#AHHH SO EXCITED TO FINALLY POST THESE

[lesbicosmos]

day 1 of @painlandweek !!

day 1 prompt: language of love / sickfic

summary: charles gets hit by a witch's spell that was originally intended for edwin. edwin takes care of him in the aftermath.

notes: title from unknown/nth by hozier <33

also on ao3!!

i could break beneath the weight of the goodness, love, i still carry for you

Ghosts couldn’t get ill – at least, not in the traditional sense. They had no immune system to be affected, so they never had anything to worry about in terms of typical human diseases. It was possible, however, for a ghost’s physical form to be altered by supernatural intervention: curses, enchantments, hexes, and the like; and the side effects of these could resemble what a ghost would recognise as sickness or injury.

Running a detective agency for troubled ghosts meant Charles and Edwin had dealt with their fair share of paranormal maladies. Luckily for them, Edwin’s extensive collection of medical tomes and the many spells he had learned over the years were usually just the thing they required to help the soul in need. It was usually a client; it was very rare that the soul in need was either of the two of them – and it never happened on any of their ‘typical’ cases.

Their current case was not a typical one.

They had thought they were done with witches after the pandemonium with Esther Finch back in Port Townsend, but they could not have been more wrong. They were currently fighting another one, who was ironically also trying to trap ghosts – not to hook them up to her spectral energy super-battery, but to use them as test subjects for the potions and spells she invented. They were ‘free guinea pigs’, she had claimed. ‘An abundant supply.’ Of course, the Dead Boy Detectives Agency couldn’t have that. When they had a young woman who had died sometime in the 1960s come by the office to tell them about her 18th century girlfriend who had been kidnapped, they immediately took the case.

So, several days of researching and keeping watch on the witch later, the four detectives had arrived at her house, prepared for anything. They had distracted her for long enough for Charles to sneak down into her cellar and rescue the ghosts trapped down there in iron cages, including their client’s partner. Now all they had to do was get rid of this witch once and for all, or at least come to an agreement. They didn’t enjoy having to take drastic measures against those who wronged their clients, but sometimes they were necessary.

The four of them were outside in the garden facing the witch, who didn’t look alarmed in the slightest. She wasn’t amused, though. She hadn’t got that manic grin on her face that Esther had when she was torturing souls. No, this witch clearly just wanted the four of them out of her way. And evidently she was more than willing to use force. As Crystal gripped her arm, slipping into her mind, Edwin prepared a spell. He was focusing intently, desperately trying to ensure it was ready for when Crystal let the witch go. Unfortunately for him, the witch also had psychic abilities, and was much more efficient at fighting back against Crystal than they had anticipated. She broke free of her grasp, Crystal falling backwards into Niko, and the witch turned to Edwin.

He was still crouched on the floor, swirling a blue liquid in a vial and muttering something in Latin, and hadn’t had the chance to move or attack before the witch made her move, muttering something in an ancient tongue and throwing her hand forwards in front of her.

Edwin shut his eyes tightly out of instinct, preparing for whatever this witch had cooked up for him in her mind.

“Edwin!” he heard Charles scream.

He heard footsteps quickly approaching, presumably the witch drawing closer to increase the strength of her attack. A green light shot forwards, so bright Edwin could almost see it through his eyelids. A strangled gasp echoed around the walls of the garden as ghostly body collided with concrete patio.

Edwin’s eyes burst open at the gasp that was most pointedly not his own.

Directly in front of him, Charles lay on the ground unmoving, his cricket bat thrown aside. A green glow gently faded from his chest, where the spell had clearly hit him square-on.

“Charles!” Crystal shouted, moving to run to him, then retreating when the witch turned instead to her, her hand still pulsing with the magical light.

The witch simply laughed. Edwin fell to his knees beside Charles, who still hadn’t moved a muscle since he collapsed.

“Charles!” Edwin gasped, out of breath and panicked. “Charles, can you hear me?”

Edwin gently shook Charles’s shoulders, and his eyes slowly opened, looking up. Then, his eyes moved downward, and Edwin followed his line of sight until he reached his hand, where Charles was weakly giving a thumbs up.

Fundamentally, Charles was fine. He couldn’t feel any pain, aside from the dull ache of where the spell had hit him directly. It wasn’t that he couldn’t move, only that it suddenly felt as though he weighed several dozen times more than he did before. Even lifting his hand to signal to Edwin had made him feel as though he was trying to deadlift an elephant. It was strange, feeling this sensation of exhaustion, something he had not physically felt in so long. He’d felt it mentally, emotionally; there had been many times he’d gone to sleep – or, at least, the closest a ghost could get to a state of rest – but he’d never felt the tiredness so viscerally, never ached all over just to move.

“Can you talk?”

He tried. It didn’t work. Not only was it too much to open his mouth, but he came to realise he couldn’t even breathe. When he tried, it was even worse than lifting his hand, this time as though he had the weight of a building sitting on top of his chest. It wasn’t that he needed to breathe. He hadn’t actually absorbed oxygen into his lungs since that cold night in the attic, but it was their strange ghostly equivalent to breathing that allowed him to speak, and right now he couldn’t.

Charles’s head moved ever so slightly from side to side. That was just manageable.

“Not full paralysis, okay…” Edwin muttered under his breath, looking Charles up and down. “You’re going to be okay,” he said, this time looking him in the eyes.

Edwin didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t leave Charles in this state, but there was still a ghost-napping witch to deal with. But if he didn’t know the specifics of the spell Charles was hit with, he couldn’t know what the full effects would be. He could be off trying to deal with the witch while Charles ‘s spectral form faded away for all he knew, unnoticed in the silence. He began to panic. He needed books, but all the volumes he could think of that would help were back at the office. He looked up to Crystal and Niko, who were still facing the witch.

All of a sudden she dashed off, through a gap in the hedges at the edge of the garden.

“Get him back to the office,” Crystal told Edwin. “We’ll deal with her.”

“Are you sure?”

“We’ve got this, you go and help him!"

Edwin hurled the vial he had finished concocting to Niko, who caught it in one hand.

“Throw that at her. Make sure it smashes, and make sure you do it on the property. It should trap her here for now, we’ll figure out what to do with her another time.”

The girls nodded, turning and following the path the witch took out of the garden and out of sight. Edwin turned back to Charles.

“I’m going to lift you up now,” he said.

Charles didn’t do anything to argue – not that he physically could – so Edwin got his footing before sliding one arm under Charles’s shoulders and the other under his knees, lifting him up.

Something in Charles’s mind had expected that Edwin wouldn’t be able to lift him. He was far too heavy, too weighed down; Edwin was strong, but he wasn’t that strong. He had been wrong, of course. The spell hadn’t actually turned Charles to lead; it only felt like it had. His limbs fell straight downwards as Edwin carried him through the witch’s house to the huge mirror on the wall in the entranceway.

He stepped through it, and they were in their office within a second. Edwin hurriedly but gently lowered Charles down onto the small sofa.

Charles really didn’t like that he couldn’t breathe. He knew he didn’t need to, knew he hadn’t really breathed in years, but that didn’t stop the habit. He was panicking, and that only made him feel the need more. Soon, he was gasping, desperately trying to inhale but being unable to as his chest wouldn’t rise an inch.

Edwin had been carefully arranging his limbs on the sofa, desperate to make him as comfortable as possible. That helped calm him down, but it didn’t stop the attempts. He had to breathe. He needed to breathe. Not being able to reminded him of being under that lake, hiding beneath the surface for as long as he physically could to shield himself from the oncoming attacks from the boys he had once considered his closest friends. He so desperately wanted to reach out, to grab onto Edwin’s arm, but the most he could do was wriggle his fingers around.

Clearly noticing his distress, Edwin grabbed his hand and squeezed.

“Charles, you don’t need to breathe my dear. You’re okay. Just try and relax, I know it’s uncomfortable.”

Edwin’s voice grounded Charles, and he closed his eyes, focusing on the sound and the feeling of Edwin’s hand in his. He wished he could squeeze back, thank him for being there as always.

“Are you alright?” he asked once Charles was no longer trying to gasp for air.

Charles barely managed a nod. Edwin placed a gentle kiss on the top of his head before standing up, letting go of Charles’s hand and pacing over to his shelves. He thought for a moment before reaching out and grabbing a book, an old one with yellowing pages and a dark purple cover. He flicked through, his eyes darting back and forth across the pages until he found what he was looking for.

“I think it was a paralysis hex gone somewhat wrong,” he explained, moving back over to Charles and sitting on the sofa beside him, the book open on his lap. “It’s a specific type of witchcraft, a spell which the caster has to specifically cater it to the intended victim. Since she forged the spell for me, it’s having a milder effect on you.”

This is mild? Charles thought. He would have groaned in annoyance if he physically could.

“It should wear off on its own, but I’m afraid it’s going to be several hours.”

Charles closed his eyes once more, rolling them as he did so. Edwin turned to place the book on the arm of the sofa, giving him another free hand to comfort Charles with. He placed it gently on his chest.

“Can I do anything to help?” he asked.

Charles’s hand twitched next to Edwin’s thigh, moving ever so slowly towards him. Edwin looked at Charles’s eyes, and could tell by the soft pleading look he found there what he was reaching for. Edwin took his gloves off, reaching out to take Charles’s hand back into his own. He knew he would need the direct contact, the softness of skin-on-skin, the only true feeling he could have in his afterlife. Edwin gently stroked circles on the back of his hand in the repeating pattern he knew always calmed him down.

Edwin hated seeing Charles like this. He was always so energetic, constantly moving around wherever he was, barely ever stopping to relax. It felt wrong seeing him stuck so still, unable to move and unable to talk. It should have been me on the other end of that spell, Edwin thought. Charles’s endearing yet frustrating need to protect him had ended in suffering for him once again.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he felt Charles squeeze his hand, just weakly. He turned to look at him at once, worried.

“What’s wrong?”

Charles managed to shake his head. Nothing was wrong, he was just trying to tell Edwin something. Holding his hand was perfect, just what he needed to ground him and ensure him he was still there, this ailment was temporary. But there was one other thing that would help even more; one thing that had helped Charles calm down and relax so many times since they had met, even if it had taken quite a few years for him to ask for it. He moved his eyes back and forth, hoping Edwin would notice, looking at him and then at the desk behind him, over and over until Edwin got the message.

Edwin turned his head to the desk. The only things on it were a stack of books, the ones Edwin was currently part-way through reading.

“The books?”

Charles nodded. Moving his head and face was becoming more bearable by now, so he managed to open his mouth just slightly - even though he still couldn’t talk, he managed to mouth something, and Edwing could easily make out what he was saying.

“Read to me,” he said soundlessly.

“Of course,” Edwin smiled.

It was strange, how much Edwin reading to him comforted Charles. It wasn’t even the book itself, not usually. What really meant so much to him was simply hearing Edwin’s voice, so gentle and only for him. He’d always thought he shouldn’t like it. It should remind him of the night he died, the night his life slipped away from him as this strange ghost boy read his favourite detective comic aloud. And it did remind him of that night, but that night wasn’t a bad memory for Charles, not really. The hours before the attic, the months of abuse from his father that led up to it…they were the bad memories, the ones Charles wishes he could forget. But the trauma of his death itself had been diminished by the presence of that kind boy, the boy who had become Charles’s everything. So yes, Edwin reading to him did remind him of his death, but it reminded him of the kindness of a stranger, of just why he had chosen this boy over heaven itself in the first place, of why he loved him. Edwin’s voice made him feel at home, more than the house he grew up in ever did.

Edwin stood up to pick up the book from the desk, but as he turned around he found Charles seemingly trying to shuffle around on the sofa.

“Charles, what are you doing?” he asked worriedly. “You’ll exhaust yourself.”

Charles’s eyes flicked to the space on the sofa beside him, his deep brown eyes looking into Edwin’s, asking a question.

“Ah,” Edwin realised. “Let me help.”

He placed the book on the floor in front of the sofa, kneeling down.

“Are you alright with me moving you?”

Charles nodded. Edwin repeated the movements he’d done at the witch’s house before: one arm under Charles’s knees; the other under his shoulders, and he lifted him just enough to move him further towards the back of the sofa, leaving space for Edwin to climb next to him.

That was just what Edwin did, sitting beside him and manoeuvring them so that Charles’s head rested on his chest, the way he would have been if he could have moved himself. His movement did seem to be improving gradually, and he shifted his own legs to tangle with Edwin’s. Edwin supposed it was because his legs were furthest from his chest, so didn’t suffer the effects of the hex as drastically.

Edwin intertwined his fingers with Charles’s, picking up the book with the other hand. He pressed another gentle kiss to the top of his head before beginning to read.

In addition to not suffering from normal illnesses, another thing ghosts didn’t do was sleep. Similar to the supernatural intervention however, they had their own complicated equivalent to restore their energy when required.

Neither of the two of them required it, though. And ghosts didn’t get sore throats from reading aloud for too long either, so Edwin read Charles the entire book. By the time they finished, the sun had already half-risen, a pinkish orange glow illuminating the office.

“How are you doing?” Edwin asked, after the first few minutes of silence in several hours.

“Brills,” Charles replied, his voice back, and as confident as always.

He snuggled impossibly closer to Edwin, burying his face in his chest.

“Wait,” Edwin said, pausing the gentle strokes of his hand up and down Charles’s arm. “When did the hex wear off?”

“About an hour ago,” Charles admitted, his voice slightly muffled against Edwin.

“Why did you not say something?” Edwin chuckled. “Or start breathing again?”

“Didn’t wanna interrupt you. I like your voice.”

Charles lifted his head slightly, rolling further onto his front to look up at Edwin, smiling.

Edwin laughed softly, smiling back.

“Thank you,” Charles said. “For doing that.”

“Of course, Charles,” Edwin held him somehow even closer. “You know I am always here for whatever you need.”

“I’m always here for you too,” Charles assured.

“Yes, well…it was very reckless of you to jump in front of that hex for me.”

“What was I supposed to do? You said it yourself, it had a weakened effect on me. It would’ve been worse on you.”

“Well, yes I suppose, but my point still stands.”

“Sorry love but there’s nothing you can do to stop me. I’ll always jump in front of witches’ curses for you,” Charles kissed the tip of Edwin’s nose softly.

Edwin sighed. He knew there was no arguing with Charles, ever-protective as he was.

“Well, did you enjoy the book?” he asked, changing the subject before he thought too much about the extent of Charles’s devotion to him and started to feel like crying over how much he loved the charming impulsive boy he got to call his boyfriend.

“Oh. Uhh…” Charles trailed off.

“Did you pay attention to the plot at all?” Edwin laughed.

“Your voice is very relaxing.”

Charles didn’t know how else to answer. It was the truth – what was being read wasn’t important, only that it was Edwin reading it. Edwin shook his head slightly, the smile never leaving his face.

“I suppose I’ll just have to read it to you again, then,” Edwin faked disappointment.

“Oh no,” said Charles, dramatically leaning backwards to put his hand over his heart in faux shock before leaning in to kiss Edwin.

Just as their lips brushed, the front door to the office burst open. Both of them sat up on the sofa to see Crystal and Niko running in.

“Oh, thank god you’re okay,” Crystal sighed, rushing forward to hug him.

Charles hugged back with his free arm, the other still wrapped around Edwin’s waist, and Crystal squeezed next to them on the sofa. Niko knelt on the floor in front of them.

“’Course I am,” he said proudly. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, and I had Edwin to look after me.”

Charles turned to face Edwin, his signature smile plastered across his face. Edwin could only grin back.

“The hex faded on its own, Charles,” he said. “I did nothing.”

“You read to me! That helped.”

“Aww,” Niko smiled.

“How did you two get on last night then?” Charles asked the girls.

“We were done in like an hour,” Niko explained.

“Yeah, that potion you made worked its magic and she couldn’t leave.”

“I’m glad.”

“We went back to Crystal’s after. We figured Charles would want some time to get better before we came barging in here.”

“Thanks Niko,” said Charles.

“We’re just glad you’re alright,” Crystal squeezed his arm.

“I’m aces, don’t worry.”

Charles leaned his head on Edwin’s shoulder, holding both him and Crystal close. The case wasn’t fully closed yet – they still had a witch trapped in her own house with all her equipment she could easily use to figure out a way to escape to deal with – but for now…yeah, for now they were aces.

[theworkerofkeay]

Let me guide you in your dreams 🌙

[apparently-artless]

Youkai Gakkou no Sensei Hajimemashita! PV [broadcast starts on Oct. 8, 2024, at 23:00 JST]

[lesbicosmos-writes]

day 5 of @deadboyween !!

day 5 prompt: family

summary: no one is coping after niko's death, especially edwin. the group are trying to get back to work as a distraction, but it's not really working. then, it gets even worse for edwin when he begins hearing niko's voice inside his head, his own subconscious filling the gap he knows is there, and it hurts.

notes: okay i've been thinking about and working on this fic for SO LONG!! i think it's gonna be 8 chapters but we'll see, i have the first 5 or so written rn, two are posted now!!

also on ao3!!

heard the voices and caught my breath, so close and yet so far from death

Chapter 1

Grief was a strange old thing.

Edwin had only known Niko for a few weeks and now, a month after her death, he still felt the pain of losing her weighing him down as though they had been friends for years. In reality, he’d been grieving her longer than they had known each other, and that was a difficult thing to come to terms with. Theoretically, ghosts could have eternity, so time and emotions didn’t quite correlate in the same way they would have if he were alive. If he were alive, of course he would still be grieving, just as Crystal was, but a few weeks were barely anything compared to how long he had existed. Niko had merely been a blip in time for him, and yet here he was, sitting at his desk preparing for a new client as a way of distracting himself from how much it hurt, from how often he saw a girl lying on the ground, eyes glazed over, blood gushing from her chest, whenever he closed his eyes.

He supposed, when you spent 16 years living in a society full of such strict expectations, where affection was so abnormal that even your own parents never hugged you; and when you spent 73 years in the worst place in existence, entirely alone aside from the creature that continuously hunted you down and tore you apart; and when you spent 34 years with the best person you’d ever met, who you would never give up for anything since you loved him far too much for that and believed there would never be anyone else who would care even half as much about you as he did…meeting someone else who also cared, who also listened, who also helped you and understood you in a way no one else ever had…of course it would hurt for a long time to lose them – no matter how fleeting your time together was.

He'd grown closer to Crystal during the time since Port Townsend. She was as close to Niko as he was, and she’d had a similarly profound effect on her and how she viewed herself and the world. He supposed it must be harder for her, in a way. Being a ghost, Edwin had become rather detached from the idea of death as an ending. Crystal may have been a psychic with full knowledge and access to the spectral realm, but he supposed it must hurt in a different way, being alive and watching someone else die to save you, and someone as kind and loving as Niko Sasaki at that.

At first, he and Crystal had yelled at each other a lot. Both of them had been on edge, their usually stiff-built emotional walls having deteriorated through the overwhelming sadness. They’d been at each other’s throats more than ever, Charles caught in the crossfire, until he eventually convinced the two of them to sit down and talk.

They had talked, and it helped. They weren’t as snappy with one another, since they knew and understood that they were going through the same thing. They bonded over their grief, Edwin even offering Crystal a hug she so clearly needed, which Edwin hadn’t realised he needed too. They had realised they’d become so emotionally vulnerable because both of them felt some sort of blame for what happened. Crystal blamed herself because the slashing spell had been directed at her before Niko jumped in front of it – she felt she should have been the one who died. Edwin felt responsible since it was him they were both trying to rescue. They talked about it, both reassuring each other it was not their fault, but that feeling, that pang of guilt at the mere thought of their friend, never really disappeared. It felt a little lighter though, a little easier.

Charles had also been suffering – of course he had. He’d begun to view Niko as the younger sister he never had and losing her had felt quite like dying all over again. But Charles being Charles put the others’ needs above his own, trying to help them through their grief while pushing his own deep down into himself until it exploded out one night and he burst into tears one night, gripping onto Edwin like he would slip away if he let go.

All three of them were broken. But they had each other. They had people who understood, and they had the Agency – because as much as Edwin hated to admit it, sometimes a distraction helped. Getting his head stuck into casework and research gave him something to focus on, which was why they continued to take on new cases despite everything.

“I’m Edwin Payne,” he introduced himself to their latest client – a middle-aged woman in a 19th century maid’s uniform. “This is Charles Rowland, and Crystal Palace. Welcome to the Dead Boy Detective Agency. How can we help you?”

“My name’s Susan Grantham. In life, I were the maid at one of the bigger houses over in Uxbridge. I did my work willingly, for the Andersons that lived there. The wife Em was a good friend o’ mine, we grew up together and had always been close. She made me the godmother of her children, so when I died in that house three months after she and her husband were killed when their train derailed, I knew I had to stick around and help however I could. But when they grew up, and all of ‘em but the oldest married off and got land of their own, I never went anywhere. Always thought someone would come for me once my job was done but they still ain’t come. So it’s just been me in that house. It’s a hotel now. Em’s great-great grandson was the last to live there, he died in the war in ’43. House was empty for years ‘til someone bought it in the ‘90s and turned it into a hotel. It’s constantly full of people now, but I’m convinced I ain’t the only thing haunting it anymore. There’s been loads of weird accidents in there, and that’s why I’ve come to you.”

“Weird accidents?” Charles repeated. “Sounds like a poltergeist, we’ve dealt with them before.”

“What kind of weird accidents is the establishment succumbing to, Ms Grantham?”

“Oh, all sorts. Knives moving on their own in the kitchens, doors knocking with no one there, and too many guests have come screaming to the front desk about floating furniture.”

“Definitely sounds like a poltergeist, right Edwin?”

“Oh my god, Edwin, this is just like that Scooby Doo episode we watched!” said Niko.

Edwin smiled for a split second, then paused. His face fell. Wait…what?

Edwin didn’t reply to Charles’s question, instead looking around desperate and confused, as if there was any possible way she could be there in the room. She wasn’t, of course. How could she be?

“Edwin, you okay?” Charles asked quietly, clearly worried.

“I thought I…never mind,” Edwin shook his head slightly, turning back to the client. “We’d be more than happy to take your case, it sounds simple enough. Now, onto payment.”

Five minutes later, the payment deal was agreed upon and Susan left them the address to Anderson House before leaving the office.

“Well, this should be a straight-forward one,” Edwin said, looking up with a small smile.

The other two weren’t smiling back. They both looked like they were trying to figure something out, as though they could read Edwin’s thoughts if they stared hard enough.

“What’s the matter with you two?” he asked, already making notes in his little book.

“What’s the matter with us? What’s the matter with you?” Crystal asked.

“Yeah, mate, what was that about?”

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Edwin claimed.

“You went all quiet and weird for a sec looking around like there was something there.”

“I can assure you, I am quite alright, Charles. The window merely created an interesting light pattern on the rug,” he lied.

Charles didn’t seem convinced, but he and Crystal stopped prying.

Edwin cursed himself. He’d thought about Niko non-stop since everything happened, but that was the first time he had imagined her there with them. Her voice sounded so real, like she was really there. Edwin hoped this wouldn’t become a repeating thing, he didn’t know if he’d be able to bear it if Niko’s voice was supplied by his mind but she wasn’t, couldn’t be, physically there. He already missed her enough.

He cleared his throat, shaking the thought from his mind, and got back to the case notes. This one was going to be easy.

Chapter 2

The Case of the Haunted Hotel was easy. It was the running commentary in Edwin’s mind that was not. Hearing Niko’s voice had apparently not been a one-time thing. Throughout the entire case, part of Edwin’s mental commentary had been through her. She’d provided more comparisons between the case and one of the Scooby Doo episodes they’d watched together, given several niche comments that would have sounded incredibly strange in any other voice, and had helped with the case itself, reminding Edwin that Charles had put the one item they really needed in the bag of tricks a few hours beforehand. And it didn’t even stop after that case; it continued for a few weeks, and as Edwin grew somewhat more accustomed to the apparent second consciousness in his mind, he started to enjoy it – it was a comfort that he could still feel her helping them, like it was all four of them on a case together instead of three of them and a painful space.

He only enjoyed it as it was happening, though. When the cases were closed and they returned to the office, he sat down and thought back on the idea, and then it was much more of another hurt than a comfort. When he had most of his focus directed onto a case, it was nice to have her back in a strange subconscious way, but when he was alone with his thoughts once more, the little voice in his head gave him little more than overwhelming grief. Because no matter how hard he tried to pretend that voice was real, he knew it could never be. Niko was dead, and despite the fact Edwin himself was too, he knew this one was forever. They’d left her lying on the floor of Esther Finch’s living room for Death to collect, not even waiting to see her rise as a ghost before they fled, as they had so many times since 1989. By now she’d be settled into her afterlife, no doubt in the paradise she deserved, perhaps reunited with her father, while Edwin was still on Earth. Even if he’d wanted to go with Death in the hopes of joining her, he knew he wouldn’t. He may have filled in the forms that meant Hell was no longer looking for him, but that was still his afterlife – that damn demon had made sure of that. His choices were eternal damnation in Hell or potential eternal grief on Earth, and the answer to that didn’t even beg questioning. He’d just have to learn to exist in her absence, even if he did have her sweet happy voice echoing in his mind now.

Several cases later – some of these ones much more complex than the poltergeist of Anderson House – the group needed a break. Even before they had any living members of the agency, Edwin and Charles used to have a rest day every once in a while, just to do something other than work for once, whether it be binge-playing Cluedo, Edwin teaching Charles fencing, or the two doing separate things, Edwin visiting the many museums around London and Charles exercising his ghostly privileges by going to all the concerts he wants. These rest days had become more common with Crystal around, since she actually got tired, and they’d found a whole host of things they enjoy doing as a group.

Tonight, they’d been to the theatre. There’d been a musical on in the West End that Crystal had desperately wanted to see, and while Charles and Edwin had never really had an interest in musicals, they’d agreed to go along with her. Edwin found he rather enjoyed it actually, and had been mentally replying to everything Mind-Niko was saying as they watched.

It was growing dark when they left the theatre, so Charles and Edwin walked Crystal back to her new flat on their way home. Charles and Crystal were walking slightly ahead of Edwin, whose gaze flicked between the two of them. He didn’t know if anything else had happened between them since their goodbye kiss in Port Townsend – Charles certainly hadn’t mentioned anything, but Edwin worried he wouldn’t tell him if anything had, likely out of fear of hurting his feelings since his own confession. Charles had a knack for leaving out information that might cause Edwin distress. Part of Edwin wanted to see their lack of anything official as a sign of hope that maybe, just maybe Charles could start to feel the same way he did. The larger part of Edwin, however, only wanted Charles to be happy, and if that came from him being with Crystal, then Edwin would be wholeheartedly supportive – he’d even tried to convince him to talk to her about it before she intended to leave Port Townsend. And it was clear there was still something there between them, whether they were acting on it or not. They walked down the street together, not quite touching or holding hands, but as close as seemed physically possible without either of those things happening. Charles was wearing his usual long black jacket and slacks, whereas Crystal had dressed up a bit, wearing a loose-fitting lavender trouser suit with one of her many floral designed mesh tops underneath, the pinkish-purple matching her eyeliner.

“She looks so pretty,” the Niko in Edwin’s mind supplied, and he supposed she was right.

He may not have been interested in girls that way, but he could still admit that Crystal was beautiful. He could hardly blame Charles for developing feelings almost immediately, she was exactly the kind of girl who usually caught his best friend’s eye. Only Crystal wasn’t one of those girls Charles would see in the street gossiping with their friends, having never seen a ghost in her life and likely never believing in them if you asked. Crystal was psychic, and brilliant and messy and beautiful. Edwin may have spent a lot of time in petty arguments with her, but beneath that he truly cared for her, and she’d become a close friend. He admired her strength after everything she’d been through. Once David was dealt with and Edwin could stop stressing so much about having a hellish being so close to the agency, so close to him, he really started to see how much he had affected her. Having your memories stolen from you only to get them back and discover you did horrible things in the past…that must have been horrible. Yet here she was, a fully-fledged part of the Dead Boy Detective Agency despite being neither dead nor a boy, and she was one of the best people Edwin knew. His thoughts about Crystal were soon interrupted by a different thought, this one taking on a different, more feminine voice than his own inner monologue.

“You know, I never told you, but I have such a crush on her.”

That stopped Edwin in his tracks. What? What was wrong with him? Had his mind really invented a story about Niko liking Crystal in some sick attempt to quell the jealousy he couldn’t help but feel towards her and Charles? Was he really that petty? He thought he’d been handling Charles’s rejection well, he’d never felt more than a slight twinge in his chest whenever he saw the two of them together. He was perfectly fine with the fact Charles didn’t feel the same way – he had never quite expected him to in the first place – wasn’t he? Evidently, his subconscious disagreed. He felt horrible, as though he’d done something so wrong, not only disrespecting Charles and Crystal but Niko too.

“Mate, what’s wrong?” Charles asked, having noticed Edwin had stopped and gone back for him.

“Nothing,” Edwin replied sharply.

“Are you sure-”

“I said I’m fine, Charles.”

He hadn’t intended to sound quite so cold and snappy, and immediately regretted it. Before Charles could say anything else, he marched ahead, passing Crystal without even looking at her. He knew Charles was just worried. He had been giving him a look for a few weeks whenever he thought his back was turned, and Edwin felt terrible for making him so concerned. But he couldn’t tell him. What was he supposed to say? Oh, my apologies Charles, it’s just that my mind has somehow been conjuring up the voice of our dead friend for nearly a month, and I’m not handling it too well. Charles told him he could tell him anything, but he had already burdened him with the knowledge of his feelings, he didn’t want to give him something else to deal with. Edwin had survived Hell for seventy years, surely he could handle his own mind by now.

“Edwin, calm down,” he heard the imaginary voice of Niko say, and she was doing nothing to help the situation.

“Stop,” Edwin replied aloud.

He tried to keep the tears at bay as he walked on, unable to quite make out exactly what Charles and Crystal were muttering about behind him.

[stabbyfoxandrew]

you know what's fucking insane though???

it's only been 3 days in the mafia front fic. THREE DAYS= ~34k. (so far, we're still on day three rn)

wow i'm truly insane. three days... mein gott

(potential spoilers for this fic in tags???)

[tiamathh]

SNEAK PEEK FULL THING TOMORROW

[loveofmylouis]

.

[rafesangelita]

♡ kook!sweetheart!reader walks her first runway for her own lingerie brand, and of course rafe has to have a front row seat.

warnings: rafe being a supportive bf, suggestive ending

a/n: trying a new fic layout, i hope you all like it as much as i do <3 lol i had the hardest time trying to decide on the song i wanted to use for this fic

you couldn’t believe the day was finally here. ever since you started your lingerie line, you wanted to have a runway show to showcase the beautiful pieces, and all thanks to rafe, he was able to make that possible. while your boyfriend insisted on being backstage with you, you told him to wait until you walked out for the finale, wanting to surprise him in full glam and a set you have yet to release. to say you were excited would be an understatement— you were literally having your very own victoria secret show.

with fashion bloggers, magazine editors, and most importantly; rafe, the man who believed in you more than yourself, being in attendance, you just wanted everything to take place smoothly. “oh my god, you look amazing!” you glanced up from the small vanity mirror, meeting kelce’s girlfriend’s gaze. “me?!” your eyes widened as you shot up from your seat. “look at you! kelce is going to lose his mind.” you laughed, admiring the way her makeup sparkled under the studio lights.

“you think so?” she smiled, both of you swallowing nervously when you heard a ‘okay, we’re on in five!’ over one of the staff’s walkie talkie’s. “oh, god, just what i needed to hear.” you joked. she hugged you before joining the rest of the girls in line. outside in the crowd, rafe was already taking pictures like a proud facebook mom, shushing kelce and topper once the lights dimmed and the music started. the intro to britney spear’s ‘gimme more’ began playing, the crowd letting out a series of ‘oooh’s’ and ‘ahhh’s’ when the first model walked out.

rafe was only recording for your sake, his eyes strictly set on his hands as he patiently waited for your entrance. everything that the models were wearing was something he had already seen on you behind closed doors. rafe couldn’t help but feel his chest bloom with pride as he looked around the beautiful venue. despite him paying for everything, you were the one who worked with the planner and coordinator to bring your vision to life.

and what a vision it was.

you had spotlights lining the runway, glitter littering the glossy flooring. various props were also placed on the sidelines. “look, here comes y/n!” rafe arched a brow at his friend, kelce clearing his throat awkwardly. “don’t get too excited, now..” rafe grumbled, eyes locked on your silhouette. the music reached it’s final bridge, your lingerie clad body illuminating the stage. rafe had no words. you were wearing wings like the angel you truly were, the rhinestones and embellishments on your set reflecting under the now multicolored lighting.

“you’re beautiful, babygirl!” rafe shouted, his eyes widening as you got closer. you looked ethereal. not one hair was out of place, your makeup done flawlessly to enhance your natural features. you caught sight of him, sending a wink his way before blowing him a kiss. “she’s getting it tonight.” he held a hand over his heart, watching the way your hips swayed as cameras flashed from every direction. rafe stayed standing up until you disappeared behind the stage, his smile reaching from ear to ear.

“now that’s a show..” he adjusted himself in his pants, posting you on his instagram with the caption; ‘she’s perfect.’

eventually, the event came to a star strucking end, your boyfriend meeting you soon after with a huge bouquet of pink roses. you couldn’t help the sudden wave of emotions from washing over you at the sight of him. “oh, rafe!” you threw yourself into his arms, being careful not to ruin your makeup. “you were so amazing out there, baby.” he rubbed your back. “yeah?” you pulled away, pecking his lips. “fuck yeah.” his voice dropped a few octaves, his hand finding the curve of your ass. “can you take those angel wings home?” he whispered.

“yes.. why?” you smiled mischievously. “cause i need you to walk for me again. naked this time.”

[maplesyrupsainz]

˖⁺｡˚⋆˙espresso | CL16˖⁺｡˚⋆˙

pairing: charles leclerc x singer!reader y/n (she/her) x alexandra saint mleux

genre: social media au, polyamory

warnings: polyamory, just v fluffy

summary: in which both of your partners always show up to support you no matter what <3

a/n: i have been inundated with charles related requests LOL pray for me to come out the other side alive

request!!!: Omg, we need more Charles x reader x Alexandra 😫, idk if you are still taking requests but could you please write a smau where they go to Coachella to support their singer girlfriend

my masterlist

fc: sabrina carpenter

instagram ->

yourusername

liked by alexandrasaintmleux, taylorswift, and others

yourusername see you all at coachella next week 😉

view all comments

user1 i cant wait to see her set

user2 new era much

user3 omg alex in the second pic??

user4 my fav part abt y/n's performances is seeing her outfits tbh she's such a style icon

alexandrasaintmleux 💘 so proud of you

yourusername 🥹🥹🥹

user5 god i love them

gracieabrams so beyond excited for this!!!!

yourusername ahhhh miss you!!!

user6 who doesnt love y/n omg

user7 literally she's so perfect

charles_leclerc so beautiful

yourusername oh stop it you

user8 omg charles is hereeee

user9 whipped much

user10 yup he's so down bad for the girls 😂

twitter ->

instagram ->

ynupdates

liked by user9, user11, alexandrasaintmleux, and others

ynupdates y/n spotted after arriving in california today with her best friend, y/bff/n!

view all comments

user17 she's soo cute

user18 luv y/n & y/bff/n's friendship

user19 no charles & alex?

user20 alex in the likes as always 🥹

user21 where is charles and alexxxx

user22 i bet they'll come later coz they're probably busy and coachella isnt for another few days

user23 crossing my fingers for this

user24 lol the side eye

user25 cant wait for her set omgggg

alexandrasaintmleux 📍 monaco

liked by charles_leclerc, francisca.cgomes, and others

alexandrasaintmleux 🍒🎀 🧸💐

view all comments

user26 omg cutie

user27 still in monaco?

user28 pls tell me u guys r going to coachella😭

user29 the flowers ahhh

charles_leclerc mon cœur ❤️

alexandrasaintmleux 🥹 je t'aime

yourusername such a beauty

alexandrasaintmleux imy

yourusername miss u too my sweet

user30 OKAYYY GO TO COACHELLA THENNN

user31 leave monaco immediately!

yourbff pretty girl!!

liked by alexandrasaintmleux

charles_leclerc posted a story

liked by yourusername, yourbff, and others

user32 IT'S HAPPENING

user33 YESSSSSS

user34 where are u pair going 👀

user35 FINALLY charlesalexyn is coming 🙏

pierregasly whipped 🤣

charles_leclerc no comment, weirdo

yourusername see you guys soon🥰🥰🥰🥰

liked by charles_leclerc

twitter ->

instagram ->

ynupdates

liked by yourusername, user4, user37, and others

ynupdates y/n's partners charles leclerc & alexandra saint mleux seen arriving at y/n's hotel this morning!!!

view all comments

user40 OMG

user41 YES I KNEW IT

user42 they are so gorgeous

user43 they always look so expensive

user44 never been so excited

user45 y/n in the likes too omg world's best throuple fr fr

user46 aww im so happy they came to support her

user47 SAME especially coz y/n has said in the past her exes could never rly be bothered to travel to support her performances 🥹

user48 ugh she got such a glow up with these two beauties

alexandrasaintmleux posted a story

liked by charles_leclerc, yourbff, and others

yourbff omg bark bark much?

alexandrasaintmleux you're telling me 🙈

user49 omg she's insanely beautiful

user50 AHHHHHHH

user51 u guys r so cute tgthr omgg

user52 supportive gf 🫶🫶

charles_leclerc woweeeee that's our girl

alexandrasaintmleux pinching myself !!!

charles_leclerc no don't you'll bruise your beautiful skin >:(

alexandrasaintmleux oh my bad

user53 i cant wait to see her set omgg

twitter ->

instagram ->

charles_leclerc 📍 california

liked by alexandrasaintmleux, pierregasly, and others

charles_leclerc that's that me espresso!!! or whatever

tagged: yourusername, alexandrasaintmleux

view all comments

user54 AWWWW TBIS IS SO CUTE

user55 alex looks so cool

user56 oh to be in this throuple

yourusername i love u soso much thank u for my coming my beautiful gorgeous angel

alexandrasaintmleux are you still drunk? 🥰

charles_leclerc no she just loves me.

yourusername yes to both

user57 THISIS SO CUTE LOL

user58 "beautiful gorgeous angel" well true

user59 y/n is getting so successful🥹🥹🥹

user60 ijbol at the caption

user61 "or whatever" 💀

carlossainz55 where the hell was my invite

pierregasly same bro

landonorris mine too. im devastated

charles_leclerc it's a public event.

yourusername 😂😂

landonorris WE WANTED TO COME

alexandrasaintmleux welp. that's that me espresso i guess!!! 😋

user62 everyone is whipped for y/n tbh as they should be coz me too fr

user63 IM WORKING LATEEEE COZ IM A SINGERRR

liked by charles_leclerc

twitter ->

instagram ->

alexandrasaintmleux 📍 california

liked by francisca.cgomes, carlossainz55, and others

alexandrasaintmleux my ... are on vacation

tagged: yourusername, charles_leclerc

view all comments

landonorris rubbing it in much

alexandrasaintmleux read the caption again

user67 ate him up

user68 not the ferrari hat at coachella LOL

user69 she's so real for this

user70 loyal & supportive queen always

user71 la ❤️ u back

liked by alexandrasaintmleux

yourusername I LOVE YOU

alexandrasaintmleux I LOVE YOU MORE

user72 me when 😭

user73 I WISH I WAS THEREEE

user74 i love how supportive she is of both of them 🥹

user75 fr and u can tell she's gen having fun not jus doing it coz she "has" to

user76 oh charles leclerc y/n y/l/n alexandra saint mleux u will always be famous

liked by alexandrasaintmleux, yourusername, charles_leclerc

charles_leclerc les femmes de mon cœur ❤️

THE END ❤️

[norrisainz33]

home for the holidays || ls18

☆ summary: lance and his partner start a new chapter now that the season is over and take their relationship to the next level

☆ pairing: lance stroll x nonfamous!reader

☆ fc & warnings: none

☆ requested: nope! just a short one bc i don’t see enough lance fics so wanted to write one!!

ﾟ. ✿ ୨❤︎୧⠀✿ . ﾟ

ynuser has made a post

liked by lance_stroll, landonorris, carmenmundt, yourbff, fernandoalo_official and 128,134 others

ynuser: and just like that - the 2024 season has come to an end. this was a tough one but no matter what i am proud of the team and proud of lance. see all you beautiful people again in march 🤍

view all 324 comments

astonmartinf1: see you soon y/n/n! we love you ❤️

ynuser: 🤍 you more admin

user1: you are so real for posting the vegas pics of lance

lance_stroll: i love you 😘

ynuser: and i love you 🥹

user4: mama y papa

user2: i’m going to miss this silly season and seeing you practically every weekend smh

francisca.cgomes: see you sooner than march please😭

ynuser: you know i can’t go more than a couple weeks without you 😔

user44: can lance fight?

scottyjames1: no

user44: SCREMING

ynuser has posted to their story

view all story replies

user1: most canadian thing i’ve ever seen

lance_stroll: missed this and missed you darling

ynuser: i missed you more lance. i’m overjoyed to be back 🤍

yourbff: i’m so glad you and lancey are finally home

ynuser: me too! this season was a long one 😩

yourbff: you both are stronger than i

ynuser: i’m not sure how we made it honestly! but it’s time for new beginnings and rest 🫶🏻

user2: time for some much deserved relaxation

user6: just saw the f1 secret santa and can’t stop thinking about how good of gift giver lance is and how he probably got you the best gifts ever

fernandoalo_official: happy holidays mi amiga

ynuser: gracias nando! i hope you have the best break with all of those you love most 🤍

user3: i hope you have the best break y/n

ynuser has posted to their story

view all story replies

yourbff: i can’t wait to visit you in your new home!!!

ynuser: i can’t wait for you to visit!! one of the spare bedrooms has your name on it bestie

user11: ahhh congrats y/n!!!

carmenmundt: congrats on your and lances new home!! looking forward to visiting 😘

ynuser: thank you carmen! i miss you sm already. please come visit soon 🤍

user14: so so happy for you and lance. end game fr

lance_stroll: remind me why i thought moving right after the season ended was a good idea

ynuser: you said, and i quote, “i want to be home for the holidays and host all the people i love in our home.”

lance_stroll: well when you put it like that….

cholestroll: yayyayayay!!!!! can’t wait to see it in a few days

ynuser: can’t wait to see you and scotty and the lovely little bug soon. it’s been too long

astonmartinf1: cheers to new beginnings ✨

lance_stroll posted to his story

view all story replies

chloestroll: the tree is so cuteeeeee oh i love it

lance_stroll: it is ! y/n is very excited for the holidays

chloestroll: as she should be!! do you have everything set?

lance_stroll: everything should be set up according to plan! im beyond nervous though

chloestroll: don’t be!! it’s going to alllll be ok

user3: y/n is so cute

scottyjames31: glad she’s getting you into the holiday spirit

lance_stroll: between y/n and chloe there’s more than enough holiday spirit! we’ve got hanukah and christmas covered over here

user4: pookie christmas lets goooo

ynuser: i am having the most fun decorating our new house 🫶🏻

lance_stroll: me too my love. building this life with you is everything i could ask for and more ❤️

user5: i’m glad you’re getting the time to relax lancey. you deserve it after this season

lance_stroll has posted to his story

view all story replies

user2: holy crap this is beautiful?????? and she managed this right after you two moved in???? get this girl an award

fernandoalo_official: looks beautiful! can’t wait to hear about how your evening goes

lance_stroll: you’ll be one of the first to know ❤️

user6: this called me broke in about 800 different languages

pierregasly: WOW! can i hire y/n to decorate my house?

lance_stroll: for a hefty price 😉

user9: you better marry this girl i s2g

ynuser: thank you 🥹 🤍😘🎄

lance_stroll: no thank YOU gorgeous! i am so thankful to have you help me host the holidays ❤️

ynuser: 😭 i love being a part of your family lance

lance_stroll: we all love you so very much ❤️

ynuser: you’re going to make me cry 🥹

chloestroll: eeeeek!!!!!! today is THE day 🤍🤍🤍🤍

lance_stroll: she doesn’t suspect a thing 😍

user12: her outfit is everything ??? literal angel

ynuser has made a post

liked by lance_stroll, iamrebeccad, fernandoalo_official, yourbff, scottyjames1, and 326,137 others

ynuser: tonight may have been the best night of my life. wishing you the happiest of holidays from the future mr and mrs stroll ❤️

view all 418 comments

user18: this is so important to me you have no idea

chloestroll: welcome to the family sis 😘

ynuser: sis 😭 oh i love you chloe

georgerussell63: 🥹 congrats! you two make the perfect couple

ynuser: thank you georgie ❤️

fernandoalo_official: felicidades mis amigos

ynuser: gracias por todo nando 🫶🏻

user32: my mom and dad are getting married im overjoyed

lance_stroll: i can’t wait to make you my wife

ynuser: and i can’t wait for you to be my husband 😘

user23: you look so good in white

astonmartinf1: best news we’ve seen all day

ﾟ. ✿ ୨❤︎୧⠀✿ . ﾟ

a/n: thanks for reading!! likes and reblogs appreciated.

ﾟ. ✿ ୨❤︎୧⠀✿ . ﾟ

disclaimer: pictures are not mine and everything i write is fiction

© norrisainz33 || please do not rewrite, translate, or copy any of my works posted here on to any other platform

[lesbicosmos]

day 1 of @palasakiweek !!!

day 1 prompt: hurt/comfort / sickfic

summary: crystal's on her period and suffering with it. niko helps with movies, noodles and cuddles.

notes: wrote this for my girlfriend :3 ( @giolovesyousm ilysm <33 )

also on ao3!!

found the place to rest my head (never let me go)

Niko awoke to the loud repetitive beeping of her alarm. She reached over to turn it off, but stayed lying down for a few minutes, just looking around her room. It was strange seeing all her things organised so differently – she may not have been living in Port Townsend for very long in the grand scheme of things, but she’d gotten used to where everything was there; everything had its place in the one huge room that was her apartment. Now, it was all different. The bedroom itself was smaller, so her bookshelves had all been pushed together and there was less wall space for her many posters. It was a welcome change, but a month after moving in, she was still getting used to it. Although, anything was worth it when there were other things mixed in with hers. She wasn’t alone anymore - she had Crystal. Crystal’s clothes were hung amongst hers in the surprisingly large wardrobe in their room, Crystal’s music posters joined her anime ones on the wall, Crystal’s long purple jacket hung right next to her thick green one on the back of the bedroom door. Having a roommate was brilliant, but even better that she was her girlfriend.

Niko rolled over, intending to gently wake the girl in question up – she always managed to sleep through the alarm somehow – only to find the other side of the bed completely bare, the space where Crystal should have been lying so cold, as though not having been slept on in hours.

Worried, she got out of bed, slid on her bright pink dressing gown and left the room. It really wasn’t like Crystal to go anywhere without telling Niko first, especially this early in the morning on a day they were supposed to be meeting Charles and Edwin at the office.

“Crystal?” she asked into the quiet of the apartment.

“’M’in the kitchen,” came a quiet response.

Niko entered the kitchen to find Crystal sitting at their small two-seater table with a cup of coffee in her hands. Her hair was strewn everywhere and she had bags under her eyes as she smiled weakly.

“You’re up early,” Niko said, walking over and dropping a kiss to the top of her girlfriend’s head on her way to the fridge.

“Does it count as being up early if you didn’t sleep in the first place?” Crystal replied as Niko poured herself a glass of orange juice.

“Oh. You okay?”

“Y’know how I started my period yesterday?”

Niko nodded.

“Yeah well, cramps decided to hit just as I was trying to get to sleep last night,” Crystal groaned, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Oh no. They’re bad?” Niko put her glass down on the table across from Crystal, instead running her hand through her girlfriend’s hair. Crystal relaxed slightly. “Day 2 always hits you hard, doesn’t it?”

“Yep. Took painkillers at like 6, they’re barely doing anything. What time is it now?”

“Just after 8."

Crystal’s eye’s widened in panic.

“Shit. We said we’d be at the office for 9.”

She made to move but Niko gently pushed her back into her chair, shaking her head.

“Nuh uh. You need to rest,” she insisted.

“But we’ve got new clients coming in, Charles and Edwin-”

“Charles and Edwin have been doing this a long time, I think they can manage this one without us.”

“Fine,” she grumbled, apparently unhappy with the idea; but Niko knew Crystal too well by now, could tell she was secretly relieved at not having to leave the flat. “Wait, without us? You don’t have to stay, you know. I’ll be fine.”

“But I want to.” Niko leaned down again, this time pressing a kiss to her forehead. Crystal’s eyes closed and she smiled. “I’ll go tell the boys.”

Niko headed into the living room and picked something up from the coffee table. At first glance, the object looked like a simple rock, like something a child would bring home from a day at the beach. However, it was actually one of two communication devices they had received as payment for a recent case. They were similar to the Spirit Finder stones the boys already had, only these ones were connected to each other, and worked like an audio texting device between any two locations. There was a phone in the office, but Edwin had insisted they use these stones – the phone was for clients only.

She tapped the rock three times, waiting for it to glow white to indicate the connection. She thought it was wild how easily her mind had adapted to the existence of such magical objects. But, she supposed, a lot of things become much more believable after you have two troublesome sprites try to rip you open from the inside, and then get killed by an evil witch’s spell but survive because of a magical bear stone and live in an alternate dimension for a few months until you find a way out. Yeah, that makes a lot of things easier to take in.

“Hey guys!” she spoke into the rock. She didn’t feel the need to check they were there; they always were, especially when the girls were due to go over. “Really sorry but me and Crystal aren’t gonna be there today! Crystal barely slept last night, she’s on her period and she’s not feeling too great so we’re gonna stay home and chill. Hope everything goes well with the new clients!”

She tapped the rock once again to end the message, and waited for a few seconds. Sure enough, the white glow returned and Charles’s voice sounded from the device. None of them had any idea how the sound came from the stone – there were no speakers – but who were they to question magic?

“Hey Niko! That’s fine, we’ll manage without you guys. Hope Crystal’s feeling better soon and we’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

Three taps.

“Yeah, hopefully!”

Niko went to return to the kitchen, but suddenly remembered something, and turned back into the living room, making a beeline for the bookshelf. She pulled a handmade square of quilted fabric off a large mason jar, and was met with groans of disapproval from its residents.

“Too fucking bright!”

“Seriously, are you trying to blind us?”

Kingham and Litty had also returned to the plane of the living when Niko did, and the others continued trying to convince her to get rid of them. Niko had refused. They had, after all, helped her come back, so it was the least she could do to not, you know, drown them or anything. She’d mentioned wanting to free them but changed her mind when she was met with looks of horror from Edwin and Charles.

“We really don’t need a dandelion epidemic in the middle of London, Niko.”

“Yeah I think keeping them in the jar is for the best.”

They’d complained, but didn’t seem too upset with the outcome when they’d been bought a bigger jar. And in the end, Crystal agreed to living in the same apartment as them, as long as they weren’t in their bedroom. So, the bookshelf it was.

“Look, I’m sorry for waking you but I need to talk to you.”

“What is it?”

“Seriously what’s so important you need to wake us up at the fucking ass-crack of dawn.”

“First, it’s like 8am! That’s a normal time to wake up. Second, you guys really need to be less you today.”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Crystal’s on her period,” Niko explained. “She’s not feeling great and I really don’t want her having to deal with your…you-ness.”

“Oh boo-hoo!”

“Hey! She’s in pain! Wait- do sprites get periods?”

“Why do you care?” Litty asked, seemingly offended.

“She does,” Kingham nodded, and Litty groaned.

Niko really wanted to ask what exactly a sprite period consisted of given they were trapped in a jar, but she couldn’t get a word in because within thirty seconds, they were yelling at one another.

“Guys! This is exactly what we don’t want. Can you just like…be quiet for one day please?”

“Ugh, fine!”

“Can you at least put the cover back on? If we can’t talk I at least wanna get some fucking sleep.”

“Gladly,” Niko replied. “Now be good.”

With that, Niko placed the quilt back over the jar, blocking out most of the light. She took a deep breath before returning to the kitchen. She’d grown attached to the sprites, especially since they spent so long together in that weird inter-dimensional igloo, but god they could be assholes sometimes.

“Were you just talking to the sprites?” Crystal asked as she walked in.

Niko didn’t know if she’d heard them or if she could tell based on her tense expression. Probably both.

“Yep. They’ve promised they’ll be quiet today,” Niko picked up her glass of orange juice and took a sip, stepping over to stand right next to Crystal.

“Really? You sure they didn’t have their bitchy little fingers crossed behind their backs?” Crystal looked up at her, raising her eyebrows knowingly.

“Okay they probably did. But don’t worry, they won’t disturb us.”

“Thanks.” Crystal leaned into Niko. “What did the boys say by the way?”

“Charles says he hopes you’re feeling better soon.”

“That’s sweet. They’re sure they’ll be fine without us? I feel bad.”

“Crystal, they’ll be fine. They were fine for thirty years before us, right?”

“Debatable,” Crystal snorted.

She had a point.

“Still. You need to rest.”

“Fine.”

“Come on, wanna cuddle on the couch?” Niko stepped back, offering her hand to Crystal.

“God, yes,” Crystal replied, taking it.

“You go get comfy, I’ll be there in a minute.”

Niko pressed a quick kiss to Crystal’s lips before Crystal headed into the living room.

Nothing felt comfortable. Crystal tried to find a position on the sofa that didn’t feel like something was trying to claw its way out of her abdomen chestburster-style, but to no avail. She groaned, having given up trying after five minutes, when Niko walked in. She had two blankets over one arm and was holding a hot water bottle in the other.

“I didn’t know which blanket you’d want so I got the fluffy one and the thin one. I don’t want you getting too hot.”

“Thanks Niko,” Crystal smiled at how sweet her girlfriend was. “I think I’ll be alright with the thin one, especially with the hot water bottle as well.”

“Okay.”

Niko handed her the hot water bottle and the thinner blanket, folding the fluffy one up and placing it on the floor in front of the sofa just in case.

“And…” Niko started, reaching into the pocket of her dressing gown and pulling out a chocolate bar.

“It’s like 8am,” Crystal laughed, taking it from her and putting it on the side table next to the sofa.

“So? You’re allowed chocolate at 8am when you’re on your period. It’s like…the law or something.”

“Thank you.”

“Sorry that it’s just what we had in the cupboard, I can get dressed and go out and get you your favourite if you want-”

“Niko,” Crystal stopped her. “It’s great. You’re already doing more than enough for me, now come and sit down I need you.”

“Oh? What do you need?”

Niko sat down beside her on the sofa. Crystal immediately snuggled up next to her, her head on Niko’s chest and the hand not holding the hot water bottle resting on Niko’s knee.

“Just this,” she sighed.

“Ah. I can do this,” Niko replied, wrapping one arm around her and placing the other hand on top of Crystal’s, intertwining their fingers. “You comfy?”

“Yeah.”

It was nice, just sitting there in silence wrapped up in one another. It was quite the change to their usual day-to-day activities of running around London chasing after spirits and demons. Niko loved moments like these with Crystal, where she was calm and relaxed rather than her usual fiery, snarky, occasionally short-tempered self. Of course, Niko loved that Crystal too. She loved all of her, even the parts she was still trying to accept. Because no matter how mean she’d been in the past, no matter how often she lost her temper or started an argument with Edwin, she was still the person who offered her life for Niko’s after barely knowing her for two days, the person who became her friend when it felt like she was entirely alone, the person who tried her best to help her deal with her grief from her dad and convince her to get back into contact with her mom, the person who held her and cried for her as she died and was the first to pull her into a hug when she returned. She was gorgeous and messy and imperfect, and Niko loved her. She held her closer on the sofa, her hand running through her dark curls.

“I’m kinda glad we’re not working,” Crystal said after a few minutes. “I don’t know if I could handle Edwin’s…Edwin-ness today.”

“He’s not that bad.”

“I know, I know. He’s my friend and I love him like a brother at this point but…God, he can be frustrating at times. I feel like I’d just end up yelling at him when I’m this tired and like…hormonal.”

“It’s not your fault,” Niko comforted.

“I know that too, it’s just, since I got my memories back…like, I was so mean before. I really don’t wanna be that person anymore.”

“Hey.” Niko squeezed the hand she was still holding and kissed Crystal’s head. “You’re not. Who you were in the past…I know she’s technically still part of you but you’re not that girl anymore. You’re kind, and compassionate, and beautiful and sure, sometimes you and Edwin end up at each other’s throats a little but that doesn’t make you a bad person. Like you said, you’re like siblings. Most people are like that with their siblings, I think.”

Crystal looked up at her. In their position, it was difficult but neither really wanted to move.

“Thanks Niko, that really…it means a lot.”

“Well, it’s true.”

Niko leaned down the few centimetres necessary to press a kiss to the tip of Crystal’s nose, making her giggle softly.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Niko asked.

“Sure."

“What do you wanna watch?”

“I dunno,” Crystal shrugged. “You pick.”

“You sure?”

Crystal nodded as Niko reached for the remote.

♡ ⚢ ♡

Four hours went by in a comfortable domestic quiet, the two of them cuddled up together on the sofa watching the movies Niko picked, until the credits began rolling at the end of Princess Mononoke and Niko heard Crystal’s stomach rumble.

“You hungry?” she asked.

“Yeah, I didn’t exactly eat breakfast this morning. The only thing I’ve eaten is that chocolate we shared halfway through the first movie.”

“I’ll go and make lunch, what do you want?”

“I dunno,” Crystal shrugged again.

“You’re really not up for making decisions today, huh?” Niko giggled.

“No,” she laughed.

“Wanna try some of my noodles? They’re always good when I’ve got cramps.”

“Sure, what kind are they?”

“Well, my favourite ones are the chilli ones but you might not want those. Spicy and cramps don’t tend to mix. I think we’ve got some chicken ones in the cabinet too, they’re the ones I usually find helps with the pain.”

“Sure.”

“I mean they’re nowhere near as good as the chicken udon my mom used to make, but they’re still good.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Crystal chuckled.

“I’ll go make them, you choose the next movie while I’m gone,” Niko said, untangling her limbs from where they had become indistinguishable from Crystal’s and standing up. “This is supposed to be your day and so far, we’ve watched two Studio Ghibli movies.”

“Hey, I like Ghibli too!” Crystal argued.

“I know but I was the one who chose them so it’s your turn.”

Niko leaned down to press yet another kiss to the top of Crystal’s head before heading into the kitchen. Crystal smiled to herself – that was the fourth head kiss today and it was barely the afternoon. It had become their thing over the last couple months, and had begun when they’d only just got together, back when they were living out of the rarely used spare room of Charles and Edwin’s office. (After the girls finally got a place of their own, with funds from both Crystal’s parents and the Agency’s steady stream of clients helping to pay their rent, the boys redecorated the bedroom for themselves. Crystal didn’t ask why two people who physically couldn’t sleep needed a bedroom. She didn’t want to know.) Whenever Niko left a room, or entered it, or whenever she liked, really, she would kiss the top of Crystal’s head. At first, it was Niko playing on their height difference, the fact her lips were at Crystal’s head-height unless Crystal was wearing her platform boots, but it had become such a routine for them there were no signs of it stopping. Even Edwin found it sweet, though he seemed to feel that way about almost everything Niko did. That was one of the many things the two of them had in common: their overwhelming love for one Niko Sasaki.

♡ ⚢ ♡

Niko returned several minutes later, a pot of noodles in each hand. She handed one to Crystal.

“Hope you like them. Oh, and don’t forget to take some more meds, you could’ve had some like two hours ago.”

“Shit, yeah,” Crystal swore, moving to get up.

Before she could, Niko pulled the box of tablets out of her pocket.

“Thank you,” Crystal sighed.

Soon, the two of them were resettled on the sofa to start the next movie, both with a pot of noodles in their hands, still leaning as far into each other’s space as they could without causing a food-related accident.

“Jeez, I can smell the spice from here,” Crystal laughed.

“Yup,” Niko replied.

“Can I try some?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Niko twisted some of the noodles around the fork, as Crystal leaned forwards to eat them off it. She swallowed, then immediately started coughing.

“Holy shit!”

“You okay?” Niko asked, worried and reaching for the glasses of juice she’d poured them while the noodles were cooking.

“Yep. Just…wasn’t expecting them to be that spicy.”

“Too hot?”

“No, they were good. I like them, I just… yeah I don’t think they’d pair well with the current state of feeling as though my uterus is trying to claw its way out of my body.”

“Oh no…”

“The noodles are helping, though. Thank you.” Crystal smiled, returning her attention to her own non-spicy pot.

“You like them then?”

“Yeah, they’re so good.”

“Good. Did you pick a movie?”

“Yep.”

Crystal picked up the remote, and pressed play. Niko recognised the film immediately.

“Scooby Doo: The Movie? I said pick something you like.”

“Hey I do like this! I was obsessed with this movie when I was like 9. It kickstarted my obsession with Sarah Michelle Gellar. Then I made my dad buy all the Buffy DVDs when I was 12, then that was my favourite show for like two years,” Crystal said proudly.

“Woah."

“Yeah, imagine the shock on my face when I found out demons and supernatural beings and shit were real, and I was kind of one of them.”

“You’re my favourite supernatural being,” Niko said proudly and leaned across to kiss Crystal’s cheek.

“Shut up.”

“Nope,” Niko grinned.

♡ ⚢ ♡

“Hey,” Niko said quietly, around 20 minutes into the movie. “Do you wanna pause the movie a sec? I’ll go put the pots in the trash.”

“Sure.”

Niko stood up and went back into the kitchen, and when she returned less than a minute later, Crystal looked at her and laughed.

“What?” Niko asked.

“I just noticed, your lips are like, bright red.”

“That’ll be the noodles,” Niko giggled.

“You look somehow even more kissable than normal.” Crystal’s head was tilted to the side slightly in the way it always was when she flirted.

“Oh. Really?”

“Mhm.”

Niko barely had chance to sit back down on the sofa before Crystal pulled her in, quickly connecting their lips. Niko kissed back gently at first, not wanting to cause Crystal any more pain than she was already in, but Crystal’s eagerness spurred her on and soon she was pulling her as close as physically possible, both of them seemingly attempting to devour each other’s mouths. Niko tried her hardest to bite back the sounds threatening to escape her throat as Crystal took her bottom lip into her mouth and sucked.

Eventually, they broke apart, for no reason other than the need to breathe.

“Feeling better then?” Niko whispered.

“A little. Still feels like there’s some kind of rave happening in my uterus, but it’s not as bad as it was earlier.”

“Yay, the meds are helping.”

“I think it’s mostly you to be honest. And the noodles. But mostly you. Thank you for this.”

“Of course.”

As much as she wanted to pull Crystal’s lips back to hers, she knew they had all the time in the world for that. So, with one more kiss to the forehead, Niko gently pulled Crystal back into their cuddling on the sofa and pressed play on the movie once again.

♡ ⚢ ♡

“You up for another?” Niko asked after the end credits of Scooby Doo 2 finished rolling a few hours later. “We could watch the 2009 movie, too. You might have had a thing for Sarah Michelle Gellar but I was obsessed with Hayley Kiyoko. Her as Velma was an awakening.”

“Hmm…” Crystal hummed into Niko’s shoulder.

“Are you falling asleep?” Niko giggled.

“No.”

Liar.

“Yes, you are.”

“S’not my fault you’re comfy.”

“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” Niko shifted to move but Crystal held her still.

“It’s like 5pm. You’re not tired.”

“I don’t care. You need to sleep in a proper bed.”

Crystal gave in, allowing Niko to lead her into the bedroom and under the covers. Niko left the room, only to come back a few minutes later.

“I refilled your hot water bottle and brought you more meds,” she said, placing them down on the bed.

“Thanks babe,” Crystal muttered, yawning.

After Crystal had taken more painkillers, Niko climbed into bed next to her. Crystal immediately resumed their cuddling from the sofa. Niko never would have expected Crystal to be the clingy type, but she is not complaining.

“You know, I’m genuinely shocked the sprites were actually quiet.”

“Well…when I made them their little quilt I may have asked Edwin to put a silencing charm on it. They were probably yelling at one another all day.”

“Genius,” Crystal laughed, burying her head into Niko’s chest.

She seemed to have made a home on Niko’s chest over the last few months. Even before they got together, they would cuddle up together on the sofa in the office while the boys were out, or in the spare room while they were there, and Crystal would lay her head on her chest, listening intently to her heartbeat as though making sure she was still there. Every time Niko would hum softly, ensuring Crystal felt the vibrations of the sound. It was her wordless way of replying, of reassuring her she was really there, she was back, and she wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

“Thank you for today,” she said, her voice more of a mumble against Niko’s pyjamas.

“You don’t need to thank me, it’s what I’m here for.”

“It’s not though, you’re my girlfriend.”

“Well as your girlfriend, it’s my job to be here for you when your period’s kicking your ass.”

“I really don’t deserve you.”

“Hey,” Niko gently took Crystal’s jaw and tipped her head up to look at her. “Yes you do. We both deserve this. Well, you don’t deserve to be in pain, but us lying here together, just…in each other’s space…we deserve this.”

Crystal still didn’t fully believe her. Niko absolutely deserved it, but she still had doubts about herself. She still carried so much guilt for the horrible person she was before she met David, the even worse person she was once he’d really gotten to her. But, she supposed, if someone as intrinsically good yet painfully damaged as Charles could want to be her best friend; if someone as hurt and austere as Edwin could value her friendship and want her around despite their bickering; if someone as sweet and kind and loving as Niko could want her like this, could feel comfortable and safe with her in her arms and want to do everything to help her when she was feeling down, well…maybe she could believe it a little. Maybe she could accept that after everything, despite what she had done in her past, she did deserve something as good as the life she had now, wrapped in the arms of the girl she loved, who loved her so much in return.

“I love you,” she said, squeezing her arms around Niko’s waist even tighter.

“I love you too.”

With one final kiss dropped into her curls, Crystal finally drifted into sleep.

-----

It was around 8pm when Charles picked up the communication stone that sat on one of the many shelves in the office and tapped it three times.

“Hey guys,” he said into the rock. “Just letting you know today went great! It was just a run-of-the-mill haunting in the end, so it’s all sorted now, hope you two are doing okay!”

A minute passes with no reply.

“Guys?” he says again.

Still no reply. Charles put the rock back in its place and walked over to the mirror.

“Charles, you know they said we could only use their bedroom mirror in absolute emergencies,” Edwin said from the desk.

“They’re not replying! This could be an emergency, mate, what if some poltergeist or something got into their flat?”

Without thinking for a second, Charles reached out and tapped the mirror. Ripples appeared centred on the point he touched, and the image changed from a reflection of the office to the view of Crystal and Niko’s bedroom from their dresser. Charles couldn’t help but smile at the sight before him.

“They’re probably just asleep, Niko did mention Crystal barely slept last night.”

Edwin was right. The girls were both lying there, only their heads and shoulders visible poking out of the duvet, Crystal’s head on Niko’s shoulder as they slept soundly.

“Yeah, they are. They’re fine.”

“Good. Now, are you going to help me finish up this case file?”

“’Course love.”

Charles took one last glance through the mirror at the two of them – curled up in each other’s space, holding one another close, the very image of domestic bliss – before tapping the mirror once again, leaving the two of them to their peace.

[aspen-tree7]

Father and Son reunion :]

Whatever they’re saying is up to interpretation :]

(Yapping under cut)

AHHH HELLOOO I HAVENT POSTED IN AWHILE APOLOGIESS

As some of you may know I have moved houses! So now I can finally get back into arting. I have really big ideas and I’m so excited to share them

I’ll probably start posting random yapping stuff here too sooooo I hope you don’t mind that

Much love!!

[harrysfolklore]

how is piastri sis feeling with this being carlos last ferrari race? cuz i’m feeling emotional

AHHH CARLOS' LAST RACE WITH FERRARI 🥺 im so emo but also really really proud of him. and so is our girl piastri sis. enjoy!

READ LITTLE BITCH HERE

The motorhome is quiet, the usual post-race bustle muted by the weight of finality. Carlos sits on the couch, still in his race suit with the Ferrari logo that's no longer his, staring at nothing. You watch him from the doorway, heart aching at the emotion written across his face.

"I can hear you thinking from here," he says softly, not looking up.

You move to sit beside him, taking his hand. His fingers automatically intertwine with yours, a habit now.

"I keep thinking about what I said," your voice is barely a whisper. "At the beginning of the season. About hoping you wouldn't find a seat."

"Mi amor-"

"No, let me finish," you squeeze his hand. "Seeing you now, knowing how much the Ferrari exit hurt... I was so cruel. So insensitive. Just because I was angry about Oscar-"

"You apologized months ago," he turns to face you, eyes soft. "Went we grabbed sushi and said you were sorry for being harsh."

"I know, but..." you touch his face. "Watching you take that last lap today, seeing how emotional you were on team radio... it just hit me again how horrible those words were. How much you were already hurting when I said them."

He catches your hand, kissing your palm. "I wasn't exactly kind to you either back then. Or to Oscar on track."

"Still-"

"No, listen," he pulls you closer. "That comment? It led to our first real conversation. When you apologized, I knew something had shifted. And now look at us."

You lean into him, remembering how that sushi outing led to him kissing you after, and changing everything forever.

"Besides," he continues with a small smile, "I did find a seat. Williams is excited to have me. And more importantly..." he kisses your forehead, "I found you."

"Smooth little bitch," you murmur against his chest.

"It's true though," his voice gets serious. "Leaving Ferrari hurts, yes. But this year? Getting to know you, falling in love with you? It's worth every painful moment."

"Even when I was being a protective sister?"

"Even then," he chuckles. "Though I prefer when you're being a protective girlfriend now."

You look up at him. "I'm so proud of how you handled everything this year. The Ferrari news, the criticism, the uncertainty... you stayed professional through it all."

"Had someone pretty amazing supporting me," he pulls you into his lap. "Someone who went from hating me to loving me."

"I never really hated you," you protest. "I just... strongly disliked your on-track decisions."

He laughs properly then, the sound chasing away some of the melancholy. "And now?"

"Now I strongly like everything about you," you kiss him softly. "Even your questionable racing moves."

"Hey!"

"Kidding," you stroke his cheek. "I'm so excited to see you at Williams. They're lucky to have you."

He holds you tighter. "Will you wear their merch next year?"

"Of course. But I'm keeping one Ferrari shirt."

"Oh?"

"Your race-worn one from today," you smile. "For memories."

His eyes get emotional again. "I love you. So much."

"I love you too," you rest your forehead against his. "Ferrari chapter is closing, but we're just getting started."

He kisses you deeply, pouring everything he can't say into it.

Later, Oscar sends a photo to the group chat Of Carlos's last Ferrari lap with you watching from the garage, wearing his team shirt.

"From enemies to this. Still wild."

Carlos saves it immediately because sometimes the best endings lead to better beginnings. And sometimes "I hope you don't find a seat" turns into "I hope you never leave my side"

[mclqren]

BIRTHDAY WISHES ★ F1 GRID

PAIRING ✦ f1 grid x platonic fem!wolff!reader, max verstappen x fem!wolff!reader

SUMMARY ✦ it's your birthday, and some of the drivers of the f1 grid take to instagram to post you on the day. [ SMAU ]

WARNINGS ✦ none, i think!

REQUESTED ✦ here!

NOTES ✦ i didn't include all of the f1 drivers but i included as many as i felt were suitable! reader isn't susie's biological daughter, but they're still very close!! the fc i've used is blanca soler, but feel free to picture whoever you want! my requests are open so feel free to leave a request :)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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yourusername finally 22, might get a tattoo idk💜

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user1 AHHH HAPPY BIRTHDAY Y/N

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mercedesamgf1 It's a very very special day today...happy birthday Y/n! From all of the team at Mercedes ❤️

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user7 happy birthday y/n!!

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user9 i just know toto went to admin and said 'WISH MY DAUGHTER A HAPPY BIRTHDAY'

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georgerussell63 throwback to 2022 where me and y/n went on a day trip around paris and she changed outfits THREE TIMES in accordance with where we were. anyways happy birthday y/n have the best day!! 🥳

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yourusername CALLING ME OUT IN THE CAPTION HELLOOO?

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landonorris happy birthday to the girl who introduced herself to me by spilling her pepsi max over my fire suit. never change y/n 🔥

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yourusername AW LANDOOO THAT'S KINDA SWEET

georgerussell63 and mine wasn't??

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alex_albon happiest of birthdays to the best third wheel money can buy ( please let me out of your basement 🙏 )

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alex_albon ALL JOKES ASIDE love you y/n have the best day!! 😁❤️

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carmenmmundt MY Y/NNNN!! meeting you in the mercedes paddock back in 2022 was truly the best thing that could've ever happened because now you're stuck with me!! my little sister forever, hope you have the best birthday ever ❤️❤️

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yourusername CARMMM IM CRYING WTH

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this comment has been deleted

user16 SO NO ONE SAW ALEX'S COMMENT?? WAG ALERT HELLO??

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alexandrasaintmleux the only girl i trust to go to galleries with me ❤️ happy birthday y/n love you sm!

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yourusername ALEXXXX I LOVE YOU SM

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alexandrasaintmleux ❤️❤️

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yourusername with ease 😘

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charles_leclerc she might prefer my girlfriend to me, but she will forever be my baby sister 😘 happy birthday y/n!!

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yourusername MI HERMANOOOO!!

charles_leclerc that's not french??

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lance_stroll "if you post any ugly pictures of me lance i'll kill you" - y/n today when i wished her a happy birthday. have a good day loser 👌

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yourusername WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME OUT AS WELLL IT'S MEANT TO BE MY SPECIAL DAY

georgerussell63 y/n when something doesn't go her way:

yourusername GO AWAY PISS FACE ☹️

yourusername my favorite canadian 😊

yourusername also the only canadian i know but wtv

lance_stroll i appreciate the sentiment y/n??

yourusername THANKS LANCELOT LOVE YOU BBG

lance_stroll maybe it's time to retire the nickname now??

yourusername noooo i don't want to! and it's my birthday sooo :)

liked by yourusername, landonorris, and 199,588 others

tagged yourusername

oscarpiastri happy birthday y/n!! have the best day ❤️ ( last slide is from when you took my phone and sent lando pictures of yourself saying you were under his bed. good times as always )

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yourusername OSCAHHH THE FIRST NICE-ISH CAPTION!!

charles_leclerc mine was nice as well???

yourusername yes but oscar's just nicer in general so it sort of evens itself out

user18 HELPP

yourusername i KNOW lando appreciated the pics of my flared nostrils😘😘

landonorris yes thanks y/n ❤️

alex_albon bet your boyfriend didn't appreciate that one 🤷‍♂️

yourusername DO YOU EVER SHUT UP ALBON. and for ur information i forwarded them to him as well so.

user19 okay but WHOOO IS THIS BOYFRIEND WHEN'S THE REVEAL

user20 NO REAL IM GNAWING AT THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE

liked by yourusername, maxverstappen1, and 1,008,290 others

tagged yourusername

carlossainz55 y/n in her natural habitat: on a farm 👩‍🌾 happy birthday mi hermana!! ❤️

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yourusername VIVA LA ESPAÑAAAAA

carlossainz55 SIII SIEMPRE

yourusername THANK YOU CARLOSSS 💜💜

carlossainz55 ❤️

georgerussell63 she's one with nature ❤️

landonorris HAHA

yourusername I KNOWWW YOU ARE BOTH NOT TALKING WHEN I HAVE KILLED SPIDERS FOR BOTH OF YOU.

user21 THE RECEIPTS

maxverstappen1 picture credits for half of these??

carlossainz55 i took the first one though?

maxverstappen1 but i took the others??

yourusername guys stop fighting this isn't you ☹️☹️☹️

maxverstappen1 yeah yeah whatever

liked by yourusername, charles_leclerc, and 2,001,980 others

tagged yourusername

maxverstappen1 forever thankful for the day you accidentally ran into the red bull paddock and i fell head over heels in love 🙏 happy birthday to the girl who makes it all worth it, love you always ❤️

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user22 THE HARD LAUNCH????

user23 WAS NOT EXPECTING THISSSS

user24 SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP

user25 MERCEDES GIRL X RED BULL GUY

yourusername MAXIE AW

user26 MAXIE MY HEARTTT

yourusername LOVE YOU FOREVER 💜💜

alex_albon ew get a room

yourusername as third wheel of you and lily for basically the past two years, LET ME HAVE THIS ONE.

landonorris so like is it just me who's single now??...

yourusername keep enjoying the bachelor lifestyle norris 💜

liked by maxverstappen1, georgerussell63, and 1,872,001 others

tagged maxverstappen1

yourusername thank you all so much for the birthday wishes!! decided to get me a tattoo, and woke up to my boyfriend hard launching us on social media! love you max, but please stop winning races so my dad doesn't get angry 💜

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maxverstappen1 unfortunately, i have to keep winning the races to win your respect. thanks for the request, though! 🙏

yourusername papa wolff will NOT be happy.

maxverstappen1 ❤️❤️

user27 THE LITTLE WOMEN TATTOO??

user28 I HAD NO IDEA SHE WATCHED LITTLE WOMEN

user29 she mentioned on live once that it's her favorite movie!!

mercedesamgf1 If he hurts you Y/n, we'll be at his door 🦅

yourusername you'll be the first ones i contact x

user30 Y/N DEFENCE LEAGUE HAS ARRIVED

georgerussell63 *get a tattoo, not get me a tattoo

landonorris shhh let her have this one it's her birthday weekend

yourusername damn right it is mr russell remember ur place here. which of the two of us is the boss' daughter??

georgerussell63 🤐🤐

yourusername exactly what i thought!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[afterglowsainz]

we used to have more pt. 4 | oscar piastri, pato o’ward

part 1 part 2 part 3

pairing: oscar piastri x reader, pato o’ward x reader

summary: where a talk in a hotel room and a work trip to mexico make things clear for you

fc: different girls from pinterest

warnings: mentions of toxic relationships

a/n: ahhh sorry it took me a while to post this! but finally here it is the last part of this mini series that i loved creating <3 thank you so so much for supporting it the way you did, all the comments, reblogs and likes meant the world to me while writing it💗

—

liked by oscarpiastri, landonorris and others

yourusername home sweet home

tagged lissiemackintosh

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username dry ass caption

username girlie is NOT happy to be back

username y/n i know you wanted to stay in america but you can at least act a little bit more excited to be back 😭

username the fact it was sunny all weekend and she posted a pic of the only HOUR of rain is diabolical

declanmurray you can at least pretend

yourusername i’m not contractually obligated to

username pls 😭

username idc she’s down MOTHER IS BACK

oscarpiastri happy you’re back! ❤️

username chat when the guy you’re off and on for years says he’s happy you’re back how to do you react?

username ohhh but we’re having THE fashion icon that is y/n again at the paddock i cannot complain

patriciooward have fun!

yourusername <3333

username pls the way she ignored oscar so severely 😭

liked by yourusername, milesbaldwin and others

patriciooward can never say no to a side quest

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username NORBIIII 🥰

username every photo was whiplash after whiplash

username incredibly cute and incredibly hot

username don’t push girls

username i am that cookie actually

username i need him in a way that’s concerning for feminism

yourusername boys 🥹

patriciooward miss you!

username no they are my parents

username oscar i was rooting for you but now … i’m not so sure

liked by patriciooward, maxverstappen1 and others

yourusername the prodigal son returns home 🇲🇽

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username omg is this a hard launch??? what is this !!!

username patoooo 💖

username the way you can see everything about her posting changed since she arrived in mexico

username is it wrong to assume it’s because she’s with pato again? 😩

username pato and y/n in mexico is everything

username ohhhh oscar reaaaally fumbled this time

username nahhh im being delusional thinking oscar still has an opportunity (pls y/n give him a chance 😩)

username well, at least she’s posting again 🥳

patriciooward ☀️

yourusername ☀️✨✨💫

liked by indygossip, f1wags and others

f1gossip indycar and mclaren’s reserve driver patricio o’ward was seen last night having dinner and sharing a kiss with f1 community manager y/n y/l/n

it has been rumored for a few years that she was on a relationship on and off with mclaren’s oscar piastri, but it was never confirmed as the driver kept going back to his exgirlfriend

view all comments

username not oscar catching strays 😭😭

f1gossip 🤷🏽‍♀️

username honestly i can’t be mad about this. she deserves someone who makes her happy and pato obviously likes her. they look good together 💗

username THAT SHOULD BE MEEEE

username someone check on oscar 😩

username watch him go back to his exgirlfriend after hearing the news 🙄

username genuinely hoping he doesn’t do that otherwise he’s just reinforcing y/n’s decision of moving on

username anddd that relationship CANNOT be healthy, for either of them

username i knew they were together from day one, y’all were just blinded by oscar

username because they’re meant to be 😭😭

username in another life perhaps!

liked by yourusername, lissiemackintosh and others

patriciooward favorite place with the greatest company ❤️

view all comments

username ahhh the masters of hard launching i’m so here for this

username THE DRESS

username i don’t know if i wanna be pato or y/n in this situation

username okay don’t rub it in 😭

miguelsossa where’s my photo creds for the second one? 🤨

patriciooward 📷: miguelsossa

miguelsossa thanks it means a lot make sure to pin that comment so everyone can see

username pls why did i thought y/n and pato went out without the whole gang 😭

declanmurray HAH don’t make me laugh

milesbaldwin we do leave them alone sometimes

patriciooward …

lissiemackintosh 😮

username speechless at this

username i’m sure pato is a saint because dealing with y/n’s friends must be a handful 🙏🏽

yourusername beautiful 🤍

patriciooward how’s the weather now? :)

yourusername warm enough, you?

patriciooward clear skies

username STOP THEYRE SO CUTE 🥰

liked by georgerussel63, exgirlfriend and others

oscarpiastri happy place ❤️

tagged exgirlfriend

comments for this post have been disabled

—

taglist; @heavy-vettel @a-beaverhausen @astroniii @chunkpiboli @theonottsbxtch @eclecticcreatorweaselsalad @charli123456789 @stopeatread @coriyaps @nina-or-anna-or-nora @ninasw0rld @loveelylani @marauders-wife @dramallama9 @mxdi0 @piastrigate @ladyoflynx @prudyhoo @idkwtdwml123 @southernbaguette @ellelabelle @emryb @fastfactory @comicalivy @seasonswinter @no-144444 @lunamelona @saachiep81 @nataliambc @patis643 @softtina @chemiru @obxstiles @eiaaasamantha @youre-on-your-ownkid @wcnorris @hwalllllllelujah @soleilgrec

[aurorawritestoescape]

BE MY GUEST

No outbreak Joel Miller x f!reader

Summary: working as a hotel housekeeper, you meet a handsome guest under quite unexpected circumstances. An awkward conversation leads to a friendly relationship that grows into something none of you expects.

Tw: 18+ mdni, smut, lots of fluff, a bit of angst, age gap (the size is up to you, Joel is in his late 30s-early 40s, reader is younger), Sarah is alive (7 y.o), pining, strangers to friends to lovers, soft Joel, insecure reader, accidental flashing, praise kink, f!oral, unprotected piv, creampie, m/f masturbation, mutual masturbation, dirty talk, aftercare, phone/video sex, pet names, swearing. Joel can lift reader. Reader wears a uniform dress.

Word count: 12k

A/n: I’m finally posting this story and I’m sooo excited. It took me a lot of time, I love these two very much and I hope you all will like them, too. It’s written for @yxtkiwiyxt ‘s Never Have I Ever Challenge. My prompt was ’never have i ever booked a hotel room just to go have sex‘. Thank you for the fun event, Kiwi!💞 Kisses to @milla-frenchy for beta-ing and supporting me through the journey aka writing this fic lol ILY❤️ Dividers by @/saradika-graphics

MASTERLIST

“Housekeeping!” you announced yourself loudly when you came up to room 605. Following the protocol, you’d knocked three times before that, waited for two minutes and the silence was your invitation to enter. You rolled your housekeeping cart closer to the door and opened it with your master key.

When you walked through a short hall and into the living area, you expected to find anything. Having worked as a hotel housekeeper for only a year, you’d already seen your fair share of messy beds, spilled drinks, broken furniture, completely trashed rooms, so nothing could surprise you.

Nothing except for a man lying naked in bed with his cock out. Even a glance was enough to realize that he was busy stroking himself, a mobile phone in hand.

Everything happened lightning fast— you gasped, hands clasped over your mouth — the man cursed and hastily covered himself with a sheet — you squeaked a timid ’sorry’ and ran out of the room.

A string of curses was leaving your mouth as you were hurrying away from room 605, pushing the heavy cart in front of you.

***

Minutes later you were in the staff locker room, panting, sweaty palms pressed to your chest, your heart racing.

‘Why?’ You were asking yourself, ’why didn’t he hear you announce yourself and knock?’‘ First, you thought that he wanted you to see him— during your time working in the hotel you’d met a few creeps, but that man seemed genuinely shocked, when you appeared in his room, and embarrassed when your eyes landed on his exposed member.

He must have been wearing headphones. Probably. Hopefully. For some reason you didn’t want him to be a perv. He was too handsome, too hot. And his cock was… ahhh it was amazing— long and thick, fat tip angry red and glistening in the bright light of the sun. He must have been close to coming.

Your eyes were still widened, hands shaking, but your lips curved into a little smile, thinking about him, a heat rising in your belly. You started bringing any detail you could to mind - his dark disheveled hair - he’d probably just woken up, his naked chest, broad and strong, a happy trail on his tummy, the big hand, wrapped around his —

”Hey, babe!”

You jumped, scared to death, your heart, that was slowing down after the incident, was pounding again.

“Hi, Max,” you breathed out, greeting your colleague and friend who’d just entered the room. She was your age, funny, kind and extremely nosy.

You turned to the lockers, away from her, embarrassed by the tingling between your legs, but also worried that she’d notice your flustered face.

”What’s wrong?”

Fuck!

“Nothing,” you lied, trying to calm down. Silence filled the room. When you glanced back at Max, she was staring at you, her eyes narrowed. Obviously, she wasn’t buying it.

“Ok. I’ll tell you,” you sighed, reluctant to talk about it at first, but Max was always reliable and loyal so you thought ‘why the hell not’ and started talking, “Something happened.”

“Yeah?” She immediately lit up, anticipating something juicy.

“I was working on the 6th floor and I entered this room and — shit— I saw a man, you know, naked and —“

Max opened her mouth exaggeratingly wide and was waiting for you to go on.

“That man — he was ehm— watching something on his phone and —you know?”

You were trying to find the right words, but Max was not the one to beat around the bush.

“Jacking off?!”

“Shhh, Max!” you hissed, raising your hands, begging her to speak quieter with your pleading eyes. “What if Ms Hewitt hears?!”

“Ms Hewitt hears what?”

You wanted to drop dead at that moment. Your heart plummeted into your stomach when the housekeeping supervisor, a tall blond middle aged woman, appeared behind you.

“Ehm, nothing,” you replied with a fake smile.

Ms Hewitt looked you up and down as she always did, checking if everything was perfect in her staff’s attire, then her eyes focused on your face. Her piercing gaze was enough for you to crumble, especially when she said,

“Doesn’t sound like ‘nothing’.”

You had never been a good liar so you took a deep breath and decided to come clean. You were sure that you’d done nothing wrong but anxiety was still churning your stomach.

You cleared your throat and started talking a mile a minute as if it would make it sound less bad.

“I was on the 6th, was about to clean the 605, and I knocked three times, waited for two minutes. No one answered so I opened the door. I announced myself! I did everything by the book, I swear, but somehow the guest didn’t hear me and he was naked in bed and… and…”

Max’s high pitched ‘jacking off’ almost flew out of your mouth but you shut it just in time.

Miss Hewitt's poker face didn’t reveal anything for a few long seconds until she pushed,

”And?”

You shifted on your feet nervously, cleared your throat and exhaled,

“He was pleasuring himself.”

Max burst into giggles, you flinched and quickly made big eyes at her. She clamped her palm over her mouth and shook her head, apologising with her eyes.

Ms Hewitt was less entertained by your story. She kept looking at you with the same expression and you felt like time had stopped.

“Ms Harmon, don’t you have the 3rd floor today?“ the woman asked Max sternly.

Your friend mumbled a disappointed ‘yes, ma’am’ and dragged herself out of the room.

When you two were left alone, Ms Hewitt’s face softened, and she asked you with her voice lowered. “Was he inappropriate with you, honey?”

“Oh, no-no-no! No!” you hurried to assure her, “he was embarrassed— said sorry. I apologised too and ran out. It was just an accident. Maybe he was wearing headphones or something,” you added fumbling with your fingers. “I’m sure he didn’t want it to happen.”

The supervisor was slowly nodding, listening to you.

For a few moments she was standing there in thought until she spoke.

“I suppose you should talk to him and apologise.”

Your jaw hit the floor.

“What? Talk to him? Why? I did nothing wrong!”

“Yes, probably, but if he feels like you did, he might go to the manager and tell him that you committed an invasion of privacy. And what does Mr Stewart always say? ‘A guest is always right.’ You’d be fired in a second.”

You shook your head.

“I don’t think he’ll complain.”

“Why?” Ms Hewitt’s brows shot up. “Has seeing his penis given you an understanding of his whole personality? We don’t know that person. I don’t want you to lose your job over an accident. If you want I’ll go with you.”

Now you were completely terrified.

“Oh no, no, it’ll be even more awkward.”

“Ok, but tell me how it goes,” the woman said on her way to the door, then stopped and added. “Do it today.”

When she left, you plopped on the bench and stared at your palms. How could you talk to him? After what you’d seen. After what you’d felt. You hoped that he was the man you thought him to be and prayed he wouldn’t make it hard for you. Hard, you murmured and hid your smiling face behind your hands.

You knocked on Joel Miller’s hotel door a few hours later, making sure that the sound was loud enough. Your throat dried up and you cursed under your breath, praying that you wouldn’t have to talk for too long.

To prepare for the conversation l, you had asked for the guest’s name at the reception and learnt that he had booked the room for a week.

Mr Miller opened the door fully clothed this time. He was wearing a white tee and a pair of grey sweatpants. You noticed that he swallowed loudly when he saw you and his expression showed

that he definitely recognised you.

“Mr Miller, can we talk? It’ll take a few minutes.”

“Oh, of course, come in.” He gave you a little smile and stepped aside, letting you enter. You walked into the room and he followed you.

He stopped a few steps away, giving you enough personal space, and you were grateful— it was easier to talk that way.

You dropped your eyes to the floor at his bare feet and said the speech you’d rehearsed a hundred times by now.

”I’d like to apologise for what happened earlier. I assure you, it won’t happen again. I’ll knock harder and announce myself louder next time.”

“Oh no, no, it was my fault,” he said hurriedly and you looked up at the man. He was rubbing the back of his neck, his cheeks blushed. It seemed that he was embarrassed just like you and it made you feel better.

“I had an earbud in my right ear,” Mr Miller began explaining. “Noise cancelling.. damnit,” he mumbled under his breath. ”And my left ear is really bad…a work accident. That’s why I didn’t hear you.”

You were glad that your theory turned out to be right and sighed with relief.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. It must’ve been horrible to see…damn, I’m so sorry.”

“No, it’s ok.”

That ‘sweetheart’ made you tingle all over and you smiled to yourself, thinking that it wasn’t a horrible sight at all.

“It was an accident. I’m glad that you’re not angry at me, sir.”

“Angry? Of course, not. I’m embarrassed and very sorry for what you had to see and — wait, please.”

Mr Miller walked to the nightstand and bent over to grab something. Your eyes immediately slid from his broad muscular back, straining his tee, to his ass, looking absolutely sinful in those sweatpants. His body made you feel hot all over again. You quickly snapped your eyes back to his face when he turned to you.

"Oh no, Mr Miller, you don't have to—.”

You shook your head, having noticed a wallet in his hands.

"I insist.”

He walked up to you and pulled a few bills out. He stopped in front of you, leaned closer, took your hand and placed the cash into your palm.

"I'm really sorry."

You felt the warmth of his skin against yours, his smile was warm and timid, and it was a fleeting moment, but the time seemed to feeeze for you. You drowned in his honey eyes, his gruff voice reached the deepest parts of you and a scorching fire licked at your core. Your chest swelled with a feeling so overwhelming and strong that it almost knocked you off your feet.

Trying to hide the tornado inside you, you lowered your eyes and glanced at his hand, so big in comparison to yours. Suddenly, an image of Mr Miller's palm wrapped around his cock flashed in your mind. Your breath hitched, you pulled your hand away, squeaked "Thank you, sir” and rushed to the door on shaky legs.

“No, thank you for your work. And call me Joel. Please. If it’s ok with you,” he added, following you.

”Yes, of course, Mr M—- Joel.”

He smiled widely, when you called him that, and trying not to scream at how handsome he was, you opened the door.

“Oh,” you stopped and turned to him again. “I’ll ask them not to assign me to this floor anymore. So you don’t feel uncomfortable.”

“Hey, no, please.” Joel raised his hands and shook his head. “I don’t mind seeing you again. I— I’d love to, actually. And I promise to be clothed next time we meet.”

You laughed with him gleefully and said ‘goodbye’. Walking through the hallway with a giddy smile on your face, you thought that you’d love to see him again, too. Clothed or not.

You told Ms Hewitt about your conversation with Mr Miller and she seemed satisfied with the way you handled the situation.

All day you couldn’t stop thinking about Joel — he had been so charming, so apologetic and kind to you, that the awkwardness of the morning incident faded out of your heart, and all that remained was a bright, exciting feeling of meeting someone wonderful, someone you wished to get to know better.

Yet not only your heart and mind were occupied by your accidental acquaintance. You felt tingling between your legs every time you remembered Joel’s body, a scorching fire igniting your core.

***

When you came home in the evening and went to take a shower to wash the tiring day off, you found yourself fantasising about the guest in room 605. In your mind the rivulets of water turned into Joel’s strong arms, snaking around your body. You closed your eyes and imagined him standing behind you, naked and gorgeous, just like you’d seen him in the morning. The vision was bright and vivid behind your eyelids, and a needy moan escaped your parted lips.

You could finally quench your thirst. Your hand slid from your neck to your chest, down to your belly and when it reached your mound, you gently massaged your wet folds, envisioning that it was Joel touching you, his fingers were tracing your seam and then pushing inside. In your mind his pads began rubbing your hardened clit, he was the one twitching and pulling your pebbled nipples, and your needy whimpers and moans reverberated in the small bathroom. Joel praised you for your lustful serenade, whispering into your ear,

“Yes, sweetheart, need you to be loud for me. Show me how much you’re enjoying it.”

You were imagining his hard cock push and slide between your thighs, slippery and hot, hotter than the water running down your body.

“Ahhh, Joel,” you whined, as an upcoming climax was licking at your body. Edged by your memories of Joel during the day, it was craving a release. You heard Joel’s gruff ‘sweetheart’ in your ears and came hard, shaking on your trembling legs, holding onto the cold tile wall, trying not to collapse.

Before going to bed you thought of the handsome guest again, wishing to see him in your dreams, to talk to him, to touch him, but your mind didn’t give you that chance, and you fell into a dreamless sleep.

Without any effort on your part, you began seeing Joel often. When you two ran into each other in the hallway, he always gave you a warm smile and your heart skipped a beat every time you heard his ‘Mornin’, sweetheart.”

You were good at your job, but when you worked in Joel’s room, you tried to do everything perfectly. You wanted to make his stay as pleasant as possible and dreamed that he would think fondly of you. Every day you left him more shampoo and conditioner bottles than one man could need in a week and put a little flower on top of his fresh towels.

He seemingly felt your care because every day he would leave you a tip. It was nice but you never needed any money from him - the fact that he thought about you was enough.

You had never snooped around guests’ belongings, it was going against your principles, as well as a big no-no in any hotel, but whenever Joel left anything in the open - on the nightstand or on the desk, you meticulously studied ‘the thing’, not touching it but simply looking, eager to get any information about the man.

Once on his desk you saw a flyer that said ‘Small Business Contracting Expo’. He must be a contractor, you thought. You sighed dreamily, standing in the middle of his room with a turned on vacuum in hand. You found his job incredibly sexy.

But not all the discoveries were pleasant. One day you noticed something that upset you. It was a photo, lying on the nightstand - a Polaroid of him with a 6 or 7 year old girl. She was very pretty and had a beautiful smile. His smile.

‘He has a daughter. He’s married,’ you thought and your heart dropped. Of course. How could such a handsome and sweet man be single? That moment you shared… He was just friendly and your head was full of stupid fantasies.

All the rules and regulations forgotten, you plopped on his bed and tears flowed down your cheeks as you were staring at the photo of the happy family man.

The next day you were in the hallway, rummaging your cart for the right cleaning detergent, when you saw Joel exiting his room. He was wearing a leather jacket and a pair of dark blue jeans. At first, your eyes feasted on the sight of his strong back, straining the shiny leather, and you bit your lip, admiring his broad frame, but then you remembered the photo you’d seen on his nightstand - happy Joel with his little daughter. You hastily averted your eyes from the guest — you’d never be a homewrecker.

Not that you had any plans to win his heart but in your mind Joel had been single and it was fine to daydream about him, yet after seeing the Polaroid, your dreams had been crushed by reality like a glass butterfly by a hammer.

Avoiding Joel, you quickly crouched behind your cart, hoping he wouldn’t see you and his warm ‘sweetheart‘ wouldn’t cut your heart like a blade.

You were cleaning off a non-existent spot on your shoe when you heard a soft ’Hey there’ over your head.

“Are you hiding from me?” Joel chuckled as you sprung up on your feet, your heart racing in your chest.

“No,” you lied with a nervous giggle. “I was just looking for —ehm.” You shoved your hand into the cart and retreated the first thing you touched— a roll of toilet paper. “This. For the room.”

“Yeah, ok.” Joel was standing in front of you with his hands shoved in his jeans pocket, and his lopsided smile and a twinkle in his eye told you that he wasn’t buying it.

Then he raised his hands a little, palms towards you.

“I hope I don’t weird you out. You know? Because of… the way we met.”

Your breath hitched when he said that but you tried to keep your cool.

“No. I was really just looking for the paper.”

“Ok,” he mumbled, rubbing his scruffy beard. ”I’m heading out and I need help.”

“Yeah?” You were lost in beautiful eyes for a second and then your gaze slid down to his thick neck, his strong arms, covered by the leather. You locked eyes with him again - beautiful and deep they seemed to stare right into your soul, bringing you comfort and torment at the same time.

“What do you think?”

Fuck! You got completely mesmerized by Joel while he was talking and asked you for help. Help with what?! You had no damn idea.

“I’m sorry, could you say it again? I got lost in thought for a second.”

“Yeah, I see”, Joel smirked, a playful joy glinting in his irises, but kindly repeated himself.

“I need a gift for my daughter. I promised her a souvenir from the trip. Do you know any nice stores nearby? I don’t think she’d like a magnet from the hotel shop.”

“Yes, daughter,” you uttered, your face falling at the reminder of your discovery. Trying to hide sadness in your quiet voice, you asked,

“How old is she?”

“7.”

You thought for a few seconds and smiled when an idea came to you.

“There’s a store on the opposite side of the street. It’s next to a bank, you’ll see it right away. They sell these super cute handmade plushies. They’re adorable!”

Joel’s eyebrows shot up as he nodded.

“Yes! She loves plushies.”

“Oh, and they have all kinds of pretty stationery there too. Kids love that, right?” you asked with a little smile.

Joel took a step closer to you and put his warm palm over your hand, which was resting on the cart.

“Thank you so much, sweetheart. I’m sure I’ll be the world’s best dad when I get home.”

“I’m sure you already are,” you said quietly and dropped your head, your heart heavy.

“Are you ok?” You heard Joel’s lowered voice.

You looked up at him and lied.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

***

The next day you hoped not to see him at all. Your feelings were cruelly scratching at your chest, making your smile fake, your work day longer. Every minute felt like hours, and to make matters worse you started plucking at your own soul. You were single and lonely, saving up for college and dreaming of a career you probably would never achieve. Why would you want something if all you got at the end was disappointment?

Usually cleaning helped you to put your mind and heart at ease, to organize the thoughts swirling in your head like a bunch of stinging bees, but not that day. That day you wanted to dump all your hopes and dreams in one giant pile and set the useless trash on fire.

***

You decided to skip Joel’s room that day and was on your way to the neighbouring one when his head popped out of the door and he called for you.

”I thought I heard your cart. Sorry, can we talk, sweetheart?”

You smiled weakly at the pet name, and walked up to his room.

Joel motioned for you to step inside and you followed him. He was wearing a white Henley and jeans and you couldn’t help but ogle him. So stupid of you to think that a man like that was available. Especially for you.

Involuntarily you took a deep breath of his scent that was filling the room, piney and fresh with something so him. You felt at ease right away. He was almost a stranger and an emptiness inside was swallowing you bit by bit but his presence made you calm and relaxed.

“Look what I got for Sarah.”

Joel grabbed a toy sitting on his pillow - a cute fluffy bunny, wearing blue overalls, and brought it to you.

“I think she’ll like him.”

“I’m sure she will,” you assured him, petting the plushie, before giving it back to him. It was soft and pretty.

“And I bought her a bunch of pens and stickers and stuff. Thank you so much for your advice. Oh, and..”

Joel walked to the drawer and pulled something out.

“This one’s for you. A little thank you gift for your help.”

He was handing you a cute plushie cat, fluffy just like the bunny. “Had to hide it in case you’d come to my room.”

“You didn’t have to,” you said, accepting the present with a smile.

“I wanted to. Thought about you when I saw it.”

“Why?” you giggled.

“I don’t know. It’s beautiful and you’re—.” A slight blush appeared on Joel’s cheeks and he cleared his throat before adding, “Jus’ thought you might like it.”

“I love it.”

You didn’t lie. His gesture was so sweet that you had to take a deep breath, fighting an urge to cry.

“You’re a great father, Joel,” you said with a shaky voice, your eyes set on the toy, and then added,

“And I’m sure a wonderful husband.”

The words escaped your mouth before you could stop them. It seemed that the despair you’d been carrying in your soul made you bolder, more numb. It was easier to talk to him when all your feelings for the man lost a taste of sweet hope, leaving only bitterness.

“Thank you,” Joel uttered, placing the bunny back on the bed, ”but it’s just me and Sarah.”

Your eyes snapped back at him, and you stared at him in surprise. Your chest swelled with hope and joy. That man was single, but now it sounded almost impossible in your head. How could he be single?

Joel was completely oblivious to a whirlwind of thoughts inside your mind and kept talking,

“Well… there’s also my younger brother, Tommy. She’s staying with him now. Frankly, I’m not sure who’s looking after who,” he chuckled, shaking his head.

You laughed, maybe a little too loudly and too happily, but it was hard to keep your emotions contained.

“I'm sure they’ll be fine,” you assured him.

“Yeah. I call them every day and they haven’t burnt the house down yet — so — it’s great.”

You giggled and Joel seemed to notice your sudden mood uplift. His eyes narrowed as he asked,

“What about you? Husband, boyfriend?”

You bit your lower lip, hiding a smile that would be too revealing of your feelings - his interest flattered you greatly.

“No, none of those.”

Joel hummed and unlike you, didn’t hide his smile.

Your eyes connected and something electric appeared between you two. It started hard to breathe and the tingling warmth spread all over your body. Joel’s gaze slid from your eyes to your lips and you took a sharp breath, scared of the strength of your feelings. Panicking, you blurted out the first thing that came to your mind,

“Where are you from?”

As if having forgotten where he was, Joel looked around the hotel room and cleared his throat before replying,

“Austin, Texas.”

You felt flustered by the moment you two had shared, your legs felt like they were made of cotton.

Joel noticed you shifting on your feet and offered you to sit down. You chose to take a chair at his desk, as sitting next to him on the bed could be inappropriate.

“Are you on business here?” you asked, trying not to think about the last time you had seen him on that bed.

“That’s right, ma’am,” Joel bowed his head with a smile and the gesture made your heart flutter. “Tommy and I are starting our own company,” he continued. “Contracting. Very small for now. There's a big expo here this week so we thought it’d be useful to meet people, do some networkin’.” Joel pinched the bridge of his nose and gruffed, “if that’s what it’s called. I’m still learning all the business lingo.”

In spite of the visible self-doubt, Joel’s eyes were glinting with excitement when he was talking about their plans. Then he leaned forward, placed his elbows on the knees, and asked,

“What about you? Do you like working here?”

His soft baritone was caressing your ears and sending heat to your core. His piercing eyes set on you weren’t helping either so you took a deep breath to calm down and replied,

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’m saving up to go to a law school. Next year I hope.”

As you were sharing your plans with him, Joel was listening to you attentively, nodding and asking questions from time to time. It was easy to open up to him and the conversation flowed smoothly until you heard someone talk in the hallway and remembered that you were supposed to be working.

“Oh my God, Joel, I’m sorry I need to go.”

You got up, pressing the plushie cat close to your chest, and headed to the door.

“I hope you're not gonna get in trouble because of me,” Joel said, following you. “Some old man lured you into his room…”

You opened the door and walked to your cart, giggling, and then turned to him, smiling widely.

“You’re not old. And you can lure me anywhere anytime.”

Joel scratched his bearded chin, a mischievous smile dancing on his lips.

“Goodbye, Joel,” you purred, and feeling bold, gave him a playful wink.

“See you, sweetheart.”

You felt his eyes on your back and - hopefully - on your ass as you sauntered to another room as gracefully as you could, pushing your cart forward with the cutest plushie cat, sitting on top of it.

***

It was difficult for you to fall asleep that night. You were tossing and turning, hugging the kitty Joel had gifted you and thinking about his smile, his eyes, his hands, his body, his voice. You kept replaying your conversation over and over, your face aching after smiling so much. You were used to the constant tingling between your legs when Joel was on your mind and it wasn’t surprising - he was a handsome man, big and strong, but what stole your sleep that night was the feeling in your stomach. Something warm filled your belly, it was pushing up against your lungs, stealing your breaths away again and again. The sensation was so encapsulating, so pleasant and exciting that you had no doubt what it was. You fell in love with Joel. You fell in love with a guest.

***

The next day you were assigned to a different floor, but your head was full of Joel Miller. You were yawning because of the lack of sleep the previous night and yearning for the culprit of your insomnia. You wondered if he thought about you, too, if he liked you, if he wanted you. An idea to visit him popped into your head but you brushed it off, not wanting to impose and still feeling a little insecure. What if the spark you felt was one sided? What if it all was only in your head?

You were scheduled to work on the sixth floor the next day, so you were looking forward to seeing him soon.

That day everything went wrong. You overslept, probably because you managed to close your eyes only at 4 am, love-induced insomnia to blame again. On top of that, the traffic was horrible, so you missed the morning briefing.

Ms Hewitt looked at you sternly when you came to her office to get your assignments for the day but your genuine apologies and sorry puppy eyes softened her and she gave you all the info you needed.

“Oh, and it’s final cleaning for the 605.”

“What?!” Your heart plummeted into your stomach when you heard the number of the room. Joel’s room.

Trying but absolutely failing to hide your shock you squeaked,

“He—they‘re checking out today?”

“Yes,” Ms Hewitt's puzzled expression told you that the panic in your eyes was evident. She put her hand on your shoulder and asked,

“Are you ok, sweetheart?”

Sweetheart

Sweetheart

Sweetheart

The pet name was ringing in your ears but it sounded like Joel. A scary thought flashed in your mind, ‘Will I ever hear it again?‘

”What time is it?” You exclaimed.

Ms Hewitt’s brows shot up, before she glanced at her watch.

“Ehm. 10:45.”

“Oh god! I need to go— to clean!”

You excused yourself hurriedly and ran to the elevator.

***

A minute later you were at room 605, knocking loudly. No reply. You didn’t stop, remembering Joel’s hearing problem, but there were no heavy footsteps of the man you so foolishly fell in love with. The realization pierced your heart - he was gone, he was gone forever.

Breaking all the rules you opened the door with your card and went inside.

“Joel!” you called, desperation loud in your voice.

He didn’t reply.

It felt empty, lifeless. Just another standard hotel room. The biggest sign that he had even been there was his scent, still lingering in the air.

You took a deep breath of him and tears welled up in your eyes. Your loud sob shuttered the deafening silence.

“Joel,” you mewled helplessly.

There was something on the bed. You walked there and saw a note with your name on it. You lifted it with shaky hands and started reading.

Sweetheart, I hope you’ll get this note. I couldn’t find you but I’d like to thank you for everything. Meeting you was a highlight of my trip. I hope all your dreams come true. And sorry again for the way we met. Joel

On the bed there was also a big tip and a bouquet of red roses.

Your chest swelled with a myriad of different emotions - it was nice of him to leave you a message and the flowers but it was a goodbye. A farewell forever.

A tear fell on the note in your hands. You wiped it off and smudged the writing, leaving a blue streak.

He wrote it not so long ago. What if you could still catch him?

You dropped the note and ran out of the room. Pressing the elevator button several times with a rushed hand, wiping your tears with the other, you were praying to all the gods to let you see him at least one more time, to hear his husky voice, to feel his warm eyes on you.

Joel—Joel—Joel

His name was booming in your head and your heart on your way downstairs.

On the first floor, not wanting to alarm the guests and other personnel, you walked fast to the reception.

“Birtie, hi, could you tell me when Joel Miller checked out? Please,” you asked the receptionist who furrowed his brows at you, having noticed your teary eyes.

You didn’t care about his concern, your gaze was glued to the entrance. Through the glass door you saw him.

Joel was standing outside, his back to you, his suitcase at his feet.

“Is everything ok?” You barely heard Bertie, your heart was making somersaults in your chest. He’s still here!

You took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but a wide smile wouldn’t leave your face as you hurried to your most precious guest.

***

“Joel?” you called softly, standing behind him.

He turned to you and his face lit up. All of a sudden he hugged you and you stopped breathing altogether. Feeling his body so close to yours made your head spin. To your dismay, Joel pulled away in a moment and took a step back.

“Fuck. Sorry. I thought you weren’t here today. But you’re and … I’m glad to see you.”

“I’m happy to see you, too,” you smiled at Joel, still feeling his strong arms around you. “I’ve just found your note and came here to say goodbye and— .”

“Yes?” Joel’s puppy eyes were darting between yours as you paused with your mouth open.

What now? Are you going to shake his hand and let him disappear from your life? The thought made you feel sick.

“There’s a problem. With your room. I’m afraid you have to go back up with me.”

Joel furrowed his brows, looking confused.

“What problem?”

Yeah, what problem?

“Ehm.. Can we talk in your room, sir?”

You added ’sir‘ to sound more formal so he wouldn’t think that you were making shit up.

“Of course. No problem. I have lots of time.”

Joel grabbed his suitcase and followed you inside.

You felt Bertie’s eyes on you as you were walking past the reception with the guest who had already checked out but you didn’t care.

When you stepped into the elevator, Joel turned to you.

“What’s wrong with the room, sweetheart? Tell me you didn’t get in trouble because of my note or the roses.”

“Oh, no,” you replied, nervously fumbling with your sleeve. “It’s— ehm—-it’s the hangers. Some are missing.”

“The hangers?”

“Yep.” You averted your eyes, feeling your heart in your throat. You could feel Joel’s confusion. Then you heard a low chuckle. Was he laughing at your stupid lie? You wouldn’t blame him.

“I didn’t steal the hangers, sweetheart,” he snickered, as you were walking to the room. “I promise.”

You felt bad about lying, but when you glanced at his smiley face, you couldn’t help but giggle along. Your excuse was ridiculous, but it was the first thing that came to your mind and, what was more important, it worked.

You opened the door and Joel and you entered the room. The room where you met. The room where you saw more than you were supposed to. Felt more than you were supposed to.

Joel left the suitcase at the door, followed you to the living area and stopped a few steps from you, as always giving you personal space. You didn’t want that space now. A few minutes ago you’d thought that you had lost him forever so you took a step closer to him, basking in the warmth his smile was giving you, his honey eyes mesmerizing you.

Joel followed your lead and inched closer, too. Now one tiny step was separating you two. He lowered his voice and asked, almost whispering,

“It’s not about the hangers, is it?”

You looked down at your hands and shook your head, nerves, excitement, love churning your stomach. You opened your mouth to talk but didn’t find any words. Why have you brought him here? What do you want? What do you want?

The answer to that question came like a flash. You were seeing it clearly then, fears and worries pushed into the corners of your mind, only your desire in the spotlight.

You took the final step towards him and pressed your lips to his. It was a soft little peck, timid and fleeting, but the feel of him flush to you, his warm lips, his heady scent drew you to kiss him again. Joel didn’t pull back but instead put his hands on your waist. His touch was gentle, careful but it set your whole body on fire. Feeling overwhelmed you broke the kiss and looked into his eyes.

You had just kissed Joel Miller. Your brain switched off completely as you were ogling his handsome face up close, his hot breath fanning your lips, the heat of his body seeping through your clothes.

“I wanted to say ‘goodbye’,” you lied, looking into Joel’s darkening eyes. You’d never want to say goodbye to that man.

“Do all the guests get a goodbye like that from you?” he asked as his lips curled into a smile.

You dropped your head and whispered ‘no’. Joel’s chest rose and fell heavily and his sigh tickled your nose.

“Am I special then?”

A shiver ran down your spine when you heard his question. You looked him right in the eye and your voice didn’t waver when you replied,

“Yes.”

Your boldness seemed to touch him deeply, his face lit up as if he’d just gotten the best compliment in his life. His reaction warmed your heart but your eyes still were puffy from the tears, the pain was still fresh in your chest.

“I was afraid you’d left forever. Thank you for the note but, frankly, I hoped you’d leave your number,” you said, sadness coating your words. Joel sighed again and his puppy eyes made your heart flutter.

“I did. In the first note. But then I threw it in the trash.”

“Why?” you mumbled, blinking at him in confusion.

Joel inched closer and took your face into his big warm hands.

“Because you’re young and beautiful,” he whispered, leaning down, and planted a soft kiss on your cheek.

“You have your whole life ahead of you.” – he kissed the corner of your eye,

“I’m a single dad.” — He kissed your nose, your other cheek, until his lips grazed yours for a fleeting moment.

Then he pulled away, his eyes glossy.

“And I live in another state. I didn’t have a right to leave you my number.”

Joel was still holding your face and it was heavenly but his words squeezed your throat with a tight grip.

“Why are you kissing me then?” you murmured, searching for the answer in his sparkling eyes.

Joel sighed again and croaked,

“’cause I can’t help it.”

That was when he kissed you. If your first kiss was like a soft breeze, a gentle caress to the skin, his was like an ocean, heady, overwhelming, you both drowning in it in seconds.

Joel’s arms bound you to him, your bodies flush against each other, and when he licked into your mouth, the taste of him made you dizzy, the ache between your legs grew and you bucked your hips against his thigh.

Joel growled, feeling your need, and your wet arousal leaked into your panties when you heard that he craved you, too. You broke the kiss and panted,

“When’s your flight?”

“In six hours.” Joel’s blown out eyes were darting between yours as he offered, “Can I spend this time with you?”

“Yes,” you replied immediately, having never been more sure about anything in your life.

Joel was beaming at you, his grin wide and happy. His hands were running up and down your arms as he mused,

“We can have a walk. Or we can stay here. What do you prefer?”

You dropped your head, contemplating your answer, and in a second you knew exactly what you wanted to do. You had about three hours to spend with the man of your dreams and you decided to use them to the fullest. There was no time to be shy.

“Can we stay here?” you asked quietly and Joel eagerly nodded.

“Yeah, sure, sweetheart. I’ll call the reception, see if I can have this room for today. Ok?”

“Yes! If it’s not booked, it shouldn't be a problem.”

Your belly was full of butterflies, your core was on fire, and it was hard to think straight, but suddenly you remembered that you had work to do.

While Joel was talking to Bertie, you pulled your phone out of your dress pocket and quickly texted Max.

Need to leave. Cover for me pls. I’ll explain later.

She sent you back an ‘ok’ just as Joel hung up.

Judging by his wide smile, the room was available.

“We can stay here.” He took your hand in his and you whispered a breathy ‘good’, already under the spell of his dark eyes.

He pulled you into his embrace and kissed you. His lips were moving gently against yours until they travelled lower to your neck, his moustache and beard deliciously tickling your skin. The sensation was intoxicating, your whole body was buzzing, craving him, your heart was beating fast.

You couldn’t wait any longer, your poor pussy was crying and begging for him, so you took his hand and led him to the bed.

“Thank you for the roses,” you purred, looking at the flowers, their crimson colour a bright contrast to the whiteness of the sheets. “They’re very beautiful.”

Joel barely glanced at the bouquet, he had eyes only for you.

“You’re beautiful, baby.”

***

A few kisses later you were making out, sitting on the edge of the bed, you’re on Joel’s lap, straddling his thighs, your arms wrapped around his thick neck. Joel’s hand was gently cupping the back of your head, the other, pressed to your lower back, keeping you close. You were softly whimpering into his mouth, your tongues tangled in a passionate dance.

“Ahh, Joel,” you moaned and began grinding your burning pussy against the big bulge in his jeans. Timidly at first, but the growing desire gave you courage to take what you wanted.

“I’m here,” Joel breathed out. “My needy girl.”

He broke the kiss and dropped his head down to watch your hips move, the hem of your uniform dress inching higher, exposing more and more of your tights-covered thighs.

“I need you too, sweetheart,” he confessed but then his hands left your hips and flew up to your face. He searched for your eyes and asked,

“You sure you want this? We can just kiss, baby. You don’t have to—“

“No, please, I want you,” you panted, surprising even yourself. You weren’t hiding your feelings anymore, you were begging him to give you more, to put down the fire burning you on the inside.

“Ok,” he nodded, his lips in a lopsided smile. “I needed to make sure.”

“I’ve never done this,” you mumbled, nervously chewing your lower lip. “Never been with a guest— like this.”

Joel brought his hand to your mouth and glided his thumb over your lip to stop you from hurting yourself.

“Me too, sweetheart. Never got a hotel room to —. He paused and you noticed a light blush painting his cheeks. Joel ran his hands down your neck and traced your neckline with his knuckles, lightly grazing your skin and sending chills down your spine.

“Can I undress you, baby?”

His voice was low and raspy, gorgeous and alluring, and you swallowed a moan when you heard his question. You replied with a sultry ‘yes’ and got off his lap.

Joel’s hands were gentle and slow. Standing behind you he unzipped your dress on your back, pulled it off your shoulders and helped you to step out of it. He slid the tights down and off your legs.

His fingers were gliding up and down your arms, his breath fanning your shoulder before he pressed his lips to the crease of your neck. You moaned, melting in his arms, turning into a puddle when his hand slid down your neck to your chest. You looked down and just then remembered what you were wearing that day- a simple flowery bra and unmatching black panties.

“Shit—,” you mumbled, your cheeks heating up. “Wish I was wearing something sexy. Lace or something…”

Your voice was small, your head downcast. Joel walked around you, took your chin between his fingers and gently lifted your face. A pair of dark-as-night eyes met you, there was a bright fire in them, a desire that echoed deeply in your own body.

”I don’t want ‘lacy’. I want you.”

He cupped your covered breast with his big hand and began kneading it. Even through the padding the sensation sent lightning of pleasure to your core, and you moaned shamelessly watching him caress your other breast.

Then his hands snaked behind you.

“Can I…?”

You uttered a needy ‘yeah’ and Joel unclasped your bra, letting it fall on the floor.

“Fuck,” he cursed under his breath, looking at your naked breasts, and you smiled, taking it as a compliment. ”You’re gorgeous.”

You were standing in front of him topless while he was still dressed. It was turning you on but you couldn’t wait to see him naked. Again.

“My turn,” you purred and grabbed the hem of his tee. You took it off him and ogled his golden skin, his toned shoulders, his muscular arms and a happy train on his soft tummy. Your hand impatiently flew to feel his broad chest, but having dreamed of it all week, you feared that he would disappear like a mirage.

“Joel,” you whispered his name like a spell, binding him to you at that moment, making it real in your mind, you and him there, exposed to each other, needing each other desperately, ready to dive into something beautiful and exciting.

You pressed your thighs together and a lustful shiver ran down your spine.

“C’mere, baby.” Joel probably thought that you were cold and caged you in his warm embrace. Your nose found its home in the crease of his neck, your heart close to his heart, your arms around his torso. It felt like his body was meant for you- to bring you comfort, to warm you up, to caress you, to make love to you.

You kissed his collar bone and Joel pressed his lips to the top of your head.

You two stood like that for a few moments, simply relishing the feel of each other's skin, sharing warmth of your bodies.

Then Joel’s hand slowly slithered down your back, covering your skin with a new set of goosebumps, and cupped your asscheek. He squeezed it gently and you moaned.

“Get on the bed, baby.”

He knew what you wanted, there was no uncertainty in his words, it sounded like a command, and you were happy to follow it.

You put the roses on the nightstand and climbed onto the soft bed. Your back against the pillows, you were watching Joel discard his jeans.

When he was only in his boxers, your jaw involuntarily dropped at the sight of his huge bulge. Apparently your memory wasn’t kind to him, because in your mind his cock was smaller. In reality he was hung like a god, and as handsome as one. A part of you got scared that he would split you in two, but the heady mixture of desire and love erased any doubts in your heart and head. You desperately needed him. Starved to have him inside you.

Joel lay down next to you and dived into your arms right away. As you were kissing, his hands were exploring your body, caressing your soft skin, gently squeezing your breasts, twitching your hardened nipples. You were hungrily feeling him too— with a soft drag of your nails down his arms and his back, with your fingers running through his silky curls. Your legs intertwined, you began rubbing your covered pussy against his hairy thigh.

“Joel— please,” you begged and with a fast hand he pulled your panties down. Now he could see all of you and you’d have probably got shy, but Joel’s eyes full of hunger and need, gave you the courage to throw your legs apart, to invite him to the most sacred place of your body.

”Jesus, sweetheart, you’re so wet,” Joel growled as his fingers were tracing your slicked up seam before pushing inside. With the pads of his two digits he drew a circle around your clit and you almost came, shuddering against the crispy sheets and his body. Joel noticed your reaction.

“Been needing it for some time, baby?”

“Yes, Joel, since the moment I saw you. Here, on this bed.”

You paused, scared that the memory of the incident would embarrass him, but Joel smirked, brought his lips to your ear and whispered,

“Did you like what you saw?”

You opened your mouth to reply but Joel made you gasp, when he slowly inserted his middle finger into your soft hole. He began thrusting it in and out, and you quickly turned into a moaning, dripping mess.

“I take it as a ’yes’”. His voice was strained with lust as his lips brushed against your cheek. “Did you think about me after that? About my hard cock?”

His soft husky voice, his words, his finger caressing something delicious inside you - everything at once was overwhelming and your eyes fluttered shut, your mind begging for any respite.

“Yeah, Joel, so— so much,” you slurred, unable to speak clearly.

“That’s my girl.”

Joel lightly nibbled on your earlobe, a satisfied growl rumbling in his chest, and then added another finger to penetrate your sopping heat.

Your moan was loud and shameless and Joel echoed you with a groan. His lips drew a path from your cheek, down your neck and soon he kissed your pebbled nipple. Your hand flew to his curls, legs opened up wider and your eyes rolled back, when he began sucking on your bud, while his fingers were opening your cunt up for his thick cock. Joel hummed at the taste of your skin and his low grunts made your pussy drool more around his digits. He parted from your tit and asked, breathing heavily with arousal,

“Tell me what you wanted me to do to you. When you thought about me, baby.”

“Wanted you —to fuck me.”

“Oh, baby. I thought about you, too. Fuck.. non stop, all these days.”

“Really?“ You panted, searching for his eyes.

“Yes, sweetheart. I thought— what if you’d stayed— would you wanna watch me?”

You bit your lip and purred,

“I would.”

Joel licked his smiling lips, his eyes blown out, and gave you a wink before saying,

“Anything for you, sweetheart.”.

Carefully, so as not to hurt your pussy with his fingers, he sat up and kneeled next to you on the bed, then using his free hand, the hand that wasn’t fucking you, he pulled down his boxers and let his stiff cock spring free. It was as gorgeous as you remembered, thick and long, curved up at the top, glistening in the sunlight, leaking rivers of precum.

“Now you can watch, sweetheart,” Joel groaned, wrapping his palm around his member with a sigh and beginning to jerk it.

You were watching him fuck his fist, while his fingers were fingering your wet pussy, until your plea interrupted your moaning.

“Can I do it? Please.”

“Yes, baby.”

Joel let go off his cock and your little hand immediately replaced his. You could barely circle your fingers around his girth but you applied all of yourself and began pumping his fat cock. Joel’s grunts were making your head spin. His pleasure was giving yours an ecstatic, exquisite, divine taste. You were revelling in the feeling of bringing ecstasy to him, your hand pulling up and down the soft skin stretched over the hot steel of his cock.

“Joel…what else did you think about? Tell me,” you moaned, tilting your hips up to give him more access to your crying pussy. His fingers were curling inside you and an upcoming climax overshadowed your shiness.

”Everyday I dreamed about pulling you close and kissing you, baby.”

“Just kissing?” you teased.

“Hngg, ‘course not. Wanted to tear your cute dress off, throw you on the bed and lick your little pussy.”

“Oh my god, Joel.”

“Then fuck you on every surface in here.”

His confession drew a needy whine out of your mouth and you began squeezing his fingers with your pulsating cunt. A hard orgasm was shaking your body, your pussy bursting with pleasure and wetness against his hand. You stopped jerking Joel off and just held his cock in your hand, too focused on the waves of euphoria rippling through you.

“Yeah, like that, baby,” Joel growled, watching you explode on his fingers. “Couldn’t stop thinking about you. So sweet and beautiful. I’d give anything to bounce you on my cock, to kiss your pretty tits.”

His mouth latched onto your breast, his tongue swirling around your nipple, his fingers were still massaging your g-spot, prolonging your orgasm.

When you relaxed and your hand fell off his cock onto the bed, Joel carefully pulled his drenched fingers out of your stretched hole.

“C’mere, sweetheart,” he whispered, taking you in his arms, and kissed you again, slowly and sensually, letting you rest in the warm ocean of his caress.

You were in heaven. Basking in the afterglow of the climax, relishing Joel’s embrace and his soft kisses, you couldn’t be happier.

He pulled away and looked into your hazy eyes.

“You ok?”

“Yes,” you murmured with a smile, tracing his handsome features with your gaze, mesmerized by him once again. Then you averted your eyes and bit your lip.

“What is it, baby?” Joel furrowed his brows and you heard a trace of worry in his tone.

You cupped his cheek and he melted against your touch.

“I want more, Joel. I need you inside me.”

Joel’s body shuddered at your words, his cock twitched, and you had no doubt that he desperately wanted it, too.

“I’ll give you anything you want, sweetheart. But— I don’t have condoms. Do you?”

You shook your head and hid your face in his neck, too shy to look at him, as you whispered.

“Can we do it without them? I’m clean, I promise.”

Joel stroked your head and kissed your temple.

“Me too, I haven’t had—, " he cleared his throat and continued, “had anyone for a while.”

“Ok.” You smiled, raising your eyes at him.

“Ok,” he echoed you.

***

You sat up and carefully straddled Joel’s thick thighs. His cock was engorged, crying and ready for you. But were you ready for it?

You swallowed loudly, fear noticeable in your expression, and Joel rubbed your thighs with his palms.

“We’ll go slowly, sweetheart. And.. if you’re not ready — I can kiss your pretty pussy instead.”

His words made you gush more, your head spun at the image of Joel’s lips on your cunt, but you shook your head with determination.

“No. I want you— want you to bounce me on your cock,” you quoted him with a timid smile and Joel half chuckled-half groaned. His cock twitched and you saw a drop of prefuck juice bead on the reddish slit.

“Baby, if you keep talking like this… I’m afraid I’ll come too soon.“

You playfully bit your lower lip, his words giving you much needed confidence. You felt desired, sexy and beautiful.

You got up on your knees and moved forward until you were hovering over his cock. It brushed against your folds and you impatiently gripped it at the base and glided his tip over your seam, before teasing your puffy clit with the bulbous head.

Your lustful whimper rang loudly in the room, fusing with Joel’s moan. Your palm planted on his hairy chest, you slid his tip down, and when it notched the source of your wetness, you began lowering your hips, slowly sinking on it. The sounds you both were making seemed like an epitome of pleasure, a beautiful melody of two bodies becoming one. They weren’t lewd, they were pure and sincere.

You seemed to lose an ability to talk or think, your whole being was overtaken by the feeling of Joel filling your core. The stretch sent shivers down your spine, but the dull pain got overshadowed by the bliss in your body. Joel’s palm was gripping your hip when the other slid up from your lower belly to your sternum, then to your chest until he surely could feel your heart, beating loudly in unison with your pussy, that was hungrily swallowing his length.

”Oh, baby, oh, yes,” was everything that Joel could muster when you took all of him. His eyes were dark with desire but the affection and warmth within them pulled you to him. You leaned down, lay down on his chest, uniting your heartbeats, and your lips met. Your eager tongues tangled with passion, your fingers ran through his curls, damp with sweat, his palms were exploring your body.

When Joel squeezed your asscheeks and gently lifted your hips up, you mewled, realizing what he wanted. Making out with him, you began slowly moving your hips up and down, your walls massaging his shaft, your mouth drinking his growls, that inevitably turned into moans. You smiled against his lips, happy to be giving Joel so much pleasure, but also getting an immense amount of it as well.

No one had ever made you feel so sexy in your life and the elation in your heart gave you the courage to break the kiss and sit up proudly on Joel’s cock, letting him see all of you again. With his mouth slightly open Joel looked completely drunk on you. His gaze slid over your body and he panted,

”Look at you, baby. Wish you could ride me like that every day till I die.”

You smiled and took his hand, that was kneading your breast, and kissed his palm. The next moment Joel sat up and you moaned at the position shift, feeling his cock even deeper inside you like that. He cupped the back of your head, and holding you close, kissed you hard. Your legs wrapped around his hips and you stilled, pierced by his member, melting in his arms.

His cock was thumping in your heat, your pussy was crying more and more around it, begging for a release.

“Joel,” you whined and, as if having read your mind, he grabbed your asscheeks in his strong hands and started lifting you up and down on his cock, moving your body easily, bringing you both closer to your peaks.

Your sensitive clit was deliciously rubbing against Joel’s hairy lower belly and soon you felt heat rise in your tightening core and your pussy started fluttering around Joel’s length.

“I’m coming,” you mewled and dug your nails into his broad shoulders, grounding yourself to him.

“That’s my girl,” Joel praised you, his eyes focused on your face, and then groaned through his teeth,

“Gonna come, too. Where d’you want me, baby?”

“Inside, please,” you begged, still trembling with the second orgasm.

“Yeah?” Joel grunted, “wanna be full of my hot cum?”

“Yes—yes—yes,” you chanted, bouncing on his cock, prolonging your pleasure.

“Yeah, sweetheart, I want it, too. Want your pussy wet with me for days.”

Pushed over the edge by the image and your walls gripping his member, Joel roared and began filling you up. You greedily milked him of every drop, pressing your body to his, burying your nose in his neck, relishing the scent of his heated skin.

Joel was jerking with every squirt of his load, holding you so tight that it was hard to breathe, but you’d have rather suffocated than left his arms at that moment.

***

“Thank you,” Joel murmured as you two were lying covered by the white sheets, face to face. Your legs were tangled, arms wrapped around each other, your nose against his neck. When you heard his soft voice, you raised your eyes at him.

“What for?”

“For being here with me. For letting me kiss you, touch you…”

His fingers glided over your arm and your skin erupted with goosebumps.

“You’ve done more than touching, sir,” you smirked and he groaned, pushing you over and pinning you to the bed with his body.

”Keep calling me ‘sir‘ and I’ll do it all again.“

“Promise?” you purred, feeling helpless, caged between the bed and his broad torso and your clit twitched again.

“Bad girl.”

Joel’s words reignited fire in your belly, but you felt like behind the playful banter there was something else that he wanted to tell you.

You cupped his cheek, your eyes darting between his, and whispered,

“I’m happy to be here with you.”

Joel sighed with a smile and leaned in to kiss you gently. Then he pressed his forehead to yours, his hot breath kissing your lips.

“What I wrote— in the note. You being the highlight of my trip— I meant it.”

A happy smile shone on your face, when you heard sincerity in his voice, warmth spreading inside your body. Joel lay down next to you and continued, his arm wrapped around your waist.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you all these days— wanted you the moment I saw you but that’s not all. You’ve been so kind to me. So sweet. I haven’t felt cared for like that in a long time.”

“I was simply doing my job,” you uttered, drawing patterns on his hairy forearm.

“No, I mean, yes, but — every time I thought of you, I felt something — “

He paused, searching for words. You felt emotions in his voice and you took his hand and pressed it to your lips before whispering,

“I know, Joel. I felt it too.”

”Oh, baby,” Joel pulled you into his chest and you pecked his lips before your eyes locked and you said everything to each other without words, your hearts speaking for you. His warm gaze glossed over and your vision got blurry with your own feelings.

“Joel,” you mumbled, opening your eyes. You woke up from a wonderful dream, where you fell for a handsome guest, who later kissed you, made you see the brightest stars with his lips, his fingers and his cock, and then you fell asleep, cuddling with him.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a dream.

“I’m right here,“ you heard a soft baritone of the man next to you. You wrapped your arms around Joel and he gave you a gentle kiss.

“Had a bad dream, sweetheart?”

A tsunami of emotions flooded your heart - excitement, affection, joy stole your breath away. He was really there. He was really yours. At least for now.

“No,” you croaked, sleep heavy in your voice. “It was the best dream.” You crashed your lips against his, hunger for his caress waking up with you, but a sudden memory flashed in your mind - you had been given just a few hours to be together.

“How long have I been asleep?” Panic was loud in your voice.

“About an hour.”

“Oh no! You should’ve woken me up. We don’t have much time.”

Joel hugged you tightly.

“Shh, we have time, baby. You were sleeping like a little kitten next to me. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to stare at you like a creep.” You two laughed, your nerves seeping you out of your heart.

Joel kissed you and then began leaving open-mouth kisses over your neck, your exposed breasts and a few moments later you were dripping your juices onto the white sheets while he was licking and sucking on your sensitive nipples.

“Sweet thing,” he mumbled against your tits. “Can I have a real treat now?”

“What?” you slurred, already drunk on him.

“You pussy, baby, can I taste her?”

“Oh,” you moaned and nodded with a timid smile.

You had never been eaten out that well before. Joel’s hands were pinning your hips to the bed, holding you open for him as he was feasting on your blooming flower, his hot tongue lapping at your folds and your clit tirelessly. His mouth was gentle but he gave you enough pressure to make your pussy pulsate and explode on his tongue in a few minutes.

You were practically crying with euphoria when he climbed up the bed to let you lick your own nectar off his lips.

***

The rest of the time together you spent naked in bed, talking, laughing, eating the food you ordered to the room, kissing and cuddling. At the back of your mind you kept thinking about how lucky you were - to have met someone you clicked with spiritually, sexually and emotionally. There was no doubt in your heart that Joel was your person and he looked at you like you were his.

Inevitably the precious time ran out and Joel needed to leave for the airport. It took everything from you not to burst into tears, when you imagined saying ’goodbye’ to him, but the day you had shared, the pleasure he had given you, eased the pain in your soul.

When you two were talking and sharing your past, Joel kept mentioning your future. Your future together. He promised to introduce you to Tommy and Sarah, to take you to his favourite places in Austin, and in your dreams you saw yourself forever by his side, getting to hug and kiss him every single day for the rest of your life. It seemed like the most amazing fairy tale, and although you knew by now that life was far from perfect, his enamoured eyes, his gentle hands, his kind words gave you strength to let him go, because your heart was full of hope.

***

You covertly changed out of your uniform in the staff room and sneaked out of the hotel to take Joel to the airport in your car.

When you two arrived, you couldn’t hold your tears back anymore. Joel gently wiped them away with his thumbs but his own eyes were glossy and reddish.

“I’ll call you as soon as I land, sweetheart,” he promised, holding your face in his warm hands, then wrapped his arms around you and kissed you like no one else before, passionately, sensually, claiming you as his, and you stored the memory of his body against yours deep inside your mind.

Many phone and video calls later

The next time you saw Joel again, not on the screen of your phone or your laptop, not in your dreams or fantasies, but in person, in real life, was at the airport as well. Now in Texas.

You spotted Joel first. His honey eyes were searching for you in a sea of people, his expression serious and concentrated. You wanted to run and kiss that deep crease between his brows, wanted to drop your bags and scream with happiness, but then you saw what he had in his hands and your eyes welled up with tears.

He was holding a sign with your name on it. It was sweet, but what made you cry were glittery hearts and flowers, decorating it. Joel definitely wasn’t the type to use glitter and draw pretty hearts and you realized right away. that they were made by Sarah’s hand.

***

Joel introduced you to Sarah a week after he’d flown back to Austin. You fell in love with his daughter right away, she was a lively and funny girl, excellent at trolling her dad, the talent of hers which always made you giggle.

Quickly she became a usual participant of your daily video calls with Joel. You never minded it, falling deeper in love with Joel, when you witnessed what a great father he was. Sarah often told you about her day, asked about yours, and when she shared only with you who she liked at school, you were touched by her trust. Soon you three had breakfasts and dinners together, Joel and Sarah joining you on the screen of your laptop, and it felt like you were a little family.

At night when Sarah was asleep in her bedroom, Joel and you had other types of calls. You quickly realized that the man was a menace. He loved making you needy and desperate with his husky voice whispering filth into your ear. He would tell you in great detail how exactly he would fuck you if he was there in your bedroom. Like a good girl you would be spread for him on the bed, your legs open widely, your fingers thrusting in and out of your sopping hole. You whispered his name again and again, your hazy eyes glued to the screen, where Joel was stroking himself, deep in the pit of desire just like you.

You lost count how many times he came watching you fuck yourself, how many times you unraveled in front of his hungry eyes. It was enough for you two. For the time being.

But your feelings grew and soon you felt like you were suffocating without being able to touch him, kiss him. Joel tentatively asked if you wanted to visit them in Austin and you happily agreed. One night you two were planning your trip, when Joel admitted. that he didn’t want you just to visit.

“Sweetheart... what if we lived together?”

“It would be amazing,” you sighed, smiling at him through your phone screen.

“So why don’t we?”

You were staring at him in disbelief for a few seconds, your heart in your throat, before you asked,

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Joel replied and added, ”I love you, baby.”

His watery eyes told you that he wasn’t joking.

“I love you, too, Joel. So much,” you mumbled, already sobbing with happy tears.

***

It took you a month to quit your housekeeping job, sell the things you didn’t need anymore, pack the stuff you did, say ‘goodbye’ to your friends and family and take a big step towards your future. Future with the man you loved, the man who loved you.

***

Not being able to contain your excitement any longer, you dropped your baggage and ran to Joel, waiting for you at the airport. You were quietly squealing, trying not to alert the people around you, but when Joel noticed you and his face lit up with a widest grin, you finally screamed. He opened his big arms to you and you dived into his warm embrace. Your lips met in a fiery, long awaited kiss, and you didn’t care that people were staring at you two, making out like two horny teenagers, holding each other close. Joel was yours and you were his. Once your guest, now he was your home.

Thank you for reading! Please comment and reblog if you enjoyed the fic! Your feedback means the world💞

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