#Choosing to close off a little is reasonable especially if you are already in your own hole

[0asisbliss]

Shoreline

a/n: Still continuing this series with Uvogin. Sorry for any spelling errors!

Warnings: Gore, manhandling, choking, mentions of non-con. Dark themes. MDNI.

Parings: Yan!Uvogin x Gn!Reader

Subtitle: Offshore

Word count: 1.k

sum. Taken away to some beach is some people’s dream and full on fantasy, but when you’re locked away in some abandoned mansion on the seashore things can get very hectic especially with an apocalypse going on. On top of all of that you mourn your missing sister. Even in the middle of some deserted beach stuff can get scary, but that’s why you have Uvogin right?

Zombie description

He was your loving boyfriend. Protective but respectful of your boundaries. But ever since the virus broke out he's been a totally different person. He's aggressive, impatient, and stubborn to let you out. Most of the time you'd have to beg him to go out, and just get fresh air, but surprisingly today wasn't one of those days.

Here you are deep in thought, and wondering, wondering what would your life be like if you all of this stuff didn't ever happen would Uvogin still be the same loving boyfriend that he used to be, or would he eventually turn into this revolting, and possessive fuck that you've learned to hate now?

Uvogin enters the kitchen from your shared bedroom. Shirtless with his joggers hanging low he leans against the kitchen wall.

“Baby? Whatcha doing?”

You were washing the dishes from last night. Though you swore you had already did them. Something had been going on with your mind. You also felt sudden rushes of sickness at certain times. Memories of your little sister. You didn't even get a chance to go looking for her before Uvogin snatched you up, and locked you away here. You just can't stop thinking about her. Her smile, the way she smelt, her hobbies, her-.

"Baby." His voice is deep, and alerting.

“Oh uh just finishing up the dishes.”

Uvogin could tell by your tone of voice that something was bothering you. He couldn't say he enjoyed seeing you like this. He could tell that it was about Enora. Your little sister that went missing right before all of this shit started. He wished that you would just forget about her.

Uvogin came up behind you to hug your waist. You flinched at his touch.

Uvogin gave you whatever you wanted, and all you had to do was give him a blow job at least twice a week. He thinks he deserves more, and he knows he can just take whenever he wants (and he does), but he chooses to let you decide. And every single time you do exactly what he wants. Not out of love, but out of fear.

“Stop that and come and lay down with me will you? You know with all this shit going on I’m always out doing things to provide for you, and the least you could do is c’mere.”

You could hear a slight pout in Uvogin’s voice. You also knew what “come here” meant. He wanted to fuck you. It made you gag just thinking about not the sex, but the thought in this moment.

“Uvo? I think I just need some fresh air.”

You could hear him audibly grumble.

“Well alright. Just be back, don't go past the shore line alright?”

You gasped in shock, but only shook your head. You didn’t expect him to let you off so easily is he planning something? You quickly shook those thoughts out, and walked towards the door.

You nodded your head with a forced smile and walked out the door quickly closing it behind you.

Uvogin opens his mouth to utter “Don’t go past the shoreline.” But you were already gone.

Traveling through the lifeless beach, and your toes in the sand you feel the brisk air touch your face. For some reason it hurts, and you take a step back. A deep realization sets deep in your gut. You looked around and nothing was there like always, but this time it was different. The empty beach now started to settle down deep inside your stomach. You were never gonna leave this empty shell.

Your mind was bare, and undeniably worthless in this situation, so you stood there trying to figure out how to get yourself out of this situation. Not knowing where you could go, so you just walk. Remembering your sister's face. How young she was. She was just fourteen. She had hopes, and dreams just like you did. But even if she didn't go missing she'd probably be locked up with you in that shitty mansion or worse Uvogin would've killed her because never showed any interest in her.

Your mind is cloudy and blissful though your surroundings are different. The beautiful sound of waves starts to slowly ease your mind while you're unknowingly past the shoreline already. Tears begin to fall down your face. Your feet are now in the water, while you begin to move closer and closer to the waves. Something's calling you. The voice sounds oddly familiar. Enora.

"(Name).. I missed you so much! Come and give me a big hug, yeah?"

"Enora? Enora!" You ran toward your sister, or that is what it felt like in your mind. In reality you were walking. Very slowly at that.

The washing waves got stronger, and stronger as you moved closer and closer away from the shoreline.

A whisperer. Standing in the ocean was a whisperer that had created the sick illusion of your now dead sister. You also felt this long need to be in the water. You wanted to swim, and feel the water on your skin. To be with Enora. You crouched onto the sand and started to crawl into the ocean. Eyes deep in a trance, you felt the waves as a comfort in your undying situation.

Uvogin stares out of the window mindlessly searching for you. Once he comes to a conclusion that you are no longer in his vision he rushes outside. Yeah it was true there weren't any sickos out here. Shalnark had shared created categories of the zombies. It indicated that they couldn't swim.

As Uvogin ran out of the beach house down the sandy hill he searched mercilessly for you. Every time youturned a corner, and you weren't there his heart raced. That until he found you. There you were slowly walking into the ocean. Slowly walking into your death.

Uvogin sensed the whisperer's energy and quickly blocked out the whisperer's death illusion. Before he could kill the whisperer he had to get to you. He couldn't just let you die. He ran into the water and just before you succumbed into the deep hollowing darkness of the ocean, there he was. Grasping your waist, and dragging you back onto the sand. But you were unfortunately still under the whisperer's trance. You were using almost all of your strength to get out of his arms in an effort to get back to the ocean.

"Enora. Let go of me. What the fuck?! My sister's out there. Don't you see her?" You cried in his arms.

"No baby. Damn it, you don't understand, that’s Enora."

"It is." Somehow you got out of Uvogin's arms to point to "Enora".

Uvogin shook his head, and looked back at you.

Uvogin walked towards the whisperer in the water, and ripped its head clean off.

"Enora… What the hell is wrong with you?" You sobbed as you saw your "little sister's" head floating in the water.

"No. What the hell is wrong with you?' Uvogin's voice was laced with anger and disappointment.

He stormed towards you, and pulled you by your hair. He then tossed you onto the ground. He left you there for a couple of seconds just staring at you.

This was all his fault he should've never let you go out in the first place. Now you're falling for a whisperer's tricks, and talking about your dead-ass sister.

"You're such a idiot.''

"Y-You killed my sister you monster-."

Uvogin held you up by your throat, and looked you deep in the eyes.

"I just saved your ungrateful little fucking life. Now you're gonna have to repay me." There was this look on his face. He gave you this look every single time he wanted to fuck you, but this time he looked like he was starved.

He then dragged you back to your shared home, and gave you even more reasons to question why you didn't just drown yourself when you got the chance.

[yanderenightmare]

tomura with hero reader whose quirk he's stolen, rendering them defenseless

Shigaraki Tomura

TW: slight nsfw, implied prev noncon, captive reader, Stockholm syndrome, implied mental break, mental deterioration, disassociation, manipulation, angsty, but also weirdly fluffy? reader is super fragile

gn reader

The chub of your inner thighs is still wet with the act. You rub them together for no other reason than that it feels pleasant. You trace the awful scars on his arm, using his warm chest as a pillow—the sound beating of his heart thumping rhythmically at your ear, a soothing presence.

 He balances a red book atop your crown.

He doesn’t seem very interested in reading it—only regarding it with jaded eyes, a meager scoff then and there before turning the page. But still, even though the book didn’t excite him, it bothered you that his attention was elsewhere. It sowed the seeds of doubt and gave root to way too many intrusive thoughts, sprouting out and spreading like weeds throughout your mind, making your chest curl at the possibilities.

“Do you think I'm ugly?” you have to ask. You have to know, why isn’t he looking at you.

He pans away from the page, beady garnet eyes softening from scrutiny to nonplus.

Your question stunted him—nearly made him believe he’d heard you wrong. Why someone like you would ever ask someone like him something like that seemed beyond all reason. It would be the same if a flower asked gravel.

But then again, you’d become a little ditzy as of late. Or maybe you’d been so for a little while already. It’s hard to say—you don’t talk as much as you used to. You no longer scream either, though that had ceased even longer ago.

You continue to delicately run your finger over the tear where his tough skin meets the even tougher purple tissue as though mapping the damage. There’s a frown on your face. No, not a frown—a pout. 

He thought for a moment to use it against you like he’d done everything else so far. Lie and say yes, tell you you’re about as ugly as he is—gravel—make you fall even further apart than what you were already. But something compelled him to choose differently.

“I think you're the prettiest thing in the world.”

Your pout is sucked between your teeth as you pick yourself up to peer down at him—eyes round and misty and something more, something strange—dare he say joyed?

You're scaring him.

“Really?” you choke out as if you’d been holding back a lump.

He hasn’t known how to treat you lately. You’ve become too soft to handle poorly—too frail to harass and too willing for him to feel the need to. Earlier, you'd even begged him to fuck harder and deeper—even cum inside. Actually, you hadn't veered away from his touch in a while. More like you've been embracing it.

He'd brushed it off as mere compliance at first, a state of meekness, weakened by being touch-starved, something that perhaps developed into a minor case of Stockholm syndrome.

But the way you're acting now—seems more concerning.

“Yeah,” is all he warrants as an answer. Though, he was curious as to yours as he begs the same question, “What about me?”

A smile graces your face then—there’s a comfort to it, a mild and affectionate one, unexaggerated, honest, as you smoothly swing your leg over his lap.

A look like that has no place on your face, especially when regarding him, and yet he finds himself hoping for more. He lays his book aside as you lean forward and doesn't stop you when you cup his face in both your palms.

“As far as I'm concerned, you’re not just the prettiest boy in the world—you're the only boy in the world.” You say it with a kiss, lips just as soft as the words leaving them. It shocks him, though he accepts and gives it back.

You close your eyes, laying your chest against his—he keeps his open to look at you. Observing and assessing.

You’ve truly become a whole other person altogether. A far cry from the tough hero you once were—the one who’d beat him within an inch of his life and leave him to choke on the blood.

“Will you stay with me today?” you ask against his lips—playing with his hair, looping the curly tresses around your fingers.

There’s a neediness to your voice, a certain desperation, a sadness—something lonely and something that reminds him all too much of himself. He feels both a strong urge to reject and soothe it all at the same time.

“No, I gotta go,” he says despite it. He had business.

You hide your face in his neck and continue with your tracing, now on the scrapes striping his throat where he’s raked his nails time and time again. “When will you come back?” Your tone comes out even sweeter, only a murmur mushed against his skin.

It nearly makes his heart twist. “It’s better I don’t answer that.”

It’s funny. Though the thought had struck him, he didn’t gauge any ill intentions. You could be asking, acting, plotting some escape based on the hours of his absence—yet somehow, with the way you nuzzle into him like that, as though you’re pouring your all-too-candid grief into him, he can't sense any other ulterior motive.

“Last time you left at this hour, you came back all beaten and bruised,” you mutter, now with a hint of bitterness—as if you’re cursing whoever hurt him under your breath.

It’s ironic. He sneers lazily, almost fondly, at the old memory. “You’re the one who used to beat and bruise me, remember?”

He’s truly curious if you do. Or if something’s spirited your past life away and left you like this—no longer an aspiring young hero, but something whose only value is warming his bed at night.

You arise, an appalled look of affront upon your face.

“No, that can’t be right,” you very nearly cry, as if the very thought was killing you. “I would never hurt you—I love you too much.”

Apparently, you don’t remember who you were at all.

“Love me?” he all but croaks. It’s a laughable prospect, and yet he doesn’t even smile. There’s something awful in his gut that prevents him. “Don't be stupid. You can't love me.”

Your face doesn’t drop its grimace, only further tears with forlorn outrage. “Of course, I love you!" you insist. "You’re my whole reason for living...”

You look so despaired—wrecked from his dismissal. The tears well quickly then slip down your face just as fast—and yet it isn’t the same crying as you used to. This time, it’s quiet—in wait or in dread as you beg the question, 

“Don't you love me?”

It’s an unexpected one, and it quickly proves to be an existential one—even more so than your unnerving confession. Despite not wanting to, it leaves him to dig through the muck in his head he’d long ignored, down in the dark where he’d tried burying the truth he'd felt oncoming. He'd wanted to deny it, reject it, amend it, simply because it confused him too much to acknowledge—complicated things—changed things he didn’t want or need changing.

He wonders if it’s somehow proof of fate—even though he despises such a concept. That, no matter how much you practice free will, no matter how many knots you make upon the red string, the world will pull and straighten it out, and you’re left to realize you’d brought it all on yourself.

First, he took your quirk, then he took your body—your mind shortly followed—and now it seems he’s managed to take your heart, too. 

There’s nothing left of you that isn’t his. 

There was a time he’d frolic at the thought of having reduced you to such a pathetic ghost in a shell—back then, he’d do anything to destroy you—he’d surely shatter you into a million little scattered pieces if presented with the chance, make sure you were broken for good. 

But that was the old him. Or rather, that was his dream for the old you—the hero he loathed down to his rotten core.

But the pretty misty-eyed thing looking down at him now, aching for his answer, wasn’t that person anymore.

And the truth is, the person you are now scares him more than that hero ever did. 

You were… well, you were the person who warms his bed at night, the person who traces his scars and plays with his hair—the person who wraps themselves around him and keeps him from falling apart when he stumbles through the door into the tiny little room he keeps you a prisoner in. You're his.

This time, his heart does twist. He’s never before spoken the words that dance on his tongue, or if he has, they’ve been long forgotten and come out as dust balls as he affirms them now, 

“Yes. I love you.”

There’s a flash of hope in your eyes, though it just as quickly diminishes—as if you don’t believe him.

Your lip warbles as you confirm it, “No, you don’t.”

More tears run silently down the tracks on your cheeks, gathering at the tip of your chin before dripping upon his chest—each one like a gunshot through something hollow.

“If you did, you wouldn’t go. You wouldn’t leave me here in this room, all alone.” Your nails curl into your palms where they rest atop him. You bow your head as though you can’t bear to look at him, as if it hurts. The next words come out beneath your breath, “How am I supposed to compete with the whole world?”

You’re making him feel like dying. The continuous twists of his heart feel as if you’re about to tear it right out of his chest.

He sits up and lifts your face. It’s strange, even with his two-finger gloves on. He doesn’t think he’s ever held you like this. Though, suppose it’s been a night of many firsts already. And here comes another,

“As far as I’m concerned, you are my world.”

There you are, the one thing he doesn’t wish to destroy.

Your sore eyes become round, then swell with different tears. There’s a hitch in your breath as you sigh through a shuddering sob, throwing your arms around his neck and clinging to him tightly—your body jostling while you rub your wet face into his neck, holding him close for comfort as if you're scared to ever let go.

He returns the gesture, though somewhat hesitantly, wrapping his arms around you and laying his head to rest against your shoulder.

And then, as he holds you—for the first time ever, fear of actually losing the fight ahead strikes him.

He hadn’t much cared about the outcome before. Either he’d destroy or be destroyed.

This wasn’t as simple. As said earlier, this complicated things.

But then again, it was even more of a reason to go.

“But I still have to leave.” 

You part from him—the betrayal in your tone demanding his justification, “Why?”

Suppose, in some ways, this actually made things simpler—as that was a question he had no problem answering.

“‘Cause there are monsters outside…” He rests his forehead upon yours, gazing back into those terribly glassy eyes looking back at him as he speaks to you about your dear old colleagues. “Monsters who want nothing but to take you away from me.”

If only they could see you now, they’d know… you no longer want to leave him.

“So I have to go out there and make sure they have no chance,” he explains, almost like a vow, “You’re mine, and I’ll destroy anyone who says otherwise to keep you that way.”

The way your eyes melt makes him feel all fuzzy. It’s a special type of glee, a victory before the battle even begins—to see you root for him—so deep in love with him that you’ve forgotten you’re celebrating the onset of death to all of your former friends.

They probably wouldn’t be able to take you away from him even if they somehow managed to invade this very room. You’d sooner die than betray him.

And that makes him feel all the more ready for the war ahead.

“So kiss me good luck, and I’ll come right back to you soon.”

♡ SHIGARAKI TOMURA ♡ BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA masterlist

[gay-dorito-dust]

How’d they react to you cuddling into his side randomly one day and then falling asleep…

Dan Heng/Imbibitor Lunae: stiff as a fucking bored and holding his breath as if that was going to wake you up.

He acts as though every little sound has been amplified to the max and will constantly shift his eyes towards you, almost as though he were expecting any sort of signs of disturbance within your once peaceful slumber.

It was so bad he has to look away from you to hide his burning face because he figured out that he might actually begin to enjoy this, enjoy the idea of you actively choosing him to sleep against. God his heart was going apeshit at the dies that you’d might like his company enough to be in a state of vulnerability with him.

His dragon noddle self (Imbibitor Lunae) is fucking delirious with the idea of his ‘mate’ sleeping against him. So much so that if his tail were visible now, it’d be wagging at a hundred miles an hour to the point it’s just a blur.

He secretly hates how it betrays his innermost thoughts to anyone nearby.

Blade: thinks there’s something genuinely wrong with you if you were willing to fall asleep next to him of all people.

Yet in the same breath he acts as your personal guard dog as you slept, keeping people from coming too close for comfort and or making loud, obnoxious noise with just a smile glare thrown their way.

He gets called soft but he honestly doesn’t give a flying fuck.

He acts like he wants to shove you away from him but the moment someone suggests moving you upon seeing how much he apparently ‘hates’ it, and all of a sudden Blade is holding you further again him and telling the person to fuck off under his breath.

He’s so hypocritical but no one dares say that to his face, especially not when he’s holding you against him protectively and glaring at anyone or anything that breathed or moved wrong. Yet when you’re awake, he’ll act like he did no such thing and go about his day like normal.

Argenti: takes this as an opportunity to gaze upon your beauty up close.

In his opinion you didn’t need beauty sleep because you were already as radiant as a freshly blossomed flower, but if you say you need it then who was he -your chivalrous knight- to argue against it.

Some people may think it’s weird that he’s looking at you so intently as you slept but Argenti always had a response at the ready, for he’d tell them that they’ve just never witnessed a beauty in it’s most natural form, to the point that it makes you utterly breathless and unable to look away.

He traces your every feature with his eyes and finds himself adding more onto the list of reasons of why he finds you so appealing, and in more ways than one.

Eye bags? Beautiful.

Stretch marks? Stunning.

Acne/acne scaring? Heavens have blessed you with your own set of unique constellations within your skin.

Argenti is addicted to looking at you while you are awake and it’s no different when you’re asleep either. He just loves that you trusted him enough to witness you like this and he’ll never take advantage of that. Ever.

Welt Yang: he takes care of you as you sleep soundly against his side.

He makes sure you are comfortable and undisturbed as you slept against his side, for seeing you look so at peace and free from all of your daily stresses only proved to warm his already soft heart.

He makes sure march 7th isn’t nearby, as much as he cares for that bubble gum pink haired girl like she was his own child, she was notoriously well known for her easily excitable nature; which wasn’t something you’d need when catching up on much needed sleep.

He’s already draping a blanket over you as we speak and shifting your position to a more comfortable one so that you wouldn’t wake up with a crick in your neck and irritability.

He’ll probably either carry you to bed or join you in your nap by lying himself down on the couch and pulling you up to his chest and holding you there.

It’s such a cute moment and march has photo proof that it happened. Multiple of them.

However papa Welt has a few questions in regard to your sleeping schedule if you were easily able to sleep against his side without issue. He loves you dearly but please for the love of god take better care of yourself or he fucking will.

This is a threat but then again you’d probably wouldn’t mind it if Welt took care of you….honestly same.

[absurdthirst]

The Wedding Planner {Javier Peña x F!Reader}

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 28.k

Warnings: Mentions of pregnancy, lying, developing feelings, almost/barely kiss, guilt, mentions of menstrual productions/periods, sex, oral sex (female receiving), vaginal sex, condoms, cock riding, protected sex, squirting, one night together, goodbyes, cock worship, body worship,

Comments: You are Javier and Lorraine's wedding planner. Feeling incredibly guilty about developing feelings for the handsome sheriff's deputy. Unknowingly becoming the reason that Javier never shows up at the church. Spending the night together and sending him off to the DEA. Only to reunite when you happen to plan his cousin's wedding.

Co-written with @storiesofthefandomlovers

**Follow @absurdthirst-writes and turn on notifications to stay up to date on all new fics.

|| MasterList || Javier Peña MasterList ||

Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says 'creator chooses not to use warnings'. You also agree that you're the right age to be consuming anything here.

“Red roses with baby’s breath.” You scroll down your checklist as you wait for the couple to arrive.  Wanting to double check everything for them to sign off on since the bride has already changed her mind a few times and you know that this has the potential to backfire and blow up in your face. Wedding planning can be amazing and rewarding and other times….. it can be exasperating, especially this couple. 

Javier Peña and Lorraine Smith, the sheriff’s deputy and the rich girl. It’s bad that you have those snarky thoughts, but you have heard about how the Smith’s are very influential around town. Seen it in the way that the bride flashes a brittle smile and a pointed barb to a few of your vendors. It doesn’t help that every time you meet with them, you have to tamp down your growing attraction to the groom.

Javier sighs as he opens the door to his truck, letting Lorraine out and he sees the way she checks her reflection in the window after he shuts the door for her. He hasn't got time to attend all these wedding appointments but Lorraine is insisting. There's word of a drug haul coming over the Rio Grande and he wants to help the DEA handle it. He is eager to help stop the drug routes but it feels hopeless. Lorraine takes his hand as she walks into your store. It's a little place in a strip mall but it's got all the options on display. Christ, Javier knows he shouldn't find you attractive but you standing there in the middle of the store has his stomach twisting and his cock twitching in his jeans. "Hi!" Lorraine squeals, letting go of his hand to embrace you even though she's criticized you behind closed doors.

“Hi to you!” You let her hug you and return it, but your eyes flutter back to where Javier is awkwardly standing, shuffling and propping his hands on his lean hips. He looks so effortlessly sexy in a pair of jeans and a beautiful blue short sleeved button up. Aviator glasses perched on his nose and made the mustache he sports look even sexier in that Tom Selleck, Burt Reynolds kind of way.

"I know it's been a tight timeline but I want to make sure the caterer knows to get the truffle that I want for the potatoes." Lorraine insists and you nod, looking down at your checklist. "It's ordered and the caterer knows to put it in the mashed potatoes with the steak." You confirm and Lorraine grins, "excellent. We just couldn't wait to be married. I know it's been stressful to do this all so quickly." Javier wants to scoff and tell you why it's a shotgun wedding. Lorraine is pregnant but she doesn't want anyone to know. She's old school and wants her family to think she did things the right way. So of course when she told Javier she was pregnant and showed him the test, he made sure to do the right thing. It's what his ma would've wanted. He proposed and Lorraine has set the wedding date for two months. Enough time for her to not be showing and enough time for Javier to admire the wedding planner before he's a married man. You are gorgeous. Funny, smart, and more organized than the damn sheriff's department. You handle Lorraine with grace and he wants to learn your ways, certain it could help him with his impending marriage to the strong willed woman.

“Oh, we want a truffle butter sauce too.” Lorraine adds and you hum, “I can ask  the caterer, but you know that truffles are expensive.” You remind her, knowing that it will be another add on to the already tight budget. You don’t have to glance over at Javier to know that he’s grimacing. They’ve already had plenty of heated discussions about the amount of money she’s spent on this wedding so far. “We could save that expense to use on the extra candles you want?”

Lorraine turns to look at Javier, “baby. I just want this to be perfect. I will talk to my daddy. He can pay for the difference. He wants the best for his little girl. I can only hope Jay will be as good a daddy for our kids.” Lorraine giggles and Javier bites the inside of his cheek. He hates it when she calls him Jay. No one else does and it’s not his goddamn name. He shakes his head, “we can’t ask your daddy to pay for more of this wedding. I- I can swing it.” Javier promises, looking over at you to nod his consent.

You scribble the note in your book, nodding in agreement even though you think it’s a ridiculous expense. Truffle wasn’t even good in most of the applications, and you didn’t care for the way that the caterer used it with the potatoes. However, it’s not your wedding. “Filet medallions with truffle potatoes and truffle butter and asparagus.” You glance back up at the couple to make sure there aren’t any changes to the menu. Lorraine nods and you bite your lip as you look back down at the list. “And have you decided on your final wedding colors?”

Javier bites his lip, unsure of why he even has to be here. Lorraine has already decided on these details and she damn sure didn’t ask him for his opinion. She beams, “pale yellow and pastel green.” Javier resists wrinkling his nose, knowing the colors are her choice but Jesus, did she have to have such bad taste? “My bridesmaids have already gotten their dresses. My dress is ready for alterations. Just need Jay to get his suit and we should be nearly there. The girls I picked for my bridesmaids will make me look extra pretty if you know what I mean.” Lorraine smirks and Javier scoffs, “isn’t one of my cousins a bridesmaid?” He asks and Lorraine shrugs, “she clearly didn’t get the looks from your gene pool.” Javier shakes his head, clenching his jaw to try and keep his annoyance in. He isn’t doing this for him. He’s doing this for his child. That’s what he keeps reminding himself.

You can tell that Javier is annoyed, his eyes tighten and his jaw does this sexy clench thing that bulges out slightly. It makes him look a little dangerous and you try to ignore the way that your stomach flips. “Do we want a best man?” You ask, realizing you had never talked about that with them. “Groomsmen?”

“Oh, Jay’s best friend is serving overseas. He won’t be here for the wedding and my baby isn’t one for social events.” Lorraine coos, caressing Javier’s chest and he stiffens under her touch. “I have friends in the sheriff’s office. I couldn’t invite them because you insisted on inviting so many from your side. I had to make sacrifices.” He says through slightly clenched teeth. Lorraine has railroaded him down the aisle without a say in the damn wedding. He barely managed to get his family invited to make way for her nail tech and her husband.

Your eyes flicker back over to Javier and his own dark eyes seem to communicate his unhappiness, but there is nothing you can do. “Do you want me to make an appointment with the tailor?” You ask the couple. “Classic black tuxedo or suit?”

“Tuxedo.” Lorraine answers for him and Javier frowns. He wanted to wear his cowboy boots. A true Texas wedding. Lorraine wants something less Laredo and more Dallas. He knows it’s best to not argue so he nods his agreement and you nod, “I’ll make your appointment.” Lorraine tilts her head, “make sure it’s the best in town. I don’t want a tin pot tailor.”

You smile blandly, almost insulted by the comment. “Of course.” You assure her, as if you would not work with the best. “That’s all that I have on my list.” You glance down again and make another little note. “Is there anything else either of you need? Javier?” You hate how the groom gets shoved aside and he looks frankly miserable.

“I was wondering if we could do a photo of my mom. On a chair in the ceremony.” He asks and you nod, a soft smile on your face. “Of course.” Lorraine frowns, “baby…we have limited space at the front and my sister is bringing her boyfriend. She asked if he could sit so we need every seat we can get. You don’t mind if he sits on your side?” Javier frowns, “in the front row?” Lorraine nods, “yeah.” Javier shakes his head, “instead of my mom’s photo?” He asks incredulously.

You bite your lip, watching as Lorraine skips over Javier’s wishes like they don’t matter. “Baby, don’t fight me on this please?” She begs, pouting in an exaggerated manner and you want to roll your eyes at her blatant attempts to manipulate. “If you’d like, we can have a photo on a stand at the end of the front row?” You offer, wanting to give him what he wants. “It wouldn’t take a chair and it would keep her photo in your sight when looking out at the guests.”

Javier bites his lip, grateful to you for considering his wishes, and he nods, “that would be great.” Lorraine wants to argue that it will ruin the symmetry but she knows when to pick her battles with Javier. She caresses his chest, smiling at you, while Javier keeps his dark gaze on you. He wonders what you’d say to your fiance if he requested a photo of his mom on a chair. He’s certain you’d say yes. From what he’s seen, you appear to be a beautiful person inside and out. He wishes Lorraine could be considerate and loving but she clearly only loves herself. He’s an accessory to her. Something to own and show off about. He was taken in by her, still grieving his mom, and she was fun. A distraction. One that took a turn.

“Javier, if you will get me the photo you want displayed and her name, I will make sure that the display is tasteful and honorific.” You promise, feeling the weight of his gaze and having to look away for fear of your attraction to him becoming obvious. You already feel your cheeks heating up.

Javier swears he sees your eyes darken and he blinks and the gaze is gone. His stomach twists at the mere idea that you could be attracted to him but Lorraine distracts him by dragging him over to the displays. “I want us to write our own vows.” She tells Javier, touching the vow keepsake on the wall. “I want to hear how much you love me.”

You move over to your desk, trying to settle your nerves and give the couple some privacy. You’ve never been this attracted to a groom before and it rattles you. Sure, you’ve thought some were attractive, or even sweet, but none of them have made you nervous like Javier does. Feeling like a schoolgirl with a crush and it bothers you. It’s unprofessional. You sit down and start to make a list of the calls you need to make tomorrow, knowing that this wedding needs to be finalized quickly. Once Javier is married, the attraction will fizzle away. At least, that’s what you hope.

Javier glances over at you, watching you as you make notes and he half listens as Lorraine rattles on about the last minute details. She’s only twelve weeks pregnant but the wedding is coming up fast and Javier wants to bolt. Christ, he doesn’t want this but he has to follow through. He has to do the right thing.

From the way that Javier is staring off into space when you look up, you know that he’s not paying attention to Lorraine. You wonder how the hell they ever made it to this point, considering that he doesn’t seem to be enthusiastic about this wedding, although she had said he wasn’t much of a social creature.

It doesn’t take long to wrap up the meeting and Javier offers you a nod and a smile as Lorraine gushes over you, hugging you and making you promise this is going to be the best wedding you’ve ever planned. Javier takes her hand and guides her back out into the hot Texas sun. “This wedding is going to be the talk of the town for years to come.” She boasts and Javier hums, unlocking his truck as he resists the urge to look back at your place.

****

“Whiskey. Neat.” Javier orders, tapping his fingers on the counter after he takes a seat at the bar. It’s rough and ready, sawdust and peanut shells on the floor along with the odd cigarette butt while country music plays on the jukebox. Lorraine would never be caught dead in here and that’s what Javier is relying on. He doesn’t want to go home to her and he needs a drink. He lost a high school kid today to an OD. Fucking cocaine. The kid died in his arms when he tried to save him while the paramedics were on their way but it was too late. The cartels are winning and killing innocent people and there’s nothing he can do. He pulls his cigarettes out of his pocket, thanking the bartender when the glass is set down in front of him, and Javier curses as he tries to find his lighter.

“This round is on me.” You promise, grinning as you push away from the pool table after laying your stick down. Turning to the bar, you see a familiar set of shoulders and look around for Lorraine. When you don’t see her, you’re a little relieved that you might not have to talk about wedding details. Walking over and smirking when you see Javier fishing for a lighter. “Here.” You offer, reaching into your pocket for your zippo when you lean against the bar beside him. “Looks like you need that smoke.”

Javier is surprised by your appearance, his eyebrows raising as he puffs on the cigarette and he reaches up to hold it as he exhales the smoke. “Thanks. Didn’t think you smoked?” He says, tilting his head and you chuckle, “I don’t. I just - I use it for candles for weddings. Always have a lighter.” You confess and Javier chuckles, tapping the smoke on the ashtray. “Always prepared. Guess that’s what makes you the best wedding planner in town.” He smirks, reaching for his drink.

His compliment makes you grin and you turn towards the bartender as he walks back over. “Another round of Budweisers.” You order before you watch him take a healthy swallow of his whiskey. “And another round for him.” You add, thinking that he might need it after essentially killing most of his drink already. “Lorraine meeting you here?” You ask.

Javier shakes his head, lifting the cigarette to have another drag, “she’s with her mom going over the final alteration for the dress. I got kicked out and uh, it was a rough day at work so I needed a drink. I should be buying you a drink for putting up with Lorraine’s demands.” He chuckles and exhales the smoke from the side of his mouth.

“Nahhhhh.” You shift slightly, turning towards him as you frown slightly. He looks upset, or sad. Either one almost makes him look annoyed if it wasn’t for his eyes. “You look like you need it more than me.” You murmur softly. You know he’s a cop, so whatever happened had to be bad. “Wanna talk about it? Or just drink?”

He knows he should go to his pa's or at least finish his drink and leave but your eyes are soft and inviting. He feels comforted by just your presence and he sighs, taking another sip of his drink. "Lost a teenager today to coke. I tried to give CPR but he was gone." He confesses, "I feel like the drugs are endless. Whenever we have a bust, there's another mule bringing more across the river. It's an endless fight."

“Oh god.” Your heart shatters and you reach over to lay your hand on Javier’s arm. “I am so sorry, Javier.” You murmur softly. “I can’t even imagine how much that hurts.” You know that he has to be blaming himself for not saving the kid even though there was nothing he could do beyond what he had tried.

“It’s - I feel like it never ends. I want to do more to stop it. I see so many people dying from drugs and I want to help save lives.” He confesses, “I was considering joining the DEA.” He admits, “I got the application from work but I’m not sure.”

“Do you think that you would be able to better help there?” You ask seriously, knowing that Lorraine has talked about when she convinces Javier to leave the sheriff’s department. “If you think you can, maybe you should do it.”

Javier sighs, "Lorraine wants me to quit the sheriff's office to go work with her daddy in his furniture stores. I don't - I'm not a salesman. I want to get these assholes who are killing innocent people." He murmurs, sucking on his cigarette.

“You can’t do that.” You shake your head, reaching for the beers that the bartender brings back over along with the new glass of whiskey for Javier. “If you do that, you’ll end up resenting her for making you change your career.” You tell him. “Hang on for a second. Let me deliver these beers and I’ll be right back.” You don’t want to stop talking with him since he needs a shoulder to lean on but you need to tell the guys you were playing pool with that your sitting out the next few games.

Javier nods, thanking the bartender, and he squashes his cigarette in the ashtray as you come over to the bar again. "You don't have to babysit me, hermosa, if you are out with your friends." He says and you shake your head, "it's not babysitting." He snorts until he softens, turning to look at you. "Thank you." He murmurs, knowing you are trying to be a good person. "It's just been a lot. With the wedding and Lorraine and the - well, I- it's been a rollercoaster."

“I understand.” You tell yourself that you are just providing support for the upcoming groom. Ignoring the way your step seems to bounce as you walk back towards the pool tables, almost giddy to talk to Javier alone.

Your perfume is light and fresh as you settle on the barstool next to him, and he finds himself comparing it to Lorraine's heavy and sweet perfume that she got for Christmas for herself on his card that makes him slightly nauseous. Thankfully she hasn't been wearing it lately. "So...are you planning any other weddings?" He asks, eager to hear you talk a little more.

You laugh. “I am.” You admit, leaning against the bar and taking a sip of your beer. “I’ve got three that are coming up in the next month, and several that are over the next four months.” You are proud of the business that you have slowly been building. “With more women working, having a wedding planner makes things easier for them.” You shrug. “I’ve also planned parties for companies, so I do pretty much anything someone pays me to do.”

He can't help but be impressed. You are impressive, managing all those events, dealing with impatient brides. He smiles and hums, taking a sip of his whiskey, and he pauses after he swallows. "How many weddings have a groom that isn't sure if he wants to get married?" He asks quietly, his dark eyes meeting yours.

It’s a loaded question and one that you need to tread lightly on. His unhappiness seems to pour from his eyes and you don’t want to make him feel like he has to do this. “Quite a few.” You admit honestly. “Sometimes it’s just due to nerves, fears of the future.” You sigh. “Other times…..” you trail off and take another sip of your beer and let his imagination fill in the rest.

****

Javier snorts as he sets his empty glass down. You’ve had a few rounds and he feels relaxed, the horror of his work day pushed aside while you make him laugh at a story of a groom who was so drunk he fell into the wedding cake. “Shit. Lorraine would probably kill me if I did that.” He murmurs and you reach out to touch his arm, “the bride was furious but she laughed. The groom fucked up but she loves him so she let it go. That’s what marriage is, right? Forgiving the other when they mess up because you love them.” You say and Javier taps his fingers on the counter, knowing that Lorraine would probably annul their marriage if he fell into a cake. “Yeah. I guess so.” He sighs, “this guy at the station got married a few months ago. We took him out for a bachelor night and of course he wanted to go to the strip club. We went, sat down and ordered drinks, and they announced the first dancer…his face when the girl came out on stage…it was his sister. He didn’t know she was a dancer. Too scared to tell him.” Javier snorts, shaking his head, “he just about had a heart attack.”

“Oh my god.” Your eyes widen as you start to laugh. “Talk about ruining his entire night. He just wanted to see some tits, but not his sisters!” Javier throws his head back and laughs, exposing the long column of his throat at that gorgeous Adam’s Apple. You have to stare, realizing you’ve never seen him laugh like this before, the sound making your stomach flip and your cunt clench around nothing.

Javier chuckles as his laughter settles down and he nods, “he was mortified and took her home. That was the first stop, so bachelor night was cut pretty short.” He turns to look at you after glancing along the bar. “The guys are planning on making it up on my night.” He says and you smile, “it will be epic then.” Javier nods and turns to look at you, “how the hell have you not planned your own wedding yet?” He asks, confused how someone like you is single.

“You know that old saying that those that can’t do, teach?” You ask, rolling your eyes. “I’ve just never found someone that is willing to put up with me, I guess.” You shrug, feeling a little vulnerable.

Javier nods, his eyes burning into yours as he sees the vulnerability there. “Well, I’m sure you’ll meet someone who thinks you are worth putting up with.” He promises, reaching out to touch your hand that’s on the counter.

You don’t think about how inappropriate it is, or how he’s just being polite. Your attraction to Javier makes you lean in to kiss him before you can catch yourself. It’s only when his eyes widen slightly in shock do you realize what you are doing and jump back guiltily. “Oh God. I- I should go.” You stammer out quickly, embarrassed at how big of an ass you are. He’s getting married, he’s a client and you just tried to kiss him. Standing up, you reach into your pocket to pull out money to cover your tab. “I’m so sorry.”

Javier doesn't get a chance to say anything as you rush off and he frowns, his lips tingling from the brief touch of your lips on his, and he sighs. He can't say anything to Lorraine to risk your job but also, he wants to keep this secret. For a brief moment, Javier had a glimpse into a life without Lorraine and he liked it. Just as he considers going after you, the bartender comes over and tells him he has a call. "It's Lorraine." The bartender says and Javier sighs, reaching for his wallet to throw some bills down before he walks to the phone, knowing Lorraine will be chasing him to come home.

****

“Just pretend he is any other groom.” Since that night, you have steered clear of the bar, of the gas station where the cigarettes are the cheapest. Any place that Javier Peña might be. Wallowing in shame, you had halfway expected a screeching call from Lorraine to fire you. Relieved when you hadn’t and hating that you put Javier in that position. Now, one week from their wedding, they are on their way to your office and you are nervous about seeing him again.

Javier opens the door for Lorraine as the bell above your door rings to announce your presence. “Oh Jay. Look at these.” Lorraine rushes over to the mock table to admire the new gold chargers you got in the other day. “Hmmm.” Javier acknowledges her as she admires the table but it’s already been decided and he’s not ready to start the process again.

You swallow down the urge to flee, not even looking at Javier as you stand up and walk over to Lorraine. “One week to go.” You feign excitement, knowing every bride is looking forward to their big day.

Lorraine is beaming as she nods at you, "one week to go until I can call this handsome man mine." She winks at Javier but he doesn't react. Lorraine takes no notice of his lack of excitement and she walks over to where you have a mock set up of the table placement. "I just want you to confirm this is what you want and how you want it." You say and Lorraine eyes the setting while Javier shoves his hands in his jeans. His eyes meet yours and he offers you a small smile, wanting you to know it's okay even though he's really been thinking about that kiss every damn minute. As brief as it was, it consumed him and that made him anxious because he's getting married next week.

You nod awkwardly, trying to keep your demeanor professional, even though you are dying inside. “You know, I don’t think I like the flowers.” You barely resist the urge to groan, knowing that Lorraine had insisted on this arrangement. She had sign off on it. “It’s the red roses with baby’s breath, like you ordered.”

Javier wants to scream as Lorraine changes her mind again. “Baby.” He walks over to her, “I thought you wanted red roses with baby’s breath? Remember? Your cousin had them and you told me you wanted more than her.” He says, knowing that reminding Lorraine of how much she loves to be better than others will get her to agree to this without creating more work for you.

“I know, but it looks a little plain, doesn’t it?” She tilts her head as she looks at the centerpiece. You had made sure that everything was perfect and the were full. “I saw a floral arrangement where there were red, white and pink roses.” You don’t show how frustrated you are, listening to her as she rambles. “I think we should do that.” Shaking your head, you disagree. “I think it would take attention away from your wedding colors.”

Lorraine’s head spins so fast to look at you you swear she nearly breaks her neck. “I want this to be perfect. You want to it to be perfect, right baby?” She coos as she turns to look at Javier who nods and offers you a soft smile, “yes of course but it will clash with the colors you’ve picked. Let’s stick with what you picked. I think you’ll love it on the day.” He says, trying to calm her down.

���No, I want red, pink and white roses.” Lorraine hisses, slapping away Javier’s hand when he reaches for hers. You cut your eyes away and clear your throat. “The flowers have been ordered.” You remind her gently. “Last minute changes will be costly. Especially white and pink roses.”

Javier clenches his jaw, knowing that Lorraine is being completely unreasonable but he knows that provoking her will make this worse. “Fine. How much? I’ll pay for it.” Javier says through gritted teeth, not wanting to ask her daddy to pay for anything else. He’s already ragging on Javier for not making enough money to support Lorraine…he doesn’t even know the whole story.

You wince, knowing that it won’t be cheap, “I’ll have to call the florist, but with the arrangements we have, probably another $600.”

Javier winces at the amount. That’s way more than he imagined but Lorraine is looking at him like he hung the moon and she’s been reminding him that she can’t get stressed out so he nods, reaching for his wallet to write you a check.

You know the florist is going to be upset, but you will buy her a bottle of wine and help her redesign the arrangements. Javier scribbles his name and rips it out of the book, holding it out to you. You hesitate, biting your lip and Lorraine giggles. “Go ahead and take it. It’ll clear, I know he’s good for it.” She coos, reaching out to caress his chest.

Javier tilts his head slightly, wanting to ask if you can wait a couple of days until his payday but he doesn’t. He will ask his Pa for a loan until he’s paid and then pay him back. He’s tired of how much this wedding has cost and he’s a proud man. He doesn’t want to owe Lorriane’s family a dime. He wants to be his own man.

“It’s going to be a few days,” you tell him, folding the check over after taking it out of his hands. “I don’t pay for the flowers until they arrive.” What you don’t say is that you want to wait until Lorraine cannot possibly make any more changes.

Javier nods, a little relieved, and Lorraine squeals, leaning in to kiss him. “I can’t wait for the wedding. I have so many family members coming into town. They are so excited to see me.” She grins and your frown catches Javier’s eyes as Lorraine rushes back over to the table. He had to sacrifice his own family member’s invites to make way for Lorraine’s.

You swallow, unsure of what to say to him, so you don’t say anything until he murmurs your name. “Javier.” You rush out at the same time and then there’s that awkward pause but you push forward. “Have you finalized your fittings with the tailor?” You ask, reminding yourself that this mind is getting married in seven days.

He nods, “yeah. I, uh, I’m due to go in on Tuesday for the final fitting.” He explains and you nod, “good. That’s perfect.” Lorraine smiles at you, a little unnerving, but she wants everything to be perfect. She wants the town to talk about this wedding for years to come.

“Is there anything else we need to discuss?” You ask. “The seating chart is set and the venue will set up the sweetheart table instead of a family style wedding party table.”

Lorraine squeals again, “it’s going to be incredible and I get to make this gorgeous man mine. All mine.” She leans in to kiss Javier and his mind flashes back to the kiss you put on his lips. Fuck, it’s hard to not be reminded of it every time he looks at you. He swallows down that feeling, shoving it from his mind as he kisses Lorraine on her hair. “It’s going to be amazing.” He agrees but it doesn’t sound authentic to his own ears

“Amazing.” You agree, clapping your hands together after a moment of awkward silence. “Well, I know you two probably have a lot to do, getting ready for your big day, so I’ll let you two get at it.” It sounds embarrassing and awkward, but you just give them a smile.

Lorraine grins, “yes. Lots to do.” She smirks at Javier who offers her a bland smile. She wants sex which is strange because she hasn’t fucked him since the night he proposed. He loves sex, craves it, but he never pushes himself on his partner. He has waited for her to come back to him and apparently tonight is that night. “I’ll see you soon.” You promise and Javier nods, thanking you as he takes Lorraine’s hand to guide her from your place.

When they leave, you sit down at your desk and sigh. One more week and you can put all of this behind you. Javier will be married and starting his perfect life with Lorraine. You just need to make it through.

****

Javier exhales as he adjusts his suit jacket. He stares in the mirror as he takes in the sight of his wedding attire. Today is the day. The day he’s going to marry Lorraine. He sighs, rubbing his freshly shaven chin and he’s anxious. His pa is getting ready and Javier feels like he needs some fresh air before he heads to the church. “Pa! I’m going to get some air. I’ll meet you at the church!” He calls out and Chucho chuckles as he lowers his razor. He knows that his son isn’t marrying the love of his life today. He remembers when he married Maria. He could hardly contain his excitement. Hell, he would’ve eloped if he could. Javier slams the door to his truck, taking a moment before he turns the key to start the engine and he reaches for his pack of cigarettes. “Shit.” He groans. He’s out. He decides to head to the store he knows will be open on a Sunday. His usual place will be closed for church.

“Shit, shit.” You had been dragged into the bridal suite at the church to quell another crisis. The fifth one of the day, but this one has a time crunch. There aren’t a lot of stores open today and it’s just your damn luck that the extra supply of tampons you keep in your purse is gone. Now you are hunting down a box for the bride since she just started. “Where the hell is the fucking tampon aisle?” You hiss, unfamiliar with the layout of this store.

Javier strides to the front, pulling out his wallet, and the cashier tilts his head, nodding when Javier grunts “Marlboros.” He points to the pack he wants and the cashier nods, working on getting the pack and ringing him up. Javier taps his fingers on the counter and he turns his head just as you come barreling towards the cash register. He says your name, eyes wide and he looks down at the box of tampons in your hand, raising his eyebrows.

Your eyes widen in surprise to find Javier standing in the store in his wedding tuxedo. He looks damn good and it makes your cheeks burn when he looks down at the box in your hand. “Oh they aren’t for me!” You blurt out, resisting the urge to hide the box behind your back. You’re a grown ass woman for Christ’s sake. “Lorraine started her period, so don’t be surprised if she’s not feeling up for anything tonight.” You wince again, knowing that wasn’t very helpful to blurt that out, but he is about to marry her today. Surely he’s been disappointed when she was on her period.

Javier is frozen. He frowns, his gaze flicking down to the box in your hand. “I’m sorry. You said - you said Lorraine started her period?” He asks, eyes wide when he looks at you in shock. “Yeah?” You frown, confused, “she said she needed them right away so she didn’t get blood on her dress.” Javier shakes his head, glancing around the store and his eyes meet yours as he shakily inhales. “Lorraine is supposed to be fifteen weeks pregnant.”

“Oh….oh god.” At first, your heart drops. Thinking that Lorraine is going through something horrible until you remember what she said. “How? She said that she hated being on her period during her bachelorette weekend.” You had to listen to her complain about her plans being ruined and you had just assumed she had meant the wedding night and honeymoon activities.

Javier shakes his head, “unbelievable.” He can’t believe it. She’s lied to him. He saw the scan. She went to the doctor alone because he had to work and he believed her. He fucking proposed because she got pregnant. “Fuck.” He growls in anger and he shakes his head, turning to the cashier who has wide eyes. “Pen and paper.” Javier demands and the cashier hands it to him with shaky hands. He scribbles a note and hands it to you. “Give this to her.” He orders, grabbing his cigarettes, “and take her the damn tampons.” He throws some cash down for the box, his heart pounding and his blood boiling as he strides out of the store.

You are so confused and your heart is pounding in your chest. The sinking feeling that you had just done something horrible settles in your stomach and you quickly pay for the tampons and rush out to your car. You want to read the folded note, but you can’t. It wouldn’t be right. “Shit.” You huff, knowing you have to go give Lorraine this letter and instinctively knowing it’s not good.

Lorraine is admiring herself in the mirror when you return and she turns to look at you. “About time. Took forever to get some damn tampons.” She scoffs and the bridesmaids giggle despite their puffy dresses that make most people wince. “So-sorry. I, uh, bumped into Javier and he gave me a note to give you.” You say, setting the box of tampons down after giving her the note. Lorraine grins, grabbing the note and she turns to look at the others, “probably a note to tell me how much he can’t wait to marry me. He’s a secret romantic.” She coos and opens the note. Her smile falls as she reads and then re-reads the note. It says ‘I know there’s no baby, Lorraine. It’s over. I’m not marrying you today.’ She gasps, crumbling the paper, and she looks at the box of tampons and then to you. “Did he see these?” You choke, unable to answer, and Lorraine screams, tossing the box across the room. “What’s happened?” Her maid of honor asks and Lorraine turns to them. “Javier has run off. He told me he can’t marry me. He’s left me at the altar!” She starts to sob, desperate to garner sympathy for this.

You sigh softly, knowing that you will need to be the one to tell the guests that have started gathering that there won’t be a wedding. You step back as the bridesmaids swarm around Lorraine and coo, immediately bashing Javier for being too much of a coward to face you himself.

Javier doesn’t know what he’s doing. He drives and drives until he stops at the only phone box in town. He curses as he grabs some change and pulls the piece of paper out of his jacket that was written on the letter he received a few days ago. He was going to throw it in the trash, considering it a pipe dream that would never happen, but was nice to know it was possible. He taps his fingers on top of the metal box as the line rings and they answer. “Houston DEA office.” Javier gives the name of the letter sender and he’s connected through after a few beeps. “Hi, it’s Javier Peña. When can I start?” He asks, feeling this is the right thing to do in his gut.

It’s hours later before you pull up to your house. Exhausted and wrung out from the questions, tears and blame that had been bandied about. Mr. Peña, Javier’s father, had walked into a shit storm when he arrived at the church. You had quickly shuffled him out the door and explained the options. There wasn’t any way to get any money back from the wedding, so you had suggested they go enjoy the reception and eat the food and drink the booze. Luckily enough, the guests liked the idea and Lorraine had been escorted from the church, weeping, by her parents. You sigh as you gather up your purse to go into the house, eager to strip off your dress and soak in a well deserved bath.

Javier doesn’t know why he’s here. He called the office and got the address, ignoring the questions of why he wasn’t currently getting married. He parked up and he’s pacing, the sun beating down on his face as he takes a drag of his cigarette. When your car pulls into the driveway, he exhales the smoke and tosses it to the ground, snubbing it out with his polished dress shoe.

Getting out of your car, you toggle your keys in your hand to find your house key. Eager to get inside and take off the practical flats you wear when working. Someone saying your name captures your attention and you turn to find Javier hurrying towards you. “Javi!” You gasp out in surprise to find him in front of your house. “What are you doing here?”

He stares at you, seeing the compassionate glaze in your eyes and he can’t help it. He surges forward to cup your cheeks, his lips meeting yours in a kiss he’s imagined so many times since you pecked his lips at the bar.

Any questions die when he presses his lips to yours. The small squeak of surprise turning into a groan when he takes advantage of that to slide his tongue inside your mouth, your hands coming up to grab his shoulders, to either push him away or pull him closer you couldn’t decide, but you ultimately press your body as close to him as you can and give into the attraction you have for him, kissing him back just as eagerly.

He groans, his entire body lighting up, and he has never felt this way when he kissed Lorraine. He pulls you closer until he realizes that you’re outside and he needs to strip you down, hear you moan his name like he’s ashamedly imagined. He reluctantly pulls back, your lips chasing his until he nudges your nose with his own, needing you to take a beat. “Baby. Baby. Keys. Inside.” He demands, “if you want. If not, if not I’ll leave now.”

You search his gaze, finding need and lust swirling in the dark depths of his eyes. You should feel guilty, knowing that you contributed to him not showing up to that church tonight, but you just take a shake breath and nod. “Inside. Yes.”

He steps back, allowing you to walk to the front door to unlock it with your keys. Your hands shake a little and he keeps his hands to himself until you push the door open. His hands find your hips and he pushes you further into your home, kicking the door shut, and he wastes no time pushing you up against the wall of your hallway, his lips finding yours again.

You moan into the kiss. Reaching up to wrap your arms around his shoulder and give into the need that you had felt for him. You know that this is wrong, that you should be talking to Javier rather than kissing him, but you can’t stop.

He's grateful he took the bow tie and tuxedo jacket off in his truck so your hands can explore his back over the thin material of his shirt. His tongue sliding back into your mouth and his hands are everywhere, finding your ass to squeeze the flesh, pulling you against his hardening cock.

You can feel him growing against your hip, making you moan into his mouth. Your fingers pull at the crisp white shirt, dragging it free from the neatly tucked in edges under his pants.

He feels like he's been consumed by desire for you. Every sordid thought he's ever had and felt guilty about is surfacing and his hand slides up your thigh, under your dress. His fingers play with the cotton of your underwear and he slides his digits along to press against your clit through the material.

You shiver and moan again. Feeling the firm pressure of his fingers and knowing that this man is talented. There’s no hesitation in his touch, just the eagerness to hear you make a sound for him, considering how his cock twitched in his pants when you moaned.

You are damp through the material and that makes him groan your name. His lips press against your jaw while your hands slide along his back under his shirt until you start to fumble with the buttons. "Fuck, hermosa." He murmurs when your palms slide against his bare skin while his fingers rub your clit.

“We shouldn’t do this.” You pant, trying to reason with him and yourself even as your fingers pluck the buttons from their slots. “You were supposed to be married by now.” Javier snorts and his teeth nip your pulse, making you whimper. “But I’m not married.” He points out.

He knows this is sudden. He just left Lorraine at the altar and now he's here. You should slap him, tell him to fuck off. Instead, you're grinding into his touch and caressing his skin. "I want you." Javier murmurs, "haven't stopped thinking about that kiss in the bar."

“Me either.” You admit breathlessly. “I shouldn’t be so attracted to you. You are - were - engaged.” You flick the end of his belt open. “But I want you so bad it hurts.”

“I’m not engaged anymore. I told her in that note that it’s over. It was before I found out she was pregnant.” He confesses, “I was trying to do the right thing. This feels like the right thing.” He groans, pulling his hand away to grab the hem of your dress and he leans back from you so he can pull it over your head.

“Fucking against the door of my house feels like the right thing?” You laugh, pulling his belt open and freeing it from the loops of his pants. “I have a bed.”

“No. Fucking a woman I haven’t been able to stop thinking about and not marrying the one that lied to me about being pregnant is the right thing.” He clarifies and tosses your dress to the floor. “Bed. Now.” He orders, needing you to guide him to your bedroom.

You grin at his order, enjoying the way his raspy voice drops roughly. It makes your cunt clench as you slide by him, reaching down and squeezing his cock briefly. “Come on and I’ll show you what I’ve been thinking about.”

Javier groans your name, toeing off his shoes before following you down the hall, and when you open your bedroom door, he’s shrugging off his shirt. You turn towards him and his breath catches when he sees you standing there with eager eyes. “Hermosa.” He murmurs, stepping closer to kiss you again.

You lick your lips, reaching up and caressing the smooth, tanned skin of his chest. He’s lean and strong, muscle sinewy under your fingertips. “You are beautiful.” You breathe out, body tense with need. You lean in and press your lips to his neck before he can kiss you.

He groans when you kiss him so softly, his hands gripping your waist and he slowly walks you backwards towards your bed while his fingers fumble with the clasp of your bra. “Want to see all of you.” He murmurs against your chin as he drags it down your arms. He groans at the sight of your tits and he wastes no time ducking his head, his hand cupping your breast to tilt it so he can take your nipple into his mouth.

You moan, loving how eagerly he touches you. How it’s not just stripping you down to slide inside you. He sucks and flicks his tongue over the hard nipple, making you whimper in pleasure as you run your fingers through his hair, the crunch of the hair gel and hair spray making you giggle.

He wishes you could run your fingers through his hair but his hair is slicked back for the day for what was supposed to be wedding photos. He groans as you grip his shoulders and he sucks on your nipple, biting down before he switches to the other one.

You whine his name, loving how attentive he is to your body. Groaning against your tit and continuing to suckle like he is a man starved. Lorraine is a beautiful woman so you have to be proud of the fact that this man wants you. His hard cock digs into your thought and you reach down between you to slip your hand in his pants and you hum when you find no underwear and wrap your fingers around his cock.

He hisses against your skin and you fumble to unbutton his pants, shoving them down a little before you take his cock in your hand once more. “Lay down.” He rasps, needing to see all of you. You reluctantly let go of his cock and lay down, allowing him to shove his pants down and kick them aside, stumbling as he peels off his socks. He’s fully naked in front of you and his gaze is dark as he reaches out to hook his fingers in your panties.

Biting your lip, you lift your hips and let him drag them down. They aren’t sexy, they are just practical cotton, comfortable for work but you don’t think he cares. He tosses them aside and groans as he looks down at you. His cock twitches and you get the best view in the world as he reaches down and squeezes his cock before he slowly starts to stroke himself. “Fuck.” You moan, reaching out with your foot to run along his calf. “I want you Javier.”

He nods, happy you are as eager for him as he is for you. He grabs your calf, letting go of his cock to slide his hand along your leg until he is pushing your thighs apart. “Wanna taste you.” He murmurs, shifting to kneel between your thighs and he presses kisses to your skin as he works his way up to your cunt.

“You don’t have to do that.” You promise, trying to close your legs, but his broad shoulders are wedged between them, keeping them open. “Javi-“ you whine. “I haven’t shaved.” You hate shaving, but your ex boyfriend would barely touch you if you didn’t have everything nearly bare. And he never wanted to go down on you, complaining that he didn’t like it.

Javier scoffs, his fingers digging into your flesh as he pushes your thighs apart. “I don’t care about that.” He promises, knowing that Lorraine was meticulous about shaving or waxing but he didn’t care. She became boring during sex, laying there and he lost his passion for her. Right now, there’s passion burning inside him and he is starving for you. He leans in, sliding his tongue through your folds without hesitation .

You gasp in complete awe as he starts to devour you. His dark eyes flickering up to your face and then down to your heaving tits as you open for him. Your stiff legs relax and fall open even more, yielding to whatever he wants as long as he keeps going. It’s been so long since someone touched you with such desire. “Javi.”

He doesn’t have forever to spend between your legs, he has places to go, but right now, he takes his time to slide his tongue through your folds. Flicking it over your clit and he loves the strangled cry that escapes your lips as he sucks your clit into his mouth.

“Oh god.” You moan and roll your hips down to his tongue, wanting more. Still, you want him inside you more. “Javi, baby, you need to fuck me.” You beg, fumbling for the nightstand to pull out a condom. You haven’t had sex in a long time, but you believe in being safe.

He was going to ask if you had a condom. He’s been with Lorraine and he doubts she cheated on him but he wants you to be safe. He pulls away from your cunt, licking his lips, and he shifts to kneel between your spread thighs, hand held out for the condom.

You could cry in relief when you grab the foil packet. Practically flinging it at him and lunging up to wrap your hand around his cock and pumping it as he rips open the condom. He twitches in your hand, making you groan. “I want to suck your cock .” You decide.

“No. No. Wanna be inside you.” He says, batting your hand away so he can roll the condom down his length. He’s so fucking eager for you. He’s twitching as he grips himself and shuffles closer to you. “Are you sure?” He asks, his gaze meeting yours.

Your eyes meet his and you don’t hesitate. “Yes.” You pant, leaning in and pressing your lips to his as you wrap your arms around his shoulders and drag him back down to the bed with you. His other arm braces his weight so he doesn’t crush you and your legs immediately lift up to his hips as he falls into place between your thighs perfectly.

He reaches between you to grip his cock, positioning himself at your entrance, and he slowly starts to sink into you. “Fuck.” He exhales, his gaze flicking between watching his cock disappear into you and your face as he stretches you out.

Your eyes slip closed in bliss as he slides inside you. The thickness chasing away the lonely voids and any sense of guilt or doubt as he fills you. The pinch of pain mixing with the pleasure, making you groan in awe of Javier Peña fucking you. “Oh fuck.”

He exhales shakily as he fills you to the hilt and he takes a breath before he starts to move. It’s slow at first, your whimpers making him twitch inside you, but he is soon picking up the pace to push deep into your pussy. His hand shifting to squeeze your tit.

Every thrust of his hips feels like magic to you. Pushing, filling, only to make you lift your hips to beg for him back when he draws back again. Your nails start the slow, deep drags down his back, digging in when he hits perfectly as you moan. “Fuck, baby, so good.” You whine. “More, harder.”

He can’t deny you. This is more than he’s ever felt when he’s been with other women. You bring something out of him that has him ravenous. He groans your name and fucks you harder, his skin slapping against yours as grunts escape his lips.

You take everything, loving how he’s slowly starting to lose control. The dark pleasure in his eyes is made even hotter by the clench of his jaw. The way his teeth snap together when you clench down around him. Both of you need this, that is obvious and you make sure that you aren’t passive, wanting him to feel just as needed as you feel right now.

Your legs wrap around him, pushing him deeper into your cunt, and Javier pants, loving it. “Fuck, hermosa.” He wants you to cum for him. Adjusting the angle, he grinds his pelvis against your clit, needing to hear you fall apart.

“Oh fuck, fuck Javi.” Your eyes roll back as he changes the angle. Pressing into you perfectly and making your body sing with every roll of his hips. “I’m so close.”

He leans closer to press kisses to your jaw up to your ear, “cum for me, baby.” He demands and you cry out as you clamp down on his cock. “Shit.” He hisses at how tight you grip his cock and he tries to work you through it. Your nails dig into his skin but he doesn’t care. He slows down and kisses your neck. “So fucking good.” He murmurs and he shifts to roll over, bringing you with him. “Want you to ride me. Take what you want.” He orders, smacking your ass.

You are sprawled on top of him, your entire body limp with pleasure but you want to feel more. Kissing him, you push up off his chest, groaning at how deep he feels from this angle. “You just want to watch my tits bounce.” You tease, taking his hands and bringing them up to your breasts as you start to swivel your hips.

He chuckles, squeezing your tits and pushing them together as you start to move on top of him. “Baby, want to watch all of you bounce on top of me. Fuck. So fucking pretty.” He groans, cock twitching inside you as you rock your hips.

You’ve never felt sexier. Javier twitches and groans as you start to pick up the pace. His thighs spreading and squeezing together under you as he lifts his hips slightly, chasing the tight heat of your cunt. This is obviously a man who loves sex and you can see why. He feels incredible. “Fuck baby, so good. Fuck you have such a good cock.”

He loves your praise, his hands squeezing your tits before they slide down to grab your ass, helping you rock on top of him. "You're so goddamn gorgeous. I - fuck - thought it when we first met. Tried to ignore how gorgeous you are but you are so fucking kind. So fucking sweet." He confesses breathlessly as you grind down onto him.

“Thought you were so sexy.” You feel guilty, but push that thought away. “From the beginning, I was jealous of Lorraine. You are caring, you let her be herself.” You snort and lean down to press your lips to his. “Thought you were too good for her.”

Javier chuckles, "enough about her. Wanna focus on you." He demands, sliding his hand across your hip until his thumb is pressing against your clit. "Want to hear you moan for me again. Wanna feel that tight pussy clench." He murmurs, eyes dark as his gaze trails up to your face from your cunt.

You moan his name, loving how dirty it sounds coming out in his raspy voice. “Soaked for you.” You promise breathlessly. “Gonna cum for you.”

He groans, cock twitching and he’s close but he wants to see you fall apart again. He rubs your clit a little harder, thrusting his hips up into you, desperate to feel you clamp down on his cock again.

Your tits are pressed against his chest as you rock down on his cock desperately. Pressing his hand between your bodies as he rubs your clit. “Javier.” You whine against his lips, rocking back upright again and tossing your head back. “Javi!” You cry out in pleasure as your cunt clenches down around him and soak him with your cum.

He watches you writhe above him, eyes squeezed shut and jaw dropped as you soak his cock and he growls, wrapping his arms around your back to pull you close so he can thrust up into you. He is a man possessed as he fucks you through your high and he’s soon climbing to his own. He pants your name, thrusting up into you as he grips your skin and finally he lets out a choked version of your name as he cums, spilling into the condom.

You collapse against his chest, his arms locked around your body as you pant. Trying to catch your breath and giggling in pure bliss as you sigh. “That was fucking amazing.” You hum, turning your head and kissing his jaw.

He hums in agreement, turning his head towards you so he can kiss you, his tongue languidly sliding against yours until he gently bites down on your chin. “Better than I imagined.” He confesses with a little guilt in his tone.

“I know.” You promise, pulling back and caressing his cheek. “You just broke up with your fiancée. You feel guilty because you should have been imagining her. But I think everyone has fantasies about others. You didn’t act on it. I kissed you, and I’m sorry that I put you in that position. I was completely wrong.”

Javier takes your hand from his cheek and presses a kiss to your palm. “I shouldn’t have encouraged you.” He confesses, knowing he wasn’t in a rush to get back to Lorraine and he might have flirted a little. He shifts, rolling you over so he can pull out of you, keeping his grip on the condom before he ties it off and tosses it into the waste bin next to your bed. “I, uh, I’m not staying in Laredo.” He confesses, looking at you after he caresses your leg.

“I figured.” You admit, reaching out and stroking his side. “When you mentioned the DEA, I heard how badly you wanted to do it in your voice.” Your heart aches but you know that he can’t stay here. Not after jilting Lorraine at the altar. It’s going to be the talk of the town for months to come. “When are you leaving?” You ask softly.

“Tomorrow.” He murmurs, glancing across the room, “I called the office before I came over here. I wanted to explain to you properly why I called off the wedding. Lorraine told me she was pregnant. Showed me the test she took and basically said I had to do the right thing. I knew my pa would kill me for leaving her pregnant so I had to propose. Her dad basically got the shotgun and told me what I had to do. I didn’t want to get married. Hell, I didn’t want to marry her. I was railroaded and she wasn’t even fucking pregnant.” He shakes his head and closes his eyes.

“Oh god, and when you found me buying tampons for her…..” you shake your head. “I’m so sorry, Javier.” You murmur, stroking his chest over his heart. “At least you found out before you got married, you got to break free.” You snort. “And you’re leaving, so you don’t have to put up with the backlash from leaving her.” You sigh. “There are some things I might be able to get your money back on.” You tell him. “Do you want me to send any of it back to your dad?”

Javier nods, “yeah. Give it back to my dad but don’t stress yourself out getting it back. I’m honestly glad I didn’t have to get married to her. I fell out of love with her. Watching her plan this wedding…it was all about her. What she wanted. It didn’t matter what I wanted at all and that made her ugly to me.” He admits and takes your hand in his to press a kiss to the back of it.

“I’m sorry.” You sigh softly. “Sometimes, wedding planning brings out the worst in people, or maybe it’s that it shows who they truly are at their core.” You shrug. “But now, you are going to go do what you really want to do. Go help stem the drug problems in the country.” You smile. “I think that’s incredible, Javier.”

“It’s what I feel is right, what I need to do. I told Lorraine I wanted to go but she told me to be serious and focus on making money to provide for our family. She didn’t support me.” He sighs, “but that’s over. It’s over. I’m sorry I can’t stay. If things were different…I’d take you for dinner…dancing. Treat you right.” He offers you a half smile.

“Oh god, could you imagine the scandal?” You snort, your eyes widening comically. “Lorraine would come for my head!” You giggle and shake your head, leaning up and pressing your lips to his. “I understand.” You promise. “How about I order a pizza and we drink the beer I have in my fridge?” You suggest. “Or are you more of a hamburger kind of guy?”

Javier chuckles, “I’ll eat anything but Pizza sounds good. Order it and there’s cash in my pocket. I’m paying.” He insists, shifting to stand up so he can grab his pants, pulling them on and leaving them unbuttoned. “I’ll go get the beers.” He winks and strides out of your bedroom, stepping over the strewn out clothes.

You chuckle and lean over to grab the phone off the cradle to dial the local pizza place that will deliver to you. “Hey, you want a supreme?” You call out as you dial.

“Sounds good, hermosa.” He calls back and he checks your drawer to find the bottle opener. He works fast to open the bottles and he tosses the caps before he takes the bottles and hands one to you where you’re leaning against the doorway with the phone in your hand.

“Ummmhmmm.” You hum into the phone. “Deep dish.” You raise your eyebrows at him to make sure that’s okay and smile when he nods. “Extra sauce, um, everything. A supreme.” You listen for another moment, taking a swallow of the beer and humming in pleasure. “Yeah. Okay, yeah, we’ll pay cash. Twenty minutes? Thanks.” You reach over and hang the phone up and grin. “Pie will be here in twenty minutes. Enough time to smoke and have a beer or two.”

He watches you put the phone back in the holder and he reaches for you, grabbing your waist to pull you against him. “Every fucker in Laredo is a goddamn fool if you haven’t been planning your own wedding yet.” He observes, wanting you to know what he thinks since he’s leaving tomorrow.

You smirk and let yourself lean against him. “You should be tired of weddings right now.” You remind him. “Maybe one day.” It’s not a priority for you right now, not when you are establishing your business.

Javier chuckles and nods, letting go of your waist. “You mind if I smoke in here?” He asks and you shake your head, stepping back to grab him an ashtray while he finds the pack of cigarettes he bought earlier, working fast to light on and he inhales the smoke while watching you wear the white shirt he bought for his wedding day. “I hope you don’t get shit from Lorraine.” He says after he exhales the smoke.

You know that it’s possible but you shrug. “She was too busy spinning the truth to make herself look like the victim.” You admit. “I’m afraid your own reputation is going to be mud for a while.”

Javier shrugs, walking over to tap the cigarette on the side of the ashtray. “Good thing I won’t be here to find out about the shit she says. You’ll look out for my Pa, though? Make sure he doesn’t get dragged into it when people ask you for gossip.”

“Of course.” You promise, watching as his shoulders roll down in relief and you kick your lips. The man should not be this attractive. “And I’m not going to say anything about you.”

Javier snorts, bringing the cigarette to his lips as he pulls the chair out to sit at your kitchen table. “Like I said, I won’t be here to hear the whispers but hopefully it will die down in a few months.” He says, pursing his lips to exhale the smoke. “She will bring the town on her side but it doesn’t matter. Let her process it how she wants. I’m not married to her. That’s all that matters.”

“True.” You take another sip of your beer and sigh. “You get to decide how you live your life, no nagging wife.” You chuckle. “No kids that you didn’t really want.” You don’t know if Javier wants kids ever or if he just didn’t like the idea of kids with Lorraine. It’s not really any of your business. “You can do whatever you want. Fuck whoever you want.”

Javier chuckles, nodding as he picks up the beer bottle and takes a gulp, “I love sex. I do.” He smirks and drags his eyes along your form, “and I’m going to stop these fucking cartels while you grow your business but damn if I won’t think about you while I’m alone in bed.”

“Honestly?” You tilt your head. “I don’t see you being alone in bed often.” You admit. “I can see that you’d be the type of man who needs sex to forget about his troubles.” You take another sip of your beer. “That night in the bar….I just wanted to take you into the bathroom and suck your cock.”

“Fuck.” Javier murmurs, tapping the cigarette on the ashtray as he leans back in the chair, slumping slightly. “If I was single, I wouldn’t have objected.” He confesses, “shit happens. I could be alone. If I get assigned somewhere…hell, I could be in the middle of the fucking desert with just my hand.”

“There’s a sexy image for me to think about.” You tease, winking playfully. “Javier Peña stroking his cock as he thinks about a pair of tits, a warm cunt.” You chuckle. “Maybe even mine.”

“Definitely yours.” He chuckles, feeling light despite the heavy events that have led to this moment. “Definitely. Yours.” He drags out before he snubs his smoke in the ashtray and he pats his thigh. “Wanna find out what I’ll be thinking about?” He teases, a cocky smirk on his lips.

“Absolutely.” You immediately take up the invitation. “We’ve only got one night, after all.” You won’t guilt him about it, so you wrap your arms around his neck and press your lips to his. You’re lucky to just get tonight, he could be dancing his wedding dance to Lorraine right now.

He reaches out to caress your cheek, his tongue sliding against yours, and he is happy to have you in his lap. He groans when you tangle your fingers in his hair and he lets you tug on it, pulling his mouth from yours and his neck stretched as you tilt his head so you can kiss the skin there.

You take your time. Learning that he grunts in amusement when you kiss right below his ear, as if it tickles. His pulse quickens against your tongue. The spicy scent of his cologne is heady and you groan at the slightly salty taste of his skin.

You are worshipping his neck and he doesn't think he's ever had that before but fuck, he likes it. His cock hardens beneath you and he reaches down to squeeze your ass, rocking you on top of him.

“Ready to go again?” You giggle, continuing to kiss and nip at his skin. You’re ready, but you find yourself craving him more and more. “Think we can do it before the food arrives?”

"Gino's Pizza delivers in twenty minutes or less so we have about ten minutes. I think I can make you cum twice in that time." He smirks, grabbing your ass and he stands as he lifts you, turning to put you on top of your kitchen table. "Bend over." He orders, reaching into his pants for his wallet to grab the condom he had in there before Lorraine got pregnant. You follow his order and he tosses the wallet onto the table while he pulls his cock out and rips open the packet to roll the condom down his cock. "Nine minutes." You count and he chuckles, pushing his shirt up your hips, and he kicks your ankle to spread you wider before he positions himself and pushes into you.

The way he pushes into you makes you cry out. Gripping the edge of the table and lifting up onto your toes as you try to push back. “Fuck!” He chuckles, fingers digging into your hips as he starts to move. “Oh fuck me hard.” You beg breathlessly. “Want to feel it.” You want to feel him for days when you move or sit down, loving that ache in your pussy when you are fucked right.

He won't deny you anything right now so he starts to fuck you harder, the table scrapping against your linoleum floor as he thrusts deeper, harder, and faster. His hand grips your hip, the other pressed against your back, and his jaw is clenched. "Feel so goddamn good, baby." He murmurs, sweat starting to bead on his forehead as he gives you everything.

“M-my line.” You pants out, moaning as you turn your head to press your cheek against the cool wood of the table. You love how deep he gets, the harsh thrusts making your ass jiggle as he slams into you. You will think about it every time you sit here after he’s gone. “Fuck baby. So good.”

He grunts, nostrils flaring in the effort he’s taking to push you over the edge. He desperately wants you to cum again for him. Then again. Before you have pizza. Your ass jiggles and he can’t help letting go of your hip to smack the flesh, watching it jiggle and he squeezes it then pulls your cheek apart so he can watch his cock disappear into your greedy cunt.

“Oh god.” You whine, feeling your body pull tight as he changes the angle. Leaning back against you and holding your ass cheeks wide while he hammers into you. It’s filthy and so sexy that it makes your stomach twist as you get closer. “Gonna cum.” You manage to garble out right before you clench down around him, the wordless cry loud as you come apart.

He growls as you squeeze his cock, your cry echoing in the kitchen, and he doesn’t stop. He continues to push into your cunt that’s gripping him like a vice. He pants your name, “need you to cum again.” His hands let go of your ass and he grips your shoulders, leveraging himself to work into your pussy harder than possible.

“Oh, oh- oh fuuuuuuuuuck!” You squeal as he pushes you through your orgasm and into overstimulation. Your legs shake and you would collapse if the table wasn’t holding you up.

He carries on fucking you hard like you wanted. Your cries hit his ears but his heart is pounding as he works himself into your pussy and it squelches around his thick length as the table moves another inch from its original position.

He’s like a man possessed and it’s not long before you are winding up again. “Oh god, oh fuck, Javi!”

He loves the way you cry out his name. You’re shaking beneath him and he is fucking you like a madman. Lorraine never let him get rough. Didn’t want to get her hair messed up. He groans and grabs your thigh, lifting it onto the table so he can sink deeper, “cum for me.” He rasps his order, bending over your body to bite down on your shoulder.

The next thrust spears up against that perfect spot inside you. Making you scream in pleasure while your walls pulse around him. Soaking his cock in your cum as you start sobbing his name over and over again.

You’re gripping him so tight he can hardly push into you but he throbs, pushed over the edge with the way you’ve soaked his balls with how hard you came, and he twitches as he spills into the condom. Your name choked from his lips as he leans over you, burying his face in the back of your neck.

Both of you are silent as you try to catch your breath. The tick of the clock on the wall the only thing that you can hear until there is a knock on the door. “Just in time.” You joke, smiling when he huffs and groans against your skin.

He chuckles and shifts to grip the base of his cock, pulling out of you, and he works fast to tie off the condom. He tosses it in your trash and pulls his pants up, grabbing his wallet from the table and he makes his way to the door. He opens it and the teenager he pulled over last week for speeding has wide eyes. “Officer, uh, Peña.” He murmurs in surprise and Javier sighs, realizing he’s been spotted here. He doesn’t care about his reputation but he does care about yours. “Listen kid. I’ll give you a damn good tip if you didn’t see me here.” He says and the teenager nods, “yes sir.” Javier nods and hands him the cash plus a decent tip, taking the pizza, and he quickly shuts the door.

You see his face when he walks back into the kitchen and you bite your lip. “Everything alright?” You ask, and he nods, giving a little sigh. “Driver recognized me.” He admits as he sets the pizza on the table. “Oh.” You wince, understanding that he wouldn’t want word of this to get out. “Damn. I’m sorry.”

“I- it’s not about me. Baby, I don’t care because I know the truth about what happened but I want to protect you. He’s a kid. He doesn’t know who you are so he will probably forget and I gave him a nice tip to get him to keep quiet.” He confesses, “I want to protect you. I’ll be leaving tomorrow and you’ll be here.”

“That’s sweet.” You smile and walk over to drop a kiss on his lips. “You’re sweet. And I appreciate it. Something like that could affect my business so I am glad you thought about it like that.

He nods, “he should leave it alone. Especially if he doesn’t want his momma to know that he got pulled over for speeding.” Javier chuckles and watches as you grab some plates. “I, uh, realized that I don’t really know much about you. Apart from your work and where you live. You got family nearby?” He doesn’t know of any of your family members in town.

“No.” You shake your head and chuckle, setting the plates down and opening the box before moving back to grab napkins and more beer. “I wanted to move away from family. The drama was too much for me.”

Javier nods in understanding, “I get that. Their loss.” He says as he reaches out to open the pizza box and he grabs a slice and puts it on the plate for you. “Here you go, baby.” He murmurs, setting the plate down after you sit down with the beers and napkins.

“Thank you.” You are surprised by his thoughtfulness, although maybe you shouldn’t be. “Yeah, I honestly just picked a town. I liked Laredo.”

Javier snorts, "you picked it? Christ. I have been here my whole life and I - I wasn't sure I wanted to stay here. Most guys leave by joining the army but I don't really take orders well so that was out but then I met Lorraine and then she - well, I thought she was pregnant." He shakes his head and picks up his beer, taking a swig.

“It’s not so bad.” You snort. “There’s a quiet kind of peace here.” You hum. “Sometimes I like to walk along the river at sunset and just look out at the water.”

"And see the drug mules. You gotta be careful, hermosa. You could get hurt. Don't go there at night." He orders, picking up a slice of pizza. "There's bad men out there."

You understand his concern but you huff slightly. “I know. But you’re gonna make it safer.” You point out. “So I can walk at night. Get rid of the drug mules.”

He nods, hoping that's the case, and he takes a bite of his pizza. "Just be careful, sweetheart." He says after he swallows his bite and you nod, taking your own bite.

Javier nods, “that’s a good idea but you need to go to classes. Learn how to use it. Too many people die from accidents not knowing how to use a gun. You gotta respect it. It’s a weapon.” He says, “I’ll talk to Julio at the station. He does gun safety classes for civilians.”

You hum, knowing that it is sweet that he cares. “You are going to make a lot of good changes.” You predict with a smile. “Agent Peña with the DEA.”

Javier smiles, ducking his head a little, "we will see. Maybe I'll be back here soon. If I don't pass the academy." He sighs, admitting something he was worried about.

​​You snort. “You’re smart.” You him. “Lorraine bragged on you, even if she didn’t understand why you got a degree in philosophy and criminal justice.” You lift a brow. “I have no doubt you will breeze through the academy.”

“Thanks.” He winks at you, picking up the pizza and you both eat in comfortable silence. It’s nice to not have the constant chatter. Lorraine never stopped talking while they would eat dinner but nothing of substance.

You notice that he finishes his beer quickly and get up to grab him another. “Here, baby.” You kiss his lips and then grab another slice of pizza. “What time are you leaving tomorrow? I’d imagine it would be pretty early.”

He nods, “gotta leave by 8 and I need to go to my pa’s to get my things.” He says and leans back in his seat as he picks up his beer. “Do you want me to go home or stay the night?” He asks, not wanting to assume.

“I’d like you to stay.” You admit selfishly. “But I understand if you want to get a jump on things.” This could never be more than what it is right now, a night. You’re grateful that you get that, so you won’t make him feel guilty for leaving. “Up to you.”

He tilts his head, reaching for your hand to squeeze it. “I want to stay. We only get one night and I want to be here.” He says, “is that okay?” You nod and he smiles, lifting your hand to kiss the back of it.

The pizza is put up and dishes cleared away. Javier helps throw away the trash and you smile at how easy this is with him. “Let’s go back to bed.” You suggest with a grin. “Still have to suck your cock.”

He smirks, wiping his hands on the dish cloth after he washed them, and he reaches for you. “You are a devil.” He teases, his hands squeezing your hips and they slide down to your ass to pull you against his body. “Too beautiful for your own good.”

“Don’t know about that, Peña.” You tease. “But your last night here in Laredo is going to be spent in my bed and I damn sure plan on making it memorable.”

**** 

Javier groans as he glances at your alarm clock. It’s six in the morning. He blinks a few times, his hair all over the place, and he turns to look at you. You’re still sleeping and he shifts to kiss you, wanting to wake you up so he can say goodbye.

“Hmmmmm.” You are drawn out of your sleep slowly, feeling the warmth from his touch as you come to. Smiling to yourself as your eyes start to flutter open. “Mornin’.” You mumble, kissing him back after the next kiss and you feel him roll you onto your back. “What time is it?”

“Six.” He answers, kissing your jaw, “wanted to say goodbye before I left.” He says, kissing your neck, and he shifts between your thighs, his hand squeezing your breast through your tank top.

You want to pull him close, beg him to stay a little longer, but you can’t do that to him. It wouldn’t be fair. He has a dream, a goal and you wouldn’t try to manipulate him like Lorraine had. “Should make some coffee.” You moan when you feel that he’s already hard, wanting you again.

“Let me say goodbye to you properly.” He demands, shifting under the covers and he wastes no time pulling your panties aside so he can slide his tongue through your folds.

Your stomach immediately starts to clench, it doesn’t matter how many times you came last night, your body responds to him. “Javi, fuck.” You gasp out, reaching down and tangling your fingers in his hair. “Oh fuck. Hell of a goodbye.”

He chuckles against your flesh and flicks his tongue over your clit. He sucks it between his lips and his hand slides up to drag your tank top down, squeezing your breast when it’s free from the material.

He loves tits, but he also seems to be an ass man. Or maybe it’s just that he loves a woman’s body. You have never felt more appreciated, more worshipped than you have over the past few hours. Your hand covers his and you moan his name.

He loves the way you moan his name, his tongue sliding through your folds until he’s pushing it into your cunt. His nose pressing against your clit, and he groans when your fingers tangle in his hair.

​​The way he lazily eats your cunt is almost deceptive. You would think that it would take so long to get worked up, but every flick of his tongue is so perfectly placed, already leaned what makes you shake. You whine as he pushes his tongue deep. “Fuck baby, I’m gonna miss that mouth.” You pant,

He groans into your flesh in agreement. He’s only just had you but he’s going to miss you. This pussy. He will definitely be thinking about you when he’s alone. He slides his tongue up and takes your clit between his lips, sucking in an effort to push you over the edge.

Your eyes close and his name becomes a prayer, chanted out again and again as he rolls you closer to cumming. Every push of his tongue makes you until he sucks one last time to send you careening into space as stars burst behind your lids. “Javi!”

He groans at the way your thigh clamp down around his head and he works you through it, lapping at your soaked pussy, pushing his tongue into you to lap it up while you relax beneath him.

“Oh god.” You pant, chest heaving and you lift the covers to look down at him. “One more time.” You hum with a grin, “I want to feel you inside me one more time before you go.”

He nods, shifting up your body, and his cock is aching. He didn’t wear anything in bed so he is pressing against your thigh while he kisses your neck. “Baby. Get a condom.” He orders against your skin.

You moan in agreement, shifting the side to open the drawer and fish around in it. “Last one.” You hum, pulling out the box and one final rubber to press into his hand. “Fitting.”

He chuckles, taking it from you to rip it open and he works fast to roll it down his cock. He inhales deeply as he shifts to position the head at your entrance and he slowly pushes into you. His eyes adjusted to the dark so he can see your face as he pushes into your pussy. “Fuck baby. So goddamn tight.” He hisses, stretching you out and he leans down to press his lips to yours.

You feel the pinch, knowing that you are going to be sore after this, but you wouldn’t stop him for anything in the world. “Just for you.” You moan breathlessly, clenching down around him and giggling when he hisses again. “Gotta keep you pining for home when you leave.” You tease, reaching up to caress his side. “Promise me you will be careful, Javier.”

He nods, knowing he can’t really promise that but he wants to give you something. He rocks into you, his hand grabbing your thigh to lift it higher so he can press into you. “But I’ll think of you, of this pussy.” He promises, sinking deeper into you.

“Yessssssss.” You hiss, tilting your head back as he completely takes over. “I’ll be thinking about you.” You promise, knowing that the specter of his presence in your bed will be felt long after you are a distant memory in his mind. “So good, Javier.”

Your praise rings in his ears and he grunts, grabbing your other thigh and he lifts your legs onto his shoulders. “Wanna see you cum again.” He groans, bending you over. He wants to wreck you, leave you aching for him when he goes.

“Oh fuck.” Your eyes widen in surprise, but immediately you are moaning from how good he feels. Your walls are tighter around his thrusting cock and he is hitting something inside you that has you squealing when he drives into you again.

Your cries are loud in the early morning air and he loves it. Grunts escaping his lips as he fucks you harder and your cunt starts to squelch, fluttering around his cock as you get closer to your high. “Cum for me, baby.” He orders through clenched teeth.

His neck muscles are bulging and he looks magnificent in the soft light of daybreak. It contrasts with the concentration and dark look in his eyes as he fucks you. Your nails dig into his forearms as he hammers into you, pushing deep when you cry out again, your cunt soaking him and you feel the wave of your juices soak his stomach.

“Fuckkkk.” He groans, looking down at his stomach as you squirt over his cock. “Fuck, hermosa. Look at that.” He murmurs, continuing to fuck into you. The squelching noise is deafening as you cry out and he pushes deep, chasing his own orgasm.

You continue to spasm and squeak as he fucks you. Your body tensing and bowing in pleasure while he thrusts in and out of you at a pace that has your tits shaking. “Javi, Javi, Javviiiiiiiiiii!”

He pants, thrusting to work you through it but it only takes a few rocks of his hips for him to let out a guttural groan. He buries his cock deep and his cock throbs as he spills into the condom. He struggles to keep his body from smothering yours and his arms shake next to your head.

You moan as you watch him ride out his pleasure. Almost wishing you could feel the heat of his seed as he filled you up, but you couldn’t ask for that. Especially after what Lorraine had put him through. You honestly wonder if she had meant to trap him. Have him get her pregnant between telling him she was and the wedding so there would only be a little bit of time to fudge. Or if she had been hoping for a convenient ‘miscarriage’ right after. “So good, baby.” You coo. “Best fucking sex I’ve ever had.”

He smiles, nudging your nose against his, and he kisses you softly. “Glad my fantasies came true.” He murmurs, “you - shit - exceeded them.” He assures you and he grunts as he reaches down to grip the base of his cock. His skin is drying from your cum and he slowly pulls out of you so he can tie off the condom. He slumps on the bed next to you, catching his breath for a moment.

You chuckle and curl into his side, pressing your lips to his chest. “Do you want to take a shower while I make some coffee?” You ask. You know he needs to leave, but you don’t want to send him off back to his dad’s without some caffeine at least.

He nods, kissing your forehead before he shifts off the bed. He wants to ask you to join him but he can’t. He needs to focus now and get ready to leave town. He showers quickly, redressing in the clothes you found and left on the bed for him, and he makes his way out into the kitchen to find you there pouring a cup of coffee. “I’m not sure how you like it.” You say and he smiles, “this is good.” He takes a sip and leans against the counter.

You had wrapped your body up in a robe, but you don’t think that he cares about that. He groans in pleasure and you smile after taking a sip of your own coffee. “Well, I have to tell you that I had an amazing night.” You admit shamelessly. “I’m happy that you stayed.”

He nods, “me too. I’m - I’m sorry I can’t stay and give you more but I think it’s for the best this way.” He says, “we can’t - I don’t want you to get shit because of me. You deserve better than that. Deserve better than me.” He sighs, looking down at the cup in his hand.

“Don’t apologize for following your dreams.” You reach out and touch his hand, making him look up at you. “But I don’t think I deserve better.” You shrug. “It’s just the wrong time. That’s all.”

Javier nods, setting his cup down, and he cups your cheeks, “wrong time.” He agrees and leans closer to press a soft kiss to your lips. “Thank you, hermosa.” He murmurs, kissing your forehead.

“Nothing to thank me for.” You promise, smiling at him as he pulls back. “You are supposed to leave Laredo.”

He pulls back and takes another look at you before he wipes his hands on his pants. “I better go. I need to get my shit from my pa’s.” He says and cups your cheek one last time. “I’ll see you around, sweetheart.” He winks at you, grabbing his keys from your kitchen table and he walks towards the front door.

You set your coffee down and trail after him. “Be safe, Javier.” You murmur as he reaches for the door. “I’ll be praying for you.”

He turns to look at you one last time, nodding and offering you a wink as he leaves your house as the sun rises in the sky. He heads home and gets his stuff, hugging his Pa goodbye. “I’ll handle Lorraine and the wedding stuff. Chase your dream, mijo.” Chucho tells his son who hugs him again and gets into his truck. Javier watches the sun shine as he drives down the highway to make his way to Houston. A new beginning and a new career. He’s ready to kick some cartel ass.

**** 

“Yesssss.” You laugh into the phone, loving how relaxed the couple is. It’s been a lot of fun planning the young couple’s wedding. “There are plenty of cases of beer.” You promise. “I’ll even stash an extra case in the trunk of my car as back up, okay?” Since he’s a Marine, the groom hasn’t been able to be present for the planning of the wedding but he’s called a few times with his own requests, simple as they might be. “We can get all of Laredo drunk, or maybe just you and a few of your Marine buddies, alright?”

Danny chuckles, “nah, it’s gotta be all of Laredo. Especially my cousin. He’s been a boring fucker since he got back from overseas. Gotta make sure he gets some beers in him.” You chuckle, “sure thing. Consider it done.” Danny thanks you and you smile, happy for the young couple getting married this weekend. 

**** 

Javier sighs as he walks into the reception hall, wiping his hands on his jeans as he follows his pa into the beautifully decorated hall. His cousin Danny and his new wife are taking photos outside. Chucho slaps Javier on the shoulder, “let’s get you beer, mijo.” Javier nods, making his way over to the bar and that’s when he sees you. You are adjusting some flowers on a table display and his heart stops. You look beautiful, as always, and his heart beats hard when your eyes meet his when you look up.

“Javier.” His name falls off your lips in surprise. Eyes widening when you see him again. He is still devastatingly handsome. His dark eyes held more sorrow, more heartache than you had seen when he walked out your door so many years ago. You had forgotten that Danny was related to Javier, even when you had run into Chucho a few weeks ago and talked about the upcoming wedding.

He pats his father on the shoulder and makes his way over to you. You’re a sight for sore eyes and after everything that went down in Colombia, he offers you a tilt of his head and smiles as he says your name. “Should’ve known it was you planning the wedding. It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you.” You fiddle with the flowers and look at him again. “Although I can’t claim too much credit. They knew what they wanted and it was just perfect for them.” You bite your lip, wanting to ask him why he suddenly stopped appearing in the newspapers about Pablo Escobar, but you don’t. “How are things?” You ask instead.

He half smirks, tilting his head, “things are…well, let’s just say I could use a beer.” He chuckles, “Colombia was not what I expected.” He confesses and reaches up to rub the back of his neck, looking around as the drinks start to flow. “How have you been doing?”

“I’ve been good.” You can tell that he’s a little unsure of himself so you step over to the bar and grab a Budweiser. “Still drink these?” You ask, holding it up. When Javier nods, you use the bottle opener you keep in your pocket and hand it to him. “Now that your first wish is granted, what else can I do for you?” You ask playfully.

“Dance with me.” He blurts out, unable to stop himself, “later, I mean. When the band plays. I want to -” He clears his throat and takes a sip of his beer, “want to catch up.” He says and he glances over to see Lorraine walking into the hall with her husband. Some big oil guy from Dallas. Javier exhales deeply and turns back towards you.

You follow his eyes. “Of course.” You wonder if he had heard about Lorraine getting married but you doubt he’s very upset. “As soon as they get done with pictures, they will greet everyone and then start the dancing.”

“I guess you didn’t get invited back to plan that wedding.” Javier chuckles softly, “did she - was there any hassle after I left - after everything that went down?”

“Nothing except me nearly biting my tongue off to keep from exposing all her bullshit.” You huff, shaking your head. “Although it was really hard not to. She moved on pretty quick though.”

Javier snorts, “yeah. I heard about what she was saying after I left town. I was the bad guy but whatever…she got her happy ending.” You tilt your head, “and what about you?” Javier chuckles, rubbing his jaw, “I don’t think I get a happy ending.”

That breaks your heart, especially since you know that Javier is a kind and wonderful man. Sometimes a little too dry or serious, but who wouldn’t be, given the type of work he does? You kept up with the news articles when you heard Javier was down in Colombia. The horrors that happened down there. You can’t even imagine what he was going through. You sigh. “You do.” You promise, smiling at him. “You just have to find it. You are too good a man to not deserve a happy ending.”

Javier shakes his head, “I don’t know. I guess we will see.” He says and takes a sip of his beer. “Did you…have you found your happy ending?” He asks, curious if you’ve found a boyfriend. He has no right to be jealous when it’s been years but he knows he’d be disappointed to find out you’re taken.

You laugh slightly as you shake your head. “Nope.” You admit, shrugging it off as if it was no big deal even though you honestly worried if you were destined to be alone. “Still planning everyone else’s happily ever after and not my own.” You tease.

“You’ll be fine, baby.” He promises, “just gotta get some of these assholes to realize what’s under their nose.” He sips his beer and turns when your assistant comes over to tell you the bride and groom are ready. “Showtime. Ill, uh, see you later.” You promise and he nods, thinking about the dance you promised him and he watches you walk off.

Javier is here. You can’t believe it. You had heard about him of course. The same people who had gossiped about him when he had left town and dragged his name through the mud had bragged on him. Boasted about his work as if it was their own or they helped him. You had bitten your tongue and wished that you could call or write to him, just to remind him that you were still praying for his safety. You hadn’t stopped thinking about that one night you had together.

Javier watches you as you rush around making sure everything is beautiful for Danny and Maria and he smiles, appreciating how much effort you put in. “Beautiful.” He murmurs to himself and Chucho comes over, patting his son on the shoulder. Javier claps as the couple walks into the reception hall.

“She hasn’t really dated.” Chucho offers, seeing the way that his son’s eyes drift towards you again and again. He had wondered if something happened before Javier left for the DEA. He hadn’t come home the night of his missed wedding and when he had come home that morning, he smelled like the shampoo you seem to favor. Not that it was his business, you nor Javi were the type to cheat and he had ended things with Lorraine when he hadn’t shown up to the church. Still, he always wondered if you were waiting on his wayward son. “Can’t remember anyone.”

Javier isn’t sure if he’s pleased or upset that you haven’t dated anyone. He hates to think of you alone but he is pleased that he doesn’t have to stay away from you. He hums and his Pa chuckles, nudging him as he sips his beer. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t even know what I’m doing next. The DEA put me on the shelf until they decide what my fate is. I can’t drag her into my bullshit.”

“Mijo….” Chucho sighs. “I never said anything about letting the other one go because she wasn’t right for you.” He reminds Javier. “But that one….” He takes another sip of his beer. “She’s exactly what you need. Your mother would have loved her.”

Javier grips his beer bottle a little tighter, his stomach twisting, and he watches you as you prepare for Danny and Maria’s entrance. “She is too good for me. Always has been. She said - we spent the night together after I told Lorraine it was over. She said - it was the wrong time. Is it still the wrong time?” Javier asks his father like he is needing him to figure everything out, to tell him what to do.

“Last time you were at a crossroads in your life.” Chucho reminds him. “Much like now, except you have a better grasp on yourself. She obviously has the skills to soothe you and leave an impression.”

Javier snorts, "that's one way to put it. She - she never left my mind." He admits and Chucho chuckles, "or your heart from the sounds of it." Javier doesn't answer and thankfully he doesn't need to as the band announce Danny and Maria and Javier shifts his beer bottle to the nearest table so he can clap for his newly married cousin.

You move over to the buffet to make sure that you’ve got plates made for the happy couple. They will have to snack between conversations but you want them to have some of the delicious foods that had been prepared. Turning and humming in surprise when you see Lorraine. You know she had been invited, but you didn’t think she was going to show.

Lorraine isn’t surprised to see you there. You’ve become more successful and well known in town - hell, she’s heard you’ve planned weddings in Dallas - after her disaster of a wedding. She says your name, “it’s a beautiful day.” She offers you a stiff smile, “although I probably would’ve told them to go with silver instead of gold.” She hums, looking at the table settings. “At least this wedding happened under your planning.”

You expected some kind of comment, of course. Knowing that Lorraine isn’t the type of woman to be able to help herself. “So true.” You give a casual shrug. “Actually that is the only wedding that I’ve planned that didn’t happen. And ironic that both of you are here.”

Lorraine’s eyes widen and her head swivels comically as she looks over at Javier who is talking to Danny and his new wife. “Can’t believe he’s finally shown his face.” She scoffs and ignores you as she makes her way over to her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck.

You figure you should probably warn Javier, but then you see his eyes wander around the room, finding Lorraine. He doesn’t look surprised to see her, although it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking. He’s very good at keeping his thoughts to himself. Instead of worrying about it, you move over to make sure that the photographer has pictures of the wedding cake.

The food and booze are soon flowing and Javier greets his third cousin while sitting next to his dad at their assigned table. He sees you rushing around, fixing Maria's dress, fixing flowers, and making sure the food is refilled in the buffet. You walk past Javier and he can't help but wink at you, letting you know he's watching.

That wink. It will be the death of you. Your entire body heats up at his attention and you try to smother the smile on your face, but it’s hard so you just pretend that it’s wedding happiness. That you aren’t seeking out the gaze of a certain man. He looks damn good in that red plaid shirt and crisp jeans. Making your mouth water as you remember every second of the one night you spent together.

The food is soon eaten and the band begins to play so Danny and Maria can have their first dance then cut the cake. Javier sips his beer as the couple dance, looking lovingly into each other's eyes and then they move over to the display table to cut the cake. When the traditions are done and cake is eaten, the dance floor gets busy and Javier looks around for you after he stands up.

“Be careful.” You decide that instead of instructing them on what to do, you will politely nudge them out of the way and do it yourself. “The cake has to be wrapped so it will last.” You explain. “They will have the top layer of the wedding cake on their first anniversary.”

Javier slowly makes his way over to you as you finalize the storing of the top layer so the happy couple can enjoy it on their anniversary. "Best cake I've had in a long time. New baker in town? I don't remember the cake being that good when I tried the samples." He says, tilting his head.

You turn towards him and smile. “I baked it.” You confess. “The baker I normally use got sick and it was too late to find a replacement.” It hadn’t been a big deal, the baking was easy, the assembly was what had taken the longest.

Javier raises his eyebrows, "goddamn. Beauty and cooking skills." He smirks, "are the men in Laredo stupid?" He asks and you chuckle, looking down at your shoes for a second, "well...the only one I ever liked left for Colombia." Javier licks his lips, rocking on his heels for a moment, "he was a fool trying to stop a never ending cycle. He left the best thing that ever happened to him in this town." He admits, rubbing his neck.

Looking up, you try not to smile, but it’s hard when he just said something so sweet to you. “You had to go. For you. I understood that, understand it now.” You promise. “Are you back for long?”

Javier tilts his head, “I don’t know. I’ve been put on official leave by the DEA. I’m not sure but I’m going to be called to D.C for a review by the board. Then I’ll know if I’m back helping my pa or if I’m still working for the DEA.”

“Because of the Judy Moncado thing?” You ask, tilting your head and smirking as his eyes widen in surprise. “I kept up with you. Or tried to. I wondered what happened when you went dark in the papers but then that article came out.”

Javier nods, “it was a shit show. I- I was frustrated. Tried to cut corners, skip bureaucracy and sink down to their level and it backfired on me.” He confesses, scratching his jaw, “still…they got him in the end.” You sigh, “yeah but you weren’t there after all your hard work.” Javier shrugs, “I know what I did to contribute.” He promises and glances over at the dance floor, “do you, uh, maybe wanna dance?”

“Absolutely.” You would never turn down a dance with Javier and you set down your drink and reach for his hand. “Let’s dance, handsome. I want to hear about you. Not your cases or Escobar, but about you.” You clarify. “Tell me about what you’ve been doing outside of catching bad guys.”

Javier guides you onto the dance floor while the band singer croons, allowing Javier to pull you closer, and his hand is on your back with one hand in yours. “I- I wasn’t - the sicarios used to frequent the brothels so I’d - I’d do the same trying to get information.” He confesses, his dark eyes on yours as he tells you the truth.

You aren’t stupid, you knew that Javier wouldn’t be celibate while he was off living his life. You’ve had a couple of lovers, but nothing worth noting. Your life has just been a lot tamer than his. “That’s smart.” You hum. “Hopefully they could help you and provide some comfort.”

“An escape.” He corrects you, “I saw - it was rough and I buried myself in work and whiskey and - well, it was all for nothing now. Escobar may be dead but others will take his place. It never ends.” He sighs, pulling you closer.

“I’m sorry.” You murmur softly. “I’m sure it wasn’t for nothing. There were real people saved by your work. Even if it’s just one, it’s one more than would have been if you hadn’t been there.”

Javier nods, glancing over at Lorraine and her husband who are tending to their kids. "It's done now. I am trying to not hold on to the past." He admits, swaying you to the music, and his dark eyes meet yours, "but some things just won't go away."

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” You ask, slightly breathless at how mesmerizing his stare is.

Javier chuckles softly, “I don’t know. I- I don’t know what my future is, so I don’t want to drag you into my bullshit but I didn’t stop thinking about you, about that night. I’d like to get to know you more.” He confesses softly as the song comes to an end.

“I don’t care what your bullshit is.” You admit, smiling back at him. “I kept you in my prayers the entire time you were gone. And hoped that you were finding peace.” Your fingers caress his arm. “Do you want to go out for a drink after the reception?”

Javier nods, “I’d like that.” He offers you a soft smile just as his tía comes over to grab you. “Sweetheart, the drinks are getting low. We got more stored up?” She asks and you chuckle, “we are fully stocked. I’ll get it sorted.” You look at Javier and he nods, winking at you and he turns on the dance floor, near Danny and Maria, and he sees Lorraine. He decides it’s time to talk to her and he makes his way over to where she is standing with a glass of red wine in her hand. “Lorraine.” He greets her calm and cool.

Lorraine looks up at Javier and hates that he still looks so damn handsome. “About time you showed your face.” She hums as she lifts her glass to take a sip. “Good to see you, Jay.”

He shoves his hands in his jeans, “you, uh, you got your happy ending?” He asks, his gaze drifting over to her husband, and she smiles. “Yeah. I- I did. We weren’t supposed to be together. I see that now and I- it all worked out in the end.” She hums and Javier nods, “yeah. I’m glad you’re happy.” He says, telling her he doesn’t hold that over her anymore. He didn’t want to marry her. She got her happy ending. It worked out. “I’m very happy.” Lorraine says with a little bite to it, “good.” Javier nods, “I’ll see you around.” He nods to her husband as he approaches and Javier makes his way back to his Pa, counting down the time until the wedding is over so he can see you again.

Several times you look over to find Javier watching you. Making you smile and wave as you try to finish up the wedding activities so you can spend time with him. You see the interaction with Lorraine and you wonder how he feels about it. It didn’t seem to be acrimonious, which is a good thing. Finally, the couple rush off to their cars in a shower of birdseed and you walk over to where Javi is standing. “I’m done.” You tell him. “The clean up will wait until tomorrow.”

Javier grins, “good. You got your car? My Pa drove.” He says, knowing you might want to take your car so you’re in control. He glances around as the crowd begins to get into their cars and he sees his Pa.

“You can ride with me, mister DEA.” You hum teasingly, holding up your keys after your fish them out of a discreet pocket in your dress. “Where you want to go?”

Javier chuckles at your nickname and he wraps his arm around your waist as you walk towards his Pa. “What about that bar we met in that night?” He suggests and Chucho smirks as Javier appears in front of him. “I guess I’ll be driving home alone tonight…good news for me. Haven’t got to listen to your loud thoughts.” Chucho teases and Javier snorts, “I don’t think that much.” Chucho adjusts his hat, “that boy could put Aristotle to shame.” Javier rolls his eyes, “okay Pa. We are going for a drink.” Chucho nods, “have fun kids.” Javier squeezes your waist and lets you guide him to your car.

“So do you want to drive?” You ask him seriously. “I don’t know if you have issues where you like to be in control?” You ask gently. You know he has to have seen some shit and you want him to be comfortable.

Javier shakes his head, "I trust you. It's other people I don't trust, but baby...you can drive." He tilts his head, appreciating how considerate you are.

“Okay.” You reach your car and unlock the doors. “What made you decide to come to the wedding?” You ask curiously. “I can’t imagine you have a fondness for them.”

Javier snorts, opening the door for you to get in, "just my own." He quips, "but I love Danny. Practically changed his diapers and my tía...she was there for me after my mom died. I had to see Danny get married...even if weddings aren't my thing." He confesses, "look at us...you plan weddings...I run from them."

You snort and shake your head. “You ran from a lie.” You defend. “I think that despite your past, you are a ‘til death do us part’ kind of man and divorce isn’t an option. Lorraine knew that.”

He stands under the parking lot lights, his hand on your door, surprised at the way you just cut him open and found out who he is. He's been branded the casanova, the man whore who slept his way through Colombia, but you...you see that he can be more than that for the right woman. He can't help it. He lets go of your door, cups your cheeks, and surges forward to kiss you.

Your surprise quickly turns into desire. Moaning softly into his mouth when he opens up to slide his tongue against yours. You had expected the night to end like this, but you don’t mind it happening now.

His hands pull you close, enjoying the feel of your body against his, and his tongue caresses yours. You kiss for several moments until he pulls back, pecking your lips, and he nudges his nose with yours. "Drinks are on me." He murmurs, not wanting to assume you want him to go back to yours.

You hum softly. “That’s almost disappointing.” You admit breathlessly. “I was honestly hoping we weren’t going for drinks.” It’s probably wrong to assume he wants to jump into bed with you. It’s been years and he’s had a lot happen. You peck his lips again and pull away. “First round is on you. Then I’ll buy you a drink. Men should be treated too.”

Your words run on a loop in his head as you settle in your car and he shuts your door, walking around the back of the car to open the door and slide into the passenger seat. “Baby. Look at me.” He orders and you turn to look at him, a soft smile on your face that makes his heart race. “I want a drink at your place. Not the bar.”

“That sounds perfect to me.” You slide the key into the ignition and turn it. “You were sexy in the tuxedo, but you are even sexier in those jeans and boots.”

He can’t help but smirk, watching as you back out of the space and he leans back in his seat, happy to be driven. “You’re always sexy. In anything.” He confesses, eyeing the cute dress you’re wearing. “Even when you’re trying to be professional.”

“I think you might be biased.” You tease, looking over at him for a second before turning your attention back to the road. “Considering you’re the only groom I’ve ever thought about sleeping with, I’m pretty biased too. It was hard being professional around you.”

Javier snorts, rubbing his jaw as he turns to look out the window. “It feels like a lifetime ago since I was a groom. A lot of shit has happened since then but one thing hasn’t changed…I thought you were the prettiest damn thing I’d ever seen that day Lorraine introduced us. Felt goddamn guilty for that when I believed Lorraine was having my baby, but now? That thought is flashing in my brain.”

“I’m sure there were plenty of beautiful women around you.” You reach out and squeeze his knee. “You seem to attract them. Several women at the wedding kept watching you. Wondering who you were and how you could be so handsome.”

“Beautiful women, yes…beautiful on the inside? Not as much as you. There was one woman…her name is Helena. She - I’d give her money in exchange for information and we - she kept me company. I got her swept up in some bullshit meeting and she…we had to fight to get her back and when we did…she was never the same.” Javier confesses, reaching for the hand on his hand to take it in his.

You hear the pain in his voice, the regret. Something bad happened to her and he blames himself. “But you got her back.” You murmur softly. “You cared enough to fight. That’s more than some people, most people.” You sigh. “You are a good man, Javier. I’ve always thought so.”

He finds it hard to believe, the flash of Helena on the floor in that apartment makes him feel sick, but your hand in his chases that away. Helena is safe with her son. He got her out. “I’ve done a lot of bad things, baby, but I’m trying to be better. I want to be better.”

“We all do bad things sometimes.” You know that his are probably darker than most, but he was going after cruel and ruthless men. “All that matters is your future.”

He offers you a half smile, squeezing your hand, and he lets go so you can drive to your house. The radio plays and he looks out the window as Laredo passes by. So much has changed within him but his town is exactly the same as when he left it. He is a different man. Jaded and heavy with guilt and regret, but you are here. He wants to be better.

It doesn’t take long for you to pull up to your house, it’s the same one that Javier had been parked in front of when he left Lorraine at the altar. “Home sweet home.” You joke, pulling into the driveway and parking. “Except this time, I have better booze than just beer.”

Javier chuckles, "beer suits me just fine but I'll drink anything. Except gin." He wrinkles his nose, "never could get into gin." He confesses and opens the door, getting out of your car and he hangs back as you lock your car and walk to your front door. He's a little nervous. He can't deny that. He's thought about you so many times and now he's here. You unlock your door and he follows you inside, "you've painted." He observes, glancing around your living room.

“Yeah.” You haven’t done much to the place as far as redecorating, but changing the paint freshened it up. “Surprised you noticed.” You admit with a grin. “We were….busy when you were here last time.” You set your purse down on the entry table and lock the door behind Javier. “Beer?”

Javier chuckles, “still noticed the little things. Wanted to memorize that night.” He confesses and nods, watching you kick off your shoes before you make your way over to the fridge. He takes his boots off, leaving them by the front door, and he decides to make his way to your sofa. He’s a little on edge, unsure of what to do or say when you didn’t really do anything but act on your lust when he saw you last time.

You take a minute to compose yourself before you grab the beers. A little nervous since this is more than just a night of desire. You decide that you will let him lead the night and come back out into the living room to find him sitting and waiting for you. “Do you want to watch tv, talk?” You ask, bringing the beers over. “I’m not exactly sure what you want to do.”

He takes the beer from your hand, thanking you, and you settle down on the sofa next to him with expectant eyes. “I want to talk. I want to know more about you.” He decides, knowing this return home is supposed to be a fresh start for him and he wants to try and do things differently this time.

“Okay.” You smile, finding it sweet that he is making an effort to talk. “Well, while you’ve been gone, I’ve expanded my business.” You admit. “I have two coordinators that work for me, planning weddings when I am doing other events. It’s lucky that I was even at the wedding today, to be honest.”

Javier’s eyebrows raise, “wow. That’s - that’s incredible.” He compliments you, “you’ve done so well and you deserve it. You’re damn good at your job.” He compliments you with a wink. “I loved how passionate you were and you managed to control Lorraine when she wanted to go over budget.”

You sigh softly. “I wish I could have controlled her better.” You admit. “She would go off on tangents, and to be honest? Her wedding colors clashed horrendously.”

Javier chuckles, “fucking awful. I know nothing about weddings but even I could see it clashed. She didn’t care about how it looked as long as it was the most expensive.” He shakes his head, “I’m sure her new husband got stung by her taste for money.” He snorts and you tilt your head, “jealous?” Javier shakes his head, “absolutely not. We were not - I didn’t even want to marry her.” He rubs his hands on his jeans, “and seeing you. How sweet you are. How beautiful you are inside and out made me realize what a mistake I was making but I thought she was having my kid and I couldn’t walk away from that.”

“Hmmmmm.” You take a sip of your beer and tuck your feet up under you as you turn towards him. “And you think you aren’t a good man.” You huff. “You stepped up, even if you didn’t want that life, some men wouldn’t. Most men wouldn’t. You could have just easily told her it wasn’t your problem. But you didn’t.” The entire point was useless since she was never actually pregnant, but he had believed she was.

He smiles softly after he takes a sip of his beer, “always been fighting my corner. That’s why you’re too damn good for me. I’ll just disappoint you.” He confesses, “I’m good for sex. Emotions? Not really my wheelhouse but I know how I feel about you.” He confesses, his eyes meeting yours as he lays himself bare.

“And how do you feel?” You ask curiously. “Because I’ve never been a grand gesture kind of woman.” You confess, leaning in as you grin. “I would actually hate ninety-eight percent of the weddings I plan. I want a man who might not give me flowers ever, but listens when I talk about my day.” You hum. “He might not tell me he loves me every ten seconds but he shows me when he touches me.”

"I've never been a man who envisioned himself having a marriage like my parents. Especially after seeing how much my momma and my pa loved each other. I wasn't - I wasn't a good man in Colombia. Whenever I do take a moment to imagine a future married...any kids...I always see you." He admits, "I might not talk about my feelings but I can show you."

“Then you’ll show me.” You decide, setting your beer down and scooting closer to him. “I don’t have to have words.” You promise. “Not all the time, even if I give them to you.”

He looks at you, seeing a future he never imagined and still doesn’t believe he deserves, but he can’t help but lean forward. He reaches out to cup your cheek, leaning in to softly kiss you.

You don’t pull away or lunge forward. You let him slowly kiss you. Less hunger in his lips than the last time, but there is a tenderness that has you sighing into the kiss. Your lips curving up in a smile.

He caresses your cheek with his thumb, his lips slide against yours and his tongue pushes into your mouth. He groans into your mouth, chasing the memories of the night he left Lorraine and you are giving that to him.

The first moan is so soft, breathed into his mouth as you shuffle closer. Pressing against him and reaching up to caress his shoulders. He said he was good at sex, but he’s also incredible at making you feel like the only woman on the planet.

The kiss is slow, lazy slides of his tongue against yours, while his hand caresses down to your neck. He groans, blindly setting his beer down and he reaches for you, grabbing your ass to drag you into his lap.

You squeal slightly, but it’s amazing how easily you are transferred into his lap. Pulling away breathlessly to grin at him before you duck your head down to kiss him again. “Fuck, you’re so sexy.”

He chuckles against your lips, “so are you. Fuck. Thought about you so many goddamn times.” He confesses, his hands sliding under your dress and under your panties to squeeze your flesh. His lips press against your jaw and down your neck, enjoying the gasps and moans that escape your lips.

“Now you have me.” You hum, tilting your head to let him do whatever he wants to your neck. “You can do all those things that you’ve thought about. I’m very willing.”

“You have me.” He grunts against your collarbone, “have you had any thoughts? I’m all yours. You can do what you want to me.” He counters with a smirk against your skin.

“You shouldn’t tell me that.” You groan, reaching up to tangle your fingers in his hair. “Never did get to suck your cock like I wanted to, but I think I’ll just ride it right now.”

“Take me how you want. Got tested when I came back. All clean.” He reveals, pressing a kiss to your throat as you look at him, “ride my cock, suck it. Sit on my face. I’ll willingly let you do it all.”

“Oh god.” You moan. “Let me strip you down. Kiss up and down your body and suck your cock until you are begging to feel my pussy wrapped around it.”

“Fuck.” He pants, nodding and breathless as you shift off of him. He fumbles, working fast to unbutton his shirt as you stand up to grip the hem of your dress, pulling it over your head. “So fucking pretty.” He murmurs, dragging his eyes down your body as he shrugs off his shirt.

You reach out and push the material of his shirt off his broad shoulders. Finding that his body has softened slightly, not as lean as he was before and you love it. You wonder if he knows how sexy he is as you lean in and kiss along his collar bone.

“Jesus.” He pants, eyes closing slowly as he tilts his head back while you do what you want to his body. His cock is already hardening and he groans your name when you kiss his neck.

“That’s right.” You hum, scrapping your teeth over his skin and smirking when you feel him shudder. “I’m going to make you forget everything but my name. And how good I make you feel.” Your fingers slide the end of his belt free of the loop and you start working on unbuckling it. “Burned up so many vibrators thinking about this cock. How good you felt inside me.”

He lets you do what you want. Last time he was in control but right now, he’s happy to let you take the lead. He groans when you work on unzipping his pants and he almost chokes when you pull his cock out to wrap your fingers around it. “Thought about you when I had lonely nights with my hand around my cock.”

“Can’t believe you had too many of those.” You praise, leaning down and spitting on the tip before kissing your way back up his stomach as you steer him back towards the couch again.

“Plenty to think of you.” He promises, breathless and you start to pump his cock. “Fuck. You’re so goddamn pretty.” He murmurs, watching you and he leans in to kiss you but you pull back, a smirk on your face that makes him twitch in your hand.

“Be a good boy for me.” You coo playfully, not minding really if he takes over but you feel like he deserves to let loose. To give control over to someone else and just let the pleasure cloud his mind of all those bad memories. He sinks back onto the sofa and you continue to pump his cock as you kneel down between his spread thighs.

His dark eyes watch you as you shift between his thighs, cock leaking pre-cum as he twitches again, and when you finally take him into your mouth, he lets out a guttural groan, his Adam's Apple bobbing as he swallows.

He’s salty and musky. Delicious on your tongue as you slowly take him deeper and then pull back to release him with a pop.

You look like a goddamn angel and devil in one as you smirk at him before you take him back into your mouth. His hands grip the edge of your sofa cushion and he is transfixed by you.

You can tell he likes it. His stomach heaves and his chest puffs out before deflating with a low groan. You know the man has had blow jobs, but you wonder when the last time someone really took their time with it. You keep your tongue soft, your mouth wet as you push him deep into the back of your throat, pausing to swallow so you don’t choke.

Javier groans, watching you, and he caresses your cheek. It bulges under his touch with your mouth full of his cock and he groans, “you’re so pretty.” He murmurs, closing his eyes for a second.

You hum around him, wanting to tell him that he is just as pretty, but you don’t want to pull your mouth away. Not when his eyes flutter closed and his head rolls back slightly in pleasure. Watching him as the tension in his body practically melts away as you suck his cock.

He feels like he’s in fucking heaven. You suck his cock with an enthusiasm he hasn’t experienced in so goddamn long and he moans your name as you hollow your cheeks.

You look down, concentrating on taking him as deep as you can. Loving how he’s responding to you. How wrecked he already sounds. Your hands slide up his jean clad thighs and you reach for the band to tug them down. You had just pulled his cock out in your eagerness to touch him, but now you want to strip him while his cock is down your throat.

He groans and lifts his ass to allow you to drag the jeans down his legs and he’s bare before you, his cock down your throat, and he can’t believe how quickly you’ve unravelled him. In bed and in his heart. “Fuck, hermosa.” He pants, caressing your cheek, “I’m close.” He warns you in case you don’t like to swallow.

Your hands hold his thighs as you hum around him. If he wants to cum down your throat, that’s perfectly fine with you. You are dripping into your panties and his groans might be the sexiest thing you’ve ever heard in your life.

Your hum sends him over the edge and he lets out a choked groan as his cock twitches in your mouth. Hot spurts of cum hit the back of your throat and you swallow them down, making him pant and tilt his head back as you milk him dry.

It has to have been awhile for him. The way he just cums and cums has you struggling to swallow all of him down but you only let a few drops escape from the sides of your mouth. Whining at how fucking sensitive your clit is as you drink him down, listening to his sounds as he comes apart for you.

He slumps against your sofa when he stops twitching, his eyes squeezed shut until he finally gets the strength to lift his head so he can look down at you. His cum is dripping down your chin and he groans, “fuck. You are a goddamn angel.” He murmurs, reaching for you to pull you up into his lap from your place on the floor.

You hum, grinning slightly at his description of you as you wipe your chin with your hand and then lick his cum off of your palm. “A little salty.” You tease, leaning in and kissing his chin since you don’t know how he feels about kissing someone with his cum on their tongue. “Need to drink more pineapple juice, baby. Makes it sweeter.”

He chuckles, “I’ll make a note of that.” He grips the back of your neck to drag you closer so he can kiss you properly. He doesn’t care about the taste of his cum on your tongue as his slides into your mouth, eager to show you how much he enjoyed that.

You make a noise of surprise and melt into the kiss. Letting him take over as you lean into his strong body. You know it will take him a little while to recover, but you don’t mind at all.

“Fuck. So gorgeous.” He murmurs, kissing down your neck, nipping the skin, and he runs his tongue along your collarbone. Your fingers tangle in his hair and he groans against your sternum, shifting his mouth so he can take your nipple into his mouth.

It’s your turn to moan, letting him twist you around to where your back is against the side of your sofa. “Javier.” You tug on his hair and that just makes him suckle harder. “So good baby, it feels so good when you touch me.”

He cups your other breast, squeezing it until he switches over to take your other nipple into his mouth. He bites down and loves the way you gasp and he sucks again, releasing it with a pop and he smirks as he starts to kiss your stomach.

“Do you want to go to the bedroom?” You ask, knowing the couch would be cramped and you feel like he might want to take his time since he needs to recover.

Javier nods, shifting off the sofa and he holds his hand out towards you. You grin and take it, letting him guide you to your bedroom. “You still remember where it is?” You tease and he chuckles, “I remember every detail of that night.” Your heart flutters and he enters your bedroom and spins you so he can press his lips to yours again, walking you backwards towards the bed

You love how he doesn’t let you fall back on the bed without him coming too. Your knees hit the bed and when you sit down, he follows, kneeling on the bed and hovering over you with his mouth still fused to yours.

He loves how you react to him and he’s quick to pick up where he left off in the living room. Kissing his way down your stomach, he groans and hooks his fingers in your panties, dragging them down while he watches you wiggle on the bed. He tosses them over his shoulder, making you giggle, and the giggle transforms into a moan as he grabs your waist, lifting you higher up the bed so he can spread your thighs. Javier groans at the sight of your cunt. “Fuck. Missed her.” He murmurs to himself, reaching out to slide his fingers through your folds.

You were about to comment on that, hearing him refer to your pussy like that, but then he steals your breath away. His fingers are quick, nimble as he presses them against your clit and then moves down to slide them deep inside you. “Oh fuck.” You gasp out, clenching down around the thick digits.

He watches you with rapture, the lamplight making your skin glow, and he slowly pumps his fingers in and out of you. He isn't in a rush, dark eyes taking in every detail, and his free hand caresses your thigh.

Your eyes close as he works you open. Feeling the way that you start to soak his fingers as they move in and out of your needy walls. Thighs open, chest starting to heave as he finds that spot that has you moaning his name when he presses against it.

He loves the way you clamp down on his fingers when he presses against that spot and he continues to work it, pumping his fingers. He wants you to cum like this for him then he's going to make you cum on his tongue. He twists his wrist, pressing his thumb to your clit, and continues focusing on that spot.

“Kiss me.” You beg softly, wanting to feel his lips on your while he plays your body like it’s his personal instrument. He’s adept at making you feel everything, the rough callus on the side of his finger scraping against your sensitive walls and making you shiver.

​​He can't deny you so he leans down to press a kiss to your lips, his fingers curling deeper inside you, and your choked cry puffs against his lips when he pulls back for a moment. "Cum for me, hermosa." He demands, wanting to feel it, see it, after imagining it so many times

You completely huge yourself over to him, pressing your lips to his again while your hips chase his fingers. Letting him curl them deep, pulling moans from your body as he pumps them deep inside. “Javi. Javi, I’m gonna cum.” You promise breathlessly.

He loves how breathless you are and he keeps that position and pace, watching your brow furrow when he pulls back to watch you. Your cry hits his ears as you clamp down on his digits, soaking them, and his spent cock twitches at the sensation.

The orgasm pulses through you. Making your tits shake as your body twitches and jerks in pleasure. Fingers twisted into the sheets while he works you through it. Groaning his approval in your ear. “So good hermosa. That’s it. Cum for me.”

His growled demand sends you over the edge and you moan, clamping down on his digits and he hisses at the way you soak his fingers. "That's it." He coos, working you through it by pumping his fingers.

Turning your head, you kiss along his jaw, panting as you slowly relax into the bed. Blissed out by how good it feels to cum from something other than your toys or your own hand. “Fuck.” You whimper. “You are so good at that.”

He chuckles and smirks, continuing to pump his fingers slowly and he shifts until he’s laying on his stomach between your thighs. He kisses the sensitive flesh, knowing you’re still riding the last wave, and he slowly kisses his way to your core until he softly kisses your clit.

“Javier.” You moan his name gently, as if saying it too loudly would stop him from touching you like this. Your toes curl against his ribs and he hums as you lift your legs onto his shoulders. “Baby, you are so good.” You praise.

He groans against your wet flesh as you praise him and he withdraws his fingers, making you whine. He soon replaces them with his tongue, sliding it through your folds to lap at your cum.

“Oh fuck, oh god.” You whine over and over as he starts to lick through your folds. Tasting you as if he is savoring a delicious meal. Taking his time with his dark eyes fixed on your face and his lips curled up in a cocky smirk. “Javi.”

He groans, sliding his hand up to squeeze your breast, your slick still on his fingers as he pinches your nipple. His tongue slides up to flick your clit, loving how your heels dig into his back at the sensation.

“You-“ you choke out a sound of surprise when he sucks your clit into his mouth and pulls harshly. Loving how he tempers his tongue and then changes the tempo. Your nipple stiffens under his touch and starts to ache pleasurably.

He is happy to stay between your thighs all night, loving the sounds you make, and he is eager to push you over the edge again and again. He flicks his tongue over your clit, closing his eyes as he moans so the vibrations add to the sensation.

You swear that you are already seeing stars as he works you up again. He’s not rushing it, taking his time to make sure that your descent into madness is thorough. “Oh fuck, you should be a porn star with that tongue.” You gasp. “You licked all of your informants' knowledge out of their cunts, didn’t you?”

Javier chuckles against your folds, “maybe.” He resumes his attack on your pussy, needing to hear more praise, and he groans when you tangle your fingers in his hair, pushing him deeper into your folds.

“Yesssss, you did.” You moan. “They should have paid you.” You start to rock your hips down onto his tongue. “You’d be rich.”

He smirks at your constant praise and he lets you use his face. His tongue flicking your clit and pushing into your cunt while you moan his name. His hands slide down and under you to squeeze your ass.

He lifts your hips up. Bringing your pussy closer to his face. Wanting to devour more of you. You whimper in pleasure and tug on his hair. “God, you need to keep doing that.” You beg.

He follows your order, eager to make you fall apart on his tongue, and he sucks on your clit like those stupid candies Colleen used to have on her desk that he’d steal and suck on when he was trying to cut back on cigarettes. “Fuck. Cum for me.” He rasps, lips smacking until he resumes sucking, his dark eyes on you as you writhe above him.

You shiver, helpless to do anything but obey his command. Your body lurches and you cry out his name loudly. Screaming it out for anyone to hear if they were close enough. “Javi!”

Your thighs snap shut, squeezing his head as you tremble. Your fingers almost pull out his hair but he doesn’t give a shit as he works you through your orgasm, lapping at your cum with a hum of satisfaction even if his cock is aching while pressed into the mattress.

“Javi, no more.” You whimper when it becomes too much for you, pressing your hand against his forehead to pull him off your clit. Panting softly, you start to giggle. “Jesus Christ, you almost killed me.”

He can't help but chuckle, kissing your thighs up to your stomach as you release his head from your grip. He shifts, kissing up your stomach until he takes your nipple into his mouth once again. He quickly switches and he grunts when you cup his cheeks, dragging him up to your mouth and he eagerly presses his lips to yours.

This time, you are the one sliding your tongue into the other’s mouth, not caring about your taste on his lips. Pouring yourself into the kiss and making sure that he knows how you feel without needing to say anything. Your arms are around him, keeping him close as your legs wrap around his waist and you feel his cock pressing against your lower belly.

He doesn't beg to fuck you. It's been a while since he was inside you and he doesn't want to assume you want him to fuck you. He'd be happy with oral. He kisses you back, letting you slide your tongue against his.

“I’m clean.” You murmur against his lips. “On the pill.” You add. “But I don’t have any condoms.”  You pull back slightly. “It’s been awhile for me so I don’t keep them around.”

“I’m clean. Got tested when I got back stateside. Haven’t been with anyone since. Fuck, you sure?” He asks, cupping your cheek to look into your eyes. You nod and he shifts his weight to his forearm next to your head while he reaches down to grip his cock. He is measured as he rubs the head of his cock through your folds, tapping your clit enough to make you moan, and he chuckles as he positions himself at your entrance. He lifts his gaze, starting to push into you, his heart pounding in his chest.

It feels amazing. The slight stretch is nothing compared with the way your heart leaps at the heated gaze in his eyes. The emotions showing in their dark depths as he rocks into you. You reach up and caress his cheek, almost confessing those three words, but you don’t want him to feel trapped by that. “Javier.” You whisper his name and lunge up to press your lips to his when he bottoms out inside you.

It only feels like this with you. He’s a man who has buried himself in cigarettes and booze and sex since he left your bed but it’s never felt like this. The mind numbing feel of your hot pussy squeezing his cock and now, it’s blazing hot without the condom on. It’s like he’s connected to you in every way and it almost takes his breath away. He’s not a man of many words when it comes to how he feels so he starts to move instead, rocking into you with a low groan of your name against your lips until his tongue pushes into your mouth.

The moment completely takes hold. Little grunts being traded back and forth as your tongues curl around the others and your hands grasp greedily. If you were to use a word, you would call it lovemaking, both of you rocking to the natural instinct to crave this intimacy. He is amazing, and every kiss, every caress silently tells him that while you moan your approval.

He’s so used to frantic fucking, trying to get off as quickly as possible to make it back to his desk or to a stakeout, but right now, he can take his time. He murmurs your name again, kissing along your jaw, and he groans when your nails scratch down his back a little. “Fuck.” He hisses in pleasure and his thrust is harder.

“You like that?” You purr, digging your nails down his back again and loving how his hips nap forward sharply again. “You like being marked up, my nails telling you how good you are fucking me?”

“Fuck.” He curses again, “I- shit - keep doing it.” He orders, his pace picking up, and he grabs your thigh to change the angle his cock pushes into you. “Feel so goddamn good, hermosa.” He groans into your neck, breathing you in.

You hum in delight, finding something that he apparently can’t resist. You love learning about his needs. Turning your head and kissing his cheek as your nails rake up and down his spine. “You’re so good. Gonna make me cum all over your cock. Soak you. Fuck Javi!”

Your words make him twitch inside you and he rocks a little faster, needing to feel you clamp down on his cock. “Goddamn baby.” He murmurs, “tell me what you need.”

“I need-“ he’s brushing against your clit but it’s not enough. One hand on his back lets go to snake down between your bodies. Starting to rub your clit frantically. Caught up in the need to cum for him.

Javier tuts, letting go of your thigh, and he bats your hand away, replacing it with his fingers. He wants you to focus on feeling the pleasure while he gives it to you. “Good, baby? That what you need?” He asks roughly.

“Yessssssss.” You whine, tossing your head back and moaning his name. “Javi- I’m so close. More baby, just- so close.” You are starting to ramble, your body shaking because you are so close.

He can feel how close you are and he continues working your clit, groaning at how tight you squeeze him and when you fall apart, his chest heaves. You gush around him and cry out his name, making him hiss, "that's it baby. Fuck. That's it."

All you can do is ride it out. Trapping in pleasure so thick it takes your breath away as he starts to fuck you even faster when he can finally move again.

He works you through it, continuing to rub your clit until you whine in protest. He slows his thrusts and presses kisses to your neck, “so good baby.” He murmurs, loving how you relax beneath him.

“You aren’t going to pull out, are you?” You ask, caressing his side softly. “I want to feel you inside me. Filling me up.” You like a little cum play and are willing to risk it with Javi, never having anyone cum inside you without a condom since your last serious relationship.

He hasn’t cum inside anyone since Helena and that was only because of their closeness and trust in her. He used a condom with every other woman. “Fuck. Are you sure?” He asks, wanting to make sure you want it because he’s close.

“Yes, please.” You moan, nodding. “If you want. I trust you. I want to feel it.” You have thought about it more than you can admit since that one night with him. Using it as fuel for your masturbation fantasies.

He nods, wanting it too, to completely possess you in this moment. He groans, thrusting into you to work you through your orgasm, and it doesn’t take long for him to fall over the edge. He thrusts a half dozen more times, grunts escaping his lips, and pushes deep until he’s pressing against your cervix. With a deep groan of your name, his cock pulses and he paints your cunt with his hot cum.

It feels so good. Hot pulses spurting inside you, making you moan his name again and cup his cheeks to kiss him while he’s rocking into you. Emptying himself with sexy groans every time he grinds deeper. Until he finally stops and you feel some of his cum leaking out from around his cock buried inside you. “Fuck, I love you.” You murmur softly.

He isn’t surprised, he has seen it in your eyes, and back when you were planning his wedding, he pushed that aside to be a good man but now, he’s unattached and time has passed. “Love you too.” He confesses, eyes closed as he buries his face in your neck.

You hum softly, enjoying the feeling of his weight pressing you down into the mattress. “When do you think the DEA is going to stop punishing you?” You ask about ten minutes later after you’ve both cleaned up and he’s tucked you into his side. He’s trying to stop smoking, so he’s chewing on a piece of nicorette gum and playing with your hair.

He sighs, “I don’t know. It depends if they will let me back on the job or if I’m given severance pay. I fucked up so I don’t know what they will decide.” He confesses, “but until they decide, I’ll be here. With you…if you’ll have me.” He adds, raising his eyebrows when you pull back from him to look at him.

He looks so doubtful that you roll your eyes when you lean in to press your lips to his. “Of course I’ll have you.” You huff, kissing him several times before you pull back again. “You can stay here, or just have sleepovers when you want. Whatever is comfortable for you. I’m assuming you’re helping your dad?”

He nods, “Pa is getting older. I want to help him on the ranch. Been replacing the fencing and been shovelling shit.” He chuckles when you wrinkle your nose, “he’s getting older. He can’t do it all anymore.” Javier sighs and caresses your shoulder, “if I do get accepted back and sent off again…I want you to remember how I feel but I’m not gonna make you wait for me. It’s not fair. If you find someone, you be happy and you forget about me.”

It’s practical and you hate it. “I don’t know if I would wait.” You admit softly, “I don’t want to waste years. Not if I want kids.” He might not want children at all, especially after Lorraine tried to trap him.

He nods, cupping your cheek, “I know. Shit, timing just isn’t on our side but we don’t know what’s gonna happen. I’m just saying I don’t want you to wait in case I am gone years again. You deserve better and you deserve to be happy.” He says and leans in to softly kiss you.

You don’t offer to go with him. It would be impractical, with your business and you won’t ask him to stay. Not when he still obviously wants to be a DEA agent. ��So do you, Javier.” You remind him gently. “If it’s not me, I want you to find someone who is a shelter from the storms for you.”

He smiles sadly, knowing that timing might not be on your side again, “never know. Might be handing in my badge and you’ll be stuck with me. Let’s see what happens, cariño.” He murmurs, brushing your cheek with his thumb. 

**** 

His heart is heavy as he leans against the phone booth, fist clenched on the metal as he listens to the operator connect him to your phone. You answer with your name and his heart clenches, “hey baby. I- I said I’d call you once I found out my fate and, uh, they want me back. I’m flying out to Cali tomorrow.” He reveals, shifting his hand to rub his nose.

“Tomorrow, wow.” Your heart drops but you swallow down any questions that you have. You had known, deep down, that he would be sent somewhere else. The drug war was one they were losing and they needed good agents like Javier. “They didn’t give you a lot of time.” You chuckle, although the sound falls flat when he’s quiet on the other end. You sigh softly. “Good luck, Javier.” You murmur. “I’ll keep praying that you will be safe.” He hums on the other end and you feel tears start to build behind your eyes. “I love you.” You don’t expect a response and pull the phone away to quietly hang it up.

"I love you too." He murmurs, eyes shut as the guilt swells within him but there's nothing he can do. He loves you but he has to go to Cali. He has to redeem himself. No matter the cost. **** 

Javier rubs his cheek when he returns to his apartment. He slept with someone last night to try and forget about you. He can already tell that he will be in Cali for a while. He knows you'll be moved on by then. You're too beautiful and smart to be available by the time he gets home. Yet he's ashamed to admit that he's selfish. He reaches for his phone after lighting a cigarette (he'd abandoned the gum after one day in his new job). The dial tone echoes in his ear and he waits, wondering if you'll answer the phone.

“Hello?” You are cooking dinner for yourself, a change from the few weeks that you had been feeding yourself and Javi. Or coming home to find Javi had already thrown something on the small grill in your backyard. Today was stressful and you are unwinding with a big glass of wine and a beer.

The guilt swirls in his stomach and he wonders if he should tell you the truth. "Hey baby. It's me." He announces and he can hear your smile in your voice when you say his name, it makes his heart thump. "How are you doing?" He asks, wanting to hear your voice.

“I’m okay.” You tuck the phone under your chin and start to stir your food. “I’m just making some dinner to have with my wine.” You tell him. “It was a long day with a very difficult bride, but luckily her mother has some common sense.” You hear him exhale and know that he has to be smoking a cigarette. “How are you?”

Javier taps the cigarette on the side of the ashtray, "I- I'm not so great. Been digging into what's been going on here and I - I don't know how long I'll be away trying to take these bastards done. Baby...I slept with someone last night." He confesses, wanting you to hate him. If you hate him, he won't have hope and he won't care how long it takes to take Cali down.

You swallow harshly, stopping what you are doing and setting the spoon down so you can grip the phone. “I see.” You had hoped that he would go longer than a week before moving on, but that wasn’t to be the case. “You and I aren’t together, Javier.” You remind him. “You are free to sleep with whoever you want. Just like I am.”

"I know." He murmurs, closing his eyes for a second, "I- shit - I was trying to forget about you because I ain't gonna be home anytime soon. I don't want you to wait for me." He says with conviction, "but she - I woke up and instantly regretted it. She wasn't you."

“You don’t owe me any explanation, Javi.” You wish you could reach through the phone. Pull him close and hug him. You almost offer to come to visit him, but it would be a bad idea. You don’t need to distract him. He explained that he needed to redeem himself and you understand the drive behind his determination. “I’m not mad.” You promise. “A little hurt, but I’ll get over that.”

"I know. I know, hermosa. Baby...I just - shit." He rubs his forehead, smoke curling up into the air from the cigarette between his fingers, "I'm sorry." He whispers, wishing things were different and he didn't have to choose between the two most important things to him.

“Javi, I-“ you hear the anguish in his voice and you know that he is struggling with what he wants. “I love you.” You promise him. “But I want you to concentrate on your job, your mission to take the Cali cartel down.” You say steadily. “You do what you need to do. Be safe. And I’ll still be praying for you.”

He knows he's hurt you but he had to tell you in hopes you'd see that he isn't worthy of your love. "Thank you." He murmurs, knowing it's more than what he deserves.. "Is it okay if I call you? You know...when shit gets hard?" He knows he's being selfish but he wants to keep hold of you in some small way.

“Baby….” You sigh softly. “You can call me whenever you need to.” You promise. “In fact, I’ve got a cellular phone.” You had just gotten it a few days ago and haven’t given out the number. “Let me give you the number.”

He immediately snubs his cigarette out and he reaches for the pen and paper on his coffee table. “I’m ready.” He says and you tell him the number which he eagerly writes down. “Thank you.” He murmurs, tracing the number with his fingers, another connection to you.

“Have you eaten today?” You ask, making him sigh. “No.” He admits, making you shake your head. “You should go get something to eat, Javi. You can’t live off of booze and cigarettes.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll eat something.” He promises, knowing he won’t get away with telling you anything else. “I’ll call you.” He vows, “until you tell me to stop.”

“That won’t happen.” You know that eventually the calls will taper off, but you would never turn him away. “So you keep calling, so I know you are safe, okay, baby?”

He feels relieved that you’re not telling him to fuck off and never call him again. He knows he will call you when times are tough. You’re his light in the darkness. Something to work towards. “Thank you.” He murmurs, “I- I’ll let you go. Let you eat your dinner.”

“I’ll talk to you soon, Javier.” You murmur softly. “I love you.” Again, you don’t expect anything in return and gently hang up the phone. You might hear from him or you might not. You can never tell with him.

**** 

Javier adjusts his duffel bag over his shoulder as he makes his way off the plane from Bogotá. He is ready to return home, Cali was a mess but he did it. He redeemed himself. He had called his Pa to tell him he was coming home a few days ago and he didn’t ask about you. He doesn’t want to know if you are with someone…he wants to get home before he gets that heartbreaking news. After that first week, he hasn’t buried himself in sex. The guilt was too much and he didn’t want to be involved in more complications. He makes his way out into the terminal and he nearly stumbles when he sees you standing there. He murmurs your name and stops in front of you. “You’re here.”

You are leaning against your car, arms folded over your chest as you watch him stop short. A surprised look on his face makes you smile. “Welcome home, Javier.” You push off the car and step closer to him. “I hope you don’t mind. Your dad told me you were coming in and I offered to pick you up.” You won’t say that you didn’t date while he was gone, but nothing ever went past a few dinners. You reach out and caress his arm. “How long are you here for?” You ask softly. “Chucho couldn’t tell me.”

He’s surprised to see you but so happy, and takes your hand in his when it slides down his arm. “I’m here for good. Retired from the DEA. Turned in my badge. It’s done.” He confesses, “I’m home for good.” He adds and he braces himself for you to tell him you’ve got a boyfriend or shit, a husband.

“That’s great.” You light up when he tells you that and there’s only one thing keeping you from pressing your lips to his. Your eyes slide behind him, looking for someone that might have followed him out. “You didn’t bring someone home, did you?” You ask softly.

He shakes his head, “didn’t sleep with anyone past that first week.” He promises and squeezes your hand, “what about you? Boyfriend? Fiancé? Husband?” He tests all of them and each time you shake your head. You’re single. His heart pounds in his chest and he lets go of your hand. He cups your cheeks and looks into your eyes, “marry me. I don’t want to wait anymore. I love you. I know what I want. It’s you. As my wife.”

You are surprised, eyes widening as you stare into his eyes. Looking for any hint of doubt, of regret for blurting out something so impulsive. All you find is hope swimming in his eyes, want trapped beneath the surface. “Yes.” You whisper breathlessly, starting to smile back at him. “But I want to elope.”

He grins, nodding, “yes. Whatever you want, baby.” He promises, leaning in to kiss you. He loves you so much and he can’t believe you’re giving him another chance. He thought he would’ve lost you during his time in Cali. You press your lips to his and his hands shift to grip your waist, dragging you against him. He pulls back a moment later, “are you sure you don’t want to plan your own wedding? Or hire someone? You’ve spent so long giving everyone else their special day. You don’t want your own?” He asks, a frown on his face as he cups your cheek.

“All that matters is that you and I are married.” You promise. “All the other shit doesn’t matter. I just want to start our life together, Javi. I don’t need a dress or a day to do that. Do you want a wedding?” You ask seriously.

He shakes his head, “I want whatever you want. All I want is you.” He promises, knowing that this is so different from Lorraine. She wanted the biggest wedding money can buy. You just want him. “I love you, soon to be Mrs Peña.” He smirks, cupping the back of your neck, “and we can go tomorrow and get you a ring.”

“That works for me.” You let him drag you closer, pressing your lips against his and you smile happily. There was a wedding in Javier Peña’s future after all. Just not the one that you had met because of.

​​

[felibrary]

╭──╯ DOCTOR'S PRESCRIPTION !

PAIRING: jiaoqiu x gn!reader

SYNOPSIS: how does a healer heal himself when he falls ill? the answer is he doesn't, after all, you're here to take care of him!; alternatively your boyfriend's sick, and despite all his refusals you insist on taking care of him.

WORDCOUNT: 1.2k | CONTENT & WARNINGS: did i play the tb mission yet..no, did i still write this? yes cause i just man idek okay, jiaoqiu might be ooc, banter and bickering and just tooth-rotting fluff (and jiaoqiu rots in bed..literally lol)

TAGS: @azullumi (i hate all of your fans for choosing the blind date one. reject them exes and bring back hanahaki diseases and yearning 🔥🔥)

AUTHORS NOTE: the closed eyes remind me of jouno. jiaoqiu pls dont die. also im trying to be more dialogue-centrish here cause im not familiar with his character yet soooo no metaphors for now

“jiaoqiu, would it kill you to stay in bed for at least once?”

the scent of freshly brewed green tea and aromatic congee slowly fills the air and you lean back against the counter, with your hands on the surface of the kitchen island and a deadpan expression you stare right at your boyfriend who has only woken up now.

an expression that brings no good settles onto jiaoqiu’s face. “do you need help?” jiaoqiu smiles mirthfully and without hearing your answer he swiftly brushes past you. in the blink of an eye, jiaoqiu picks up the kitchen knife lying on the cutting board before expertly chopping the spring onions into thin rings to later sprinkle over the congee.

he cannot be serious right now.

you have to prevent yourself from sighing out loud before grabbing him by the shoulders to make him turn around  “stop being so stubborn and return to bed,” you’re not sure if the reason you’re heating is up due to the congee whose heat is emitting into the air, the close proximity between you and jiaoqiu that makes your heart skip a beat or two, or the fact that jiaoqiu’s sick and is probably spreading his sickness over to you. 

the latter sounds the most reasonable. 

as it seems (and as expected) your demand goes in one (or well two) ears and out of the other one(s). “and since when are you the doctor?” his cheeky tone and the smirk he throws you are both infuriating. “but, i guess i’m lucky to have such a smart and not to mention beautiful partner who cares about my well-being,” he remarks lovingly. 

“you think you can bribe me with sugar-coated words?” as sweet as he might be, you won’t let him off the hook so easily. after all, he also deserves to rest, especially when sick. 

someone who only takes care of others and their well-being but never their own, will meet their demise sooner than those who constantly seek out help, due to never confiding in others when facing hardships.

“i’m simply stating the truth.” he chortles gleefully, tilting his head to the side while doing so.

“what a charmer you are,” you reply dryly before taking a few steps away from him. “anyway, as you’ve already mentioned your oh-so-smart and beautiful partner cares about your well-being, so i ask you to go back to bed, and get your well-deserved rest,” you quickly change the subject.

ironically nothing escapes jiaoqiu’s attentive gaze, so you wouldn’t be surprised if he’d noticed the rosy tint on your ears by now. but even if that were the case he doesn’t seem to pay any mind to it.

“as much as i appreciate your concern, there’s really no need. i’ve experienced much worse and more severe illnesses. a little fever won’t be the death of me.” jiaoqiu shrugs in simplicity, brushing it off as no big deal.

“you’re such a handful to deal with sometimes,” you mumble under your breath before swiftly pressing your hand onto his forehead and withdrawing it as quickly. “jiaoqiu. you’re literally burning up.” 

you don’t wait for him to respond — you won’t give him the time to respond before reaching down and searching for his hand. his lithe fingers find yours and you carefully lace them together before guiding (dragging) him back to the bedroom and forcing him to lie back down as you crouch at his side.

the wet towel that sits all scrunched up in the plastic bowl right next to his bed seems all wrung out already catches your attention and you sigh. “sorry, that i didn’t come earlier to refresh the water,” jiaoqiu’s ears perk up at your apologetic tone and he smiles. “don’t worry about it.”

“stay here, i’ll get you a new one. don’t move while i’m gone okay? just try to relax a bit.” the only thing you receive as a form of acknowledgment is a quiet hum before rushing off to the bathroom to fill the bowl with new cold water.

you return just as quickly as you left and begin to wring the piece of cloth and fold it into a rectangle before placing it onto jiaoqiu’s forehead. “is this okay?” you ask, carefully brushing the strands of hair that stick to the damp towel away. again, a mere hum is the only answer you receive from him.

as you’re reminded of the green tea and congee that are still in the kitchen you jump up. “right i almost forgot the food, i’ll go and get it. wait here for me.” you turn around and before you can even fully leave the room, a whine of your name makes you turn around.

“can you turn the pillow for me? this side is too warm.” your boyfriend starts to complain and you can’t help but stare (in surprise or irritation, you don’t know — maybe both.) you help your boyfriend up and make him lean against the headboard as he continuously holds the wet towel against his forehead. “here,” you present him and he smiles in satisfaction. 

he settles back into bed you assume he has no more requests thus you decide to leave and reside in the kitchen once more. the aroma of spices fills your nose once more and you can’t help but smile as you take the lid of the pot off before using a ladle to scoop the congee into a bowl. 

you reach for a porcelain cup and pour the green tea into it before placing it on a tray with the congee to bring it to jiaoqiu.

as soon as you enter his room, jiaoqiu’s ears perk up. “i’ve missed you,” he expresses wholeheartedly and that makes your heart melt. it’s these moments where you get reminded how lucky to have him. “so now that you’re back can you turn my pillow around again? this side heated up much faster than anticipated.”

okay so maybe you weren’t that grateful to have him.

you sigh and put the tray down on his (unexpectedly but pleasing) tidy desk, normally it would’ve been filled with a bunch of different notes and recipes for both meals and medicines, but it’s exceptionally organized today. 

once again you help your boyfriend once again by flipping his pillow before grabbing the bowl of congee and handing it to him. upon him not accepting, let alone acknowledging the food before him, you furrow your eyebrows in confusion.

“what? do you want me to feed you next princess?” you scoff and although your remark is sarcastic, jiaoqiu can’t help but smile cheekily. “well if you’re already offeri-” he doesn’t get to finish his sentence before you shove the metal spoon full of congee into his mouth which slightly catches him off guard and makes him open his eyes for a split second.

although you’ve seen his eyes countless times, you can’t help but admire them. his eyes resemble honey, beautiful and golden but also sickeningly sweet and addicting. “you know you’re so much more beautiful when you shut up for once,” you tease.

Jiaoqiu detaches himself from the spoon and scoffs. “should’ve added black pepper instead of white pepper. you know that i favor intense flavors over mild ones.” he complains and you can’t help but crack a smile. ”stop being a picky eater and eat.”

END NOTE: this has been sitting in my drafts since June 21 LMFAO but yeah here it is!! also does this look proofread to yall cause it really isn't its quite literally 3am and school's starting next week. my sleeping schedule's so fucked up I'm crying. but shoutouts to Grammarly for proofreading tho fawk u for saying i need Grammarly pro to see my other 92 mistakes like okay. in this economy??

© VYNICITY 2024. stealing, copying, translating, reposting my works on other platforms or feeding them to ai is not permitted.

[mediumgayitalian]

“Hide me hide me hide me hide me hide me.”

Nico blinks, watching blankly as Will ducks under his arm, situating himself behind the door and peeking around it. When Nico doesn’t move, he cranes his neck to look at him, face urgent, and says, “Close it, dude, hurry up!

“Solace!”

“Fuck,” Will curses.

Nico blinks again. He squints across the common, trying to suss out what Will’s staring at. It doesn’t take long. She’s hard to miss, especially in full armour.

“Are you…hiding from Clarisse?”

“Am I hiding from —” He scoffs. “No, I’m just behind this door for fun. Fucking obviously I’m hiding from Clarisse, Nico, now get with the program and close the damn —”

“Solace!”

Both of them jump. When Nico looks, Clarisse is already way closer than she should be. Before he can process enough to slam the door, and heedless of Will’s increasingly-harried oh my gods oh my gods oh my gods fuck fuck fuck fuck, Clarisse is closer, and closer, and then suddenly she’s barging inside, pushing Nico aside like it’s not his damn cabin.

Will groans. “Aw, come on, Clarisse!”

She doesn’t bother to humour him with words, choosing instead to grab him by the collar and drag him bodily out. Will does not make it easy, going completely limp and getting his clothes grass-stained beyond belief, because Clarisse tugs him along like a sled behind her, bouncing over every stone. Nico follows, on the grounds that it’s not being nosy if Will dragged him into it technically.

“You have siblings! You have a boyfriend!”

“And yet I’m choosing you,” Clarisse says easily. “I’ve already told Chiron. It’s a done deal, weatherboy. You’re chariot racing with me.”

Will groans, trying in vain to squirm out of Clarisse’s grip. “There is no reason for me to be your partner in the stupid chariot race, I am a healer, I am at camp to heal —”

She shakes him a little to shut him up. “All the more reason. You focus too much on one thing, brat. All you do is heal and study like a big nerd. You need to get out of your comfort zone.”

“Um, no way. I’m very comfortable in it. That’s why it’s called a comfort zone.”

“You could use some training,” Nico pipes up, and the betrayed look Will gives him would be more effective at making him feel bad if it wasn’t so funny. “Last time I tried to teach you how to use a sword you almost sliced off your own face, so.”

Clarisse looks at him with appraisal. “Maybe you do have some sense in you, di Angelo.”

Nico chooses to take that as the compliment it is.

“Ugh,” Will says dramatically, and finally manages to wrench out of Clarisse’s grip in order to embed the appropriate level of drama in his face-down flop to the floor.

Clarisse kicks him. “You’re pathetic.”

“Ugh.”

Notably, he stops protesting. She kicks him again, affectionately this time, and stomps away.

———

“If I work myself into another coma, I don’t have to chariot race,” Will says gleefully, shoving the bottles of nectar Nico hands him onto a shelf. He’s been buzzing around the infirmary all day, healing things he is meant to be healing with a band-aid and a stop being a clumsy dumbass, dumbass with hymns and salves. “I’m gonna try to cure cancer again.”

Kayla, walking by, reaches out and smacks him. “Try it and I’m crack your country CDs in half.”

Will turns to her, opening his mouth —

“Every single one of them,” she stresses, green eyes narrowed.

— and closes it again, huffing.

“I’ll find a way,” he says glumly.

Nico pats him delicately on the back. “There, there.” A pause. “I mean, personally, I can’t wait to watch you fall out of a chariot.”

The look Will shoots him is nothing short of wounded. “You think I’m so uncoordinated I’m gonna fall out of the chariot?”

“Gracefully!” assures Austin from across the infirmary, smiling supportively. He grins brightly when they turn to look, nose scrunching with the force of his smile. “I’m sure!”

Will’s scowl twitches in the face of his brother’s blind enthusiasm. (It is impossible not to be endeared by Austin. He is genuinely the sweetest kid in the entire universe. Nico even gets, to his horror, the occasional urge to squish him. Gently.) He sighs.

“Thanks, Austin.”

“Of course! Love you Will!”

The twitching scowl melts into a full smile. “Love you too, kiddo.”

———

Watching chariot race practices, very quickly, becomes Nico’s favourite pastime.

He sees, now, why Achilles would bring them up, unprompted, wistful look in his eye, every time Nico visited. There’s a beauty in the rawness of it; the whipping winds, wild horses. Squealing wheels and bending axels, open-backed and inches from death at all time. Dangerous, exhilarating. Humanity, at it’s most thrilling and old — some of the first tools, the first domestic animals, the first machines, all at once. It’s pure, raw excitement.

Also, Will falls out of the chariot, like, eight whole times. And there’s nothing funnier than watching him lose his shit at a splintered pile of wood that was once a carriage, helmet thrown to the ground in a fit of rage, accent so thick he’s literally incomprehensible. Nico never gets to see him like this. His stomach actually hurts from laughter on several occasions.

Slowly, though, he starts to get the hang of it. He’s smart — incredibly so — and when he stops spending half his time complaining, and the other half pouting, he actually gets pretty decent. He’s fast, after all, and quick to observe, to respond; the other teams struggle to land hits on him, in practice runs, and sabotage is difficult when your opponent seems to have an almost prophetic gift to see things coming.

He can’t, however, steel himself to hit back.

And therein lies the trouble.

“For fuck’s sake, Will, I’m not asking you to kill anybody,” Clarrise snaps. “You need to get your head in the game!”

Will’s shoulders curl defensively. “I know! I’m trying! It’s just —” He kicks at their broken wheel, in two clean pieces on the ground. “Do no harm.”

“Do some harm. Or I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Will brightens. “And then ask somebody else to be your partner?”

“No, and then make you my partner forever.”

“Oh.”

Will’s sullen face is hard to look at. He’s got those big, puppy dog eyes, round and sad and pouty. Not even Clarisse is immune. (And certainly not Nico, who finds himself halfway off the spectator’s stands and jogging to the tracks before he wonders what exactly, the fresh fuck, he is doing, and sprints right back.)

“Shit, Solace, don’t look like I killed your goddamn mother.” She cuffs him on the shoulder, sending him sprawling with a muffled oof. “We’ll figure it out. Let’s go again.”

Accepting the spare chariot someone wheels towards her, she pulls herself up, making space for Will to do the same. He doesn’t get on immediately, still looking miserable, but concedes eventually.

His forearms look kind of nice when he grips onto the rails for dear life, Nico notices. From a totally objective perspective.

The four practicing teams guide their horses to the starting line, running a few last minute checks. To avoid spilling any secrets or strategies, everyone uses the same practice-issue wooden chariot and wears the same armour, but it’s still obvious who’s who.

The Hephaestus team’s chariot, despite being standard issue, gleams like it’s brand-new. The wood is polished and looks to be altered, barely; a carved groove here, a sharper wing there. Nothing that could really be considered an upgrade, but definitely making the whole thing look smoother. The spears they hold promise a plethora of untold ability hidden within.

The Hermes chariot looks deceptively beat up. There’s a chunk missing from the top of the left side, and one of the wheels appears to be just slightly out of alignment. Upon careful inspection, though, Nico can see clear, hollow tubing attached along the rails and open to the back — definitely a quick rig of some sort. Base (not acid, Cecil had happily lectured him on the benefits of using a base rather than an acid when dissolving anything from steel to human flesh), if Nico has to guess, or maybe Greek fire.

The Aphrodite-Iris chariot doesn’t have to do much to look great. The whole thing seems to coast gracefully to the beginner line, and neither charioteer looks particularly bothered or preoccupied with the competition — if Nico recalls correctly, and he does, their goal is to win through “gay audacity”, which Nico does not understand but supports wholeheartedly.

Will and Clarisse’s chariot, by comparison, is pretty run-of-the-mill. They haven’t done much training with the Ares horses or the Apollo flying chariot, because Clarisse is primarily concerned with training Will — she knows the equipment is fine.

Lacy, standing at the edge of the track, puts a sparkly pink whistle to her lips and blows loudly. It’s not nearly as loud as one of Will’s sonic whistles, but it does the trick, and the teams are off in a blur of movement; Will and Clarisse in the lead, Hephaestus behind them, Aphrodite-Iris in third, and Hermes lagging slightly behind.

As they turn their first corner, positions largely unchanging, Nico hears footsteps from his left — Lou Ellen smiles at him as she climbs the stand, settling into the space he makes next to him.

“What’d I miss?” she asks, brushing dust off her hands.

He shrugs. “Not much. They were in the lead the last practice round, too, but on the last lap Hermes caught up.” He gestures to the heap that was once their practice chariot. “Julia had her sword at their wheels. They were on the inner ring, nowhere to move; the only way to get rid of them would have been to knock her arm, probably dislocate her shoulder. Will couldn’t do it.”

Lou Ellen winces. “Ah.”

There’s a ripping sound, followed by cackling — the Hermes chariot has finally made use of their hasty rigging, setting off an explosion behind them that rockets them forward. It has the added bonus of shaking the ground, slightly, unsettling the other drivers for just barely long enough for them to pull into third place. Far ahead, still in first, Nico can see Clarisse yelling instructions at Will, although he can’t hear what they are. His grip on the rail has tightened.

“Why,” starts Nico carefully, and based on Lou Ellen’s pinched face she knows exactly where he’s going, “does she make him — well, you know.”

Lou Ellen is silent for a good long while, watching the practice chariot race with eyes that aren’t paying attention. Hermes is gaining, but Hephaestus is gaining faster.

“Clarisse has always liked Will,” she says eventually. She meets Nico’s incredulous expression, snorting. “Well, as much as Clarisse can like people. I got here way after he did, so I don’t have any more details there than you do, but he’s never been afraid of her, and she likes that. He’s never been mean to her, either. I mean, I know she can be a bully, but people aren’t exactly light on her, to be fair.”

The Aphrodite-Iris chariot turns out to have some tricks up its sleeve — it starts to glow; barely at first, but quickly blinding. At its crux, everyone has to look away, allowing them to pull into first.

Well, except that Will doesn’t seem nearly as staggered as everyone else. In fact, he doesn’t look bothered at all — for the first time that Nico has seen, there’s something like competition pulling a crooked smile on his face. He stares straight at the still-too-bright chariot, reigns wrapped around his arms as he yanks them forward.

“Is that why she drags him away sometimes?” Nico asks. “To train?”

“Something like that. Most of his training was with —” she falters. “Well, you know who. Medicine and some archery.”

They’re both quiet for a while. Neither of them ever knew Lee or Michael well, if at all, but over time Nico has found himself almost clamming up at the mere thought of them, the way one might tiptoe around an authority figure when they have something to hide. Forbidden subjects, where before Nico simply didn’t think of them often.

“You can’t just not train, though,” Lou Ellen murmurs, eyes trained on the chariots. Hephaestus throws one of their spears, lodging it in the spokes of the Aphrodite-Iris chariot. They come to a very abrupt and very screechy halt, knocking them out of the race in any real capacity. “Not at Camp Half-Blood. She taught him hand-to-hand because she was the only one strong enough to physically drag him to the arena. Everyone else gave up after the first few tantrums — I think she was kind of amused by the challenge. Or something.”

“Or something,” Nico agrees. Privately, he thinks that there is something about Will Solace that makes you want to protect him. Not frailty — he is not by any means incapable — but something about his smile, his genuineness. The stubborn belief that people are good and kind and worthy of everything he has to give. A naivety, except someone who’s been through what he has (what they all have) cannot be naive — his hope in the world is hard-earned and well-won. It makes people want to protect his hold on it, by any means necessary.

Even, Nico reasons, ornery old fuckers like Clarisse LaRue.

The three remaining chariots start the last leg of the race — Apollo-Ares, barely squeezing out in front; then Hephaestus, quickly gaining; and finally Hermes, lagging slightly but not to be discarded. As they round the bend, Nico watches as Clarisse cuffs Will briefly on the arm, clearly proud. This is the farthest they’ve made in first so far, after two weeks of training. Will, reigns safely transferred back to Clarisse, beams at her — bright enough that Nico can see it from dozens of yards away.

With sudden, calculated speed, the Hephaestus chariot surges forward.

As if coordinated, Nico and Lou Ellen inhale sharply, leaning forward. He sees the scattered few other campers so the same in his peripherals, watching with single minded focus as the chariot levels exactly with Will and Clarisse. Nico eyes the spear nervously — of all weapons, they’re the easiest for Will to dodge, to fight off. More impersonal.

But the sons of the smartest god around would know that.

For at least a hundred feet, nothing happens. Ares-Apollo and Hephaestus stay neck in neck, every urge forward matched, every pesky road-blocking stone avoided. The finish line is dangerously close, but no one pulls ahead, nothing changes. Four shoulders remain tense, four helmets stare resolutely forward.

Then, in a quick movement, the taller Hephaestus charioteer hands the spear off to the shorter, swiftly taking the reigns, and the shorter lunges — aiming right for Will’s shoulder. Will’s quick, though, and has his own spear poised to parry in an instant. There’s a barely perceptible nudge from Clarisse, and then Will’s eyes harden, and he lifts his spear to jab right back, needle-thin tip gleaming in the late afternoon sun, right for the chink in the charioteer’s armour and then —

The charioteer rips their helmet off, dropping it at their feet.

It’s Harley.

Hephaestus’ darling; hell, the camp’s darling. One of their youngest and brightest, with big, mischievous brown eyes, contagious smiles, endless enthusiasm. Cute, clumsy Harley, the only one of Hephaestus’ children Will doesn’t have to nag to get treated, who walks dutifully over the infirmary every time he gets so much as a second-degree burn and treats each one of Will’s overcautious instructions with utmost seriousness. Who Will sends away each time with an affectionate kiss on the forehead and a prized purple sucker — who Will, frankly, favours. Who Will would never, in a million years, even consider hurting.

A dirty trick by the Hephaestus cabin.

But an effective one.

Immediately, Will flinches back, spear dropping from his hand and splintering under thundering hooves and spinning wheels. Without a second of hesitation, Harley launches his spear in the same move as before — sticking it in the wheel’s spokes, inertia sending the charioteer’s sprawling, knocking them out of the race.

Except, maybe it’s different when the chariots are so close. Or maybe the chariot was faulty to begin with. Because as soon as the spear gets wedged, the fragile floor of the chariot seems to implode — sending Will and Clarisse under the still-moving machine, instead of flying over. The horses, disoriented from the sudden change, rip free of their harness, adding more force to the already precarious tumble.

There’s a sharp, sickening crack, so loud Nico can hear it as if it’s next to him. In the brief nanosecond immediately afterwords, he closes his eyes, sending a prayer to his father: please be the axle. Please be the axle. Please be the axle.

As the Hephaestus and Hermes chariots rocket past the finish line, Clarisse lets out a shrill, blood-curdling scream.

———

Nico’s off the bench and halfway towards the crashed chariot before he can blink. He’s not the only one — he processes, barely, everyone else’s quick convergence, including the remaining charioteers — but he’s there first, diving into the wreckage seconds before anyone else is close enough.

There’s not a lot of actual debris, chariots being as small as they are, but the dust cloud from the track is so huge and the pieces of wood are so splintered that it feels like there is. As the dust settles, and he kicks some debris out of the way, he starts to see the shape of Will, kneeling, in front of a prone Clarisse and an ever-growing pool of blood.

There’s a bone sticking straight out of her thigh.

As the rest of the campers converge upon them, Will looks up and meets Nico’s eyes. His own blue eyes are dark, steely — determined, but afraid.

“I don’t have time,” is the only thing out of his mouth before he braces both hands on Clarisse’s leg, immediately starting to sing urgent hymns.

Nico understands.

“Lou, Julia, Chiara,” he barks, taking charge in absence of Will’s voice. The three girls snap forward to him immediately. “Sprint the the infirmary and tell them what happened. Austin’s on duty — make sure he doesn’t come with you, we need him to prep a surgical suite. Send everyone else and send them fast. Bring a stretcher.”

He turns to the Hephaestus kids. “Jake, Harley, start clearing the debris to make space. Damien, join them; move the big stuff first, small stuff is secondary. We need a space for Will to work and a space to lay the stretcher. Jen, Butch, Lacy —”

He barks off a list of orders, doing his best to channel the commands he’s watched Will give dozens and dozens of times. In minutes, he has the track cleared, Will’s medical bag dragged over from the stands, and everyone who is not helping stabilize out to the infirmary to help as needed.

As soon as there’s an opening, he rushes over to Will and Clarisse, kneeling by her head.

“Help is coming,” he promises, watching the glow dim and flicker in time with the rhythm of Will’s chanting. The bleeding has slowed, marginally, but he can tell from the volume of blood alone that this was an arterial hit. It’s going to take more than Will’s raw healing power, although there is a lot of it, to keep Clarisse alive and keep her leg functioning in recovery. He needs tools, he needs nectar and ambrosia; he needs the surgery suite. He needs time.

“Is it helpful for me to knock her out?”

Clarisse, of course, is still conscious. Barely — and in so much pain Nico will be surprised if she’s processing anything at all — but enough that every few seconds she lets out an agonised shout of pain, writhing and flinching so hard Will has to focus on steadying her as much as healing her.

Without breaking his song, eyes still trained on the injury, Will nods. Nico breathes, squaring his shoulders, then shuffled forward to rest Clarisse’s head gently in his lap, fingers pressed to her temples. He presses, hard enough to feel the beat of her heart — weak — through his fingertips, and squeezes his eyes shut.

He’s no son of Hypnos, but dreams are the Underworld’s domain. Are his domain, as heir and prince of the Underworld, in every way that matters, that can be counted.

He lets himself sink into careful limbo; body in physical space, mind and soul elsewhere. Not too much — he’s no use if he falls unconscious — but enough to slip into Clarisse’s mindscape, step into her subconscious.

The whole place bleeds white, hot anguish.

Nico stumbles when he first walks in, nauseous despite being nothing but his own mind. It’s been a while since he’s experienced this kind of pain, his own or not, and he has to consciously beat back memories of brimstone and rot; liquid fire, endless red, red, red.

“Clarisse?” he calls, softly as he dares.

She doesn’t respond. He’s not sure she knows how to respond, even if she could. Cautious of the memory and emotion swirling around him, he steps forward. If he focuses, her anguish is pointed — is central. She will be at the centre of it.

He has volunteered, but he’s not sure he wants to follow.

Steeling himself, he shoulders through swirling masses of pain, of hurt, of fear. It’s blisteringly hot, and feels not unlike the sandstorm he was once stranded within, in the middle of the New Mexico desert four years ago. His face prickles; he’s blinded.

He trudges forward.

“Clarisse? Clarisse! Can you hear me? It’s Nico!”

Desperately and uselessly, he wishes he had more practice. Will has offered, the few times he’s needed to anaesthetize someone, but for the most time Nico has foolishly declined. Why on Earth he would pass up a much easier mindscape to navigate through in preparation for something like this is a mystery to him. Fuck.

“Clarisse! Try to — focus on me, can you hear me?”

He forces himself forward, a few more — well, there’s no distance in a mindscape, nothing measurable, anyway. He forces himself to look up, braving the assault to his face, and try to scan his surroundings. The swirling mass is more centralized, now, almost hurricane-like and conal. He’s closer than he was before, but if he can only find…

He looks up, and almost cries in relief: weak against the roaring storm, but still present, is a flickering, golden light. A very familiar light. Nico squeezes his eyes shut, thrusting out his own energy in an uncoordinated mass — boy, is that going to be uncomfortable to extract later — and flails wildly until he finally feels the warmth of Will’s energy entangling with his own, grounding him. He opens his eyes, and suddenly everything is clearer.

Clarisse kneels in the centre of her mindscape, hands pressed tightly to her ears, eyes screwed shut, mouth open in a silent scream.

“Hey,” Nico murmurs, kneeling in front of her. It takes a few seconds, and a few moments of gentle coaxing, before she looks up.

“It hurts,” she croaks.

She’s more vulnerable than he’s ever seen her — eyes brown and big and wet, pained, face twisted and chin trembling and achingly, unbelievably young. She is nineteen years old, but in that moment she appears almost childlike. The years of warrior’s hardness has abandoned her; she is armourless.

Nico swallows the lump in his throat. “I know.”

“Help me. Please.”

“Come here, Clarisse.” He reaches out and wraps a gentle hand around hers, tugging her close. The knee jerk discomfort at close contact is barely a flicker — he is so entwined in her right now that her fear has started to bleed into his; her rawness. He needs this comfort almost as much as she does. Right now she is a person, in agony, and so is he, and it is unbearable.

He holds her until the pain slowly stops.

———

Will is in the surgical suite for seven straight hours.

“Bed,” Nico says softly, rising up to meet him as he exits. It says something about how exhausted he is that he doesn’t even protest, letting Nico place a hand on the small of his back and guide him past the on-call room, past the patient cots, past the Big House living room couches, past Cabin 7. He leads him across the common and right into Cabin 13, with its double beds and blackout curtains, with its insulated, soundproof walls. With Nico.

He helps him out of his bloodstained scrubs, peeling them off his skin and tossing them directly into a trash can. He’d guide him to the shower, usually, but there’s a — glassiness, to his eyes, that there usually isn’t after surgery. Nico chooses instead to skip it, guiding him into the sweatpants he left behind the last time he was here and an oversized The Doors t-shirt of Nico’s, and then to the spare bed he always uses, across from Nico’s. He peels the covers back for him like he’s a child, tucking him in, brushing the hair out of his eyes. He’s asleep in minutes, curled tightly around a pillow, furrowed crease not leaving the space between his eyebrows, even in sleep. Nico smooths it away with his thumb.

“Goodnight, Will,” he murmurs, brushing the backs of his knuckles across his forehead.

He watches him sleep far past what is normal, and then slips back out of the cabin.

———

“On the bright side,” Will says, squeezing the hand that has left to leave Clarisse’s arm, “you’re free from your chariot race obligation! As am I!”

Predictably, she only glowers.

“Not a chance, Solace,” she rasps.

Will helpfully gets her a glass of water, fussing over her blankets while she drinks until she bats him away. Chris watches the whole thing with great amusement, shoulders brushing Nico’s.

“He’s a mother hen, isn’t he,” he comments, tilting his head in Will’s direction, who narrowly avoids having his fingers bitten off trying to feed her a square of ambrosia.

Nico snorts. “Yeah.” He watches the fussing for a few more seconds, making note of Will’s shaking hands, his shakier smile. “He’s guilty.”

“He didn’t do anything. She doesn’t blame him.”

Nico meets his dark look, mouth twisted in understanding. They both know this logic is futile.

“Yeah, well, someone tell him that.”

“Will — stop it.” In a startlingly quick move for someone on as much morphine as she is, Clarisse darts out and clutches Will’s fluttering hands. He hesitates, wondering if it’s worth it to pull out of her hold and possibly jostle her leg. “I’m fine. And you’re still charioting.”

“You’re not fine,” Will frowns, conveniently ignoring the part of the sentence he doesn’t want to deal with. “Your femur snapped in half and tore through your femoral artery on its way out of your leg. You’re going to be on bedrest for a week at least, and it’ll be tender for a good long while besides. That’s what we in the medical business call a Big Fucking Deal.”

She tightens her hold, staring at him until he finally meets her eyes.

“Will.” She narrows her eyes. “You are still participating in the chariot race. I’m not asking.”

“It’ll have to wait until you’re better,” he says lightly. “Besides, we’re focusing on you right now.”

Nico can see in her face when she decides to switch strategies.

“Okay,” she says, stubborn glean in her eye, “then I’m asking you, as a personal request, to stay in the race. Or else I’ll drag myself onto a goddamn horse myself, killing myself in the process, and that will be on your head.”

The tactic works.

Will scowls. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

Clarisse doesn’t bother repeating herself, letting go of his wrists and readjusting her blankets.

“I am done talking now. I believe it’s time for morphine-induced unconsciousness. Please remember that I took down a drakon with my own bare hands; it is well within my abilities to drag myself out of heroin-haze and onto a chariot with no legs, let alone one. Good talk.”

As soon as the words are out of her mouth, she leans back on her pillows and passes out. Genuinely, actually passes out — not closes her eyes, not behind to fall asleep; she is unconscious. Snores ring through the air.

“Well,” Chris says carefully, unfolding his arms. “It might be time to let Clarisse rest for a while.”

Will, healer that he is, cannot exactly argue with that. Will, drama queen that he is, decides to make his fury known by stomping out of the room, a feat in flip-flips possible by him alone.

“She is so infuriating!” he shouts the second they’re in the main room, startling several people. He either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. “I put effort in! I failed! She can’t even — it’s not even about spending time together, obviously, since I still have to do it! What does she want from me?!”

Chris, like Nico, has wisely decided to let the hypothetical questions remain hypothetical and stay silent, lest his fury be turned onto them. Ten minutes into Will’s rant, Chris excuses himself to go sit by Clarisse. Nico waves him off.

“Will,” Nico suggests the next time he takes a breath, “let’s maybe go for a walk.” He glances at the group of wide-eyed patients. “I think you’re scaring people.”

Deflating, Will nods, following Nico out the door. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s go for a walk.”

The fresh air probably doesn’t fix things, per se, but as they lap around the cabins, Will seems to droop further and further, curling in on himself. The anger recedes from his features.

“I feel really shitty,” he admits softly. “Just, like, generally.”

Nico softens like a goddamn slab of ice cream on hot pavement. For the second time in three days, he opens his arms in offering, although this time it’s significantly less difficult.

“Come here.”

Without even a beat of hesitation, Will collapses into him, arms around his waist, head tucked under his chin. Nico fights the urge to wince — Will, usually, takes quite a bit of pride in his height. He likes to be the one to wrap around people, not the other way around. Nico has been indoctrinated into Will-affection, in the time since the Giant War, and if Will is the one curling into him, seeking comfort, than he is struggling.

Nico hates it when Will struggles. He always feels out of his depth.

“There, there,” he hedges, feeling a good bit like an NPC. “It’ll be okay.”

Will makes a small, wounded noise. “You don’t know that.”

“Um, yes I do, I know everything forever. I’ve never been wrong even one time in my life.”

His awkward attempt at lightening the mood is rewarded by Will’s laugh. It’s slight, and nowhere near the brightness it usually is, but it’s there and it’s genuine and that’s all Nico wanted, really.

“You good?” Nico asks softly, squeezing his arms.

Will nods. “Yes.” He hesitates. “Can I stay here a little longer?”

Nico wraps his arms impossibly tighter, aching at the quiet vulnerability in his voice.

“As long as you need.”

———

The last practice before the chariot race is nowhere near as fun to watch as the others. In fact, it’s not fun at all.

Clarisse, casted and upright, appoints her brother Sherman to race in her place, much to both his and Will’s very vocal complaints. Will’s, because he still doesn’t want to race at all and especially not now that Clarisse is out of the running, and Sherman’s because, well, when isn’t Sherman complaining about having to breathe the same air as someone or whatever.

Clarisse silences both of them with a glare. “Do it,” she orders.

They comply, stomping over to their practice chariot.

The practice race is awful. Nico is surprised, frankly, that they managed to finish at all, as badly behind as they managed. He could practically hear their squabbling all the way from the stands. For as much as Will is generally easy to get along with, he’s impossible when he’s stubborn, and worse when he’s petulant. He takes every command from Sherman like it’s a personal offence, and Sherman, being who he is, does too. Every shout to veer right or deflect an attack somehow sounds like a jab at Will’s speed, or a remark about his general intelligence. When they stomp off the track, helmets thrown in a heap with the rickety chariot, Nico is almost relieved.

“We’re going to lose, tomorrow, and I can’t wait,” hisses Will darkly, fists curled at his sides.

Nico watches him warily. “You’re not even going to try?”

“What, so he can remind me that even when I’m trying I’m a useless idiot? Not a chance.”

Nico has to almost jog to keep up with him, striding as powerfully as he is. He’s not even sure where he’s going — he seems to be, mostly, going away from the track and from Sherman, wherever that may be.

“You’re not a useless idiot,” Nico offers, when some of the stormcloud has lessened its hold on Will’s usually sunny face. “Nobody thinks you’re a useless idiot.”

Will closes his eyes, sighing. “I know.”

“And Sherman is just a generally grouchy person.”

“I know.”

“It feels very, very weird to be the optimistic and comforting one, right now.”

Will snorts, finally meeting his eyes. “I know.” He flops onto the ground, cheek resting in his knees, and pats the space next to him. Nico sits much more delicately. “I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole lately.”

“You’ve been stressed,” Nico points out. “A little assholery is warranted.”

“I’m still sorry.”

Nico knocks their shoulders together. “I forgive you, then.”

Will smiles. “Thank you.”

For a while they sit in comfortable silence, watching the hustle and bustle of camp. Will’s presence is a comforting one, even though Nico can feel the turmoil leeching off of him. Strangely because of that, actually — sometimes Nico feels like he’s the only one who struggles out of the two of them. Will spends so much of his time smiling and joking and lecturing, hands on his hips, that Nico had almost forgotten that he doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, either. He’s just good at faking it.

“I’ll be watching, tomorrow.” He bites his lip. “And I won’t, like, bring pom-poms, or anything, but I’ll be cheering you on.”

Will grins tiredly. “Silently and in your head?”

“Uh-huh.”

His smile softens considerably, melting into something almost shy, before he turns back to face forward.

“Well, then, damn. I guess I’ll have to try.”

———

On the morning of the chariot race, Will acts like Nico is escorting him to his goddamn execution.

“It is a race that will last a maximum of twenty minutes,” Nico says with no small amount of exasperation, “including prep time.”

Will looks no less grim. “A twenty minutes that will never be returned to me.”

Nico rolls his eyes and decides to stop humouring him.

He drops him off at his chariot with a quick pat on the shoulder, jogging back to the stands. They’re full, today, as expected, with every camper and countless others cramped into the minimal space. Nico looks at the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, and is about to consider breaking his promise and fleeing back to his cabin before he sees a doodled-on hand stick in the air, waving wildly. He exhales in relief and heads over to sit in the spot Kayla and Austin have cleared between them.

“How miserable is he?” Kayla asks brightly, tapping her purple shoes. “He left before we woke up this morning. Assumedly to sprint around camp a few times like a feral cat.”

“Pretty miserable,” Nico answers. He reaches over to pat Austin’s head when he rests on his shoulder, knowing he’s nervous even if he tries not to show it. “A lot of it is self-induced, though. Like, yeah, Sherman is going to be a dick and it’s going to be stressful, but I feel like, in the grand scheme of things, this is among the least stressful things he’s ever been forced to deal with.”

“There was that one time he had to remove a brain tumour in the middle of the forest,” Austin muses. “I think that was probably pretty stressful for him.”

Nico opens his mouth. He closes it again.

“Demigod life is a nightmare,” he settles on eventually.

“Hear, hear,” both siblings mutter.

They lapse into silence as they turn back to the racetrack, evaluating the turnout.

Competition will be hefty.

Sherman has finally arrived, Ares horses in tow. The garish things look almost wrong next to the brightness off the flying Apollo chariot, but that may just be the tension between the team’s charioteers that’s so potent it seems to warp the air around them. Nico is vaguely surprised that they’re managing to stand so civilly next to each other, even if they could not be more visibly uncomfortable. Will, at least, tries for a smile, which drops immediately when Sherman mutters something too quiet to be picked up this far.

Nico sighs. This is going to be hard to watch.

There are about twenty other chariots lines up. Hermes, Hephaestus, and Aphrodite-Iris, like at practice, but Athena is competing too, as well as Nike, as per usual, and Tyche. In fact Nico, and by extension Hades, is one of the few cabins not participating — everyone else seems primed and ready for a chance of laurels and extra dessert. And, of course, settling personal rivalries via bloodshed, et cetera, et cetera.

The biggest competition, if Nico had to quantify it, will be Hephaestus, tricky as they were during practice; Athena, for obvious reasons; and Will and Sherman themselves will be their own worst enemy. He can’t tell if it would be better for them to fail out early to avoid racketing tension up further, or last close to the end to keep things at a healthy simmer.

In the end, it doesn’t matter. The second warning whistle goes off, and the chariots rush to the starting line — Will and Sherman at third position, Demeter to their left, Dionysus-Hypnos to their right. The stands go silent, the charioteers get in position, and with a sharp, shrill whistle, they’re off.

The first few seconds, as always, are chaotic.

In the ground with the settling dust are three separate chariots, including, surprisingly, Hermes, whose rigging backfired and sent their entire chariot up in smoke. They are luckily unharmed due to their unusually well-prepared fireproof armour, but neither Julia nor Connor seem too pleased about being out so soon.

The rest of the race continues on without them. Athena has a decent stretch of first place, but Nike is following fast. Behind them, barely a hair’s breadth of distance, is Will and Sherman, rocketing forward smoothly. Unlike Clarisse, Sherman does not care for giving Will any learning opportunities — despite the horses being Ares’, Will is on the reigns. Sherman is armed with his sword and his spear, slashing and jabbing at anyone who gets too close. Neither Ares or Apollo is big on tricks, not like some of the craftier cabins, but together they’re fast and strong and make a formidable opponent.

Or, well, they would. If they were working together, rather than two people simply being in the same chariot.

They cross into the second lap, Will guiding them across the innermost ring to move them up past Nike. They’re gaining on Athena, now, but that won’t be an easy task — challenging the camp’s wisest never is.

Kayla hisses through her teeth. “Shit.” She purses her lip at the trailing Nike chariot — they’re gaining, and they’re seething. Damien — at least Nico thinks it’s Damien, it’s hard to tell with the helmets — has an arsenal of throwing knives poised in his left hand, and as his teammate steers them steady, he takes aim. Nico has to resist the urge to shout a warning.

As the short knife sails towards the reigns wrapped around Will’s hands, though, aim ringing true, Will’s spine goes ramrod straight. Almost as if he can feel it. With an eighth of a second to spare, he shifts and jerks his hands out of the way, avoiding the knife and managing, somehow, to stay on track.

With a skill and ferocity that has Nico’s jaw brushing his toes, Will dodges all eight of the knives lobbed in his direction. In one memorable manoeuvre, he rips his left hand from the reigns, holding them in his teeth, and uses it to shove Sherman down behind the wall of the chariot right before a knife would have lodged itself in his uncovered cheek. Out of weapons, he steers their chariot right next to Nike, allowing Sherman to sever their reigns and send them rolling to a sad, victory-less stop.

Without pausing to look behind them, they race on.

Athena’s chariot has a lead, but their chariot is built for stability, not speed. They’ve accounted for every possible sabotage and built accordingly. They have not accounted for, however, stubbornness and sheer force of Will. The Ares-Apollo chariot gains on them, helmets glinting, skeletal horses gaining faster, faster, faster. Both Sherman and Malcom, Nico believes, have their spears drawn, ready, as the space between them gets smaller and smaller, to fight barbarically for first — for honour.

Nico doubts even Rachel, powers of prophecy fully restored, could predict what happens next.

Either too furious to accept a loss or simply deciding to throw the game, one of the Nike charioteers crawls out from their carriage, darting onto the live track. They scan the ground, looking for something. When they stand in the dead centre of the track, body perfectly tense, gripping something glinting in their hand, Nico gets it.

Austin gasps, nails digging into Nico’s arm. “Oh, no.”

Before anyone can say anything, they take aim. They measure once, twice, and then let the knife loose with deadly precision, knife cutting through the air with ease and hurdling with impossible power towards to two finalists chariots.

If the knife hits the Athena chariot, it will slice clean through the axle. Architectural wonder it may be, the chariot cannot withstand Celestial bronze at terminal velocity, and it will give, and the chariot will crumple. In an effort to lesson the chariot’s load, the Athena charioteers have largely forgone armour. Their fall will be painful and disastrous; as deadly as Clarisse’s, if not moreso. A hit to the Ares-Apollo chariot will be similarly as race-ending, but both Will and Sherman are in full armour. It will be bruising, but not deadly. They will lose, but they will survive.

All they need to do to win is shift, just slightly, so that the knife hits the Athena chariot.

Will, like with all the others before it, seems to feel this knife coming. Unlike the others, he glances backwards, looking at the knife, looking back at the Athena chariot. Sherman follows his gaze, and seems to realize what Will has calculated a split second after he does. He shouts something — presumably an order to move, to shift, to sabotage.

Will hesitates.

The knife hits the Ares-Apollo chariot, slicing through the left wheel.

It careens around, unbalanced, dragged into a heap by untethered horses.

The Athena chariot pulls forward to victory, the remaining functioning chariots quickly following.

The Ares-Apollo canon is left broken and humiliated only a few feet from victory, the almost-first-place.

———

As soon as they come off the track, things get messy. Both Will and Sherman are covered in dirt and grime, striped with grease from the broken wheels, bleeding sluggishly from various scraps. Sherman has his non-flailing hand clamped to an oozing wound on the side of his neck, and Will is limping.

“—and I cannot fucking believe you, Solace! All I asked for was effort!”

“Oh, forgive me,” Will says sarcastically, finally close enough to hear. “In the hustle and bustle of being shot at, I made a couple errors.”

“That gonna be your attitude in battle? ‘Oh, sorry, there was a monster chasing me so I lost all focus —’”

“Battles are not usually fought on a chariot going a hundred fucking miles per hour!”

“That’s no excuse! You need to be —”

“What, Sherman, fucking what? What indisputable flaw do I have, oh great one, that needs to be so desperately remedied?”

It’s startling when Will’s composure cracks. When he goes from bitey and sarcastic, eye-rolling from his usual distance, to right in Sherman’s face. It’s eerie to see him at his full height, no slouching, reminding anyone watching that yeah, actually, their laidback medic is six-two, strong, capable, in more ways than what they’re used to.

Sherman, in usual Ares kid fashion, doesn’t even flinch.

“Your reflexes, for starters,” he says coolly. “No matter what you do, Solace, you’re always one second too fucking late.”

A collective gasp ricochets through the gathered campers. The tension rackets up so rapidly that Nico coughs, lungs suddenly constricted. Will rears back so violently Nico is half-convinced Sherman actual punched him.

Sherman, for his part, seems to realise he’s crossed some kind of line. The cold look on his face twists into a scowl, uncomfortable and apologetic at once. “Look, Will, I just mean —”

“You don’t get to say that to me.”

Will’s quiet voice seems to echo through the entirety of the valley, cutting through laboured breathing of charioteers, pegasus neighing, even the crashing of the waves in the distant shore — everything goes silent.

Nico likes to think he knows Will pretty well. He knows what he sounds like when he’s giggly, watching his siblings argue about nothing; when he’s excitable, rambling about his newest obsession; when he can’t choose between amused and stern at whatever dumb thing Nico has gotten himself into. He knows what he sounds like when he’s exhausted, too, overworked and done with everything; when he’s annoyed, when he’s hurt and sad.

But he’s never heard Will sound so dangerous.

“Of all people.” His words are articulated, deliberate. The usual warmth of his eyes is gone. He’s completely still in a way he never is outside of surgery — no shaking in his perpetually trembling hands, no bounce to his curls, none of the constant energy that seems to constantly exude off him. Still, cold. Icy. “You do not get to talk to me about being one second too late.”

Sherman looks stricken. Guilt is written across each of his features, and for a second he steps back — as if afraid.

“Will, I —”

The son of Apollo turns without another word, striding over to the distant tree line and disappearing into the woods. No one chases after him.

No one even moves.

———

Predictably, the silence does not last long.

“You fucking idiot!” Clarisse explodes, the second Will is out of eyesight. She bats Chris’s hand away from her, and he, surprisingly, lets her go easily — his usually understanding face has hardened. She hobbles towards her brother, remarkably quick with her clunky cast, and starts truly tearing into him. “I asked you to do one fucking thing! One!”

Sherman quickly gets defensive under the scrutiny. “Well, you didn’t make it fucking easy! Just because he’s your protege doesn’t mean he’s my fucking problem —”

Nico doesn’t stick around to listen to their argument. He searches around the gathered crowd until he meets Kayla’s eyes, flicking his head towards the woods. She nods frantically. Knowing he’ll make sure they have privacy, he takes off, aiming for the same place Will went, barely slowing down once he enters the forest.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Will?” he calls, well aware he’s not going to get an answer. “Where are you?”

While there’s definitely no response from Will, he damn near jumps out of his skin when a dryad melts from her tree, shuffling towards him.

“Blond boy?” she asks, leaning close so he can hear her whisper. “Tall? Crying?”

Nico swallows. Fuck. “Yeah.”

“Headed down southeast, ways past Zeus’ fist.“

“Thank you,” he says, hoping she understands how much he means it.

She nods, then disappears back into her tree.

Following her directions, Nico jogs down beaten paths, heading in the direction that he is vaguely sure is southeast and mostly praying that he’ll find Will eventually. He shouldn’t have that much of a head start, since Nico left maybe five minutes after he did, but who knows. Will’s fast, and sometimes this forest seems bigger than it really is. It’s easy to get lost.

He searches for what feels like hours, and might actually be hours; sky darkening as the sun disappears into the lake. The temperature drops significantly. Nico is hoping that he won’t be spending the night sleeping in the dirt when he hears sniffling.

Heart pounding, he freezes, focusing on the sound. It’s muffled, sobs choked-off and sound hidden behind cupped hands. The echo sounds strange, too; it’s close, that much is obvious, but Nico almost can’t tell if it’s coming from the left or the right. Truthfully, it doesn’t sound like either.

On impulse, he looks up. Almost invisible in the branches of a large oak tree is Will, stained clothes blending in with the scratchy bark, leaves covering the rest of him.

Except, perhaps fittingly, his bright, golden hair.

Worried that calling out to him might startle him right off the tree, Nico begins to climb. He’s not great at climbing — he doesn’t have a natural sense of what is and isn’t a good foothold — but oak trees are easy. Every half-step has a branch, and this tree is old enough that the branches are thick, sturdy. He’s twenty feet up before he even realizes, barely breaking a sweat.

He pauses a few feet shy of his target, straightening until he’s standing on an almost flat branch, arm looped tightly around the trunk.

“Will.”

Will startles. He looks around frantically, struggling in the dark, until his bloodshot eyes finally land on Nico. He bursts into more tears, shoulders shaking as he sobs.

Alarmed, Nico crawls all the way up.

“Woah, Will, breathe, vita, breathe —”

He’s not sure what tree-sobbing etiquette is, but regular sobbing etiquette often involves some kind of comforting physical touch, so he goes with that. And Will, he knows, likes to be crowded, likes to be almost suffocated with the sights and touch and smells of other people, to remind him he’s not alone, even if he feels it. So Nico scoots as closely as he dares, legs wrapped around the branch, and slides one arm around Will’s back, one against his chest, and tugs him closely.

Will comes easily.

With a bit of manoeuvring, he’s tucked under Nico’s chin, shoulders hunched and shaking, enveloped entirely in Nico’s arms. He can feel a wet spot growing on his left sleeve, and honestly he should be at least a little bit disgusted, but he barely even notices. He’s too busy fighting the lump in his own throat, blinking back his own tears.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to Will’s curls. “Let it out, Will. You’re allowed.”

Will wails, a deep, choking, broken sound, and Nico loses the battle with his own tears. He’s never heard Will like this. He’s never heard anyone like this, except himself, in the echo of this same forest, years ago. It hurts like biting ice.

“It hurts, they’re gone, they’re gone, and I hate them, I hate them so much —” he heaves, dragging in breath like it cost him to say it, like part of his soul was dragged out of his vocal chords — “and I hate myself for hating them, I hate, they’re gone, I’m never —”

He dissolves into sobs, again, words breaking into nothing understandable, crying around the same repetitions over and over again. Nico hides his crumpling face in Will’s hair, wincing at every broken cry, every hitched breath, every moaned word. His heart feels like it’s breaking into a million fractals. He’s never felt so out of depth in his life.

“Let it out,” he whispers again, for a lack of anything else to say. “Let it out, sweetheart, let it out.”

For a long time, Nico had no one to hold him.

When he lost Bianca, he was by himself. And when he thought he had someone to guide him, someone to fix him, he was wrong — he was vulnerable and easy to manipulate. He had no one to hold him until he was too bitter and too closed off to let himself fall apart, anyway, and losing Bianca stayed somewhere rotten inside him, a bruise that never, ever stopped aching.

Until Will.

Last December he had cracked like an egg. He hadn’t meant to — it wasn’t even in the back of his mind — but he’d opened the door to Will’s smiling face on the morning, cold and sad as it was, and just started bawling. Some part of him, some deep, buried part, stomped it’s way from the prison Nico had kept it in and took the hell over, yanking open the floodgates, forcing him to expel every last drop of shadowy, strangling pain that had stayed inside him so long. He thought he was going to die. His entire body shook and jerked like a rowboat in a deep ocean storm, and it had been Will’s lighthouse, his endless, light eyes, his warm hands, his firm hold that had held him steady until he’d dragged himself out to the other side. It was and is the most painful thing he’d ever done in his life. And the most important.

He doesn’t think Will has had anyone to hold him, before, either. Not ‘til right this moment. Not Chiron, not his mother, and certainly not an older sibling. Will has been running on empty for as long as Nico has known him. Longer.

“Let it out,” Nico whispers again, and holds him tighter.

———

By the time either of them move again, it’s pale, early morning, and they’re damp from the dew and Will’s tears. Nico is as stiff as the tree he’s sitting on, but doesn’t dare say a word about it.

“I don’t want to go back,” Will croaks, the first either of them have spoken in hours.

Nico tucks a strand of hair behind his ear, resting a gentle hand on his cheek. “Okay.”

“We can’t stay here forever.”

“We can stay a while.” Nico pulls away slightly, just enough so that he can cradle Will’s face in both hands, tilting his chin up to meet his gaze. “I mean it, Will. As long as you need.”

“What if I’ll never have enough time?”

“Then I’ll stay with you until time runs out.” He presses a tentative, careful kiss to the centre of his freckled forehead; staying when Will shudders, leaning into it. Against his skin, he murmurs, “But you’ll have enough time, vita. You’re the strongest person I know.”

“I don’t want to be strong.”

“So don’t, I gotcha.” He presses another kiss slightly above the first, and another, resting again at the crown of his head. “But you can be.”

They stay like that until Nico’s face starts to go numb, and even then he doesn’t go far, shifting so his cheek lays on the top of Will’s skull. He ignores the slight tickle of his curls against his nose, focusing instead on the brand of his hands on his waist, the shakey but constant inhales, holds, exhales, again, again, again.

“Clarisse is my friend,” Will starts. “She was as important to me as — as Cass, before the war.”

Nico hums. “But she betrayed you.”

“All of us.”

“And you resent her for it, a little.”

Will nods. “It’s disgusting.”

“It’s human, Will, Christ.” He moves them around so they’re both sitting facing each other, Nico’s eyes firmly meeting Will’s. “I will never fully forgive Percy for letting Bianca die. Never. It’s not fair to him, and I love him anyway, and I am choosing to move past it. But I will carry that burden. Am I disgusting for that?”

Will glances away. “No.”

“Will, you — look at me.”

He does.

“Clarisse actively chose her pride over her people. So did the rest of her cabin. She’s not fully responsible for that choice, and the blame, as always, lands on Kronos’ shoulders, but —” Nico laughs, a bitter, defeated sound. “Out of all of us, you lost the most. No one lost as many as Apollo. No one burned as many shrouds. You’re allowed to be hurt, allowed to be angry.”

“I forgave them,” Will admits. “I did it publicly and called off the stupid rivalry right after the war. It was the first thing I did as head counsellor.”

“Trying to do what Michael would have done?”

“Are you kidding me, he —” Will scoffs, swiping at the tears trickling down the corners of his eyes. “If Michael were alive, and he found out I forgave them after what happened to Lee, too Diana — he would have been furious. He would stop speaking to me. If I was trying to be like Michael, I might’ve refused them treatment.”

Nico tries to imagine that for a second — Will refusing anyone treatment. It makes something sour uncurl in his stomach, something unsettling.

“You would never refuse someone treatment. I didn’t even — I didn’t think you guys were allowed.”

Will shrugs. “There are no rules to our practice. I just never made refusal an option, and the kids are too young to know any different.”

‘The kids’ — as if Kayla and Austin aren’t as old or older than Will was when he was in charge, when he held the bashed pieces of his brother’s brain as it oozed out of his skull. As he sat, exhausted, hands shaking, next to Nico, and embroidered twelve shrouds. As if Yan and Gracie are his, rather than Apollo’s.

“You forgave them so your siblings wouldn’t grow up bitter,” Nico realises. “Oh, gods, Will.”

He shrugs again, picking at his nails. “For me too. Grudges aren’t healthy.” He tries for a teasing smile. “You’d know.”

“I would.” Nico tries to smile back. It’s easier than he thought it would be, although it fades back into something serious quickly. He reaches out, linking his hands with Will’s to stop him picking before he bleeds. “You can be selfish sometimes, you know.”

“Not in front of anyone.”

“You’re admitting it in front of me,” Nico points out.

Will hesitates. “That’s — different.”

“How?”

“You get it.” He looks down, voice quiet. “You get me. I can —” He meets Nico’s eyes again, a kind of helpless smile on his face. “I dunno. You’re safe. You’re okay with me, even when I’m ugly.”

“Even then,” Nico echoes quietly. He reaches up and tucks a strand of hair behind Will’s ear again, even though none were loose. His fingertips linger, and the skin under his touch warms. “Especially then.”

“You can, too, you know, I lo —”

“I know.”

Will exhales in relief. “Good.”

He slumps forward until his forehead rests on the swell of Nico’s shoulder, breaths warming the air between them. Nico tries to match his rhythm — in, out, in, out. Hold. Out, in.

“Can we — hide here, for a little bit? Just a little longer.”

“Of course,” Nico murmurs, squeezing his wrists. “I’ll hide you as long as you need.”

[filmbyjy]

ONE NOTE

SYNOPSIS > When you turned 18, you heard your best friend’s favourite song. Turns out, it was just one of the various signs to finding your soulmate. However, you couldn’t bring this up to jake. Not when he was in a happy relationship with your other best friend! Would you choose heartbreak or sacrifice your happiness for the sake of keeping the friendship?

THIRTY-ONE – family drama

MASTERLIST | PREVIOUS | NEXT

WC: 3.1K words

a/n: this is a word vomit😍 hence why I took longer to write it. had multiple mental breakdowns whilst doing this and my college projects🥰 anyways I said it would be 2K worth of words but it’s more💀

receiving those messages from aria’s mom made you realise that humanity was definitely screwed ever since humans decided that they wanted to be the ‘king of the jungle’. how was 50 year old woman threatening a 22 year old man? you knew you had to tell jake. this was for your safety and the others safety too but, you couldn’t lie, the curiosity of finding out as to why aria was acting up and also why she didn’t have a soulmate was itching all over you.

of course, her behaviour could’ve easily stemmed from her childhood. this is how usually murderers and serial killers even start their dark path. trauma. you sighed and turned to look around your college dorm. small but cozy, perfect to fit 3-4 girls. so when aria got admitted and possibly also kicked from the school, you’d assume you were staying with just yvette and mae.

the door opens and shuts, there were shuffling noises at the front door. you didn’t bother to look, it was probably the girls or jake. marsh decides to inspect the sound at the front door. you heard her little mewls and a deep voice that followed after. once you had looked up, you noticed it was jake. he held up marsh on his shoulder, carrying her.

“hey, what’s up? why were you staring at the white cement wall?” jake says. you didn’t say anything, you were practically looking at him from head to toe. his jet black hair that was recently grown out so that it was longer. the denim jacket that he always wore and was so famously known for around the campus. his lips, full and plump as it can ever be. “okay, now you’re staring at me. there is definitely something wrong.”

“aria’s mom texted me.” you had admitted. jake frowns. “and before you say anything, she just texted me to ask you to go to some location. i’m not allowed to go.”

“well, that’s good she didn’t ask you to follow. i wouldn’t have allowed you to come with anyways. i don’t want to get you hurt.”

you could see the sadness in jake’s eyes, it was heartbreaking. you knew he was just confused more than ever. he didn’t know why everything was so complicated with aria when in fact it should be over. why was her mother involved with this somehow?

“how about i get sunghoon to hide somewhere so that you wont be alone?” you had asked. jake shook his head. he lets marsh down from his arms and she scurries off to the other rooms.

“i don’t want to harm any of you. besides, sunghoon has already been through it.” jake explains. you had huffed.

“and? stop pretending to be strong and nonchalant. 2 guys is better than one.” you could hear jake sighing.

“i’ve hurt you guys and especially you for so long. i don’t want to be a burden and ask you guys to-”

you were quick to cut jake off quickly, “a burden? jake, just cause you blew us off for years and became a jerk because of aria doesn’t mean you were a burden. we still cared about you. we didn’t think you were a nuisance. the only reason why we weren’t as close as back then was because of aria.”

“i know.”

“then if you knew, you’d let us help you.”

“you guys have helped me multiple times and i…i’ve just ruined our friendship for 6 whole years.” it was clear jake was about to breakdown. his eyes were starting to get glossy, the waver in his voice. the way he chokes on his own words. you did what you could only think of and went over to give him a hug.

jake accepts it. his arms snuggling right above your waist. his head parked right at the crook of your neck, you start to feel small droplets of tears fall onto your skin. jake sobs in your arms. in all your years of knowing him (since you were kids), jake was never the type to cry. this was the first time you were seeing him cry and you could feel the intensity of those feelings. was it the soulmate bond? you couldn’t bare to let him go, you had to let him cry on your shoulder.

when mae and yvette walked through the front door after 10 minutes of jake sobbing, you had gestured for them to pretend they didn’t see anything. they quickly got the note and pretended that they didn’t see anything. they both went to their respective rooms. you had rubbed jake’s back and he only seemed to tighten the hug like you were going to disappear from his grip.

“hey, i won’t leave you. i’m here.” you whispered in his ears softly, comforting him as best as possible.

once he had calmed down, he couldn’t look back up at you. he was embarrassed to have cried. you placed a finger under his chin. his eyes were slightly swollen, wet tears down his cheek. yet, he still looked effortlessly good looking. the universe really has their faves. “don’t be afraid to cry in front of me and be vulnerable. i’ve cried in front of you a bunch so you don’t have to feel embarrassed to do the same.”

he nods, looking in your eyes. there was something in the air. the tension was different. you feel jake moving closer slightly. his head tilting a little as his focus shifts from your eyes to your lips. you held in a breath watching him do so. however, the kiss never happens because mae yelled out loud when jake was just about to land his lips right on yours.

her hands were covering her eyes. “fuck! i’m so sorry!!” she apologises quickly before turning and running towards yvette’s room.

both you and jake turned to look at each other and laughed. that was one way to break the tension. moving onto later at night, you, yvette, mae and jake planned a big plan for what was going to go down tomorrow. it was a perfect plan that would be executed well.

jake’s guide to not getting murdered/kidnapped

1. make sure sunghoon is around and sneaking whilst hearing everything so that he could report to us. back up: jay

2. if aria’s mom ties jake up, keep something sharp in pocket that doesn’t look suspicious. you went to join boy’s scout at like 10, you should remember how to untie a rope dumbass

3. have the upper hand, never let your guard down

4. that’s about it. don’t get killed

as the sun rises, so do you. you had barely gotten any sleep. after creating the plan, you were up all night coming up clothing/dress ideas for your course. it was hard. you could barely think. especially since you kept thinking about that almost kiss. god, that really kept you up at night.

jake had woken up and his groans as he wakes up. the sun glaring right into his eyes. he sits right up and tugs on the curtain. the darkness consumes his room and he lays right back in bed. however, just as jake was on the brink of falling asleep again, the smell of eggs slips under his door. he shots up and practically lets the door fly open. he goes to the kitchen to inspect the smell and he was definitely greeted with the sexiest thing in the morning. you were in a messy bun, oversized shirt and pyjama shorts. this should be the most domestic thing ever but he felt his heart racing.

he goes closer. you were busy with the eggs that you didn’t notice jake. there were arms wrapping around your waist and then a deep sleepy voice whispers in your ears. “morning.” it sends shivers down your spine.

“m-morning. why are you up so early?”

“could smell the eggs from my room so i got up and went here.”

“it’s just eggs.” you explained.

“and pancakes. something you always made back then when i stayed over at your home for a sleepover.” jake says. it was true, he used to always sleepover as his parents were quite busy with their business. your parents always held out with open arms for jake whenever he was home alone. hence, most of the time he stayed over.

“we were 12 when i made for eggs and pancakes. it didn’t even taste that great. i think i burnt the pancakes a little.”

“well, i thought you did great at 12 years old.” you deadpanned at jake’s words.

“you always told me it was bad.”

“when have i?”

“are you trying to gaslight me?” jake leans closer. your breath hitches.

“no. i’m not trying to gaslight you. i just want to say my true feelings at 12 years old. you were great at making eggs and pancakes back then even if they were crispy.” he adds. you picked up the spatula and showed it to him, ready to hit him with it. he laughs and apologises.

there was a buzz on jake’s phone while you were eating breakfast and chatting but jake didn’t seem to care. he didn’t even acknowledge it so once he went to wash the dishes, you had peaked into his phone.

messages from an unknown number. definitely aria’s mom.

“you don’t have to care about that. i’ll be safe. don’t worry.” jake says.

picture this, you were looking right up at jake as he was standing right behind you. at this rate, you might as well recreate that one famous spiderman kiss. which is exactly why jake leaned in and placed his lips right on yours. you could feel your lungs start to feel lighter. like you were healing from your hanahaki. jake felt like this was right, kissing you felt right. it had fit into the puzzle. your hands reached up to cup jake’s face but he pulls back slightly. there was a slight pout on your lips that you had unconsciously did.

“don’t pout. i want to kiss you more but your neck is going to hurt if i continue kissing you like that.”

“you don’t find this romantic?”

“it is romantic but i want to properly kiss you.” jake says. you could feel your face heat up.

jake’s phone starts ringing. “you should pick it up.” you say. jake nods. he lightly places a peck on your forehead before picking it up.

you had to sit there processing what happened.

did you just kiss sim jaeyun?

“i saw that little stunt, young lady.” yvette’s voice brings you out of your trance. you had jolted a little and sighed in relief when you realised who it was.

“what stunt?” yvette deadpans at your words.

“don’t lie to me. you and jake did a spiderman kiss. gurl, are you that desperate for his dick. be honest.” she folds her arms. your eyes widened. you could feel your face turn warmer.

“no. why would i-”

“if girls had boners, you’d be having one right now.” yvette casually says. you were stunned.

“yvette, why do you have to say it so vulgarly.” mae says as she appears from her bedroom. she yawns. “if jake and (name) wanna have sex, then they could after all. they are soulmates.”

“i don’t want to fuc-”

“she’s not allowed to. jake still needs to prove that he is good enough for her. after all, 6 years of royally fucking up their super close friendship. almost killing her by plain out rejecting her. rude. i can list more of what happened through out these 30 episodes.” yvette explains. mae sighs, she pats your shoulder.

“you’re on your own (name).”

you had groaned. “it was just one kiss. we aren’t doing anything more than that. i am still waiting for jake to make it up to me.”

“but you’re slowly giving in. i get it, he’s your soulmate. it’s hard to say no and wait but like think about yourself. will you?”

“i know, i know. i’m thinking about myself and i will continue to do so. this was my one moment of weakness, okay? 13 year old me would be so happy.” you had huffed. yvette pinches your cheeks.

“look at you. you’re a simp. this is exactly why jake was your chosen soulmate. you two are simps that it’s gross.”

you rolled your eyes. it gets silent in the house. no chattering from jake in the other room. weird. you had stood up and went over to check up on him but he wasn’t there. oh crap. you had picked up your phone and dialed for sunghoon.

“hello?” sunghoon says.

“jake left to see aria’s mom.”

“already? goddamn it. let me leave now and maybe i can hide somewhere there.”

“alright, be safe.”

“i will.”

the call quickly ends and you had ran to the bathroom to bathe and get ready for the possible scariest time of your life. once you were done, you had ran to put on your shoes. yvette holds you back.

“hey, calm down.”

“i can’t. what if aria’s mom hurts jake?”

“she won’t after all. aria’s dad is the principal of a prestigious school. she can’t ruin his career.”

“we don’t know how crazy she can be.”

“sunghoon will be there. mae also called jay to be the backup. they’ll be there and we can be assured that jake will be safe.” yvette says. you didn’t know what to say or do because you were worried.

“don’t worry. let’s just trust jake. he’ll handle it.” mae places a hand on your shoulder.

“i hope so.” were the only the things you could say.

as for jake, he was busy walking towards a neighbourhood. the address led him to a gated community just like aria’s home however, he would’ve recognised aria’s home easily. he always found it weird that aria has never brought him to her house even in the 6 years they were dating.

‘what a weirdo’, jake thought. he didn’t want to associate himself to aria anymore though. there was no point, after all. he made it right onto the property. in a way, it looked like a witches’ castle. that is until an older man opens the door, he looked sophisticated. a little confused as to who jake was.

“who are you?” he asks. “my apologies, sounds a little rude to say so.”

at least whoever this guy was, he was nice.

“oh, umm. my name is jake. i was im aria’s boyfriend.” jake explains. the man’s eyes widened.

“oh, i’ve heard about you from aria. i am her dad.”

‘so much for the genes not coming from him. aria is not like him at all’, jake thought. he smiles slightly. “oh umm, mrs.im asked me to come over. she wanted to talk about something.”

as soon as jake mentions about aria’s mom, mr.im starts frowning. “she’s in the room. let me go get her. i’m assuming she wants to talk to you about our family.” mr.im pushes the door wider to let jake in. he enters the space. mr.im goes to get mrs.im. after a couple of minutes, aria’s mom appears. she walks down the stairs in her…fur coat(?)

‘crazy woman.’ jake thought as he eyes her down.

she smirks. “ah, jake. welcome to my home. the place where everything is perfect.” she dramatically says.

‘uh huh sure. everything is totally perfect. aria is equally as insane as you are, old woman. acting like a disney villain.’

mr.im rolls his eyes. “why don’t you sit down. the maids will prepare for you to drink something.” he tells jake. jake goes to settle down on the couch. mrs.im eyes mr.im, it seems like their marriage was not all that perfect.

mrs.im settles down on the seat. she sits down like a fine royal woman. however, she clearly isn’t. mr.im rolls his eyes once again.

“since you’re here now, jake. i must ask, why did you have to send our daughter to the mental institution? when she’s clearly fine.” she folds her arm.

“she’s not fine. i can assure you, the people at the mental institution will sort out her feelings and thoughts.” jake explains. mrs.im sighs.

“our daughter was fine before she met you. maybe you two should’ve broken up 6 years ago. you put us in so much trouble.”

“i know i should’ve after all, i have my own reasons as to why i should’ve left.” jake says.

“like what? falling in love with your soulmate? that’s utter nonsense. me and mr.im weren’t soulmates. we simply loved each other so much that we broke our soulmate bonds with our assigned soulmates.”

jake’s jaw drops. mr.im pinches the bridge of his nose.

“how many times do i have to tell you, i never wanted to marry in the first place. we both killed our soulmates by getting married! our daughter was also cursed to not have a soulmate because of your wrongdoings!” mr.im yells. mrs.im rolls her eyes.

“i didn’t kill my soulmate. you did. you wanted this as much as i did.” she fires back. jake watches them go back and forth. it starts to filter out as he processes what exactly was the reason why aria didn’t have a soulmate.

“then what? you go to her grave every single time during her death anniversary. for what? guilt?” mrs.im says.

“i’m doing it out of love. something that a heartless person like you doesn’t have.” mr.im answers.

these were all just family drama but certainly good information. jake didn’t want to intrude further. he had to leave. this was wrong. hence, he slowly stood up and stepped back, leaving the house quietly.

this explains why aria didn’t know what a soulmate was. she doesn’t have a tied soulmate to her. all because of the curse that her mom had started. now all the generations after aria wouldn’t be able to have a soulmate. her kids wouldn’t grow up with a soulmate tied to them. this was a big news. a news he had to break to you and everyone else.

once he leaves the place, sunghoon pops out the shrubs.

“oh fuck.” jake jumps back. sunghoon snickers and pats his shoulder.

“heard something huge?” he asks. jake sighs.

“very huge family drama. i’ll tell you and the others when we get back.” the shrubs moved again. jay falls out of it. he groans.

“i am never playing spy again.”

“don’t worry, we aren’t ever going to do it again. jake has the tea. let’s go back.” sunghoon smacks jay’s shoulder. jay winces.

as they walked out from the gated community, jake’s arms went around both jay’s and sunghoon’s shoulder. it seems like their friendship never had a problem.

taglist[closed]: @sumzysworld @mitmit01 @moon3verland @baribaaari @byty2k @alex-is-sleeping @viagumi @txtlyn @belovedsthings @woninluv @dreamiestay @niniissus @kyutiepeachy @yoongisbaguetteshoes @squiishymeow @jjaammm @enhaz1 @illvding @woniejjang @bee-the-loser @laurradoesloveu @ckline35 @ningx2stan @hoonlvly @clampclover @xyzyx01 @victoriasimm @eneiyri @nshmrarki @woorcve @bubblytaetae @i03jae @soobieboobiedoobiedaboobie @l1wv00n @onlyhyunjin @kyanmeai @isa942572 @lisaswifey @alisonyus @firstclassjaylee @szkstay @enhamysunshines @milanco @hsbae @zyvlxqht @lixiebokie @wth121 @enahasblog @gongiz @anuisamazing @heestrawberries @gyehyeonist @heelovesmeknot @silquids

VOTE HERE for my next smau!

[takamiwife]

what keigo loves about different parts of your body

🔞this post is slightly nsfw. mdni pls and thank u :3🔞

💌 pls check the lil note at the end 💌

hair

this is a man who cares about hair. you thought all that volume was natural? no, he knows what he’s doing, but you make it seem so effortless. he’s even asked you to do his hair (definitely not bc he loves the feeling of your hands in his hair) when you two have extra time in the morning. but now he always has a brush of some sort on him for when you fly with him and you whine about how he ruined your hair (fair enough, me too girl). he loves the way it smells, and sometimes uses your nice smelling shampoo because why isn’t he allowed to smell like flowers and vanilla too?

eyes

god your eyes. he loves just staring at them. they’re so mesmerizing, they have a shade he’s never seen before. did you know you smile with your eyes? well, you do, and keigo loves it. keigo knows body language quite well, and while you two were still just going out, he remembers talking about something quite personal, something he’s never really talked about with anyone before, and when he looked over to you, your eyes were heavily dilated. sure, they had been your past few dates too, but never this much. it actually caught him off guard, the idea that you actually liked him for him? did you like him as keigo, and not hawks? that’s one of the few times he was left speechless in his life

lips

hey, it’s not his fault that they’re always so soft and plump, and you always wear such a pretty lipgloss that compliments your hair or your outfit. is the man not allowed to stare and enjoy them? he loves the way they feel against his own, and he loves your reaction to the gentle bites he does to them when things are getting heavy, or god, the shapes they make when he’s eating you out, tongue deep in your cunt, watching your perfect pretty lips make little ‘o’s as moans tumble out

tiddies

“ass or titties” why not BOF?? he can’t choose, and can you blame him? bro doesn’t care what size or shape they are, titties are titties. he thinks they look good in any top you wear. watching them bounce while he fucks you, or holding them in his hands while you ride him, fuck. just the thought turns him on. he’s having a bad day? send him some tiddy pics (bonus points if you’re in the shower and they’re a lil soapy) and dude is on cloud 9. recently, there was a picture of you two at a gala that went viral because while you were smiling, talking to someone else at the table, it seems keigo didn’t notice there was a camera because he was staring right at them in your dress (and who can blame him). more than all of that though, he loves laying on them. they’re his favorite pillow. crawling onto the couch or into bed and just sticking his face between them is a highlight of his day

hands

he feels selfish saying it, but he loves everything your hands do for them. besides them always being so soft and smelling so nice, they’re so kind to him. you brought him into your arms in a way no one else ever has. you hold him so tight or so soft depending on what he needs. the way your hands move to his cheeks when you kiss. how your fingers delicately trace his body when you’re laying in bed, how gently you scratch his head whenever he wants, and when you touch his wings, you do so with a certain care that no one has ever held for them

thighs

if ass and titties are tied for first, thighs are an extremely close second. he loves how sensitive your inner thighs are, how you jolt when he kisses them (especially after he’s already made you cum a bunch of times) and watching the dark spots form after he nibbles them. he consistently tells you that if you crushed his head with your thighs while he was eating you out, he’d die happy.

ass

again, “ass or titties” why not BOF??? god forbid you have to bend down for any reason, because suddenly the mf is spawned behind you, reeling his hand back as far as he can. (you had to explain to him what a gyatt was and why people were saying you had one after a picture of you two at the gym made the rounds on twt) doggy is one of his favorite positions. he loves manhandling your hips, nearly leaving marks from holding you so tightly. or, if he’s feeling extra mean, suddenly stopping as he leans into your ear whispering, “cmon baby, fuck back onto me. show me how bad you want it” just to hear you whine and eventually give in. but the rhythm of your ass hitting his hips is mesmerizing. it’s hard for him to just watch and not fuck into you as fast as he can, but with this, he’s definitely learning to take his time.

💌 hi hi everyone <3 first of all, i want to say thank you so much to everyone who’s been reblogging, liking, commenting, and following. you’re all such sweethearts and i’m so glad you enjoy what ive been posting. on that note, what would you guys like to see more of, or any specific requests? you can leave them in my inbox or in the comments and i’ll tag you :3 yall know i love keigo, but i can totally write about different bnha characters (or you can request other anime characters and ill let you know if ive seen the show! don’t hate me for being uncultured tho 😭) please keep in mind, if its a ua student im not comfortable doing nsfw. sfw is totally fine tho! i do have a couple ideas lined up for keigo tho. how do you guys feel abt nsfw posts? would you like to see more of them/have them incorporated more? (not into every post, but ykyk)

thank u for reading my little yap sesh, i love you all 💗

[simpsdept]

Yandere Alastor x doe! Fem child reader

“Little Doe”

An: not a request but an idea I had while in school! I’m still rusty since it’s been like- 7 weeks since I last posted but I hope you enjoy!

Sorry if it’s bad! I am still rusty on writing and Alastor is difficult to write for

The great and powerful radio demon was taking his usual stroll around the streets of Pentagram city. As usual, demons were freaking out at his presence, some even taking pictures of him only to have their screens shut off. Alastor kept his usual smile as he walked, nodding at a few ladies he passed by, who giggled when he left. In the way to the hotel, he heard a bleat like noise, causing his ears to perk up.

Usually, he’s not sometime to go after someone who’s hurt, but he couldn’t ignore this one. It felt like an instinct. Even if he didn’t have those mother deer urges, he still had an instinct to protect the creature that made the bleat. He walked over to the area, came/microphone in hand and stopped at the scene, raising his brows, keeping his smile.

He saw four, shark like sinners picking on a young, fawn female. You. You were a young, small, maybe about 8 years old, and helpless in the grasps of the shark sinners. You had tears in your eyes, opened wounds from the attacks, bruises on you limbs. Alastors eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke up. ‘Why what seems to be going on here?” Alastor says in his normal cheery tone.

“None of your fucking business, now beat it” one of the shark sinners snarled, tugging on your deer ears. You let out a whimper, closing you eyes tight, you were scared, in pain, and so confused on why they were doing this.

Alastor let’s put an amused chuckle, and didn’t move from his spot. “Are you sure you want to do this? We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way. And trust me…” some green sparks rose around him, his voice more stadicky “you don’t want to choose the hard way”

The shark sinners seemed to get the message, letting go of the fawn, but still trying to act tough.” Yea-well. How do we know you’re tellin the truth? What if ya bluffing?”

Alastor let’s put a small ‘hmm’ sound and shrugged. “I suppose that is what one mag think, but I am not bluffing. I don’t tolerate fools like you harming a young lady.” Alastor informed and walked closer. “So I suggest you make your way out of here before I make you.”

The shark sinners looked at each other for a minute before scoffing and walking away. Alastors smile grew bigger, then he looked at your trembling form. “Now now my dear, don’t be afraid. I’m not here to cause you any harm.” He said with a happy tone “what might your name be Young lady?”

You muster up the courage to look at him, your innocent eyes averting from his “[n-name]” you say in a slightly shaky soft tone.

Alastor chuckled and spoke “[Name]? What a wonderful name little fawn.” He held his hand out for you to take “if you don’t already know me, I am Alastor. The pleasure is mine of meeting you” he said bright and loud. Which gave you slight reassurance. No one in hell is this happy, and that made you feel better when Alastor was happy. Alastor crouched down and checked your body for any wounds, which he found a few.

“It seems that you are injured! Why don’t you allow me to help heal you? The hotel is just a little ways” he offered. You know you shouldn’t say yes to strangers, especially not dangerous ones, but for some reason he seemed genuine, and comforting. The only smiling face in hell you’ve seen so far. So you nod. “Wonderful! Now let us go my dear” he carefully scooped you into his arms. Carrying you small body. You relax a little in his arms, as he takes you to some hotel he was talking about. You’re not sure if you should trust him, but you feel like you should. Even if you didn’t know what could happen when you do arrive.

[merakiui]

mera im curious...what is the most pathetic and desperate virgin concept u can come up with for any boys you choose in twst??

I have so many that I will try to write pathetic virgin concepts for each twst guy!!! >:)

✧ Riddle who gets off to your notes. It doesn't matter how messy or neat they may be, how filled or lacking the page may be, or even how useful they may be if the exam covering that material has already happened. He knows it's wrong to have pilfered your notebook, but he couldn't help it and he assured himself he'd give it back under the pretense of having found it (which isn't entirely a lie). He sits back in his chair and flips slowly through the pages, not particularly reading the material you've written, as he idly fucks into his hand and pictures diligent you, sitting in class and penning notes. There are doodles in the margins of the pages: cute flowers, smiley faces, hearts, what looks to be Grim. He thinks about how you hold your pen, how you might chew on the cap when you're bored, how your hands also touched this very notebook... Great Seven, he's a mess.

✧ Trey who is so strangely fixated on your teeth and mouth. At first it was cute because he's so serious about dental hygiene, what with how he ensures Ace and Deuce brush their teeth properly. But with you it's different. When you smile, he pictures your teeth in his shoulder or your mouth on his neck, pressing kisses or sucking fresh marks into his skin. And when you're eating, he notes the way you lick your fork or spoon clean every time and it gives him such a vivid image of you giving his dick the cutest, most gentle kitten licks. He has to excuse himself before anyone finds out he's painfully hard. >_<

✧ Cater who gets off to the many selfies and photos he's taken with and of you. Sometimes he scours the other students' Magicam accounts to look at the photos they've posted of you and his mind runs wild with thoughts and what-ifs. That photo of you sitting between the twins during their birthday party has him wondering if they fucked you on that very couch after the festivities had worn down. Or that photo of you and Kalim sopping wet after the both of you got caught in the rain... He's zooming in to see if the rain's made your uniform shirt see-through all while thinking about how you and Kalim may have warmed up. Cater can't seem to look at pictures of you without thinking about sex, and it's even worse when he sees the pictures he's taken of you and him. A spaghetti scene you recreated from a popular romance film has him imagining what could have happened had you just leaned in a little closer. Or that one alchemy mishap in which you were turned into a tiny fairy for the day... if he put you in a jar....... :)

✧ Ace who gets off on teasing you. They say partial truths often lie in the joke, and Ace sure does love joking about very specific things when it comes to you. He drives you mad every time, but because the two of you are close friends he gets away with it. He sticks his fingers in your mouth when you yawn to prod at your tongue, all while saying, "If you keep yawning like that, flies are gonna get in your mouth~" Or he'll squeeze your hip after you've eaten sweets just to mess with you. Or he compares your hand to his (for some odd reason) just so he can get away with touching you. Or he shows you a card trick that ends with him tucking the card behind your ear rather than pulling it from that area. His teasing feels more like flirting, but anyone who notes this is earned a swift denial from Ace.

✧ Deuce who gets off to the domestic moments in your friendship. Sharing a mirror in Ramshackle when he spends the night, preparing meals for each other, and even walking to class and talking about very boring things (like the weather). It makes him feel so special, and sometimes he pretends the two of you are a married couple. Deuce gets so embarrassed if anyone points this out, especially the elderly who see the two of you in town and comment on how cute you look together. He adamantly denies it, but later he's in the bathroom imagining married life with you and it gets him so worked up.

✧ Leona who gets off on the power imbalance between the two of you. Realistically speaking, he's stronger, both in terms of social class (after all, he's royalty) and also physically and financially. But that doesn't matter as much as it does when he's around you. Despite all of this, you know how to match Leona's wit, always keeping him on his toes, and you treat him as you would others even while knowing just how much power he has over you should he choose to exert it. Leona just likes the feeling of being number one in your world. Possibly a little too much, considering it never fails to get him excited. :)

✧ Ruggie who gets off on sneaking up on you. At first it was to pickpocket you. Steal spare change for himself or take your wallet just to watch you panic when you can't find it, but he's come to love the way you turn around just in time to catch him. He knows he does this on purpose solely to get caught, but seeing how you huff and glare lightheartedly at him... the way you purse your lips or the way you snatch your things back and laugh softly about how he ought to try again next time... He doesn't even care about your wallet anymore. He just wants to hunt you down and catch you for himself. You're the real prize here. <3

✧ Jack who gets off to your difference in size and strength. At first it wasn't something he thought of, but then you come to him and beg him to help open jars or stuck windows and he does it so easily. He refuses to believe you're struggling that hard with it, but then he watches you attempt to open a jar and it all clicks into place. Oh, you're...really cute and small and so fragile compared to him, who's all muscle and raw strength. Jack knows you have your own strengths and in no way does he think you're weak, but he's always reminded of your size and strength differences whenever the two of you are doing things together: training/sports, lifting heavy things (which are often very light to him), and even standing side by side. He thinks about how much bigger he is and he feels so flustered when those thoughts get him hard.

✧ Azul who gets off to your body language. He knows what it means; he's studied human customs well in advance before coming up to the surface. But oh you tempt him every single time you arch your back when you stretch or when you yawn and make such cute, sleepy sounds. It's even worse when you bend over to reach for something across a table or bend down to grab something that fell. He's digging his nails into his palms to steady himself, but that doesn't mean his thoughts are steady. He may look entirely composed with his usual smile, but in his mind you're getting fucked six ways from Sunday. You can't give this man any gifts because 1) he'll scramble to pay you back and 2) he'll delude himself into thinking it's a courting gesture and that you want him sooooo badly each time you offer him a snack from the school store or give him something you think he could get more use out of.

✧ Jade who gets off to your banter, especially the threats. Great Seven, you tell him you'll gut him and turn him into eel sushi and OOOOOO he's on the edge of his seat like: "yes...... and?? and????? what else will you do to me?????" all with the wildest, sharpest smile you've ever seen him make. He gets so worked up, so flushed in the face, so terribly aroused, every time you threaten him with anything. Yank him down to your height and mutter a threat, whether outlandish, violent, or something as silly as "I hope both sides of your pillow are hotter than hell," and he's saving these interactions in his memory for later recollection.

✧ Floyd who gets off on your praise. Call him a good boy or congratulate him on his test score or cheer for him at basketball practice and he's over the moon with excitement. He eats up your praise like it's his last meal. Say more good things to him! He wants to hear Shrimpy's praise every day, and when he's in a bad mood all it takes is the memory of you saying he's done well and he's back to his usual excitable self. He likes your praise a little too much, as evidenced by how hard it gets him. orz he spends too long thinking about it while he lies in bed, staring at the ceiling while he lazily strokes himself to thoughts of you calling him a good boy.

✧ Kalim who gets just a little too worked up at your proximity. He makes for such good best friend material. It's natural you'd be drawn to him because he's just so sweet and friendly. So it's completely normal when you spend the night at Scarabia and you end up falling asleep beside him in the common room, or when he feeds you outright because that's just how he is! He wants you to try all manner of yummy foods. It makes his heart race faster when your lips close around his fingers or you unconsciously snuggle up to him. He loves you so much. orz

✧ Jamil who loves your obedient nature. It has him horny gripping every time you scramble to do well on a test or in class so you won't upset the professors. You try to keep out of trouble because you're a good student, and he loves every bit of it. He wants to ruin you, take your obedience for the professors and twist it so that you'll only ever listen to him, follow what he says, trust in his words. He could just hypnotize you and maybe a sick part of him wants that. Maybe he wants to experience what an entirely obedient, cock-drunk (Name) is like...

✧ Vil who uses his professional opinions as a way to feel you up. He runs his hands up your sides to smooth wrinkles in your uniform out, all while reminding you to take care of your appearance. He fixes your tie just to get close enough to smell your perfume or shampoo. He loves how you lean into him, trusting his judgement because Vil could never lead you astray. Secretly, Vil's just getting away with every touch under the guise of giving you advice or fixing your uniform or even getting measurements for tailored outfits for school events. It's much too easy.

✧ Rook who, unsurprisingly, gets off on stalking you. He's such a creep! He watches you from afar and gets hard over the smallest things. It's likely because you're so vulnerable and unaware when you go about your daily life and he gets to invade such a secret slice of your life. Whether you know he's watching you or not, it doesn't matter. Just the idea that, on some level, you might be able to feel his prying eyes gets him so unfathomably excited.

✧ Epel who loves a good competition and gets so into it if it's a competition between you and him. Whether it's something athletic or academic, he's always ready to engage in a friendly competition with you. Unfortunately, when you smirk at him and tell him he'll need to give it his all, he gets excited in...other areas. To think all it took was some competitive banter and your smirk to have the blood rushing downwards... T_T if he loses this competition, is the punishment a make-out session? Epel can certainly dream.

✧ Idia who is too scared to talk to you in person, so he codes a Magicord bot he uses as a practice dummy. But then things get a little out of hand when innocent chats turn explicit and soon he's role-playing with the false you. Idia knows it's not real, but it feels real when you tell him all the things he wants to hear. It's shameless e-sex, but it's the best (and only) e-sex of Idia's life. ;;;; he feels immensely embarrassed afterwards.

✧ Malleus who gets off on your smiles. It's such an innocent thing, but then it has him thinking so deeply about it late into the night. You're so sweet and precious. He could picture your smiles all day... Malleus loves you more than words can possibly describe. He thinks about the little things that make you so wonderful, but most of all it's how expressive you are when you smile. Sometimes he has a habit of letting his thoughts stray into intimate fantasies, but it's nothing terrible. He wants to love you wholeheartedly; that includes physically.

✧ Lilia who gets off on surprising you and subverting your expectations. He finds it so darling when you have certain assumptions about him, only to be entirely wrong when he disproves them. Though he's oh-so-cute (a fact he would never deny), there's more beneath that adorable veneer. He's a mysterious who loves popping in to startle you when you least expect it. Be it in the library or in the halls, he always finds you. And your shock is a sight he drinks in merrily.

✧ Silver who is so enthralled by everything about you, so no matter what you do it always makes him feel so in love and fluffy. He's never known this sort of love before, but he's always so honest about his feelings and so his attraction to you wouldn't be any different. You could be napping peacefully in class and Silver's watching you from across the room with the softest, sweetest smile on his face. He thinks about you day and night; you even fill his dreams. Most of it is entirely normal and innocent, but then all it takes is for someone to suggest something less-than-pure about you and suddenly Silver's thoughts are derailing. Oh, he's never thought about sex before. But sex with you? That seems very appealing, so much so that he's feeling much hotter than before. ;;;;

✧ Sebek who, in spite of everything, gets off to the fact that you're human. There's just something so...appealing to you. He struggles to put it into words (and he almost doesn't want to), but you're so soft and sweet and enticing. Maybe Sebek secretly likes your being human because it makes you seem weaker by some strange default? But then he dwells on this and that doesn't seem to be the reason. Truthfully, Sebek likes your humanity because it's charming. Because there's something about you that feels and smells different. Maybe it's because you're the first human to make him feel so aroused that he deems you worthy of his own affections, or maybe he's just hopelessly, pathetically in love with all of the things that make you human and he's trying so hard to deny that.

✧ Rollo who gets off to your scent. Maybe it's a perfume you wear or maybe it's your natural scent. Whatever it is, he's carefully borrowing insignificant items that smell just like you so that he can hold them up to his nose while he masturbates. You're just so perfect and your scent drives him crazy and he feels like a filthy pervert each time he does this, but it's too late to stop. He's already in so deep. Just your scent alone has him shuddering through messy orgasms; imagine what you'd do to him if you were here in person and he got to touch you...

✧ Neige who gets off to indirect kisses. When you share a spoon or bite from the same snack, his pulse is racing at the prospect of having indirectly kissed you. He's so eager and excited that he has to try so hard not to let his face get so flushed with arousal. And you're so relaxed about it! You're so cool... He could admire you forever. <3

✧ Che'nya who gets off on watching you when he's invisible. It gets him hard every time he catches you in an intimate or compromising situation. Whether you're bathing or changing or masturbating, it makes it all the more tempting when he's completely invisible and you have no idea someone else is in the room with you. He's thought about pressing himself against you when you least expect it just to feel you flinch or to hear your breath hitch. And then there's the thought of fucking you when he's invisible, where you'll only see yourself stretching around a cock that isn't visible to your eye. >:)

[pazziiiiiiii]

Hey guys! Sorry this took so long I worked quite hard on this. I’m still gonna keep the angst going despite the ending but yeah I hope you guys enjoy please give me feedback! ily!!

Part 3

Azzi let it go when Paige said, “My dad said something to me. That’s why I’ve been off.”

She didn’t press, even though Paige could tell she wanted to. The look on her face had been clear—quiet, worried, hurt. But Paige had only said enough to stop the questions, not enough to explain. And she wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Some things felt too big to say out loud.

Because what her dad said didn’t just stay in the past.

It followed her.

“Of course you wanna visit Azzi. Why don’t you just go live with her and ask her to be your girlfriend? You better not ask her, or you can stay there forever.”

He meant it. Every word. His voice still echoed in her head, louder than anything else. And the worst part? She had stayed. She chose to be here. With Azzi.

That wasn’t something she could explain—not when she didn’t even fully understand it herself.

⸻

Things got weird after that.

Not openly. Just… in the little ways. She kept her distance. Didn’t laugh as loud. Didn’t sit as close on the couch during movies. Didn’t sleep as soundly.

Azzi noticed. Paige could feel her noticing.

But she didn’t bring it up again. She just adjusted. She always did. And Paige hated how that made her feel. Guilty. Grateful. Something else she didn’t have words for.

So when Azzi said, “There’s a party—just a few people. My mom said it’s fine,” Paige said yes.

Not because she wanted to go.

Because she didn’t want to be the reason Azzi stopped asking her to.

⸻

The music pulsed under Paige’s skin the second they stepped into the basement. It wasn’t packed—maybe ten people total, spaced out, talking over red solo cups and snack bowls. Still, Paige hovered near the edge of it all, already uncomfortable.

Azzi moved through the room like she belonged there. Laughing. Nodding along to the beat. She knew almost everyone and pulled Paige into a couple of small circles at first, introducing her, making it seem normal.

It wasn’t.

Paige couldn’t stop watching her. Not because she wanted to. Because she couldn’t help it.

Especially when that tall dude in the red hoodie showed up. Devon, or Darren, or something like that. Paige didn’t care. She just saw the way he smiled at Azzi like he knew her. Like he’d thought about her before this moment.

And Azzi smiled back.

Paige stood across the room with a cup she hadn’t touched, jaw clenched so hard it hurt.

She told herself to let it go. Azzi could talk to whoever she wanted. Laugh at his jokes. Let him lean in close. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t her business.

But then his hand brushed Azzi’s waist, and Paige was moving.

“Everything good over here?” she asked, sliding into the small circle, voice sharp.

Azzi looked startled. “Yeah. It’s fine.”

Red Hoodie laughed. “We’re just catching up.”

“Didn’t look like just catching up.”

Azzi turned. “Paige.”

“She looked uncomfortable.”

“I didn’t.”

“You sure?”

Azzi blinked like she couldn’t believe this was happening. “Yes.”

The guy took a step back, clearly picking up on the tension. “I’m gonna go grab a drink.”

When he walked away, Azzi rounded on her. “What was that?”

“He was too close.”

Azzi folded her arms. “And?”

“I didn’t like it.”

“That’s not your call.”

“I’m just looking out for you.”

“I don’t need you to.”

Paige didn’t answer.

Azzi stepped in closer, her voice low. “You can’t pick and choose when to care, Paige.”

“I always care.”

“Then why do you act like you don’t half the time?”

Paige looked at her. The room around them faded into noise. Just Azzi. Hurt. Angry. Confused.

“Forget it,” Paige muttered and turned, walking away before she did something worse.

⸻

The gym was dark when she got there. Cold. Empty.

Perfect.

She didn’t bother turning on the lights at first—just picked up a ball and started shooting. Slow at first, then faster. Every missed shot made her push harder. Her body ached, but she kept going.

Drive. Pull-up. Crossover. Three. Again.

Sweat clung to her skin, burning her eyes. She ignored it.

Her phone buzzed in her bag—over and over. She didn’t check it.

Azzi could wait.

Everyone could wait.

This was the only place that felt quiet.

The only place where her dad’s voice didn’t echo. Where Azzi’s face didn’t float in her mind.

Where she didn’t have to feel anything except tired.

Eventually, her legs gave out.

She didn’t remember falling. Just the cold of the floor against her cheek. The silence in her ears. Her chest tightening.

She blinked. Everything swam.

⸻

“Paige.”

It was far away at first. Then closer. Then sharper.

“Paige.”

She squinted. Azzi.

Kneeling next to her, eyes wide, breath quick.

“What the hell are you doing?” Azzi asked, voice shaking.

“I’m fine,” Paige muttered, sitting up slowly.

“You passed out.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“I just needed a break.”

Azzi stared at her like she was crazy. “You haven’t answered your phone in hours. I thought something happened to you.”

“Nothing happened.”

“Bullshit this isn’t nothing.”

Paige looked away.

Azzi grabbed her bag and shoved a water bottle into her hands. “Drink.”

Paige didn’t move.

“Drink it, Paige.”

She did, slowly. Her hands trembled around the plastic.

“Why are you doing this to yourself?” Azzi asked, quieter now.

“I told you. I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

Paige looked at her. “I don’t need saving.”

“I’m not trying to save you. I’m trying to be there.”

Paige flinched. “I didn’t ask you to.”

Azzi pulled back like she’d been slapped.

They sat in silence for a long time.

“You can’t keep pushing me away and pretending it doesn’t matter,” Azzi finally said.

Paige stood up slowly. “I’m going back.”

She didn’t wait for Azzi to follow.

⸻

The ride home was silent.

The Fudd’s was asleep when they got in. A single light was on in the kitchen. Azzi didn’t say anything as she grabbed a glass and filled it with water.

She set it outside Paige’s room (the guest room she only started staying in two nights ago that she hates) and knocked once.

The door didn’t open.

⸻

The next morning was tense.

Paige came downstairs late. Her head throbbed. Her limbs felt heavy. Azzi sat at the island, scrolling her phone, barely touching her food.

Katie glanced between them when she walked in. “Y’all good?”

“Yeah,” they said, too fast, too flat.

Katie raised an eyebrow. “Okay.”

She left the room, but her eyes said we’re not done here.

Azzi didn’t look at Paige. Paige didn’t try to talk.

She knew she should. Knew she’d crossed a line—again.

But she also knew the line wasn’t just about Azzi.

It was about her dad.

His voice.

His threat.

The weight of choosing to stay.

Paige finished two bites of toast and left the kitchen.

⸻

She ended up back at the court later that day. Not to train this time. Just to sit. Think.

She didn’t even notice Azzi had followed until she heard footsteps behind her.

“I figured I’d find you here,” Azzi said.

Paige didn’t answer.

Azzi sat down on the bleachers beside her.

“I didn’t tell my mom what happened last night.”

“Thanks.”

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you at the party.”

Paige shook her head. “You were right.”

Azzi studied her face. “You don’t talk to me anymore.”

“I do.”

“Not about what matters.”

Paige swallowed hard.

Azzi waited.

Paige stared at the court. “I told you my dad said something.”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t tell you what.”

Azzi didn’t push. She just nodded, waiting again.

Paige kept her eyes forward. “It was about you.”

Azzi didn’t speak.

“He said if I asked you to be my girlfriend, I could just stay here forever.”

Azzi blinked.

“That I might as well live here. With you.”

The words felt like knives in her throat.

“He was yelling,” Paige added, quieter. “Like I’d already done something wrong.”

Azzi’s voice was soft. “And did you?”

Paige shook her head. “No.”

They sat with that for a long moment. The sun was starting to set, long shadows stretching across the gym floor.

“You’re scared,” Azzi said.

Paige didn’t deny it.

Azzi leaned back against the bleachers, voice low. “I wish you’d just let me help.”

“I don’t know how.”

Azzi looked at her, like she wanted to say more. But she didn’t.

They sat there, inches apart, with miles of silence between them.

[ladykailitha]

A Love Connection Part 4

Thank you to everyone who reached out to me about the drop in numbers. I appreciate you and will try to be patient as everyone seems to be really going through shit right now. Honestly if I wasn't a SAHM I probably would be one of those people.

In this we have Steve resigning himself to doing the game show, more of the kids, and we get to the actual game show! ka-shonk, I know!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

~

“Meow!” Odie cried at the indignity of being shoved in someone’s face.

Steve carefully wrapped his little feet so Odie would feel more supported. He stritched under his chin and Odie began to purr.

Chrissy inched forward until she was close to Steve. “Steve, he’s adorable. Where did you get him?”

“I found him in a cardboard box out by the dumpsters,” he explained, never taking his eyes off the kitten. “It was starting to snow and I just couldn’t leave him there. He was wet, and cold, and alone.”

Robin’s shoulders sagged. “Of course you can keep him, dingus. I wouldn’t have said no even without the Sword of Damocles in the form of the game show hanging over my head. He’s adorable.”

Chrissy tickled his little toes and then looked up at Steve. “Why Odie? For the name?”

Steve blushed, grateful his head was already down so they couldn’t see his blush. “A couple of reasons I guess. To honor Garfield the goldfish, for one. But also because of the coloring the cream body and brown ears is so much like Odie’s.” Just then Odie twisted and tried to leap out his arms. “And there’s the fact he very likely has only one brain cell,” he deadpanned as quickly caught the kitten before he hurt himself.

Robin snorted. “So I see.”

Steve handed him to Chrissy and he allowed himself to be subjected to her neck scratches.

“So are we forgiven?” Robin asked, shyly. “We really didn’t think anything would have come of it. Though we were really building you up, talking about how you really deserved to find love and how your luck had run to catastrophic with those you dated. We made sure be really sweet about you.”

“I think that’s another reason why they picked you, Steve,” Chrissy said, walking over to sofa to cuddle with the new kitten. “You would be a perfect opener if not season finale. All you have to do is fill out the questionnaire and then they’ll tell you when filming is.”

“You’ll need about a week off,” Robin explained on her way to the kitchen to put the beer in the fridge. “It takes two days to film the first half of the episode and a day each for the dates in the second half. Then a whole day filming the choosing ceremony or whatever the hell they call it. They just want you there two days before for interviews and legal stuff.”

Steve sighed and ripped into the bag of gummy worms. “All right, you fill it in while I dictate.”

Chrissy and Robin cheered. Chrissy opened up her phone with the email and started asking the questions.

“Why would they even need to know my measurements?” Steve huffed about half way through. He had migrated to floor where he was using a gummy worm that had fallen to said floor to tease Odie with.

“Probably for costuming,” Robin said sagely. “They just can’t let you wear anything to their show.”

Steve wrinkled his nose, but allowed them to continue. Once it was all filled out most of the bag of gummy bears were gone and he was a little exhausted by it all.

He buried his head in his hands. “Fuck me. What even is my life right now?”

Chrissy and Robin shared a glance and then slid down to the floor where he had Odie curled up on his lap. They wrapped their arms around him and just held him.

He let himself be comforted by their support.

~

New Year’s brought new challenges, especially when he learned he would have to get a sub for his class the last week in March. They couldn’t have waited a week so that he would have it off for Spring Break? Which meant he had to tell Mrs. Byers why he needed the week off. Which meant Will found out. Which of course meant the rest of the little buttheads found out about it, too.

“Do you get to decide the questions?” Mike asked, one day while they were hanging out in the AV room, Mr. Jenner finally having been fired and Steve forced to take over for the rest of the school year.

He had come to class after the winter break, drunk off his ass, stoned out of his mind, and completely trashed his classroom. Thankfully the equipment had been locked up and not subjected to his rampage.

Otherwise the school would have had to have him arrested to recoup their lost.

Mike had actually started to warm up to him after it was revealed he was going on some dating show. Steve wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but he decided to count it as a blessing and move on.

“Some of them,” Steve confirmed. “The first question of what is your ideal date is standard, and is part of the game show setup, but mostly they want me to be able to answer the questions myself, and if I can’t there’s really no point in having the suitors answer them either.”

“Suitors is a stupid name,” Max huffed from the corner. She was forced to join the AV because it was the only after school program that ran on Fridays and her mom started to have to work late on those days.

Steve huffed out a laugh. “Yeah and what would call them?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Contestants or something.”

“Eh, eh!” he said sounding like a buzzer on an old game show. “Boring!”

She cocked her head to the side. “Yeah, whatever, Mr. Catch.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “I’m not sure what the would replace it with consider a lot of the other options are copyrighted due to other similar shows, but yeah. It sounds like I’m a fox and they’re the hounds.”

“What about Hitch?” Lucas suggested. “It plays on the Love Connection theme.”

Steve shook his head. “There’s an old movie called ‘Hitch’ and he’s a matchmaker. So I’m betting they didn’t go that route for that reason. Especially since this show is on its thirteenth fucking season.”

“Mr. Harrington!” Dustin scandalized. “You aren’t supposed to swear at school.”

“It’s after hours and we’re literally outside the school waiting for your parents,” Steve huffed. “Anyone here gonna rat on me?”

He looked around at the bright faces and knew that not a one of them were snitches.

When no one answered, he said, “Here, I’ll tell you what. Each of you come up with a question for me to ask my suitors and bring them by next week.”

All the kids cheered.

~

After Steve got in his questions from the kids, he sent them into the game show and most of the questions were approved. Some were simple Star Wars or Star Trek, others were fun questions like ‘what is your favorite sports team?’ to in depth questions like ‘do you consider yourself to be a good person?’ That last one was from Max. He loved that girl fiercely and only wanted good things for her.

He packed up his things and made sure that Robin would take good care of Odie. He was going to miss the little furball.

He was flown out to LA where the show was filmed. He was shown to a fancy hotel where he would be spending the week. He was told that the suitors were in other hotels are around the city so that they didn’t meet accidentally before the taping.

Steve’s first day was with legal and how much money he would be making for his appearance on the show. It was roughly three thousand dollars to make up for the fact he had to take time off from work. Other than that it was all about them footing bill for all his meals and lodging during his stay.

He wouldn’t get the money until it aired, which he thought was bullshit, but it was whatever.

Robin had been right about the measurements as they gave him a lot of clothes to chose from. Then whatever he picked would be doubled so that he could look the same on both filming days. Then he would have special date night outfits that would be picked based on where they were going for the date.

All in all not a bad gig. Steve definitely preferred teaching though.

Then they did all the pre-show interview stuff the next day. He got to talk about his school and the kids he taught. He got to talk about Robin and Chrissy and his adorable new kitten Odie. That part wasn’t so bad.

Then it was time for the first day of taping.

He got dressed in a cream colored suit with a light blue button up shirt. The shoes and belt were nice leather, too. He briefly wondered if he got to keep the clothes. He couldn’t imagine they needed to keep them.

He wasn’t told anything about the suitors before hand, but they knew a lot about him. Which felt a little creepy if he was honest.

He sat in the ridiculous little booth he would be in so he couldn’t see the contestants. This was because they didn’t want him to judge their answers based on their looks.

The host was Bob Newby. He was one of the best parts of the show, Steve thought. He was sweet and friendly and everything wanted out a dating game style host. He was in a dark grey suit and white shirt with a red tie. A tie he was currently stroking nervously.

Steve smiled at him and Bob blushed.

“I’ve done over a hundred of these things,” Bob admitted, “and I still get nervous.”

“Well that makes me feel better about throwing up breakfast this morning.”

Bob laughed. “So this is how it will go, we will film more than questions required so we can get a good bunch of questions and answers. We will be filming out of order. The rapid fire questions first. Then half of the questions for round one today to round out filming. Then the second half of the round one questions with all of the round three questions.”

“That’s a little weird,” Steve huffed. “But it’s your show, man.”

“Trust me,” Bob said, “this way is easier to film.”

Steve just shrugged.

“You ready?” Bob asked. When Steve nodded, Bob pointed at the camera and counted down from three with his fingers.

“Hey, everyone!” Bob said. “Welcome to a brand new season of ‘Love Connection’ where we help lonely people make that special connection. This season we will be focusing on getting all those fancy letters LGBTQ+ a chance at love. We have your gays, your lesbians, your non-binary folks, your trans people, and one very special ace lady just looking for love.”

The audience politely clapped.

“I’m your host Bob Newby and today we have one very lucky catch. Steve Harrington from Hawkins, IN. He’s a middle school teacher who recently became a cat dad, to the adorable Odie.” A picture of Odie sleeping on Steve’s chest under his chin is shown on the screen behind them. “He coaches basketball and the swim team. And yes he does look hot in a Speedo!” A picture of Steve in a blue Speedo and wearing a white jacket and his whistle.

Steve decided he was going to murder Robin and/or Chrissy for that photo alone. Especially when the crowd goes wild, complete with wolf whistles.

“He enjoys watching sports, swimming, and reading in his spare time,” Bob continued. “He has tried everything to get a partner in this hellscape we call modern life, apps, bars, clubs and not just the ones with a dance floor and sick beats. So he came to us, so let’s see if we can match him to any of our suitors.”

The audience clapped again.

“Suitor number one,” Bob said, “why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself.”

“Hi, I’m Billy,” the first voice said, “I’m a professional surfer with a ton of sponsors. I’m the most decorated surfer both nationally and internationally. I like sex, sex, and more sex. Just kidding. I like other things too. I’m a big car guy and a bit of a foodie, too.”

Steve was grateful that they can’t see him because Bob and he shared an exasperated glance.

“Suitor number two,” Bob said. “Tell us about yourself.”

“Hey, I’m Tommy,” the second voice said, “I’m an investment banker at a prestigious company. I like sports, traveling, and deep sea fishing.”

Steve tilted his head and nodded. Not bad. He wasn’t sure about the whole investment banker thing, but the rest sounded good.

“And last but not least, Suitor number three,” Bob said, “tell us about you.”

“Hello!” the third voice said brightly, and Steve could almost picture a dorky little wave to go with it. “I’m Eddie. I’m a music producer with my own studio. I like heavy metal, all things nerdy, and camping.”

Steve smiled fondly. He sounded a lot like Dustin. He could only hope this didn’t have the ego to match.

“All right, everyone!” Bob said with a winning smile. “Let’s begin the Love Connection!”

~

Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Tag List: CLOSED

1-@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @cryptid-system

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

9- @dreamercec @wheneverfeasible @themoonagainstmers @garden-of-gay @little-birch-boy

[403tarot]

How would stray kids act when they get jealous?

. . . STRAY KIDS WHEN JEALOUS - 질투 🐍

more like when someone is flirting or trying to impress you.

bangchan: definitely a somewhat possessive and jealous boyfriend. he tries to play it cool, but sarcasm and sharp little remarks slip out through a tight smile. there’s a small rational part of him trying to keep it together, but jealousy blinds him way too easily, and he needs to make it clear that his partner is already taken. 100% the type to casually wrap an arm around your waist and kiss you like he’s sending a territorial message.

felix: apparently, he’s more of the worried type than outright jealous. he hates the feeling and does his best to shake it off the moment he notices it, choosing to focus on his partner and distract himself instead. still, every now and then, a sharp glare might slip toward the person making him jealous. overall, though, he’s pretty good at keeping his temper in check.

changbin: kind of like bangchan, changbin tries to dodge jealousy but totally fails. he definitely starts acting differently when he’s jealous, holding your hand, hugging you, playing with your hair... all in this almost theatrical way to make sure everyone knows you’re taken. he sticks to you like glue, trying his best to ignore the more impulsive side of his personality. but honestly? jealousy gets to him way too easily.

hyunjin: the vibe shifts real fast when hyunjin gets jealous. i’d say he’s the type who even looks different when jealousy mixes with anger. he doesn’t have the best control over his temper, especially when it comes to arguing, picking fights, or straight-up confronting someone if he catches them flirting with his partner. jealousy hits him hard and makes him super reactive. bro gets mad.

seungmin: i feel like seungmin isn’t as jealous as the others, or at least his rational side kicks in pretty fast. he seems like the type to act like he’s not jealous at all, focusing instead on the trust he has in his partner and not wanting to turn his jealousy into someone else’s problem. he probably just suffers in silence, keeping it all to himself without letting it show.

jeongin: i feel like a lot of his reaction depends on how his partner is handling the situation, so he pays close attention to that. in the moment, he probably hides his jealousy too, but unlike seungmin, jeongin doesn’t just let it slide so easily. he’s the type to bring it up later in private, wanting all the details of what happened… and yeah, he holds onto it for a while. definitely a bit resentful about the whole thing.

jisung: he tries to stay calm, but if the situation calls for it, he’ll automatically become protective of his partner. like, if his partner is talking to someone flirting with them, he might come up and hug them from behind like, “hey dear, who's this?” he tries to keep things chill and not make the moment awkward, but he definitely makes it clear that his partner is his.

minho: he feels jealousy strongly, and it’s the kind of emotion that can ruin his day pretty easily. although he doesn’t blame his partner for it, he might get resentful and become overly protective if he feels that his partner is drawing too much attention for any reason.

[dontbesoweirdkira]

Hey, hi! I really liked your work about the harem! It's very interesting, in my opinion. And can I find out the continuation of this whole story, when the reader chooses some nondescript extra as his love?

“Okay. Let’s refocus our efforts, men. Y/N has a partner which mean we need to figure out how to get rid of them first. *Then*…we can finish killing each other in the tournament.”

A/N: I didn’t really want to continue the story because I was kinda lost on what to do with it but I thought this little Drabble would be funny. Thank you soooo muchhhhhhh💞

Pt.1

Warnings: obsessive and aggressive behavior

Requests: always open

Masterlist

When your partner came to visit you in the outworld, all eyes were on them. The way they had confidently strutted over and kissed you with a chill, “Hey baby. I missed you so much”, sent them into orbit.

I’m sorry you have a what—?

So you mean to tell them that you already had someone and basically all of this infighting was for nothing?!? It was never going to be one of them?

Nahhhh

you’re such a jokester. You did this to rile things up and make them jealous. So playful, you are.

Johnny of course was the first to go up to y'all and start his bullsh*t

“Y/N, this is absolutely hilarious. Was the attention I gave you not enough? You don’t have to try to make me jealous with this…punk. I would’ve gladly given you more if you just asked.”

Umm no Johnny this is actually your lover..

Kano was the next to bite

“Haha doll, that’s a real good one! There’s no way you’d want someone like ‘at. Tell you what, why don’t you come make some jokes over there with me..I’m a real good tickla’.”

Oh.. they are in reeeaaal bad denial

“Hey—let’s give Y/N some space. She’s allowed to have privacy and a personal relationship of her choosing—“

Luckily Fujin is the voice of reason and compassion

“—-even if they are so…unexpectedly unique.”

You had one job 😩

They definitely were still trying to process this whole situation. For the rest of the night all the men were whispering amongst each other and sending weird looks over their way. There was no way that was actually your partner. This was just all some ruse. They’ll be gone by the morning.

Nope. They weren’t and you were as affectionate and clingy as ever. You were just so smitten over them that it couldn’t have been fake. Every question about you, your lover could flawlessly answer and recall stories only someone close to you could.

They even showed pictures of you two together through the years on different occasions and at family gatherings…so either this was the greatest actor/stunt ever or you really was taken.

The guys loathe them so bad..

Not only did they take their beloved darling away from them but how could someone so average claim your heart so easily?

All of them felt like they were far better than them, like come on you have assassins, celebrities, monks, kahns and more at your disposal but you chose…them? What about them could possibly be better than what is right in front of you?

I can imagine the mk harem frequently going up to your partner and sizing them up. Like it’s so funny watching them pop out their chest and flex in order to seem more superior.

Oh and all the things I mentioned previously about the being super creepy and desperate…it’s cranked up to ten now.

They’ll purposely do..questionable things in front of your partner to get them upset and insecure. Especially the younger guys.

They’re all huge show offs during training sessions and can’t help but to be a little too comfortable with you.

Will steal garments (hoodies..ect) from your closet and then return them to your partner to make it seem like you were spending time with him.

We all know that Kano, Erron, Kabal, and Johnny have no filter. They’ll put things into your lover’s head to make them worried. These men love to talk big game and boast about anything they can. Sometimes they’re just flat out crass about their feelings towards you.

Shang tsung flants his wealth and constantly is gifting you money, clothes and other luxury goods…your lover could never afford it.

“I like to make sure that Y/N is well taken care of. All of her old stuff was hindering her beauty. I hope you don’t mind the initiative that I’ve taken…I figured it’d help you out since you possibly couldn’t have access to the aristocracy that I do.”

*has tried tricking your partner into drinking pure acid*

Raiden and Fujin are great at pretending they like your partner and wanna welcome them but are soooo shady.

“I appreciate you inviting me into your temple. It’s so cool that you both can control the weather. Wish I could do that.”

“Yes, it is quite a shame. It’s one of the many things that Y/N loves. We frequently make thunderous skies and wind storms for her whenever she’s feeling a bit down.”

“ Dont worry, though. I’m sure Y/N enjoys the fact that you can make her laugh and whatever other talents you possess.”

PLEASE—

Backhanded insults, threats, hazing and rough housing are frequent.

By the way, you cannot leave your partner alone…like at alll. Like take that poor thing into the bathroom with you because they are constantly watching and waiting for any moment to pounce on them.

This is the first time in months these men are bonding over something since you came along…the mutual disdain for your partner is so powerful.

They really need to do something about this relationship and a plan will be devised soon.

Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Kotal Khan, Erron and Shang Tsung, Kabal and Baraka all want to just flat out want them brutally killed in some kind of public execution so you’ll learn that having a lover outside of any of them is completely unacceptable.

Fujin, Night Wolf, Raiden, Jax and Liu Kang all want to try to…passionately pursue and manipulate..you out of the relationship. They don’t really want your partner to be harmed in any way.

Kung Lao and Johnny Cage think it would be hilarious to haniously humiliate them AND jump them so they’ll be left not only traumatized but filled with hatred for you.

The only reason why they haven’t gone through with any of these plans is because they can’t come to an agreement on which method is better.

I can’t imagine your partner being like “hey…I think they want me dead..”

“Oh that’s non sense, honey. They are a bit strange but I promise you that they are the sweetest to me.”

“They’re literally are into you and hate me for being with your partner. I heard them talking about getting rid of me.”

“Sure a few of them may have a crush on me but I promise you they like you! They’re just guys being guys.”

Yeah they are NOT safe in the slightest. You are owned by the harem, not by this nobody. I really hope they’ll learn how to fight very soon or dump you because your s/o is going to go missing soon. And they’ll make it look like an accident.

[brownskinlemon]

Deal (d.f.)

pairings: dom/reader

word count: 4,061

summary: You've never experienced the big O, and a night with your best friend Dominic turns into more than you planned

warnings: smutty smut, mentions of smoking, unprotected s3x, cr3ampie, multiple orgasms, some sappy emotions

authors note: this is my first ever story, and I hope you all enjoy :)

!! do not repurpose or repost as your own for any reason on any platform without credit !!

The shuffling of feet was all that could be heard as you and your best friend Dominic paced the grocery store aisles. It was nearly midnight, the store getting ready to close soon. The munchies had taken over earlier in the night, which led you two to an hour's journey around this store, baskets full of junk food in both your hands. 

“Y/N…bro” You turned back to his mouth agape, eyes fixated on a mega-sized Ben n Jerry’s tin. He toyed with his lip between his teeth for a moment, before swinging the door open and obnoxiously tossing it into his already overflowing basket. 

You snorted quietly to yourself, quickly turning back around before you ended up staring at his pink lips for far too long for your own comfort, far too long to be considered platonic admiration.

-

The streets of Naples were empty and dim, headlights dancing across you in the passenger seat of Dominic’s car as you sped down a main road. Your eyes were glued to the moonlight dancing across the thrashing waves across the shore out of your window. 

“So beautiful” He mumbled to himself.

“ I know right?” You responded without looking at him. Your head whipped around to him, surprised to find his brown eyes already fixated on you, making your heart drop suddenly.

He coughed to himself, straightening up in his seat and turning his attention back to the road, his lips once again being caught in between his lips. Those perfect fucking lips.

With his looks he could easily have every girl in Naples on a leash, but chooses not to, you never understood why. You would like to think he had commitment issues, but it seemed to be pure disinterest in dating at all. You had been friends since middle school, and though you had been in so many friends and “relationships”, your friendship stayed the same. As close as you had been, there were lines you wouldn’t dare to cross. These lines became blurry in your mind as of late. His figure, eyes,lips, voice had all been so…enchanting recently. Staying up till late overthinking every little interaction was excruciating to say the least. You’d rather die than let him know a word of it. 

You snuck glances at him as his ring-clad fingers drummed on the steering wheel to whatever song was currently on. His apartment came into view, and he skillfully maneuvered into the parking deck. After he parked, you hopped out, grabbing the 7 bags worth of snacks you had bought earlier.

“You really think we can actually eat all this?” You huffed as you made your way down the hall to his apartment.

“ I know I can, especially that ice cream.” He nodded, a small smirk pulling lightly on his face. 

-

“Ok so out of all of them, who was the best in bed?” Dom quipped, eyes fixated on the rolling tray in front of him on the bed, hands skillfully pearling one of several blunts that night. 

You were both clad in a hoodie and pajamas, sitting on his bed. A fiery orange light danced across the dim room from a lamp, “Who Hurt You?” by Daniel Caesar playing lightly in the background.

“Hm…maybe that one soccer guy. But he did the bare minimum and didn’t even make me cum.”

“Well at least you’re able to get yourself off right? Who needs em anyway.”

“Yeah…” you trailed off quietly, eyes locked on your fiddling hands which had now become the most interesting thing in the world. You could see him stop his actions out of your peripheral vision. 

“Y/N”

“Dom”

“No way you’ve never…finished? Like ever in your 20 years?”

You sighed, eyes squeezing together. “I have not.” 

Tears begin to burn at the brim of your eyes, threatening to fall with each second of embarrassing silence that follows. Sure you had discussed…sex,all bestfriends do, but there were lines you didn’t want to cross. Dom knowing about your lack of ability to orgasm was one of those lines. 

Without looking up at him you jumped up, rushing past him to the bathroom across the hall, slamming the door behind you. You sighed deeply as you leaned on the counter, locking in on your eyes in your reflection  that were reddened, caused partially by both the weed and your now falling tears. It didn’t help that weed always made everything you felt even more intense. 

“Get it together. It’s not that serious.” You repeated like a mantra quietly until a heavy knock interrupted your thoughts. 

“Y/N come out…I didn’t mean to make you cry.” You couldn’t see him but you knew he was doing that thing where he tapped his feet when he got nervous or worried.

You nibbled on your bottom lip, pausing in the silence.

“You didn’t- I mean- you didn’t Dom. Shit’s just embarrassing.”

“There’s no point in being embarrassed. Why would I care if you’re not like a sex god or something. In fact that’s pretty normal for women to have that..blockage you know?”

You chuckled lightly to yourself, amused at the way his version of comforting you. You breathed out loudly, nodding to yourself in the mirror before swinging the door open to find Dominic leaning on the doorway, running right into his chest. 

You were taken off guard as his arms wrapped around you, your tense shoulders relaxing as you embraced him back.

“You ok?”

“Yeah..don’t rub it in.” You said muffled into his chest. 

His arms loosened around you as his tall frame loomed over you. His brown eyes bore into yours from above, rendering you silent. You watched as his eyes snuck a glance at your lips, quickly snapping back up to your eyes.

“Y/N…I-”

Before he could get a word out you moved around him, walking into his room and turning over your shoulder. 

“That blunt and ice cream won’t finish itself Dom!”

You watched him smirk to himself, shaking his head as he made his way back into his room with you 

-

After several blunts and snacks, you two found yourselves wrapped up in blankets on your second movie of the night: The Breakfast Club. 

“This movie is amazing.” You quipped up with a mouth full of ice cream, eyes not leaving the screen. You heard him hum in agreement, eyes sneaking a quick glance at him as he leaned back, shifting his hips underneath his blanket. My god, if I was on that lap I would-

“Y/N” 

“Dom” Your eyes were glued to the screen as you pretended to be completely invested in the film, and not as invested as you were intently ignoring whatever conversation he was about to start. 

“About earlier…you know I’m not good with emotional sappy conversations so..bear with me...” He trailed off, pausing the movie with the remote and forcing you to find another object in the room to fixate on.

“I wanted to say that I’m sorry they didn’t..care enough to make sure you were good. I know I clown on you alot but you don’t deserve that shit.”

His hand gently made its way under your chin, forcing you to look at him.

“You hear me?” His eyes searched yours valiantly.

“Yes.” You breathed out, freezing at how intense his gaze fanned over your features. 

His eyes dropped to where he began to cup your hands gently in his, as your eyes followed. You two were never touchy, and the frequency of physical touch tonight was stoking the already intense fire that was stirring in you for him. 

“Fingers crossed the next man that gets the honor of touching you is caring, and gives your body the respect it deserves. Hm?” 

“Fingers crossed” you said quietly, trying to hide your breath that was now ragged from the little contact. 

You looked up at him, surprised to find his eyes already fixated on you. His teeth caught on his full bottom lip, his chest heaving silently. The lighting in the room, combined with the way his hair fell over his face made your body run warm. The sweet smell of his cologne mixed with weed filled your lungs and made you dizzy with desire from how close you were sitting.

Fuck it. 

“Dom”

“Y/N?”

You leaned over quickly, smashing your lips into his. It took him no time to connect your lips, hands snaking around your waist. A moment later, you pulled away, leaning your forehead against his, eyes filled with desire as they met his.

“What was that for?” He breathed in and out, attempting to catch his breath.

“I…I want to try it…with you.” Your voice faltered as your sentence went on.

“It? What’s it?”

“Sex.”

His eyes danced back and forth between yours searching for any doubt.

Your hands covered your face. “Its okay if you don’t we can go to bed and pretend like this never happened I just-”

You were cut off by his lips smashing into yours again, and he flipped you two over so he was hovering on top of you. His hips grinded into the heat between your legs as they wrapped around him . You whined into the kiss from the friction as he pulled back, his hand placed under your chin. 

“Are you sure you want this? With me I mean?” 

“Yes Dom. Please. I need you.” you whimpered out as you grind your hips up into his to emphasize your point.

A quiet groan fell from his lips. “If you ever…and I mean ever want to stop you tell me okay? I want you too but this is about you. I want you to feel good but I need you to let me know what you need more or less of. Deal?”

You nodded silently, eyes boring into his.

“Words Y/N.”

“Yes- I mean deal” tumbled from your lips that had already begun to darken from his kiss.

He chuckled to himself, diving back in to connect your lips again. His lips danced their way from your mouth, across your jaw, and down your neck, deciding on a particularly sensitive spot to mark. Your breath began to waiver and small whimpers caught in your throat as his mouth left marks across your neck, surely to be a sickening purple in the morning. 

“You sound even prettier than I had imagined.” He whispered near your ear, making your stomach turn in the most amazing way.

As he continued his attack on your neck, his long fingers began to toy with the hem of your hoodie, dipping his hands underneath to run his hands up your stomach. 

“May I?” He asked, referring to your hoodie that had been pushed above your stomach by now.

“You may.” You smiled shyly at him as he gently pushed your hoodie off your body, exposing your baby pink bra to him . He met you in your bareness, leaning back to pull his hoodie over his head. Your teeth bit down on your bottom lip at the sight of his chest, the sharpness of his abs that were littered with tattoos had made you clench your legs together in a fever of need.

He leaned back into you, finding his place once again between your legs as his lips kissed across your chest. 

“Arch up for me” He muttered.

You obeyed, arching your back up as he unclipped your bra with his free hand, sliding it off you gently. A gasp from your lips broke the thick silence in the room as his lips gently wrapped around your nipple, his large hand twisting your other nipple gently in his hand. Your hands rushed to loop into his unruly curls. 

He continued his descent down your abdomen, leaving open mouthed kisses on his path until he reached the waistline of your pajamas. He sat up, kissing your forehead as he massaged your hips. 

“Lift up.” He breathed out. Your hips lifted in response as he pulled down your pajamas in one swift motion. He toyed with the hem of your panties, eyes catching onto yours as you stared at him. 

“Remember our deal okay?” His eyebrows raised. 

“Okay.” You responded shakily. Although you were not a virgin, the line you were crossing was enough to leave you in shock. You had reached a point beyond return and there was something about the sheer size of the tent in his pants that did not lend to not being overcome with nervousness. 

He hooked his ring clad fingers into the loop of your panties, pulling them down gently. He sat back on his knees, admiring you completely bare to him, your body running hot from his gaze. 

“Good god you are so beautiful..” He shook his head in disbelief. You looked up at your best friend, and saw everything that love could offer in human form. It was almost comical how whipped he had you from a few touches. He slid down between your legs, flat on his stomach and wrapping his arms around your thighs. 

He peppered open mouth kisses and hickeys between your thighs, getting dangerously close to where you needed him most. He blew a cool stream of air over your clit, causing you to jolt your hips trying to chase some type of sensation, in response he pushes your hips down gently, readjusting his grip on you.

“Relax baby, I got you” He quipped before suddenly wrapping his lips around your center. A silent moan lodged in your throat at the sudden contact. He began to work over you with his tongue, humming in pleasure as your moan finally released from your chest, echoing in his small room. 

Your hands searched the bed wildly for something to hold onto, one of your hands settling deep in his curls while the other gripped tightly on his bicep. You grinded up into his grip, breath labored and laced with ongoing whimpers. Just then, Dominic pulled back from you, earning a whine of frustration from your needy lips.

“Shh…I’m gonna add a finger now, okay?” He asked gently. You nodded fervently, desperate for him to touch you. Your body tensed as his digit slid into you easily thanks to the wetness that had pooled between your legs. He thrusted gently, making your mouth fall open as he repeatedly brushed over your g-spot.

“Can you add a second?” You labored out through heavy breaths.

He silently obliged, sliding a second finger gently inside of you, earning him a gasp and a mantra of his name tumbling from your lips like a broken record. A high pitched sound that he had never heard before left your bruised lips as he returned his mouth to your clit while still pumping his fingers into you. 

Everything felt more intense, and it was making you dizzy. You felt pleasure running through your veins, making your eyes roll back and your nails dig into his bicep. Your hips jolted up and in response Dom wrapped his hands tightly around your thighs, locking you in his grip and keeping you from moving. You felt an unfamiliar coil in your stomach, and it was almost too much for you to handle.

“Dom I-I can’t” You whined out through eyes that were squeezed closed, attempting to loosen his grip on you and run from the intensity that he had built up between your legs. 

“Yes” He peppered in between kisses on your center, his fingers not letting up their pace. “You can. That’s an orgasm baby, I know you can get there for me. Breathe.” 

It was almost like your body was programmed to his words, because just then the coil in your abdomen had snapped. Your vision went white and you could hear nothing but your own pulse in your ears, you were sure you could faintly hear Dom’s voice in the distance. A surge of pure unadulterated pleasure rushed through you, paralyzing you in his grip while rendering you speechless except for the screams of his name that echoed in the tiny room.

As you came down, you slowly opened your eyes to find Dominic staring at you with the goofiest smile one could muster. He looked so innocent as if he wasn’t covered in your juices and hadn’t just performed witchcraft between your legs that were still shaking. 

“Dom, what the fuck.” You heaved out.

“I know right?” He quipped while massaging your hips. He leaned over to kiss your forehead.”Do you still wanna continue? I know that was…a lot, or at least it seemed like it was. I don’t wanna push you too far if not.” Your eyes raked over his frame, nodding enthusiastically.

Your confirmation was all it took for him to remove his pajama pants in one swift movement. He followed by slowly removing his boxers, groaning as his dick sprung free from its confines. Your mouth fell agape. You had always had a guess that he was well endowed, and yes he was, but you never thought that a dick could be..pretty?

“Don’t stare, it makes me nervous.” He mocked with a small chuckle, earning a small exhausted smile from you. He found his place between your legs, his dick rubbing lightly between your wet folds, making you both groan. His free hand dipped between your chin, forcing you to look at him.

“Let me know if you want me to stop, okay? I never wanna make you feel anything other than good. Deal?”

“Deal” You nodded. He pecked your lips, dropping his head to look at where you two connected between your legs. He massaged his tip lightly between your folds, letting his tip gently slip inside, as you held your breath and his own ran shakily. Your eyes squeezed together and your hands gripped his biceps.

“Breathe, don’t go blue on me baby.” 

You tried to remember how to breathe, but all you could think about was the delicious feeling of him gently stretching you out. His thrusts stayed slow as he practiced getting deeper and deeper until your hips met each other. You arched your chest up until it met his tip as his tip began to massage deeply against your g-spot.

In no time, he had worked up to a decent pace after you gave him the okay, your body running hotter than ever as he worked into you while latching his lips onto your already decorated neck. The room felt like it was spinning in the best way, and the groans he elicited into your neck made you wanna explode. You were ripped out of your trance after he suddenly pulled out and flipped you onto your stomach.

“Dom what are you-”  Your sentence was interrupted as the feeling of a cold liquid ran up your spine from base to tip. You whined at the sudden temperature change, whimpering as the cold was replaced with his warm mouth that had begun indulging in the ice cream off of your back. 

“Tasted even better off of you than I imagined.” he commented, following his words with immediately slipping back into you completely, snatching your already ragged breath out of your chest for the thousandth time that night. Your nails clawed into the sheets under you, searching for a grip to cope with the rush of pleasure that had overtaken your body. He trailed his hands up your torso and arms, stopping at your hands as he interlinked your fingers with his own, not relenting on his pace inside of you. 

The room was filled with the melody of your collective moans paired with the harsh colliding of your ass into his hips. A thin blanket of sweat covered both your bodies, and once again he had brought you to a point where you were thrashing underneath his touch.

The whispers near your ear were driving you insane, and he began snaking his hand down around you and between your legs, using the wetness there that had pooled to his advantage. His fingers were now circling your sensitive bundle of nerves. That familiar coil tightened again in your lower abdomen, leaving you biting down into the pillow and arching up into his thrusts.

“You think you can be a good girl and give me a second one?” He toyed.

All that left your mouth was a string of desperate whines. 

“I can’t hear you baby…” He trailed off, thrusting particularly deep at the end of his words, leaving your mouth agape.

“I..I can’t…too much”You forced out between moans.

“I think…” He increased his pace between your hips and rubbed deliciously fast around your clit “You can.”

Your eyes squeezed together as he relentlessly worked at the coil that had tightened beyond belief in your abdomen. His lips trailed up your ear, and soon that coil had snapped, making your legs lock and a string of incoherent moans tumble  from your lips as he brought you to your peak for the second time that night. 

“Fucking hell…” He groaned at the sight of you coming undone and the way you were relentlessly clenching down on him. He pumped a few more strokes, pushing one last time into you to a hilt until you felt his warm release pooling your insides.

He suddenly pulled out, making both of you gasp. You were flat on the bed now, eyes fluttering as you felt the bed dip and his footsteps leave the room. You looked over your shoulder, wondering where he had trailed off to with such urgency. You heard the water run in the bathroom and he returned moments later with a warm wet washcloth. 

“You think you can flip onto your back for me?” He asked as he stood above you. 

“Mhm” You begrudgingly obliged. “What are you doing?”

“Cleaning you up duh” He said, shaking his head.

He spread your legs, trailing the washcloth down to your stomach and thighs. He gently brushed it over your center and beyond, earning a whine from you at the sensitivity.

“Shh I know, but you quite literally made a mess. And I hate to be that guy, but you’re gonna have to come pee baby” he cooed, earning a groan from you. He stood up, slipping on his pajamas before lifting you up and placing his oversized hoodie over you, flooding your nose with his scent. He suddenly lifted you up into his arms. You felt him walking out the room, placing you down on the toilet making your feet come in contact with the cold tile.

He leaned up against the counter, looking down at you with a big dopey smile as you waited for your center to stop pulsing so you could pee.

“You’re just gonna, stand there and watch me?” You quipped, raising your eyebrow.

“Yeah unfortunately, for you.” He fake sighed. 

A moment of comfortable silence passed before you broke it suddenly with your thoughts.

“Dom that was…I didn’t know I could…that it could feel like that.” You shook your head in disbelief before continuing. “I thought I was like..broken.”

He smiled softly before leaning over to kiss your forehead. “You did great. And you know, I’d like to think I know a few things.” You snorted in response to his cockyness. 

After you had finished and gotten cleaned up, you stumbled your way back to the bedroom with his help, flopping onto the bed.

He brought the covers over you, tucking you in and sliding up behind you to hold your frame to his chest. 

“Y/N…I love you.” He whispered, in a tone that made you understand that he wasn’t just saying that as your best friend.

“I love you too.” You hummed contently.

“I know this is probably a weird time to ask seeing as you actively have a little of me leaking out of you..but…” His voice ran shaky “Would you…and I understand if not I just wanted..for you to be my girlfriend. 

You turned in his arms, eyes searching for any sign of a joke, to no avail. “Deal.” You smirked at him, knowing he understood. 

“Deal.” He kissed you, smiling into the kiss, before you turned back into his arms. His curls tickled your neck as he feathered tender kisses down your neck before he finally settled in the pillow and fell asleep. 

[cheapshrimpysheep]

Teaching You How to Swim

SUMMARY: You end up revealing that you can't swim/not swim very well, and the OctaTrio offer to teach you how to swim. You choose Azul to teach you. On the day of the lesson he found a secluded small cave to teach you.

CHARACTERS: Azul Ashengrotto x Reader 🐙🦐

TAGS: Fluff; GN Reader; Flirting; Kissing

WORD COUNT: 2.910 words

COMMENTS: This is for the @briarvalleyarchives “Summer Shoreline” event.

To be honest, the initial idea was to write about how each of the three (Azul, Jade and Floyd) would teach you to swim. But I ended up being so inspired and carried away just by Azul's part that I ended up deciding to stick just with him.

BTW: I was born and raised on the coast, so the beach, the ocean, and even rivers, are very close to me. I love swimming and especially diving. I'm just saying this to let you know that I wrote most of this from personal experience.

I hope you enjoy 😉

One day, you were in the Mostro Lounge talking to the trio and the Tweels comment that they would love to swim with you one day. And you end up revealing that you can't swim/not swim very well. Of course, they saw a deal opportunity.

They offered to teach you how to swim. After all, who better than a merfolk to teach you such a thing? They let you choose which one you would like to be your teacher and then you'll make a deal with him.

THE DEAL

“You want me to teach you?” Azul says “Of course! It will be a pleasure, an honor even.”

Despite all Azul’s confidence, you already know him, and something in his voice, a quick little tremor, made you realize that there was some kind of insecurity behind that answer.

The deal you two ended up making came as no surprise from Azul. You would work at Mostro Lounge for a month. And why a whole month?

“I pledge to teach you everything a landfolk would ever need to learn. After all, I will teach you things that could save your life. Don't you think a month is reasonable for such a thing?”

He had a point. But you wanted one more little thing from him. And you said you'd have a deal if he taught you to swim in his merman form. The Tweels started laughing derisively.

“Two months.” Azul trades back, slightly embarrassed.

“One month and one week.” you trade back

“A month and a half.”

“Deal.” You extend your hand for him to shake. He had that charismatic smile on his face. But when he's about to shake your hand, you take it away. “And what guarantees do I have that what you are going to teach me is really enough?”

The Tweels laugh derisively again. Azul himself cannot hide a small smile from the corner of his mouth. He puts his elbows on the table and laces his fingers in front of his lips. The way he's looking at you. Damn, he really knows what he's doing.

“Maybe we shouldn't spend so much time together. You are starting to learn too much from us.” Azul has an amused smile on his face. “We'll do it like this: If someday, something happens that proves that what I taught you wasn't enough, I'll provide you with underwater breath potions whenever you need them, for free.”

“With no limite? You really are confident in your teaching skills.” you comment.

“Of course I am. Are you, perhaps, the one not confident in my teaching skills? You hurt me.”

His little theatrics make you giggle, but you end up making the deal.

THE DAY OF THE LESSON

Azul found a perfect spot in the north of Sage's Island. Right underneath and behind Night Raven Collage. That beach to the west of the island was too close to the Royal Sword Academy. And a public place where you would risk being seen. Or rather, where he would risk being seen.

He chose a day when the sea was calm, obviously. And the place he found was a small cave.

You had brought your swimsuit under your uniform. You took off your uniform and when you looked back at Azul, he looked... indifferent. The truth is, he came from a place where everyone is practically naked and mermaids only wear a kind of bra. So, nothing much different from having only seen people in a swimsuit all his life.

“I must say that you choose a swimsuit that flatters you.” Azul comments.

“Thank you. How about you?”

“Me?”

“Our deal. You're going to teach me to swim in your merman form, as I recall.”

You see him getting embarrassed. He sighs. “Fine... Go into the water and turn around while I take off my clothes. If you please.”

You start to enter the water, which, surprisingly, is not very cold. The time it took for you to get into the water and get used to the temperature was enough for Azul to take off his clothes and get in the water. You are in an area where you can walk and you only hear someone entering the water. In a deep part to the point where you can't see him. You can see Azul’s clothes neatly folded on a rock.

You start looking around looking for him. You lean against the edge so he doesn't surprise you. You see a huge, dark spot in the water approaching you. And he slowly lifts his head out of the water to look at you.

“Satisfied?” He looks a little sulky.

“Quite.” You smile at him, which makes his embarrassment increase.

“Good... Now... the first thing to learn to swim is to trust the water.”

“What do you mean?”

“From what I've heard, the problem with most landfolks who can't swim is because they're afraid of drowning. They don't trust the water to make them float for example. You need to know how water works in your body to know how to use it.”

“And how do you train your confidence with water?”

“Floating.” He smiles, that smile to make you comfortable. He rises higher in the water, getting the water up to his stomach. “You will lie on the surface, like when you lie on your bed, and I will put my arms behind your back to support you. Merfolk kids love to do this when they go to play on the water surface. And we usually do it to rest.”

You seem not very trustful about it. “This is like how children on earth learn to ride a bicycle then?”

“Bicycles? That two-wheel vehicle? Really, I've always wondered how a person balances on that thing.”

“It also starts with a trust exercise.” you explain “There are bicycles for children to learn to ride that have two small wheels attached to the back wheel, so that the child can get used to the bicycle itself. When the parents think they are ready to remove these two little wheels, the parents hold the seat so that the child isn't afraid of falling. The trick then is to let go when the child is not looking. So when the child sees that they can ride without the help of their parents, they lose their fear and starts to ride alone.”

Azul laughs in amusement. “Interesting. And besides, I'm glad you have the notion that I'm going to let go of you at any moment.” he laughs “But don’t fret. I will only do it when I see that you already feel comfortable in the water. Shall we start?”

You first dive in to get completely wet and get used to the water temperature better. Then Azul places his hands on your back to support you as you lie down. The scary part is getting your feet off the ground. But you feel Azul's hands holding you. You see him above you, partially illuminated by the light from outside the cave.

After a while, you feel more comfortable with your feet on the surface. But you feel like you're still leaning too much on his hands.

“When you float, your ears always end up under the water.” he explains to you. “You must let your head relax. It may seem worrisome when water runs past your ears, but you need to trust that it won't get to your face. Oh, and another thing, try closing your eyes and relaxing. The more rested you are the more easily you will float.”

“It's a bit like quicksand then.”

“I've heard about those. But here you can always get on your feet. So don't be afraid. Water is not your enemy.” He's speaking so gently. So caring.

It's not that friendly tone he uses when talking to customers. Is different. Like he genuinely wants you to learn to swim. That you liked the water. That you liked his world. As if he wants you to, one day, be a part of his world.

You relax your neck, the water rushes past your ears and you no longer hear the outside, just muffled underwater sounds. It's worrying at first, but he was right, the water doesn't reach your face.

You closed your eyes mainly because, although the water doesn't cover your nose or mouth, it reaches a little bit from the tip of your eyes. So it's more comfortable to have them closed.

The sound of underwater is more calming than anyone could imagine. Which helps you to relax. You feel Azul’s hands stop pressing up your back slowly. But the reflex of you raising your head in fear of sinking in the water is inevitable.

“Trust that the water will not let you sink.” he reassures you “If you don't fight it, it won't fight back.”

Take some time until you feel completely confident in the water. But eventually it happens. And when that happens, you don't realize that Azul has let go of you for some time. You only realize when you feel him floating beside you.

You feel his hand holding yours. “Looks like the ocean is starting to fancy you too much.” You hear his voice underwater. You realize that the sea was pulling you a little bit and he’s just holding you for safety.

Or at least that was the case in the beginning. You begin to feel his hand caress yours with his thumb. And when you caress his back, he intertwines his fingers with yours.

You get tired of floating after a while and get back on your feet. The water only reaches your stomach and the same happens with Azul. But when you look down something is strange. You can't see his tentacles. And then you remember a little fun-fact about octopuses.

“Are you camouflaging yourself?”

He gets embarrassed again. “Uh? What? How do you-?... You haven't been researching octopuses, have you?”

Your face says it all. You may or may not have been looking for trivia and facts about octopuses because of him. And additionally about eels because of the twins.

“Wait a second! Does that mean you CAN do that instant camouflage thing?” Your eyes shine with curiosity and wonder, what makes him blush. “That's so cool!”

Despite the blush, he seems slightly upset about it. “Listen, it's just something we're born with. It's nothing special. You shouldn't praise someone for something like that.”

You apologize to him. Were you rude? Did you say something you shouldn't? And he realizes that you felt bad about it.

“I'm sorry. You didn't say anything offensive. It's understandable for a person who has never coexist with merfolks before. Well, to be honest, when I met Jade and Floyd they were a lot more callous about it. And they had no excuse, they are mermen too. But, I understand it can be something cool for those who have never seen it.” he smiles at you so you don't have to worry about it anymore.

“But... why are you doing it now? Are you uncomfortable?”

“*sighs* You know I don't like to show off my merman form. I'm only doing this because it's part of the deal.”

“Sorry.”

“Hmm? For what?”

“For making you do something you're uncomfortable with. It wasn’t my intention. You don't have to do it if you don't want to.”

“And have you working in Mostro Lounge for only one month?” he smiles amused

“Azul, you-”

“If I really was that uncomfortable, do you think I wouldn't have tried harder to modify the deal?” He speaks calmly and smiling. Then he takes a moment, sigh, close his eyes, relax his shoulders and you see something big and dark slowly appear under the water.

“I'm not uncomfortable around you. Don't think that. I just know that most landfolks don't think this is very...” you see a big black and purple tentacle come out of the water next to you. He looks a little sad at that part of him. “...pretty.” but then he looks at you puzzled. “But you already knew. So why ask me this? Why did you want to see me... like this?”

“This is your true form, isn't it? I love to know you. The real you. And to be honest I think you're quite handsome in any form, especially this one.” You make him blush again.

He looks to the side and seems to have seen something underwater. “Would you like to dive in a bit? Don't worry, I know you can't hold your breath for long. I will bring you to the surface as soon as you need to. I just think you'll enjoy to see something.”

He extends his hand to you, you take it. He pulls you in slightly and places his other arm around your waist. he pulls you into a part so deep you can't touch the ground anymore. But Azul is holding you.

“It's down here. Right below us. Don't worry, it's not too deep.” He speaks to you in a soft, affectionate voice. “Take a deep breath and relax, I got you.”

You take a deep breath and the two of you dive in. He holds your hand tightly and guides you just a little deeper. It's dark. Extremely dark. So much so that you would have started to get scared if he hadn't used his magic pen to completely light up that place. And a bunch of beautiful coloured corals appeared. With the surprise you ended up releasing a little more air and you were starting to need to get back to the surface. So you shake Azul's hand and point up. He immediately but gently pulls you to the surface.

“It's beautiful!” you say after catching your breath, hugged him since you were still in the deep water part of the cave. “I just wish I could hold out longer down there.”

“You wish~?” He grabs you around the waist and leads you back to the shallow end of the water. He is smiling charmingly at you. “Well, you know what the rumors say.” He gestures with the magic pen and a potion floats out of one of his coat pockets onto one of his tentacles. “I can grant any wish.”

You recognize the potion, it's the same vial he gave you to breathe underwater when you went to the Atlantica Memorial Museum. You reach up to take the potion, but he takes it out of your reach.

“Too bad this wasn't part of the deal.” he says with a theatrical sadness in his voice.

“Well, technically it was part of the deal.”

“You would not try to drown yourself on purpose. First because I know you're smarter than that, and second if it's done on purpose it's not valid.”

“I know.” you chuckle “Don't worry, I will never do that on purpose. Thought, you planned this didn't you?”

“You say that as if I were some kind of evil mastermind. *sniff* You hurt me.”

“Hu-hum. And you're going to tell me that you haven't already thought about a deal for that potion there?”

“Oh, don't be so mean. I promise it will be a fair deal.”

“If you want me to work one more week at Mostro Lounge, I'll turn down your offer right away.”

“*chuckle* I must admit that in a way it's more fun when your client sees right through you. Fortunately, I also thought you were going to say something along those lines.” He gets closer you, smiling... kinda... seductively. “You know, it may or may not have reached my ears that you have a crush on someone~ Would that be true?”

You don't even know what to answer. Does he know it's him?

“If it is... It may be mutual, you know...” then he gets slightly more serious “The truth. I think that's a more than a fair price for the potion.”

The truth. In fact, he's quite convincing. So you admit that you have a crush and that that crush is him. He gets closer and puts his arms around your waist, breaking the gap between you two. His nose almost touching yours and his eyes looking passionately into yours.

“So maybe you can fulfill a wish of mine. A wish of ours perhaps?”

He lets you kiss his lips and you feel the hug tightening. You feel his kiss needy, as if he can't get enough of you. But he knows when to part from the kiss.

“Maybe I need to start working on an exclusivity deal after this.” he comments, and brings the tentacle that holds the potion closer to you so you can take it.

He breaks the hug for you to drink the potion. And when you're ready, the two of you go back to diving, hand in hand. Now, you even have time to take a good look at Azul's merman form. You don't want to think he's... big. But compared to the two legs of his human form, those eight tentacles took up a lot of space.

You feel your lower body start to rise, and waving your legs to keep yourself upright is starting to wear you out. Azul is grabbing a rock with his tentacles. You pull yourself close to him and thank him to keep you upright.

Seeing you like this, hugging him, in the midst of those beautiful corals and the calming silence of the water, he can't resist kissing you again.

If you would like to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX