Dick is nearby and knows way more than he lets on. Warnings: Language, violence, all those good things Word Count:  1.7k

Part One   Part Three   Part Four

Dick shook you from your sleep, “Y/N! You’re safe! Wake up!”

You opened your eyes to see Dick leaning over you with a worried expression on his face. Your mind had still not caught up, but you blurted out anyways, “Fuck! How the hell did he even convince Hypnos to let him pull that bullshit?!” Your fists clenched with anger and electricity danced between your fingers. Dick looked over at you and you could see the gears turning in his mind.

“Hypnos…uncle…lightning…family drama…you’ve got to be kidding me. Y/N, you’re a god, aren’t you?”

“Technically…Wait, you actually believe that?”

“Well…” Dick contemplated what he should tell you, or rather how much he should tell you. “My dad knows Wonder Woman. She’s an Amazon, so that’s not that far off…”

You chuckled, “Oh, she’s no Amazon.” Before Dick could question you further, you continued, smiling with the knowledge that revealing this information would just further piss off your own father. “She’s a god, even if she doesn’t know it yet. I wonder what bullshit my father spun for that tale.”

“She said…sculpted from clay, Zeus brought her to life…”

“Yeah, sure. Even my dear old dad doesn’t have that kind of power. He ‘brought her to life’ by sleeping with Hippolyta. He takes what he wants, without regard or consequences.” Your chest went heavy as you remembered your own mother, who died giving birth to you, and left you alone with him. Hera terrorizing you every chance she got, after all you were just another one of Zeus’ bastard children. “So, any chance you know Di – Wonder Woman enough to get me an introduction?”

“Uhm…yeah, I…maybe. I’ll let you know.”

You threw your head into your hands, “Then again, the Amazons do love Hera. I wonder if Diana would even help me…I wonder if Hera knows Diana’s lineage? Maybe father actually managed to keep it from her…” You trailed off, forgetting that you were speaking aloud, and that Dick was in the room.

“I’m guessing Hera is not your mother then.”

You looked up at him, “What, oh yeah. No. Which is why I’m not technically, like a FULL on god… like Diana could probably take me in a fight. At least her mom is an Amazon, mine was just your average old human.”

“Human? You’re part human?”

“Is that such a surprise?”

“No…I guess I just didn’t realize Zeus was still coming down here to…play with humans.”

“Oh honey. I’m over a thousand years old. Hera has had him on a short leash after I showed up.”

“There’s no way you’re a thousand years old.”

You shrugged, “Time passes differently,” you pointed towards the ceiling, “up there. Who knows how this stupid human form will age.”

“Didn’t you say you were part human? Now you’re dissing us?”

You throw a pillow in his direction, “It’s not like I’ve ever actually been human!”

He picked up your failed attempt to hit him and threw it back towards you, “Well maybe give it a try first!”

“Hmph. What am I even supposed to do?”

“Get a job, make some friends, live. Like everyone else does down here.”

**

Nearly a month had passed. A month of you bumming on Dick’s couch, not knowing what to do. Not knowing any other human, besides the occasional chat with the barista at the coffee shop down the block or the avoidance of cat calls as you walked to said coffee shop. You still weren’t sure what Dick did, but he definitely wasn’t just a detective. He often came home with way too many cuts and bruises for simple police work. As you were going through the possibilities in your head, Dick walked through the door with a fresh cut through his jaw.

“Good news, Y/N/N, Wonder Woman agreed to meet you.” You moved to get up from the couch, but Dick quickly realized the miscommunication, “Tomorrow. Lunch tomorrow, she agreed to meet you. At Wayne Manor. My dad’s house.”

You settled back into the couch, “Okay.”

“That’s all I get? Okay?” Dick strolled over and sat beside you.

“I just…I don’t know if it’s even worth it anymore. She will know what to do as much as I do. I guess she may be able to get me passage to Tartarus. See Persephone…or give Hypnos a piece of my damn mind.”

“Zeus still invading your dreams?”

“Can’t you tell by my nightly scream sessions.” You rolled your eyes, trying to play off the pain you felt each time you allowed your mind to drift into sleep. In fact, that was why you hadn’t slept in nearly three days, and you had to admit this stupid human body was starting to feel it.

“Haven’t heard them in awhile…” Dick gazed into your eyes and began to notice the familiar signs of sleep deprivation. “Maybe there’s a different reason for that though.” He felt bad he hadn’t noticed sooner, but he had been to preoccupied nailing the drug ring he was after the night he met you.

You hung your head, realized you had been caught. “Yeah, it’s just easier this way.”

“Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but these lovely human bodies need sleep. Come on.” He pulled you up off the couch and led you into the bedroom. He watched as fear paved over your face and your breathing grew unsteady. “Hey, it’s alright. Just a few hours. Your body is going to start shutting down if you don’t get a few hours.”

You nodded hesitantly and crawled into the bed. You looked at him with pleading eyes until he moved to lay beside you. Without warning you curled into his chest, dreading the night to come.

Dick was shaking you awake several hours later, mumbling over and over, “You’re safe, you’re safe, it’s just a dream. You’re safe.” You felt bad for putting this stranger through your nonsensical life, but you had no other choice. Once you had answers from Diana, you promised yourself you would leave Dick out of everything. You didn’t want him dying because he helped you.

**

Finally, the two of you made your way to Wayne Manor. You hadn’t actually met any of Dick’s family…though he did talk about them. You’d much prefer him talking about his family than you about yours. Walking into the dining room, you saw a statuesque figure standing before you. Of course she’s drop dead gorgeous.

“Di – Wonder Woman. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Relax, Y/N. I trust these men, you may call me Diana. So, you are the cause of all pandemonium.”

“I guess so? I didn’t mean to be. Look, can we talk…” you eyed Dick and Bruce, “somewhere else?”

“We can, though it may be easier if we have their help.”

“NO!” The word came out much sharper than you intended. Your mind just kept floating back to scenes of Dick laying dead in your arms.

Diana eyed the two men, “I think it might be best if we were all a little more honest here.” Neither of the men made any effort to reveal information. “Alright,” Diana eventually spoke up again. “Guess we are going elsewhere then.” Diana led you to out to a garden, the two of you walking in silence. You sat on a nearby bench, deciding it was time to spin your tale. By the time you were done, you looked up to Diana, hopeful for ideas.

“My sister, that is a lot. I’m afraid I do not know what to do either. Our best option is to find Persephone. I do agree that she is likely the one who placed you on this earth.”

“Got access to Tartarus?”

“On Themyscria. I will work on passage for you. It should not be a problem, as you are female…and half god.” You grasped her wrist as she turned to leave.

“Diana…you know Zeus is your father, right?”

“I had long since suspected. But I will never get over the looks on men’s faces when I tell them I was sculpted from clay.” She gave you a wink before adding. “Be ready tomorrow. We leave at dawn.”

“Well everything I own is borrowed from Dick, so I’m already ready. Unless I should get back into my toga.”

She glanced over your attire, “It would be preferable. Jeans are too restrictive, and I have a gnawing feeling there is going to be a fight ahead of us.”

“You too, huh?”

Diana nodded with affirmation before heading back inside. You did not follow, you needed time to think, you needed more time to hone your skills. Zeus had trained you in Olympus and made sure all your opponents were stronger than you…but it had always felt different. That was training and though your opponents could have easily subdued you, they feared Zeus’ wrath and didn’t dare harm you. Even Hera’s bribes couldn’t even phase them. You just were hoped that once back in Tartarus, back in a land of the gods, your body would feel like your own again. Somehow in the back of your mind, you knew that would never be true again. It would always be different now, you couldn’t put a pin in why – though your suspicions kept trailing to Dick.

**

Diana approached Bruce and Dick, who were discussing their own plans in the matter.

“You too need to tell her how involved you actually are. She’s worried about you.” Her eyes could drill holes into Dick’s. “I know it would ease her mind, if she knew that you were capable of handling yourself. I have a feeling Zeus will not give up easily, he is not used to defiance. There will be a fight.”

“We can explain on the way to Themyscira.” Bruce’s voice was low and unfaltering.

“Bruce, we’ve been over this. I can’t just bring you to Themyscira, and I especially can’t bring you to Tartarus. Mortal men do not go to Tartarus unless they don’t plan on coming back.”

“Well I’m going. You haven’t seen her. What Zeus is doing to her in these dreams.” Dick shook his head, “No, I’m not letting her do this alone.”

“My mother is not going to like this.”

[imamotherfuckingstar-lord]

Feel So Close, pt. 15

Bucky Barnes x Reader

A/N:The parts will be under 1k each, short and simple. If you want to be tagged, send me an ask or leave a comment!  

Warnings: language. Happens right after CATWS. 2 MORE PARTS LEFT.

Summary: Steve Rogers has a mission for you - help him find his old friend, Bucky.

masterlist

Steve held you close as your hand touched the back of his neck; realizing now, how much you missed your friend. He felt warm despite the cold weather and when he pulled away, he smiled at you. Knowing you owed him a lot more than an explanation, you began to talk but he interrupted you with a hand to the shoulder.

“Bucky?”

Right, you thought, feeling slightly dumb as you stepped aside. You had been Steve’s friend for years, but Bucky was his brother. You watched as the two men approached each other and quickly drew into an embrace – you noted that, months ago, Bucky would not have been so receptive. He had come a long way and truthfully, you were glad to see the old friends together. Although it did bring some anxiousness; Steve found the two of you, so what did that mean for Bucky?  

The world outside of Norway would want him to pay for his sins, the sins of Hydra. That’s what scared you the most, with one single knock on the door – your world could be over.

“How did you find us?”

Your question had Steve pulling from his friend and reaching into his coat pocket. He held out a piece of paper and you took it; it was your list of places you wanted to visit. Each place crossed off except for Norway.

“I guess you can cross that off your list too,” he said quietly. You ignored him and stared at the paper, glad that he brought it along with him. Feeling slightly paranoid, you walked to the oven and turned on the top stove. The flame came up and you lit the paper, Bucky asked what you were doing. Watching it burn almost to the edge of where you were holding it, you tossed the paper into the sink and ran the water; down the drain it went.

“I’m covering his tracks,” you explained, staring at Steve. “Who else knows you were coming here? How did you buy the ticket?”

Steve looked a bit taken aback but answered your questions. “No one, they all think I’m on a road trip across the states. I paid cash for the ticket, no one knows I’m here.”

Bucky gave you a smile and nodded. “Sweetheart, I know you’re scared but…”

“…but nothing, Bucky,” you argued back. “Steve found us, who knows who else is looking. We’ll have to move.”

“No, you don’t,” Steve urged, stepping into your line of sight. He blocked Bucky and grabbed you by the shoulders. “I’m not here to out the two of you, for fuck’s sake. I’ve been looking for my two best friends!”

His anger and hurt was felt through the tips of his fingers. Bucky stepped forward and placed a hand on Steve’s shoulder, signaling for him to let go of you. He did and sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a moment to regain his composure. When he opened them up, you saw that he was being sincere, and it relaxed you.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized, holding onto tears. “I-I just don’t want any of this to go away, Bucky and I – we made a life here.”

“You left a life behind,” Steve pointed out without a hint of malice. “Sam and I – we kept looking for months until I called off the search. Sam thinks you went AWOL because you fell in love with Bucky.”

Your face softened. “I guess he wasn’t too far off and the others?”

“They don’t know what to think,” he admitted and that seemed to hurt. You missed your friends but that old life, not so much. You were always so lonely and now, you were far from that. “We all miss you.”

“I miss you guys too, but I won’t go back,” you said, and he knew you couldn’t. Steve knew deep down Bucky and you would never return to the States, it was too risky. It seemed Norway was the safest place for your growing family, and he was not going to take that away. He would keep this secret for as long as you needed; he would shield the two of you from the rest of the world, and make sure no one ever comes close to what you have built here. He would do it for Bucky, for the baby, but mostly for you.

“You told me you’d find Buck and you did, and for that I’ll make sure no one ever finds the two of you.”

Unable to hold back tears, you embraced Steve once more and looked over his shoulder to Bucky. He was standing there with the greatest look of relief on his face and you closed your eyes. Everything was going to be okay now, no more looking over your shoulders or making backup plans just in case the two of you had to run again. Steve chuckled when your stomach pressed firmly against his and asked if he could touch your stomach.

“Of course, she’s going crazy in there,” you said, pulling from him. His eyes softened and when his palm came over the top of your stomach, he felt a kick. You laughed at his shocked expression, “Steve, meet your niece, Stevie. She’s going to have a strong kick like her uncle.”

Bucky patted his friend’s back and grinned. “Let’s just hope she doesn’t go around getting into fights.”

Steve laughed and shook his head, his heart filled with joy. “If she’s like her mother, she just might.”

The three of you laughed but Steve’s faded sooner than yours and he smiled weakly. “I guess this will be my first and last visit for a while then.”

Bucky smiled sadly but threw his arm around his friend and drew him close.   “Well, let’s make it a good one, punk.”

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[sugarbutterbroadway]

Davey-Doll chapter 2

The shade was a welcome change as Davey entered the school grounds. He could feel the sweat soaking his under shirt. Sometimes he missed being young when dressing for the weather was acceptable and not considered a social taboo. He scanned the grounds for his younger brother who usually stuck out like a sore thumb. The Jacobs children were fairly tall, tall enough you could pick them out in a crowd. The same applied for Les, coupled with his curly brown hair that he refused to cut, you couldn’t miss him. It only took a few minutes to spot him. Davey walked a bit closer and snapped his fingers to get Les’ attention. He didn’t necessarily like the school grounds so he wanted to be out of there as soon as possible. He watched as Les said goodbye to his friends and waltzed over. 

“You’re late,”he said. Davey rolled his eyes and grabbed Les’ bag to swing over his shoulder.

“Hello to you too”

“What?”He smirked, “I’m just telling the truth. What took you so long? You’re never late”

“I got off of work late”Davey said, he was lying straight through his teeth. “Let’s go.”

“Touchy today”He said, raising a brow. “What, is there conflict at the theatre? Somebody monologue wrong? Did somebody say Mac-”

“You finish that sentence and your ass is going to mother’s”Davey warned.

“Alright, sorry”He said, raising his hands in surrender. “Honestly, what’s wrong Davey?”

“What makes you think something’s wrong?”Davey asked, “I’m perfectly fine”

“You’re squeezing my bookbag like it owes you money,”he said, pointing to Davey’s nails digging into the leather. “Your knuckles are white”

“They didn’t choose their race,”Davey said.

“You know what I mean!”He huffed, “But if you want me to drop it, i’ll drop it”

The tension in Davey’s jaw loosened a bit and he bumped his shoulders against Les’ to say thank you. The two continued walking towards Davey’s apartment before he remembered. He paused sharply and dug in his pocket for his key.

“What’re you doing?”

He pulled out the key and placed it in Les’ hand. “I wanted to stop by Racetrack’s job on the way back. I don’t know how long i’ll be so-”

“Hell yes!”He said, snatching the keys from his fingers. Davey quickly looked around before thumping Les’ temple.

“Watch your mouth!”Davey hissed. Les scoffed and stuffed the key into his pocket.

“Like you’re one to talk”he said.

“I’m twenty-five”Davey said, “I’m allowed to cuss”

“And i’m eighteen”He said, “And the sky is blue,and the grass is green,and the trees are brown, and-”

“You just love to hear yourself talk don’t you?”Davey asked.

Les smiled and nodded his head. “Guilty”

“You’re hopeless”Davey mumbled. He took the bookbag off his shoulder and handed it to Les. “I won’t be home any later than ten. You know how to make dinner,don’t touch my liquor--i’ll know--and no Sally can’t come over”

“Why!”he whined. 

“Because you’re not married,”Davey said.

“That’s so unfair!”he continued, “You have Katherine over and you two aren’t married”

Davey felt his face heat up but he tried to keep stern. “It’s not the same”

“Why is it not the same?”He asked.

“Because it’s not”

“That’s not a reason”He said.

“I’ll tell you when you’re taller”

“I’m not getting any taller!”he exclaimed.

“Then isn’t that tough for you?”Davey said, narrowing his eyes. “Drop it.” “But-” “Drop. It.”Davey said through clenched teeth, “You shouldn’t even be focused on relationships right now anyways. You’re in your last year of high school, you’ve got plenty time for that after you’ve graduated”

Les laughed through his nose and shook his head. “You just wouldn’t understand”

“Why wouldn’t I?”Davey asked, folding his arms. “Pray tell. Tell me how your teenage angst is anything I haven’t already been through?”

“You wouldn’t know what it’s like to be in love”He said, “When you were in high school all you did was keep your nose in a book”

“Because I was focused on my education and not on girls”Davey said, squeezing his fingers in his palms.

“Yeah”Les huffed, “never focused on girls. If you weren’t my brother i’d think you were one of those fucking homosexuals”

Davey’s body ran cold. “Watch your mouth with me Les, and your tone-”

“Yeah? And what are you gonna do about it?”He said, “you’re not dad”

“I may not be dad but I'm the one who raised you!”For a moment he forgot where they were. The turning heads did little to cool the rage inside of him. He was breathing hard, he could feel it in the way his lungs constricted. Les’ scowl faltered.

“Davey-”

“Go home Les”Davey said, rubbing his temples. “Just...we’ll talk later”

“Davey ‘m sorry-”

“Go.”

Les sighed and twisted the key in his hand. “I’ll see you at home”

-

Davey scowled the whole way to Racetrack’s job. He hoped the walk to lower manhattan would calm him anger but it just made him sweaty and angry. He hated arguments, hated them with a passion. He hated the way they got him fired up and the only way to calm down was to scream his head off, it was disgusting. He didn’t ask for any of this. He didn’t ask for his father’s death,he didn’t ask to take over as Les’ guardian,he didn’t ask for his youth to be cut so short. But he still did so without complaining,without so much as a thank you for sacrificing so much of his time and this is what he gets? You’re not dad. Les has always been testy with his boundaries, but the minute he turned eighteen he thinks all of the ground rules they had laid out just evaporated? Davey would rather watch paint dry than let this little brat run around lawless with no home training.

He had his reasons. 

That Sally was a nice girl sure but it was Les he was worried about. He was young and dumb and didn’t know the first things on dating etiquette. He was a sweet kid but the only thing on his mind was probably getting her stripped down to her corset. Davey wasn’t ready to become an uncle and dear god if he did get her pregnant they didn’t have the money to offer her family a dowry for the wedding and-he screwed his eyes shut as a searing pain shot across his temple, this was giving him a headache. He tried to keep his mind on the present. Sally wouldn’t be over there,which means there’s no chance of Les getting her pregnant which means no wedding and no dowry. He took a deep breath as he turned the corner to the shop where Racetrack worked. The bell on the door chimed as he walked in. Racetrack had it pretty good compared to the other newsies who entered the adult working world. He had an inside job where he spent all day crunching numbers and approving building plans for architects. From the looks of his new threads, it paid well. It made Davey happy to know at least one of his boys had made it out of poverty.

Race looked up at the sound of the door and grinned. “Wrong building, theatre’s down the street”

“Good to see you too, ‘track”

“Hey hey hey”Race said, looking around the busy shop. “Let’s keep the names professional”

Davey rolled his eyes. “My apologies, Antonio”

“Much better”Race grinned, “It’s good to see you, David”

“Likewise”Davey said, matching his smile.

“So uh, what brings you here?”Race asked.

“Just passed through Newsie square earlier”Davey said, “reminded me of you”

“I’m touched”Race said, his grin was just as goofy as when he was sixteen. “See anything new?”

“I saw Elmer”he shrugged,  “Kid’s got a mustache”

“God that’s weird”Race groaned, “Anything else?”

Davey clenched his jaw a bit and nodded. “I uh...I saw a cowboy on my way through”

Race’s eyes bulged out of his skull. “A cowboy?”

Davey nodded.“The cowboy”

Race paused, taking a look around the room. “Let’s take this to my office”

And this is one of the many things Davey appreciated about Racetrack. They could go without speaking for months on end and still be on the same page whenever they see each other. Davey waited patiently as Race spoke in what sounded like Italian to the other workers. Once he was given the okay, the two walked towards the back of the shop where a few doors were located. Race pulled out a key and opened up the door at the very end of the hall, Davey couldn’t help but marvel. It was a small space but Race kept it surprisingly tidy. He gestured for Davey to take a seat.

“This is ni-”

“What the hell do you mean you saw Jack?”Race demanded. Davey’s eyes widened in bewilderment.

“What the hell happened to formalities?”

“Out there, I'm Antonio”Race said, “But in here, I’m Racetrack. Now, what the hell happened Davey?”

Davey then proceeded to explain everything, failing to not get a little misty eyed as it finally hit him. This is the man who broke his heart, who he hadn’t seen in almost ten years. Who vanished without a trace and now he’s back. Race listened intently the whole time, gnawing on his bottom lip. At some point the two had ended up on the floor, backs pressed against Race’s desk.

“Fuck, Davey”he cursed, running a hand through his curls. “Why the fuck is he here?”

“I don’t know,”Davey said, shaking his head. “I-I...none of it makes sense”

“This isn’t good”He mumbled, more to himself than Davey. “This really isn’t good”

“I know”Davey sighed.

He snapped his fingers a bit when he noticed Davey was staring at the floor.“Look at me”

“ ‘m lookin”Davey grumbled.

“You shouldn’t do this to yourself, Davey”He said. “Jack Kelly is the past an’ he’s got no place in your future”

“I know!”Davey exclaimed, now he was frustrated. “I-I know it’s just-it’s just he makes me feel things”

Race scoffed, “yeah, makes yer dick feel things”

“No, ‘track”Davey said, shaking his head. “It’s more than the sex-it’s always been more than the sex”

“Not to him”He said with a humorless chuckle. “He fucked you and then tossed ya to the curb, is that a man you really want to go back to?”

“You don’t understand,”Davey said.

“Then make me understand,”Race said. “What is it about Jack Kelly that he’s got such a hold on you?”

“You should know, you’ve been with him,”Davey said.

Race shook his head.“Obviously not in the same way you were”

“He just”he took a deep breath, it was fine to think about in the comfort of his own home but to spill his truth out in broad daylight made him uneasy. “He made me feel so special...always told me that I was the only one for him,that he’d never let me go and then…”

“Then the proposal happened,”Race said softly.

“I still wonder what went wrong”He chuckled, a tear slid down his face. Race leaned over and brushed it off his cheek.

“It sounds like you never really got over him,”Race said. Davey let out a watery laugh and wrapped his arms around himself. Race brought a hand up and patted his shoulder, it made Davey laugh a little harder and he shook his head.

“How could I, Race?”He whispered, “He meant everything to me”

“I don’t wanna get your hopes up”Race said slowly, “But maybe Jack was scared”

“What?”he croaked.

“Jack’s never had anyone love him”Race said. “He was always a one and done kind of guy no matter who the person was.”he did a little shimmy pointing to himself “Then you pop into his life and maybe it scared him”

“I don’t understand,”he sniffled.

“I hate to admit it ‘cause he was playin you like a fiddle” Race huffed, “But you were a powerteam. Sure I was his second but you, you was Davey. Every Newsie knew your name, you ran this borough like-like his queen!”

“Was it really like that?”He asked, it had been so long.

“Any Newsie with eyes knew you belonged to Jack”Race said, rolling his eyes. 

“and Jack didn’t usually like that kinda shit, liked to keep his hookups private. But he paraded and pampered you around like you’s went”

“I thought we did”Davey muttered bitterly.

“Jack’s afraid of change”Race continued, “I ain’t trying to make no excuses or get your hopes up but you was different Davey, and maybe that scared him”

“I...I don’t know what to say”Davey said. 

“Then we don’t gotta speak no more”Race said softly, and Davey loved and hated it at the same time. He hated being treated like a charity case, like he was fragile and would fall apart at the slightest touch. But at the same time it was what he craved, all he wanted at the end of the day was to be loved.

“Can’t believe we’re still doin this”Davey chuckled, running a hand over his face. “It’s just like we’re still teenagers”

“Well...don’t you miss it”He said. Davey turned to face him and furrowed his brows.

“What’s there to miss?”Davey asked. 

“Tell me you don’ miss stayin at the lodging house”

“I don’t miss staying at the lodging house--ow!”

Davey rubbed his temple where Race had flicked him.

“Shut up”He rolled his eyes, “You definitely do. Getting drunk off our asses?piling into those tiny rooms together at night? The best days of my life”

“A nightmare,”Davey said, wrinkling up his nose.

“It’s a dream when yer queer”he winked. Davey gasped and smacked his shoulder.

“Racetrack Higgins!”

“What!”He exclaimed, “I’m telling the truth!”

“You can’t just say things like that in public!”Davey hissed, “For god sake man, use a code word or something!”

“Fine”he rolled his eyes, “As a homosexual-”

“Racetrack”

“Alright!”he laughed, “Alright i’m done, honest”

“Sodomy is a crime”Davey said with serious eyes, “I know things were different when we were Newsies but...this is the real world now, we could get in serious trouble for it”

“Ain’t no crime”He said, his eyes were blazing.

“Race-”

“No”He growled, “It ain’t no crime! ‘m sick an’ tired of treatin it like one! My love for another man shouldn’ be enough to get me killed when i’m a good person! I’s a better person then-then half of these priests and men of the ‘high society!’”

“I know,”Davey said softly, but Race wasn’t done.

“I fuckin miss being a Newsie”He said, “Sure I was dirt poor but I miss that world! Nobody cared whose pants I was gettin into or whose bed I was in. it was all about sellin my papes and makin sure I was fed...”

“This is still a sore spot for you,”Davey said and Race chuckled.

“Damn right it is”he said. “I got so much by joining this world but...I lost more than i’d like to admit”

Davey nodded in understanding. “You two went together like candles and burning”

He let out a shallow chuckle. “Where do you come up with this shit?”

“I work at a theatre”Davey shrugged, “part of the job”

“I’m tired’a bein angry in silence”He said, staring at the wall. “I want a change to come”

“One day”Davey said. “Might be a hundred years from now but one day two men-queers-”he choked on the word. “-If you will, will be able to hold hands and kiss and even get married”

“And we’ll have carriages that run on sunshine”He said, sliding down the desk and laying on his back. Davey joined him.

“There’ll be pictures that move”Davey chuckled.

“Clocks that speak”

“We’ll be able to walk on water”

“And dogs that meow”

“And cats that bark”

“And we’ll go to space!”he grinned, lifting an arm up to trace imaginary lines along the ceiling. 

“All in our wildest dreams”Davey grinned, placing his arms under his head. The conversation fell to a lull and Race laid his head on Davey’s chest. If he closed his eyes and squeezed hard enough he could almost feel the faulty springs of the lodging house mattress and hear the boys telling stories to keep the chill of winter off their bones. He could hear Elmer and the other younger boys playing in the corner, while Specs spun a tale about a boy with magic beans. He could feel Albert’s legs laid over his and Finch playing with his hair. Sometimes he really did miss it.

“You’re thinking hard”Race said, his eyes closed as well. Davey hummed and felt a wave of warm nostalgia roll over him.

“Yeah...yeah I am” 

[swamplatibule]

Paramay Prompt Three! Para+Childhood

I HAVE BEEN WRITING THIS FOR FOUR MOTHERFUCKING DAYS NOW AND I HAVE NO REGRETS :DDDD

this has not been proofread it is 10 at night, I am exhausted, please accept my humble offerings

Damn, only prompt three and I’m already forced to reveal everyone’s tragic backstory oh well lol

Trigger warnings: Abuse, arson, su•c•de, death, homophobia, murder, gun mention

tw; death mention

Alright alright alright let’s fuckin goooo we’ll start off with Hollister, her childhood is no doubt the easiest to write since it’s basically been the same her whole life.

She never met her parents. She doesn’t know if they’re dead, or if they just decided they didn’t want a kid, or if something else happened, and she doesn‘t care. It’s not her problem. At least, she tells herself that, but she really isn’t 100% sure that it wasn’t somehow her fault. Poor baby.

She‘s completely grown up in the foster care system, bouncing from home to home. Hollister kept running away, getting caught, and being sent somewhere else. She’s also, guess what, a fucking genius with technology.

One time she tried running away and then erasing herself from the system. It didn’t work, but nobody realized that she’s tried to do it, so it’s fine, nothing went wrong.

A few weeks into her newest home, one of the other foster kids named Silas (who she’d been fast friends with) went missing days after developing a weird anti-gravitational power. And so she tried to find him. She stumbled across the Starwritten Society - when I say “stumbled across” I mean she followed a few very questionable leads on, like, conspiracy theory websites and shit and actually found something - and hacked into the archives, trying to find some sort of info.

Now, you can imagine the panic that caused in the Society. Complete lockdown. The Starwritten Society is top-secret, and nobody just hacks into the archives that easily. She didn’t actually find anything, one because she didn’t get time to look around before the security system actually started working and kicked her out, and two because Silas just wasn’t in the records anyway, meaning he’d disappeared some other way.

However, before she could go out looking for him, there were three agents knocking at the door, having tracked her location here. And you can imagine the looks on their faces when they saw that the person who had caused the mass panic that morning was none other than some kid with a computer that looked home-made.

Things happened, she asked to join because, y’know, fuck yeah secret society, paperwork was filed, and she got in. She’s currently the youngest trainee to join the Society in seventy-four years. Also, fun fact, they had to fill out the adoption papers and such, so she’s listed as the child of Director Iara Adams. Which isn’t that big of a deal, since literally every kid in need of adoption taken in by the Society is adopted under her name, and most have only interacted with her like once, but... it’s a cool world building detail I felt like I needed to add.

Anyways, ONWARD!!!

——————————————

tw; homophobia

Kennedy was born in a pretty influential family with very “traditional” values. They kinda suck, so we won’t get too into that shithole.

Each generation of that family has had like six kids, and every single time, one turns out to be lgbtq+ and gets ✨disowned✨because the parents are just kinda assholes. It’s just this never-ending cycle.

Suffice it to say, Kennedy - being a flaming bisexual and all that - got disowned when she was like twelve after one of her siblings outed her by accident. Her uncle took her in. Guess what? He had also been disowned! When he was fifteen!

And he also went on to become a very important person in the Starwritten Society, and when he discovered Kennedy’s complete genius with technology, he recommended her to become a trainee at 17 years old.

To be honest, Kennedy’s basically gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to characterization and fleshing-out. I have quite a few paras like that, sadly. I think I might make her a playlist sometime and let her be the main character for a while.

——————————————

tw: abuse, arson, su•c•de, murder, gun mention

Fox. Oh boy. Fox grew up in a very... tense household. His father started out pretty okay when he was a younger kid, but he slowly started getting more and more violent and controlling, to both Fox, his twin sister, and his mother.

Fox always had a very close relationship with his sister, Wren. You know that siblings meme? The “You are my sister, you are my brother, we are siblings and we care for each other,”? The were the living definition of that. They managed to keep a definite sense of humor and lightheartedness with each other, despite everything that had been going on.

They weren’t fine, but they had each other.

And then Wren went missing. There was a huge police search, but they didn’t find anything. Fox was fourteen at the time. That experience basically broke him, and he never saw Wren again.

A month later, he was coming home from school, got off the bus, and found the house in smoking ruins. His mother hadn’t been able to take his father’s abuse anymore, and she couldn’t see any way out. So she set the house on fire, killing both herself and her husband.

Fox, who was a mental wreck at this point, as almost anyone would be, was placed into the foster care system. He never stayed anywhere for longer than a week. His humor became a shield for him, an easy way to seem like he was fine when he wasn’t. After about a year, he ran away. And then joined the circus. Why, you ask? Because I said so; I grow these flowers and if you don’t like it then you can leave my garden

Fox was always a flexible kid. He’d been in gymnastics classes since he was five. And, as it would turn out, he was damn good on a trapeze. It wasn’t a very big circus, just some small family-run traveling one, but it gave him a place to stay and an environment that welcomed him, and that was good enough for him.

He was with the circus for about four years, up until he was eighteen, so technically this isn’t his childhood anymore, but I’m gonna keep going because I want to.

The Starwritten Society was following a lead on an underground lab somewhere around the place where Fox’s circus was performing. Kennedy was actually on the mission, although she doesn’t do many of those anymore after she got injured in the field and such and I’ll talk about that later. Anyway.

The team of agents who were on the search came across the circus, and figured it was as good of a place as any to try and find the person they were looking for, Eleanor Sylvidas. She was actually in the crowd watching, and there was a confrontation after the show. Fox went to check it out, being the one generally in charge of telling people to cool it whenever small fights broke out between customers, but he wasn’t quite sure what to do in a situation where both parties happen to have guns pointed at each other. Especially when Eleanor pointed her gun at his head and told the agents that if they didn’t back down, she’d shoot him.

That wasn’t exactly something that happened to him on a day-to-day basis.

Of course, a fight broke out. Actually, Fox made the first move, he literally tried to snatch this woman’s gun out of her hand. It didn’t work, but the shot she took at him definitely missed, and then there was a very chaotic fight scene and Eleanor ended up losing and got arrested. Course, they still had to find the lab so they could get the kids out of there. Fox was very helpful in that aspect, too.

Once the mission had been completed, he was offered a place as a trainee in the Society. Those who were there will say that the offer was accepted immediately, but he was actually a bit reluctant. He made the choice to go, however, and it proved to be one of the best decisions he’s made.

——————————————

tw; abuse, violence, gun mention

Wilson. Where do I start? He has trauma, definitely, although so does practically everyone who works with the Starwritten Society.

See, Wilson is actually one of the people who were rescued from labs as children, but there are two things that sets him apart from others.

1. He wasn’t kidnapped at birth or after he developed abilities. He was literally created in a lab, which has led to a lot of self-doubt due to being raised to believe he wasn’t “natural”.

2. The Society aims to rescue all powered children from labs as soon as possible, and since many of them are kidnapped at a young age, they try to get them out at least before they turn 10. Wilson wasn’t found until he was a bit older than 17.

He wasn’t even given a name while he was in the lab. He was just “Project Firebird”, with abilities including fire and heat manipulation, as well as immunity to those two things, plus flight and enhanced strength, speed, and stamina. Wilson was made for the sole purpose of being a weapon.

The person running the lab? An absolute fucker of a man named Alastor Killigan. Him? I cannot put into words how much I hate him. He just really fucking sucks, and not in a “loveable bastard“ way. I honestly wish I could physically teleport into my daydreams just to set this bitch on fire.

Anyway, he’s running this whole operation. He’s got guards, he’s got other scientists who he may or may not have blackmailed into helping him, he’s got people who work for him. And this isn’t the first time he’s done this. That’s right, Grey isn’t the first time he’s tried to weaponize a kid. He got caught by the Society last time, but escaped, and now he knows that he has to keep moving around constantly.

So the first 17 years of Grey’s life were just constant training and experiments and tests and moving around and being raised to believe that he was a literal monster and wasn’t worth anything if he wasn’t a weapon. Fucked up, right? But, see, the Society had no idea he existed. They found the lab kids through keeping tabs on recent kidnappings and disappearances. Grey wasn’t on any of those lists. The only people aware of Grey’s existence were Alastor and the people working for him.

In fact, the Society only found him by chance. They managed to track Alastor’s location and find him to arrest him, and they found Grey while they were doing that. There was a huge fight, but Alastor lost, and Grey got rescued. Things were looking up.

Because the Society legally adopts all the orphaned kids they take in, Grey needed a name. He also just needed a name in general. The lady filling out the papers told him he could just pick something, and he panicked. He wasn’t used to being allowed to make his own decisions. There was a plaque on the wall with a list of people who’d been top agents in the past, and he just read one of those.

Grey Wilson.

So, y’know, that‘s why it says he was a top agent in 1937. Just a heads up.

Have I talked about the Society’s different departments yet? No? Maybe I’ll do that later, but anyway - one of the divisions is basically therapy, because some of these kiddos have severe trauma and need help. Grey worked with a woman named Mags for a few years, and then started training for the High-Risk Rescue department. He was taking charge of his own future! Yayyyy!

Oh yeah and then Alastor escaped - again, and Mags went missing on the same day and it was presumed Alastor killed her on his way out, and Grey hasn’t seen either of them since. He’s been working in the Society for about 22 years now, trying to make sure that nobody goes through what he has. He decided early on that he didn’t want to use his abilities again, ever, and it’s become his personal secret, with very few people knowing.