#Audi's an absolute sweetheart

[shiftgear-engineer]

Since you guys liked my last concepts I went digging for a very old one for one of my oldest permanent patients, an Audino I've started calling "Audi".

At the time she was "#23001". Walked right in the front door and knew how to navigate a human home, as well as use human furniture and appliances. I have a theory she was released (or rather abandoned) by a previous trainer once her heart condition began to make itself evident.

Now she's like my assistant and helps me with other patients by communicating how they feel to me during treatment. She just needs to keep a heart monitor on so I can keep an eye out for any emergencies.

[intoanotherworld23]

Fighting Fire With Fire

Pairing: Female reader x Javier Pena x Steve Murphy

Warnings: NSFW 18+ ONLY DNI, holy moly this whole thing needs to have a bible thrown at it major smut and sex, use of handcuffs, bondage, oral male and female receiving, p in v, unprotected sex, p in a, threesome, mild spanking, swear words, overstimulation

Summary: Wanting to give them a taste of their own medicine you have the bright idea to ignore Javier and Steve all day, but it ends with you getting punished

Check out my other works on my Hall Of Hunks

As soon as you saw the black Audi pull up the driveway your stomach dropped. You knew you were in serious trouble, but also for a world of absolute pleasure. Utter excitement coursing through your body at what they were going to do with you.

You had been ignoring Javier and Steve all day, and it was all on purpose. It was hard to do, but you stayed motivated in your plan.

They had been ignorning you all week, and you just wanted to give them a taste of their own medicine. Granted it was work things, but still you felt they still should make time for you.

Granted it wasn't their fault cause they were busy with interviews for their movie, but you still wanted to feel wanted. Ignoring their texts and calls. They clearly didn't appreciate it based on the tone of the messages.

Javier: sweetheart you know we don't like being ignored.

Steve: darling answer your phone. You know we are very busy

Steve: don't make us come home Javier is getting very worried

Steve: this is your last warning sweetheart.

Their words had you feeling all giddy inside knowing you were getting to them. You were fighting fire with fire, but weren't prepared for how big the flames were about to get. You were just desperate to feel their touches.

They were very protective of you so when you decided to not respond it worried them. Taking your safety seriously, so they grabbed their things, and started heading to you no questions asked.

People still didn't understand your relationship with the two movie stars. Everywhere you three went people looked at you, and clear judgement on their faces. Doing your best to ignore them, and remembering that both men loved you.

The door being barged open and seeing Javier’s and Steve’s stern yet lustful gazes had you feeling nervous. A part of you was starting to rethink why you acted the way you did. Javier was the first one to step forward.

"You've been very naughty sweetheart." Javier growled as he crossed his arms across his chest.

Steve stood behind him as his eyes raked up and down your body. His once light eyes now darkened with lust. You were wearing just a shirt barely covering your butt and some lace panties.

"Ignoring us like that isn't very nice. You know what has to happen now." Steve spoke up as he walked forward as well even closer then Javier.

"I'm sorry." You whispered and they just both smirked at you.

Steve was the sympathetic and caring when it came to punishment. Not wanting to push you past your limit. Constantly watching your body language to make sure he wasn’t hurting you.

Whereas Javier was more dominant and loved to punish you and hear you beg. If you didn’t end up shaking with pleasure with tears coming down your cheeks then he wasn’t done.

They were different but they even each other out so they didn't break you completely. Plus the aftercare made it all worth it.

"You're gonna be sorry baby." Both men had these dark looks in their eyes, and it almost scared you. You were definitely turned on more though.

You felt like a helpless animal being cornered by two ravenous beasts. Looking at both of them waiting for them to make their move. Steve and Javier looked to each other before they moved.

Next thing you know Javier and Steve are on you. Javier grabbing your hands and pinning them above your head. Steve went into the drawer, and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Before you could even protest he had them clasped around your wrists.

Tugging on the cuffs thinking for some reason you could slip out of them. They just chuckled at your weak attempt of getting yourself out of this. Your panties were soaked at this point and it wouldn't take long for them to figure it out.

"What should we do with her first?" Javier looked over at Steve and they just looked at your figure lying there awaiting your punishment.

"I think we need to get a taste of that pussy first." His words had your thighs clenching together.

They knew you loved being eaten out, but this wasn't going to be for your pleasure. It was all for them, and they weren't going to give you what you wanted.

Both men grabbed an ankle and peppered your thighs with sloppy kisses. Looking down watching as their mouth inched closer to your drenched panties. Your breathing had increased as they reached the hem of your panties.

Their lingering kisses had your legs trembling with need. Each leg was being showered with sensual kisses and touches having you mewl like a cat in heat. You probably looked so desperate, but right now you didn't care.

"These need to go." Javier grabbed the sides and pulled them down your legs tossing them to the side.

"She's already soaked." Steve noted looking between your legs your arousal already leaking out of your folds.

The cold breeze hitting your pussy making you whimper. They both went back to kissing around your core, but not kissing where you wanted them to. It was frustrating you but you didn’t want to push it, and then not give you what you want.

They wanted to hear you beg for it. It was all a game to them, and you had to play along with them. You finally snapped when their lips touched just right beside your folds.

"God please. Please Javi. Please Stevie eat my pussy please I'm begging you." You howled tossing your head to the side feeling your cheeks heating up already.

"Did you hear that Javi? Did that sound like begging to you?" Steve’s tone was mocking and Javier just chuckled as they looked up at your writhing body.

"Nope I think our baby girl can do better than that." Javier smirked when he heard your little whimpers.

Between their kisses and sensual touches up and down your legs you felt yourself going crazy. Tugging against the cuffs the cold metal pressing harshly against your skin.

"Fuck please I want both of your tongues on my pussy I want it so badly please. Fuck me with your tongues." You whined bucking your hips upwards hoping they got the hint and would show some mercy.

Without another word Steve pulled your pussy lips apart getting easier access. Licking his lips ready to just devour you whole. Your clit was throbbing being so exposed.

Javier was thrusting his tongue inside you while Steve gave your clit kitten licks. Your mouth hung up as you watched them eat your pussy like starved men. It was the hottest thing you could ever witness, and it was almost hard to believe it was happening to you.

"Oh fuck that feels so good." Biting your lower lip between your teeth and throwing your head back against the pillow.

Javier could feel your walls clenching around his tongue, and decided to add a finger. Steve taking the hint as he sucked your little bundle of nerves hard making you scream out. Your whimpers and moans getting louder.

"Tastes so sweet." Javier mumbled against your folds the vibrations making your back arch off the bed.

Both of their mouths felt so warm against your pussy, your body was melting into the mattress. You didn't know who you wanted more.

Javier was slurping your pussy his hand coming down across your stomach to keep you down. Licking up and down your folds, his beard scratching along your skin. Being so lost in your own pleasure you couldn't tell whose tongue was whose.

"Keep going." You said as your ground your hips against their greedy mouths.

Feeling yourself getting closer to the edge. Pulling against the cuffs desperate to touch them and grip onto their heads.

Just as you felt your orgasm about to hit you it was taken away just as fast. Opening your eyes in confusion you saw them get off the bed. You were so frustrated your pussy was actually starting to ache really badly.

"Bad girls don't get to cum so easily." Javier’s stern tone told you he really wasn't happy with you.

Both men shred their clothing right before your eyes. Their hard cocks slapping against their stomach, and your mouth watered at the sight.

Hands slowly stroking themselves as their eyes looked hungrily in between your legs. Your pussy glistening in the light making them lick their lips.

Wanting nothing more than to wrap your fingers around them. They knew exactly what they were doing, and definitely wanted you to suffer.

"Mouth or cunt?" Scrunching your eyebrows in confusion until you realized that Javier was talking to Steve.

"I want that smart ass little mouth of hers." He walked over to the side of the bed where your head was you were watching his every move.

Javier got on his knees on the bed and gripped your ankles placing your legs in the air. Without any warning he plunged himself deep inside you making you gasp. Steve took that as an opportunity to push his cock inside your mouth.

"Fucking hell always so tight for our cocks." Javier groaned as he wasted no time thrusting in and out of you.

"Such a good girl for us. Always taking us so well." Steve moaned as he pet your head watching your lips moving up and down his shaft.

"This is in the way." Javier gripped your shirt before ripping it straight down the middle. Exposing your breasts to their hungry gazes.

Your breasts bouncing with every thrust. Javier and Steve didn't waste another second before they each grabbed a breast. Pinching your nipples until they were hard buds under their fingertips.

Your skin slapping against Javier’s pelvis echoing around the room, had your entire body on fire. You just wanted nothing more than to feel and touch their skin.

"Such a cock hungry little whore for us. Always so eager for us." Javier’s words had a shiver running up your spine.

Javier and his filthy words could have you wet within seconds. Javier loved dirty talk and he knew you loved it even more. He found it amusing how such simple words or phrases could have you soaked, and begging him for more.

Moving your tongue up and down Steve’s cock bobbing your head up and down. He was lightly thrusting his hips into your mouth so you could take more of him. Gagging around him a little bit of saliva running down your chin.

You didn't know whose cock you wanted to focus on more. The pounding from Javier had your legs shaking, and your back sweating. You wondered if they were going to let you cum this time or continue their torture.

Your pussy squeezing Javier’s cock as you tried adjusting around him. His grip tightening on your ankles as he kept your legs spread for him. Hitting a deeper angle inside of you. Your moans vibrating on Sebastian making him groan.

"Fuck do that again." Javier then snapped his hips sharply making you squeal around Steve’s cock causing him to growl his cock twitching in your mouth.

They were using you like their own little plaything, and you absolutely loved it. Only they could do this to you, and you had no complaints what so ever.

Javier was thrusting into you roughly making your whole body move the bed rocking back and forth. Which was good for Steve cause it was moving your head making your mouth take more of his cock.

The harder Javier fucked you the more you moaned around Steve. You so badly want to turn your head away so you could watch Javier sliding in and out of you. You always liked to watch as the entered you it turned you on tremendously.

Your pussy was completely soaked making it so much easier for Javier to slam in and out of you. Your juices coating Javier’s cock making him groan at how wet you were the sounds echoing across the room.

"I'm gonna cum." Looking up you saw Sebastian with his head thrown back and eyes closed in pure ecstasy.

You sucked him even harder egging him closer to release wanting to swallow every drop of him. Basking in the triumph that you could make either of them feel this way.

"Make him cum like the good girl you are. Make him cum down your throat and I want you to swallow all of him." Javier commanded you as his thrusts were becoming sloppier and slower.

Taking Steve all the way down your throat you felt him twitching in your mouth followed by his warm cum filling your mouth. Doing what you were told your swallowed all of his release while still slowly licking his cock up and down.

"Such a good fucking girl to us."

“You look so fucking good like this cariño.”

He looked down at you lovingly stroking the cheek while Javier continued to fuck you feeling his own release hitting him. Your pussy squeezing him like a vice, and your orgasm once again coming as well.

Javier let your legs fall beside him as his hand gripped your breasts as he squirted his seed inside of you. Both men groaning above you their foreheads covered in sweat.

Once again your release was ripped from you, and it was really starting to hurt you this time. Being so close, and they were denying you of your orgasm as punishment. Judging by their faces they weren’t done with you yet.

"Please I'm sorry I won't ignore you guys again please I just want to cum so badly." You cried out hoping they would finally give in and end this punishment.

Laying their wiggiling your hips in frustration not having been able to cum. Whining loudly your pussy clenching around air both them having been satisfied but not you.

Your noises getting both their attention. Javier leaning over you uncuffing one hand making you think this torture was over. The ache between your legs even more so than it was before.

"Turn her ass over." Javier turned towards Steve who grinned and was more than happy to flip you on your stomach.

Your pussy was so raw right now you didn't know if you were going to be able to take one of their cocks anymore. You were begging for sweet release, but you were so sensitive already.

The hand that was under your body was then moved back to the headboard to only be cuffed again. Groaning in frustration wiggiling your hips making both men growl at your movements. A hand coming down on your ass hard making you squeal.

"Ass or cunt?" This time Steve asked Javier although you knew what he was going to choose

Your pussy clenching around nothing again but just at the thought of them both being inside you. No matter how many times you took them both it was such a thrilling experience, and mind blowing.

"I want that sweet ass of hers." Javier swatted your ass hard a gasp leaving your lips as you felt the sting.

You felt hands lift your hips up so your ass was in the air. Steve maneuvered his way under you aligning his cock right under your once again soaked entrance. Your wrist that was still cuffed was feeling sore.

Slowly pushing himself inside of you making your mouth hang open as you fully lowered yourself down on him. Steve was not as thick as Javier, but he was longer.

"God this pussy is like heaven. Such a tight little cunt." He groaned as he gripped your hips and started thrusting up into you. Your breasts dangling in his face.

Looking into his eyes as he was moving faster, and slamming into your harder. It felt so intimate and passionate. The way his hands moved up and down your back almost in a soothing way. Moving your hips slamming your pussy down on him so you could feel him even deeper.

Just when you were getting comfortable with Steve you fel the bed dip behind you. Javier grabbed your ass cheeks making sure to spread you wide for him. Opening you up for him even more stretching you as wide as you could handle.

Hearing Javier open a bottle squirting the cold liquid onto your asshole, and feeling him spread some on your ass.

"Shhh sweetheart we're gonna take good care of you." Steve whispered soothingly into your ear.

Both men could feel your muscles tensing under their touches. The difficult was about to happen, and they wanted to make sure you were as comfortable as possible.

“That’s it cariño just relax.” Pumping his cock as his other hand rubbed your puckered asshole in a soothing manner.

Your nerves were all over the place as he placed the tip of his cock at your backside. Steve could senses how nervous you were, and lifted his head up so his mouth could latch onto a nipple. Moaning even louder your eyes rolling into the back of your head.

Pushing his cock inch by inch until he was all the way inside of your ass. Javier was squeezing your ass he let you adjust around him. Closing his eyes to concentrate on not cumming already.

Breathing harshly in and out of your nose as you being were filled to the brim. Your mouth biting down on your outstretched arm almost breaking skin with how intense this feeling was.

"Her ass is almost just as tight as her pussy." Javier groaned as he was slowly pushing in and out of you.

"Such a good girl taking our cocks so well. She was made for us." Steve moaned beneath you his lips moved to your neck sucking on the skin surely leaving a mark.

When Javier was pushing in Steve was pulling out, and vice versa. You were completely stuffed and you were loving it. No words were able to leave your mouth only noises. Javier continued to spit absolute filth to you. Your pussy would clench around Steve making him groan.

Once Javier felt you were okay both men nodded to each other before picking up their thrusts. Javier snapping his pelvis against you, while Steve was thrusting up into you. Lifting your body up and down to meet their powerful cocks.

"Holy fuck oh my god. Your cocks feel so good." You cried out loving the feeling of having them both inside of you.

"You just love our cocks don't you sweetheart." Javier spoke with gritted teeth as he looked down watching as your asshole swallowed his cock.

Both men groaning and grunting as they were fucking your body into oblivion. Your hands gripped the rails as you felt the cuff really digging into your skin, but you didn't care. Pushing past the pain, and feeling only the pleasure.

Your entire body was spent and you didn't know how much more you could take. Just letting them do whatever they needed to do hoping you’d get to feel that orgasm.

"I bet she won't ignore us again huh?" Steve joked making Javier grin behind you to look at the other smirking boy before he turned his attention back to your ass.

"Say it." Javier said smacking your ass sharply the sting more intense.

They weren't letting up with their movements making it almost impossible for you to talk right now, but they wanted your words.

"Say it." Javier spoke louder his hand coming down on your ass even harder.

"I won't ignore you guys again. Please I'm sorry please keep going." You begged and whined not even caring how pathetic you looked.

You were being filled wholly and completely, and you could feel Steve all the way up in your stomach. Not being able to understand how you were always able to take them so deeply. Never getting used to the feeling of them both inside you at the same time.

Feeling the pit of you stomach burning you knew you were getting closer. Your whole body was on fire, and your legs were tingling. Just praying and hoping they would let you cum this time. There was no way you would be able to take another round of not getting release.

"Fuck I'm gonna cum in that tight little cunt of yours." His thrusts were getting rougher along with Javier.

Your entire body being sandwiched between the two ravenous men. All three of you covered in sweat rubbing against each other. Their body hair scratching against your skin pricking you.

"Shit me too. Gonna cum in your ass sweetheart. Fill you up." Javier snarled as he smacked your ass a couple of times making both your holes squeeze around them.

Your toes were curling and you closed your eyes as you finally felt your climax hitting you hard. Crying out into Steve’s chest as your juices coated his cock. Breathing heavily as your entire body was trembling, and your arms shaking.

Hearing your whimpers and feeling your body slump forward, Javier was the first to cum along with Steve. Feeling their release fill you up had you clenching around them again.

Javier slowly pulled out of your raw asshole making you hiss. Steve was next and you knew you were going to be so sore the next day. It was absolutely amazing, and you would gladly do that all over again.

"God fucking damn. Holy fuck that was amazing sweetheart." You didn't know who spoke but all you knew was that you were tired.

Quickly uncuffing you your arm fell limp as they laid your body down softly. Your wrist was so sore and throbbing, but your mind was so drowsy you really didn’t mind it all that much.

Both of them getting into bed, and you had one of them on either side of you. Snuggling into your body wanting to make you were looked after. They were both a little worried they may have pushed you a little too much.

“You okay cariño?” Javier was the first one to speak.

Unable to find your words your mouth was so dry you couldn’t say anything. All you could do was just slowly nod your head up and down in response.

Their hands rubbing your body sensually and adoringly. They both peppered your sweaty and warm skin with light kisses. They were being so gentle with you it made you smile. This was the part that you loved the most out of everything how tender they could be with you.

"Our girl did so good for us."

"Sweetheart we weren't too rough with you were we?" Once again nodding your head to them.

"Good. Now get some rest sweetheart, we aren't done with you yet." You felt both men grinning at you before your eyes snapped wide open.

——————————————

Tag list for everything: @iam-laiya @rosie-posie08 @madzleigh01 @alwaysclassyeagle @mytbel0st @shanimallina87 @marvelstarker-mha98 @powellssugarbaby @lora21 @kmc1989 @sullyosully

Tag list for Pedro Pascal: @pedrohoe04 @k-k0129 @marchai @angelofsmalldeath-codeine @milly-louise @kittenlittle24

[cherubofthenight]

Manifesting my Dream Self 🍦🍓

i had to post this cuz i culdnt find it when i posted it privately yikes

if someone does read this, note that i do acknowledge 'her' as me and this is just to make it more fun :)

1) characterization

Determining her physical, mental and emotional traits. Her goals, her values, her morals. What is she like? How would you want people to describe her? Does she have a good relationship with her family? Does she have a s/o? Things like that.

2) bring her to life

Do as she would do. Dress as she would dress (if possible). Act as she would act. Stick by everything I decided for her. Positive self talk- which will be manual until I grasp it and it becomes automatically. Even if I slip. It’s okay, after all I’m human - I make mistakes.

3) staying on track

Keep a log of this by journalling. Create playlists that align with me. Pinterest boards that align as well and all of my social media will align with me (following blogs that align with me and my goals, subscribing to YouTubers who encourage what I'm looking for etc) so I’m surrounded by this energy.

Yuh, getting into it!

When I picture her, I see what I decided about her, thus that’s what I see when I picture myself.

So what I decided about her.

She has pretty, big doe eyes with perfect 20/20 vision, and long, full, cartoon-like lashes. Her lips are soft, plush, and two-toned, and her dark brown 4a/4b hair is healthy, thick, and long. She’s got the cutest button nose that makes you want to boop it, and her eyebrows? Absolutely perfect. Her face is beautifully balanced, with clear, glassy, dewy skin that’s soft and smooth. She’s got small hands and feet, and a pear-shaped body with curves in all the right places. And aside from her scalp, lashes, and brows, she’s completely hairless—taking care of herself is her priority.

People often compare her to a doll, but she’s known for her sweet yet take-no-shit attitude. She’s an absolute sweetheart and a treasure, and luckily, she knows it. There’s no one quite like her, and she only deserves the best. Anyone who gets to be in her presence is lucky, and she knows she’s her own muse. Despite the confidence she exudes, she’s always working on bettering herself, knowing growth is part of life. She values authenticity and surrounds herself with people who appreciate her strength and softer side.

She’s independent, self-assured, and deeply compassionate, striking the perfect balance between confidence and kindness. Her sweetness is just who she is—it’s not something she tries to perform. She’s all about meaningful connections and is always there for the people she loves. She moves through the world with a gentle grace, and her kindness reflects how much she loves herself. She never seeks validation because she already knows her worth. She’s happiest in her own peace, and her warmth radiates wherever she goes. She loves her own company and is her own greatest inspiration.

She recently moved into her own apartment, where everything reflects her style—immaculate and organized. She drives a matte black Audi RS, a white Honda CRV, and a pink Mazda Miata. Her closet is filled with the finest pieces, blending simplicity and elegance, so she’s always effortlessly chic. And of course, accessories are a girl’s best friend (besides herself, obviously). She’s committed to her well-being, practicing yoga or Pilates daily for balance and serenity. When she wants to push herself, she turns to calisthenics. She loves cooking healthy meals and experimenting with recipes to nourish her body and mind.

She’s got a boyfriend who’s intelligent, attentive, and hilarious. He has an incredible job with flexible hours, and he’s got two cars of his own. He can dance, sing, and is a family man, soft-spoken, a lover boy, and a bit nerdy, too. He’s obsessed with her (in a healthy way!) and always makes her happiness a priority. He even plans to buy her a pink Porsche 911 Turbo S (because she’s been dreaming of one).

She believes to be a pretty, artistic, strong, diligent yet delicate person.

Rules:

1. Starting to plan to start and end my day with a little prayer to myself, gratitude first and then reminder of the dream girl I am and will be.

2. Taking time to connect with nature or engage in outdoor activities

3. Practicing daily meditation or mindfulness

4. Surrounding herself with positive and supportive people

5. Setting achievable goals and celebrating small successes

6. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle by eating nutritious meals and getting enough sleep

7. Being willing to step outside of their comfort zone and try new things

8. Prioritizing self-care and making time for activities that bring joy and relaxation

Snippet of my Pinterest board:

what's mine will always find me <3

My spotify playlist:

Suggestions are welcome !

My fav affirmations:

what's mine will always find me

i don't chase, i attract

i'm not afraid to get what i want

my value exists out of what others think of me.

my potential is limitless, and anything is possible as long as I believe

and most importantly,

The reminder that I'm already her, no matter what.

I go more in-depth in my notion but this is basically the outline for what I’m gonna do.

And a small note:

everything that I claimed is mine has proven itself to be true.

From Bambi, To Doll, Love, you 😘 .

[movedtodykedvonte]

ok you mentioned it what would all of these fools go to karaoke songs be

I was just gonna pick songs from potential voice claims but since I'm not sure of those yet I'll avoid doing that and just go with songs that fit their vibes and themes.

Banner: I'm Not Calling You A Liar by Florence and the Machine. It is melancholy but sweet and allows her to be appreciative of her group which she can't always say in her own verbal words. Not a bad singer but is not a performer so some lyrics that should be belted are soft so as to not stand out, maybe just a tad flat due to shyness. Was most likely urged on stage and has the ads very enthusiastically cheering them on while they lament on how silly and embarrassing it all is. He still had fun in the end tho. 9/10 on the accuracy, 5/10 on voice.

Vidie: I Need a Woman to Love, Kesha Edition.Lloves the theatrics that can be involved in karaoke and wants a song that equally matches that. Was thinking of putting Hermit the Frog on her or Seventeen by Marina but so many pink ads are already Marian coded and it somewhat doesn't fit with Vidie's vibe to me. She like being the center of attention by provocing and this song does it for him. I imagine she more concerned with putting on a show than the lyrics so some things may sound off, just to get a point across or mess with the group... most likely Banner or Spam. 4/10 on voice (no control when singing) and 6/10 on accuracy.

Surv: Life in Her Yet by Rag N' Bone Man. I know you were thinking something really upbeat but I think Surv's singing voice is more suited towards mellow melancholy songs. It's probably Banner's tastes rubbing off on him or Audi's love of sentimental tracks seeping in, but he likes how they feel to sing and likes to direct the songs, especially ones like this one, to his partners. Plus it's nice to be smooth after all the intense peppiness he has to have for commercials and stuff. 7/10 on voice, 10/10 on accuracy.

Audi: Maple by Haley Kioko. This is a song that you don't necessarily need to be a strong or even great singer to sing. I like to think Audi would be playful and adlib with it, giggly like a teenager performing for their high school sweetheart(s). Audi is not a singer by any account and knows it and also doesn't care. He'll belt this song like it's a ballad for the audience and its partners but also like just them having fun. Lots of voice cracks and missed lines, maybe even asking the DJ to play something back so he can "nail it". 3/10 on voice, -100/10 on accuracy.

Spamton: Fear and Delight by the Correspondents. Idk if anyone saw the short animatic with the song but I can imagine a very not sober addispam giving the song all the energy he has and doing it pretty well. He, of course, misses some notes, but it's just the pace, tempo, and vibe he would nail if he had the confidence to do it sober. Plus, he could absolutely ham up the performance for the crowd and the other addisons. 8/10 on accuracy (the glitches mess him up) and 7/10 on voice ( a bit shy like Banner but also the glitches).

Now you may wonder what type of karaoke bar has this variety and range of songs, but you must remember this is the literal internet they live in, I think just about anything that was ever sung is at their disposal.

[yeyinde]

ahhh, this hurt so good!!!!!

I read this so many times while walking along the brutal coast this evening, and I can't quite gather my thoughts enough to string a coherent sentence together on how this made me feel. It's beautiful, haunting, and so filled with potent agony. I'm in awe - as always.

Angst x Price is my OTP, and you do it brilliantly.

I'm so beyond enthralled by this, I can't even express it outside of: etch this on my tombstone.

He fucks you like he hates you.

And you take it. Your own limbs remain wrapped around his back, curved to fit rippling muscle, your nails digging into the sinew. You could push him away, should you please, you’re far too familiar with this routine to kid yourself into believing he wouldn’t listen to consent. Fight and watch as he reluctantly breaks away, turning to less delicate vices; a Maduro cigar, toasted. Scotch with a water back, neat. 

Both of these made me weep. It's so poignant and pretty while being so drenched in palpable brutality. and it's so distinctly Price, too.

But you cling to a sweet nothing he’d whispered to you once, crowded in the back of his old Audi Q5, his beard abrasive on the soft stretch of your neck, trailing desperate kisses. 

Bloody christ. Can live off you alone, sweetheart. 

GOD. I LOVE THIS. I'm also gonna need a follow up for the Audi Q5 sex, please 🙏🥹

(You now wear both his and yours on a chain around your neck. His embellishments narrow down to those dog tags, the ones that hang over you when you fuck – silver slips the only indication of the man beneath the uniform, a body to be brought back home once it’s been bled through.)

I'm only crying a little bit, I promise 😭 *hides bin full of tissues and empty tissue boxes*

You know he’d much rather find sanctity here, with you. But he bends under the perceived punishment you inflict, groaning when you carve crescent shaped divots into him; and it comes clearer to you than anything else. 

His burden as Captain finds him far beyond the field. You’re just not made privy to it. 

You let him express it in the only way he can.

This was so brutal, but so incredibly nuanced in its delivery. It packs a punch, and my angsty heart absolutely exploded with it! I'm in awe - I love the dive into their characters and purpose surrounding this so, so, so much!!!!!

But his elbow tucks closer to hide the discoloration, the gesture veering on childish insecurity. Though that conclusion rolls between your teeth; a pearl that won’t dissolve and is much too large to swallow. Things can never be so simple with John. He fits the world in ways you’ve spent your entire marriage attempting to figure out – like a sole jigsaw piece, made with no greater picture in mind.

Insecure John hiding his newfound flaws from his unblemished wife? Openly sobbing in my car right now 😭

The imagery of all of this is just so breathtaking and lovely.

A week after every return to his house, John finally settles and rediscovers home.

Ughh, all this angst all nearly presented with a beautiful bow fluff. HAAAH. My stupidly sappy heart was so overjoyed to read this line - I had to take a walk for a bit, and ended up sitting on the shores, thinking of this piece. Of this line. I pulled it up on my phone and read it over and over and over again until I couldn't feel the tips of my fingers and my eyes were glossed over with tears.

I love this. The hypothermia is preventing me from properly conveying how much this hit me in all the best ways, but just know it's absolutely stunning.

My new favourite piece!!!

a pearl

Still scarred; you don’t think he’s ever not been. Still scarred, yet vivid enough to accept a gentle caress he said helped muffle the phantom pain. He’d tell you the stories as you did (hardly ever pleasant), and you’d cherished them enough to remember.

But the John that pistons into you now does so with muted malaise, a concoction that clusters too heavy on his tongue to fully form words around.

pairing: Captain John Price x f!Reader rating: explicit (18+ mdni) word count: 2.5k summary: what follows bloodshed warnings: angst, seriously - angst, canon typical violence, gore, allusions to childhood abuse, lots of unresolved feelings, hurt/comfort, a happy ending (the bare minimum), rough sex, marking, p-in-v notes: i have nothing to say for myself. there's no plot, just vibes. sorry (not). very much based off the mitski song of the same name.

It starts a little something like this– 

Moments caught in the rhythmic flicker of a bedside lamp; golden, dim, dark. Golden, dim, dark. Pink flesh, blushed in foreign warmth, mottled in crops of chestnut hair you can’t help but run your fingers through. It’s sticky when it presses to you, slicked in half-dried sweat and the brine of a sour mission. You lick the salt from his collarbone, trying your best to place a firm kiss to it against the bludgeoning thrust of his body. 

He fucks you like he hates you.

Not always. No. 

But tonight, and in that perennial week that trails behind him when he comes home, he does. He finds you, supple enough for the two of them, with a restrained agony swimming in florentine eyes. It bleeds into blunt fingertips (calloused, too. Barnacles that rub rough on your breasts), staining you across the chest. You feel it in your lungs, scraping bone to marrow, your ribs a collapsible cage of sponge. And with the way he bears his weight on top of you, you think you just might. 

It’s entirely too much, violent in a way you don’t find behind a plate carrier, the heavy security of a gun in your arms. Vulnerable – some crushed flower, one might say. Ripe with gallons of water at its centre and nothing to use it on. You’re plucked, right off your stem, your petals caught between teeth. 

His hands stay planted on your hips, pinning them down to a sleep-soaked mattress while he plunges into you. One, ten, fifty times – years together and you’ll still never grow used to how thick he is. His cock is splitting, cleaving your cunt into two halves, filling you until a mushroomed head meets the gummy wall of your cervix. It falters then, nestled in that sweltering heat, before pulling back out to bruise you again. 

And you take it. Your own limbs remain wrapped around his back, curved to fit rippling muscle, your nails digging into the sinew. You could push him away, should you please, you’re far too familiar with this routine to kid yourself into believing he wouldn’t listen to consent. Fight and watch as he reluctantly breaks away, turning to less delicate vices; a Maduro cigar, toasted. Scotch with a water back, neat. 

But you cling to a sweet nothing he’d whispered to you once, crowded in the back of his old Audi Q5, his beard abrasive on the soft stretch of your neck, trailing desperate kisses. 

Bloody christ. Can live off you alone, sweetheart. 

It had held some semblance of truth then, caught under bad weather with the sky open to the heavens, a great cataclysm of rain pelting down on the car. A revenant vow, no witnesses; something for just the two of you until the day’s promised wedding – a novel, diamond-encrusted band, thin on your ring finger. 

(You now wear both his and yours on a chain around your neck. His embellishments narrow down to those dog tags, the ones that hang over you when you fuck – silver slips the only indication of the man beneath the uniform, a body to be brought back home once it’s been bled through.)

Younger. You remember it distinctly; right out of SAS training, his skin a canvas for memorised marks. You’d been able to map each one to its source; rings of red concentrated at the wrist, cigar shaped but not self inflicted. Silver lines on his knees, founded atop the Brecon Beacons from his long drag assessment. Scabbed knuckles that never seemed to heal, not since he’d punched through a concrete wall the night he decided to leave home. 

Still scarred; you don’t think he’s ever not been. Still scarred, yet vivid enough to accept a gentle caress he said helped muffle the phantom pain. He’d tell you the stories as you did (hardly ever pleasant), and you’d cherished them enough to remember.

But the John that pistons into you now does so with muted malaise, a concoction that clusters too heavy on his tongue to fully form words around. You imagine it tastes bitter, bitter and much like the ichor that blooms to your cuticles. You don’t expect him to reel those horrors back with him – the sight of a dead mother after his executive order to shoot all potential hostiles. You know he’d much rather find sanctity here, with you. But he bends under the perceived punishment you inflict, groaning when you carve crescent shaped divots into him; and it comes clearer to you than anything else. 

His burden as Captain finds him far beyond the field. You’re just not made privy to it. 

You let him express it in the only way he can.

It goes a little something like this–

You don’t ask, despite the named tension that floods the chilled bathroom. 

He lets you shower first. Actually, almost commands you to, murmuring the words into sex clogged air while he cradles your quivering thigh. He waits until you find your strength again, nudging a tear away from your cheek with restrained tenderness. He guides you while you make your way, his touch smoothing from the small of your back to your shoulder, where it clamps down to steady you.

You can’t pinpoint the expression that twitches beneath his moustache as he does. It’s much too complex under the varicoloured delirium that clouds you. You see, you hear, you feel and smell and taste the oceanic headiness at the back of your mouth, yet none of it crackles back to your synapses where you can properly process his disquietude. 

So, you whimper a little asseveration in place, the sound of it lost amidst hissing pipes when he sets the shower for you. 

I missed you.

Maybe he doesn’t hear it. Maybe it’s drowned in the same chasm that eats him alive. But his eyes catch yours before he turns to leave, and they flicker with the light reflected off the faucet. Or, you’re tricking yourself, and it’s recognition of something he can’t reciprocate. 

By the time it takes you to clear your throat, he’s gone – off to his spot on the balcony, no doubt, stretched on an armchair you’d bought especially for him. You’d set a Maduro box on the coffee table between his seat and yours. 

And you can smell it on him when he returns. 

He must time it so you’re already out when he comes to wash up. You check it on the watch he’d discarded by the sink – forty five minutes to the second, a gratuitously long stretch to press on sore legs, but the water had been nice. He’d known the exact temperature to turn it to. 

(He used to avoid the spray during your times together, too. 

Any hotter, eh? It’s barely blistering.

You were the one who insisted on joining.

And kneaded your reddened flesh when you asked him to moisturise your back.)

His baths are militaristic in comparison to yours – he’s always in, soaped, and out before you get to your hair. You’d teased that he does it to avoid those grim thoughts that taint deluge silences – the ones no one is immune to. Perhaps you’d been on the mark.

So, you don’t ask. But you try and bear through ten more minutes upright, standing in front of the mirror, a towel around your bust, untangling the jewellery that’d been neglected in his absence. 

You hardly get through your wedding chain when he finishes, picking at the same stubborn knot. 

“You’ll get sick,” John gruffs, padding up behind you. You move over for him to reach the towel rack and pointedly avoid the large mass in your peripheral, hanging between thick thighs, nested in chestnut curls.

“If rearranging my guts wasn’t enough to ail me, then what harm can a bit of cold do.” You jibe. He gives you a grunt in response, tucks a corner into the wrap around his waist and sticks his hand out.

“Let me see that.” 

You blink, looking up at him for a split second, before handing over the chain. The bathroom provides a brighter luminescence than the glow of the hazy bedroom. 

It’s then you notice a hardly healed cut on his shoulder, sutured with black stitching. 

And one on his chest. 

And leg. 

A purpling bruise, stippling the expanse of his abdomen, furling over the side of it to darken into black. 

You’re caught like that – staring, hands at your chest – for far too long. If he realises, he doesn’t say, pulling at gold strands until something gives. 

But his elbow tucks closer to hide the discoloration, the gesture veering on childish insecurity. Though that conclusion rolls between your teeth; a pearl that won’t dissolve and is much too large to swallow. Things can never be so simple with John. He fits the world in ways you’ve spent your entire marriage attempting to figure out – like a sole jigsaw piece, made with no greater picture in mind.

(You cut yourself to suit it, sometimes. He changes shape before you can catch up.)

The action is an inclination you can never fully acknowledge, then; not until it’s you racing to see what can heal first – your body, or your mind. So you single in on the bulk of his arm instead, expanding thew with the movement, choking back the stone lodged in your chest. It becomes easy to lose track of time like this, returning to your perpetual dysthymia. 

You’re only snapped out of it by the smokey gravel of his voice, somehow simultaneously full-bodied and edging on a whisper. It pops like wet wood on a campfire, seething with an undercurrent of resignation, like it’s aware of its failure to fully fuel the kindling heat. 

(You still feel it though; like a deafening salvo in the chamber of your hollowed gut. Butterflies turned gunpowder. It holds the same effect.)

“Here.” 

And he hands you your necklace back, unravelled.

Brushing your teeth, you point to the hickeys decorating the column of your neck, then at his own wounds. 

“Look, we match.” 

His reflection tenses, the razor pulling away from his jaw. John opens his mouth – knuckles blooming white, clutching the edge of the sink – then snaps it shut upon scanning your foamy grin. 

He goes back to cleaning his mutton chops, his lips pursed in a grim line.

Maybe you should’ve stayed quiet.

It ends a little something like this–

Moonlight filters through sheer curtains, ballooning with the tranquil breeze. You left the window open to allow some air while he finds his rare sleep. 

You’re usually the first to knock out, but you stay awake on certain nights, these nights, stuck on vigilant duty against forces you can’t quite keep at bay. You know where he keeps his guns – taped to the sides of dressers or under a chair. They aren't anything you need. No. Now, you weaponize your hand, spread flat and smoothing over a coarse head of hair. You brush the strands that stick to his sweaty forehead and pull down the duvet when you notice his continuous battle with the heat. 

Then, the nightmares start. 

It’s subtle at first. No stranger would notice. 

You cradle his forearm and his pulse quickens under your thumb. Doldrums, a war cry. His body thrums with awakened adrenaline as his pupils thrash behind fluttering eyelids. It’s an unsettling tremor that vibrates through you, the mattress, the still midnight where things tend to find their peace. You bite your lips through it and hope the worn-film memories go easy on him. 

His breathing breaks into a stuttered pace. He’d forgone a shirt, clad in just plaid bottoms, and his chest gleams with a thin layer of cold perspiration. It shakes with him, rapid inhalations, his lip twitching while his body tries to regulate the instinctual fear. Your touch never leaves his head, your other, freer hand wrapping around twitching fingers. 

And so begins the paralysis. The purgatorial state where nothing exists outside of stifling sheets and the distancing sounds of fusillade. You can tell when he comes to uneasy wakefulness – wavering in and out of a fight long since filed away in manilla cabinets – when his digits go rigid underneath yours. He gasps in one final, drawn-out convulsion, assured in his survival, before his eyes snap open to the present. 

He grabs your wrist and flips you over in the split second afterwards. 

You can’t help the scream that pitches at the assault. It’s not the first time this happens, but never has he been so quick to act. 

“John–” 

“Fuckin’- Fucking hell.” 

His inflection warbles, still a victim to whatever profound helplessness overtook his dream. 

“Are you okay?” You lament into the scant space between you. His nose brushes yours. You can feel the red-hot distress radiate off him in waves. 

“Y-You… Affirm– Yes. Yes, I’m solid.” Though his eyes don’t meet yours. 

You nod. He doesn’t let go of you. 

“Water?” 

“Scotch.” 

“You’re not going back to sleep?” 

“No.” 

He flinches when you caress his cheek, brushing over wrinkled crows feet. 

“You need your rest, John.” 

“You haven’t slept, either.” The reaction holds more venom than he likely intends. You use the lowlight to memorise the way he appreciates his anger, the hissed admonishment echoing back with full force. Before his brow can crease again, you place a tentative peck to his chin. His jaw ticks at the movement. 

“I will if you do, yeah?” He doesn’t agree, but his shoulders drop with an exhale. “Let me go, I’ll fetch a bottle for you.” 

His face bows, a retired concession. It’s a side of him you hadn’t had the privilege of seeing, not until your first morning together, post-honeymoon. 

(I have to go, love. My flight’s in an hour. 

Stay. Just ‘till I fall back asleep. 

He had.)

You’d miss it if you had stayed basking in the thought. His lips, chapped and bitten and cracked, brush over your knuckles when he pulls away. 

You smile like a fool on your mission for refreshments. And, on your way back from the kitchen, you clasp over the rings on your necklace. An old habit, a happy tick. 

(You almost drop the water when you feel only one; your classic, round diamond ring. 

But you find his adorning his finger when his left hand reaches for the bottle.

You hadn’t noticed he’d taken it off the chain.)

The next morning, he tells you about Serbia and the calamity that brought upon new disfigurements. He grieves it in between thrusts, burrowing his head into the crook of your neck, his grip unabashedly bruising on your breasts. So we match, he echoes.

Still scarred. Always will be. But he dives deep into the personal upon remembering the comfort in your low hums. 

(Your nails circling the marks on his palms - he’d told you about his dad two years in.

It helps. 

What does? 

When you trace over them like that.) 

A week after every return to his house, John finally settles and rediscovers home.

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[americasass91]

His Kind of Beautiful

Hello lovely people! I don’t even know where to begin here. My ex popped up as a friend I may know on Facebook the other day. Of course it brought up all these memories. (I’ve been with my husband for over a decade so this ex was from way back when.) Anyways, I couldn’t help but think back to when and why we broke up. We worked together (that was a mistake) and I was chatting with one of our coworkers. The guy looked at me and was like ‘I don’t want to get in the middle of anything but your boyfriend said something about you the other day and it bothered me.’ I told him to tell me what he said. ‘He said you weren’t pretty enough to blow him.’ (Fun fact! I had already blown him a few times by this point.) So of course I thought my life was ruined. I mean I was only 17/18. I called him right away and asked him if it was true. The fucker didn’t even deny it! He was like I was just joking around. So I told him since I wasn’t pretty enough to blow him, I wasn’t pretty enough to date him either. That’s the last time I spoke to him.

Anyways! That’s what inspired this little fic. I know we all go through days where we don’t feel pretty or beautiful. But you know what? We are all beautiful no matter what! Please if you ever feel less than that and need to talk, I am here and willing to listen! Nobody should go through life feeling anything less than beautiful.

So I knew I needed to somehow incorporate this into a fic. At first I was going to go with Steve but I took a look at my Masterlist and realized I only had one Andy fic on there. That’s just despicable! So without any further ado, please enjoy this fic with our lovely, handsome floofy haired lawyer daddy!

Rating: Explicit (Like I could write something that doesn’t involve sex with Andrew)

Words: 5.3k

Warnings: Language, fingering, unprotected sex(Remember: Sex is cleaner with a packaged weiner), and just Andy being fluffy

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

You honestly didn’t even know why you had agreed to this. You hated first dates in general, let alone a blind date.

But your friend, Jane, assured you this guy was handsome and nice and worth your time to go out with.

So, you pulled a blue dress from your closet that you’d only worn maybe twice in your life and actually did your eye makeup.

After getting fully ready you take one last look at yourself in the mirror. For once you didn’t hate the woman staring back at you. This dress happened to accentuate your curves and the color of your eyeshadow made your eyes pop. You wouldn’t necessarily say you were pretty, but you looked decent.

You slip on your heels and grab your purse and head out of your apartment. As you go to lock your door, the apartment door behind you opens.

“Good evening, neighbor.”

You turn around with a smile on your face and return the greeting to your sinfully handsome neighbor, Andy.

He can’t help but notice how pretty you look. “Where are you going all dressed up?”

You blush and start heading towards the elevator together. “Oh, my friend set me up on a blind date. I’m nervous. Haven’t been on a date in awhile.”

He presses the button for the lobby. “Blind date, huh? Yeah I went on one of those recently. First date since the divorce. It was...interesting.”

You couldn’t help the giggle that escaped as you both headed into the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby. You turn towards him. “Interesting, how?”

“Well, for starters, she was almost an hour late. Then when she showed up, she didn’t even apologize for being late. She just sat down and demanded the waiter bring her a cocktail. By snapping her fingers at him.”

The elevator doors open. You head into the lobby and notice Andy following you. “So I think it’s safe to say you aren’t calling her for a second date?” He opens the door to the outside for you. You smile in thanks and head out into the warm evening air of Boston.

He rolls his eyes as he follows you onto the street and hails down a cab. “Absolutely not.” He gestures for you to take the cab.

You look at him confused. “Don’t you need one?”

He waves you off. “Nah, I’m heading to pick up Jake to take him to dinner. He finally found some time to fit his old man into his ‘busy’ teenager schedule.” He heads towards his Audi you now realize is parked in front of the building right behind your cab.

You scoff at him as you open the cab door. “Old man? Oh, please. You can’t be more than what? 38?”

He opens the door to his own vehicle and smirks at you. “Try 43, sweetheart. Hey! Good luck on your date!” He waves and gets into his car. You return the wave and get into the cab and give the driver the address to the restaurant and try to get your mind off of how good Andy’s ass looked in the jeans he was wearing.

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

You arrived at the restaurant with a few minutes to spare. You wanted to get there a little early so you could get a drink from the bar and calm your nerves.

You find a seat away from the other patrons and order a glass of wine. You scan your eyes over the room to see if your date has arrived yet. You weren’t entirely sure what he looked like but you knew he was going to be wearing a red shirt.

The bartender sets your wine in front of you. You hand over a 10 dollar bill and tell him to keep the change. As you sip your wine, you check your phone for the time. 7:02. You’re about ready to text your friend to ask if your date is normally late when you feel a tap on your shoulder.

You turn around and look up at who you assume to be your date for the evening. He was handsome. Not as handsome as Andy, but handsome enough.

He gives you a small smile. “Hi, are you Y/N?”

You nod your head with a smile. “Yes, hi! It’s nice to meet you. You must be Jason?” You then gesture to the seat next to you. “Would you like to have a drink before we get a table?”

He nods once and takes a seat next to you and flags down the bartender to order a scotch.

The bartender sets the drink in front of him. Jason thanks him and pays for his drink.

You can feel the awkwardness start to creep in. And when that happens, you tend to get chatty.

“So, what do you do for a living?” You smile hoping to ease the tension building.

He turns to look you up and down. And not subtly. He shakes his head in disapproval and downs his drink before standing up. “Listen, I’m sorry but I can’t do this. Jane lied to me.”

You can’t help the confused look that crosses your face. “She lied to you? How?”

He gives you another not so subtle once over. “She told me you were beautiful. And no offense, but I just don’t see it.”

You can’t help the jaw drop. Sure you knew you weren’t gorgeous but damn. You’d never had a man be bold enough to actually say it to your face. “So, you’re just gonna leave? Not even give me a chance because I’m not your version of beautiful?”

He scoffs and checks out a girl that walks by the two of you. “What can I say? I’ve got standards that you just don’t meet.”

You feel like you’ve just been punched in the gut. That’s it. You’re fucking done. You reach behind you and grab your wine glass and throw the drink in his face.

You grab your purse and head towards the door. You turn back to face him. “I may not meet your ‘beauty standards’ but at least I’m not an asshole!” With that you flip him off and head outside to hail a cab to head back home.

You manage to make it almost all the way home before the tears start to fall. Sure he was a stranger and his opinion didn’t matter. But it still fucking hurt that he didn’t want you and didn’t even think you were pretty enough to share a meal with. Your self esteem already sucked and this asshole sure as hell didn’t make it any better.

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

The blue dress goes in the trash as soon as you step into your apartment. You take off your nice lace bra you had put on. You take your makeup off with a wipe and pull your hair up in a ponytail. You throw on some hello kitty pajama shorts and a t- shirt that’s at least 2 sizes too big for you.

Then you head into your kitchen to pour yourself a glass of wine from a bottle you keep in the fridge for emergencies. You think this classifies as one.

You grab your phone off the counter and call your favorite Chinese place. You order double what you normally do because nobody wants to sleep with you. Might as well eat whatever the fuck you wanted. God, you can’t believe you shaved your legs for that asshole.

The lady on the phone lets you know it’ll be at least an hour. You give her your card number and thank her before refilling your now empty glass.

As you’re sitting on the couch waiting for your food, you can’t help but replay the events of the evening. Then that takes you into a downward spiral as you think back to all of your exes.

Come to think of it, they’ve all left you for one reason or another. A majority of them cheated with someone way prettier than you. Wow, maybe you were the problem. Clearly you were going for guys out of your league.

Maybe you needed to reevaluate the standards you had. Which quite frankly, wasn’t much. You just wanted them to not be a serial killer.

Perhaps you should just give up on dating. You were perfectly happy alone. Maybe that’s how it was supposed to be for you.

Before your thoughts could spiral anymore, your doorbell rang. You glance at your phone. Damn that hour flew by.

You grab $10 out of your purse for a tip and open your door. As you’re grabbing the bags and thanking the delivery guy, Andy steps out of the elevator with confusion written all over his face. “Hey, Y/N. Thought you had a date?”

You could almost feel the tears trying to well up again. No, you weren’t going to cry. Especially in front of your handsome neighbor.

“Yeah, it uh, didn’t work out. Shit happens.”

He puts his key in the lock and opens his door then turns to look at you. “Not your type?”

You can’t help the rush of air that leaves your mouth. “Not exactly. I wasn’t his. Apparently Jane, our mutual friend, told him I was beautiful and well. He didn’t agree with her.”

Andy furrows his brows and cocks his head to the side. “What? Was he blind or something?”

You shake your head. “Nope. I just wasn’t up to his standards.”

Andy mumbles something under his breath. “Well, I’m sorry. Some guys can be real assholes.”

You wave him off. “No need to apologize. I get that I’m not everyone’s cup of tea.”

Andy shakes his head. “Still, I’m sorry. That really sucks. And he really said you weren’t beautiful to your face?”

You give him a sad smile and shrug your shoulders. “It’s okay, really. I’m used to not being wanted. Have a nice night, Andy.”

You turn and head back into your apartment before he has a chance to reply. You don’t need his pity. You just need to drown yourself in the rest of your wine and gorge yourself on the greasy Chinese.

Just as you set the food down on the counter, you hear a knock at your door.

Confused, you head over and open it to find Andy standing there. And he looks kinda pissed.

“What do you mean you’re used to not being wanted?”

You sigh and put your hands on your hips. “It’s not the first time some guy hasn’t wanted me and it won’t be the last.”

Andy shakes his head as he pushes his way inside and shuts the door with his foot. “There’s just something I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around.”

You cross your arms over your chest. “And what’s that?”

He then proceeds to walk closer to you, forcing you backwards until your back touches the wall. He puts his hands on either side of your head and gazes down at you. You’ve never been this close to him before. You can feel his chest move against yours as he breathes. You can feel the heat radiating off of him.God, he smells good.  You realize you’re not breathing and take a deep breath. He smiles down at you and takes his left hand to tuck a piece of hair behind your ear that had fallen free from your ponytail.

“That some moron would think that you’re not beautiful. He’s fuckin crazy, Y/N.”

Your breath hitches as his left hand has now grabbed the back of your neck to raise your lips towards his. You close your eyes, waiting for the inevitable kiss. “I guess I’m just not everyone’s kind of beautiful.”

He leans in, just barely brushing his lips against yours. “You’re my kind of beautiful.”

WIth that, he presses his lips to yours for a slow but intense kiss. You can’t help the moan that escapes your mouth. You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him all the way up against you. He grunts when his hardening cock comes into contact with your soft belly.

After a few minutes of intense kisses that take your breath away, he pulls back and presses his forehead against yours. “Will you let me show you how beautiful I think you are?”

You don’t even need to think about it. “Yes, please.”

He smiles and leans in for one more quick kiss. “Take me to the bedroom, pretty girl.”

You quickly grab his hand and lead him down the hall towards your bedroom, making a quick stop in the kitchen to throw the Chinese food in the fridge.

Once in your room Andy spins you around and presses your back up against his front. He leans forward and starts placing soft kisses against your neck. His left hand rests at your waist while his right hand moves up under your shirt towards your breasts. “Is this okay, pretty girl?” His voice is so low and husky. Your panties didn’t even stand a chance.

You nod. “Yes, please. Touch me, Andy.”

He groans a little and reaches up to cup your right breast in his hand. You hear him let out a growl as he continues to fondle your breast. While his left hand makes its way into your shorts, brushing his finger over your clit. You jolt forward at the sensation, whimpering out in the process.

“You like that, pretty girl? Like my fingers on your little cunt?”

You grab a hold of his wrist and writhe against him as he lowers his fingers towards your entrance. He gathers your slick up before moving his fingers back towards your clit and starts slowly circling it.

“Fuck, Andy. Feels so good.”

“Yeah? You want my fingers inside you, baby?”

You quickly nod. “Please. Need to feel you.”

He lowers his hand back down to your entrance and slowly slides his middle finger against your walls. You arch your back and moan out his name as he starts pumping it slowly.

“Fuck, Y/N. You’re so tight. When’s the last time you’ve been touched, pretty girl?”

“Too long. Feels so good. I need more. Please.”

His index finger quickly joins the middle one. He starts pumping them in and out of you quicker, curling them just right so they rub up against your g spot. “Oh, fuck!” You can’t help but yell out at the feeling. It’s been so long since someone’s taken the time to pleasure you, let alone find your g spot. You could feel the coil tightening already. You were embarrassingly close and he hadn’t even really started yet.

“You gonna cum for me already, pretty girl? Do it. Make a mess on my fingers.”

He moves his thumb and starts circling your clit. Your legs start shaking. He presses his thumb down just a little harder and you’re gone. You cum with a shout of Andy’s name into the otherwise empty room.

He continues pumping his fingers in and out but removes his thumb from your clit, not wanting to overstimulate you too much. “Good girl. So fuckin’ pretty when you cum.”

You lower your head in embarrassment. He spins you around and places his finger under your chin so he can raise your head so you’re looking at him. “Don’t hide from me, pretty girl. I want to see everything.” He takes his left hand and raises it to his mouth, sucking your essence off of his fingers. He moans into his hand. “You taste so fucking sweet. Knew you would.”

He grabs your face to pull you in for a sweet kiss as he slowly pushes you towards the bed. The back of your knees touch your mattress before he pulls away. He smiles down at you as he grabs the hem of your shirt and pulls it up and off, tossing it somewhere in the room. His gaze then falls to your breasts. He licks his lips hungrily. Before he can get too caught up, he hooks his thumbs into your shorts and pulls them and your panties down and off your legs, helping you step out of them.

He stands back up and pulls you in for another kiss, your hands fall to his chest. You start to unbutton his shirt, revealing his chest to you a little at a time. You pull away to get the last few buttons and push his shirt over his shoulders and are surprised to see his chest and abdomen sprinkled with various tattoos. You never would’ve guessed. You can’t help but let your hand trace over a quote on his collarbone or onto the eagle covering his pec.

“I never would have pegged you for a tattoo guy. These are amazing.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, I only have them where they can be covered up by clothes.” He grabs your wrists to stop your tracing. “You can trace all of them some other time, pretty girl. Right now, I need to be inside of you.”

You can’t help the shiver that runs down your spine at his words. His dirty talk was going to be the death of you.

He moves his hands towards his belt buckle and starts undoing it. You couldn’t help but notice the slight tremble to his hands. You place your hands on top of his and look at his face. “Hey, if you don’t want to do this, that’s ok.”

He looks into your eyes and gives you a shy smile. “No, I want to. God, do I want to. It’s just, I haven’t been with anyone since Laurie and I guess I’m a little nervous.”

You couldn’t help the pull you felt at your heart at his words. He was nervous. Thank god. So were you. This beautiful man wanted to sleep with you, of course you were nervous. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m nervous too. You’re kind of intimidating.”

He cocks his head to the side and furrows his brows. “Intimidating? Why is that?”

You remove your hands from his and gesture up and down his body. “Just look at you. You’re breathtaking, Andy. And I’m just me.” Your gaze falls down to your feet, unable to look at him.

He puts his finger under your chin and raises your head so that you’re forced to look at him. “Speak for yourself, pretty girl. You’re the breathtaking one.”

You scoff and roll your eyes. “Yeah, right.”

His gaze on you hardens just a little. He grabs your hand and places it over his pants against his erection. “Do you feel that? Feel what you do to me? Nobody but you can make me this hard, pretty girl. I’ve been in a constant state of arousal since I moved in, watching you coming in and out of your apartment in your tight skirts and almost see-through blouses. Making me go fuckin’ crazy.”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything or make a move then?” Of course your self doubt was starting to creep in. Maybe this was him just wanting to get his dick wet. You needed to know.

He grabs your hands and brings your knuckles to his mouth, giving them a soft kiss. “Honestly? I thought there was no way in hell an old man like me would have a shot with a sweet thing like you.”

You couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped your mouth. “Please. You’re only 43.”

He pulls you in for a sweet, lingering kiss. “Yeah, well. Probably too old for you. But after what you said to me, about how you’re used to not being wanted? I stopped caring how old I was. I needed to show you just exactly how much you’re wanted. So, can I still show you, pretty girl?”

You quickly nod your head and help him finish removing his pants, leaving him in just his black briefs. The fabric doing nothing to hide the outline of his hard cock. Jesus. He looked big. Bigger than anything you’ve taken. You couldn’t wait.

You quickly pulled his briefs over his hips and down his legs. His cock sprang free and smacked against his inked abdomen, making him hiss. You grab him at the base and slowly start pumping him, looking at his face for his reaction. His head is thrown back and his eyes are closed as he moans out your name at the feeling. His hands are gripping your hips.

You smear his precum that’s gathered at the tip and use that to help jerk him off a little faster. You tighten your grip as you pick up your pace, loving the sounds you're pulling from him. You start to go on your knees when he suddenly pulls you back up. You look at him in confusion. “If I let you continue, this will be over before it even starts. Gonna make me blow my load like an inexperienced teenager.”

You couldn’t help but feel proud of yourself but once again furrow your brows as Andy walks to the other side of the bed. He starts looking around in your nightstand. “Do you have any condoms?”

You shake your head. “I did but they expired. If you’re okay with it, I’m on birth control. And I got tested after my last partner and I’m clean.”

He pushes the drawer to the nightstand back in and climbs onto the bed and lays on his back, hand lazily stroking his cock. “I’m more than okay with that. I just had a full work up done. I’m healthy as well.”

You barely acknowledge what he said, unable to remove your eyes from his hand that’s wrapped around his cock. You pull your bottom lip in between your teeth and let out a little whimper. Andy chuckles at you. “Well, are you going to just stare at it, pretty girl? Or are you going to hop on my lap and get comfy?”

That gets your attention. You meet his gaze. “You want me on top?”

He nods. “Wanna be able to see all of you, baby girl.” He removes his hand from his cock and pats his thigh. “Come on, pretty girl. Ride me.”

Well that sight just caused a new wave of arousal to pool at your core. You had only been on top once before and it was only for a short time.

You place your knees gently on the bed and crawl the short way to him. You swing your left leg over him so that you're sitting right above where he wants you. You thread your hands through his hair and lean down for a heated kiss. You lick his bottom lip, wanting in. He doesn’t even hesitate to open his mouth to let you in.

He places his left hand on your hip while the other grabs his cock. He pushes your body down so that you’re hovering over it. “Please. Fuck me, pretty girl.”

You keep your lips attached to his as you slowly sink down on him. You get about halfway before you stop and pull away to look at him, trying to slow down your breathing. He brings his right hand up to cup your cheek. “You ok? Do you wanna stop?” The quick shake of your head makes him chuckle. “No, god no. I just need a minute. You’re fucking huge Andy.”

He can’t help the cocky smirk that appears. “Yeah, I know. Just take all the time you need.” He rubs his hand up and down your back to help calm you down. It only takes you a few more seconds before you continue to impale yourself on his impressive dick.

You let out a breath of relief when your hips settle flush against his. He grabs the back of your head and pulls you in for another kiss. You slowly start rocking your hips against him. He feels fucking incredible. Hitting all the right spots inside of you.

You pull away from the kiss and raise up a little and plant your hands on your headboard for some leverage. The rock of your hips speed up significantly. You move all the way up until his tip is barely inside before you slam yourself back down against him. You’re pulling the most beautiful sounds from his lips. It makes you move that much faster and harder against him.

Andy moves his hands to your breasts and gives them a good squeeze. Then he starts pinching your nipples, eliciting a moan from you. “That’s it, baby girl. Doing so good. You look so gorgeous fuckin’ yourself on my cock. Goddamn. Riding me so well.”

The praise he’s giving you just spurs you on. You raise up even more and place your hands on his chest and pick up your pace just a little more. You can feel the coil tightening in your belly. You’re going to cum and hard.

Andy keeps his left hand on your breast and keeps pinching your nipple. He moves his right hand down until his thumb is pressing against your clit, giving you the friction you needed. “Can feel you squeezing me, pretty girl. Cum for me. Make a mess.”

He presses his thumb just a little harder and that’s all it takes. You free fall over the edge of bliss with a scream of Andy’s name, your hips faltering from their rhythm.

You slow down your pace as you come down from your high, collapsing against Andy’s chest. He cradles you in his arms and rubs his hands up and down your back. “Still with me, sweet girl?”

You weakly nod your head and take just a second to catch your breath. It takes you a moment to realize he didn’t finish. You raise your head off his chest to look at him. “Why didn’t you cum?”

He smiles and pulls you in for a sweet kiss. “Oh, I will. Don’t worry. Just wanted to watch you fall apart on top of me. And let me just say, it’s one of the prettiest sights I’ve ever seen. You look gorgeous when you cum, Y/N. Almost made me lose it. Think you can take some more?”

You nod your head eagerly, already wanting to cum around his cock again. “Then why don’t you be a good girl and turn around and get on your hands and knees for me?”

He doesn’t have to tell you twice. You quickly pull off of him and turn around to get on your hands and knees. He takes a second to admire the view of your once again dripping pussy before he gets up on his knees behind you. He grabs a hold of your ass and gives it a hard squeeze. “Such a nice ass. I bet it’ll jiggle real nice while I’m fuckin’ you.”

He grabs a hold of the base of his cock and moves it towards your entrance. Before he starts pushing in, he gives your right cheek a hard smack. You drop down onto your elbows and moan into the sheets below you. Fuck. You didn’t know you liked that. He places his right hand on your hip and squeezes.

“Hmm. We’ll have to revisit that later.” And that’s the last thing he says before he slams home. You arch your back and fist the sheets as he sets a hard and fast pace.

And boy was he right. Your ass does jiggle nicely with every snap of his hips against it. He threads his left hand through your hair and gives it a tug. It makes you clench around him. “Fuck, baby girl. Keep squeezing me like that and I’m not going to last long.”

You move your head to the side and peer back at him. You clench around him again and it earns you another groan and smack to your ass. “Want you to cum for me, Andy. Please. Fill me up.”

He stills for just a second and wraps his left arm around your chest and lifts you up until your back is flush against his chest. This time he keeps his thrusts nice and slow. He places a kiss to the side of your neck. “Yeah? Want me to fill that pussy up, huh? To claim you as mine?”

You let a whimper escape your lips and you grip onto his arm that’s holding you against him as he starts picking up the pace of his thrusts. You clench around him again. “I am yours, Andy.”

He quickly moves his right hand down and starts circling your clit. “Fuck, Y/N. You’re gonna make me cum. Cum with me, please.”

You start pushing back and meeting his thrusts, desperate to get him to his release.

It only takes a few more snaps of his hips and circles against your clit before you're both falling over the edge while moaning out the other's name.

He continues pumping his hips until he’s completely spent and gently moves to lay the both of you onto your sides, basking in the afterglow of your orgasms.

He slowly pulls out of you and turns you around so that you’re facing him. He tucks your now loose hair behind your ear. “Hi, there.”

You chuckle and move up against him and press your face into the crook of his neck. “Hello.” You place a gentle kiss to his pulse point and relax as he wraps his arms around you.

There’s only a few minutes of peaceful silence when:

“So, was that good for you?”

You pull away and look up at him with an incredulous look on your face and smack his shoulder. You both start laughing.

“Of course it was good for me. Did you enjoy yourself, Andrew?”

He pulls you in for another sweet kiss. “Oh, yeah. But you know. Just to be sure. We might need to do it again.” He wiggles his eyebrows at you. It only makes you laugh once more.

“You are such a dork. How about we get a shower and then heat up the food you so rudely interrupted me from eating before?”

His jaw drops in mock hurt. “You weren’t complaining when I was making you come around my cock, pretty girl.”

You sit up and stretch your arms over your head. You swing your legs over the side and stand up, wobbling just a little. You hear a chuckle behind you and playfully send a glare his way as you make your way to the bathroom.

You turn on the light and can’t help but look at your reflection in the mirror.

Your hair is a hot mess, having fallen out of it’s ponytail. Your lips were swollen and red from all the kissing. Your nipples looked slightly red from all pinching they had been subjected to. Your skin flushed from the orgasms. And there was what looked like a bruise forming on your hip in the shape of his hand.

And yet. You’ve never felt more beautiful.

You see Andy walking up behind you in the mirror. He smiles at you.

You turn around and return it before throwing your arms around his neck and raising yourself up on your toes to pull him in for a kiss. He gladly wraps his arms around you and reciprocates.

You pull away with a smile still attached to your face. “Not that I mind, pretty girl. But, what was that for?”

You shrug. “Just thank you. For making me feel beautiful.”

He smiles down at you and pulls you in for another quick kiss. You can feel him hardening once again against your hip. “Why don’t we skip the shower for now? I’m not quite finished with you yet.”

And with that he pulls you back into the bedroom where he spends the rest of the night showing you that you’re his kind of beautiful.

Permanent Taglist: @stargazingfangirl18​ @drabblewithfrannybarnes​ @harrysthiccthighss​ @IIIoIs 

[star-spangled-steve]

His New Partner

Chapter 47: The Aftermath

Series Masterlist

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader

Words: 4292

Warnings: Angst, fluff, mentions of death, pregnancy.

A/N: This took me so incredibly long (as usual), but I hope you guys enjoy it!

Having to tell Y/N about Tony’s death was one of the most heartbreaking experiences of Steve’s life. Nothing saddened him more than watching his wife cry, and cry, and cry, not even wanting to believe that what she was hearing was true.

Tony had been such a close friend of hers, helping her all throughout her pregnancy, assisting her with anything she and A.J. needed when Steve himself hadn’t been present. Hell, she even named their son after him. Y/N loved Tony like a father and she simply couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that she would never get to see him again.

The woman was depressed for days, the weight of the death of her two friends simply being too much to carry. Steve too was a mess, as he also cared for Natasha and Tony so deeply. But he knew that he really had to take care of his wife right now, as she was barely eating, drinking, or sleeping, all while being pregnant.

So much loss was just too hard for her to bear. It also had her worrying about who else she could possibly lose if things kept going the way they did.

Y/N’s body wracked with sobs as she sat sideways on her husband’s lap on their bed, her face hidden in the crook of his neck. He had pulled her onto him as a way to try and comfort her, as she’s been crying for the past two hours since he’d told her about the terrible news.

She asked Steve if she should call Pepper to send her condolences, but he advised that it was late and she should probably wait until morning. Any bit of sleep Pepper could get should be cherished, as it would probably be very hard for her.

So now here the couple sat, the only sounds in their house being Y/N’s sobs that she tried to muffle in her husband’s shoulder, wanting to make sure that baby Anthony James didn’t hear.

“I... I just...” she began to speak in between sniffles, but then she cut herself off. She didn’t want to say something that could make her sound selfish, but this one thought was starting to be the only thing she could think about.

“What, sweetie?” Steve questioned, tears in his own eyes, rubbing his hand up and down the expanse of her back soothingly. “What is it?”

The woman lightly shook her head. “Never mind.”

“No, no.” The man urged, bringing a hand up to cradle the side of her face, stroking her cheek lovingly. “Tell me, come on. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“It’s just,” she choked on a sob, “I feel like I’m losing everyone I care about, you know? And-And I...” Y/N lightly shifted in his lap, wanting to look him in the eye, “I know this may sound awful, and not what I should be thinking about, but... I just can’t help but be thankful for the fact that it wasn’t you who died out there.” More heavy cries came out of her as she covered her face with her hands, trying to calm herself down.

“Oh, baby-”

“I just...” she cut Steve off, needing to get this all out, “I just can’t stop thinking about it. We’ve been so unbelievably lucky, Steve. We’ve lost so many of your teammates over the years, and we’re, I’m so lucky that you haven’t been one of them. But like... what if you were? I couldn’t do this alone.” The woman gestured down to her baby belly. “I couldn’t raise these kids with you. I couldn’t go on without you. And, oh my god, I feel so bad for Pepper, Steve. I wouldn’t survive what she’s going through. I-“

“Hey, shhh.” The man cut in, wrapping his arms around her and bringing her closer to his chest. When her words were getting faster as she kept going, Steve could tell her that anxiety was getting the best of her, and knew that she needed to be soothed. “Shhh, babydoll, shhh.” He lightly rocked her back and forth, pressing soft kisses to her hair every now and then. “I know that it’s a lot to deal with, N/N, but you’re getting worked up over something that hasn’t happened. I’m right here, angel. I made it and I’m right here.”

“But what if one day you aren’t?” Y/N questioned, not even wanting to imagine how she would feel if that happened.

“Then you’d get through it, okay?” He spoke gently. “Just like Pepper is going to, because we’re going to help her out. But that’s not even going to happen with us, because I’m not going anywhere.” Steve brought a hand to her belly and rubbed it comfortingly. “Remember that pinky promise we made? That I’d return home from the time travelling safely? Well it worked, and it doesn’t just apply to that mission. I’ll always come home to you, princess. I promise.”

“M’kay.” Y/N spoke into his shoulder, sleepily. Her husband was grateful that his words were effective in calming her down, previously worried that she wouldn’t be getting any sleep at all that night. He held her tightly for several more minutes before she became completely silent.

“You feeling sleepy, doll?” He asked her quietly. And when he didn’t get an answer, he glanced down, slightly smiling to himself when he saw what she was already asleep.

Y/N’s hands trembled as she applied some sparkly pink lip gloss to her lips, staring in the dresser mirror intently. Words couldn’t describe how nervous she was for today’s events. First of all, it was the first time she was leaving the house in almost a week, as so far she had been too depressed to be productive in the slightest. This meant that it was the first time she’d be seeing the world with the other half of the population returned. Secondly, today she, Steve, and A.J. were going to lunch with Sam and Bucky. This would be the first time she’d ever met the brown-haired super soldier who was her husband’s best friend, and the thought made her so very anxious.

Steve and Bucky had been like brothers since childhood. They had probably always talked about their future wives and how they envisioned them to look, talk, act. What if she didn’t live up to the expectation in Bucky’s head about what Steve’s wife would be like? What if she was a disappointment?

“You look so gorgeous, baby.” Steve spoke from behind Y/N, interrupting her insecure thoughts. He stood behind her as they faced the mirror, his front to her back, his hands resting on her large belly. The man rested his chin on her head and gave her a small smile in the reflection. “You sure you’re okay to go? You seem a bit uneasy.” Ah, yes. He could always read her like a book.

“Yeah,” the woman spoke, gulping, “just a bit nervous. I’m meeting your best friend today.”

Steve smiled slightly, feeling complimented that she cared so much about the people in his life. “Well if it makes you feel any better, I just talked to Sam, and Bucky is just as nervous as you are.”

“Really?” Y/N questioned, shuffling out of her husband’s hold to chose her earrings. She decided on her silver ones with dangly pink hearts.

“Oh yeah.” The man said. “Sam said he’s worried that you’ll be angry with him.”

His wife turned to face him in shock, her mouth agape. “What? Why?”

Steve shrugged. “I’m not sure honestly. We can talk it through when we’re there.” He watched as she put in the earrings and started fixing her hair in the mirror again. “Speaking of being there... are you almost ready to go? You’ve been getting ready for like forty minutes, sweetheart.”

Y/N gave him a slightly annoyed look, though it was completely playful. “You try finding an outfit that compliments your figure when your stomach is larger than the freaking planet.” She sighed, before suddenly turning more serious. “I just wanna’ look good. It’s his first time seeing me. What if he thinks you could’ve done better?”

Steve frowned at her words, though he wasn’t completely surprised that she’d say something like that. Y/N has always been incredibly insecure, even though she had no reason to be. She was absolutely perfect in Steve’s eyes. “Doll,” the man spoke, walking up behind her once again and turning her around to face him, “there is no better than you.” He brought a hand up to cradle the side of her face. “You’re so beautiful, N/N. So incredibly perfect, and I’m so lucky to have you. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.”

The woman smiled at his words, looking up at him lovingly. “I-“

She was about to say something when they were interrupted by the sound of a toddler laughing, and the two began to chuckle, wondering what baby Anthony was up to. “I’ll go check on that.” Steve stated. “You just take your time, pretty girl.” He then pressed a kiss to her forehead before exiting the room.

She took a deep breath, in and out, facing herself in the mirror. ‘You got this, Y/N.’ She told herself to try and calm her nerves, before hurrying to finish up.

*****

“You got this, man.” Sam assured Bucky with a pat on the back as they stood on the sidewalk in front of the diner.

Much like Y/N, Bucky was also incredibly nervous for this meeting. He was honestly worried that the woman would be mad at him; mad at him for taking away her husband for two years. It was to rescue Bucky that Steve had to leave, and perhaps Y/N would still be holding a grudge. He wouldn’t blame her if she was.

He was also a murderer, in his own eyes. No matter how many times Steve and the others had tried to assure him that what he did wasn’t his fault, Bucky still couldn’t believe that. He knows that it was his hands that did it, and for that he still felt an immense amount of guilt. Would Y/N even feel comfortable bringing herself, her son, and her unborn daughter around a man as tainted as himself?

A black Audi being parallel parked next to the sidewalk alerted the pair that the family had finally arrived, and Sam gave Bucky a reassuring pat on the back.

“That’s them.” The Falcon stated, watching as Bucky gulped.

The first to exit the car was Steve, who immediately shot his friends a grin as he jogged over to the passenger side door, opening it for his pregnant wife. He helped her out with a steady arm, even though she really wasn’t far along enough yet to need it. He just loved assisting her.

“Hey!” She greeted the two with a smile as her husband got their son out of his car seat.

“N/N!” Sam cheered back, opening up his arms for a hug. “It’s so nice to see you! Look at you, all pregnant and everything. You look awesome.”

“Aww, thanks, Sam. It’s so nice to see you too, buddy.” Y/N agreed as she settled into his embrace. As they separated, she turned towards Bucky with an adoring look on her face. “And it’s so great to finally meet you.” She chuckled.

The long-haired man let out the breath he didn’t even know he was holding, relieved that she was happy to meet him. “You too.” He smiled back, quite shyly too. He hoped that one day he could gain back the confidence in himself that he once had.

“And boys,” a deep voice had all three of them looking to Y/N’s right, “there’s someone else I’d like you to see.” In his arms was little Anthony, all wide-eyed and smiley. It was rare that he got to meet new people. “Buck, this is A.J.”

Sam practically melted on the spot. “Aww, look at him.”

Bucky’s mouth went agape. Steve had told him that he had a son and a wife, but seeing them both in front of him was almost overwhelming. The small kid from the 40s was all grown up. “W-Wow, I-” he was at a loss for words. “He’s... beautiful, Steve. I’m so happy for you. You two are practically twins.”

Steve nodded his head with a laugh. “Yeah, so I’ve been told.” He turned to his other friend. “Sam, I know you’ve met him briefly in passing before. A.J., do you remember seeing Sam? Your Uncle Sam?” He asked the boy.

Anthony nodded his head and Y/N giggled.

“Unqle Sam.” He slurred out, making Sam’s mouth drop open.

“Wow!” He said in astonishment. “This kid is smart!”

“Wanna’ hold him?” The woman asked.

“Oh my god, of course I do.”

Steve gently passed the toddler over to his friend, making sure that Sam was holding him correctly before he let go.

“Hey, little guy. I’m your uncle.” He beamed, turning to Y/N and Steve. “I’m an uncle of Captain America’s son. This is so cool!” The man watched as she laughed again before he turned to Bucky, who has been quietly staring this entire time. “Wanna’ try, Bucky?”

“Oh... I-“ The man stuttered. “I don’t know if she wants that. I mean-”

“Of course I want that.” Y/N cut him off insistently. “You’re his uncle too, Bucky.” She gave him an encouraging smile, and he nodded his head at Sam.

Once again, Steve stepped in to make sure that Bucky was holding him right. The moment that A.J. was in his arms, the brown-haired soldier was in awe of him. His best friend in the world helped create this cute little thing. How crazy.

“Buddy, can you say ‘Uncle Bucky?’” Steve asked his son.

A.J. looked up with a twinkle in his eyes before cheering: “Unqle ‘Ucky!”

Y/N put her hand over her heart. “Good job, sweetie!”

“Atta’ boy!” Steve rejoiced.

A.J. clapped a couple times at his parents’ words before his eyes went wide at the feeling of metal. He looked down and saw Bucky’s metal arm supporting him up. “Woah...” he marvelled.

Bucky shifted nervously.

“So cool! I wove it!” The little boy cheered though, making a warm grin appear on the man’s face. His heart just melted.

“Thanks, kid.”

Steve gave his friend a meaningful nod and smiled before speaking up. “We should probably go inside.” He gestured to the diner in front of them.

Y/N quirked an eyebrow teasingly. “Papa’s getting hungry, huh?”

Steve gave her a playful smirk. “Oh you know it.” He gently took A.J. out of Bucky’s arms, and Bucky moved to hold the restaurant’s door open for them all. “Thanks, Buck.”

Sam leaned closer to Y/N as they walked inside. “Steve sure does love holding A.J., huh?”

A loving look appeared on her face. “He’s hardly put him down since A.J. returned to us.”

*****

“So, Y/N, you’re an actress, right?” Bucky asked as the woman was sipping her water, and she nodded, swallowing.

“I am.” She smiled. “It’s been a while since I’ve done anything, though. I took a two-year break when I was having this little guy,” she cocked her head towards A.J., “and then the industry was really slow for the past five years. A couple studios tried to make some stuff, but it just wasn’t the same.”

Y/N and Steve sat in one side of the booth while Bucky and Sam sat in the other. Y/N and Bucky were seated against the window, and A.J. sat at the end of the booth in a wooden high chair provided by the diner. They had just ordered their lunch and were waiting for it to arrive at the table.

“I do have a couple movies booked for after this one’s born, though. I’m so excited to start working again.”

Her husband grinned and put his arm over her shoulders. “I’ve missed going to your premieres.” He looked at her with admiration. “I’m so proud of you every time.”

The woman simply blushed and looked up at him from under her lashes before leaning into his side, her actions speaking for her.

“That’s awesome, N/N.” Sam spoke up. “You can give me all the inside details, right?” He asked playfully. He always enjoyed getting the spoilers from her.

“Enough, Sam!” She giggled. “You know I’ll get in trouble.”

“Hey,” he gave her a serious expression, though he was still teasing, “if anybody gets mad at you, we’ll take care of it.” He gave a slow wink, making her roll her eyes.

“That’s never good.” Y/N shook her head. “I do not need the father of my children and his idiot friends getting me in deep messes, thank you very much.”

Steve chuckled and Bucky even cracked a smile at her words.

“Hearing Steve be referred to as the ‘father of someone’s children’ is still so odd for me to hear.” The dark-haired man stated. “You never thought you’d get this life, pal.”

The Captain’s expression turned soft in an instant. “I know, Buck.” He looked to both his left and right, taking in his little family. “I’m so very lucky.”

“I just can’t believe your second baby is almost here.” Sam said in disbelief. “We’re just getting used to kid number 1, and kid number 2 is already on the way.”

“I know, it’s crazy.” Steve agreed. “Then after that, kid number 3 can come along...”

Y/N playfully rolled her eyes. “He’s already planning the next one, my goodness.”

“Hey, the more little yous running around, the better.” Her husband stated.

“A.J. is a carbon copy of you, so I wouldn’t get your hopes up for the next ones to look like me.”

“Then we’ll just have to keep trying.” He gave her a flirty wink, making her laugh and shake her head at his dorkiness.

Bucky leaned closer to Sam and whispered, “When did he get so smooth?”

“Years of practice.” The Falcon whispered back. “Though, she’s pretty awkward sometimes so I guess she’s easily impressed.” His words came from love, as Y/N’s awkwardness was what was so endearing about her.

A voice had everyone looking to the side where the waitress had brought them their food, each adult at the table thanking her before she went off.

Everyone began to dig in on their meals. Steve was multitasking between feeding A.J. small spoons of macaroni and cheese and eating his own lunch. He and Bucky’s plates were almost double the size of Y/N and Sam’s, due to their super soldier metabolism that the woman had always been so jealous of.

“Open up, buddy.” The Captain spoke softly to his son, and Anthony James took the spoon in his mouth gently. Y/N smiled adoringly at the interaction.

Sam was also super glad that A.J. and Steve were forming a bond. He knew how crushed his friend was when they had returned from being on the run, only to see that Steve had missed so much. He couldn’t help but wonder how Y/N felt on the matter all of this time later.

“I have a question.” He spoke up, making everyone turn to him. “I don’t want to strike a nerve or anything, but... N/N, I was just wondering how you were doing about Steve and us being gone for two years. I know that it was a while ago for you, but it feels like just yesterday for me. Literally.”

Bucky looked down at his plate in shame, the guilt feeling like it was eating him away.

“Well you know, at first it was really hard. To build up that trust again, right? But we’re great now. He’s done a lot to make up for it and I know that he’s truly sorry.”

Steve had a guilty look in his eyes as well whenever it was brought up, and she found his hand under the table, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“I sort of feel like I should apologize too.” Sam added. “We kept trying to find ways to return, but there was huge consequences every time. And I’m sorry, N/N. I know how hard it was for you.”

“It’s alright, Sam. I promise you I’m not holding a grudge about it.” She told him honestly.

“Um...” Bucky cut himself off, trying to find the right words.

Steve was intrigued. “Yeah, Buck?”

“I really want to say sorry too. To Y/N.”

She began to shake her head. “Oh, Bucky-”

“No, I... let me. Please.” He insisted, and she nodded her head, letting him continue. “This has been weighing down on me for a little while. What happened was basically all my fault. If it wasn’t for me getting in the way, Steve wouldn’t have missed so much. He could’ve been with you for those two years. I took him from you and I’m really sorry, Y/N.”

“Bucky,” the woman spoke earnestly, “you have absolutely nothing to apologize for.” She watched as his shoulders visibly relaxed. “You and I both know very well that Steve makes his own decisions. And by the sounds of it, you would’ve been in a lot of trouble if he hadn’t stepped in. So in a way... I’m glad that he was there to help you.”

Bucky smiled at her words, grateful that she was so considerate. “And here I was thinking you’d hate me or something.”

Y/N’s jaw dropped as she shook her head ‘no’. “Oh my god, no, Bucky. I could never hate you for what happened. I’m so happy that you can finally be a part of our lives, and I’d love it if we could be friends.” She glanced at her son and then back to Bucky and Sam. “He loves having his uncles in his life.”

Bucky had an appreciative expression on his face, looking to Steve and saying, “Alright, pal, you got a good one.”

Y/N beamed and let out a small giggle, as her husband gave a nod and said, “I know.”

Now that A.J. was done his meal, he was getting restless just sitting in the high chair. He started to whine and wiggle a bit, reaching his arms out to his parents. “Mama, dadda!”

“He wants to sit with us.” Y/N said as Steve took him out of the chair and sat him on his lap.

“So desperate for attention, just like you.” Steve quietly teased her.

She stuck out her tongue at him before looking down at her boy. “Anthony, can you tell me who this is?” She pointed at Sam, trying to test his memory.

“Unqle Sam!” The toddler stated excitedly, making Sam nod cockily.

“And this?” She pointed this time at Bucky.

“Unqle ‘Ucky!”

“Yay!” The mother cheered. “You’re such a smart boy!”

“We claim him now.” The Falcon quipped.

“He sure does love his aunts and uncles.” Y/N added.

A.J. nodded, before beginning to list: “Unqle Sam, Unqle ‘Ucky, Unqle ‘Wodey, Aun’ Peppa’, Unqle ‘Ony...”

At the mention of Tony’s name, Y/N froze, glancing down at her lap, trying to hold back her tears. It didn’t go unnoticed by the men, as Steve’s hand that wasn’t holding A.J. grabbed her thigh, rubbing softly.

“Buddy,” Steve spoke gently to his son, “we talked about how Uncle Tony’s not around anymore, right?” The words pained him to say, but he had to make A.J. understand that he wasn’t coming back.

“I know.” The boy spoke sadly. “I want him.”

“Us too, little guy.” The blond man stared at his wife. “Us too.”

Bucky and Sam remained quiet until Y/N finally spoke up, “You two are coming to the funeral, right?”

The Falcon nodded. “Of course.”

The other man was silent for a second. “I... I don’t know if he’d want me there, to be honest.”

Y/N looked him in the eyes, sensing his guilt. “I understand why you might think that. But I promise you, he would in no way be offended to know that you were there. He wasn’t that petty, and deep down, he knew that you’re not at fault for what happened, Bucky.” She watched the man bite his lip in contemplation. “Please come. I know that Pepper would like as many of us there as possible.”

The brown-haired man nodded. “Okay... I’ll be there.”

“Good.” Steve said. “Then we have the thing we’re hosting for Natasha.” His wife nodded along. “It’s smaller, we know she wouldn’t want a crowd. But we need to honour her somehow.”

“I completely agree.” Sam added. “I’ll help in anyway you guys need.”

“Thank you.” Y/N spoke, deep in thought. God she missed her friends so much.

*****

Y/N stood by Steve’s side on the dock, A.J. in her arms as she was trying to hold back her tears, failing miserably. Watching Pepper place flowers in the pond, ‘Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart’ in the middle of them, made her so unbelievably sad. Losing the love of your life must be the worst feeling imaginable, and she was so grateful that she hadn’t had to experience it.

Seeing little Morgan having to say goodbye to her dad made Y/N’s arms tighten around A.J., determined not to ever let him go.

Steve wrapped an arm around his wife, pulling her into his side as she tried to cry as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb.

Everyone at the funeral was devastated, but also so thankful and proud of Tony for everything he’d done for them. He was a hero; a martyr. Who most certainly had a heart.

Y/N liked to think that Tony and Natasha were looking down at them now, so happy that friends and family all across the universe could be together again. Finally.

Next Chapter

Feedback is always welcome!❤️

[fallout-drabbles-n-stuff]

Hey there! What kind of car do you think the FO4 companions (and Maxson) would drive, and what kind of driver would they be?

(This is most definitely Pre-war or Modern! AU, so this'll be fun)

Cait:

•No car here.

•Instead, Cait drives a dark gray Harley Road King- outfitted completely with skulls and matching gloves.

•Fucking terrible to be on the road with.

Curie:

•Drives a rather cute, white Audi TT.

•Has several notebooks littering the glove box. Random coloured pens, EVERYWHERE.

•Probably has one of those infuriating ty beanie babies sitting upon the dash, staring into your soul with those inhuman beady eyes.

•Okay driver....

Danse:

(I've mentioned a long time ago that in my Pre-War AU, both Danse and Gage are some country bois..well here you go)

•Drives a hella nice, red, lifted Ford F-250 King Ranch. He loves it, but he usually just uses his "baby" to help haul things around.

•Take the love his canon counterpart has for his power armour and apply it to this Danse's truck.

•Has a sticker of his respective branch (I'm think Danse would be a marine or army man..idk) that he is too proud of and hangs his dog tags on the mirror.

•Stupidly strict about following all rules of the road.

Deacon:

•Ever seen one of those creepy vans with a painted tiger and wizard battling on the side? That's Deacon's.

•The back is renovated with a whole ass couch, tapestries and a funky disco ball.

•Calls it "the party wagon"

•Drives however he feels like.

Gage:

(Yee haw..)

•Drives an absolutely massive, dark gray, lifted 2019 F150 super duty. Has modifications on this bitch so expensive and wonderful that even Danse would shed a tear.

•Has a skull sticker on his back dash, a rifle behind the front seat, and brass knuckles in his glove box. Man is just waiting for a fight. Even the fucking antenna cover is shaped like a bullet...

•If you want to see your life flash before your eyes, ride with him. Uses the shoulder as a lane to pass people, thinks the speed limit is a mere suggestion, and is willing to ram someone for cutting him off.

Hancock:

•Thanks to his funds, he drives a pretty nice black Range Rover with fancy red interior.

•Advent drunk driver but somehow never gets caught.

Macready:

•Drives an old, yet dependable, 2004 Nissan x-terra. Boy, does that thing make him so close to cussing because of that thing. Duncan always laughs at him when that happens.

•It periodically stalls, but it's still faithful when he needs it....

•Mediocre driver..until someone cuts him off.

Piper:

•Drives a 2013 convertible, bright red, mustang!

•Blasts music and drives fast af when it's safe...but is strangely the safest one to ride with out of everyone else.

Maxson:

•Mr. Maxson, or rather the Maxson family is ridiculously rich..lemme just put that here first.

•Drives a badass, black Mclaren P1.

•Terrible driver.

Nick:

•Drives an astonishing cream coloured vintage Cadillac.

•Smells of smoke and coffee and the inside has cigarette ashes and littered newspapers.

•Drives waaaay too slow.

Old Longfellow:

•Does his boat count? Because he isn't really supposed to be driving that thing either but shit, it's better than getting caught driving his car with his suspended license having ass. Don't drink and drive, kids.

Preston:

•Drives a cactus green Ford Bronco. Freaking adores that thing too.

•Has a little rubber duckie that wears glasses perched up on the dashboard. It's name is Steven and he is considered Preston's good luck charm. Laugh all you want damnit.

•Frequently causes traffic jams because he'll let everyone out in front of him.

Sturges!:

•ooooh boy.

•This man loves his several cars, but his main one is a very sexy light blue '68 chevelle that he affectionately refers to as "sweetheart".

•He built the thing up from the ground practically,

•Has a relatively unhealthy attachment to that car and will beat someone up over sitting on it.

•Extremely careful driver...unless he is drag racing in one of his other babies, then it's game on.

X6-88:

•Also doesn't drive a car.

•Instead drives an all black CBR 1000RR Honda motorcycle.

•Has blue LED lights under the bike. Show off.

•Gives zero fucks about traffic rules and primarily drives at night.

[miracleonice87]

’tis the damn season

an Auston Matthews song fic

a/n: based on the absolute masterpiece that is ’tis the damn season by Taylor Swift from evermore. This one was not on my WIP list but came over me as soon as I heard the song when the album dropped. also have no idea how it became my longest piece yet, by far (as in 12k+ whoops). obviously, I do not own any of the music/lyrics to this song nor any other I write about.

summary: Auston Matthews and his ex-girlfriend are reunited in their hometown years after their difficult breakup.

warnings: swearing, alcohol, allusions to sex, a delicate balance of angst and fluff. a bit of a slow burn, if you want to call it that.

_____

You might have been one of the few people on the planet who disagreed with the phrase, “There’s no place like home for the holidays.” At least, for the last few years, that hadn’t exactly been your sentiment.

But, you were home anyway, after a few weeks of your mother’s guilt tripping and your father’s repeated phone calls. And, admittedly, you were enjoying your quiet time at home with your parents.

After helping your mom bake a few dozen cookies for the Christmas Eve party they were throwing tomorrow night, you wandered upstairs to your childhood bedroom to change out of your flour-covered attire and maybe squeeze in a nap. An undeniable perk of staying with your parents during the holidays — so many opportunities to sleep. As you pulled on a well-worn, long-sleeved ASU t-shirt you found hanging in your closet, your phone rang.

You groaned and swore to yourself that if it was your editor again, you were quitting. She’d already interrupted your time off at least once throughout each of your three days at home thus far — your first week of vacation in the two and a half years you’d been with the fashion magazine. You rolled your eyes and reached for the sounding device on your bed, then recoiled when you saw the contact name — or rather, initials — on the screen.

AM

Oh, god.

Even worse, the years-old contact photo popped up behind the name — a picture of the two of you lying together on the shore on your vacation four years ago, right after the draft, when you both still held onto the naive belief that nothing that had just happened in his world would change things between the two of you.

“Shit,” you whispered, covering your mouth while anxiety coursed through your veins.

You couldn’t just not answer. Right? The two of you were on decent terms, though you couldn’t quite remember the last time you’d spoken — probably seven, eight months ago. You had no good reason to ignore his call.

And after all... you were the one who had ended things.

You cleared your throat and, trying to coach yourself into mustering up some semblance of courage, quickly repeated, “Okay, okay, okay, okay.” Then, like ripping off a bandaid, you hurriedly tapped the green button and pressed the phone to your ear.

“Matthews,” you greeted curtly — tentatively.

“Kels. Come over,” Auston said abruptly, though you could hear the smile in his voice. “I know you’re home.”

You squinted and glanced around your room, racking your brain as you tried to figure out how exactly your ex-boyfriend knew your current whereabouts.

“What?” you asked, puzzled, not to mention slightly shocked that he was even interested in seeing you in person — though some part of you was, indeed, grateful for that. “How did you even know I was in Scottsdale?”

“Uh, your Instagram story, my dear,” he said, obviously amused. “You posted this morning from that new coffee shop between the Methodist church and our old school building. Remember?”

You rubbed a hand over your face, suddenly regretting adding him to your close friends list on Instagram six weeks ago after a few glasses of wine with your girlfriends.

“Fuck,” you muttered under your breath, eliciting a chuckle from Auston.

“Yeah, don’t flatter yourself thinking I sit around and stalk you, sweetheart,” he teased. “I thought about replying but I didn’t wanna slide into your DMs and look like a fuckboy.” He paused, and you opened your mouth to make a halfhearted wisecrack that you didn’t truly mean, but before you could speak, he added, “Plus you probably get so many DMs, I’m sure mine would just get lost in the shuffle.”

Again, you rolled your eyes. “Matthews,” you repeated, whinier now.

“C’mon, Kels. Just come over,” he whined back. “I just got in last night. I’m staying at my parents’ house. My sisters nearly busted down my door when they saw you were back in town, plus I know my mom and dad would love to see you.”

Suddenly, two decades’ worth of memories that you had long ago pushed to the back of your mind flooded all at once to the forefront of your consciousness. Sleepovers watching Disney Channel movies and eating peach rings with Alex and Brey. Brian scooping you up in his arms after a nasty tumble off your bike on their street, propping you on the kitchen counter as he bandaged the scrapes on your knees, Auston never leaving your side nor letting go of your hand. Road trips with Ema to watch Auston play in countless tournaments, with you doing homework in the front seat while Ema sang along to the radio. Matthews family dinners eating Ema’s famous chicken tortilla soup. Vacations and carpool and pickup basketball games and shopping for prom dresses and just the mundane, everyday routine you had been part of for so many years.

And those were just the memories that involved his sisters, his parents. You didn’t dare let your mind uncover the buried memories of him, and him alone.

You missed them. Sometimes you missed them all so much that it made your heart physically ache and your stomach drop and your mouth go dry.

So, you drew a long, deep breath, and against your better judgment, eventually said, “Okay. Fine. But you have to send me your parents’ address. I haven’t been to the new Matthews McMansion.”

Auston huffed on the other end. “So mean to me.”

_____

It was certainly a far cry from the modest old ranch-style house where Auston had spent his childhood.

As you pulled up to the sprawling estate in the bougie part of town and cut your engine, you whispered, “What the fuck am I doing here...”

And still, after a quick check of your makeup in your rearview mirror, you got out of the car, closed your door and pushed your sunglasses to the top of your head, sighing as you took in the four vehicles parked in front of yours in the roundabout driveway, none of which you had ever seen before. Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche. Well, you could guess which one was Auston’s.

You walked up the stone sidewalk and slipped your aviators into your purse — it was only then that you noticed that your hands were trembling.

You cleared your throat and exhaled sharply, willing your nerves to subside, as you arrived at the door and pressed the button on its frame, sounding an elaborate chime inside.

“I got it,” you immediately heard a familiar voice call, and you took a startled step backward as you saw his figure approaching through the decorative glass panes outlining the doorway. As he pulled open the door, the flutter you’d tried your hardest to avoid feeling for three years took flight once more in your belly.

“Matthews,” you greeted again, arms crossed in front of you in hopes of hiding your shaking hands.

“Why’d ya bother to ring the doorbell, you nutjob?” Auston asked with a broad smile.

Before you could throw a snide remark back at him, he pulled you into himself, one arm snaking around your mid-back and the other hand cradling your head to his chest. Inadvertently, you exhaled contentedly, and you swore you felt Auston tighten his grip on you then. Your eyes fluttered closed, and you let yourself relax into him for longer than you had intended. He just felt so… familiar. Broad. Strong. Comforting.

He was just… Auston. A thousand things had changed for the two of you, but the way you felt in his presence hadn’t changed since you were a little girl.

You inhaled his cologne, and you noticed that he was doing just the same — breathing in your long-worn Chanel No. 5 perfume, the same kind he used to save up all year to buy you each Christmas.

At that memory, you snapped back to reality and extricated yourself from his embrace, leaving him looking slightly disappointed, though still pleased with your greeting.

“Hi,” you spoke simply as you stared up at him, then chuckled at how stupid that sounded.

“Hi,” he mimicked, head bobbling and eyes widening, causing you both to fall into a giddy fit of nervous laughter over nothing at all.

Just then, you saw Ema’s head pop out from beneath an arched opening toward the back of the house — probably leading to the kitchen, you assumed. Ema was always in the kitchen.

“I thought I heard your laugh,” she sang. You couldn’t help but beam, and Auston smiled and moved out of your way so that you had a direct pathway to his mother. Taking advantage of that, you made a beeline for the petite woman you considered your second mom, already feeling emotion bubbling up in your throat as tears blurred your vision.

“Oh, mija,” Ema said, her voice tight as she met you in the middle of the grand entryway and gathered you into her arms. “Te extrañamos,” (we miss you) she said sincerely.

Auston cupped the back of his neck and quickly looked away then, fearful that he may just shed tears of his own.

You sniffled and murmured, “Los extrañé a todos mucho,” (I missed you all so much) into Ema’s shoulder as she smoothed her hand lovingly over the back of your head.

When you finally parted, moving past the brief sadness of the reunion, Ema still held tightly to your hands, extending her arms so that she could see you better.

“You look more beautiful than ever!” she exclaimed, and you dropped your head bashfully at her compliment. “California is treating you well.”

You nodded. “For the most part,” you remarked with a sigh. Ema glanced quickly from your face to her son’s and back again, deciding not to dwell for too long on that loaded response.

“Well,” she pivoted with a click of her tongue. “You look great. Now come, come! I know Auston’s going to want to steal you away from me, not that I blame him, but I just put on some tea, so let’s sit and have some first.”

“Ma…” Auston protested lightheartedly. Ema wagged her finger at him. “Shh! Mijo! My long lost daughter has returned. Give me ten minutes for a cup of tea with her.”

Auston’s lips parted at her use of the word “daughter,” not that he should have been surprised by it, and you tossed him an animated shrug as Ema pulled you down the hallway back from whence she came. You were right — it was the kitchen, and it was a spectacular one at that.

“Holy…” you trailed off as Ema patted one of the leather barstools at the enormous island in the center of the room. You took a seat, pulling your cross body bag from your shoulder and placing it on the island, and commented, “This kitchen is incredible, Ema. I’m sure you love spending time here.”

Ema nodded and excitedly launched into stories of using all the appliances and gadgets she had never owned before, walking back to the teakettle on the stove as Auston sat down on the nearest barstool, feeling as though he could simply be dreaming, hallucinating, that you were here, sitting with him in his parents’ kitchen. But when you noticed him taking the seat next to yours, you tossed him a classic Kelsey smile and nudged his shoulder with your own, and he felt just slightly more confident that this was reality. Unable to resist your magnetism, which hadn’t faded with time but seemed instead to have only grown stronger, he squeezed your knee beneath the countertop, just as Ema approached with a cup of tea in hand for you.

Choosing to react instead to Ema rather than her son, you grinned and thanked her, feeling Auston’s eyes on you as you lifted the mug to your lips and took small sips, Ema still prattling on happily from the other side of the kitchen. You eventually cast a sidelong glance Auston’s way, accompanied by an amused smirk, the combination of which left him beaming as he looked away from you and back toward his mother, who now approached with two more cups of tea.

“Thanks, Ma,” he said as he wrapped his hands around the mug she offered him.

“You’re welcome, mijo,” Ema replied. “Now Kelsey, honey, how long are you in town?”

“Uh, just until the day after Christmas,” you replied, swirling a finger along the ceramic rim of your mug. “This is the most time I’ve taken off since I started at the magazine,” you admitted with a hint of embarrassment.

Ema nodded. “Your mother said you haven’t made it home for a while. I know they keep you pretty busy there. Is that why you don’t visit so much?” she asked unassumingly.

Auston dropped his head and shuffled his feet awkwardly against the tile floor, and your eyes flickered to him as you racked your brain for an answer that wasn’t a complete lie but also didn’t unmask the whole truth — which was that being in a town that held so much history with your ex was simply too suffocating to bear, even for a quick visit with your parents. So, you typically just stayed in California where you could throw yourself into your work as a fashion writer at a well-known publication and operate under the illusion that you had moved on. From Scottsdale, from Auston, from your life before Los Angeles.

And especially from Toronto.

But the problem was, when the night fell and the lights all faded and you were left to face the truth, you knew in your heart that that’s really all it was — an illusion.

And from 2,500 miles away, Auston knew it, too. He knew it because he was living the same lie.

“Uh, yeah,” you replied sheepishly. “That’s the gist of it. Just, uh, just hard to get away sometimes. My parents usually come out to visit me instead since their schedules are, uh, a little more flexible.”

“Right,” Ema said skeptically as you took a long pull from your mug, despite the hot liquid singing your tongue and making your eyes water. “Well, either way, it’s so good to finally see you here,” she added warmly.

“It’s good to see you too,” you breathed, honesty dripping from that answer.

Auston finally looked at you again, giving you an understanding smile. Even that smallest of gestures made you dizzy.

“So,” you said as you moved away from the topic, sitting up a bit straighter. “Where are the girls? Where’s Brian?”

“Golfing,” Auston answered. “Like always,” he added with a chuckle.

“Why am I not surprised?” you teased, making both Ema and Auston laugh.

“They begged Auston to come with them, but he turned them down,” Ema informed you. “And now we know why.” She lifted her eyebrows and took another sip of her tea as Auston shook his head.

“Dunno what you’re talking about,” he joked. “But no, they’ll be back soon. They can’t wait to see you.”

You brightened at that, not having seen the Matthews girls in nearly as long as it had been since you’d seen Auston himself, finding it easier to breathe when they weren’t nearby, reminding you of him with their every mannerism. And yet, you’d found that starving yourself of their friendship and their company ached nearly just as much.

“I can’t wait either,” you said through a distant smile.

“And Dad will probably cry more than Mom did when he sees you,” Auston predicted, lifting his mug. Ema swatted at his arm.

“Don’t start with me!” she warned. “I happened to see you choking up out there, too.”

You turned to Auston and raised an accusing brow at him. He simply chuckled into his tea and looked away, and the three of you sat in silence for a beat.

“Come on,” he finally said as he rested his mug on the island, nodding his head in the direction of the sliding glass door at the back of the house. “Lemme show you the patio.”

You nodded, knowing full well that showing off the backyard was not the real reason he was inviting you outside. Despite that knowledge, you hopped off the barstool, put your mug in the sink, and kissed Ema on the cheek as you passed her.

“Thanks for the tea, mamacita,” you said with a smile, squeezing her shoulders. “Anytime, mi amor,” she replied, sending a wink your way as you turned to follow Auston.

He slid open the door and motioned for you to step through it first. When he saw his mother watching you through the kitchen window, he gave her a knowing smirk, and she put her hands up in innocence. But as she watched you two walk out onto the patio through the glass, she breathed a silent prayer to any higher power who would listen that maybe, just maybe, you would finally come home.

Not to Scottsdale, no. Home to Auston.

Meanwhile, you were trailing your hand along the hammock near the pool, taking in the scene and trying to remember to breathe. When you heard him close the door, you turned back to Auston, your eyes floating around the backyard.

“Nice setup they’ve got back here,” you grinned, Auston chuckling with his hands shoved into the pockets of his shorts.

“Yeah, it’s even nicer in the summer,” he commented. You nodded, stepping closer to the pool and lowering yourself to sit on the edge, patting the space next to you as an invitation for Auston to do the same.

“We have chairs, ya know,” he grumbled as he took a seat. “Not all of us like to sit on the floor all day doing yoga.”

You sneered at him. “Oh, yeah, that’s what I do all day long,” you said sarcastically.

“Well, you used to, anyway,” he mumbled.

You gulped as visions of him watching you do precarious yoga poses on the living room floor of his apartment flickered in your mind’s eye, and then, once again, you moved right along.

“So… how’s it going, Matthews? How’s life?” you prompted, not even sure if you truly wanted to hear the answer to your inquiry.

He stretched out his long legs so that his feet were dangling above the water as he wondered where to even begin.

“It’s… it’s good,” he said. “Overall. It’s nice to be home for a few days. Needed that. I missed it. Missed my family. Missed…” he stopped himself, “…other things,” he added under his breath.

You chewed the inside of your cheek and decided to avoid the path he was taking this down. “How’s hockey?” you asked instead.

Auston shifted noticeably at the mention of his career, still painfully aware that, despite the successes it had brought him, it had ultimately caused the demise of your relationship.

“Hockey is… hockey,” he said. “Honestly it’s good on the whole. But the team’s not having the greatest year so far, which is rough.” You nodded, knowing better than most that the Toronto media operated at a different level of intensity and scrutiny than that of nearly all other markets, especially when the Leafs were losing, and especially when new blood was added into the equation, like Auston’s had been when they drafted him.

Like yours had been when you moved there with him.

The spotlight they shone on you — and the subsequent attention you received from so-called fans who took to the internet to question your intentions and integrity — had been far more than you bargained for.

Just as you were about to ask about how the guys on the team were faring, Auston spoke again.

“I think about calling you every time we come to LA, Kels,” he said, fixing his eyes on the neighbor’s house in the distance because he was simply unable to look at you while he admitted it. With a sniff, he added, “I’m not gonna lie about that.”

“Why don’t you?” you asked after a beat, maybe unfairly, studying his familiar profile. His features were the same, of course, but he looked… more mature. Older. Wiser. All that jazz. Auston shrugged, still not capable of looking at you.

“Just didn’t think you’d want me to,” he answered dejectedly. Your heart sank into your stomach. Given the things you’d said when you left him nearly three years ago, you could hardly blame him for that one.

“Well,” you started with a sigh. “I guess we could call it even then, because I think about coming to see you play every time you come to LA. Or Anaheim. Or even Vegas. And obviously Phoenix.”

“Well why didn’t you just call me asking for free tickets then,” he said in a tone that he tried to disguise as facetious, but you heard the hurt seeping into his words. “Everybody else I know in any NHL city does.”

You felt a fierce sense of protectiveness then, clenching your jaw as you tried to calm your irate thoughts. You watched him pick at the sleeve of his black Raiders crewneck and felt deeply for him — this man you’d loved since he was a little boy.

“Do they really? Still?” you asked in monotone.

Auston nodded, squinting in the sunlight. “Yup,” he answered, popping the ‘p.’ “Every game.”

“Jesus Christ,” you muttered, covering your eyes with your hand and pushing into your temples. You blew out a long breath. “Fuck. I’m really sorry about that. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I… it just sucks.”

Auston shrugged. “It’s not your fault,” he stated. “Sometimes I do it, sometimes I don’t. Kinda depends on whether the person’s actually talked to me lately.”

You nodded as he chuckled sadly, and you felt your chest tighten. “Well,” you began, clearing your throat. “I guess I wouldn’t qualify then because we haven’t talked much.”

Auston looked at you with intensity surging in his deep brown eyes, and you wanted to look away but found that you couldn’t.

“You always qualify,” he said seriously. “You’re one of the only people that qualifies.”

You bit down, hard, on your bottom lip and grappled internally with the weight of his comment. Then he said sarcastically, “Besides, I know you’re only after my money. I mean, you forced me to buy you that Louis bag the week after I got drafted.”

Your jaw dropped at his joke, and you scoffed indignantly. “Oh, yeah, the one you finally had to hide in my closet after I kept sneaking it back into your car because I wanted you to return it?” you corrected. “Yeah, ya caught me. You know me, Aus. Such a gold digger.”

Auston had started laughing halfway through your quip, but stopped suddenly. You gave him a questioning look, and he paused before answering.

“You called me Aus,” he stated with a smile he tried and failed to hide. “You went back to calling me Matthews after we broke up. But you… you just called me Aus again.”

“Yeah, well...” you grumbled, “Don’t get too excited.” You tossed him a smirk and he mirrored it, basking in the comfort of the moment.

“So whaddya think of the place? Not bad, right?” he finally asked, glancing around the property, back at the house, then settling his focus back on you.

You shrugged. “A little gaudy for my taste, but...” you began, and Auston shook his head bemusedly, knowing he set himself up for that one.

“No, it’s great. I can see how much your mom loves it. In all seriousness, I think it’s amazing, everything you’ve done for your family. Your parents. It’s pretty incredible,” you said earnestly. “I don’t think I said it enough when we were together, but, I’m really proud of you, Aus. And I don’t just mean about the hockey.”

Auston nodded soberly, turning his head to look you in the eye.

“I know you don’t,” he said quietly. “Thanks, Kels. It means a lot coming from you. More, uh… more than you know.”

And then, before you could think twice about doing so, you reached out your hand to rest atop his, feeling its familiar warmth as your fingertips grazed the raised veins there. Auston swallowed hard, blinking at where your hands now met, and slowly wrapped your fingers in his, giving them a squeeze. You exchanged long stares before you eventually slammed on the brakes in your brain and carried on.

“So, you just casually hang out with Justin Bieber now?” you asked, reaching your palms behind you and leaning back. “And the wildest shit is that I saw it first when he posted it, not you.”

Auston chuckled, looking down at his slides and — ironically — Drew socks combo. In his signature way, he halted his laughter on a dime and his face turned somber as he said dryly, “Yeah, I’m like really famous now, yanno?”

You sighed in annoyance, rolling your eyes as you looked skyward, feeling Auston’s gaze turn to you. You let it go for a few moments before shifting only your eyes toward his.

“What?” you asked accusingly. You could tell by the faraway smirk on his face that he was lost in a memory.

“Remember you had posters of him hung up all over your room in like middle school? From Tiger Beat magazine and shit? And now I play video games and mini sticks with the guy,” Auston said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, and if you ever tell him about that, I’ll end your life,” you threatened, shoving at his arm and attempting to ignore how much his biceps had grown since you last touched them. And then you were slamming the door shut on a rush of memories of having him beneath your touch — some innocent, but most intimate.

Auston saw it in your eyes — the place you went for a moment — as you dropped your hand back to the concrete beneath you. He knew where you went because, so often, he went there, too.

He held your gaze and promised, “Your secret’s safe with me. You know that.”

Only a hint of a smile graced your lips for a fleeting moment as you ran your fingers through your hair. Suddenly, you felt the heaviness of the history between the two of you closing in — smothering you, like it always did. Auston watched helplessly, wishing it didn’t have to be this hard.

And then, in a flash, like he so often did to save you from your swirling thoughts, he casually changed the topic as he commented, “Your hair’s shorter. You look like your mom. In a good way.”

Blushing, you breathed a laugh through your nose. “Thanks,” you said softly. “I think it’s the highlights, too.”

“It is,” Auston confirmed, and then — damn him — he reached out and looped a lock from the front of your face between his thumb and forefinger, the way he had done a thousand times before, usually mid-conversation, always absentmindedly. This time, you knew, as you forced your eyes to meet his, it was a bit more calculated. “I really like it,” he told you.

You nodded, searching his eyes to try and determine whether he had any idea what this — this moment, this visit, this day — really was.

“If you’re gonna ask me what we’re doing,” Auston spoke, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth for a second, “then I have to tell you I have no idea.”

Again, damn him. After all this time, it was like he still lived inside your brain and had read your every thought like the morning paper before you even had the chance to convey it. Which used to save you in a lot of ways. Now it felt kind of… intrusive. But somehow you didn’t mind.

“I had no idea what I was even gonna say when I called you. All I know,” he continued, still flipping the strand of hair around his fingers, “is that I really wanted to see you, and that I was really happy when you came, and that I’m really enjoying this time with you.”

You nodded, and as he pulled his hand from your face, his thumb brushed your jawline just slightly, and that touch alone sent a bolt of lightning through you. Auston smiled softly as he said barely above a whisper, “Okay, now it’s your turn to say something.”

You heaved a sigh, tipping your head back with eyes closed and soaking in the sunshine. “I don’t expect you to know, Aus,” you finally spoke. “I was just so... so shocked, I guess, that you wanted to see me. It’s been so long, I just... I didn’t know when I would see you again.”

“We’ve talked though,” Auston pointed out with a sigh to match yours, pulling a knee to his chest and wrapping his arms around his bent leg. “FaceTimed. Texted.”

You rolled your head toward him. “It’s not the same,” you reasoned softly, hesitantly reaching out your hand to tuck some of his black hair behind his ear. He licked his lips swiftly and placed a peck to your thumb before you slowly withdrew your hand.

“You’re right,” Auston conceded. “Definitely not the same.”

“Uh, sorry to interrupt...”

You were snapped out of your private moment by one person’s voice and another person’s squeal behind you.

“Oh, my god!” you yelled as you shot up from the side of the pool, Alexandria and Breyana already scampering toward you from the back door.

“It’s about goddamn time you came back to us!” Alex shrieked, wrapping her arms around you tightly. “I missed you, little sister,” she cooed, rubbing her hands across your back, and you hummed in agreement.

“I missed you, Al,” you replied, kissing her temple as you stepped back to greet the youngest of the Matthews clan.

“And you. My baby!” you exclaimed, pulling Breyana into your arms. “The true star athlete of the family,” you teased as she squeezed your waist.

“Damn straight,” Breyana giggled. “I missed you, Kels. I can’t believe you’re here!”

You pulled away, glancing behind you as you saw Auston slowly approaching out of the corner of your eye. “Me either,” you admitted, eyes widening dramatically as the girls snickered at you. “How was golf?”

“Brey smoked us, no surprise,” Alex replied. “But shut up about the golf. Tell us what’s going on with you two.”

“Alex!” Auston warned, shooting her a glare. “Please don’t.”

Alex gave him her best older sister roll of the eyes and crossed her arms over her chest as Breyana looked between the two of you.

“Nope,” Alex refused. “Not until you tell me what’s up. C’mon, spill.”

“We’re just...” you began, swiveling to look Auston’s way as he smirked down at you, happy to let you flounder in this one all on your own. “Visiting,” you finished, nodding once at Alex, pleased with your choice of verbiage.

“Honestly, you guys…” Breyana lamented.

“Visiting, huh?” Alex echoed, growing even more suspicious. “Yeah, okay. Sure. Wear protection. Anyways, uh—“

“Alex!” Auston repeated, this time through clenched teeth. “I swear to god...”

“Anyways, like I was saying,” Alex continued. “Your parents invited us all to their house tomorrow night for the Christmas party. I didn’t think you were gonna be there — does this mean you will?”

You nodded, causing Alex to clap excitedly. “I’ll be there with bells on,” you confirmed. “I already made my shortbread cookies.” All three siblings moaned in delight at the mention of your famous treats.

“Hell yeah! Plus that means we won’t be the only ones escaping to the balcony to drink,” Breyana commented.

“Brey, you’re like twelve,” Auston taunted, earning him a sharp elbow to the ribs from his younger sister. “You don’t get to drink with us.”

“Whatever,” she retorted. “Like you guys weren’t sneaking Mom and Dad’s liquor when you were younger than me.”

“Anyways,” Alex said yet again, clearing her throat. “We’re gonna go back inside now and shower, and just, uh, leave you guys to whatever it is you were doing beside the pool there. ‘Kay? ‘Kay. See ya,” she sang, spinning Breyana by the shoulders and guiding her inside, both girls whispering and giggling all the while. “Kels, I’ll call you tonight — you can tell me all about it!” Alex called over her shoulder, sliding the door closed.

You turned to see a pink tinge to Auston’s cheeks as he muttered, “Sorry,” with a dry laugh. You shook your head.

“No, don’t be,” you insisted, waving him off as you took a seat at the glass picnic table beside you, Auston following your lead. “It wouldn’t be a visit to the Matthews house without Alex torturing the both of us,” you teased.

Auston nodded. “Very true,” he said, and you knew he didn’t want to stop there, but he couldn’t seem to find what he did want to say next.

Instead, you ventured, “So what are your—”

At the very same time, he started, “Kels, would you maybe—”

You both chuckled at yourselves, locking eyes. This certainly wasn’t the first time this had happened in conversations — far from it. And usually, you were about to say the very same thing.

So, you motioned for him to speak first.

He toyed with the band of his watch as he said nervously, “I was just gonna say, uh, would you maybe wanna go to dinner with me? Tonight?”

You sat back in your chair, smirking, fully aware that you were teetering on a damn fine line.

“I was hoping you might say that.”

_____

An hour later, after reuniting with Brian (Auston was right — he cried more than the rest of his family combined when he hugged you), you headed home to change for dinner. As you pulled away from the Matthews house, you were thankful that Auston had offered to follow you in his own vehicle so that he could drive you to dinner, which in turn gave each of you a few minutes to breathe.

Surprisingly, your mother didn’t seem at all shocked to see the guest you had brought back with you. You had told her that you were going to visit the Matthews’, not specifying which member of the family had invited you, though she could venture a guess. When she watched two vehicles pull into the driveway side by side, she inhaled an excited gasp, a smile overwhelming her features as she came to meet you at the front door, just as you laughed at a lame joke Auston cracked about your driving.

Your mother nearly tackled him in a hug, which he warmly returned. He shared a similar bond with your mom to the one you shared with his, which was yet another piece that fit perfectly into the puzzle that was your relationship. So many pieces fit, and so few didn’t, but that still didn’t make things whole.

But, you ignored that thought — and so many others — as you left the two to chat, bounding up the stairs to change, now grateful that you’d brought more than one nice option to wear to the Christmas party tomorrow, considering the rest of your suitcase was filled with comfy loungewear.

How could you have ever planned for this?

After touching up your hair and makeup and putting on the more understated of the dressy outfits you’d brought, you returned to the kitchen where your mom and Auston stood huddled at the counter, near empty glasses of red wine in front of them both.

“Already boozin’, huh?” you teased as you folded your arms in front of you. They chuckled, and Auston glanced at you over his shoulder with a smile. When he laid eyes on you, though, he stood straight up and turned to face you, making no attempt to hide his stare, even in front of your mother. Without taking his gaze off of you, he threw back his final sip of wine and blew out a flustered breath. You knew you were blushing, so you walked past him to your mother, pressing your cheek to hers for an air kiss so as not to mess up your lipstick.

“Sorry to take your favorite boy away from you, but we should head out,” you announced as you looked back at Auston. He cleared his throat, walking to the other side of the countertop to hug your mom again, thanking her for the wine and something else that you didn’t quite catch.

He followed you down the hall, his hand ghosting along the small of your back as you reached for your purse on the coat rack. You looked back and blew a final kiss to your mom, who waved as she watched Auston open the passenger door of his car and help you in — both of you giggling as you crouched into the low-riding vehicle in your skirt and high heels. Like a mom of a young teen, she stood at the window and watched the two of you drive down the block and out of sight, hands clasped together wistfully as she turned back to finish placing the final decorative touches in the living room ahead of tomorrow.

Just a minute later, your dad came through the door from the grocery store, calling for her, sounding nearly breathless.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, smoothing the silk ribbon wrapped around the banister.

“Marie… did I just see Auston driving Kelsey down the road in a Porsche?” he gaped, his brow furrowed, thumb pointed over his shoulder.

She laughed, looking downward as she nodded.

“Yes, you did,” she confirmed, then looked at him as she felt tears welling. “Jack... I can’t say for sure, but I think maybe the girl is finally coming to her senses.”

A smile spread slowly across your father’s face and he came toward your mother, wrapping her in a hug.

“Well…” he began, kissing her temple. “Then maybe we’ll get our Christmas wish after all.”

“And what’s that?” your mom asked.

“For her to be happy again.”

_____

“You look amazing, Kels,” Auston said seriously from the driver’s seat. “Gorgeous.”

You gave him a coy smile and briefly inspected the outfit he’d chosen before leaving his own parents’ house.

“Thanks,” you said softly. “You don’t look half bad yourself.”

Auston grinned and decided he would take that.

Ten minutes later, he was pulling up to the restaurant you had already known he’d had in mind when he asked you to dinner, without even needing to discuss it. The same Italian restaurant where you’d celebrated infinite birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Days, and other milestones. You fell into easy conversation during drinks and appetizers before Auston told a comical story about his teammates which led to an in that he knew he needed to take. 

“They miss you, you know,” Auston stated cautiously between bites of his shrimp scampi. “Mo. Mitchy. Especially Steph.”

You folded and unfolded the seams of the cloth napkin in your lap, considering your response.

“I miss them, too,” you eventually murmured. “So be real with me. You really like it there now?” you leveled with him.

His demeanor shifted — in a good way — as he replied. “It’s honestly great. I mean, you’d love it there now, Kels. I swear,” Auston said, shaking his head in wonder. “’M not just saying that. I mean, the hype is still there, yes, but it’s not at the level it was when I first started. Mitchy and Mo and Willy and I, all us guys who kinda started out together, we’ve all sort of found our groove with the media and stuff, and for the most part, it’s great. I have a feeling it’ll just keep getting better, too.”

You watched his eyes light up as he spoke about Toronto, relief and happiness washing over you. It didn’t seem so long ago that Auston was curled up on the couch, near tears, head in your lap, feeling incapable of living up to the expectations set for him — almost buckling under the immense pressure, the likes of which he had never felt before.

You let out a teary chuckle, swiping at a teardrop on your cheek that had fallen as he answered, taking you by surprise.

“You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that, Aus,” you told him, holding your hand over your heart as it soared within you.

Auston nodded slightly, and his lips twitched into a sad smile. “There’s still something that doesn’t feel right though,” he confessed, though it didn’t feel much like a secret. “Still something missing.”

“And what’s that?” you asked timidly as you lifted your wine glass, excited for and fearful of his answer at all once.

“You.”

Forcing yourself to swallow your merlot so you didn’t spray it across the table, you put your fist to your mouth, holding it there while you attempted to process his latest, and most brazen, admission.

“I mean… look, there have been a few others,” Auston continued with a mindless shrug. “But never anything serious, and never anyone that I’m not constantly comparing to you in every possible way,” he told you, rolling his fingertips on the table and focusing on his hand as he spoke. “Feel kinda bad actually, because I know they all thought it was something more than it really was, and then I was always the one to break things off. I didn’t purposely lead them on, I just... once I got into it, I realized my feelings just weren’t in it.”

You opened your mouth to speak, hands limp in your lap, and then closed your lips in a tight line as you mulled over his words. You inhaled a shuddering breath and looked down, feeling the same shame that had overcome you countless times before come back again.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered without lifting your eyes.

“Kelsey…” Auston spoke firmly. “Look at me. Please.”

You did as he asked, lips pursed, and were met with his adoring, enchanting gaze, always too forgiving of your faults and mistakes.

“It’s okay,” he promised sincerely. “I understand. Trust me on that. I’ve always understood where you were coming from, but it seemed like there was just… just nothing I could do about it. Nothing I could do to make you stay, or to bring you back. That’s what made it so hard. That’s what still makes it so hard.”

You nodded. “Well — what you’re doing right now — whatever this is… it’s working,” you divulged, knowing this was a dangerous game and no longer caring.

“Is it?” Auston asked, a full-blown smile appearing now on his lips. Those lips you missed so damn much.

“Yeah,” you giggled, both of you grinning. “God, I missed your smile, Aus.”

“My smile?” he asked incredulously, then scoffed. “Your smile fucking breaks my heart, Kelsey,” he told you in his deepest tone, biting at the inside of his cheek as if he was trying not to lean across the table and kiss you full on the mouth right then and there.

And now, as you saw that look in his eye that you knew so well, you knew two things.

One, you were fucked. And two, you were in desperate need of a minute.

“I, uh, I gotta run to the ladies’ room,” you told him, standing, feeling unsteady as you pushed in your chair. Auston nodded knowingly and said, “Take all the time you need.”

You brushed a hand over his shoulder, the other holding tightly to your crossbody bag, as you attempted to walk in a straight line toward the restrooms across the restaurant floor. You were only one glass of wine deep, yet this night was making your head feel as fuzzy as if you’d just done a row of shots. Once safely inside the bathroom, you tossed your purse on the counter and held tightly to the sink to try and settle yourself, taking deep breaths in an attempt to control your racing pulse.

Just then, you heard a toilet flush, and your sense of solitude was quickly shattered when you saw a familiar blonde figure step out of the bathroom and lean closer upon recognizing you.

“Kelsey!” she exclaimed, moving toward the sink.

“Holly! Oh, my god,” you laughed as you squeezed her upper arm.

“Here, let me wash my hands and then I’ll give you a real hug,” she promised as you both giggled.

You had been a cheerleader throughout high school, and Holly, a year your senior, had been captain the year before you took on the title. Though you two weren’t particularly close, you had always looked up to her, and you’d kept in touch for a couple of years after you graduated before mostly falling off, save for the occasional hype comment or story reply on social media.

“How are you, girl? You look gorgeous!” she said as she threw her arms around you.

“So do you! I’m doing well, thanks. Home for the holidays,” you offered as she stepped back and nodded.

“Yeah, that’s great! Me, too,” she replied, then smiled mischievously at you. “To be totally honest, uh… I saw you when you were being seated. I didn’t wanna be weird or like, intrude, or anything but… I saw you come in with Auston. Are you guys like… back together?”

“Huh? Oh, no, no,” you laughed nervously, feeling yourself blush under her questioning. “We’re not back together. Just, uh, just two old friends, uh, catching up, ya know?” you reasoned nonchalantly as you reached for your bag.

“Oh. Right. Well... ‘tis the damn season, am I right?” Holly said with a chuckle, her own cheeks slightly flushed as she feared maybe she had made you uncomfortable by addressing the elephant in the room.

“Right,” you nodded cordially, then took a step toward her and patted her hand, wanting to make sure she didn’t think you were upset by her comment. “It’s so good to see you, Hol. I’m gonna head back out there—“

“Kelsey, wait,” Holly said urgently, grasping your arm before you could turn away from her. You blinked at her several times, glancing between her grip and her face as you waited to hear what had gotten into her.

“I just have to tell you... for what it’s worth, you guys still look so happy together,” Holly said. “Even if that’s not what this is. I just... I wanted to tell you that. As someone who has known you both for a long time, Auston never smiles as much as he smiles when he’s with you. It’s just nice to see.”

You gaped at your old friend, speechless, and she scrunched her nose at you. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cross the line, I just...” she trailed off.

You shook your head, forcing yourself to act casual. “No, no. Not at all. It’s okay. Thank you, for telling me. I just, I gotta run,” you said, leaning in to hug her again. “Bye, Hol. Have a merry Christmas.”

“You too, Kels. See you around,” She smiled as you moved toward the bathroom door. With one last polite nod at her, you exited and escaped to your seat.

As you reached the table, you had to physically restrain yourself from reaching out and running your hand along the back of Auston’s neck and affectionately trailing your fingertips over the short hair there, as you had done for so many years when approaching him and sidling up to him. Instead, you smoothed your hand over your dress and sighed as Auston turned his head to look at you, grinning as he watched you sit.

“You get lost?” he teased. You chuckled, throwing your hair behind your shoulders.

“Something like that,” you muttered, immediately reaching for your glass of wine, which you could tell had been refilled in your absence. Auston hummed in acknowledgement as you took a long sip, watching you all the while.

“One more glass and then we get outta here?” Auston suggested as you set the glass down. You only nodded.

_____

“Remember when you had that old truck, with the tires that were always muddy, and we used to just ride around Scottsdale all night long?” you asked Auston, both of you reminiscing about days gone by after leaving the restaurant.

Auston nodded, running his pointer finger across his upper lip, the other hand on the wheel, as he watched the memory projecting in his mind.

“‘Course I do,” he told you, and you didn’t miss the way his tone changed when he did, making you smirk.

“So, where to next?” you prodded. “Back to Casa de Matthews?”

He shrugged ambiguously, but secretly, he knew just what he wanted to do. “We could just ride around. Like we used to. If you want. I mean, there’s no real reason for us to rush back to our parents’ houses, right?” he said with a snicker.

This could get messy as the mud on the truck tires, you thought, but your response was already tumbling from your lips.

“Okay,” you said, smiling at him. “I’d say let’s go drive through the rich neighborhoods and look at Christmas lights like we used to, but that’s where you and your parents live now, so...” You clicked your tongue and Auston rolled his jaw, acting completely offended to hide how much he had missed you chirping him. The way it melted him.

“We’re still going,” he insisted, turning the wheel at the next intersection and pulling a U-turn. “We’ll just, uh, we’re just gonna maybe skip a couple neighborhoods, that’s all.”

You laughed — a real Kelsey belly laugh — and Auston watched as you lit up his world yet again. He didn’t even need to see any Christmas lights this year. He had all the light he needed right next to him.

Minutes later, he passed the usual first turn on your holiday lights tour and you furrowed your brow.

“Aus, where are you going? I wanted to see Ranchero Nuevo first. We always start there,” you reminded him.

“No, what’s the actual first thing we do when we go see Christmas lights?” Auston asked, pulling instead toward the strip mall at the next light. When you saw the green glow of the Starbucks sign up ahead, you smiled as it dawned on you.

“Get hot chocolate,” you said fondly. Instead of answering, Auston simply sent a soft smile your way. “You’re the greatest,” you lauded, igniting a pride that burned bright in Auston’s chest.

“Anything for you, babe,” he said before he could even realize what he’d just done. He snapped his head your way and saw that you were trying your damnedest not to smile.

He was completely taken aback as you quipped, “You can call me babe for the weekend.”

Auston did a double-take and then nodded once at your phone in your hands, which had just lit up with two missed calls and a particularly accusatory text from one Alex Matthews that you decided you would have to tend to later.

“Write this down,” Auston instructed curtly.

“What do you mean?” you laughed, holding your phone up curiously.

“I want proof that you just said that to me,” he deadpanned, jutting his chin toward your glowing screen and sending you into a fit of laughter.

After you’d both recovered, Auston picked up your drink — large peppermint hot chocolate, like always — and a coffee for himself, and you set off to wind your way through the same neighborhoods you had driven through countless times, admiring most of the decorations and poking fun at the gaudiness of some, laughing all the while, without a care.

As he pulled into a neighborhood you knew to be just a stone’s throw away from where he had recently purchased a house, Auston took a deep breath, fingers gripping the steering wheel rigidly, and decided to take the leap and say what had been circling through his brain since you’d stepped foot in the vehicle after dinner but had only just now worked up the nerve to say.

“What if we didn’t go back to our parents’ places tonight?” he asked abruptly, the words sounding much more jumbled and rushed than they had in his head.

You chuckled anxiously, staring straight ahead. “What do you mean?”

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and pressed on. “Hear me out. What if we just went to my place for the night instead? I don’t mean to like… to hook up, or anything,” he assured. “Just to be together. I just… I really fucking missed you.” 

Uh, whoops. He hadn’t exactly meant to slip that last part in there, but it was too late to turn back now.

There was a lengthy pause and the car was frighteningly silent as you weighed your options.

“Well...” you eventually said, nibbling on your bottom lip. “If it’s okay with you, then it’s okay with me.”

“Yeah?” Auston asked immediately, searching your face for confirmation that he had just heard you correctly. He couldn’t believe that this — any of this— was really happening.

You nodded.

“Yeah. And… Aus?” you spoke.

“Yes, Kelsey?” he asked softly, joy radiating from his whole being and seeping into his words.

You leaned your head back against the seat and reached to wrap your hand around his on the center console.

“I really fucking missed you, too,” you told him.

_____

“Why did you agree to come with me tonight anyway, Kelsey?”

You and Auston were each almost a full bottle of wine deep by the time he asked this, inhibitions now lowered. He’d barely finished giving you the tour before you were both so palpably overwhelmed by the reality of being alone together in his house, with so many feelings buzzing about frenetically, that you took the liberty of pulling a bottle of red from the wine fridge and asking for glasses and a corkscrew. Auston forked them over without question, and now you were deeply entrenched in the process of examining old battle wounds that had never quite healed.

“Because I missed you,” you answered truthfully. “And also because I owed it to you to accept your invitation when you took a chance by reaching out.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Kels,” he claimed, taking a swig.

You picked up your glass and passed by him as you began to pace the tile floor, unable to just be still during this exchange — this conversation that had been a long time coming.

“I do, though,” you argued. “You gave me everything. Everything. And I still left.”

Auston squeezed the stem of his wine glass so hard he feared he may just shatter it.

“I don’t want you blaming yourself for the things I put you through because of my career choice,” he said firmly, a hand splayed against his chest as he accepted the responsibility, just like he always did.

“But you didn’t choose to have the media posted up outside our apartment every day. You didn’t choose to have strangers stalking me and my family online. You didn’t choose to have them calling me a distraction and a leech and a gold digger and a wh—“

“Don’t say it,” he warned as he lifted a finger, referencing the specific instance of the smearing of your character that had left you broken enough to start packing your bags.

“Okay,” you conceded quietly, knowing just how sick that one word had made him. “But listen. Yes, you chose to play hockey. But you didn’t choose all that shit that came along with it. You didn’t know! Hell, you didn’t even get to choose where you played. But even so… honestly, I used to blame you for everything. Because back then, it was just easier for me to deal with it that way.”

Auston’s head hung between his shoulder blades as he leaned his palms against the bar, reliving the very same pain that had eaten away at him for the past three years, especially the acute ache that had come in the weeks immediately after you left.

“I know you did — blame me, that is,” he said softly. “And I understand why.”

You took slow and deliberate steps back to where he stood and rubbed your hand soothingly across his broad back, feeling the way his muscles relaxed under your touch.

“Hey… look at me, huh?” you asked, gently guiding his face toward yours with your fingers. “I don’t blame you, Aus. I don’t,” you assured, your eyes piercing into his. “Not anymore. I’ve grown. I know I did this. I know it’s my fault that we’re like this. I mean, fuck, I broke my own heart, and I know I hurt you. I just... at the time, I didn’t see a way forward on the road we were on.”

Auston’s mind was firing on all cylinders as he tried desperately to compute what he’d just heard, convinced he was gathering more from your words than you meant for him to.

“And now?” he ventured.

He watched as your pained expression turned to one of, dare he even think it, hope.

“I still see it, Aus,” you said. “I still see us ending up together. I know it’s out of the blue, but…”

“It’s not though,” he said, cocking his head a bit to punctuate his point. “I know it doesn’t make much sense, any of this, but… to me, it’s not out of the blue. I’ve wanted this for so long,” he told you. “And I just need you to know that. Regardless of what happens next.”

“Auston, you and me together… that’s the only thing that makes sense. That’s all that’s ever made sense to me,” you said, clarity washing over you. “But I just, I wasn’t ready. And I got so scared that I wouldn’t be able to handle your life that I… I just ran.”

“You can run, Kelsey,” Auston said softly as he, yet again, twirled a strand of your hair around his finger. “But only so far.”

“Yeah…” you whispered. Then, without hesitation, you grasped his chin between your forefinger and thumb, turning his face to yours and studying his brown eyes just for a heartbeat before pressing your lips to his.

And for now, that was all that needed to be said.

_____

You hadn’t slept together. But you had slept together.

Too much crying and laughing and kissing and rehashing and wondering aloud had left you both emotionally drained and physically exhausted, and after dragging yourself into the master bathroom to throw on a crewneck and a pair of  Auston’s sweats, you’d promptly fallen asleep in his arms, a smile on his features even in sleep.

The next morning it occurred to you, with your cheek pressed against his bare chest and your legs entangled with his, that Auston’s bed — whether here, or in the house where he grew up, or in Toronto — was the warmest one you’d ever known. Though you could tell by the sunlight flooding the room that it was late in the morning, you couldn’t bear to move away from him. 

Soon, he, too, began to stir. As he squinted in the daylight and peered down at you, he closed his eyes once more, a peaceful grin on his lips.

“Oh, thank god that wasn’t just a dream,” he whispered. You chuckled, your fingertips lazily drawing shapes on his pecs as you nuzzled your head further into his neck.

“Nope,” you established. “This is very, very real.”

You lay in quiet thought for a moment before adding softly, “But what happens now?”

At that, Auston’s eyes opened wider this time, a slight panic visible in his face.

“Well,” he began, smoothing his hand over your head and kissing your hair. “What happens now is that we get some coffee.”

You sighed at his attempt to make light of the situation and pushed yourself to sit straight up in bed, cross-legged in front of where he lay on his side.

“You know that’s not what I mean,” you spoke, your fingers pulling anxiously at the bedsheet below. “Yesterday was like a fever dream and now... now we have to face reality.”

Slowly, Auston sat up, too, and pulled you into his lap, allowing you to rest your back against his torso as he gathered your hair at the nape of your neck in a makeshift ponytail.

“Everything that happened yesterday was reality, baby,” he insisted, kissing the crown of your head.

“Our feelings, yes,” you allowed. “But not the rest of it. I mean, fuck, we’re both leaving town in —“ you glanced at the bedside clock and were shocked by the 11:27 that stared back at you, realizing you’d practically slept in half the day — “48 hours. And then what? I go back to LA and you go back to Toronto and we just wonder about—“

“Baby, stop,” Auston begged as he turned you to face him, bringing your forehead to his lips. “Take a breath,” he said, stroking your jaw with his thumbs as he looked down at you, concern etched into his features. “We don’t have to figure all this out right this minute. In fact, we’re not going to. For right now, let’s just let this be what it is. And you have to try and stop spinning your wheels so fast. You’re gonna burn a hole in my floor,” he joked, kissing your nose.

You chuckled sadly, holding his wrists. “You’re right,” you eventually told him. “We’ll figure it out, somehow. I know we will,” you sighed, frowning. “First things first though, I have to get home and help my mom get ready for the party tonight.”

Before you could get out of bed to start gathering your things, Auston circled his arms around your hips and kept you in his lap. “Wait, gimme a smile first,” he requested.

You looked up at him and offered a tight-lipped smile, still distracted by the future of your relationship teetering precariously in the balance.

Auston shook his head. “That’s a fake Kelsey smile,” he accused, accurately. “Don’t even try me.”

With another deep sigh, you muttered, “You’re the only soul who can tell.”

“Who can tell what?” he asked, hugging you tighter.

You looked up at him for a moment, feeling more seen than you had in years. “Which smiles I’m faking,” you said quietly.

A pleased smile twitched at the corners of Auston’s lips before he pressed his mouth to yours.

_____

Auston walked into your parents’ house that night with his understated charm and a devastating ensemble of a maroon suit, white shirt with the top few buttons undone, and black loafers, looking every bit the GQ model he was once upon a time. With two bouquets of red roses and a bottle of champagne in hand, he knocked on the glass and your dad met him enthusiastically at the door.

“What’s the occasion?” your dad then chuckled, a bit puzzled. Auston glanced to where you stood near the staircase, waiting to greet him, and smiled.

“These are for your daughter,” Auston said as he grasped one bouquet. “And these are for your wife,” he said as he gestured toward the other. Your dad raised his eyebrows, looking between the two of you pensively, and let out a loud laugh. “Well, how thoughtful! And the champagne?” your dad asked as Auston stepped toward you and tucked one bunch of roses into your hold. He kissed your cheek chastely and turned back to your dad.

“Well, you never know when you’re gonna have something to celebrate,” Auston said with a smirk. You pulled your bottom lip between your teeth and your dad clapped Auston’s back appreciatively before leaving the two of you to your moment.

“Thank you, for the flowers,” you said softly, staring up at him. “They’re beautiful.”

“You’re welcome,” he said with a nod before your aunt and uncle suddenly appeared in the doorway, loudly greeting you and pushing their way toward you for hugs as Auston gave them their space and waited for you to become available again.

His patience lasted all of five minutes as he made vague pleasantries with the handful of guests who had already arrived, before he was approaching you again, eager to do what he really came here to do and unable to wait a moment longer. As you turned away from a brief conversation with a longtime next-door neighbor, Auston gently grasped your wrist as he said hastily, “Can I see you outside for a second?”

You didn’t have much of a choice as he led you hurriedly through the formal living room and out the French doors to the balcony, closing them behind you and backing you into a corner, hidden from view.

“Aus, what are you—“

He pressed his body into yours, nudging you back against the rail as he took your face in his hands and kissed you hungrily.

“Doing,” you whispered when he let up, completing your earlier thought as you pressed your fingertips against your swollen lips and looked up at him, your cheeks reddening.

“That,” he answered simply with a small smile. “And I wanted to give you something...”

He patted his pockets to determine where the object was, and your eyes widened.

“Auston, no!” you exclaimed, squeezing his elbows in an attempt to stop his search. “You can’t. I didn’t get you anything. I —”

“Kelsey, are you crazy? Yes, you did,” he said firmly. “Time with you. You gave me time with you. That’s all I’ve wanted for the last three years. That’s more than I could have ever asked for.”

There was nothing you could say then, nothing that sounded worthy enough to hold any significance in such an already meaningful vignette of the two of you. Auston took your silence as his opportunity to pull a mid-sized, square, red leather box from the pocket of his suit jacket, the name “Cartier” imprinted in gold script on the lid.

“Auston, stop,” you warned in a whisper, knowing what was inside and knowing that you would be rendered completely incapable of walking away from him once he offered this gift to you, knowing what it signified for both of you. He shook his head, knowing that your request was an empty one. He propped open the box and placed it on the small wrought iron table in front of you on the balcony. You couldn’t peel your eyes from it as your mind raced with questions.

“How... where... we slept until noon, Aus,” you stuttered. “All the stores were closed. Where did you even buy this?”

He pursed his lips and nodded once, then put his hands into his pockets and admitted, “I’ve had it for almost three years, Kels.”

You blinked again and again, not processing what he’d just revealed.

“I’m sorry... what?”

“I bought this for you for Valentine’s Day three years ago,” he continued. “I bought it and I hid it in my closet and I was gonna give it to you but we broke up on —“

“January 30th...” you whispered. Auston’s brows knit together in agony, and his throat constricted.  

“You remember too,” he stated quietly.

“Yeah. Yeah, I remember a little too well,” you said, sniffling as you glanced down at the box again.

Suddenly, your mind drifted back not to that fateful day in his apartment in Toronto, but instead to lying on your stomach as a kid in your family room, flipping through the pages of your favorite issue of your mom’s old Vogue magazines, as Auston used a yardstick and a Nerf ball as makeshift hockey equipment, taking shots at your couch again and again while you soaked in the photos of beautiful models, trendy clothing, and expensive jewelry, as visions of working at a fashion magazine someday twirled through your daydreams.

“Whatcha readin’?” a ten-year-old Auston inquired as he dropped next to you to take a break from his game.

“Vogue,” you answered, turning another page. “Like usual.”

Auston nodded, spotting a pretty woman in a tight black dress and commented, “Cool,” with a laugh. “If you could have anything in that book, what would you pick?”

Ever the master of sass, you rolled your eyes.

“It’s a magazine, Aus,” you corrected with venom in your voice as Auston rolled his own eyes. “But, if I had to pick... I know just what I want,” you informed him, leafing through the issue to get back to an ad in the front. When you finally found what you were seeking, you plopped the magazine down again, smacking your hand onto its glossy pages.

“That,” you said, pointing to the gold bangle. “It’s called the Love Bracelet. It says that it gets bought by somebody you love and then they have to use a screwdriver to put it on you.”

“A screwdriver?!” Auston asked incredulously. “Wouldn’t that hurt?”

You giggled. “No, silly,” you drawled. “It doesn’t hurt. But then the person who loves you is the only one who can put it on you or take it off you. You can’t do it by yourself.”

Auston nodded. “Cool,” he repeated, more seriously this time. You sighed wistfully as you gazed down at the bracelet.

“Yeah, but it’s a whole bunch of money, and my dad said he isn’t buying it. He said maybe my husband will get me one someday,” you said sadly. Auston watched your face drop, then, he got an idea.

“How about this,” he offered, nudging you with his elbow. “If I get famous for playing baseball, or hockey I guess, and I make a boatload of money, then I’ll buy you that bracelet. ‘Kay?”

You blushed, hunching your shoulders as you were slightly embarrassed by your best friend’s offer. Still, you loved Auston, and you knew he loved you. He was the only person you wanted to get that bracelet from, except for like, your mom or dad.

“Okay,” you agreed. “You promise?”

Auston dragged his index finger over the left side of his chest. “Cross my heart,” he confirmed.

This time, it was your turn to say, “Cool.”

“I asked my mom to hold onto it,” you heard him telling you now. Now that you’d become the people you’d said you’d be. Now that you both had grown into the farfetched dreams you’d shared as children. Now that you’d come back home — back to one another. Now that he was here, in front of you, again. “I just couldn’t bear to take it back, even though I honestly never thought I’d get the chance to give it to you.”

You were shaking your head endlessly, attempting to stop tears from streaking your face. “I can’t believe this...” you said, awestruck.

“I don’t have to put this on you right now,” Auston said, swallowing his own tears he felt creeping up on him. “I just want you to have it. It’s yours. You should keep it.”

With a few swipes at your undereyes, you rubbed away the wetness on your hands and then extended your left wrist to Auston. A smile flashed briefly across his lips before he set them in a straight line once more.

“Are you sure?” he asked, caution in his voice.

You pulled him in by his waist, beaming, before you answered.

“I’ve played this out basically every night since I left,” you told him. “Even when I was with somebody. I just followed the path my mind was taking me all the way to the very end, until there was no place left to go. And it always leads to you. It always leads me home.”

Auston pulled you into a searing kiss, both of you smiling into it, before he squeezed your hand and reached for the box, carefully disassembling the bracelet so that he could put it on you at last.

“All day I’ve been thinking about what I said earlier. About running,” you spoke as Auston worked on securing the bracelet. “I started running and running and it’s been such a mess since then. Nothing about the past three years made any sense to me. And then I saw you, and… it all made sense again. You and I were the only thing that ever made sense to me,” you told him, your voice wavering as he twisted the final screw into place, lifting the inside of your wrist to his lips and placing a warm, reverent kiss to the skin there, his eyes never leaving yours as he did. “So I’m done. I’m done running, Auston. I can’t run anymore.”

“You have no fucking clue how long I’ve waited to hear you say that,” Auston admitted, touching his forehead to yours before leaning back. “So, to your earlier point... what the hell are we supposed to do now?”

You ran a frazzled hand through your long hair and bit at the inside of your cheek as you formulated your response. “I mean, I have to go back, Aus. I’m working on a really big project...”

Your words put him into a tailspin of his own this time, watching the dreams he had let resurface over the last two days come crashing down in front of him all over again. You were eluding him. Again.

His ears were buzzing so loudly that he barely heard your next words.

“But maybe after that... I could come and spend some time in Toronto?”

Auston pulled his tongue away from the roof of his dry mouth and pleaded, in a voice barely above a whisper, “Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t say that unless you really mean it,” he said, desperation in his tone.

“I mean, really, I don’t have a choice,” you pointed out with a breathy laugh, your fingers tracing the cold metal of the bangle around your other wrist. “I don’t see any other way that this ends. Not after this. This perfect fucking weekend. I mean... do you?”

“No,” he quickly retorted. “No, I don’t. I was just scared that you... that this was going to be it for you. That we would have this incredible time together and then it would just be another chapter in the Auston and Kelsey history book.”

You smoothed your hands over his lapels, allowing your body to fully relax into his.

“Auston, this... this is different,” you said somberly. “Before, it all just felt like too much. I got scared. We were so young, Aus. I mean, we’re still young, but we were babies. And now... I’ve realized that dealing with the press and the social media and the fans... it’s worth it to me. I’ll never like it. But I love you. And that’s enough. That will always be more than enough for me — being with you. And I’m so sorry that it’s taken me this long, that it took me finally coming back home, to realize that.”

“Don’t be sorry, Kels, please,” Auston whispered, one hand clutching at your hip, the other tangled in the hair at the back of your head as he held onto you with everything he had, knowing he was ready to do so for as long as you would let him. “Just... just say it again, baby. Please?”

“I love you, Aus,” you whispered, tears falling freely down your cheeks as he pressed his forehead to yours. “I’m never gonna stop.”

“Don’t stop,” Auston pleaded, nuzzling his nose against yours before pressing his lips to your mouth. “Don’t ever stop. Promise?” he asked, his voice gravelly.

“Cross my heart,” you whispered, drawing a pretend line across your chest before cupping his cheek and kissing him tenderly.

[yandere-ac]

Hey buddy, do you know a channel named Etce? It's a guy that makes gameplays of Animal Crossing, and his favorite is Maple. It's so funny how he sounds low-key like a yandere for her, with made me imagine what it would be if we, the darlings were villagers, and maybe the yandere villagers played the role of humans trying desperately to cage us in their islands lol (like Audie being human and trying to take you with her) sorry, it's just so shitpost idea I hoped it made you laugh a bit tho :D

Yandere Human Audie x Villager Reader x Yandere Human Raymond

Rescue me

Another day in hell. That’s pretty much how life was for you nowadays. Each day you wished it would be your last and everyday just got worse and worse. Even if you wanted it all to end, you couldn’t. But let’s start from the beginning shall we? Your name is Y/N. You are a F/A villager who, unbeknownst to you, was a REALLY popular villager. People had online groups talking about just how badly they wanted you, people drew tons of art of you, some really cute, other a bit...questionable. Some people were even selling you for millions of bells. Of course, it all started small. So when a moderately big group of people on the internet started to talk about how cute you were and how they wanted you, you didn’t put much thought into it. You were very flattered at their compliments and left it at that.

However, once it came out that you would be signing up for the nook inc island getaway package, all hell broke loose. It was the day before the move when you decided that, why not check out the little fan group you had. As much as you hated to admit it, you did get a small boost in confidence from all the nice people who seemingly liked you. And right now you were pretty nervous about the whole move. So you quickly typed in your name into your phone and searched up. Your eyes widened at what you saw once you hit search.

947 619 results in 0,8921 seconds. What the hell?! Why did your name have so many results?! This...this had to be some weird coincidence, I mean, maybe you just shared a name with a popular actor who just blew up. Yeah that’s probably it. But all rational thought left you head once you saw that the little group was now the top result, and the little group wasn’t so little anymore. No, quite the opposite. It had gone from maybe about 5000 people to around 230 000 people. Each and every one of them, praising you, talking about how much they loved you. Some of them even wrote out detailed descriptions of what they would do with you if they found you, things that made your face flush scarlet red, why in the world would someone write that?! What reason did they have?! You felt disgust and discomfort flow throughout your body. Now feeling even worse than how you felt before! Should you even move?! What if you encountered one of these weirdos?!

Yet, you still went. You couldn’t exactly cancel your flight now could you? You’ve already sold your home and you couldn’t buy it back. You just hoped that you didn’t get paired up with a crazy person. And still, it would seem like luck wasn’t on your side.

Knock knock knock

Oh god.

“Y/N! Good morning my sweetheart!” And so, it began. You turned to look at the human in front of you, trying to push down your instincts to whimper and tremble. You had found it easier when she believed you weren’t horrified of her. Last time you shook in her presence she came very close to you and asked what was wrong. When you told her she was scaring you she simply picked you up and carried you to her house. There she spent the next 3 hours spooning and cuddling you, whispering various things in your ears all while you quivered in her arms, terrified of what she would do. Who was this woman? Why it was the island representative, Audie. The girl had long orange hair that went down to her waist and blonde bangs. On her head rested a pair of white sunglasses with purple glass, she never really used them for sun protection so you guessed it was for the aesthetic. She had yellow eyeshadow and winged eyeliner, bringing out her intense blue eyes. Eyes that would strike fear and dread throughout your entire body once they made contact with yours. She was wearing the same tropical muumuu that she always wore. Audie was looking at you with a big smile on her face. You would be lying if you didn’t say that she was a very beautiful girl. But all that beauty was overshadowed by a possessive and clingy nature. She was crazy, she saw you as hers and would make sure you belonged to her and her only. She seemed normal enough when you, her and a third islander moved to the island together. A little strange but still very bubbly and happy to be around you. You probably should’ve realised that she was one of your fans sooner than you did.

She would get annoyed when you hung out with the other resident, Kevin, a yellow bird. Soon you started to see her hitting him with a net, telling him to get out of the island along with other horrible things. And you realised that the more you tried to comfort and hang out with him the more Audie would hit him. You didn’t know what to do. You would report this behaviour to Isabelle but she told you that there was nothing she could do since Audie was the island rep. She was untouchable, and so, you could only helplessly stand back as Kevin was being harassed. You knew if you tried to intervene, Audie might do something more drastic. The whole situation was bad and apparently even Tom Nook has privately told Kevin that it might be for the best if he moved out.

All of the abuse led to Kevin finally moving out. You felt bad for the poor guy. But you were even more scared of Audie. What was truly scary was the fact that Audie had acted nothing but sweet around you. Giving you cute outfits and accessories and furniture. In a way it scared you more than if she would be hitting you as well. Because she was honestly terrifying when she acted nice around you. She would be unaware of how strongly she came off while near you. As a result she would usually be oblivious to your fear of her, which would result in very little personal space and a lot of touching. Not anything inappropriate, no, touching your shoulder, twiddling with your hair, stroking your arm, even giving big hugs that would shake you to your core. She was so much bigger than you, so to have her overpower you like that, you felt completely helpless in her strong grip. She could do anything and you would be powerless to stop it. And that’s why she was so much scarier when nice. She would practically drown you in affection that you did not want. Yet she either didn’t care or didn’t notice.

Going back to present day however. Audie was now walking towards you and you could feel yourself Yelp as she grabbed your hand and kissed you on the cheek. “H-Hello sweetheart...” you didn’t want to call her that, it’s literally that you couldn’t NOT say that. She changed your catchphrase to “Honey” and your nickname for her to “sweetheart”. So you had no choice but to call her that. You could feel your hands start to shake slightly and you tried to make it stop, but that only made you tense up in your whole body as trying to calm your nerves only made them worse. Audie was quick to notice this. “Oh? Why Y/N, your shaking. Is something wrong?” What do you say what do you say? “N-No I’m fine! I uh...I’m just a little cold that’s all...” you probably should have said something else as once she heard this, Audies eyes lit up and instantly you knew you weren’t gonna like this. “Awe you poor thing. Here let me help you!” And so, she lifted you up in her arms and carried you to your bed, where she proceeded to spoon you. At this point you figured you might as well not hold back, as long as she thought you were just cold and not afraid. And so, your whole body started to tremble. No matter how many times she did this, it would never be any less scary. “Oh my. Your shaking very bad. You must be absolutely freezing! Looks like we’ll be here for a while.” Shit.

But this sort of suffocating intimacy was not even the worst part of Audie. As island representative, she was the only one who could build and terraform the island. And she used that for bad things. The first thing she did when she found out she could move houses was to move yours next to her. After that, she completely surrounded both of your houses with a fence. Audie could exit the “yard” anytime, all she needed to do was pick up a part of the fence and put it down. But you, you were stuck. You could not get out and could only watch the island from inside your little “enclosure”. She also started to decide what you should wear. Sometimes she would give you cute clothing, things that you actually enjoyed wearing and felt comfortable with. Other times...other times she would give you skimpy outfits that barely covered you and made you feel very uncomfortable. At times like that you felt grateful no one else could see you. It was only you and Audie. But that didn’t exactly make you feel good. Anytime you wore them, Audie would squeal and blush and inspect you. She would walk circles around you, like a wolf circling a terrified bunny. Just waiting to pounce on it and sink it’s teeth into the poor critter. Luckily, Audie has never done anything...like that to you. She at least respected you enough to not force you to do anything. And that was at least a comfort for you. It was one of the very few comfort you had.

However, you weren’t ALWAYS trapped. Sometimes, Audie would hold a strange sort of...event? It’s very weird. She would open the fence and let you wonder around but shortly after you could see people arriving through the airport and drop off hundreds of Nook mile tickets. It would be insane to see how much they would give Audie. And at first you didn’t know why, you were aware of the fact that some people sold their villagers, but from what you knew, Audie didn’t do that. It was only later that you realised why they were here. They were here for you. They would pay up to 200 nmt just so they could get an hour of talking with you. You thought that was really weird, but to be honest, you didn’t mind it at all. It was the only time you could walk around the island and you could even talk to other people. Those other people being the paying humans of course. But it was nice, you enjoyed talking to some of them. You didn’t particularly like the humans that would only gush about you, telling you how much they loved you, and only asking you about stuff over and over again. It was just tiresome and very annoying. But every now and again there would be the humans that would talk to you like a normal person. Those were your favourites. Out of everyone, three humans stood out to you.

The first one was a girl. She was pretty short, maybe a few inches taller than you. She had light brown skin with freckles and blond hair. Her eyes were big and said hair was tied up in two pigtails. She was wearing a beige layered tank dress that looked very cute. Her name was Coco. She used to see you all the time. She was a frequent costumer, but then one day she just...stopped coming. Maybe she ran out of tickets, maybe she just lost interest, or maybe she found or bought her own Y/N. Yeah, that was a concept that made you really freaked out. The fact that there was apparently a bunch of copies of you out there. It happens to everyone who buys the nook inc getaway package. Either way, it didn’t matter. She stopped showing up, and you never saw her again.

The second one was a tall chubby man with yellow curly hair and a brown moustache. His skin tone was a bright shade of yellow. His eyes were kinda narrow but you could still see his very prominent blue eyes. He was always wearing a red ringmasters coat, always wearing it with such pride, you thought it was very cute. His name was Chops. Chops was always very nice to you. He would treat you well and act like a gentleman, sometimes it would come off as a bit weird but you knew his intentions were good. But after one visit where he asked if you would ever like to see his island, you never saw him again. And you were really excited as well...you thought that you could get away from this place but...apparently not. You didn’t believe that he just stopped going here like Audie said. By now you were smart enough to know that Audie wouldn’t let ANYTHING like that fly. You see, she kept a close eye anytime someone was there to visit. It was all part of the deal. They would get to come and hang out with you just as long as she was there with you. She would of course stand back a little, giving you and the customer some space. But never the less, she would be there, watching.

And the third person was a tall skinny guy named Raymond. Out of all three, Raymond was probably your favourite. He was around the same age as you, maybe a year or two older. He was very pale, you got the impression that he wasn’t exactly the type of person to tan. He would wear a grey waistcoat with a blue tie. His hair was blond and very neatly kept, he was very adamant about being precise. He wasn’t a neat freak per say. But he wanted things to stay orderly. But one of the most captivating things about him was his eyes. He had heterochromia, his right eye was brown and his left eye was green. On top of his eyes were a pair of glasses. And although he himself had said that he didn’t like his eyes, you thought they were beautiful. And anytime you would say that, you could see his face heat up as he muttered a thank you. You really liked Raymond, and you got the feeling he liked you as well. You liked him a lot more than Audie and you hoped she didn’t figure that out. Because once that happened, Raymond would probably get thrown out and not be allowed to see you.

Luckily, you don’t think she suspected anything. She seemed to trust Raymond since she left you two alone when he was over for no extra charge. It was amazing really, you don’t know how he did it but he apparently got her to trust him. And you were grateful for that. Because you and Raymonds conversations were usually the most genuine out of all your interactions.

“Hey Raymond? Could I ask you something?” You asked the guy sitting next to you. The two of you were sitting under a cherry tree near by the beach. He looked at you with a smirk. “Of course you can! You can tell me anything my dear Y/N.” As he said this, you could feel a smile form on your lips. He was always so sincere with you. “Okay so...how many tickets have you spent visiting me? A lot right? Why wouldn’t you just save up those tickets to buy or go for a villager hunt to find a copy of me? Wouldn’t that be easier than spending so much just to get an hour of speaking time with me?” This so something that had bugged you for a while. You didn’t understand this man. Why would he spend so much just to talk to you? Raymond let out a deep chuckle at this, pushing up his glasses on the bridge of his nose slightly before looking at you.

“It’s because, my dear Y/N. I don’t want a “copy of you”. I want to hang out with the real you, you who are living on this island. You mean a lot to me, and to see you not remember me...well it wouldn’t feel right...” he said. You could feel tears prickle your eyes. Did he really mean that? Did he care so much about you? “Woah woah what’s wrong?! Was it something I sa-“ before he could finish that sentence, he could feel two small arms wrap around his waist. You were now crying into his chest, with him awkwardly trying to comfort you by patting your back. “Hey now, don’t cry. It’s okay-“ “No no it’s not! You don’t understand!” But as you said this, Raymond pulled you out from his chest, grabbing your shoulders as he stroked one of your cheeks with his hand. “But I wanna understand! Please Y/N! If there’s something going on, I want to know so I can help! Just...please...tell me what’s going on? I care about you Y/N...” as he said that you could feel your heart skip a beat. Should you....

And so, you told Raymond about the whole thing. You told him about Audie, about Kevin, about the strict rules. About everything. You tried to keep your breath steady but it was hard as all your emotions spilled out. Once you were done it was easy to see the disgust that lingered on Raymond’s face. You didn’t blame him. It wasn’t exactly the lightest thing to process. But after a few minutes of silence, Raymond grabbed your shoulder and looked at you with a serious yet sad look. “Y/N I-.....I’m so sorry....I didn’t know how bad Audie was and I-....I’ve been supporting her...I’ve been paying her nmt just so I could see you. I’ve been giving her the satisfaction and encouraged by directly contributing to-“ before he could continue you grabbed his hands. Raymond looked down at you and got the message. Right now there were more important things to dissolve rather than blaming someone. “Okay okay...you’re right. Well what can I do? Do you need anything?” He asked you. You didn’t know. Should you...yes. “Take me away from here.” You said short and simply. “What?” Raymond responded, making sure what he heard was real and not something he imagined. “Take me away from this hellhole! I don’t wanna live here! To Audie, I’m just some toy for her enjoyment. I don’t want to live here! I don’t want to live here! I don’t-“ Raymond quickly pulled you in for another hug. Both to comfort you, and to silence you. He didn’t want Audie to hear... “Okay okay. Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here Y/N....” Raymond got quiet for a few seconds, almost like he’s considering something. “Come to my island. You’ll be safe there and I’m sure my residents would love you.” He told you, gently stroking your cheek. “Thank you Raymond. Thank you so much!” “Of course Y/N. I promise you. I WILL get you out of here...”

And so, the two of you started planning. Planning on what to do, planning on how you’d do it. There was barely any time left for Raymond’s visits so he agreed to come back the next day. You and Audie waved goodbye to him as he entered the airplane and left the island. Audie grabbed your hand as she looked down at you. “Did you guys have fun? What did you guys talk about?” She was acting and talking very sweetly but you knew what that question meant. It wasn’t “I’m interested in what you discussed” it was “I’m paranoid and need to know what you were doing without me.” But by now you were used to these questions and knew how to get around them. “Oh you know, just life in general. He talked a little about how his island is going and I talked about my life. I told him about the delicious peach pie you made last week.” Any and all suspicion that Audie had melted away once you aged her a compliment. You knew that if you ever wanted to change the subject or get away with something, you needed to sprinkle in a compliment. And just like always, Audie let all of her guard down. “Aww! That’s so sweet of you! I love you so much!!!” And just like most times, she wrapped you up in a big hug. You tried to steady your breathing as you responded to her. “I love you to...” and you stayed like that for a couple of minutes before Audie released you. “Well I just wanted to say, this was the last visit! I’ve got so many Nook mile tickets now that I don’t even need any more! So you don’t have to interact with these weirdos anymore! And guess what? The first thing I’m gonna do is fix up our home. Maybe I can convince good old Tom Nook to give us that big Villa so we can live in the same house! Imagine it, we could hare the bed, I could hold you every night. We would eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together! I could spend my mornings and nights with you! Oh just thinking about it is making me all giddy!”

As she said this, you could feel your whole body tense up. Your eyes went wide and you felt all the air escape your lungs. You wanted to cry, to scream, to yell out for help. But only meekly whimpers came out of your throat. “Oh darling, you’re so happy you can hardly breathe! Well don’t you worry dear. There’ll be plenty of celebration time later!” “N-N-NONONO! H-Hold up i-why...why can’t we celebrate a little tonight? W-why don’t I...sleep at your house tonight? I-I mean if we’re gonna sleep together, we might as well start getting more accustomed to it...” as you said this, you could see Audies face turn into a shade of dark red. It seemed the two of you had very different ideas of what you would be doing once you shared a bed. Of course, nothing happened later that night, just you asleep in Audies arms. Her grip on you was very strong. To get out, you had to slither your way away from her, it took about 30 minutes to do this as any time you made a slight movement, Audie started groaning and moving. You had to be careful, if she woke up it was game over. Once you were free of her grip, you carefully searched the whole room for her phone, making sure not to step on any creaking floor boards in the process. After about 3 minutes, you found it lying on the nightstand next to Audie. So carefully, you approached it and picked it up from the table. Now walking out of the room, preparing to rummage through it. You entered all messaging apps and looked through them all to find Raymond. Finally you found a conversation between Audie and Raymond on an app called “Discord”. You wasted no time, quickly typing in a message for him. You just hoped he would be awake at this time...

“Raymond? Is this you? It’s Y/N. I’ve taken Audies phone. She’s planning on stopping the visits and she’s gonna limit my freedom even further. Please I need your help.” As you sent this you felt even more panic rush over you. The reality of the situation hasn’t quite settled in yet but now? Now you truly realised what could happen if Raymond didn’t help you. Your hands started to shake and your eyes filled with tears, it was getting harder and harder to breathe quietly. You needed to get out of the house before Audie heard you! But just as you opened the door you could feel the phone vibrate. It was Raymond! Before you opened the text, you quickly went out of the house, making sure to carefully close the door. After that you ran towards the big fence, it was higher than your entire body. But you couldn’t stay here. Looking around you saw a tree stump with a sharp golden axe lodged into it. Should you? You have no other choice! So you ran towards the axe, picking it up with struggle. And then, with all your might, all the pent up fear and anger, you struck the fence with force. After maybe two swings you had broken up a small part that you could fit through. And so, you ran, you ran to the beach near dodo airlines. Picking up the phone to look at the new message.

“Y/N?”

“Okay calm down, we’ll figure this out...I made a promise to help you and I’ll be damned if I don’t keep that promise.”

“What if I double the amount of nmt to see you? Would that work?”

You thought about it. But no. Audie wouldn’t care. “No, that’s not gonna work, Audie probably has ten thousands of tickets by now...” And after about 20 seconds you got a reply. “I’ve got it! Why don’t you go to the dodo airport, open the gates and tell me the dodo code!” This....this could actually work! You wiped your tears away and quickly replied. “Yes! I’ll go do it right now!” And with that, you quickly ran into the dodo airlines. You asked Orville to open the gates and that you wanted visitors, and after a quick weird look he complied, telling you the dodo code. He was probably not used to villagers wanting to go but it wasn’t exactly any rules against it. You pulled out your phone to text Raymond, he had left a message to you. “Alright! Let me go to the airport!” You smiled to yourself as you read this. Is this it? Are you really gonna escape? You texted him back. “The dodo code is B2GT7.” And now you just had to wait. You sat down on one of the stools in the airport, twiddling your thumbs as you waited. But then. Something awful happened.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?” You quickly turned around in shock to see the person you wanted to see the least. It was Audie, standing in the doorway. Her hair was disheveled and she looked this close to snapping. Your whole body started to shake more violently then it had ever done. “A-A-Audie?! I-I-I ca-an exp-plain!” You couldn’t keep your voice steady as you hastily backed up against Orvilles desk. Orville was looking at the both of you, very concerned but mostly scared. “YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE OUT HERE!!! ESPECIALLY AT THE DODO AIRLINES! WERE YOU GONNA FLY AWAY AND LEAVE ME!!!!” Audie was now approaching you at a rapid pace. It didn’t take long before she was towering above you. “I really thought I could trust you Y/N! But it seems I’ve been giving you to much freedom. Until we get the shared house, you’re gonna be locked inside my house!” As she said this, she grabbed a hold of your arm and started dragging you

away, you were punching and trying to pry off her hand but it wouldn’t budge. Once you were outside of the airport Audie continued. “Maybe I’ll have to put the new basement to use. Yeah, until we get the shared house, you’ll be chained up in my basement. I can’t trust you on the main floors, they have windows and I wouldn’t want you to escape again!” Once you heard this, adrenaline kicked in to the max. You used all your strength to kick Audie in the shin. She instantly released you to grab her leg. Letting out strings of grunts and curse words. You tried to run back to the airport again but Audie tripped you and grabbed your legs. Now dragging you back to the house. You tried to grab onto anything, digging your nails into the ground. But nothing slowed her down, she was determined to take you with her. So you cried out for help. Hoping that someone, ANYONE would hear.

And just then you could hear footsteps approaching and Audie letting out a grunt. Suddenly, her grip on your feet released and you could hear a big thud. Turning around, looking back, you could see Raymond. He was leaning over Audie, two hands pressed against her throat. He was strangling her! You quickly ran up to him and tried to pry him off. “Raymond no! Stop! Please stop!” He looked at you, hate in his eyes, yet none of that hate directed at you. You gave him a pleading look. And so, Raymond stood up. Taking his hands off her throat. Audie immediately started to cough, desperately trying to get air back into her lungs after it being forced out. Raymond wasted no time however. Grabbing your hand and running off to the airport. He slammed his hands onto the desk that’s Orville say by. “TAKE US AWAY FROM HERE! NOW!!!”

The flight home was very quiet. Neither of you wanted to bring up what happened before you left. Raymond felt ashamed over himself. He decided to try to break the silence. “Listen I-“ “you tried to kill her...” He didn’t know how to respond in a way that wouldn’t make him sound like a psycho. “...yeah...I did...I’m...im sorry Y/N. I tried to stop myself, but right then, that moment. When I saw how horrified you looked...I guess the adrenaline took over...a-and I know that’s not a valuable excuse! I know that! What I did was inexcusable! But...I don’t know, I guess I just lost control...” as he said this, you leaned your head against his shoulder. “I don’t care what happens to Audie. I care about what COULD have happened to you. What if she got loose and attacked you?! What if someone saw it and called reinforcement!? Do you really think I’m worth going to jail for!?” You turned around to look at him as you said this. There were tears flowing through your eyes. Raymond cupped your cheeks with his hands, using his thumbs to wipe away your tears. He looked into your eyes and leaned closer, kissing your forehead. “You’re worth dying for Y/N...”

After maybe 2 minutes of flying you finally arrived at Raymonds island. Salamacis. You always liked that name and this would be the first time you ever visited Salamacis. The island was still very bright. It appeared to be around 5pm at the island when you arrived, and as the plane flew closer to the ground you could see the decor of Salamacis. It was beautiful, the entire island was decorated in a very classical manner. The ground was covered with stone paths except for the flower gardens full of white and black flowers. There were full of zen gardens everywhere, In fact the whole place screamed of “Zen”. It was very nice. You could also see the occasional islander running around. Some of them saw the plane and waived, some of them even ran after the plane. And sure enough, as you and Raymond walked out of the airplane, A small group of villagers had gathered around you. They all looked curiously at you. Your grip on Raymond’s hand tightened, but Raymond stroked it gently with his thumb, trying to calm you down. He let go as he walked toward them all, with you following behind him. “Everyone! This is my friend Y/N! She’s going to be living here from now on! I want you all to treat her with respect and kindness. As she is a new addition to the family.” Everyone was quiet for a few seconds before a small rabbit ran up to you. She was black with a few white spots here and there and had a black tuff of hair on her head right between her ears. She was wearing a black box skirt uniform and a black beret. “Hello! I’m Mari! Welcome to Salamacis! You’re Y/N huh? We’ve heard so much about you! If you want we can give you an island tour!” “Yeah! Let’s give them a tour!” “Follow us!” They all said as they ran away, you felt much easier as you ran after them. But you stopped midway and ran to Raymond. “Thank you Raymond. Thank you for everything.” And with that, you gave him a quick pick on the cheek and ran after the others. You got a feeling that you were gonna enjoy it here. Meanwhile, Raymond was standing by the airport wide eyed and blushing like crazy.

“So we don’t actually have an open plot for you to live in...so you’re gonna have to sleep in my house.” Raymond said as he led you up the stairs to the bedroom. “I know that it sucks that you just got out of the Audie situation and now still have to share house with someone, but don’t worry! I’m gonna sleep downstairs on the couch!” As he said this, you two arrived in the main bedroom. Just the mere sight of it made you let out a small “woah” to which Raymond laughed slightly. He thought your amazement was adorable. The room had a king sized bed in the middle, with a big fluffy rug under it. You went up to it and sat on the bed. The blanket was made with a soft material and the mattress was so comfortable that you practically fell into it once you sat down on it. You immediately laid down, basking in the comfortable material as you stretched. “So, again, if you need anything, and I mean ANYTHING, feel free to come down and ask. Alright? Goodnight Y/N.” And so, as you got down under the blanket, Raymond turned to walk down the stairs. “A-Actually Raymond? There is one thing I wanted to ask...” as you said this, Raymond made a total 180 and looked at you. “Yeah?” “Would you...would you sleep with me tonight?” Once you asked this, Raymond’s eyes went wide, it looked like there was about a thousand thoughts going through his head. “Y-yeah! Of course!” And so, he walked up to you. Lifting up the blanket and laid next to you. You crawled up to him, embracing him. And he did the same, he was wearing a silk rope with some imperial print. It felt very comfortable. You rubbed your face against him, feeling yourself drift off to sleep. “Goodnight Raymond....I love you...” and just like that. You were out like a candle. Raymond felt his heart beat faster. You...loved him?

“...hhhehheh....hehehe, oh Y/N...” Raymond laughed quietly to himself. He had you, he finally had you! After months of searching! After thousands of Nook mile tickets! At first, he just wanted one of you. But when he found out that you were the original you! That made him interested in you specifically. And that interest only grew and grew until it became a monster-like obsession. He wanted you, he needed you. He was gonna do everything it took to get you. When he attacked Audie, he went in full intention to murder her. Such a disgusting individual! How dare she treat you like nothing but a mere pet! Raymond felt ashamed for what he did, not because he regretted it, but because he did it in front of you. You should never have had to see that side of him. But not to worry, you would never ever HAVE to see him like that again! Now that you lived here with him there was nothing that could come between you and him! He was gonna treat you so much better than Audie did. You would be allowed to walk around freely! Talk to anyone you wanted! Dress in any way you wished! If he found you at the Ables sisters and you wanted the 1 000 000 bell crown? He would buy it! No questions asked! He would even let YOU decide where to place your house once you got it! ...but there’s no rush. If he could have you like this, next to him, for a few more weeks...maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing...he knew that he would eventually have to let you move out into your own home. After all, he just said that he wouldn’t be like Audie. But maybe a little bit more time with you wouldn’t hurt. You wouldn’t mind! The proof was right in his arms. He didn’t even suggest that he slept next to you, yet you still asked for it! And you said you loved him! Oh you were gonna be so happy here! He was gonna make sure of that. He’s your friend. Your saviour. The one who’ll always be there. The one who’ll always have time for you.

The one who rescued you.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Oh was this a shitpost idea? How about I turn it into a 6 0 0 0 W O R D F I C ? No but for real. This is probably one of my favorite ones. It was such an interesting idea and like...I got so much inspiration. Also sorry to the anon that wanted a wholesome happy ending. It’s more of a bittersweet ending. But if you feel bad for Y/N, I don’t think Raymond is gonna do anything since Y/N is pretty much in love with him. There. Happy ending! So yeah...more Raymond :D wooo! Hope y’all are hungry because I am serving some food! This time featuring friends as the villagers beck didn’t want to come up with villagers myself!

[hardlyinteresting]

You Owe Me

Andy Barber x reader Warnings: uhhhh, none I can think of (lmk if you want me to add one), a little bit spicy, but it’s implication more than anything. sorry it’s so short. thank you @exit-goat for all your help! 

Her heels click on the polished concrete floors, echoing through the empty underground parking garage, “Is it really so difficult for you to accept that maybe you’re not always right, Andy?” “I’m usually right”. 

“Usually isn’t always. And either way, let’s not forget that you asked me to consult as co-counsel on this case. If you didn’t want my opinion you shouldn’t have called me in” “You and I both know that jurors are partial to female representatives in cases like this--” “And yet I can’t seem to be able to represent our client without you getting in the way-- I’m not some kind of glorified arm candy who’s just going to sit around. I have better things to do, and a practice of my own. I’m doing this as a favour to you!” Andy stops walking, leaning against the door of his Audi. He’s silent for a moment, a smirk slowly making its way across his lips, he shakes his head, “You haven’t changed a bit. But, if you had let me finish before; jurors are partial to female reps in cases like this, but you know Logiudice gets thrown off his rhythm. Tomorrow when we return, you take the lead of questioning and the case will be in the bag. I have a plan”. “Would’ve been nice of you to share this information with me earlier. You know Judge Robins asked us to adjourn early because of us bickering. I’m not a fan of being made to look stupid"

“Few people are” “You can be so pig headed. This is why we didn’t work out” “Oh, so this is about us now?” Andy asks, raising an eyebrow, moving to stand closer to her. Tilting her chin upwards to meet his eyes as he stands over her, “No. It’s about you keeping me in the dark and treating me like a secretary all day! Our whole line of questioning is thrown off course now and we’ll have to restate everything to get the juror’s back up to speed so they aren’t confused with the new information presented and--” “And what? I want to know how you feel sweetheart”. “Don’t patronize me!” she huffs. Which only makes him smirk a little more. He’s always taken her seriously, genuinely, but it’s hard not to also think she’s almost cute when she’s angry. Her fiery spirit during their lectures is what drew them together to begin with. She desperately tries to search for her words. God, he drives her absolutely insane, but that smile wipes every thought from her brain, he’s so hard to stay mad at, and that only makes her angrier. “I’m sorr--” his sentence is cut off when she kisses him walking back until he’s leaning against the car again, his hand makes its way to cup her cheek, the other on her waist. She pulls away breathless, “you owe me”. “Don’t you worry Honey--I know”. His lips meet hers again. 

[fireclaw90a]

Mag Agent Z: Zalmoxes Irritator

Zalmoxes is an absolute sweetheart, it’s the bodyguard of the Auditor so as long as you don’t come near Audi’ you’re fine. Zalmoxes likes to hang out with the grunts (and they like hanging out with Zalmoxes because it’s the rare friendly mag) and just walk around the AAHW site exploring.

In terms of fighting it just uses it’s claws and sharp tail to spin around and slice people up, so it’s more of a close range thing, the muzzle rarely (needs to) come off.

[emmy-writes-sometimes]

Begin Again

You’re Chris’s best friend and you’re finally getting out of a bad relationship. Chris wants to take the opportunity to tell you how he feels about you. Loosely based off of Taylor Swift’s song “Begin Again”. 

-

           “Hey,” you sniffled as you answered your phone. Normally you were great at answering and making it seem like you weren’t crying, but this was different. And so was the person. It was your best friend, Chris, who you’d met two years ago working on a movie. You were both basically just overgrown frat boys, even though you’d met in L.A, and he didn’t treat you like a kid even though you were one. He was your absolute best friend and he was the only person you didn’t care to cry in front of.

           “What’s wrong?” You heard him say. You sighed.

           “Aaron broke up with me,” you responded.

           “Oh, thank God!” Chris exclaimed. You laughed. The first laugh you’d had in a while. It was a bitter one, but it counted. “I hate that guy. He’s such a fucking asshole.”

           “Yeah,” you said simply. You knew Aaron was abusive emotionally, and he toed the line on physically. The only reason he didn’t hit you is because he knew who your best friend was, and Chris wouldn’t hesitate to beat anyone up. The past eight months with Aaron had been absolute hell. You were waiting for him to break up with you, and he finally did. It felt relieving, but it also made your blood turn cold because you felt like you’d lost something, even though you knew you shouldn’t feel like that.

           “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean it like that.”

           “No, it’s okay. I just… I hate asking for anything, Chris, you know that, but…” Chris sighed.

           “I’m about to get off set for the day. Meet me at the Sandalwood in half an hour, okay?” You nodded, slowly, and started picking yourself up off the floor. Aaron had given you a full day to get your things out of his house even though you’d never really finished moving in. So your plan was to beg Chris to help you find an apartment and maybe use his garage. But that didn’t matter now. You tried to clean yourself up a little bit – you put on real clothes, you took off your makeup and put on more, and then you got into your car and drove toward the café near Chris’s neighborhood.

           You parked next to Chris’s Audi in the parking lot and walked in. He looked up at you and stood up, abandoning his phone and wallet at the table, and wrapped you in one of his gigantic bear hugs. He was so unlike Aaron; he was inviting and warm and you actually weren’t scared of him touching you. He was wearing a thick, navy blue sweater that you wanted to wrap around yourself.

           “Hey, kiddo, how are you holding up?” He asked. He pulled a chair out for you. Aaron never did that. He wasn’t sweet. “I got you a coffee already. And I figured you’d want to depressive eat so I got you a slice of the chocolate cake.”

           “Thank you,” you sighed. “I need chocolate cake.” Chris smiled. It was set down in front of you a minute later, and you handed Chris one of the two forks.

           “I was hoping you’d share,” he responded. “So. Tell me what happened. Don’t spare any details.”

           “He just… Was being an asshole. I told him to leave. He left. And he told me I have a day to get all my stuff out and I was hoping you’d let me use your garage,” you sighed. “I’m not upset, I’m just…”

           “No, you have the right to be upset. Maybe you’re not crying now, but later, after we go get your things from the house and move them over to mine, we’ll cry with some ice cream and I’ll threaten to beat him up. Again.”

           “You don’t have to, I was just going to find an Airbnb, or something, or…” You sighed.

           “No, you’re staying with me. I want you safe and he doesn’t make me think you’re safe. At all.”

           “And you’ll, what, hit him with your Captain America shield? You know he’s a DC guy, right?” Chris tossed his head back, laughing, even though it wasn’t that funny. His laugh was warm and bright and he seemed genuine. Aaron didn’t. Not once, come to think of it. People were looking at you because Chris was laughing so hard, not because you were being yelled at.

           “Cap could kick Batman’s ass any day. Batman is just a normal guy in a suit. And I hope I never meet that guy because I’ll tell him with my fist, but…” You smiled again. “It’s good to see you smile.”

           You finished your cake and coffee and nearly forgot all about the whole Aaron thing. You were just laughing with Chris, talking about his family traditions and talking about the weird thing Dodger did the night before. You felt happy with your best friend. Safe. And you felt safe with him walking down the few blocks to where you had both parked, with his hand on your back. That was always how you felt with him.

           “Chris?” You looked up at him. He looked down, a little confused. You’d never said his name like that before. And he saw tears in your eyes and he resisted touching you, just in case it freaked you out too much.

           “Yeah?”

           “Thank you. For showing me who I deserve.” He looked down with a soft smile.

           “After we get your stuff… How about you let me take you out? And show you who you deserve. Not just tell you.” You nodded and leaned forward until you were embracing him. Your hand fell to his belt loop, locking him in as you put your thumb through it. 

           “Maybe starting over is what I need,” you said into his shirt. He wrapped his arms around you so tightly you could barely breathe. Starting over was exactly what you needed. And you needed it with him. Not with anyone else. Him. It was dumb, getting into something as soon as you got out of something. But you were standing there, right by your parked car, hugging your best friend, and for a minute you felt more of a spark with him than you ever had with anyone else. 

           A/N: I’m sorry this is so short! I’ve written an entire ten page paper today so I’m definitely having some writer’s block, lol. I still hope you enjoy!

[iheartsunset]

Pinch Hitwell is an underrated king... I would find headcanons for him to be delectable

Papa Louie Pinch Hitwell Headcanons

-Johnny Hilton, or Pinch Hitwell, is a 32 year old Major League Baseball player for the Tastyville Tomatoes. He also stars as an announcer for other sports and as Nurse Barry Briggs in Lovebright Hospital. He lives in a Tastyville loft with his sickly father, Marseilles, and his eccentric daughter, Sweetheart. Pinch is also a whiz at analytical geometry and has backup plans to become an engineer. When he’s not at the stadium or the batting range, he can always be caught seeing sights all over the world or coaching novice players.

-Pinch is...difficult to describe. When you meet him, he’s the most humble and inspiring man you could ever meet. After ten minutes though, he quickly becomes arrogant and self absorbed to the point where it’s cringy. Then, he’ll go right back to being humble before closing with some more arrogance. He also does love helping others feel more confident in themselves and always helps someone in need. Since he was raised by a struggling single father, he appreciates hard work and familial love above all else and he refers to many people as his family. He displays absolutely none of his negative traits around his father or his daughter.

-It isn’t known who the mother of Sweetheart is, many people just assume she’s dead or that she’s adopted. Pinch himself claims that he and her mother are divorced, but Sweetheart’s resemblance to CJ Friskins and Hacky Zak as well as her strange supernatural-like nature make Olivia wonder whether or not Ivy might fit somewhere in the equation. Anyways, Pinch is a very good father, always taking her everywhere to see the world and always gets her good seats to his games. We still don’t know why he always makes sure she never goes into the Calypso Island Travel Trout office though...(cough cough somethings fishy about Ivy cough cough)

-Pinch takes pride in his hair and has been known to get angry at people who mess it up. He hates going outside when it’s rainy and he’s always buying products to maintain his style. Pitch even walked into the Scooperia and accused Carlo of “stealing his hairstyle”. There was a huge argument that followed which ended in Koilee both calling the cops and slapping him in the face. He and Carlo also exchanged a few choice words, things that got Koilee and Carlo harsh reprimands by Papa, Quinn, and Hank. And that’s the story of how Pinch was banned from Romano shows and the Scooperia.

-Pinch drives a 2020 Bentley GT, not to establish dominance, but because he likes how it looks. He does brag about the car on occasion, though, and he likes taking care of it. He likes to talk about Rita’s Audi as a pick up like before it turns into him bragging about the Bentley, to which he doesn’t realize Rita picking up a champagne bottle to hit him with. The car also has Cheerios all over the floor courtesy of Sweetheart.

-His friend group involves Kingsley, Rita (mostly one sided, but she hangs out with anyone at this point), Rollie (when you get Rita, you get Rollie), Taylor, Peggy, James, Nevada, and Kayla. He made a group cut for all of them together, which goes about as well as you can expect. Which isn’t well at all. He and James also build cars together, but in the case of Rita and Rollie, just look at the “Allan gets Rollie and Rita to drive him to the store” post and he’s basically Allan. He’s costars with Kayla and teammates with Taylor and Peggy. Kingsley always makes him laugh and uh...I don’t know Nevada’s just there. I think she made him a cool necklace once and now he calls her his best friend.

-Even though he’s sworn off sugar, he secretly eats cracker jacks every day. He still does Love Lindo snack and soda ads for the money because hey it’s a lotta money.

-Okay Tastyville is probably based off of New York or something, but I can’t stop imagining him having a southern accent. Like something along the lines of a really exaggerated cowboy to McCree from Overwatch. Tohru even jokes about it on her Overwatch streams.

-The people he’s received punches from are Bertha, Koilee, Carlo, Rita, Marty, Papa Louie, Hank, Ivy, Hacky Zak, Lisa, Rico, Duke Gotcha, and Foodini.

-Pinch Hitwell lowkey kinda hot I guess-

[nerdy-bookworm-1998]

Steven’s Secret

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader; Platonic!Bucky Barnes x Reader Summary:  Y/N has been very busy lately with juggling her job, studies and spending time with Steve Rogers, her boyfriend of two years, causing Steve to distance himself from her. What will happen when she hears him talking to Sharon about telling his girlfriend where he's been for the last three weeks? Words: 1785 Warnings: Angst, fluff, angst with a happy ending. A/N: If you liked this please leave feedback/reblogs and consider donating to my Ko-Fi and/or Patreon, links are in my bio. If you want to be tagged in future works please send me an ask. Also, a very big thank you to my bestie, @bookscoffeeandracoons for allowing me to bounce fic ideas off of each other.

Y/N and Steve have been dating for almost two years and for most of those years, the pair have been sickeningly happy, but lately, that seems to have changed. Steve has been avoiding her for the past three weeks, avoiding her calls and messages, getting up long before her and coming to bed long after she had fallen asleep, blowing her off with flimsy excuses of hanging out with Sam and Bucky when both of them claimed not to have seen him all day, and just the other day he had come home smelling like another woman's perfume.

Sure Y/N hadn't been at home as much lately since she was working on a big project that would help cement her career as a writer while also attending classes, working on papers, and studying for her finals to get her doctorate in English Literature, but she always made sure that she spent time with Steve so that he didn't feel neglected. She pondered all of this, looking for an explanation, or maybe a solution, as she slowly made her way to the kitchen for breakfast on Saturday morning.

She was just passing by the door to Steve's office when she heard loud voices coming from inside, sounding like Steve and Sharon. She hesitantly crept closer to the closed door and tilted her head to try and hear what they were saying.

"You need to tell her Steve!" Sharon was saying, "She deserves to know what's been happening these last few weeks, who you've been going to see and why!"

"I know that Sharon! I'm just waiting for the right moment," Steve sighs deeply and she can just picture him pinching the bridge of his nose, or maybe running his hands through his hair, "I'll tell her tonight, I'll order in her favorite food, light a few of those scented candles she likes, and I'll come clean about everything. I just hope that she can forgive me for keeping secrets from her when I know how important honesty is to her..." he trails off and y/n can no longer bear to stand there listening to how Steve is planning on telling her about how he's been seeing someone else.

Clapping a hand over her mouth so that she doesn't make a sound, she creeps past the door before sprinting down the hall. She slides into the kitchen just as the first tears fall and a heartbroken sob wrenches its way from her throat. Bucky, who had been busy making pancakes in a t-shirt and sweatpants with his hair tied back in a bun, spins around with the spatula in hand to see one of his best friends crumple to the floor. He quickly tosses the spatula aside and turns the burner off, moving the pan before hurrying to her side, wrapping both arms securely around her waist as she cries into his chest.

"Doll, what's wrong? What happened?" he asks gently once most of her crying had subsided as he slowly rubs comforting circles into her back.

"I-it's Steve, he's seeing someone else," she hiccoughs as she tries to get her breathing under control.

"Are you sure?" Bucky asks, unable to believe that anyone could be unfaithful to the woman in his arms, she was quite literally the closest he's ever gotten to meeting an angel.

"I heard him and Sharon in his office. She was telling him that he had to tell me what's been going on these last few weeks, and he said that he would do it tonight. I know that I've been very busy these last few weeks, but I've always made time for him, no matter what. Did I drive him into someone else's arms?" she asks as she pulls away from her friend's hold.

"No, doll, you've been the best girlfriend anyone could ask for, and if that punk can't see how hard you're trying to make everything work, then that's his loss, not yours," he replies hotly, "I'll tell you what, give me five minutes to put the batter in the fridge and get changed then meet me in the garage and I'll take you to my favorite diner in all of Brooklyn before we spend the day getting lost in the crowds of New York."

"Okay," she agrees with another soft sniffle before getting up from the floor with Bucky's help. She goes back to her room to clean up her face, change into jeans, a t-shirt and converse, brush her hair, and grab her purse before heading down to the garage to wait for Bucky.

He's already there, twirling the keys to his Audi around his finger. "Your carriage awaits, m'lady," he says in a posh voice while offering his arm which draws out the first real laugh she's had in weeks.

"Why thank you m'lord," she responds in an equally posh voice, wrapping her arm around his as they walk to the car.

Bucky drives her to a small, hole-in-the-wall diner in Brooklyn where they both get coffee, mushroom omelets, and apple pie for breakfast and desert. Once they've paid the check they spend the day getting lost in the stores of New York, trying on ridiculous outfits and taking pictures of each other. They decide on pizza for lunch before wandering down Central Park. All in all, it's a good day, since Bucky does everything in his power to distract her thoughts from Steve, even if he really wanted to slap some sense into his childhood friend.

Once the sun has set the pair make their way back to the tower, parting in the common room with a warm hug and a promise to do a friend's day again soon. Y/N slowly makes her way back to her and Steve's apartment, every step filling her stomach with dread. She pushes the door open and cautiously steps inside. The only available light comes from the hundreds of candles that line every available surface along with delicate red rose petals while soft classical music drifts from the speakers. The coffee table and couches had been pushed out of the way to make room for the picnic spread out in the middle of the floor with Steve standing next to it looking freshly showered and incredibly soft in a grey henley and black sweatpants, his hair still damp yet fluffy.

"Welcome home, sweetheart," he says with a soft smile as he approaches her to kiss her sweetly. "I hope you're hungry because I ordered all your favorites. Did you have a good day?" he asks, taking her coat before leading her over to the picnic.

She couldn't answer around the lump forming in her throat so she merely nodded, forcing a smile.

"I have something to confess," Steve sighs once they're seated.

However before she interrupts him before he can continue, "I know where this is going, and before you say anything I want you to know that I understand completely why you did it, I've been very busy lately and I haven't been able to spend as much time with you as I should have. I'm sure that I can find a new apartment, I might just need a few days, in the meantime, I can move my stuff to one of the empty apartments so that we don't have to see each other-"

Before she can continue rambling Steve cuts her off, "What are you talking about? Why would you move? What's going on?" he asks, confused as to what she's talking about.

"I heard you and Sharon talking this morning Steve, I know that you're seeing someone else and this whole dinner is your way of telling me that we're over," she says, her tone not betraying the turmoil she feels inside.

"What?! No! That's not what this is! That's not what's going on at all!" Steve exclaims, rushing to reassure his best girl that she's the only girl for him. "I've been taking massage classes for the last three weeks because I noticed how stressed you've been with everything that's going on and I wanted to do something nice for you by giving you a massage. The reason why Sharon knows is she walked in when I was going through the course options and gave me the name of a contact who could help me. I finished the course on Wednesday and she's been bugging me to tell you ever since, but I've been stalling because I wanted it to be as perfect as you are. Sweetheart, you mean absolutely everything to me and I could never, ever cheat on you, the very idea of that makes me sick to my stomach in a way that I haven't been since the New Year's Eve party when Thor brought his friends with him!" Steve exclaims, kneeling onto his knees and cupping her face gently in his hands, kissing away the tears that had started to fall during his confession.

"Please, believe me, sweetheart," he whispers, his lips hovering above her own.

"I believe you," she nods before pushing up to meet him in a soft kiss that says more than words ever could. They spend the next few moments just basking in each other's presence before they pull away. They spend the entire dinner hand-feeding each other small bites of food and trading soft kisses.

Once all the food was gone she went into their bedroom and stripped down to her pink lace boyshorts and laid down on the bed on her stomach with her arms at her sides. Steve walked in with a small holder on different scented aromatherapy oils. He uncorked a few of them, the scent of lavender, rose and jasmine perfuming the air as he mixed them with the carrier oil before pouring some into his palms and rubbing them together to warm them up.

"Just lay back and relax, sweetheart, I promise that I'll take good care of you," he whispers in her ear before kissing the back of her neck. He started at her shoulders, his fingers digging into her soft skin to work out the knots in her muscles as she let out an appreciative groan. He slowly worked his way down her back, arms and legs before coming back up.

By the time he had finished, she was completely boneless as she lay on the bed, snoring softly. Steve let out a soft chuckle as he went to wash his hands and grab a t-shirt for her. He dressed her in the soft grey cotton before tucking her under the covers, sliding in beside her, drawing her into his arms and kissing her forehead softly. "Goodnight, sweetheart," he whispered before letting sleep overtake him.

Tags:

@mcdesij @spiderrrling @arrow-guy @interestedbystanderwrites @murdocksmartinis @gwendelerynan @here2have-fun @bookscoffeeandracoons @bambamwolf87 @loricameback @rockrchick51 @love-nakamura @baebeepeach @timelordy-fangirl2 @jewelofwinter @caramell0w @jewels2876 @ladysergeantbarnes @notawritergettingtherethough @patzammit @fanfictionjunkie1112 @lumar014 @kirstie-evans-writes @robertdowneyhiddleston @lil-lex1 @dragonrosegardens @bookgirlunicorn @shadymidge @kaithezaftig @that-place-called-middle-earth

[peterparkercuddles]

I’ll Love You Forever (I’ll Like You For Always)

"Hey, kiddo! You ready?"

Peter smiled as he answered the call from his pseudo father. It was August 10, and he was officially 15. That being said, Tony insisted he and Pepper treat the boy to a proper birthday dinner, much to Peter's reluctance. In the end, Tony had won, on the condition the restaurant wasn't too expensive so Peter didn't feel too bad.

So now here they were, Tony waiting in the parking lot, his sleek, black Audi standing out amongst the residential cars. Peter kissed aunt May goodbye, the woman smiling and wishing him one more happy birthday before the two of them were out the door, Peter for more celebrations, and May for another shift at the hospital.

As Peter jumped into the car, he was met by Tony, Pepper, and Happy, and as much as the driver acted like Peter was a little nuisance, he didn't try to hide his smile as he exclaimed, "Happy birthday, kid!"

Peter practically shone with glee as he crawled between Tony and Pepper, more than happy to now be amongst three of his favorite people on his very own special day.

"Happy birthday, Peter," Pepper smiled, and Peter gave his own grin in response. "Thank you!"

As the drive continued, Peter only continued to grow more and more joyful, and as always, it was impossible not to be infected by the kids childish glee. The adults listened intently as Peter filled them in on anything and everything they'd missed in the last week since they'd seen him, and then some. The boys ramblings never failed to amuse them, even if they'd already heard what he had to say, and by the time they'd arrived at the restaurant, they may as well have been experts in legos and nerd camp.

Once inside, the four were directed to their table where they were set for the evening. Drinks and appetizers were ordered, Peter's eyes wide the whole time. He was like a sponge, constantly soaking up information whether it was academic or not, and with his enhanced senses, everything was that much more interesting. He paid attention to everything, the way the utensils clinked against the plates, the sound of the quiet music playing, and even the way everyone around him ate and smiled at one another.

That's why it didn't go unnoticed when Tony quietly asked Pepper, "You feeling okay?"

Peter knew it was rude to eavesdrop, but being so caught up in the moment, he didn't take the time to think about Tony's purposeful discreetness.

"Are you sick, Pepper?"

Tony and Peppers eyes immediately shot up to the now fifteen year old, realizing his enhanced hearing had enabled him to hear what Tony had asked.

"I'm fine, sweetheart," Pepper answered, giving her dismissive smile Peter had come to know. He didn't question it, taking the hint that whatever they'd been talking about wasn't his business.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to use that super spider hearing to eavesdrop?" Tony joked, quirking an eyebrow at the teenager.

Peter chuckled, and by the time they'd ordered their main dishes, he'd long forgotten the interaction. The rest of dinner went off without a hitch, Peter continuing to talk everyone's ears off, but they didn't mind. Listening to the boy babble on about his interests and his schoolwork and his two close friends really made them smile. It was impossible not to fall in love with Peter, and every person at the table was wrapped around his little finger.

It was around the time they were starting to leave that Peter noticed Tony and Pepper become antsy. They were fidgety and occasionally exchanging whispers, ones Peter intentionally didn't pick up on so as not to eavesdrop again. The odd behavior continued throughout the drive home, but Peter noticed they looked excited. Every once in awhile they would exchange smiles or wiggle their eyebrows at each other. To Peter, it looked as though they were planning something, and he was really hoping it wasn't sex considering he'd be spending the night, even if Tony could sound proof the walls.

By the time they'd arrived at the tower, Peter was very curious to find out what was going on between the two. It was almost impossible to ignore the glances and grins once Peter had noticed them, and he wanted in on whatever was going on. Tony had other plans however, as he wrapped his arm around the boy upon exiting the car and exclaimed, "Presents?"

"Mr. Stark, you really didn't have to get me anything," Peter assured, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Nonsense! How could I not get you absolutely everything for your special fifteenth birthday?"

The boys eyes nearly bugged out of his head at the mention of 'everything' and Pepper laughed. "Tony, you're freaking the poor kid out."

Tony huffed as he pulled his sunglasses off his face. "Is it a crime to treat my spider child on his birthday?"

At that comment, it was Peppers turn to roll her eyes, but her expression quickly changed to a happy one once they'd arrived at the living quarters, and Peter couldn't help but crack a smile at the pile of gifts on the glass coffee table in front of the couch.

"Alright, kid, have at it!" Tony told Peter as he led the boy toward the presents, and despite Peter's past protests, he easily picked up the first gift he saw, which turned out to be a couple of nerdy t shirts the man knew he'd like. Peter quickly thanked Tony, being shushed with the statement 'appreciation is saved for the end of present opening.'

After about twenty minutes, Peter had unwrapped every present on the table, spilling out an insane amount of thank you's, ones that Tony constantly assured him he didn't need to say.

"Still," Peter'd told him. "You got me all this stuff; you have to at least let me say thank you."

Tony smiled at that comment, because he truly did have the best kid, and he knew it.

"Well you're not quite done saying thank you yet, because we've got one last present for you."

"Mr. Stark! You really didn't have to get me all this stuff." Tony could see the look in the kids eye. The look that was about pride, and Tony almost felt bad for mentioning a last present. Key word: almost.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo. Besides, it's mostly from Pepper anyway, and it's kind of a gift for all of us," Tony replied with a shrug, and Peter looked towards Pepper for confirmation. She smiled at him as she gestured for him to open the present.

As Peter pulled the blue and pink tissue paper from the bag (huh, that sure was an odd color choice), he could feel Tony and Peppers eyes on him. It wasn't until he opened the little box inside the bag that he knew why.

It was a pregnancy test. A positive one, to be more specific.

He looked up at the adults with slightly wide eyes, looking back down as his fingers grasped something else. A picture frame, which contained the photo of an ultra sound, labeled Virginia Potts.

Peter could practically hear Tony and Pepper holding their breaths as they waited for him to look up at them. He really didn't want to look at them though, because he wasn't sure he wanted them to see his tears.

Eventually though, he did look up.

"You... you're... are you really?" Peter sputtered out, eyes teary. He watched as Pepper smiled with teary eyes of her own and rubbed a hand over her still very slim belly.

"Yep," Pepper confirmed. "I'm almost eleven weeks."

That confirmation was all it took for the dam to break, and Peter's tears began to fall as he looked between Pepper and Tony.

"You're pregnant?" he asked again as he got up and walked toward the two.

"She sure is, Pete. Isn't it great?" Tony asked, rubbing his own hand over Peppers belly as he looked up at Peter.

Peter's lip quivered as he nodded, and Pepper couldn't resist anymore. "Do you want a hug, sweetheart?"

The kid practically fell into Peppers arms, sobbing into her shoulder now that he had the comfort, completely overwhelmed and overjoyed at the news.

Pepper was pregnant.

Pepper was pregnant!

"Really? You're really pr-pregnant?" Peter sputtered, and he could feel Pepper chuckle from his place in her chest.

"Really, sweetheart. I really am."

"Wait, is that why you asked if she was feeling okay earlier?" This time, the question was directed at Tony, and the man nodded.

Peter watched as Tony smiled at him, the last little confirmation he needed.

"Do-Do you know the gender yet?"

"Not yet, buddy," Tony told him. "She's eleven weeks, so we've still got about five or six weeks to go."

Peter picked his head up and wiped his face with his hand. He sniffled with a smile. "Wow, you're having a baby, Pepper!"

The boy just couldn't get over it. Tony and Pepper were going to be parents. They were going to have a baby. A real, live baby.

"I sure am, Peter," she responded lovingly, looking toward her own stomach.

"Wow," Peter murmured. "Can I feel?"

Pepper smiled. "Go right ahead."

And even though there was nothing there yet, Peter was still content to run his hand over Peppers covered stomach. He looked up at Tony in excitement, and if he saw that Tony's eyes were a little misty, he didn't comment on it.

+

"I'm sorry."

Tony sighed as Peter choked out yet another apology as vomit poured from his mouth. The kid was sick, like really sick. Somehow he'd come down with a nasty case of the flu, and with the kids system already being weak from pure exhaustion he'd put himself through, his super healing had not come in handy.

"Pete, what did I tell you? There's nothing to apologize for," Tony lightly reprimanded. He was sure his ears would ring if he heard another apology from the kid, but he just wouldn't stop. Tony knew he felt guilty, but he just didn't know how to explain that he wasn't upset. He'd already told the boy a hundred times; it just wouldn't go through his thick skull.

"I'm-I'm fine, you should- you should go back to Pepper," Peter gasped out, and Tony sighed.

"Peter," the boy heard the frustrated tone in his voice. "Pepper is only fifteen and a half weeks pregnant. She can take care of herself. You however, are running a nasty fever and haven't kept a thing down in three hours. You need my attention right now, and Pepper knows that. Now, will you please just let me take care of you so that you can get better?"

Peter gave him a reluctant nod and looked up at him through teary eyes. "I didn't mean to make you mad."

Hearing the sullen tone only further broke Tony's heart, and he sighed once again. "Kid, I'm not mad. Yes, I'm frustrated, but I can't be mad at you for this. I just want you to let me help you so that you can start to feel better, and I don't want you to apologize for it because you need to. So is that alright? Do you think I can help you get back up on your feet, that way we can both be there for Pepper?"

Peter nodded weakly, and this time Tony's sigh was out of relief. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do. First, we're gonna go back to your room so you're not laying on the bathroom floor, and then I'm gonna get something you can hopefully keep down. If you can't, then we'll have to get Bruce. Hopefully that doesn't happen, though. Sound okay?"

Peter gave a thumbs up, and Tony knew even that must have taken up nearly all of Peter's remaining energy, because he was pretty much running off motivation at that point. He'd definitely burned through everything he'd had that hadn't come back up, so the kid had to be miserable.

"Here we go," Tony practically cooed as he helped Peter up and off the bathroom floor, grabbing his waist and pretty much doing all the work that it took to get the kid back to his bed. Once he'd been lain down, Tony walked out and came back in with a waste basket and a bottle of Gatorade a few moments later. He also had a bottle of pills in his hand that Bruce had created, and he hoped they would be enough for the enhanced child.

Looking at everything around him, Peter began to hope things were looking up. Maybe he'd start feeling better soon.

...

Things were not looking up. Peter had immediately become nauseous upon swallowing a cap full of Gatorade, and he wouldn't be able to keep the pill down completely empty. So, Tony did the only other thing he could think of, and took the kid straight down to the medbay.

"Hey, Bruce," Tony called. "I need your help."

It didn't take long for Bruce to appear, and once he saw the state Peter was in he quickly jumped into action.

"Is he okay?" he asked as he gestured for Tony to put him up on one of the tables. "He looks like he's knocking on deaths door."

"I think he is," Tony sighed as he rubbed his temples, watching Peter lie still on the table. Usually he'd protest being in the medbay, but he was just too sick to care, and Tony was nearly sick with worry.

"What's his condition? I need you to tell me what's been going on," Bruce pulled on his gloves, making his way back to Peter with his stethoscope.

"Kid seemed like he had a normal flu, which really isn't normal at all considering the fast healing, but he's been really stressed. He's been vomiting and hasn't kept anything down for like four and a half hours now. I tried giving him Gatorade earlier but that came back up so I couldn't give him the pills you made. Then we tried water and that came back up too, so here we are."

Tony swore he was thirty years younger before he walked into the medbay. He watched in angst as Bruce checked the boy over, heart clenching when he heard especially pathetic whines come from the boys mouth.

After a few minutes, Bruce looked up at Tony with sympathy in his eyes and told him, "We need to start an I.V. line. He's dehydrated and he won't get better until we get some fluids in him."

Tony cringed at the news. Peter hated needles.

"Hey, buddy," he cooed as he walked over to grab Peter's hand. "Did you hear that? We gotta get an I.V. in you."

Peter gave a low whine and looked into Tony's eyes with his own teary ones.

"I know, kiddo," Tony grabbed his hand. "I know."

Peter whimpered as Bruce grabbed his arm to insert the needle, and he continued to whimper and grasp at Tony's hand until it was inserted. Tony could barely stand watching his kid cry, and he had to restrain himself from just telling Bruce to cut it out and hope the sickness just went away. But he knew he couldn't do that.

Peter continued quietly crying for a little bit, the exhaustion and guilt really creeping up on him.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered. "I don't-don't wanna bother you. You-you can go back up to Pepper; I'm sure she needs h-help with the baby."

"Peter, we talked about this," Tony squeezed Peter's hand. "I want to be down here with you. Pepper doesn't need my help right now; she's fine. You on the other hand, do need my help right now."

Peter wiped his face with his free hand. "I-I just don't wanna bother you. You have your own kid on the way, you shouldn't have to lo-ok after me," he hiccuped.

"Peter, you're my kid, and I do have to look after you. You are my kid, and you're never a bother." Tony looked into Peter's eyes the whole time he said it, making sure Peter drank it all in, so that it would finally click that Tony didn't mind taking care of him.

"Really?"

"Really."

"So, you're not gonna get tired of me when the baby gets here?" Tony's heart cracked at the question.

"Peter, why would you think that?" he asked, squeezing the boys hand a little tighter.

"Well I just figured since you're gonna have your own kid that you wouldn't really need me anymore. I mean, your kids gonna be awesome, so it's not like you need some fifteen year old always hanging around."

Tony bowed his head. "Jesus Christ, kid. Did you really think that? I'm gonna say this again slowly. You. Are. My. Kid."

"I keep you around because you've got me and Pep, and anyone else you meet completely wrapped around your finger. Yeah, Pepper and I have our own child on the way, but that doesn't mean we don't love you. You were always our first kid, and the baby is going to have an amazing big brother to watch after them."

Peter's eyes were teary again, thankfully from joy, not from sickness.

"You really mean that?" he asked, and Tony's heart nearly burst out of his chest at the look Peter was giving him. The look children give to their parents, that look of total, complete and utter trust.

"I do," he said. "I mean it more than anything."

"Do you really think I'm gonna be the best big brother?"

"Of course I do."

+

It was a week and a half later that Tony and Pepper's appointment was set to find out the gender. However, a certain Peter Parker had talked them into having a gender reveal party, and his insistence made them wonder how lenient they would be with their own child. If they couldn't withstand Peter's charm and puppy dog eyes, how would they be able to tell their own child no?

So now here they were, in the living quarters of their floor on the tower, surrounded by pink and blue decorations (plus two separate bowls of m&ms, one labeled 'nuts' and the other labeled 'no nuts' because that's just Tony's humor). It had been decided that the party would not be a public affair, only including the team and any close friends they may have, which only included May considering their close friends were the team.

They had just started opening presents when the group started voting on what they thought the gender was, girl being the most voted on. As they guessed, they all looked towards Natasha to see if she could give a sly confirmation, which she didn't. Tony and Pepper had actually chosen Natasha to be the one who would fill their confetti poppers with the gender, considering she was a spy and all, and would never reveal a secret under any amount of pressure.

She could even withstand Peter's puppy dog eyes... most of the time.

Everyone was beginning to get more and more impatient, and by the time Pepper had opened her last gift and given all her thanks, the whole party was itching to watch the reveal.

Well, minus Natasha, considering it was no surprise to her.

Especially eager though, was a certain Peter Parker. He couldn't wait to be a big brother, and he especially couldn't wait to find out what he was going to be a big brother to. He was really hoping for a girl, having always wanted a little sister, but he knew he'd be happy with a brother too.

He was the last to give Pepper her gift, a bag containing a little photo album with a card attached congratulating the two and offering to babysit any time. He was going to do everything in his power to be the absolute best big brother, of course.

"Thank you so much, Peter. The baby is so lucky to have you," Pepper smiled with open arms, and Peter gratefully walked into the hug. He was hoping Pepper liked his gift, and now that it was confirmed, he could bask in the comfort she was giving.

"You're the greatest kid, you know that?" Tony told him, squatting down and rubbing his arm. "We're so thankful for you, and we know the baby will be too."

Peter smiled. He could have cried, and he was sure he was going to once he saw the color of the confetti everyone was so impatiently waiting on.

"Thanks, Tony. But I think I'm ready to find out exactly who I'm going to be a big brother to," he smirked.

In response, Tony rolled his eyes fondly. "Well since everyone is absolutely dying to find out what my kid is, Nat, will you do the honors?"

Natasha saluted and walked behind the counter to grab the poppers, handing one off to Tony and then Pepper. She rejoined the group, which was now eagerly standing in front of the couple, which kissed before shouting, "Three... two... one!"

As soon as the strings were pulled, bright pink confetti exploded everywhere, and the group erupted into cheers. Tony and Pepper kissed again, the two of them having equally misty eyes, even if neither of them would ever admit it.

Peter was standing by with tears streaming down his face, quickly noticed by Tony who walked towards him and wrapped him in a hug.

"Excited, kiddo?" he asked, and Peter pulled away.

"Me? I should be asking you! You're gonna have a little girl," the boy blubbered, reaching up to shakily wipe his eyes.

"I'm so excited, kid," Tony replied. "And I know you are too. You're gonna have a little sister!"

At that, Peter's tears began running faster than he could catch them and he allowed Tony to pull him in for the hug. Pepper eventually made her way over to join in, officially a sort of family of four.

They didn't notice May and Rhodey watching, and Peter was so distracted that his enhanced hearing didn't pick up on it when May murmured, "I'm glad he has them."

"I'm glad they have him, May," Rhodey told the woman. "He saved Tony, he really did."

+

A few weeks after the party, it was Tony's turn to take Peter for the weekend, as per his and May's agreement to try and co-parent Peter. The boy walked into the lab throwing his backpack down as he usually did and joined Tony at his work table.

"Anything new to work on?" he asked, rolling around in his chair he'd insisted on having.