#Fam i’d be shook

[adriennejosephines]

last time my (extended) family did a j.c. penney photoshoot one cousin who lives out of town was literally forgotten.

[m4tthewmurd0ck]

stand and fight

── jacaerys velaryon x fem!targaryen reader

surprise i can’t contain myself so this is a series shdbxndjfvnsj

little a/n before we begin ── CHANGING AGES!! jace is only 13 when aegon is crowned king but in this, you and he are both 18. as with my aegon piece, i know everyone’s long names and titles but for the sake of not typing it out each time i use first names (i.e. criston instead of ser criston cole). reader is alicent and viserys’ child, but is living with rhaenyra and her family because she was always of the opinion that her father wanted rhaenyra to be queen. even once aegon was crowned, she refused to refer to him as king. as a result this caused a huge feud with reader against alicent, aegon, and aemond and she was all but banished from her home. about 2 weeks after aegon is crowned, reader and dragon (stormfyre) ran away and have been with rhaenyra and fam ever since. of everyone on team black, you’re closest with jace. everyone suspects something romantic between you both, but nothing has happened as of the start of this. takes place before, and during season 2 episode 4. you’ve been warned

wc: 1.6k (future chapters will be much longer and feature a lot more of jace, promise!)

PART ONE

Your relationship with Jacaerys (not that you could really call it a relationship), wasn’t always how it is now. He wasn’t the one you sought out when you wanted quiet but not alone time, and you weren’t the first person he searched for when he entered the room. Certainly not when you first arrived and Rhaenyra announced that you’d be staying with them.

In fact, in the beginning, you were sure he hated you.

Being on opposing sides of this ‘war’, part of the reason why he took such a strong disliking to you was because he thought he had to. You, on the other hand, were the complete opposite. You’d long since grown tired of hating people simply because you were told to.

On the evening you and Stormfyre ran away, the entire time you were flying was spent worrying and just praying to the Gods that you wouldn’t be turned away, or killed.

Rhaenyra was there to greet you when Stormfyre finally landed, and once you told her how bad things had gotten at home and that you didn’t know where else to go, she immediately offered you a room. Though you were Alicent’s daughter, you were still her half sister and had always been kind to her and her children. She knew you wanted no part in this feud, that you and Helaena were innocent in all of it.

After you wrote a note and Rhaenyra sent a raven to deliver it to Alicent, she informed you that they were just about to sit down and have dinner and she’d love for you to join them.

The first thing you noticed as you took your seat across from Lucerys, was how Jacaerys was glaring at you.

No one had taken more than a few bites before he put his fork down and loudly stood up.

“Why is she here?” He pointed at you, not even bothering to hide his anger.

“Jacaerys sit down,” Rhaenyra shook her head. “You know as well as I do that she is innocent in all of this. I have invited her—”

“To stay with us? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, she’s one of them! How do you know—”

Hearing that last part, Rhaenyra pushed her chair back and stood up. “Do not speak to me in that way, I will not tolerate it. I have invited her to stay for as long as she’d like and that is final. Now sit down.”

“Yes Your Grace.” The sarcasm was loud and clear, but Rhaenyra opted to ignore it since he did in fact sit down again.

You had your worries, but this confirmed it. You couldn’t stay. On the way over you told yourself that if anyone showed hesitation or anger at you being there, you’d leave as soon as you felt safe to do so. To live in a place where you were in fear of saying the wrong thing or suddenly being asked to leave, was no different than if you’d remained at home.

“Your Grace, I am a bit tired. Thank you for the lovely meal but if it’s alright I’d like to retire for the evening.”

Jacaerys once again didn’t even attempt to hide his anger. He rolled his eyes as he continued to eat.

“Of course, please don’t hesitate to ask if there’s anything you need.” She gave you a small smile, and as soon as you turned the corner you could hear her beginning to bicker with her eldest son.

After you’d been in your room about an hour, there was a series of soft knocks at your door. If you’d been doing anything other than laying in bed, you probably wouldn’t have heard.

When you opened the door and were greeted by Lucerys, to say you were surprised was an understatement.

“My Prince, I —”

He gave you that look, the I’m a kid please don’t use my title it’s weird look, and when you tried again and called him by his first name, he smiled. His hands had previously been behind his back and when he brought them forward, in each was a small plate with what appeared to be some sort of cake.

“Jace was rude and I know that’s why you didn’t finish dinner,” he said simply.

You opened your mouth to say that wasn’t true, but when he gave you that look again you couldn’t help but laugh.

“For being so young, you’re quite perceptive.”

He nodded as he sat down and handed you a plate. “Mom says I’m good at reading people. I forgot forks so we’ll have to use our hands.”

“You wish to stay and eat with me?”

Again, the young boy nodded. “It’s not fun to eat alone.”

The first few minutes, the 2 of you simply enjoyed the desserts in silence. You were relieved to find that it was a comfortable silence. When you were both finished, Lucerys, who insisted you call him Luke, took the plates and said he’d be right back. When he returned only a moment later, his first question surprised you.

“Why did you run away?”

“I — it’s complicated. Since Aegon was crowned king, there have been a lot of… fights.”

“You don’t think he should be king?”

You wondered how much to tell him, seeing as he was only 11. “No,” you decided to just tell the truth. “I think your mom should be.”

“She’s your… half sister, right?”

You nodded. “Yes, she’s my half sister. The same way that Aegon, Helaena, and Aemond are her other half siblings.”

“Do you not like them?”

“My other siblings?”

He nodded.

“I’m using this word too much, but it’s complicated. My relationship with each of them is different. Or was, before things went bad. Aegon and I used to be inseparable when we were really little. Everyone used to joke that we were twins. Though I’m a year older than Aemond, I always looked up to him. He’s the one who taught me how to use a sword, and I will always be grateful for that. Helaena and I are still close, she understands why I left. In fact that reminds me I need to ask your mom if I may send a raven to her tomorrow.”

“Even if you don’t think he should be king, why did you leave? Did they hurt you?”

“No, not yet anyway,” you gave a sad smile. “But it wasn’t just them that made me fearful. Other people haven’t been so kind. It’s why I’m so grateful that I’m allowed to be here, even if it’s only temporary.”

Luke looked surprised, as if it hadn’t occurred to him that you’d leave. “But you’ll stay with us for a while right? I’ll talk to Jace, I swear it.”

You quickly wiped a tear and smiled at the young boy in front of you. “That means a lot to me, truly. But please don’t talk to your brother on my behalf. He has made it clear I’m unwelcome and I fear that anything you say will make him angry with you as well.”

“If you don’t stay, will you have to return home?”

That was something you hadn’t even thought about. Initially while flying you feared being rejected. But even if that did happen, what would your plan have been?

“Possibly. I do not know where else I would go.”

“Jacer— there you are, you’ve had us searching everywhere,” Rhaenyra smiling as she saw how comfortable her son was around you. “Why don’t you let her get some sleep, hmm? You can see her in the morning.”

He groaned, but Luke did give you a hug and a “goodnight” before heading out of your room.

Rhaenyra turned to follow her son, then turned back around to face you again as she thought of something she wanted to say.

“I’d just like to apologize for my older son. I do not know what has gotten into him as of late but he had no right to speak to or about you that way. I will see to it that he—”

“Please, Your Grace—” she gives you that same look that Luke did, and you smile at how similar they look. “Rhaenyra, you and he have nothing to apologize for. I am technically one of them, and I’m intruding on your home.”

She is quick to shake her head. “You’re not intruding. I know what it can be like over there, and for your wellbeing I am glad that you felt safe enough to come here. We will think of next steps for tomorrow, although I really do hope you’ll stay a while. It seems Luke does too. I’ll let you get some rest now.”

“Thank you, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you,” you get off of the bed and embrace your sister for the first time in who knows how long. She rubs circles on your back and it brings tears to your eyes, your own mom wouldn’t ever embrace you like this.

Rhaenyra leaves a few minutes later, and you finally crawl into bed.

As you lay there and wait for sleep to come, you think about the events of today. And you can’t help it, eventually your mind drifts to the boy who sat across from you.

With the dirty looks he gave you, how he spoke about you as if you weren’t there, there’s no doubt in your mind that he hates you.

It’s hard to believe that if Aegon weren’t crowned King, and Rhaenyra held her place on the iron throne, that Jacaerys would’ve been the next heir.

Even harder to believe is that to ensure both families remained united, you and he would’ve already gotten married.

You finally start to feel sleepy, and just before you drift off, your final thoughts are of Jacerys. If you do end up staying, you wonder if things will always be like this.

TAGLIST ──

@simpingbigtime | @chillingyuh | @themoon-mine | @greenvita | @frostooo | @darylspersonalwhore | @athxnss | @thatbird-fromrio | @yohanseyebrowmole | @koobratzy | @ganertys | @kodzuvk | @lovelyteenagebeard | @m1lilachp | @lotus-888

[notroosterbradshaw]

Heatstroke

rooster fam, avert your eyes. here’s some old-school Bucky smut. I didn’t think I’d publish Bucky stuff here, yet here we are again. Hope you enjoy x

18+, smut, fluff. Bucky wasn't much of a talker but when he puts his foot in his fat mouth, he has to make amends somehow.

He’d heard you – you knew he had. The serum increased his awareness and blah blah blah, everyone knew his story by now and why you’d found yourself hidden behind the wall leading to the kitchen while Bucky intently studied his tablet, putting God knows what together at the bench.

You should have just stayed in your bedroom and messed around online, kept your laziness to yourself. It was safer than the situation you were about to walk into - of that you were sure. You needed another shower but the heat in the apartment would coat you in perspiration the second you towelled off anyway.

He’d heard your breathing and your elevated heart rate, he could probably smell the sweat of flight taking over as you debated whether or not to just miraculously appear and pretend not to have ducked back around the corner when you saw Bucky there.

“I know things are weird between us, but you hiding when you see me makes it a hellova worse, kitten,” he muttered. You let out an inward sigh, shoulders slumping as you turned and walked in, wiping your clammy palms on your sundress.

“Hey Buck,” you said quietly, taking to a stool across from him.

“What’s happening, babydoll?” he asked casually, not looking up from the herbs he was chopping – he was remarkable with a knife, you noted as he sliced and diced without abandon faster than any chef and much more precisely (you tried not to imagine how and when he learned the art form). You’d always found it strangely sexy when he had a knife in his hands and the precision that came with it – on missions and funnily, now in the kitchen. The smell of whatever was cooking was incredible and you hadn’t even seen what he had in the oven or on the stove. At recollection, it wasn’t his night to cook. It was…

“It’s my night to cook, could ask you the same thing.”

“Well, I know you hate cooking for Steve and me, so thought I might cover for you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” you said, a little defensive though maybe a little touched.

He shrugged, looking up, a dark wisp of hair falling into his stony eyes and pushing it away with his flesh wrist. “It’s fine, sweetheart. I enjoy it, relaxes me. Consider yourself off the hook.”

Sure I will, you wanted to reply. Everything was tit for tat in the apartment the three of you shared. Bucky would find a way to get an inadvertent favour out of you at some point when you least expected it. “Well… thanks, I guess,” you said instead, finally raising your eyes. You blinked as you noticed the smirk on his features. “But in the interest of your safety, Buck, why are you not wearing a t-shirt under the apron?”

He was a dream in his beige canvas bib apron – it worked wonders against his fair skin and the silver of his cybernetic arm. His biceps, you were pretty sure, had you salivating. His shoulders were broad under the thin straps rippling as he moved his arms to prep.

You fucking loved Summer. Even if the apartment was a thousand damn degrees and usually hotter with the body heat of yourself and two super soldiers who always ran at boiling point. But if Bucky felt the need to parade around half-naked, you weren’t one to argue. It was a true sight to behold.

“Honestly? Felt liberating to be naked,” he licked his upper lip, squinting at the recipe again before humming to himself in thought.

You peeked over the bench and noticed his bare calves and bare feet and had to scoff a laugh. “For fuck’s sake, Bucky. Are you wearing anything?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

“What if Steve comes home?”

“I’ll hear him,” he reminded you. “Just like I heard you.”

“And why did you think it would be okay if I saw you like this? You knew I’d come in here to start cooking eventually.”

He stabbed the knife into the wooden chopping back and grinned at you, his eyes locking with yours. “You’re the only one that has seen me in less, sugar. Shouldn’t be that much of a surprise,” he waved his cybernetic hand up and down his torso a little smugly.

You felt the heat rise from your toes to your hair, resting back on your chair and curling in on yourself. “I don’t think we need to bring this up now – ”

He rumbled a laugh low in his belly. “I’m wearing shorts, for fuck’s sake. What kind of deviant do you take me for?” he turned around and wriggled his toned bubble butt in his blue board shorts as you resisted a giggle. They were well hidden due to the length of the apron. “See?”

“Do we really need to go there?” you mumbled as he plucked the knife back up and continued his prep. He didn’t look up but you could see his cheekbones rise into a lurid smile.

“Anytime, anywhere, babydoll. You know that.”

You knew that very well.

You shook your head gently and started to push yourself away. “Righto – well, since it looks like you’ve got it all covered, I’ll leave you to it.”

Bucky hummed his disapproval. “Nuh-uh. You, stay. You’re not getting out of it that easily,” he paused to stop and point the knife at you. “I’m cooking and you’re gonna open this bottle of wine,” he said, handing one that was on the bench to you along with the bottle opener (you noticed it was one from Stark’s private collection). “And then we’re going to sit down to eat and talk. Clear the air,” he announced, opening the bottle still in his hands when you didn’t reach for it.

“We don’t have anything to talk about,” you said as he sighed and poured you both a generous glass of vivid Bordeaux red.

“Drink,” he repeated. “Then we talk.”

“Cheers to you too,” you muttered though credit where credit was due, Bucky had found a good one. He raised himself a glass and toasted you gently.

“Cheers, sweetheart,” he winked before heading to the stove to continue his assault on the kitchen.

“Where is Steve?” you asked, your second glass well and truly going down a treat, loosening you up considerably. You were in your usual seat as Bucky wandered in, now with a shirt and placed a plate before you and one for him at his usual place across from you.

“No idea,” Bucky shrugged.

You weren’t a complete idiot, he knew this. You assumed this is why he’d volunteered dinner and made sure the bottle of wine was on hand. It was discussion time and Bucky knew what you didn’t want to talk about.

You were resisting taking your relationship to the next level. He hadn’t pressured you, but everything had been pointing in that direction and it terrified you.

It was only supposed to be a joyous and mutually beneficial ‘friends with benefits’-type of arrangement. No harm, no foul to either of you until he mumbled that he loved you ‘so fucking much’ a week or so ago as he drifted off to sleep after a strenuous mission and recovery fuckathon upon his return home.

“It’s only us, isn’t it?” you sighed, taking the salad from the middle of the table and loading your plate up before continuing, “You made sure he’s out for the night.”

“Yeah,” he gave a small smile. “He’s at some bar with Sam and Natalia. It’s just us, babydoll,” he confirmed, taking a sip of his wine and watching your reaction through his dark lashes. He had to admit, he loved seeing you squirm. “I asked him to make himself scarce.”

“Of course you did,” you focused on your (argh, perfectly cooked at medium rare, fuck it) steak and piled it into your mouth as gracefully as you could. Bucky watched you, humoured.

“Well, at least you haven’t bolted yet,” he noted jovially.

“Don’t confuse me sitting here without me wanting to do that,” you sniped, ticked off he’d lulled you into a false sense of security.

“Look,” he delicately sliced his steak and took a bite, chewing as he continued, “I know I threw you, I’m real well aware I should have kept my fat fuckin’ trap shut. I just thought I wasn’t comin’ home to you, okay?” his voice suddenly low and eyes were paying very close attention to his food.

You sat up straighter at his confession and he sighed while your eyes widened. “Bucky… what happened?” you put your wine glass down and pushed your plate away with a clang.

He tried to brush the thought away. “It’s not about that – ”

“Buck, it’s exactly like that,” you stood up and walked around the table. He moved his chair back as you lifted the loose skirt of your dress and crawled onto him to straddle across his lap. “What happened?” you begged, lifting his chin for his stony eyes to meet yours, keeping his jaw in your soft palms. “Look at me.”

His cybernetic hand reached for his face and rubbed his eyes, suddenly he looked exhausted. “Was ambushed,” he said quietly. “I’m not telling you the small details – you don’t needa know – ” he held a hand up to your mouth that was open and ready to protest. “By the time Steve got there, I was the last one standing. Don’t worry.”

“Who?” you asked quietly, your warm hands rubbing against his stubbly cheeks before settling on the back of his neck and massaging his smooth, warm skin, twirling soft hair around your fingers to calm him. He moved to rest his forehead on your shoulder and wrapped his arms around your waist, clinging to you for dear life - it was uncommon for Bucky to react this way and it terrified you.

You had to remind yourself all you wanted to do was comfort him. That is what you had agreed to in the very beginning when this mess started. Comfort, familiarity, fun.

Not love.

“They tried the triggers,” he whispered, not looking up, the shame evident in his rough voice. “I know they don’ work any more, but babydoll, I just…” he looked up and inhaled sharply. “I thought I was a goner. I didn’t think I was coming home.”

You kissed his hair, only to imagine his fear as he set the scene for you. The devastation your heart was feeling for him to have to go through that - knowing it was something he’d been through for decades and it constantly repeated for him.

“You’re okay, Buck. I’m right here. I’ll never let anyone hurt you. Not again,” you cooed on repeat, hoping he knew and understood.

He nodded, pulling you closer. You heard a sniff and he tightened his grip again, knowing how intensely he needed you. “I’m sorry about what I said. But I can’t apologise for how I feel, baby,” his voice so low you almost couldn’t hear it. “I love you.”

You nodded. “I know, Buck,” you replied quietly.

“And as much as you deny it,” he said. “I know exactly how you feel too, sweetheart.”

You raked your hands through his long dark hair hoping to relieve some tension in his body and pulled his gaze back to yours.

“You don’t owe me anything. It’s fine.”

“Don’t be like that,” you begged. “Bucky, I do – ”

“I know, I told you,” he said with a small smile, grasping your sides under his strong hands. “You’ll tell me when you’re ready and I promise I won’t be surprised.”

You couldn’t resist the scoff that bubbled to your lips as he brightened considerably, a playful smirk now on his lips. You slid off his thighs and returned to your side of the table, stuffing your mouth with salad, the aura in the room changed for the better. “Times like this make me really not wanna say it,” you huffed.

“Times like this make me really want to bend you over the table and have my way with you,” he retorted as you choked on a piece of cucumber and he took a sip of wine, completely cool and collected. You swallowed hard and had a sip yourself to calm yourself. Resolve set in.

“Then what are you waiting for, big boy?” you challenged as the table lurched and he stood, his predatory stalk around the dinner table as he hitched you from your seat, his breath heavy down your neck as he took you in. “What am I waiting for? I’ve been waiting for you my whole life and now you’re here. You’ll rue the day you asked, princess,” he hitched you over his shoulder and made his way to your room, slamming the door closed with his foot as the walls rattled and he tossed you on the bed, his hungry gaze telling you to you were in strife.

And you couldn’t wait.

The next morning, the other side of your bed was empty. Cool, Bucky must have been up for a while. You sighed, rubbing your tired eyes. You hadn’t gotten much sleep and your tummy was rumbling after missing most of your dinner the night before for other more extraneous activities.

“Buck?” you called quietly, finding your discarded underwear and throwing his t-shirt from the night before on. You ran your hands through your mussed hair and pushed it off your face before padding quietly back to your room to retrieve your dressing gown in case Steve was home. While he was supportive of whatever it was he thought you and Bucky had, he had announced it was only fair the bedtime behaviours weren’t thrown in his face, to which you and Bucky agreed.

But apparently not this morning.

You burst out laughing as you entered the kitchen. “Are you serious right now?”

“What?” Bucky looked back over his shoulder. “See something you like?”

“Clearly Steve isn’t home yet,” you noted as you approached him and wrapped your arms around his waist from behind, sneaking your cold hands under the apron he wore over the stove and touching his scorching skin. He let out a slight shriek at your cool touch. He never was fond of the cold.

Bucky laughed quietly. “No, Steve didn’t come home. Guess he stayed at the Tower.”

“You told him to stay at the Tower too, didn’t you?” you sighed. Poor Steve. Relegated to the Tower from his own apartment so his roommates could do… well, a lot to each other.

“Yeah,” he snorted.

“Gotta say though. A bit of a fan of this naked chef caper you’ve got going on right now,” you gave his body an appreciative once over and weren’t overly surprised to find your body going back into overdrive for him.

“Naked as the day I was born, kitten,” he confirmed as your hands travelled from his broad, muscular shoulders and traced down his bulging biceps (one warm, the other cool under your touch) through to his delts, lats and descending to grab a handful of bare ass that was begging to be groped. He chuckled darkly, wriggling his butt again. “My junk is very close to the hot plate, sweetheart. Don’t get too frisky. It won’t be a desired result for either of us!”

You stifled a giggle. “Never,” you replied, kissing rippled scar tissue on his left shoulder blade. A visible shudder shot through him as he melted like butter under your lips.

“That feels fuckin’ amazin’,” he crooned, his usually well-concealed Brooklyn accent seeping through due to his increased desire, head lolling back a little. His loose dark hair shimmied across his shoulders softly.

“So, what’s cooking here, chef?” you held his hips and loosened the straps to the apron. You felt him pause.

“Uh, pancakes, baby. What’s cooking back there?” he replied as you raised the strap of the apron over his head, letting it pool at his bare feet and leaving him completely undressed. He swiftly turned the burners off. You turned him to face you as he took a step closer and thankfully, away from the stove and loosened your dressing down, curious as to what may be hiding underneath. “I see you dressed yourself again. Musn’t ‘ave got my memo,” his tone a little miffed as you giggled into his skin. “Nice shirt though. Have one similar. Looks better on you, I gotta admit,” he smiled, running his tongue across his gleaming teeth. “Think you should lose it.”

You nodded as he lifted the shirt over your head, tossing it somewhere over your shoulder as he hitched you up and sat you on the bench, spreading your knees wide so he could stand between them.

“Fuck, you look good enough to eat,” he licked his full, plump lips predatorily. The heat of his gaze eyes screamed passion, lust and maybe a little danger. Humming, he ran his calloused hands from a tug of your hair to the seam of your undies. He forced your gaze to him as he used his cybernetic hand to push them to the side, eagerly sliding his finger between your warm, slippery folds. 

It embarrassed you that you were always on for him. Your breath hitched at the coolness his touch brought and goose bumps cascaded across your body. 

“This may be the only place in the apartment that I’ve never had my way with you,” he muttered before sinking his teeth into the soft skin of your neck, your scent as well as his cologne on your skin from the day before grounding him.

Resting your forehead on your shoulder, you wrapped your arms around his chest in hopes to keep upright.

“You okay?” he whispered, his tongue tracing the rim of your ear and his thumb drawing patterns on your clit, your reply incoherent. “Should I keep going?” he whispered as he took one of your hands from him and repositioned it around his eagerly awaiting cock.

“You should definitely keep going,” you insisted, your hand with a mind of its own as you swirled the pre-come around the tip of his straining head and put your palm to work, twisting and tugging as his hips started to move off their own volition. 

“We eat here,” he grunted. “You pretty little hand tho...”

You gasped as a current ran through your body. “We’ll just make sure we disinfect,” you shuddered before you could finish the sentence. “Really well,” you finally managed as his fingers sent shockwaves through your system. “God, that feels good,” your head fell back as he smiled wickedly, pleased. “But I want you.”

He took a step closer, released your grasp on him and used his hand to slide his cock in just enough before he used his hands to hold your cheeks, he licked your lip and kissed you wet and wildly, his tongue forceful against yours as he moved within you and thrusting gently. Slow to the hilt, knowing exactly how you liked it. It was perfection how well he could make your body succumb to his whim. 

“Jesus,” you managed against his mouth. “Bucky,” you breathed as your torsos meshed together.

“I know, baby girl,” he promised, his hips picking up a gentle rhythm, slow and turning you inside out. “It feels fuckin’ amazin’ to me too.”

“I feel it,” you told him, dragging his eyes to meet you. “I feel it,” you confided. The way your heart raced when you were around him, the lust, the need... the devotion to keeping him safe and desire to be all he needed. 

You loved Bucky Barnes wildly, madly, terrifyingly so. 

“I know, darlin’, I know you love me. I love you so much too,” he sealed your words with a softer kiss, though it seeped with so much passion. “You don’t have to – ” he groaned, unable to hold it back as his hips started moving again. “You don’t have to say it back.”

You managed to push him back at arm's length, his lustfully dark eyes fluttering open as he looked back at you, a little confused. “I do, Buck.”

He breathed, his hands running from your jaw, down the curve of your neck, between your breasts, tickling your belly lightly and resting on your thighs. “Then say it,” he dared.

“I love you, Buck.”

The grin that spread across his face looked like it may have hurt him, his stony eyes shining and the dimples on his cheeks making a rare appearance. “Well, there ya go,” he teased, moving closer again, his lips moving to yours as he returned your affirmation. “Wasn’t so bad, was it?”

You sighed quietly and he shut you up with a firm thrust, reminding you both where you were and the task at hand. You wrapped your arms around his neck, dragging him close as his mouth left wet kisses against your skin. He grasped your thighs, getting closer as your head fell back in pure ecstasy. “Need you. Make me cum.”

“I’ve got you, baby doll,” he whispered. “Lemme make you feel real fuckin’ good, okay?” he begged as he moved his warm fingers to your centre again.

“Christ,” you muttered, your gaze dropping to where your bodies met, the sexiest sight and allowing your body to tighten as suddenly all you could see was white, your body quaking as you came undone and collapsed backwards on the bench as he caught you with a humoured huff.

All this power he had over you and the three words said aloud made it even better.

“Yes, baby,” he chuckled lowly, his movements starting to get a little erratic, taking absolutely everything you had to offer to him, not much longer before his hips sped up, bringing him to his climax as well and crashing into you like a freight train as he came, harsh and ragged, desperate. “Jesus, fuck,” he panted, pulling your body impossibly closer. “I love you,” he whispered again, taking your face in his hands and kissing you deeply. “I fucking love you so much. I’ll never let anything happen to you.”

“I love you too, Buck,” you said again as he gave you a softer kiss, his phone pinging across the counter. “God, that’s not work, is it?” you asked him. You knew your luck was running out, he’d been home for a few days and knew time was dwindling before he was to assemble.

He sighed. “I dunno, sweetheart,” he gave you a meek grin as he gently pulled out, your thighs crossing quickly to avoid a sticky mess across the counter. He sighed and checked his phone. “Worse.”

“Unless it's aliens or robots back to fuck shit up again, it cannot be worse. So, where are you off to?” you sighed sadly.

“Nowhere,” he chuckled. “Steve complaining about livin’ it up in the Tower while we made house here,” he winked. You gave Bucky a shy smile as he rolled his eyes and replied to Steve before picking up the apron and discarded clothes. “Come on, let’s get you showered, love,” he tugged your hair and gave you another gentle kiss. “Then I’ll make you lunch.”

“Dressed?” you asked, hoping to hide the disappointment in your voice.

“Probably best,” he sighed, taking your hand and leading you to the bathroom to clean up a long night and another leisurely round against the cool shower tiles. “Grumpy old bastard will be home at some point.”

[avionvadion]

Part Four of "I have no self control, so here ya go."

Lucifer x Fem!Human!OC

Warning: I don’t know how to write songs, so please don’t judge the Lucifer song too hard. T_T That said, I'm actually fairly proud of how this one turned out?

By some miracle, dinner went fairly well. 

Eleanora was rather uncomfortable the entire time, forced to tag along by the anxious Lucifer who absolutely refused to let her run away and made to suffer the awkwardness that was conversation. Lucifer was very expressive as he spoke, as he always was, but in his panic his voice went all over the place, raising and lowering in pitch and even cracking as he barked a few laughs. 

To save him from a panic attack, seeing the poor man on the verge of hyperventilating, his white face turning a bit blue, she stood up from her seat and declared she was thirsty, asking cheerfully if anyone else would like some water. 

From there, she got everyone some glasses- but gave Lucifer an especially tall one in case he chugged half of it in one go. Which he did. And then laughed, saying that was some quality water. 

“Gotta hydrate or die-drate.” Eleanora joked, attempting to save him from his own awkwardness, sitting back down. “And~ I’d rather you all stay hydrated.” 

Lucifer choked on his water, while Charlie let out a small laugh. “Aww, Ellie! That’s so sweet!” 

Vaggie smiled. “Yeah, thanks. I, uh… appreciate the sentiment.” 

Eleanora just flashed them all a wink and finger gunned them. “I got you, fam. Maybe next time we can have some… quali-tea? Ey? Eyyyy?” She looked at Lucifer, who was gaping at her, his red eyes wide. “No? Not funny? Man, I thought that joke was tea-riffic.” 

She sighed and folded her arms over her chest, pouting.

“Water we going to do now? That really didn’t land the way I was hoping.” 

Silence. 

“...O~kay, no more puns. Got it.” 

Charlie snorted, bringing a hand up to cover the lower half of her face, and Vaggie shook her head. From beside Eleanora, Lucifer bit his lip, holding his half-empty glass of water with both hands as his shoulders began to shake. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise when he leaned forward, a weak yet almost relieved chuckle escaping his lips as he looked up at the brunette, his eyes crinkling fondly. “That was horrible.” 

Eleanora made a face. “I thought it was hilarious.” 

“I’m starting to think you truly believe that.”

She gasped, turning in her chair to properly face him. “Excuse me! Those jokes were classic!” 

“Mmhm.” Lucifer hummed, a grin spreading across his lips as he lifted his glass to take another drink. “I’m sure they were.” 

“Hah!” Despite her behavior, Eleanora wasn’t actually offended; she actually found the banter quite delightful, as evident by the smile on her face. “Rude.” 

He just raised a brow at her, a slight smirk on his lips, as he took a sip of his water. 

Fuck, I’m already crushing. 

She could be so hopeless sometimes, honestly. 

Eleanora forced herself to turn her head away, picking up her own glass as she tried to ignore the burning in her cheeks. Damn him and his audacity. He was so anxious not even five minutes ago; where did this sass come from!? Maybe her puns were a little too effective. 

“Thank you for cooking, Vaggie!” 

Vaggie offered a smile. “Of course. Thanks for actually joining us for once.” 

At that, Charlie cringed while Eleanora looked uncomfortably to the side, her good mood immediately gone. The blonde-haired princess turned to look down at her girlfriend, frowning. “Vaggie…” 

“What? I meant it.” 

Lucifer blinked, watching as Eleanora poked what little remained of her food with her fork. He glanced back at Charlie and Vaggie. “Ellie doesn’t normally join you for meals?” 

“It’s okay!” Charlie hurriedly said, already attempting to do damage control. She held her hands up in the air, smiling as brightly as she could. “It’s been… a lot for her to process, and a lot of Hell’s food isn’t exactly what she’s used to either, so… it’s been an… adjustment. She does eat! I think. I’m pretty sure.” 

Vaggie snorted and leaned back into her seat, folding her arms over her chest. “Yeah, bread.” 

“Which is very filling!” Charlie exclaimed, holding a finger up in the air. 

“And eggs, I guess.” Vaggie added after a moment of thought. “But that’s… not that filling.” 

Eleanora was looking more and more uncomfortable with each thing said. “At least I’m eating.” 

Lucifer hadn’t thought much about it earlier, but her plate wasn’t exactly filled with a whole lot when they first sat down. Eleanora had eaten everything he created earlier, and there was a lot of food, but for as happily as she devoured all of that earlier her dinner plate had only a store-bought roll and a few small scoops of fried rice. She completely avoided the pork chops Vaggie cooked.

It’s been hours, so she should be hungry, but she didn’t… eat as much as she should. 

No wonder she was so thin. “How long have you been in Hell?” 

Eleanora paused, turning to give him a confused look. “Almost a week…? Why?” 

Lucifer hmph’d and lifted a hand, snapping his fingers. 

The human woman yelped when the leftover pork chop suddenly vanished from the tray on the counter and appeared on her plate. As that happened, several plates and bowls of various dinner foods appeared on the table- ham, mashed potatoes, freshly baked bread, gravy, baked macaroni. 

Eleanora, Charlie, and Vaggie were all shocked, but the devil king just looked stern. 

“Eat.” Lucifer told the brunette, standing up and reaching over to stab a couple slices of ham with a two-pronged fork, plopping them on her plate. “My little Charlie and Maggie-” 

“Vaggie.” Charlie helpfully supplied, a smile blooming as she laced her hands together in front of her chest. “But, please, continue.” 

“-wouldn’t prepare anything that would be detrimental for you.” Eleanora leaned back in her seat, mildly intimidated by the sight of Lucifer leaning in front of her, holding onto the fork he stabbed into the ham. He frowned. “You’re human. A living, breathing human. You need to eat.” 

Well, fuck. “O-Okay…” 

If the King of Hell is getting on her case about it, she can’t really argue it. 

Lucifer’s expression brightened immediately. “Wonderful! Now, eat up!” He sat back down and patted her back with a laugh. “You’ll need your strength if you wanna survive Hell! Haha! Oh,” Turning his head, he beamed at Charlie and Vaggie, “feel free to dig in, you two! It’s for everyone!”  

Vaggie was baffled, reaching over to grab a scoop of baked macaroni. “What was even the point of me cooking…?” 

“I enjoy your cooking!” Charlie sang, leaning over to gently bump her head against hers. Vaggie blushed, her expression softening. “Just think of it as fancy seconds!”

Somehow, by some strange miracle, dinner continued a lot more smoothly after that. Eleanora chewed the pork chop slowly, trying to get used to the strange and unfamiliar Hell meat, before digging into the ham with a lot more gusto. Charlie offered her a piece of bread and she took it, listening while she ate as Charlie excitedly rambled to Lucifer about some of her plans for decorating the hotel. 

He didn’t look like he was entirely following along, most of it most likely flying over his head as he unintentionally zoned out and then zoned back in, startled and confused when he realized he missed something, but definitely seemed happy his daughter was enjoying herself. That was as good a start as any. 

It’ll take a while for him to ground himself in reality again, to not get lost in his head, but he was trying to listen for his daughter and that’s what counts. 

Baby steps. 

“Well, I should… probably get going now.” Lucifer made himself say a while after everyone finished eating, a couple hours of conversation passing by- conversation that was mostly Charlie and Vaggie talking at Lucifer and trying to drag Eleanora into it. They were all in the lounge again, having done another tour of the hotel just because that’s where their feet led them. He flashed his daughter a warm smile. “It… It was really nice seeing you again, kiddo.” 

“Same.” Charlie beamed, tears stinging her eyes. “I can’t wait until I can come over! I think I should be able to visit in a couple days. I’m thinking Wednesday?” 

“Uh, great! Yeah!” He nodded. “...What’s today?” 

“Sunday.” 

“Oh, wow! Haha! Is it?” Wow, of course today would be that day. The day the devil reunites with his daughter is the day religious humans go to church. “What are the chances!? I’ll… see you Wednesday, sweetheart!” Lucifer then flashed Vaggie an awkward grin, stepping back and pointing finger guns at her. Eleanora tried not to cringe, realizing he was mimicking her in his panic. “Look after my baby girl for me, Maggie! Hehe.” 

Vaggie offered him a polite smile, reaching out to hold Charlie’s hand. “Gladly.” 

“And~ you! Ellie!” He spun on his heel, looking at the woman who was standing in the corner watching the goodbyes take place. She startled, having not expected him to call on her. “Thanks for the help! I’ll… start working on my half of our deal! Cool? Cool! Make sure you eat whatever Maggie cooks you! Charlie!?”

“Yes?” His daughter perked up, red eyes sparkling. “What is it, Dad?” 

Lucifer hesitated, looking very reluctant to leave. He observed her face like today was the last day he’d ever get to see it. “I…” 

She pulled away from Vaggie and stepped forward, voice softening. “Yeah?” 

Lucifer reached out, gently grasping her hands in his, giving them a slight squeeze. Charlie did the same, looking down at her father with misty eyes. “I… I love you, Charlie. And I’m… sorry- that… I was gone for so long. I… shouldn’t have been.” 

“Dad…” 

“B-But I’ll be here now!” He promised, leaning forward on his tiptoes as he looked up at her. “I won’t ever leave you alone again! So… I’ll be waiting! Wh-What day did we agree on again?” 

“I’ll text it to you.” Charlie said, smiling shakily. “That way you won’t forget.” 

“Right! Y-Yeah, that would… that would probably be best.” Lucifer cringed. “My… memory isn’t what it used to be. Heh. Kind of why I don’t watch television anymore; it scrambles the brain!” He stuck out his tongue and made a few weird noises, giggling. “And mine’s scrambled enough! Haha!”  

Charlie just pulled him into another hug, leaning down and wrapping her arms around him, squeezing him tight. “That’s okay. We’ll find a way to work around it.” 

“O-Oh!” That surprised him. 

Lucifer’s features softened. It didn’t take long for him to melt into the hug. 

He rested his face against his daughter’s shoulder. “Thank you… Charlie. For giving me a second chance.” 

“Of course, Dad.” She held him tighter before releasing him, her hands resting lightly against his arms as he smiled up at her. “That’s what the hotel is all about, you know; giving people second chances. I’ve… been wanting to give you one for the longest time.” 

The devil king almost started crying then and there, but somehow managed to hold his tears back. “I’m… so sorry, Char.” 

“It’s okay. You’re here now.” 

“...I’ll see you soon.” His red eyes flashed determinedly. “I promise.” 

Charlie beamed. “I’ll see you Wednesday, Dad.” 

With that, Lucifer took a deep breath and vanished into a burst of red mist- teleporting away back to his castle. Eleanora felt herself relax. 

Unfortunately, no sooner had she done so did Charlie spin on her heel to face her, panic written all across her features. 

Eleanora squeaked when the blonde ran at her, grabbing at her shoulders and shaking her. “What happened between you two!? What’s going on!? How did you end up working with my dad!? What was that in the dining hall!? Why was he holding your hand!? Why were you holding his hand!?” 

Fuck. 

Vaggie seemed to realize there was no calming Charlie down until she got her answers, but did at least try and pry the princess off of Eleanora, coiling an arm around her waist and tugging her back. 

It was a very messy explanation Eleanora gave her, fumbling for the right words and stuttering all over the place, but the brunette made sure to emphasize to the panicking Charlie that she was merely being Lucifer’s emotional support and that there was nothing between them aside from… friendship. Because Lucifer called her a friend. So the hand holding was solely a platonic in-search-of-encouragement kind of thing. 

Charlie’s face was utterly flushed as she fanned herself, giggling awkwardly as she leaned against her much shorter girlfriend. “O-Oh! Okay! That… makes sense. Okay. Yeah. S-Sorry, I was just- I mean, you just got here, but i-it looked like you two were flirting a-and I didn’t know if Dad was finally moving on from Mom or if I would have to start treating you as my step-mom-” 

“Yeah, no!” Eleanora fervently waved a hand in the air, shaking her head. “Y-Yeah-ha-ha! Uh, we were not flirting. He definitely was not flirting. Um. I’m not gonna be your step-mom. But good for him if he does ever decide to remarry! I hope you’ll get along well with whoever that is. And… take the whole thing well. Haha… but no. No, no, no.” 

“Oh…” Charlie blinked, looking almost… disappointed? 

“I mean, he’s gorgeous- you definitely got your looks from him,” Eleanora was rambling now, hands moving about as she spoke, “and I’m starting to think a lot of your personality came from him, too? So, hey! The apple didn’t fall very far from the tree! Hehe. Because he’s… Lucifer? Who gave the apple to humanity? And… when a child is similar to a parent the saying’s- oh, forget it. I wasn’t flirting with your dad!” 

The blonde’s face was completely blank. 

Eleanora looked nervous. 

She watched as Charlie lifted a hand to her chin, going deep into thought. “It really felt like you were, though…” 

Heaven save her. Eleanora felt like her face was going to combust it was so red, her voice raising a couple octaves. “I wasn’t!” 

“...What if he was flirting with you?” Charlie suddenly asked, thoughts clearly running a thousand miles per hour. Vaggie looked up at the princess curiously, wondering where she was going with this. “What if… Dad really is trying to move on? I…” 

Charlie was silent. 

For a long moment she looked sad, but then her eyes lit up and she brightened. “I think it would be really good for him! Kinda awkward,” Charlie deepened her voice, making a face and wave a hand sideways, before smiling widely again, “since we have the pact and all, and we’re kinda friends, but overall I think it’d be great!” 

She clapped her hands together, leaning down so she was closer in height to the much shorter human. Eleanora leaned back, intimidated, her eyes wide as could be and her face as red at Charlie’s suit. 

“Yeah! We’re all mature adults here! Why don’t you go for it, El?” 

Eleanora looked like a statue with how she had frozen completely still. “...Hah?” 

“If my dad likes you… and you like my dad…” Charlie circled her index fingers around each other, grinning ear-to-ear. “Why don’t you go for it!? You’re a good person! I trust you. Dad probably needs someone by his side anyway, and he seems to like you enough that he’s willing to hold hands with you and rely on you!” 

At that, Vaggie finally stepped in- reaching an arm out for the second time to separate Charlie from the very startled Eleanora. “Charlie. Babe. El is human.” 

“And?” She looked confused. “My mom used to be human before she fell down with my dad.” 

Wait, what? “Who was your mom!?” 

“Lilith!” Charlie answered brightly. “She was one of the first humans.” 

Eleanora looked deeply confused. “I thought Adam and Eve were the first humans?” 

“Lilith came first.” The princess kindly explained, smiling at her. “It’s a long story. I have a book! I can read it to you tomorrow, if you want?” 

“Uh… sure?” 

“Anyways!” Charlie stood up straight and rested her hands on her hips, turning to look down at Vaggie with furrowed brows and a bit of a pout. “What makes you think Eleanora can’t be with my dad?” 

“She’s a human.” Vaggie repeated. “One who didn’t fall or die and wind up here. If she gets with your dad, she won’t be able to go back home.” 

Charlie’s eyes went wide and she gasped, her mouth going agape. “Ooooh… that’s… y-yeah.” 

She brought a hand up to her chin, fingers resting over her mouth. 

“Good point. But… it’s not like we even know how to get her home in the first place…” 

Eleanora puffed out her cheeks and huffed, throwing her hands up in the air. “Are either of you listening to anything I’m saying!?” 

The two women turned to look at her, surprised by the outburst. Around them, the human was normally quiet and behaved. They’ve never even seen her act as silly as she did at the dinner table until today, and she’s certainly never raised her voice at them. 

“Lucifer and I were not- and I repeat, not- flirting! We were just holding hands because he was scared he’d screw things up and needed the support! He’s been terrified of contacting Charlie for years because he was scared she’d hate him!” Eleanora bit her lip, glancing to the side as she gripped the hem of her blue button-up. “I was just… being a good friend! Good friends support each other. Admittedly I just became his friend today, but… the point still stands.” 

She looked back up at them. 

“There’s nothing more to it.” 

Charlie looked shocked at the information the human just gave her, but didn’t focus on it for very long, her features shifting into one of disappointment. “If you’re sure…” 

“Trust me, hon.” Eleanora made a face, her smile a bit strained as she clapped her hands together. “I’m sure.” 

That conversation was probably the most draining thing of the day. 

As Vaggie pulled Charlie away, saying they should probably start getting ready for bed- the girlfriends going to take a shower before dressing in their pajamas- Eleanora could hear Charlie mumbling as they walked away. 

“Dad was definitely flirting… wasn’t he? I mean, he’s eccentric but he’s not… normally like that with other people.” 

“If he’s anything like you, babe,” Vaggie said, patting the blonde’s back, “then I’d give it a strong maybe.” 

Eleanora smacked a palm to her face. 

Jesus Christ-! He was not flirting! 

Lucifer would never. 

Not wanting to hear anymore about her and the devil king, Eleanora rubbed her face and marched up the stairs to where her dingy bedroom was waiting, tossing on her black star patterned joggers and loose blue tank top, and collapsed on her bed to sleep. 

Today has been such a mess. She was exhausted. 

…What they said earlier was lingering in her head, though. 

If she was to get together with Lucifer, she wouldn’t be able to return home. Is that because she’s a human and he’s a fallen angel? Or would it be the same if she were to get with anyone that wasn’t human? Whether it was a demon or fallen angel, if she were to marry them, would she be trapped forever? 

She has absolutely no intention of doing so, but it did make her curious about what all the rules in Hell were. 

Reaching over to her desk, still laying on her back, Eleanora picked up her phone and flipped open the screen. She scrolled through her contacts and opened the app she normally used to message her second eldest sister. 

Her eyes starting to sting, worrying her bottom lip, Eleanora spent about ten minutes rereading previous conversations, as well as new messages- messages that were being sent to her, yet she was unable to respond to. 

In a feat of kindness, Charlie had made it so she could access Hell’s internet and social network with her phone from Earth. She’s been receiving texts and messages from her family, who have all been losing their minds over her disappearance, but nothing she’s tried to send has gone through. She’s just been… watching them slowly lose their minds. 

It’s been killing her bit-by-bit inside, more and more with each passing day.

She’s always wondered how they might react if she one day disappeared, but she never actually expected it to happen. She never expected them to care so much. The reason they were still messaging her after the several days she’s spent down here is probably because they see she’s reading their texts. Maybe they’re hoping she’ll respond back one day, or they can use her smartphone to track her. 

But… Eleanora doubts a GPS can pinpoint Hell.

Setting her phone back down and plugging it in, she curled up into a ball under the thin blankets, grabbing one of the extra pillows and hugging it close to her chest. 

“It’s okay, it’s alright…” She sang quietly to herself, hoping it would comfort herself as much as it seemed to comfort Lucifer. “To play the fool has always been my plight…” 

Lips curling back, she squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

“In this tiny circus show…”

She inhaled shakily. 

“I’m the nameless Pierrot.” 

…

If it wasn’t for Charlie knocking on her door the next morning for breakfast, Eleanora would have slept all day. 

She grimaced and sat up, yawning loudly with a tired, “I’m awake!” 

“Oh, yay!” She heard the blonde exclaim from the other side of the door. “Vaggie’s heating up some of the leftovers from last night, so feel free to come down and join us once you’re ready! We’re having ham for breakfast! Hehe.” 

There was the sound of footsteps, and then Charlie was gone. 

Eleanora fell back down onto her back, sinking into the rickety mattress, and sighed. She shot an arm out to fondle the desk for her phone, bringing it over to stare at the screen. She had multiple texts from her second eldest sister asking how she’s doing, if she’s okay, and even telling her about her day. Her oldest sister was asking where she was at and if she could please respond already. Her brother… 

Gods, his depression had already been so bad before, but now-

He wasn’t even asking her questions. His messages were just very short, “Hey” and “You there?” and “Hey” over and over again. 

Leaning her head back, Eleanora closed her eyes and swallowed back the lump that caught in her throat, resting her phone against her chest. She wasn’t a Sinner, but it honestly felt like she was being punished for something she had no control over. It wasn’t as if she wanted to be summoned into Hell. 

Feeling her phone vibrate again, Eleanora bit down hard on her bottom lip, her heart feeling like it was being torn apart. She had half a mind to just ignore the messages. 

They would stop after breakfast, then pick up again after lunch all the way until dinner. Then it would be radio silence until the next day. 

But… her phone was still vibrating…and in a way that wasn’t the usual string of texts.

It was almost like she was getting a phone call. Something that shouldn’t be happening, seeing as she can’t receive the calls despite being able to read the texts. She’s gotten so many missed calls because of it, all of them being sent immediately straight to voicemail without her phone ever vibrating. She shouldn’t be getting a call. 

Greatly confused, she forced herself to lift it up and look at the screen- only to blink, startled when she saw it was Lucifer who was calling her. 

That checks out, she supposed. 

She really needed to set a ringtone for him. 

Voice a bit raspy from sleep, she answered the call and went, “Hello…?” 

“O-Oh! You picked up! Haha!” 

“Yeah… uh, good… morning?” This was weird. 

“Good morning~!” The devil king sang, sounding quite chipper. Eleanora was not a morning person, but she wasn’t going to be upset at hearing his singing voice first thing after waking up. It oddly brightened her mood a bit.  “So, have you eaten yet? A human in Hell needs their nutrients~! Oh, what about Charlie? Has she eaten?” 

“Uh… we were about to. She’s with Vaggie getting it ready.” Eleanora squinted and sat up, fixing her tank top. “I… just woke up.” 

“Oh! Wow. Um. So I called you right on time then?” 

She made a face. “Kind of…?” 

“Fantastic! Well, I’ll… leave you to breakfast! Call me once you’re free, okay? I, uh, wanna talk to you about our deal.” 

“O-Okay…” Frick, she almost forgot about that. “Will do.” 

“Great! Make sure to finish whatever Maggie makes you! And make sure Char-Char eats her fill! My baby girl needs to stay healthy.” 

“…Have you eaten?” 

“Huh?” 

Eleanora isn’t sure what possessed her to ask that question, but she found herself pulling her knees up to her chest, hugging them close as she spoke to Lucifer over the phone. “M-Make sure you eat, too, okay?”

When all she received was silence, she felt her heart twist a little, but she soon relaxed when she heard him respond, “Y-Yeah… I’ll… do that.” 

“You can’t run Hell on an empty stomach.” Eleanora tried to joke. 

“Ha! Haha!” Oof. Forced laughter. “Touché! Well, uh, I will, um, let you go. Until later. Don’t forget to call me back!” 

“Aye-aye, Your Majesty.” 

She waited until he hung up, then stared at her phone blankly, wondering what possessed the devil king to call her so early in the morning, before deciding not to think about it and instead headed to her bathroom to wash her face, brush her teeth, and get ready for the day. 

Seriously, what the hell was that? Normally he waited until at least noon to start spamming her with calls to ask about his daughter. 

Well… it’s fine, she supposed. 

A little weird, but fine. 

What would be a good ringtone for him? Ducktales? Nah, too obvious. Hrm…

Once Eleanora was dressed, she went downstairs to the dining hall where she awkwardly greeted Charlie and Vaggie, who were setting the table and getting ready to eat. 

Charlie immediately began talking about her plans for the day once they sat down and started eating, informing the human about how she and Vaggie were going to go into town looking for recruits. She asked Eleanora if she could stay in the hotel where it’s safe, telling her Razzle and Dazzle- two little flying dragons with the doofiest and cutest faces she’s ever seen- would protect her until they got back. 

Eleanora nodded, agreeing easily, not exactly keen on heading out into dangerous territory. She was also quite fond of Razzle and Dazzle, always having had a special interest in dragons and enjoying lizards in general due to her oldest sister’s own special obsession. 

Dragons were the best, and~ Razzle and Dazzle were itty bitty dragons. How could she not love them? 

“I’ll show you the book before we leave!” Charlie promised. “It’s something my mom left behind for me, but it pretty much tells the story of how she and my dad ended up in Hell, and why all the Sinners arrive here.” 

Ah, the true story behind the forbidden fruit. A grin crossed the brunette’s face. “I do like apples.” 

“Huh?” 

Eleanora blinked, realizing she said that aloud. She flashed Charlie a small grin. “Sorry. I, uh, was thinking about Adam and Eve. The apple? I like apples. Can’t blame her for eating it. They’re delicious. Apples are actually my favorite fruit. Grapes are a close second, though. Oh! And watermelon- but I’m picky about the texture.”  

Charlie just stared at the brunette then, something strange flashing in her eyes, before her face lit up. “My dad loves apples, too! Or, he did when I was little. I think he still does? He was obsessed with caramel apples for a time-“ 

Oh, gods, mistakes have been made. “I was just-“ 

“You two sure do have a lot in common!” She laughed. Charlie flashed Eleanora wink, sending her a finger gun. Vaggie hit her head against the table, groaning. Charlie was truly her father’s daughter. “No wonder you guys hit it off so well yesterday! Haha…!”

Eleanora took a deep breath to calm herself. “Charlie, sweetie, you remember what I told you about my relationship history?” 

The princess faltered, becoming increasingly disheartened. “You don’t… date?”

“Mmhm.” Eleanora stabbed a slice of ham with her fork, lifting it up to her lips with a sickeningly sweet smile. She tried not to remember how Lucifer piled food up on her dinner plate last night, the devil king having shown a surprising amount of concern for her wellbeing. “I don’t drink, I don’t do drugs, I don’t smoke, and I don’t do relationships.” 

“B-But that’s because you’re scared of being betrayed!” Charlie exclaimed, standing up and smacking her hands against the table. 

Eleanora jumped, startled by her behavior and the sudden callout, and Vaggie lifted her head in shock, having not expected her girlfriend to be so passionate about this particular subject. 

“You said it yourself; you’ve seen dozens of people be abused or cheated on, and your own siblings be betrayed and threatened by their past partners, so you don’t want any of that! You don’t want to be used and abandoned. But my dad would never do anything like that!” Charlie’s eyes welled up with tears, looking heartbroken as she spoke about the brunette’s reasoning for avoiding relationships. “I know he’s the King of Hell and that can maybe give off the wrong impression, but he would never hurt you! You can trust him!” 

“Do you seriously want me to be your step-mom?” Eleanora choked. 

Charlie opened her mouth to give a retort, but hesitated. “I… I just want you guys to be happy. If we can’t… find a way to get you back home, El, you’ll be stuck here.”

So… what? “That doesn’t mean I have to date your dad.”

Eleanora can not believe those words just came out of her mouth. She can’t even believe she’s having this conversation. 

“Besides,” The brunette made herself continue, about to take a bite of her ham, “I doubt I’m his type.” 

Charlie looked like she wanted to protest, but Vaggie grabbed her arm and caused her to look down at her. The silver-haired beauty shook her head slowly, giving Charlie some very sympathetic eyes. They both turned to look as Eleanora attempted to calmly finish her breakfast, avoiding eye contact with both girls as she munched on her ham. 

“If I’m stuck in Hell forever, then I’m stuck in Hell forever.” The human rationalized as she set her fork down, furrowing her brows and staring with narrowed eyes at her empty plate. She tried not to think about the hole forming in her chest as she spoke. “I don’t see why I have to enter a relationship just because of it. I’ve been happily single, by choice, until now.” 

Besides, he’s… Lucifer Morningstar. 

She’s lucky enough he’s even considering her as a friend, although the only reason he’s doing so is because of his daughter. Without Charlie, Lucifer wouldn’t even glance in Eleanora’s direction. 

Why am I even thinking about this? Why is she even upset about it? I need to go home. 

“Charlie, I…” Eleanora faltered and took a deep breath, struggling to find the words. When she looked up, her expression was pained, and Charlie met her gaze with sad eyes. “I… appreciate… what you’re doing for me. What you’re… trying to do. But it’s not gonna happen. It’s not gonna work. I have no interest in dating-“

Maybe only a smidgen of curiosity. 

“-and your dad has no interest in me. He only talks to me to ask about you,” Although the phone call this morning was really weird since it didn’t feel as Charlie-focused as usual, “and- okay, sure. Maybe I do… find him… pretty, but attraction doesn’t equal affection and I sincerely, sincerely, doubt he’s attracted to me. So.” 

She held her hands up in a sassy dismissive shrug. 

“Yeah.” 

Charlie just gaped at Eleanora, before slumping forward and smacking a hand to her face, dragging her fingers slowly downwards. She looked disturbed. “Bringing this up feels like a mistake. I never wanna hear anyone describe or talk about my dad being attractive ever again. I regret everything.”

Vaggie snorted, patting her on the back, while Eleanora barked an awkward laugh. “So stop bringing it up!” 

“I-I’m sorry, I just-!” The blonde held her hands out in front of her, before brushing her bangs back, frustrated and flustered and concerned. “I want you to be happy, and I want my dad to be happy, and you two were really hitting it off last night at dinner so I thought- maybe- you two could find… happiness… together?” 

Charlie shook her head, propping her elbows up on the table with a groan. 

“I… I’ll admit, I’m not… really over my parents divorce yet, but I want them to be happy! I really do! And while I’d love for them to get back together, I… I know that’s not gonna happen! So… if it’s possible, I’d like for them to find happiness… even if it’s separately. If being with you could make Dad happy and make you happy, then…” 

She peered up at Eleanora, giving her the saddest puppy eyes in existence. 

“I really wanted to encourage you guys to go for it! I mean, I know Hell isn’t your home, but… if push comes to shove and we can’t get you back, I… want to help you find a home. If that home just happened to be with my dad, then, well…” Charlie shrugged, giving the brunette a bashful smile. “I’d be okay with that.” 

Charlie was… so insanely sweet and caring, it was hard to believe she was technically the anti-Christ. 

Holy fuck. 

“I… I appreciate that, but…” Eleanora breathed in a little shakily and rested a hand against the lower half of her face, leaning back into her chair as she tried to process this. 

Charlie must have been up all night thinking about this despite how much Eleanora tried to deny the claims yesterday. To think she came to such a decision so quickly- 

Her emotional maturity was truly something else. “There’s really nothing going on between me and your dad.” 

The princess pouted. “Okay… fine. I’ll give up. But just so you know, if you guys ever do start catching the feels…” 

Charlie waggled her fingers at her and flashed her a big toothy grin, resting a hand against her chest. Her eyes crinkled affectionately, her expression soft. 

“You have my blessing.” 

A conversation has never felt so uncomfortable and yet so wholesome. “…Thank you?” 

Charlie giggled. “You're welcome! Oooh~ how about we get to reading now!? Vaggie and I have a big day of wandering town, so we should go ahead and get this out of the way! Come on, come on, let’s clean all this up!”

Everyone having finished eating, the three women got to work clearing the table. Eleanora did the dishes while Charlie wiped down the table, and Vaggie dried everything Eleanora washed. It was a fairly efficient way of doing things, although Vaggie scolded Eleanora lightly for splashing her with water when she was trying to rinse off a spoon. 

The human apologized profusely for it, but the woman just took it in stride and laughed, nudging her with her elbow. “Relax~ I’m not mad. Just be more careful, okay? What if you sprayed Charlie?” 

Eleanora immediately looked horrified at the thought, which only made Vaggie laugh harder.

“We won’t kick you out, promise! Her suit’s just a nightmare to clean.” 

Ah. That makes sense. 

“Awww, are you guys bonding!?” Charlie popped out from behind them, causing the two women to yelp and shout in surprise and mild fright, and they turned to see the princess cooing at them. “We’re making friends! Oooh, I just knew today was gonna be great!” 

Eleanora yelped when Charlie tugged her and Vaggie into an abrupt group hug. Being the shortest one there, the human felt a little like she was suffocating. 

“Just you wait and see, El! Even if we can’t get you back to your old home, I’ll show you Hell can be the perfect place to make a new one!” 

Wow. “Sounds like you’ve, uh, really given up on me going back, huh?” 

“What? Oh, no!” Charlie let go of her and Vaggie immediately, stepping back and holding her hands up in a panic. “No, no, no! That’s not what I meant! I just- I was just trying to say, it’s good to keep an open mind! We never know what’s going to happen, after all!” 

Eleanora hummed, not giving it much thought before shrugging. “Yeah, fair enough.” 

That said, she can feel her phone vibrating like crazy inside her pocket as her siblings continued to send her one-way messages. It was driving her insane trying not to look at them, and even more so knowing she won’t be able to respond. They should have stopped by now, but they seemed especially unsettled and frantic today. 

So, to distract herself, she plastered on a smile and followed Charlie and Vaggie into the lounge, where they plopped down on a worn sofa. Holding her hands out, a red book with golden accents appeared in a puff of smoke onto Charlie’s lap, and the princess held it up with a big grin. 

“Okay, here we go!” She exclaimed, opening it up to the front page. Charlie looked at Eleanora with a big grin. “Are you ready?” 

“To learn the Story of Hell?” She asked, raising her brows as she leaned against the armrest, propping her chin up, quoting the title of the book. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” 

Charlie squealed, to Vaggie’s amusement, and looked down at the pages. “Okay, okay! Here goes.”

She took a deep breath, relaxing as her girlfriend casually leaned against her side, Vaggie holding her arm as she snuggled up with her, before starting to read, 

“Once upon a time, there was a glowing city protected by golden gates known as Heaven. It was ruled by beings of pure light- beings known as Angels, who worshiped good and shielded all from evil.” Charlie read with a surprisingly strong and clear voice, adding emotion only when necessary. “Lucifer… was one of these angels.” 

Eleanora nodded along slowly, listening intently to the tale that was being told. “Okay, that’s… pretty close to what I know.” 

Charlie just flashed her a sad smile and continued, “He was a dreamer- one with fantastical ideas for all of creation. But… he was seen as a troublemaker by the elders of Heaven, for they felt his way of thinking was dangerous to the order of their world, and so he could only watch as the angels began to expand the universe in their ways…” 

The human sat up straighter, moving to try and get a look at the pages in the book, noticing it had artwork. There was a heartbreaking image of a silhouette being scolded and ignored, abandoned, by disturbing creatures with multiple eyes. 

Lucifer…

When Charlie flipped the page, Eleanora saw two tall figures- a man and a woman- drawn standing in a garden. “From the dust of the Earth, they created Adam and Lilith- equals as the first of mankind. But despite this… Adam demanded control, and Lilith refused to submit to his will. She fled the garden of Eden.” 

“Now this is what I didn’t know.” Eleanora murmured, gazing at the artwork closely. “I thought Lilith was some kind of angel turned demon, but she was the first human woman… even before Eve?” 

“Earth’s gotten things a little confused.” Charlie confessed. She flipped the page. “Drawn in by Lilith’s fierce independence, Lucifer found her… and the two rebellious dreamers fell deeply in love.” 

Page by page, the princess continued to read aloud, and Eleanora found herself fascinated with the illustrations. There was something so grim about them, even in the pages that spoke of beauty and light. 

Most fascinating was perhaps the way the apple tree was drawn, and how the leaves were dyed red and how you could see the roots that dug into the ground. Almost like it was supposed to represent the roots of evil. 

From this point on, the story followed what Eleanora was pretty much taught by her parents and the churches she went to when she was young; Lucifer wished to share the magic of free will with humanity, so he offered the fruit of knowledge, an apple, to Adam’s new bride, Eve, who gladly accepted it. But, unlike in the old biblical stories, Lilith was there beside Lucifer as they fed Eve the forbidden fruit. 

And… according to the story book, that gift of knowledge came with a curse. 

“With this single act of disobedience, evil finally found its way into Earth.” Charlie told her, expression and voice both solemn as she read. “A new realm of darkness and sin was formed, and the order Heaven had worked to maintain was shattered. As punishment for their reckless act, Heaven cast Lucifer and his love into the dark pit he had created, never allowing him to see the good that came from humanity, only the cruel… and the wicked.”

The princess became sad, running her fingers across the image of her parents falling into the abyss of evil, only to turn the page once again and keep reading. 

“Ashamed, Lucifer lost his will to dream. But Lilith thrived, empowering demon-kind with her voice and her songs- and as the numbers of Hell grew, so did its power.” Eleanora made a face, wondering if Lilith was the reason everyone in Hell liked to sing. “Threatened by this, Heaven made a truly heartless decision.”

Wait, what?

“Every year, they would send down an army, an extermination, to ensure Hell and its Sinners could never rise against them.” Taking a deep breath, Charlie closed the book and turned to face Eleanora with a bittersweet smile. “That’s… the story of how my parents met and how Hell was created… and why I want to open this hotel and help Sinners redeem themselves so they can get into Heaven. What do you think?”

“Uh…” The brunette blinked. “I’m sorry, I’m still processing that last part. Heaven commits yearly genocide!?” 

Charlie cringed and Vaggie’s face went dark, turning away and not looking at either of them. Resting a hand on her girlfriend’s arm, book sitting safely on her lap, Charlie’s smile became a little more strained. “I… try not to call it that, but… yeah. Basically. The next extermination is gonna happen pretty soon. We have around two weeks left.” 

“WWWWWhat!?” 

There was so much Eleanor felt she needed to ask. 

How could Heaven be Heavenly when it’s committing one of the worst crimes in existence? Will Eleanora even be safe during the next extermination? What will happen if an Angel sees her? Will they try to drag her into Heaven? How many people do they normally kill at once? 

But… she couldn’t quite get the words out. “Uh, o-okay. Um. Yikes.” 

“Yeahhhh.” Charlie scrunched up her nose. “It’s pretty bad. But hey! The hotel will put a stop to all of that! Vaggie and I just… need to go out and recruit some people first.” 

Eleanora flashed her a weak smile. “Good luck?”

Charlie brightened. “Thanks! Well, Vaggie and I should get going now… so… see you when we get back!” She stood up and set the book on the sofa where she had been previously sitting. She cupped her hands over her mouth. “Razzle, Dazzle!” 

At her call, the two little dragons flew over from wherever they were upstairs. Charlie flashed them a beaming smile as she rested her hands on her hips.

“Look after El for me, okay? I’m counting on you!” 

Neither said anything, not a single thought behind those big eyes of theirs, their tongues sticking out like they were puppies, but Charlie took that as their response and stepped forward, giving them some scritches. 

“That’s my wittle bodyguards~ you do such a good job, yes, you do! Protect the human for me, okay? Thank you~!” She gave them each a kiss on the head before turning to her girlfriend, who was sliding off the sofa and making her way over to the hotel’s front door. “Wait for me, Vaggie! Hehe. I just know we’ll find someone today!” 

She took off running, waving at Eleanora as she got ready to leave.

“Bye, El~! We’ll be back!” 

And with that… Eleanora was left alone in the hotel- accompanied by only the two dragons who had stopped flying to plop themselves beside her on the sofa, and… the demon cat, Keekee, who was surely lounging about somewhere. 

Leaning sideways, Eleanora slumped across the armrest, her phone vibrating like crazy again. 

“I guess… I should call Lucifer now?” Charlie and Vaggie left, and the constant vibrating of her phone reminded her of her conversation with the devil king from this morning. “An extermination… holy shit… I mean, I guess the Bible did have some pretty fucked up stuff, but… Heaven committing genocide?” 

She looked at Razzle and Dazzle. 

“Can ya’ll believe this?” 

Heaven was crueler than Eleanora ever imagined. 

Not only did they completely crush a man who just wanted to share the wonders of the world with humanity, but now they’re committing mass murder. She wondered if this played a huge part in Lucifer’s depression- alongside the very painful and obvious fact that Lilith and Lucifer apparently fell down together, were punished together, and had likely been together for thousands upon thousands of years before getting a divorce. 

It’s no wonder why the man still wore his wedding ring; he must have been truly, wholly, deeply in love. 

If the person Eleanora fell into Hell with and had suffered eternity together with had decided to up and leave her one day, after having already lost everything once before, she’d fall apart too. 

Holy fuck, that’s messed up. 

Charlie has been taking her parents divorce remarkably well all things considered. Princess of Hell? Lucifer may as well already hand her the crown because she is a queen. 

Especially since she’s actively wishing her parents can find happiness even if it’s no longer beside each other. She’s such a good kid. Such a good kid, in fact, that she doesn’t realize how impossible it would be for Eleanora to even try and compete with a woman like Lilith if she ever decided, against her better judgment, to try and pursue Lucifer.

How is she even supposed to call him after the conversations she had with Charlie? There’s no way she’ll be able to look him in the eye. 

Oh, gods, she’s in trouble. 

Unfortunately, she can’t just not call him… since he’s the King of Hell. That’s just asking for something bad to happen. 

With a flustered groan, Eleanora dragged a hand down her face before picking up her phone and dialing the devil king’s number, anxiously petting Razzle- who had climbed halfway onto her lap- as she did so. She was startled at how quickly Lucifer picked up. 

“You called back!” 

“W-Well, yeah…” He told her to. “I said I would.”

“Ha! Fair enough. Uh, are you free right now?” 

“Your daughters left to find some hotel recruits, so… yeah.” 

“Ah.” Odd response. “Well, since you aren’t busy…” 

She heard something like the snap of his fingers, and jumped up onto the sofa’s armrest- apologizing to Razzle for startling him- when she saw a flicker of gold appear, like a tear in the fabric of reality, before it expanded into a circular… portal? “What in the holy macaroni mackerels is that!?” 

“…What?”

“Don’t ask. What the frick is that thing!?” 

“It’s a portal. Walk through it.” 

“…Why?” 

“So we can talk in person?” 

Eleanora slowly slid off the sofa, patting the floating Razzle on the head before hesitantly approaching the portal. She couldn’t see anything through the golden light. “Do you have any idea how suspicious this is? Why should I trust this?” 

“Well~ if you want that bank account I promised… and if you want to learn how to call on me if you ever end up in danger…” 

Ah, damn it. “You… ugh, fiiine.” 

He’s lucky he’s cute. 

“But! Just so you know!” She said into the phone, glaring at it. “If this is a trap and I die, I’mma come back and haunt you! Angel or Demon, it don’t matter. I will come find you.” 

She heard Lucifer snort. “Good luck with that, sweetheart.” 

Eleanora balked at that, wondering if she misheard him, before she shook her head and dismissed it, her face burning hot. He was clearly just messing with her. Taking a deep breath, she made a face and stepped forward, reaching out with a hand to tentatively touch the light. 

She blinked in surprise. “It’s… warm.” 

If Lucifer was still on the line, he didn’t say anything. 

Eleanora glanced over her shoulder at Razzle and Dazzle, eyes widening when she saw Keekee peer at her from over on the main stairwell. She hasn’t seen much of the demon cat- to her chagrin, as she loved cats- so it was interesting she was coming out now of all times, but Eleanora chose not to linger on it, instead turning back around and bravely stepping into the light, squeezing her eyes shut. 

All she felt was warmth, a gentle heat that brushed over her skin. It almost felt like she was walking through water, yet rather than being met with resistance it seemed to be guiding her forward. 

When the warmth faded and she opened her eyes, she blinked and looked around with wide eyes, realizing she was standing in Lucifer’s office. Eleanora spun on her heel, gasping in amazement, before pausing when saw Lucifer sitting at a table, a teacup held to his smirking lips, one leg crossed over the other. His phone was held close to his face. “Uh… hi.” 

“Still going to haunt me?” He asked, voice right in her ear due to the call still going on.

Eleanora’s face burned. 

To make matters worse, Lucifer had chosen to not wear his jacket today, instead showing off his white-and-red striped vest and pure white button-up. He even had his sleeves rolled up, showcasing his forearms as he had apparently decided to wear short gloves today. He also had on the cutest hat? 

It’s the same one he wore when they first met, but she didn’t pay it much attention before in her panic. 

It was a white top hat with a red sash and red inside, but it had a golden snake coiled around it, an apple that was very deceiving but clearly fake tucked inside it on the left. There were three little golden spikes resembling a crown behind them. It was adorable. 

And it took everything Eleanora had to end the call, tuck her phone away, and shove her hands into her pockets, turning to the side with a flustered pout. “Maybe.” 

Lucifer laughed- the sound so genuine it left her stunned. Whipping her head around, the human gazed at him with big eyes, and watched as he set his teacup down on its little saucer. He tucked his phone into his pants pocket.

When Lucifer smiled at her, the rosy dots on his cheeks were a bit brighter and bigger than usual, and Eleanora stood in place, frozen, as he laced his hands together under his chin and leaned forward, elbows propped up on the table. 

The devil king waved a hand at the empty seat across from him, inviting her over. “Please, take a seat. The sooner we get this whole deal~ business figured out, the better.” 

Eleanora did as told. 

She felt incredibly awkward as she sat down, attempting to push all memories she had of her conversations with Charlie into the back of her mind, but found it rather difficult to do so with the way Lucifer was grinning at her, his sharp teeth bared wide as could be. 

Once she was comfortably seated, Lucifer reached out to pick up the elephant teapot, pouring her a cup of tea. She murmured a small thank you, earning another smile from him, only to blink in surprise when he waved his hand and several small sandwiches and sweets appeared on a fancy three-tiered tray. 

“So!” He cleared his throat, leaning back into his seat as he picked up a tiny caramel coated peanut. He had some dark circles under his eyes, like maybe he didn’t sleep well, but otherwise appeared to be in a good mood. “You… remember the terms of our deal, right? You~ help me with Charlie, and I~ make your life in Hell go as smoothly as I can.” 

“R-Right. Yeah.” She gave Lucifer a small nod, hesitating before grabbing a tiny sandwich, noticing with glee that it was just cheese and meat. “S-Something about being your assistant?” 

“Exacto-mundo!” He exclaimed, tossing the peanut in his mouth and snapping his fingers at her. Chewing quickly, he swallowed and stood up, palms smacking the tabletop. “It’s not your typical assistant job, but I’ll pay you well for it. You just answer my calls and come over when I ask you to, and answer any and all questions I have about Charlie. You’re gonna be spending a lot of time with my little girl, so… you can tell me whatever it is you find out- likes, dislikes, enemies…” 

Lucifer said that last part with a bit of a demonic growl, his red irises turning into slits, leaning forward as his eyes glowed, and Eleanora tensed up, feeling a lump catch in her throat as goosebumps ran along her arms. Her mouth suddenly felt very dry. 

That should not have been as attractive as it was. 

Just gonna… casually take a sip of my tea. 

She lifted her cup up to her lips, nodding along to Lucifer’s words. He beamed at her. “Little things like that! Okie dokie?” 

“S-Sounds good.” 

Lucifer’s eyes softened, something warm flashing in his scarlet gaze, and Eleanora awkwardly shoved the little bite-sized sandwich she was holding into her mouth. The less she talked the better, because she knows once she starts she probably won’t be able to shut up. “Hm…” 

There was something very snake-like about the smile he sent her, none of his teeth showing yet still somehow managing to be intimidating. It almost looked like he was trying to see through her. 

“Y’know, Ellie… you’re being oddly quiet today.” 

“I-I just…” She gave a stiff shrug. “I just don’t have anything to add. I dunno how this “deal” stuff works. I barely understand the pact Charlie made with me.” 

Lucifer scrunched up his face, sticking his lips out in a sour pout as he sat back down. “Riiiight… that was a thing, wasn’t it? The pact. The one you made with my daughter. Ugh.” 

He leaned into his seat, uncrossing his legs and stretching them out to the side as he tilted his chair backwards dramatically, hands just barely onto the table

“I can’t believe you made a pact with my little Charlie! I can’t- I've been trying to wrap my head around it, but, wow, I just… can’t believe it! Do you know how hard it is for humans and demons to make pacts normally?” His chair thumped against the ground as he leaned forward again, one arm draped against the table and his other hand hanging in the air as he gave her a look. “A pact is formed maybe once every century, and that’s following all the exhausting ritual rules and doing the correct chant for the proper demon, lighting the right number of candles, setting up the proper music, and blah blah blah- it’s so much work and so rare!” 

Lucifer huffed, practically blowing a raspberry as he sunk even further against the table, before abruptly shooting up and tossing his arms out to gesture to her.

“But then you just waltz on in here, unaware and unintentionally, and then bam! Bada bing bada boom! You made a deal with the second most powerful being in all of Hell! My daughter! The King of Hell’s daughter! Ellie, sweetheart,” Lucifer shook his head, utterly baffled by this turn of events, nearly knocking his hat off as he ran his fingers through his bangs, “I mean- make it make sense!” 

“To be fair...” Eleanora cringed, flashing him a weak smile, earning a wide-eyed blink in response, the fallen archangel staring at her in disbelief. “I didn’t know she was the princess until you showed up…?”

He scoffed. 

“And! Also!” She felt the need to defend herself. “I didn’t have any say in the pact until after it was already made; Charlie just did it on her own to save me! I was kind of dying from an asthma attack after we made it back to the hotel? It was sort of a do-or-die situation and she chose to do instead of letting me die, so… y’know… rather than get mad at me I’d say be proud of your daughter for caring enough to save a total stranger?” 

Lucifer was silent for a long moment, squinting at her, before slumping back with a dramatic sigh. “I suppose that’s fair… but if it had been anyone other than you, my baby girl could have ended up in who knows what kind of trouble!” 

He picked up another caramel coated peanut, eying it for a moment before tossing it in his mouth and chewing. 

After a minute, swallowing the treat, he spoke again, gazing at her with narrowed eyes. There was a bit of an edge to his voice, a warning of sorts. “If a pact is made without careful consideration, one party may have an advantage over the other. If you weren’t so… you, then my baby girl could have ended up in serious trouble!”

“…If it’s any consolation,” Eleanora began, thinking about it as she lifted her teacup for another drink, trying to appease the King of Hell all the while keeping herself safe, “I’m pretty sure Charlie has the advantage here. She made the pact, and the terms we agreed on afterwards was that she keep me healthy and safe as long as I help her out.” 

The brunette looked down at her tea, worrying her bottom lip. 

“If I don’t… help her out, chances are I’ll just… keel over.” 

Eleanora has no choice but to do what Charlie asks of her. She doesn’t think Charlie will take advantage of her- she was far too nice for that- but the fact remains that if she wanted to, she very well could. There’s no medicine for her here down in Hell. If Eleanora wants to live, she has to rely on the grace and mercy of the Hellborn princess who saved her. 

“Hm.” Lucifer considered that. “I can accept that.” 

The brunette would’ve spat out her tea if she hadn’t expected that response. She sent him a dirty look, then proceeded to down the rest of her tea and set her cup down, scowling. “As you should.” 

“So~!” Feeling a lot better now about the whole pact situation, Lucifer sat up and grinned at Eleanora as he poured her another cup, his free hand curled against his cheek. “Ellie… what say you and I write up a proper contract?” 

This feels like such a mistake. “What… kind of contract?” 

“Just one stating the terms of our deal. Nothing too fancy or complicated. Easier than writing a letter, definitely. Hehe- y’know what I mean?” 

Uh-huh. “Okay…” 

“Such skepticism!” He gasped, setting the teapot down, lifting his hand to rest over his lips. Lucifer snickered and giggled, before shifting his fingers so only his index finger was over his mouth, his lips spreading in a large toothy smirk. His eyes narrowed in a way that could have been easily mistaken as sinister if not for the mischief in his gaze. “I’m a devil of my word! I promise you, Ellie, I won’t do anything that isn’t directly stated in the contract.” 

Eleanora leaned back and scrunched her nose up at him suspiciously, brown eyes staring into glimmering red, her hands gripping the table’s edge, before she finally gave in and let out a tired sigh. “Yeah, okay, fine. But I ain’t signin’ nothing unless I can read through it all first.”

Lucifer let out a whistle. “Well, look at you! You’ve clearly heard the stories about making deals, haven’t you? Huh? Huuuuh? Heh.” 

His lips curled in a sly 

“To think- you’re smart and pretty.” 

Eleanora’s eyes went wide at that, knowing for certain she didn’t mishear him this time, but Lucifer didn’t say anything else on the subject as he snapped his fingers, a golden glowing piece of parchment paper appearing in front of them alongside a red-feathered quill. 

The short king quickly got to work writing. 

“For as long as you’re in Hell, you’ll answer when called and come when asked.” He stated, not looking at her as he focused on the paper, his tired eyes seeming to dull over as he worked. It was as if he aged ten years in a single minute. His voice even lost some of its pep. “You’ll help me look after my daughter, Charlie, and I’ll guarantee your safety and make your life here as comfortable as I can.” 

Something about his wording was… weird, but maybe that’s just Charlie’s voice in the back of her head trying to make her overthink things. 

“Should you ever end up in danger, call my name.” 

“Lucifer?” 

The immortal man startled, and he looked up with big eyes to stare at Eleanora, seeing her gaze at him with those doe-like brown eyes of hers. His mouth opened like he was about to speak, but no words left his lips, and he watched as she furrowed her brows and tilted her head at him, nervously reaching out to grip the striped teacup he had prepared for her. 

“D-Do I just… say it like that? Or… does it actually have to be, like, scared? Like… Lucifer! Or… Lucifeeeer!” She ducked her head down, acting like she was cowering from a random attack, and glanced up at him with flushed cheeks. “H-How do you know the difference? What if I’m talking about you to Charlie and your name slips out?” 

“…Trust me.” Recovering from whatever stupor he ended up in, he flashed her a confident grin, sitting tall in his seat. He grabbed the rim of his hat, tilting his head at her. “I’ll know.”  

Eleanora didn’t look like she believed him, but she had no choice but to take his word on it. “Okay. Um… is there anything else we need to write down?” 

The King of Hell looked back down at the parchment. “As part of our deal, I’ll send money to your Hellish bank account once a month. I’ve already gone ahead and got it set up for you.” He propped a fist against his cheek, pouting as he huffed. “What else…?” 

Oddly enough, this deal almost feels like it’s in her favor. “Is there anything else you want?” 

Lucifer paused. He looked up at her with confused, tired eyes. “What… I want?” 

“Yeah.” Eleanora blinked at him. “Is there anything I can do for you that isn’t related to Charlie?” 

“Like… what?” His face scrunched up. 

The brunette woman stared at him, then lowered her gaze to her teacup. Gripping the handle gingerly, she turned it and watched the liquid ripple. Her reflection stared back at her. 

Eleanora looked up at Lucifer. “You said we were friends, right? So… if you ever need a friend to help you out for something, like… needing someone to ramble nonsense to or to vent about your day… I can be there. I might not be able to offer advice, but I can listen.” 

“Uh-huh…” He squinted an eye at her, raising a brow. “And if I said I needed a hug, you’d just… give me one?” 

Leaning back into her seat, Eleanora set down her teacup and casually lifted her arms, holding them out as if to invite him into an embrace. Lucifer’s eyes widened, recognizing the pose as she had done the same thing back when she first sang to him. 

Though her cheeks were flushed, her expression and voice were blunt. “If you need a hug, you need a hug.” 

Was she a little uncomfortable sitting there, telling the King of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar, she would hug him if he asked? Yes. Did she mean what she said about wanting to help him? Also yes. 

It felt like she was getting way more out of this deal than he was, and- while that was probably a good thing since she was literally dealing with the devil himself- it felt… wrong. 

Unfair. 

Eleanora didn’t like it. “Also! Alternatively! If you just want a gossip bestie, well…” 

Lowering her arms, she grabbed her teacup once more and lifted it up, flashing him as pretty a wink as she could manage- which probably wasn’t all that pretty and just more plain cringey- and crossed one leg over the other.

“I always enjoy hearing some piping hot tea.” 

She took a sip. 

To her delight, Lucifer looked like he was fighting a laugh, biting his bottom lip as he raised his right brow high on his forehead. “I’m not much for gossip.” 

“Well, shucks.” Eleanora pouted, clicking her tongue. “Here I was hoping to hear about whatever idiot likes to bug the big boss of Hell. Damn. Guess I’ll just listen to Vaggie complain about men.” 

At that, Lucifer actually snorted, smacking a hand over his face. Eleanora grinned. 

“What? It’s true.” 

He coughed into his fist, clearing his throat. “Y-Yes, well, most of the ones down here aren’t… good. They’re Sinners for a reason.” 

“Fair.” Eleanora held her cup with both hands, pretending to think. “Charlie says you’re a good one, though, so…” She pointed a finger gun at him, smirking. “Guess you passed the “menace” test, huh?” 

Lucifer stared blankly at her. 

“B-Because… you can’t spell “menace” without “men”? But you’re one of the good ones, so rather than being part of the “men” in “menace”, you’re a good “man”? No?” 

Understanding dawned on him. “Ah. I get it.” He made a face. “Where do you come up with this stuff?” 

She shrugged. “America. I told you- we’re practically regressing back to the nineteen hundreds. Besides…”

Eleanora pouted. 

“Vaggie thought it was funny.” 

“Oh, I’m sure she did.” 

Shaking his head with a chuckle, Lucifer wrote down the added terms to their contract. It didn’t take more than five minutes, the man letting out a small yawn as he did so and taking a large gulp of his tea. The quill dripping magical ink, he signed his name with a flourish, and once done he lifted and turned the contract around so the human could read it.

“Shazam~!” Lucifer exclaimed, watching as Eleanora leaned forward, eying his handwriting with raised brows. It was impressively elegant. “Anything else to add or are we good to go?” 

Eleanora tried to keep a neutral face, finding it rather alarming how much the first half read like a marriage deal. Maybe it'll be fine. She’s probably just overthinking it. “Um… n-no, I… I think it looks good.” 

“Fantastic! Now, all you have to do is sign it.” He set the paper down and held the quill out to her, which she tentatively accepted. She looked down at the bottom where she saw his name drawn out in big dramatic letters. “Yup- right there. Go on.”

He waved a hand at her.

“Don’t be afraid, Ellie.” 

She lifted her head to give him a look. “Telling me not to be afraid makes me wanna be afraid.” 

Lucifer just grinned. “Don’t be scared~ it’s just a deal with the devil!” 

Eleanora rolled her eyes and shook her head, hating that she found that amusing, and hesitated just briefly,  a thought coming to mind. “A-Actually, can I add one more thing?” 

He stuck out his lips, squinting an eye at her. “And~ what would that be…?” 

“Just a little something in case… I dunno, things go haywire? I turn evil for some reason?” Lucifer blinked. “If, for some reason, I end up hurting Charlie- intentionally or otherwise- the deal becomes… void, annnd~ you can come after me with a bloody vengeance?” 

His eyes went wide. 

Grinning as wide as could be, Lucifer leaned forward, his eyes sparkling. “I knew you were a good one! No wonder I liked you! Yeah, okay. We’ll add that in!” 

Eleanora wrote it down as neatly as she could in the corner, praying it was legible, before pointing the quill at the blond. “That said, just remember, I ain’t afraid to come back and haunt you if this contract screws me over.” 

He laughed. “Of course, of course.” 

Deciding they were both in firm agreement about the deal and that they had reached an understanding that Eleanora would very pettily follow Lucifer around as a ghost if the contract hurt her in some way, and that he could very well kill her if she hurt Charlie, Eleanora felt a little more secure in signing the contract. 

She wrote her name next to his, first and last name akin to chicken scratch, barely legible next to his beautiful handwriting. 

No sooner had she written the last letter and lifted the quill pen off the paper did Eleanora and Lucifer’s names shine brightly, glowing a bloody crimson, and the woman was watching the paper rise in the air with a look of awe before suddenly finding herself letting out a small cry of pain, yanking her left hand towards her chest upon feeling something burn along the length of her ring finger. 

Lucifer looked just as startled as she did, standing up with his palms on the table and leaning over to watch with big eyes as a black snake coiled around her finger, a ring of thorns drawing itself into the skin just above where the snake’s tail curled around her knuckle. 

“Uh…” Lucifer blinked, clearly having not expected the sudden tattoo. “What is that? Wait, no, fuck-“ 

Eleanora only grew more alarmed when he ran around the table and reached out to snatch her hand, holding it up so he could stare at the demonic ink. He looked both horrified and confused, and after observing it for a moment he turned to read the contract he wrote out, grabbing it out of the air with his other hand. Eyes widening, he released the contract and it puffed out of the material realm- most likely going into some storage area or an alternate dimension for safekeeping. 

“Well, uh… golly. Um.” Lucifer scratched his cheek, cringing a little. “That’s my fault. Phrasing, damn it, that always gets ya in the end, doesn't it? Haha… oooh, that’s embarrassing. And after all that stuff I said earlier, too…”

“What… What happened?” The human asked, deeply concerned by the way he was acting. She had a sinking feeling about what the tattoo meant. The snake clearly represented him, but the thorns most definitely symbolized something else. “What does it mean?”

“Uh…” Lucifer looked at her with big eyes, lips curling back as he started to cringe even harder. “Don’t… worry about it.”

“Luci-“ Eleanora was starting to panic. “Lucifer, what does it mean!?” 

“Ohhhh, nothing~!” He tried to play it off, laughing awkwardly as he waved his left hand at her. His right was still holding onto her newly tattooed one. “It’s just a, uh… physical representation of the contract. You know, kind of… bonding you to me- that sort of thing. Haha. Like… Like your pact with Charlie! Yeah!” 

He held up a finger, leaning in close, his eyes and smile wide as could be as his anxiety grew. 

“Th-That’s all this is! We aren’t- I mean, there’s no way I’ve got a ring tattooed on my hand, so, it’s fine! It’s fine!” 

Eleanora’s expression went blank, and her attention drifted to the hand he was holding up. Seeing her gaze focused on it, he quickly hid his hand behind back. She looked back at him. “Your Majesty…” 

“O-Oho, why, I think we’re way past honorifics now!” He joked, voice sounding quite weak as it cracked. “Wh-Why not just stick with my name? We’ll… be seeing lots of each other from now on, I’m sure!” 

Oh gods, say it isn’t so. 

“I mean, you used my name just fine earlier! Not to mention yesterday when you were singing to me all sweetly and-“ He cut himself off, cringing a third time, ducking his head, and clicked his tongue. “Brain, this is so not the time. Fuck! I can’t believe I did this. Why did I think a contract would be a good idea!? Stupid, stupid, stupid-“ 

“Hey!” Her voice snapped him out of his self-deprecating scolding, and he looked up with big eyes, inhaling sharply upon seeing her brown gaze bore fiercely into his red one, the woman leaning in quite close. “What. Does it. Mean?” 

“Well…” His voice cracked, and he looked away to the side, deeply uncomfortable. “I mean…

Lucifer gave up, letting out a defeated sigh. 

He brought his left hand back into view and up towards his lips, and rather than removing his old wedding ring and glove he settled for tearing the fabric on his ring finger off, revealing an identical snake on his hand. Though it was covered by his old ring, Eleanora had no doubt he had a thorny ring inked into his skin to match her own. “We’re… kind of… in a contract marriage now?” 

She blinked. 

Grabbing his hand, Eleanora remained utterly silent as she moved to hold their left hands beside one another, comparing the snakes. They were truly identical. 

One minute passed, then two. 

She let go of his hand. She stood up. 

Eleanora marched around Lucifer and the tea table for a third minute. And then… she came to a halt, before running at full speed and launching herself into a random pile of rubber ducks, screaming bloody murder, somehow not being killed by the vast array of magical toys. 

Lucifer made a face, mildly offended. “Gee, thanks.” 

“Shut up!” He frowned at that, turning to give her a look, a hand on his hip as he watched her sit up on her knees. Eleanora pointed at him. “That’s not what’s wrong here! I can’t-“

“Can’t what?” 

“I can’t be married!” 

Tears welled up in her eyes, and Lucifer was greatly alarmed when she- a human woman who had wound up in Hell, spent nearly a whole week getting accustomed to the strange animal meat and the horrid blood red sky, who had danced with the devil and made a pact with his daughter, and who had absolutely no qualms about comforting him or throwing a rubber duck at him in his own house- began crying. 

“I never dated anyone in my whole life! A-And now I’m just- married!? A-And- And-!” Eleanora was starting to hyperventilate, bringing her hands up to cup her face as she tried to calm down, several rubber ducks falling around her. “I-I can’t get back home! I won’t be able to get back home! Vaggie said- Vaggie said I can’t get back home if I…! If I…! Aghhhhh!” 

She hunched over, hands digging and tangling into her hair as her forehead touched the floor. 

At that moment, as if to torment her even more, her phone began vibrating again- so much so it fell out of her pocket and onto the ground. “What did I do that was so wrong!?” 

Lucifer said nothing, merely staring at her as a shadow fell over his face. He walked over silently, kneeling down to pick up the device, and his red eyes darkened even further when he saw the text messages being received. 

Desmond: “Hey, little one. Day six now…”

Clair: “Pls say something, anything. You’re not dead. I know you’re not dead. Call back!”

Maia: “Asshat coworker picked another fight again. If he tells me to give up on you one more time I’m gonna rip his fucking dick out I swear to gods. You wouldn’t just vanish like this. I KNOW you’re not dead. So just… respond when you’re ready, okay? I love you.” 

Maia: “I love you so much.” 

Maia: “I miss you.” 

Maia: “I can’t lose you, too.” 

Maia: “Please come back home.” 

Desmond: “Are you there?”

Lucifer set the phone back on the floor. It seems God was punishing her for being a live human in Hell, even though she had no desire to be in this dystopia. Or perhaps the punishment was for making a pact with Lucifer’s daughter? Honestly, it may just be a bit of both. 

Taking off his hat, Lucifer set it over the phone to try and muffle the sound of its vibrations before he reached over and rested a hand gently against Eleanora’s trembling back. 

She stiffened at the touch, only to hiccup and sob even harder when he pulled her into his lap, resting a hand on her head as she sobbed against his legs. 

His lips pulled into a heavy frown, his shoulders slumped and his expression so empty and hollow it only gave way to the immense pain in his eyes. “Father is… truly cruel, isn’t he? I mean… well, look. He tossed me out of Heaven just because I… had some silly ideas that… the elders didn’t like. I wanted to prove them wrong, but… everything went wrong and… now I’m trapped down here. And as for you…” 

Eleanora’s sobbing quieted a little, and she sniffled when she felt him cup her face and lift her head, making her look up at him. 

“You~ didn’t ask for this,” He softly sang, voice barely above a whisper, “but down here you fell, trapped by a spell you had no say in~! We’re alone in this mess, you and me… and no one can see the misery~ we’re lost in.” 

A gentle piano began to play in the background, the barest trace of a string instrument making itself known. 

“And sure… we made some mistakes, but does~ that make~ us the ones in the wrong~?” Slowly, Eleanora began to sit up, and Lucifer carefully helped her stand, holding her forearms to steady her, her hands gripping his own arms in her unsteadiness. “You didn’t ask~ for this~!” 

“You didn’t… intend for this…” She choked out, and somehow, strangely, something in Lucifer’s chest grew warm, soaring upon hearing her actually try to join in the song. 

“We didn’t wish~ for this~!” He sang, and he slid his hands until they were holding hers, tugging her into a light spin. “But here we are now, trapped for our whole lives long~!” 

Lucifer leaned forward, his eyes closing tightly shut as he rested his forehead against Eleanora’s, tears of his own threatening to fall.   

“We didn’t ask for thiiiis~! We didn’t wish for thiiis~! But Father up in Heaven said we’re the ones who’re wrong~!” He squeezed her hands, and after hearing her inhale sharply, knowing he was talking about God, the almighty being in charge of the universe, he felt her squeeze his hands back. Eleanora closed her own eyes when she heard Lucifer’s voice, quiet and so heartbroken, murmur,  “How could he be so wrong…?” 

“…What did I do that was so wrong?” 

“What did I do~ that was so wrong?” 

Eleanora’s lips curled back and she opened her eyes, only slightly surprised to find a pair of red ones staring back at her. “Why are we trapped here-“

“-when we did no wrong~?” Lucifer finished, singing a little louder now after receiving her encouragement. 

He nodded at the brunette, who followed after him as he led her into another dance. His expression twisted, growing frustrated as the song grew louder and more fierce, and with it… his voice. 

“We did no wrong! I didn’t intend for this~! You didn’t plan for this~!” Lucifer shot his left hand out and a golden wave of magic flew towards his hat, sending it flying towards him, which he caught and set on his head, before using his magic to make Eleanora’s continually vibrating phone rise in the air. “Others made their choices and they silenced our two voices, and now they make us suffer in this land! But we will not suffer at their hand.” 

The phone drifted over to them, and Lucifer grasped it in his palm, narrowing his eyes at the device. His yellow sclera flashed crimson and he crushed the phone in his grip. 

Eleanora was frozen, stunned and utterly horrified by what he just did, but Lucifer just turned towards her, a soft smile on his face. “You… will not suffer at their hand.” 

Dropping the shattered phone, he lifted Eleanora’s fingers to his lips.

“Contract or some other~ for you and for my daughter~ I will hold your hand. You will survive this land. I promise… on my pride as fallen angel, devil, and man…” When he looked at her again, she saw his irises were yellow. “I will lend you my hand. We aren’t~ in the wrong and I~ oh, I~ won’t allow them the last song…”

Lucifer’s lashes fluttered, and Eleanora inhaled sharply when his lips brushed the tattoo on her ring finger. 

“That… would truly be the wrong.” 

[youreallyshouldtalkmore]

A Boon to Boot

A.N: Same artistReader as in the series Once upon a Time when can be found on my Genshin Impact MasterList.  While you don’t need to read them to understand this, there is background info that’s expanded on in those one shots. 

P.S: I truly love the Sumeru fam! 

_____________________________

It was really just a coincidence that you ran into your fiancé having a boy's night, with Tighnari, Kaveh and Cyno at Puspa Cafe. You secretly wondered how they got Alhaitham to agree to this get together, but upon seeing you, they quickly pulled you to the table. 

“Y/N, can you please talk to this big lug?!” Kaveh started not two seconds after you sat next to Alhaitham. 

You smiled indulgently, “About what?” 

Kaveh looked around before leaning in to whisper urgently,  “I request permission to continue living at our house!” 

You had finally been added to the list of people who knew that Kaveh was living at Alhaitham’s house. 

Which the list tallied to those at the table. 

Alhaitham snorted,“What part of that is your house in the first place? Once Y/N and I are married, you will have to go!” 

Kaveh practically whined, “Y/N please, I am asking for mercy here!” 

You shrugged, “Well, Alhaitham has decided. Like he said, it is his house.” 

Kaveh batted his eyes in a sad attempt at puppy dogs. Alhaitham snorted in disgust, but Kaveh was undeterred, “But you will be his wife. Can’t you help me out?!” 

“How shameless can you be?” Cyno asked. 

Tighnari added with a sigh,“Yes, this has been the topic for most of the time we’ve been here!” 

“We haven’t even gotten a good round of TCG in because of this foolishness!” griped Cyno. 

Alhaitham spoked up, “And I never came here to play a card game to begin with, so I’m leaving!” 

Kaveh was fast loosing track of the conversation as he leaned in your direction with big eyes, “Y/N..!” 

“Look, can I be honest with you? Never mind, I’m gonna be honest with you anyway.” You waved away, “I admit, it’s kinda funny seeing the two of you fight like cats and dogs. I like to pull out some popcorn and just watch this show. I still don’t get why and how you managed to live together when it’s clear you can’t stand each other, but that’s not the issue here.” 

You continued, “In two months, Alhaitham and I will be married, and I’ll be moving into his house. That’s what we agreed on. How ever funny your fights are, there are only so because of moderation.” 

Kaveh wrinkled his nose, “What?” 

“Kaveh, if I had to live with the two of you fighting every single day, it will cease to be funny. Then it’ll become a headache I got to deal with. I try to live a stress-free life, monitoring grown men, ain’t on the agenda!” 

Kaveh slammed a flat palm on the table, “Then I won’t fight anymore!!” 

“HA!!” You purposely leaned in his direction, “HA!! Boy, please…don’t just dry lie!” You turned to Cyno and Tighnari who were snickering, “Did you boys hear this? He said he’ll magically stop fighting. Can you believe it!?” 

Tighnari leaned his head in his hand as he looked on in mirth as Kaveh, “Even you don’t believe that! I give it five minutes!” 

Cyon shook his head, “Why give them that much time? I give in three.” 

“Seconds….” 

Everyone looked at Alhaitham who clarified, “I’d give three seconds not minutes.” 

“You…” Kaveh stopped himself, eyes widening at his own folly. He almost fell into the trap.  

He could feel the judgmental stares from the table, making him clamped his mouth down in order to try not to say anything in this delicate moment. He needed you on his side! 

You stabbed a finger at him, “My point exactly! I’m sorry, but you have two months to make the necessary arrangements!” 

“Would you really toss me out into the streets, cold and hungry?” 

You were fast losing your patience, and it was beginning to show. You breathed loudly through your nose,  “Kaveh, I don’t know what to tell you, okay! I came from another world with nothing. No connections, no job, no money, no place to stay. Within a year, I had a job, a place, friends, connection and money!! Why is a grown man, who has lived here his entire life, finding this a difficult subject?” 

“Because he got in debt.” Alhaitham supplied. 

“Pipe down!!” Kaveh hissed looking around shifty eyed before stating, “Exactly!!” 

Alhaitham rolled his eyes,“That was not said for your benefit! 

“But that is a point! I got into debt! That is not my fault!!” 

By now, your right eye was beginning to twitch. Cyno and Tighnari exchanged glances as Kaveh got into another fight with Alhaitham. 

“YA!!!” 

Some of the other patrons turned their heads before going back to their business. Kaveh stopped talking at Alhaitham, his head whipping towards you.  

“Look, if Alhaitham agrees to let you stay, then I’ll keep my mouth shut….” 

Alhaitham interjected, “Not happening!” 

You continued without missing a beat, “If he doesn’t, you have two months. Two months for your behind to find someplace else. But you know what, I am generous….” 

Kaveh’s eyes lit up with hope. 

“You are kind indeed to be so given these circumstances.” Cyno injected as Tighnari added, “Anything you offer in his condition would be generous.” 

Kaveh pouted, “Condition? Ya’ll make me sound like a rabid dog!” 

You turned back to Kaveh, “I’m moving out of my apartment, but perhaps I can set you up with the manager and maybe you two can hash out a deal. I don’t know. But your broke behind better be trying your hardest to move out. Maybe, just mayyyyybe, if you're still having problems, Alhaitham will be nice enough to let you stay on another week, weeks-ish….” 

Kaveh almost shot out of his seat, “That would be fabulous!!” 

Cyno sighed, “Missing the forest for the trees.” 

Tighnari shook his head. 

You thumped a hand on the table, “That is not an invitation to do nothing, Kaveh!! Even if you earn an extra week-ish, if I find out you’ve been doing nothing, even that will be retracted. I promise you, you will not be here for a whole year or even six months! You better get it together!”

Kaveh clapped his hands together, “I will try my best!! Ha-ha!” 

“You need more than your best!” Tighnari stated.  

Kaveh was hopeless. 

Kaveh glared at him, “Shouldn’t you be rooting for me?” 

“Whatever! You know what’s what. Now, if you excuse me, this one is out!” You began standing up. 

“Don’t want to join us for a game?” Cyno asked as he began to eagerly shuffle his deck. 

Tighnari just gave a silent sigh as he pushed his own deck into place for the start of the game. If they don’t get in at least a round or two of TCG in, he knew that Cyno will be pouting about it for the next couple of days. 

You shook your head, “Nah, I was just passing through. Kinda loud in here.” 

Alhaitham looked up at you, his eyes boring holes. Even Tighnari looked up at you sharply. Cyno looked on curiously, while Kaveh was just happy to have what he thought was a boon as he began looking over his own deck. 

It wasn’t but whatever made him feel better. 

You blinked before smiling at them, “I’m fine! Not that kind of loud. I’m just tired and I wanna go home. Ya’ll enjoy yourselves.” 

Tighnari began to relax at your words. Your eyes were focused and sharp, unlike the times when sounds began to overwhelm you. Either way, you were due to come to Avidya Forest for a break. Collei was beginning to miss you. 

Alhaitham began standing up regardless, “I wasn’t, actually. I’ll go with you.” He shot a glare at Kaveh, “It’ll give a reprieve, at least.” 

Tighnari laughed, “So the answer to your reprieve is to sic him on us?” 

It took a moment but Kaveh finally caught on and snapped, “Hey!!” 

Cyno gave a small smile, “Well, if you both don’t want to. Have a good evening!”

—

Both you and Alhaitham walked in silence as you went back to your house. You were halfway there when Alhaitham finally spoke, “Is it quieter now?” 

You smiled up at him, “Yeah, it’s fine. Don’t worry so much.” 

Alhaitham just looked at you for a long moment before facing forward. 

“I hope I didn’t overstep any boundaries.”

Alhaitham stopped a few seconds after your statement, making you stop as well. You looked up curiously at him, “Explain your meaning.” 

Your eyes cut away from him, “Like you said, it’s your house. If you want to have Kaveh continue to stay, I will keep my mouth shut.” 

“I don’t want him there now.” 

You couldn’t help to giggle at his deadpanned voice. But then you felt something very close to you and looked up to see Alhaitham looking down at you.

When he had your attention he spoke, “Besides, you will be my wife, so naturally my house will become our house. Had you wanted to move elsewhere, we could have done that as well. Having a quiet area to live is important to both of us. If it is unsatisfactory, I’d have you say something.” 

His green-red eyes bore into you as you shook your head, “Your house is in a pretty quiet area with not a lot of foot traffic save for the people that live there. I think it’s an acceptable place.” 

Then to your surprise, he leaned forward, making you instinctively lean back. Your eyes darted around, “Alhaitham, we are still in public.” 

“I’m aware. Look at me.” 

Your eyes snapped to his, “It makes sense to have that freeloader move out. I do not want to start our newlywed life with weighted baggage. Now, if you wanted to keep him around, perhaps I would consider it. It was nice of you to offer the little bit you did. I was not offend. Having you deal with it, meant that I did not have to; quite a great bargain, no?” 

You pushed at his chest, making him stand up straight. You straightened as well, “So you just wanted to do less work on the situation?” 

“I told him multiple times, but he has selective hearing right now. And besides, as my future wife, shouldn’t I depend on you in moments like this?” Here a smirk began forming. 

You swatted at his chest, becoming warm at his words, “You're lucky, I’m nice.” 

Alhaitham caught your hand, holding it in his, “Now, let’s get you home. Maybe you’ll let me stay an extra hour before I gotta deal with my roommate.” 

The two of you continued to walk. 

You smiled mischievously, “You could throw him out now, just saying. Don’t tell him I said that, though. Let him think he has my support. The poor boy is on a lifeline.” 

“I would never sacrifice my future wife in such a manner. But, truthfully, I’ve already thought about that….” 

You just giggled. 

[samkerrworshipper]

Have you been writing any ficus could we maybe get a sneak peek

ooo i can do that for y’all i guesssss

this is a little sneak peek at a arsenal fam sickfic that im writing thats kind of based off of a req

just r wanting to play in the snow and it ending with them really sick but not wanting to bother her teammates and ask for help

y’all should get the full thing later today or tomorrow !

———————————————————————

Doing snow angels after training in nothing more than shirts and shorts was never going to be a good idea, but I’d done it anyway. Me, Katie, Caitlin, Alessia and Beth having snuck out without telling any of our other teammates to have a moment in the snow. It was some harmless fun that we were sure our coaches and captains wouldn’t approve of, so we’d snuck out of the recovery room without anybody taking notice and had some fun in the snow. We hadn’t been out in it for much longer than 20 minutes, just long enough to slip out and in. It was rare for there to be so much snow so early in the year, I had hardly been expecting it and it wasn’t the normal sludge that North London was renowned for, it was proper fluffy white snow, the stuff you see in hallmark movies. I was the only player on the team who had never seen real snow before, so when I’d pleaded with Katie to take me out in it, she could hardly say no to me.

Beth, Caitlin and Alessia had just been casualties. Katie had taken Lessi under her wing since her start at Arsenal, the two had very quickly become bonded and there wasn’t much you could do with Katie anymore without Alessia and Caitlin being her companions.

Beth and Viv had happened to overhear our conversation in recovery and Beth had pleaded with us to let her come, Viv just shook her head at us, clearly in disapproval of our decisions but also not bothering herself with trying to stop us, there wasn’t any point, she wouldn’t win.

So we’d somehow managed to sneak out of the recovery rooms and out onto the spare field, which was covered in a blanket of white snow. Almost immediately I’d thrown myself down into the powder, shivering slightly at the coldness but not really caring, it was an experience that felt so incredibly surreal that I was in complete ignorance over my senses.

The four other women just sat and watched as I rolled around in the snow, Katie and Beth shaking their heads at my antics. Alessia busied herself with getting in a snowball fight with Caitlin. It had stayed fairly tame until I’d thrown one at Katie’s head and then it had turned into a full on war, ending with Katie and I wrestling in the snow.

Our snow escapades had ended with Beth forcing me out of the snow and into a jacket, I was shivering all ready but I didn’t care, my heart felt mended in a way that was inexplicably perfect.

I’d been forced into a hot shower by Katie, her overbearing motherly tendencies also making Alessia and Caitlin join me. Beth had been the only one to not enter the snow so she’d slipped her way into the dinner room whilst us other girls had been busy warming our bodies back up. Caitlin and Alessia were fairly quick, but I took a little bit longer, my body still shivering even as I exited the shower to throw on some sweats.

Katie’s furrowed brow was enough to tell me that she was a little worried about the fact that I was still shivering and cold, but she didn’t vocalise her worries, instead opting to rush me and the other girls into the dinner room. Somehow our absence had gone unnoticed, something that I was shocked by because we were hardly the quiet crew of the group.

I’d slid into a seat across from Viv and beside Steph, my body still a quivering mess. Viv’s eyeroll was enough of an ‘I told you so’, the older dutch woman clearly disapproving of our decisions. I tucked into my dinner, pesto pasta with chicken and garlic bread. It didn’t take long for Steph, my fellow Matilda to notice my shivering body. My fingers struggling every once in a while to hold my fork still.

“Little bit cold, y/n/n?”

[moocowmoocow]

So, I was reading about the Soviet Venera Venus probes and realized that the best picture we have (of about two) the surface of Venus would coincide (kinda) with Apollo-Soyuz in the FAM timeline. (That's right, we have pictures of the surface of Venus from 1975 and 1982.)

So.

****

Margo entered the room with a large print out. “Sergei, I must admit that I’m impressed with the image from Venera that you just released.”

He looked up from his work. “I’m glad they finally released them.”

She shook her head, trying to calculate how the Soviets built a probe that survived the surface of Venus. “Someday, you will have to tell me how y’all did it.”

He smirked. “Superior Soviet engineering.”

She rolled her eyes in irritation. “So superior that one of the lens caps failed and you got half an image.”

He looked around the room with a smile. “I must have missed the American probe that landed on Venus.”

“We were too busy with the Voyagers and the outer planets.”

“Ah,” he replied. “Those were pretty pictures. But there’s nothing like, is the phrase, ‘boots on the ground’? Like the first boots we put on the moon?”

She crossed her arms and huffed. “You only won because I wasn’t in charge of NASA then. I’m gonna make sure we kick your ass to Mars.”

He laughed.

“What? You don’t believe me?”

He looked at her. It was one of those looks that she felt in the pit of her stomach and tried to ignore the feeling. “Margo, if you told me you were going to plant the American flag on Jupiter, I’d believe you.”

She could feel her face warm and looked away.

[shallowseeker]

Okay, but you know what?

To Sam, Dean are Castiel are fam. But they’re also his “boyhood heroes.”

💔

Cas is “the strongest person he’s ever met,” and Dean is, “you’ve always protected me, from dad, from Lucifer,” and so when something happens to them? Sam freaks. Sam loses hope and ducks out of the fight. this happened in season 8, he struggles with it in 13, after Rowena in 15, in the The Trap vision in 15x09, …and if we’re keeping it interesting, I’d put good money that Sam is repeating a lot of old patterns post-15.

Even in late season 15, Chuck says, “you’re still hoping Dean and Cas are gonna burst through that door in the nick of time.” (15x09) So, he shows him a world where his heroes are either dead or hopeless/giving up. Courage for the future is dead with Cas, the heart to fight is dead with Dean.

//

It’s also why Sam was so shook by John’s death. It was devastating for Sam to find John on that floor, as he recounts to John in Lebanon. That was the moment when the world got impossibly big and scary. Dads are supposed to be invincible.

Invincible people aren’t supposed to die.

It’s why in 13x01, he tentatively asks Dean, “What about Cas? Is he really dead?” -> “You know he is.”

It’s as if Sam had shrunken to a much younger person, hoping against hope that certain people, strong people, simply cannot die.

Anyway, Dean and Cas are heroes to that younger, vulnerable inner child that Sam still harbors.

[amateur-selfshipper]

Tumblr if my S/Is were Canon

💙 dewey-devito Follow

“We need messier ships-” You guys can’t even handle Playmates

( 113 notes )

🦈 shook-shark Follow

What if I wrote an essay about Ice Duck Cometh’s Ozlem parallels? Haha jk- unless?

🦈 shook-shark

Update: I am now 704 words in 😳

#this is getting out of hand fam

( 35 notes )

🌅 cathedaisy Follow

“If I had a lame ass boyfriend I would hype him up so much I would make him wait outside so I could go in first and be like, ‘Get ready here comes the most specialest boy ever if you don’t cheer and clap for him I’ll fucking blow this whole building up.” - Catherine, talking about Rocky

#Incorrect Lackadaisy Quotes #Catherock #Catherine Korzhenko #Rocky Rickaby #source: Twitter

( 72 notes )

🧼 kermit-spring Follow

I’m on my knees Juanda L’Orange is some of the best tomboy rep we ever got and no one even REMEMBERS HER 😭

#Juanda you will always be famous #Baby Butch Icon #Juanda L’Orange #MDTAS

( 5 notes )

💜 ex0t1c-butt3rs Follow

So was anybody going to tell me that FNAF was the franchise to give us Ukrainian American representation, or was I just supposed to find out from the game trailer?

💜 ex0tic-butt3rs

Me recognizing the Sirko and the Wolf allusion while western FNAF fans are oblivious:

#They don’t even KNOW #Steel Wool you have saved our lives we are eternally grateful #Sirko Daley #FNAF

( 15 notes )

🦉 drugdealingowl Follow

THEY FUCKED IN THE DARK RIDE???

#OH MY GOOOOOOD #Freaky Playmates COMFIRMED #I can’t believe we got a Garfield Dark Ride reference oh my god #Holy Shit #Playmates #The Amazing Digital Circus Spoilers #Wendy #Jax #The Amazing Digital Circus

( 27 notes )

🌌 starl1tsky Follow

Honestly I can’t even blame Jinx for catching feels for Vox like if I watched a savvy business man go completely soft and adoring for sharks I’d be in love too

#Jinx/Vox #Jox #Vinx #Vonx #? #Seriously what is their ship name???

( 50 notes )

🥭 fruicy-juit Follow

Obsessed with Jolt. He’s like if a sitcom character had an existential crisis. He got sent to Hell for ThoughtCrime. If someone is bothering his friend his immediate response is offering to kill them. He’s 23. He’s an electrician. He has such a low sense of self worth that he suggested blowing his brains out like an old Looney Tunes to make people laugh. He should be in the club. He’s banned from the club for biting people. He is five foot three. He somehow befriended the cannibal who straight up doesn’t even like other men. He killed Exorcists with an electrified crowbar.

🥭 fruicy-juit

#And he’s dating a porn star 3 feet taller than him

And he’s dating a porn star three feet taller than him!!!

( 33 notes )

[hannahhasafact]

Things the fucking slap about the non Intrepid Heroes Dimension 20 seasons in order of release:

Escape from the Bloodkeep

Absolutely stellar party with Amy Vorpahl, Erika Ishii, Ify Nwadiwe, Matthew Mercer, Mike Trapp and Rekha Shankar

Includes the one familiar the Brennan refuses to harm, and it’s the most horrible creature you’ve ever met.

Speaking of J’er’em’ih, I don’t think Trapp gets as much appreciation for Sokhbarr as I think he deserves because when Trapp commits he fucking COMMITS. And that one very specific investigation check? Ooh baby it was so good

Speaking of boss ass moves, Rekha’s balloon ass fuckery was such a good move. And Ify being like “can we be bros with the eagles?” ending up being one of the best moves to do? Absolutely fantastic

Honestly one of the funniest seasons of D20 tbh imo. Like I do not like LOTR, so I didn’t think I’d like this season. But it’s such a hilarious season, no wonder it’s one of the side quests I feel like folks recommend the most

Tiny Heist

The McElroy fam? Even if you don’t listen to TAZ (like me) you know they’re a good time

The Rick Diggins speech is just so fucking bananas it’s so good. Rick Diggins is also just the most batshit character

Personally, I love heist stuff. It’s so fun! And I really found the heist itself to be so fun! (Griffin’s part it in is my favorite, Bean is adorable and I love him)

Also there’s always something so fun about the mechanics of tiny universes within our universe? The way they explain toys and stuff coming to life is really interesting and fun imo

Lily Du’s first time at the table and Jess Ross at the table! Speaking of I love how Jess completed her arch, she knew what was going down with her character and made a complete story. It was great!

Pirates of Leviathan

Personally I love this season, and our first time having Aabria at the table ahhhhhh (also my first encounter of “please have the camera focus on Aabria, she makes the absolute best expressions”) Plus, it’s back in the Fantasy High Universe which is always fun to explore more about the universes (and get some NPC cameos/appearances!)

Also tbh I love all of the PCs in this series? Like they’re all so interesting and unique, and are such full characters.

Literally the absolute best PC introduction that exists in d20, Bob I love you so goddamn much

There’s a goddamn Queer Eye joke in this season and at first it’s played for laughs but honestly becomes like… the softest thing? And it warms your soul? And it also features Matt Mercer as a tall ass rat man (this season also has a rare pair I ship and I think no one else does lol but I love it so)

Pirate T-Rex. Just feel like that alone needs its own bullet point lol

Mice and Murder

The mystery!!! Is so fun!!! It’s cool at the end of the season to see how everything was connected, and it’s fun to go on the journey with the party

Katie Marovitch rolling the first nat 20 of the season and not understanding the implications of a natural 20 for a good couple of minutes will always be funny

This season is pretty much all classic College Humor cast mates, so if you’ve been watching College Humor stuff for over a decade like me you’re sure to find some joy in it

Sam Reich has some of the most killer one liners in this season and he’s just such a fun character. Honestly, this season is just so goofy and everyone is just trying to make each other laugh. It’s delightful

The texting element!!! Is so dang interesting!!! And it works so well for the mystery

Misfits and Magic

The first season with a new GM!!!! Aabria!!! When that trailer came out we were all SHOOK, truly began a new era of d20 and we love it

And first time PC Brennan??? Listen he’s such a fun PC we love the strange lil guys he plays

Sam Black deserves so much more love, she’s such a fun PC. Like Danielle would just say one liners that would knock me the fuck out, she’s so dang funny

Listen one of the funniest moments to me will always be Lou and Brennan as their actual selves being like “Mukbang? That’s not a real thing right? No… no it’s not”

The fact that one of the animal companions is straight up just a basketball is hilarious and ridiculous

The Seven

If you love the Fantasy High universe and want to know more about some of the side NPCS, ooh baby they’re PCs now and they’re all played by hilarious cool folks (including our first time having Izzy Roland, Persephone Valentine and Becca Scott in the dome!)

This season absolutely feels like a sleepover with friends. Everyone is giggly and having so much fun, and it’s so fun to watch (and also emotional when you least expect it lol)

I’m having a hard time describing funny moments because it’s just one of those things where you have to experience it to get it? Like this season had me cry laughing but I will never be able to describe the sexy duck outfit as hilariously as Becca does it’s just so good

Oooh before we got killer costume descriptions from ACOFAF you better believe we got it during this season. And if you’re a big costume nerd like me you’ll just be like heart eyes mother fucker

On an interesting note, Brennan is kind of playing both an NPC and PC? Technically he’s still just playing an NPC but Zelda is like… part of the party (obviously part of The Seven). And it’s a fun change!

Shriek Week

Gabe Hicks is a delight as the GM! I am constantly thinking about the line “You may be yolked but this man is a straight up omelette” because it slaps and tbh I would love to see him in the dome again

I think this is canonically the only season where characters FUCK

Another season with a very fun cast, like all of the cast has big horny energy and it’s so silly! If you’ve watched this season you understand Lily’s energy in Dirty Laundry a lot more lollll

Also this season canonically has Mothman and The Count from Sesame Street as characters and it makes me giggle every time

Tbh I really wish this season had more time but if you’re looking for a super short series, it’s only four episodes long!

Coffin Run

Jasmine Bhullar is SO fun as the GM and I feel like really plays off the PC energy well? She was so much fun

This season is another one that is just goofy fun! And you know I love me some goofy fun (the whole eating letters thing is so stupid and so fun)

Personally think the sets for this series are SO cool like oh my god?? The trainnnnnnn ahhh

This is kind of a bigger spoiler but I will never be over the wine glass props for that one combat? When she pulls them out I DIE

This cast REALLY goes in on their characters and plays them so big, it’s delightful

A Court of Fey & Flowers

Do I really need to get into why this season fucking slaps? I’m pretty sure it’s one of the most popular side campaigns because it fucking SLAPS

Aabria is back as GM, bringing poetry and grace to the dome and ahhhh (like she literally recites poetry but also the episode introductions are just straight up poetic

This is the season of romance and brought me to the horrible realization that I like DND actual plays because mostly I like the role playing apparently lolllll

Outfits outfits outfits outfits ahhhhh we love some fantastic outfitsssss

The whole Green Hunter bit is so fucking funny

Anyways moral of the story is D20 side campaigns are fun and you should watch/listen to them

[jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets]

All I Want for Christmas is You

Fandom: 9-1-1 Rating: General Pairing: Buddie, Eddie Diaz x Evan ‘Buck’ Buckley AO3   Masterlist

Summary: Eddie’s mom and ex-wife are up to no good at his Abuela’s Christmas Eve party, good thing Buck proposed he go to the party as Eddie fake date to keep them at bay.

*** MY WORK IS NOT TO BE POSTED ON ANY OTHER SITE WITHOUT MY EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION. THOUGH REBLOGS AND COMMENTS ARE SUPER LOVED AND APPRECIATED! THANKS FAM!***

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

     “Unbelievable!” Eddie shouted down at his phone in his hands.

     He was currently sitting upstairs at the station, halfway through a twenty-four hour shift, tired as shit and now mad as hell to boot. As soon as he read the text and had a moment to stew on the couch where he sat alone, he dialed.

     “Hello, Edmundo, it's so good to hear from you!” His mom picked up on the second ring, but hearing her extremely upbeat tone did not help his mood. “We got our plane tickets yesterday, well be flying in on-”

     “I just got a message from Javi telling me that you invited my ex-wife to the party at Abuelas on Christmas Eve?!” He cut her off, not even caring about the flight and their trip into LA for the holidays right now. “Cancel with her right now!”

     “Edmundo, I know I raised you to have better manners than this. I can't cancel now, it would be rude.”

     Eddie scoffed into his phone and shook his head. “I don't care if it's rude, Mom, she's been rude since the day she walked out on me and Christopher! I do not want her there!”

     “Edmundo Diaz, you cut your tone and listen to me. She is Christopher's mother, your wife-”

     “Ex-wife!” He screamed into the phone, face red with rage, and stood beginning to pace the area in front of the couch. “And she has made it very clear over the years that she wanted nothing to do with me or Chris. I do not want her at the party, even bringing her up stress’s Chris out and I will not have him upset on Christmas Eve because of her. So call her and tell her she's not welcome.”

     “I am not doing that. This is absolutely ridiculous, you need to see each other and fix this.”

     “There is nothing to fix, call her now!”

     “Edmundo-”

     Eddie didn't let her finish and hung up, then plopped himself back on the couch, slumped forward with his head in his hands. 

     His uncharacteristic outburst had also gained the attention of his entire crew, who were now all looking on from the game area upstairs, and very concerned. Eddie never freaked out, not like that.

     “Buck,” Hen nudged him where he stood beside her, “you gotta fix that, baby.”

     “Hen’s, right,” Chim added, “something is clearly very, very wrong, and you're his best friend. So go talk to him, make sure he's okay.”

     Buck stood there watching Eddie for a few more moments. His head was still slumped over, his shoulders hunched in, his hands rubbing up and down his face. He knew this look, he also knew that level of freak out. The rest of the crew might have no idea what's going on, but Buck knew Eddie better than anyone, so he knew exactly what was going on. He also knew that Eddie would need someone to vent to, and of course he would be that person.

     “Okay,” Bobby waved a hand at them, gesturing them away, “everyone clear out, let's give them some privacy.”

     Buck hung back a beat for everyone to clear out, Bobby to his office, and Hen and Chim downstairs to work on the trucks and ambulance, then he walked over and sat on the couch beside Eddie.

     “So,” Buck started when Eddie didn't look up, “what did they do this time?”

     “Probably the worst thing they've done yet,” he answered, finally sitting back to look at Buck, “my mom invited Shannon to the Christmas Eve party at Abuela’s.”

     “Are you serious?!”

     “Yeah,” he shook his head and sank deeper into the couch, “I got a text from my cousin. He told me my mom had invited her, thought I'd want a heads up so I wasn't showing up to the party blind. But it's an ambush, Buck, I know it is.”

     “Why would your mom invite your ex-wife to your Abuela’s party?” He asked.

     “Because my mom never approved of my getting divorced. She thought that Shannon and I should have just worked out all of our problems, but how am I supposed to do that when she left us in the middle of the night?!” He ran his hands down his face again, trying to calm down. “And I know I wasn’t the best husband, I was away a lot, wasn't there for her and Chris when they needed me.”

     “Eddie, that's bullshit,” Buck scoffed, “you were deployed and fighting for your country. It's not like you were off cheating. You were risking your life in another country so that her and Chris could live free and safe. If she didn't understand that then that's her problem.”

     “Thanks, Buck,” he smiled over at him. Buck always had a way of making him feel better. “But even still, Shannon and I were always doomed, long before my deployment. The only reason we stayed together really was because of my mom, who is now trying to stick her nose where it doesn't belong.”

     “I don't think your Abuela will be too happy about this either,” Buck added, “from what I remember from talking to her about it, she is not a fan of Shannon’s.”

     “No she is not,” he agreed, “she saw the toll it took on Chris when Shannon left, how much it stresses him out when his mom is brought up in any way. And if he sees her at this party he's going to get all upset, and the thing that kills me is that obviously my mom and Shannon don't seem to care. Chris has been looking forward to this party for a month and I don't want him all worked up because of this. Why now is she all of a sudden wanting to show up at family events? You know, after she left I tried for years to get her to come see Chris. I invited her to birthdays, Christmas, holidays, school events, and she never wanted to come to any of them. So somethings up, and I'm sure my mother is in on it too.”

     “Why don't I go with you?”

     “Really?!”

     “Yeah,” Buck shrugged, “and just to really screw with both your ex-wife and your mom, why don't we pretend it's a date?”

     “A… a date?” Eddie swallowed hard, a lump suddenly finding its way into his throat, his skin hotter than the fires he fought. “You want to pretend to be my… my boyfriend?”

     “Why not?” Buck asked, as if it was no big deal. But to Eddie, it was a big deal, a very, very big deal. Eddie had wanted to ask Buck out since day one, but everytime he got close he chickened out. Now Buck was asking him out, well kind of, but it was all going to be fake. A taste of what Eddie wanted, of what he could have, and Buck didn't seem to think of it as being anything more than the fake out it was, just a show put on to keep his mother and ex at bay. And if that was the case then maybe Eddie had been lucky that he was such a chicken all those years, maybe Buck would have said no if he'd asked him out for real. Then he was brought out of his quickly spiraling thoughts by Buck's voice again. “If you want me to, I'll go with you to your Abuela’s party and while we're there we'll stand real close, hold hands, snuggle, make them both super uncomfortable, and just have a really good time. It'll drive them both crazy, trust me. And as an added bonus, Chris can't possibly have a bad time if I’m there!”

     “You know what, yeah, let's do it.” Eddie had thought of saying no, because how could he possibly let himself live in a fake fantasy for one night only to have it violently ripped away from him once their mission was complete, but Buck was right about Chris, and this was really all about him. So Eddie pushed his feelings aside so his son could be happy. “And you're right, Chris will be thrilled to have you there. So if all else fails, at least Chris will be happy.”

     “It's a date then!” 

~~~~~~~~~~~

     In a matter of four hours Eddie had tried on all of his three suits probably ten times each. Normally he wouldn't care so much, it was just a family Christmas party at his Abuela’s house, no big deal. Except this one was a bigger deal than all the other times. Not for the fact that his family was flying in, not for the fact that his ex-wife was going to be there, but for the fact that he was going to the party with Buck. Buck who was his best friend, who was Christopher's second legal guardian, Buck who Eddie had been completely and utterly in love with since his first day in the 118. And Buck was going to be there in less than fifteen minutes to pick him up for the party, and still Eddie hadn't landed on which suit to wear. God, they were only fake dating for one night and already Buck had him in shambles.

     “You should wear the dark blue one, Daddy.” Eddie turned to find Christopher standing in his bedroom doorway, all done up in his own beige plaid suit that he had picked out for the party a few weeks back, with his curls brushed neatly to the side. He had insisted on getting himself ready all on his own, and though he didn't let it show when he had told Eddie as much, it broke Eddie's heart just a little bit that Chris didn't need his help anymore. “The blue one makes you look the most handsome.”

     Eddie nodded with a smile, it would seem his decision had been made as he slipped into the navy blue pants and matching jacket, then walked over and knelt in front of Chris. “Thanks, kiddo, and you look very handsome too,” he smiled and reached out to flatten the collar of his jacket. 

     The doorbell rang then, and Eddie looked down at his watch. He was right on time.

     “Who could that be?” Chris asked, looking a little put out. “We have to leave now or we'll be late for Abuela’s party, why is someone at the door now?”

     Eddie just laughed as he stood and guided Chris down the hall. “Why don't you go open the door and see who it is.”

     Chris sighed, a slight bit overdramatic, but conceded. “Okay, fine.”

     Eddie stood back a bit and watched Chris shuffle his way over to the door, and he had to laugh as Chris mumbled under his breath about ‘not having time for guests right now’, then smiled when he opened the door and his entire demeanor changed in an instant.

     “Buckey!” Chris shouted, instantly lifting his arms up to Buck.

     “Hey, kiddo!” Buck shouted back, just as excited to see him, and lifted Chris into a hug.

     “Are you coming to the party with us, Buck?” Chris asked, tugging on Buck’s jacket which got Eddie's attention.

     Eddie looked up from his son to Buck, and he was sure he would have to pick his jaw up off the floor. Buck looked great, amazing, and there was no way Eddie was going to make it through this party unscathed. He was wearing Eddie's favourite colour on Buck in the form of a dark maroon suit, which clung to Buck in all the right places. The jacket and button up underneath were stretched tightly across his chest, accentuating the broadness of his shoulders, a feature of Buck’s that Eddie wished he could get his hands on. And the matching pants were more than a sin. They were, if even possible, somehow tighter then the jacket, and Eddie’s eyes were suddenly caught on the firmness of Buck's thighs. God, how many times had he fantasized about those thick muscled thighs being wrapped around his waist while he-

     “I sure am!” Eddie registered Buck answering Chris's question, and quickly darted his eyes away from Buck’s thighs and back to his face. Then Buck, the usual goofball he was, grabbed the collar of his jacket and turned on his heels once. “How do I look? Party ready?”

     “You look great, Bucky!” Then Chris turned back to look at Eddie. “Doesn't Buck look great, Dad?”

     “I…” Eddie felt his cheeks suddenly heat up. There were a lot of things Eddie could say about how Buck looked right now, though many of them were not appropriate for the ears of his child, so instead he went with, “Yeah, you look good, Buck.”

     Buck flashed him a smile, and Eddie even thought that maybe he saw a bit of pink in his cheeks too, but it couldn't be. 

     Then Chris's eyes caught on something on the ground by Buck’s feet and his eyes lit up again. “Are those for me?!” He asked and pointed to the gifts.

     “They sure are!” Buck bent down and grabbed some, reaching up to hand them to Eddie before going back for the rest. 

     They walked in and tucked them under the tree quickly, then Buck stood to watch Chris with a smile while he awed over all the gifts Buck had brought.

     “You didn't have to do that, Buck.”

     Buck just turned to Eddie with a smirk and a shrug. “What's the good of having friends with kids if I can't spoil them a little?” Eddie just shook his head with a fond smile, then Buck pointed to the new pile of gifts under the tree. “There's a few in there for you too.”

     “You definitely didn't have to do that.”

     “Just some fun stuff I thought you guys would enjoy,” Buck smiled and took one more glance over at Chris and asked, “so, should we get going? Abuela hates it when we’re late.”

     “Yeah, just…” Eddie walked past Buck and over to the couch where he had draped his tie over the back. “I just have to figure out this stupid thing. I was never good at this, I should have just gotten a clip-on like the one I got for Chris.”

     Buck laughed then reached out his hands to take the tie. “Here, I'll do it for you.”

     “Oh, uh… yeah, okay.”

     Buck reached out and wrapped the tie around Eddie's neck and tucked it under the collar of his jacket. His nimble fingers worked the tie into the intricate knot, and Eddie was fighting back the urge he felt to lunge forward and attack Buck’s lips in a kiss, which was more and more difficult to refrain from everytime Buck's fingers grazed the skin of his neck. Then all too soon he was done, pulling the tie tight and adjusting the knot against his neck, and his hands were gone and Eddie suddenly felt cold.

     “Okay,” Buck clapped his hands, ripping Eddie from his frozen state, “Chris, are you ready to leave?”

     “Yeah!” He shouted, pulling himself away from the tree and over to Buck. He lifted his arms up to him again, and again Buck lifted him into his arms without any hesitation and carried him out the door. It always made Eddie's heart flutter when Buck carried his kid like that. 

     Eddie closed and locked the door behind them, and then skipped ahead to switch Chris's car seat from his truck to Buck’s jeep. While he did he had the thought that he should just get an extra seat for Buck’s jeep, Chris was in there often enough, and that way they wouldn't have to go through switching the seat from his truck to the jeep and back constantly. Maybe he'd go out after Christmas and grab one, Buck would probably like that.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     By the time they got to Abuela’s, the party was already in full swing. The house was packed with Eddie's family who had all flown in for Christmas, as well as some of Abuela and Peppa’s friends from the street, and suddenly Eddie was feeling a lot overwhelmed.

     As if Buck could sense it he leaned in closer to Eddie so their shoulders were touching. He gave him a slight nudge and Eddie looked over to him. In that moment he was so thankful that Buck had come with him, because if it wasn't for that smile he was giving Eddie right now, Eddie probably would have grabbed Chris and hightailed it out of there before anyone saw them. But Buck had this supernatural way of calming him with as little as a glance, or a quick brush of their hands. He needed Buck more than he knew, he just wished he could get the courage up to tell him that.

     “Ah there are my boys!” They both looked over as Abuela came marching through the crowd toward them, her arms outstretched, and she instantly took Chris into a hug. “Chris, why don't you go into the living room and play with your cousins.”

     Chris didn't need to be told twice as he quickly took off to find the other kids, then Abuela moved on to Eddie.

     “Edmundo.” She kissed both of his cheeks then moved over to Buck to do the same. “And Evan, mi amor! I didn't know you were coming, but this is such a wonderful surprise! We always love having you.”

     “And I love being here,” Buck smiled at her, then leaned in as if he was about to whisper some state secret, and asked, “there are tamales right?”

     “Of course, mi amor. And,” Abuela leaned in just the same as Buck had, Eddie laughing to himself as their heads were nearly pressed together, “since I wasn't aware that you were coming tonight, I made an extra batch of them for Eddie to take home for you after the party. They're in the fridge, and you know where the microwave is.”

     “You're the best.” Buck fist pumped and leaned in to kiss her cheek again, before backing up to stand beside Eddie.

     “Also, Edmundo, you should know your ex-wife is here.” Eddie groaned and leaned a bit further into Buck, and his Abuela grimaced as she added, “And she's been looking for you since she got here, so heads up.”

     “Of course she has.” Eddie sighed hard, hoping that she hadn't already gotten her claws into Chris while he wasn't looking. He could feel his anxiety riding up again at the thought, so he looked up to Buck to feel that instantly calming relief, and was met with a smirk and a wink.

     Buck then turned back to Abuela as he wrapped an arm around Eddie’s waist and pulled him in even closer. “Why is she so eager to see my boyfriend?”

     Eddie couldn't help but smile and hide his face a bit in Buck’s collar as he watched Abuela’s eyes widen, her hands shooting up to cover her mouth. “Are you serious?! You two?!”

     Both Eddie and Buck nodded with beaming smiles as Eddie answered, “We thought it would be nice to tell everyone at the party tonight. But yeah, us two.”

     “Oh dios mio!” She shouted, holding her hands to the sky before going in for more hugs and kisses. “This is fantastic news!”

     “See, I told you she'd be happy for us,” Buck said, and completed the fanfair by turning his head and placing a sweet kiss against Eddie's temple. 

     Abuela squealed when he did, and Eddie blushed impossibly harder, then she turned and took off through the house shouting, “I have so many people to tell!” And then she was gone, Buck and Eddie laughing after her.

     The rest of the party went fairly well with little anxiety on Eddie's part, mostly thanks to Buck. Since they had arrived, Buck kept in constant contact with him, either with his arm around his waist or his hand in his, and Eddie was thankful for it. 

     He spent the better part of the evening introducing Buck to all of his family, so far successfully being able to avoid both his parents and ex-wife, but Eddie just focused on the giddy sensation working through him everytime he announced, “This is my boyfriend, Buck.”

     Eventually Chris came looking for them, or rather looking for Buck, and he found them in the dining room. “Buck!” He happily walked over, reaching for Buck's hand to start dragging him back to the living room. “Come do Christmas crafts with me, Abuela wants us to make ornaments for her tree.”

     “Alright, buddy, I'm coming.” Then Buck turned back to look at Eddie. “You alright on your own for a bit?”

     “Yeah, you guys have fun,” he smiled to reassure Buck, then watched them disappear into the living room hand in hand.

     Eddie turned back to the table filled with all his favourite foods cooked by Abuela, and started making himself a small plate, and of course now that he was alone the ambush could begin. As soon as Buck wasn't attached at Eddie's hip anymore, he quickly found himself in the company of his mother.

     “What is this I hear about you and someone named Evan?” She sounded just as pleased as he expected her to.

     “It's exactly what it sounds like, I'm here with my boyfriend,” he shrugged and moved over to the doorframe so he could lean and watch Buck and Chris at the now designated crafts table in the living room. As soon as Eddie's eyes landed on Buck he looked up, as if sensing Eddie. He gave him a look that asked if he was okay, Buck’s eyes flitting over to his mom for a quick second then back to Eddie. But Eddie waved him off, so Buck smiled and turned his attention back to Chris and the ornament he was making.

     While Eddie watched them together he found that, just like every other time he would stand back and not so sneakily spy on them together like this, all of his woes and worries completely melted away. At this moment it was just the three of them, and Eddie was completely content with it being that way for the rest of his life. Him, Chris, and Buck, all together and happy, that was all he wanted for Christmas this year.

     He leaned a shoulder on the doorframe, his eyes never leaving either of them, and he couldn't help but laugh when he caught the giant smear of red glitter across one of Buck’s cheeks. Buck was such a big kid, but Eddie wouldn't have him any other way.

     “That's him there,” he pointed Buck out to his mother, who he had almost forgotten was still standing beside him, “I can introduce you if you want to meet him. But he doesn't like to be called Evan, it's Buck.”

     His mom only scoffed and turned away from Buck. “And you leave him alone with Christopher? Just like that? How well do you even know this man?”

     “Mom, I've worked with Buck for years,” he started, honestly a little shocked at her overly aggressive tone, “Buck saved Chris in the tsunami, he picks Chris up from school if I’m busy, watches him if I pick up an overtime shift, he reads to Chris at night for god sake. There is no one in this world I would trust more with my son than Buck. And Chris loves him just as much as I do.”

     “You don't love him-”

     “Yes, I do,” he stopped her, and no words had ever rang more true, “I love him, and nothing will ever change that.”

     “You have a wife, Edmundo,” she all but growled at him.

     “I have an ex-wife, Mother,” he shot back, “and she doesn't belong here. She left us, she made her choice.”

     “She's family.”

     “No she's not,” Eddie shook his head. As far as he was concerned, the day she sent him the divorce papers, she made a definite decision to not be included in the family anymore.

     “So, Shannon, the mother of your child, is not family, but this… Buck is?”

     “Yes,” he answered firmly, not a doubt in his mind, “Buck is family, he's my family and he's Chris's family. And Abuela and Peppa like him too.”

     “Edmundo,” she sighed and crossed her arms, trying out her best disappointed mom look on him, “I will take no more of this nonsense. Talk to your wife and fix this mess!”

     “Again, ex-wife, Mom, she is my ex-wife,” Eddie sighed and rolled his eyes, then turned back to look at Buck and Chris again, just in time to see Buck use his thumb to smear a matching streak of red glitter straight across Chris's forehead. He couldn't help but laugh helplessly as both of his boys erupted into a fit of giggles where they sat on the floor, tucked under the coffee table, and Buck took out his phone to take a selfie of the two of them in their matching glitter face paint. “And the only mess I have to worry about cleaning up will be Buck and Chris when I get them home later. I have a feeling that glitter isn't going to be coming out of their hair as easily as I hope it will.”

     His mother fumed at his nonchalant attitude over the idea of trying to ‘fix things’ with his ex-wife, and as if she had been summoned like the devil himself, Shannon took that moment to start making her way over to them.

     His mother caught sight of her as well, then turned fuming eyes on Eddie, he was sure if they could change colour they would be red. “Here she comes. Fix it, Edmundo, I mean it!” Then she walked away, as if threatening him and giving them privacy was going to change anything.

     “Eddie,” Shannon sneered as she came to take up the place his mother had just left.

     “Shannon,” he snipped back.

     She took a moment to eye him up and down, then crossed her arms over her chest. “I hear you've brought a man with you to the party.”

     “I have brought my boyfriend with me to the party, that is correct. His name is Buck.”

     She scoffed, much in the same way his mother had when Eddie had corrected her only minutes ago, adding in a shake of her head.

     “What was that for?” Eddie asked, though he was sure he could figure it out without much help.

     “You don't have a boyfriend, Eddie.” He just made a face at her, letting her continue with her bullshit explanation of why she knew he wouldn't have a boyfriend. “I don't believe a word of this, you don't like men.”

     “Is it really that hard to believe I've found happiness in someone that's not you? Not that we were all that happy when we were together.”

     She glared at him for a moment before deciding to ignore that last comment. “You're not gay, Eddie. We have a kid, we were married, you've never shown any interest in men before, so I find it awfully convenient that you find out I'm coming to the party and suddenly you have a boyfriend that no one knew about.”

     Eddie shrugged and nodded, “First off, you're right about some things. You're right about the fact that im not gay, but there are plenty of other ways to identify what I am, maybe I’m bi. Second, why would I have ever told you if I did have any interest in men, that's absolutely none of your business. And third, Buck is my boyfriend, I love him very much, and if you don't like it or don't believe it, then frankly that's your problem.”

     She didn't say anything, just crossed her arms tighter over her chest and deepened her scowl.

     Wanting to just get this ridiculous charade over with and get down to the real reason for her being here, he asked, “Have you seen Christopher yet?” Though he already knew the answer.

     “No, there's something I wanted to talk to you about first.” 

     Ah, and there it was. Eddie knew there was something behind this visit, something that she had been scheming for this entire time. He also knew that she would go right to him, because she knew full well that if she so much as attempted to try and use Chris to get to him, the answer would be no before she even asked. So here they were, the real reason for her sudden need to be included in family events.

     “So talk,” he said, eyes still on his two boys at the table.

     “Look,” she shifted, trying to get in his line of sight, between him and his boys, “my parents were pissed when they found out that you and I split up-”

     “You mean when you left us,” he gestured between himself and Chris and then shook his head at her, “we didn't split up, that was all you.”

     “Whatever,” she waved a hand in his face, “this isn't about that. You know how traditional my parents are, and the point is they are not happy at all. I spoke to them about a month ago and they said that they discussed my failed marriage, and told me they have made the decision that if I don't get myself sorted out and fix my marriage, be a good mother to my son, then they are going to cut me off and write me out of their will. So-”

     “Okay, wait a second,” he stopped her, holding his own hand in front of her face, “let me just get this straight here. What it sounds like to me is that you want me to let go of everything I have here right now, that being my happiness with Buck, and just let you waltz right back into my and Christopher’s lives like nothing even happened?! So that you can, what, fake your way through being a happy, devoted wife? A good mom? All of this ridiculous charade you want us to play, just so you don't lose your inheritance?! You want me and Chris to take you back for money?!”

     “I…” She struggled for what to say next, Eddie assumed trying to come up with some kind of excuse to make it sounds less snake-like then it did, but in the end she just went with the truth, probably knowing Eddie would see right through it anyway. “I want my inheritance, okay. It's going to be a lot of money, and I want it, this is the only way I can get it. And if you do this, when the time comes and I can collect my inheritance, I will give you ten percent of whatever I get. After that, you and Christopher can go your own way, and I will go mine.”

     “Are you seriously trying to bribe me?!” Eddie balked at her, his plate falling out of his hand and landing at his feet. He was yelling now, but he hadn't noticed that the entire house around them had gone silent, all eyes on them. “I knew you were a cold hearted bitch, but I never thought you'd stoop this low!”

     “It's going to be a lot of money, Eddie,” she tried to reiterate to him, as if it was going to change his mind somehow, “surely you could use that money to pay off Christopher's medical expenses when I do finally get that money.”

     “I can't believe you right now!”

     There was suddenly a solid presence at his side then, a familiar one, which he leaned into as if it was already muscle memory to do so. Buck. He had obviously heard the commotion, as had the entire house more than likely, and he was now beside him with an arm around his waist, firmly anchoring him, instantly calming him. 

     The entire thing earned a scoff from Shannon who was just shaking her head as she watched them.

     “Babe, you alright?” Buck asked, pulling Eddie closer against him.

     Eddie caught Shannon’s head shaking out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't even find it in himself to care. The thrill it sent through his body to hear Buck call him babe was enough to have him forgetting the entire world. Not to mention that Buck’s scent was surrounding him, all over him, and he couldn't help but turn and nuzzle his nose into Buck's neck. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

     Buck smiled down at Eddie, even lifted his chin a bit to give Eddie more access so he could breathe him in as much as he wanted. Then Shannon was suddenly in his line of sight, trying to weasel her way between them. “Hi,” she grunted out, shoving her hand close to Buck’s chest, “I’m Shannon, I'm Eddie's wif-”

     “Ex-wife,” he corrected her before she could even finish, shocking her back a few steps, “yeah, I know who you are.” Then buck turned more into Eddie, lifting his chin with his fingers to look onto his eyes. “You sure you're alright?”

     Eddie beamed up at Buck, having completely forgotten all about Shannon and her outrageous offer, and was even more blissed out when Buck brought a hand up to cup his cheek. “Yeah, I'm fine now, Buck.”

     “Good,” Buck smiled down at him, then leaned in and engulfed him in the tightest and most secure hug of his life, and whispered in his ear, “trust me and follow my lead?”

     Eddie gave him an almost imperceptible nod, then let Buck pull back, but he only pulled back just enough to see his face. They were still close, still wrapped in each other's arms, then Buck leaned in and captured Eddie's lips in a soft kiss. It was as perfect as Eddie had always imagined it would be. Their lips slotted together so perfectly it was like they were made for each other. And the way Buck wound his arms around Eddie's back, pulling him in as close as he could possibly get him, every inch of them touching, Eddie was sure he was in heaven.

     Eddie slid his hands up Buck’s muscled shoulders and wrapped around his neck, arching into the kiss. Then suddenly they heard the slam of a door behind them and they parted for just a moment. Eddie shook out of his daze and realized that Shannon was no longer standing beside him, though to be completely honest, he had forgotten about her the second Buck's lips touched his. He quickly peered around Buck and toward the front door, Abuela was standing there with a beaming smile on her face giving Eddie a double thumbs up.

     Eddie scoffed a laugh at her then turned back to Buck, their noses touching again, and breathed, “Buck, she left, Shannon’s gone,” yet he couldn't find it in himself to let go of the grip he had on Buck’s neck, especially when Buck was showing no signs of moving either.

     Buck just shrugged and smiled, then his eyes darted back down to Eddie's lips. Before he knew it, Buck was on him again, kissing him harder and deeper than before. Then Buck’s tongue slid across Eddie's bottom lip and he eagerly parted his lips for him. Their tongues danced and Eddie licked into Buck’s mouth just as enthusiastically as Buck was licking into his. And Eddie found he didn't care who was watching or how many of his family members were around them, because this was the best night of his life, and even though it was all fake, Eddie figured it wouldn't hurt to pretend it wasn't for just a little while longer.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     Midnight rolled around before they knew it, and Chris had long since passed out on the floor in a pile of his cousins. Buck had insisted on carrying him out to the car. They were stopped at the door by Abuela for a kiss goodnight for Buck, and a kiss on the cheek for the still sleeping Chris in Buck’s arms. 

     “I'll take him to the jeep and get it started, take your time,” he said to Eddie, then smiled at Abuela one more time as he passed by, “good night, Abuela, thanks for the great party.”

     “Good night, Buck,” she said as he passed her and headed out the door, then she turned to Eddie and engulfed him in a hug, “Edmundo, I am so happy you're finally happy. I could always tell you never were with Shannon, but when you're with Buck I can see true happiness in your eyes, and Christopher adores him. He is a wonderful man, Edmundo.”

     Eddie looked out to the jeep and watched Buck ever so gently place Chris in the carseat in the back, then placed a blanket over Chris and leaned in to kiss his forehead before hopping into the front seat. “Yeah,” Eddie smiled fondly, “he is pretty great.”

     “You better hold onto that one, Mejo,” she patted his arm, “he's a very, very good man, and they don't come around all too often anymore.”

     Eddie nodded to her, she definitely wasn't wrong, Buck was one in a million.

     He gave her one more hug and took the container of extra tamales she had packed away for Buck, then headed out to the jeep.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     It didn't take long before they were pulling into Eddie's driveway. Chris was still dead to the world in the backseat, so Eddie decided it would be safe to give Buck the full explanation in regards to Shannon’s scheme. 

     “I can't believe she tried to bribe you, and pulling Chris and his medical bills into her messed up plan,” he shook his head as he put the jeep into park, “that's crazy.”

     “No kidding,” Eddie scoffed, then got out of the car. He walked back and opened Chris’s door to start getting him out of the car seat, but Buck moved him out of the way insisting on carrying Chris inside.

     As they walked up the steps to the house and Eddie let them inside, Buck took a chance and said, “Honestly, Eds, it's probably a lot better that you and Chris were able to get away from that. You guys are better off without that much negativity in your lives.”

     “You are not wrong. And you know,” he said as he closed the door and followed Buck down the hall to Chris's room, “the whole time she was there she never even said hi to Chris. I asked her if she was going to and she had zero interest, all she cared about was trying to find a way to get her money. I knew she was up to something, I just knew it.”

     “Good thing I came with you, then. Hopefully she wont bother you anymore, especially now that she thinks you have a smokin’ hot firefighter boyfriend.”

     “Don’t let that go to your head, Buck,” Eddie laughed, “and don’t even try to sound intimidating, you’re a giant teddy bear.”

     “Well, yeah,” he shrugged, “But I at least look intimidating right?”

     Eddie could only smile fondly at him and roll his eyes. Once they got to Chris's room, he stood back and watched as Buck gently laid Chris back in his bed. He pulled the blankets up and over him, then leaned in and placed a sweet kiss on his head before whispering, “Good night buddy, and merry Christmas.”

     It was such a sweet and heart melting sight, Eddie wished he could see it every night. That it would just be commonplace for the two of them to tuck Chris into bed each night, then head off down the hall to go to bed themselves, wrapped up in each other. 

     Eddie crossed the room and kissed his son good night as well, then he and Buck left his room and made their way back to the front door. And suddenly, it was awkward.

     The crushing weight of the situation and the realization that, as much as Eddie did not want it to be, the fantasy was over. Buck would go home, probably have Christmas with Maddie and Eddie would spend Christmas with Christopher. Then they would go back to normal, like none of it had ever happened, like they hadn't… had never kissed.

     “So uh,” he started, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, deciding it was best to just get it over with and cause himself as little pain as possible, “thanks for coming with me tonight. You were right, it did solve my problem with Shannon and my mom, and Chris was very happy that you were there. He had a great time, and it would seem you did as well if all this glitter is anything to go by.” Eddie reached out and ran his thumb over the now hardened patch of glitter on his forehead and Buck laughed. “Good luck getting it all out of your hair, by the way.”

     Buck chuckled again. “And did you have a good time? You know, despite the whole Shannon thing.”

     “Yeah, I did,” and it wasn't a lie, “it was probably the best time I've had at a family event like that in years.”

     “Good.”

     They smiled at each other, and it was once again awkward. They stood and shuffled their feet for a few minutes, neither of them really knowing what to say or what to do, and all Eddie could think about was that kiss back at the party. He wanted more of that now, but he didn't know if Buck…

     “I, uh…” Buck said, rubbing the back of his neck and stepping out the door, “I better get going. It's late and I'm sure the little man will have you up bright and early to see what Santa brought him.”

     “Yeah,” Eddie chuckled and ran a hand down his face, “crack of dawn every Christmas morning.”

     “Well, you better go get some sleep then,” Buck smiled and started down the porch steps, “merry Christmas, Eds.”

     “Merry Christmas, Buck.” 

     Eddie stood at the door and watched Buck get back in his jeep, and waited until he drove down the road and out of sight before he closed the door. Suddenly he felt empty. In a way, watching Buck drive away was like the final straw in the end of this fantasy. It was over, the kiss was a mere tactic to scare away Shannon, and it had worked exactly as they had planned. But Eddie didn't want it to be over, he didn't want to go back to being just Eddie and Buck, best friends and co-workers. Tonight was a great night, he hadn't felt so free and happy and himself in such a long time, and now he was going to have to spend the rest of his life trying to accept that fact that he would probably never have that feeling again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

     Sure enough Christopher was jumping on top of him as soon as the first hint of sunlight was peeking through his curtains. But he was exhausted. He barely slept, all he could think about all night long was Buck, and all he could dream about was that kiss. But Chris was pulling on his arm and squealing about Santa, so as the good dad he is, he forced himself out of bed and let Chris drag him to the living room.

     Chris lost his mind as soon as he saw the heap of presents under the tree, and hurried over to sit in front of it while Eddie took a detour to make coffee. He quickly downed one cup, then poured himself another before going over to the couch to watch Chris open his gifts. 

     “Hey, Dad,” he turned back to look at Eddie, “can open one of the presents from Buck?”

     “Yeah, buddy, of course.”

     He grabbed the biggest one that said ‘To: Chris, From: Buck’ and ripped into it. It was a huge fire station that had all the bells and whistles, literally, it made all the sounds, and it came with two fire trucks and a few firefighter figurines. 

     “Wow, Dad, look! Just like you and Buck!”

     “You'll have to thank Buck the next time you see him.”

     Chris turned back to the gift he had just opened and was suddenly a bit sullen. “I had fun with Buck last night, I wish he was here now.”

     “Yeah,” Eddie said, leaning further into the side of the couch, “I wish that too, buddy.”

     The doorbell had the both shaken out of their momentary sorrow, and both turned toward the door. Eddie looked at the time on his phone and made a very confused face. Who in their right mind would be at his door on Christmas morning, at not even seven am?

     “Do you think it's Abuela?” Chris asked with a bit more excitement than he had a few seconds ago. “She said she was going to come over to see my presents.”

     “Maybe, I just didn't think she would be coming over this early.” He got up to open the door, a little startled when whoever it was rang the bell a second time then immediately resorted to knocking. “Okay, okay, I'm coming… jeeze.”

     He opened the door ready to give whoever was so rudely interrupting their Christmas morning a piece of his mind, but he was stunned out of words when he found Buck standing in front of him, looking an odd mix of bewildered and nervous. 

     Eddie gave him a quick once over, taking in the disheveled mess of his hair, looking like he'd just rolled out of bed and ran here. “Buck, what-”

     “Don't…” Buck held both of his hands up, stopping Eddie in his tracks, “don't talk, I just… I just need to try something.”

     Eddie obliged, but Buck just stepped inside the house without another word. He just stood there, staring down Eddie, when suddenly he just decided to go for it and lunged forward. He grabbed Eddie's face in both of his hands and kissed him, and it was even more electric then it had been at the party. Eddie couldn't help but wrap himself into Buck, pulling him as close as he could get him, tangling his fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. He hummed into the kiss as Buck tilted his head and deepened it, licking into Eddie’s mouth with a fire that shot through his entire body. Then just as quickly as it had started, Buck pulled back.

     His hands were still holding Eddie's face close to his own, their panted breaths mixing between them. Buck just stared at him with this look of pure love in his eyes, and when he couldn't seem to find any words, Eddie breathed out, “Me too, Buck.”

     Buck just smiled and lunged forward to taked Eddie's lips again, and moved his hands to wrap around Eddie's waist as tightly as he could manage. 

     Eddie had never been happier, this was real, their fake date ended as soon as Buck stepped outside his door last night. So this, everything Eddie had ever dreamed of having, was finally all his.

     “Does this mean Buck can live here now?!” Chris asked excitedly from the living room, and both Buck and Eddie just smiled into the kiss and held each other tighter. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Part three of Buddie Ficmas 2022! I hope you guys enjoyed this one! If anyone wants to be tagged for the future Buddie Ficmas posts, let me know and I would love to tag you. And as always, thanks for reading <3

[tumortunes]

I’ve been hanging in my room a lot since coming back home to davis.

I feel that this time and location is an enormous defining point in my cancer timeline.

At this time my sxs were really showing. I was really scared of driving after doing it for a little bit on our way back from Carmel. I had to pull over to let Nathan drive bc my eyes and head wasn’t in it. I thought I could and that fact that I couldn’t really shook me. I remember sleeping a ton at Nathan’s house once we got back. And going to yi fang and getting a boba and walking around Cupertino while Nathan was at work. I thought my eye sight would click back to normal but things were still fuzzy. I drove to davis anyway. I was tense the entire time. I only drove in the right lane. I was scared to go to fast. I has happy there was traffic so the cars were going slower. I remember looking thru a specific part of my eye that was the last blurry and focusing on that part.

We talked a lot about going to LA for Christmas. We weren’t sure if we would go bc I was so sick. We zoomed with another doc who gave different migraine meds and scheduled a precautionary mri for Feb. I didn’t wanna ruin the holiday. I said I would be fine and we should go to LA. I couldn’t get out of bed in LA. The trip down there was so painful. I was exhausted about wrapping my Christmas gifts. I really tried to get my shit together for Christmas morning and all I could do was come down the stairs, drop off my gifts, and then sit on the couch. Then I needed to go back upstairs bc everything hurt. We headed back to davis the next day. I thought maybe I had brain fog and these headaches from long Covid. Stress didn’t make sense bc finals were done. That car ride back to davis was crazy difficult. I was tense the whole time. From then until the mri was a blur. Just aching headaches. I could hear the blood thumping in my head. It was so loud I couldn’t sleep. But it was hard to sleep bc it hurt so bad. But I wanted to sleep to avoid the pain. I just remember being in pain and throwing up a lot during that time. It’s really blurry now.

We don’t talk about any of this tho. I feel like I need to. It’s crazy that it’s already been a year. I want one of those cakes that say “congrats on not dying”

But I think my fam wouldn’t be able to handle that.

I think it’s really funny tho.

And I’d like to be congratulated for not dying yet too.

I def need to unpack these feelings more.

[nineteensixtieschikadee]

3 A.M. Thoughts

Does it ever worry you how Arya might turn out in The Winds of Winter when she finds out that Jon died for her back at Castle Black? And how that might spawn her into a desent of madness and fury that *might* just be the driving force for her to eventually come back to Westeros and kill every single Night’s Watch men responsible for Jon’s death???

[foreverindreamlandd]

Awake My Soul • 14

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x F!Reader

WC: 7.9k

Summary: It’s been 5 years since zombies first began their invasion, and despite everything you’ve been through, you’ve managed to survive up until this point. Now it’s time to face your most dangerous challenge yet….the grumpy, untrusting, fiercely protective Bucky Barnes.

Chapter Warnings: A LOT of torture, needles, syringes, mentions of blood, death, nightmares, someone not eating or sleeping, electroshock therapy, a gross thing with a tooth, suicide. Listen....it's a rough one, fam.

A/N: Thank you so so so much for being so patient as I wrote this. It might take the same amount with the others, but I promise I will finish this series and I'll do my best to give it the ending it deserves &lt;3

Series Masterlist

**There is a playlist for this fic, but linking it here messes up the tags so feel free to check it out in the series masterlist!

Meine kleine Puppe - My little doll.

Bucky slammed the Hydra agent against the wall, his feet dangling in the air, hands clinging to the vibranium arm in a measly attempt to loosen the grip he had around his neck.

“Where is she?” He growled through clenched teeth, eyes blazing with unending, unbridled rage.

The agent, though very much struggling to breathe, let out a choked laugh. “As if I’d tell you scum. Hydra would kill me.”

Bucky pulled the agent away from the wall so he could slam him back into it, creating an outline of his body in the drywall. “I’m gonna fucking kill you if you don’t so ANSWER ME!”

“Bucky!” Steve shouted, but his friend kept his gaze on the snickering man before him. “Enough.”

Bucky tensed his jaw, finding the tiniest bit of comfort in the way the agent's face was turning blue.

“At least,” he gasped, “if I die now, it will be for a cause I believe in.”

His hand tightened around the agent’s neck.

“Don’t be fooled,” Bucky said, a smile creeping up his lips, “if you don’t talk now, I’ll make sure you wish you were dead before I finally end your useless, miserable life.”

Steve grabbed him by the shoulder, jerking him away. The agent fell to the ground, sputtering for air.

Bucky shoved Steve away. “You need to back off right now before-”

“Before what? You gonna torture me, Buck? Kill me? Is that the new norm when you’re upset? What the fuck is this, man?”

Bucky shook his head. “Lecture me all you want later, Steve. I’m doing what I need to do to get Y/n back. If you have a problem with that then fucking stay out of it.”

He turned to the fallen agent, grabbing him by the collar until their faces were inches apart.

“You think you have a cause worthy to believe in? You’re just a rat doing the bidding of people who could get two shits about you. If you want to support them? Follow them? Fine. But I’ll get you to talk, even if it costs you a few fingernails and teeth.”

The agent chuckled, his tongue sliding over his teeth. “Nice try, Mr. Barnes,” he said, then pulled out one of his back molars so effortlessly that Bucky flinched, shock preventing him from reacting in time as the agent broke the tooth between his teeth, a white, milky substance bursting into his mouth. “I’ll see you and your girlfriend in Hell.”

Bucky roared, shaking the man as blood dripped out of his eyes, body convulsing before going completely limp.

He threw his corpse to the ground, then punched a whole into the wall closest to him. “God FUCKING dammit,” he yelled.

“It’ll be okay, Buck,” Steve said softly, the regular mixture of concern and pity in his voice. “We’ll look somewhere else. Maybe there’s another agent hiding in this mall that we haven’t found yet.” He tried to rest a comforting hand on Bucky’s shoulder but he jerked away.

“Even if there were another one of these assholes, they would have heard us and booked it already, Steve,” he spit out. “This was our only shot! The closest we’ve been to finding her! And you fucking ruined it!”

Steve swallowed, maintaining a calm demeanor. “You and I both know he wasn’t going to tell you anything.”

“We could have at least tried to get something!”

“So what? You were going to break his bones and rip out his fingernails, Bucky? Is this who you are now, a monster like them?”

Bucky looked to the ground. “If it’s what I need to do to get her back.” His voice was softer, but still firm. Resolute in that horrifying statement.

Steve scoffed. “No way. I’m sorry man, but I’m not going to allow you to lose yourself to find her. She wouldn’t allow it either if she were here-”

“BUT SHE’S NOT HERE STEVE, IS SHE?” Bucky screamed, veins popping out of his forehead. “I let her come with me to save you and put her right back into their hands. She’s gone, and it’s all my fault.” His voice broke at the end, but he forced the tears to stay behind his red-rimmed eyes.

His friend relaxed, taking a step forward to once again attempt comforting his friend. “Buck…”

Bucky sniffled, taking a step back to kneel down by the fallen Hydra agent, inspecting for any clues. Steve stayed where he was, taking his cue to be silent.

When he deemed that there was nothing useful on the body he stood up, storming past Steve.

“We should head back.”

You had been gone 57 days.

Each one of them passed with such agonizing slowness and rapidity. Bucky felt each second pass that you weren’t there with him, palm pressed in his, head on his chest. He also felt the devastation of another day gone, of you being tortured by your captors. There was a gnawing feeling in the back of his mind telling him that time was running out.

But he couldn’t fucking find you, and it was breaking him.

That moment he awoke to find you gone, that silly goodbye note you had left begging him not to go look for you, Bucky allowed himself one minute to shatter. 60 seconds to let grief totally consume and paralyze him.

When that minute passed, he stood up and got to work.

Of course he, Steve, Yelena, Kate and Clint dropped everything and booked it to the Hydra prison, only to find it completely empty. Any trace of their existence there being the bloodstains that covered the building.

They searched miles and miles past the perimeter, Bucky only stopping when forced by the others as they commanded they take a break and rest. At least for the sake of the horses.

After a few days, they went back to Shield’s camp to regroup with the others and plan their next steps.

It had been an endless hunt ever since. Small packs of them searching different areas, searching for any sign of where they might have taken you.

Nothing.

No sign of Hydra was to be found. They had gone completely radio silent.

And Bucky was falling apart at the seams.

There were times - when he was riding Alpine through the woods towards his next destination, or when he was in the gym railing on the punching bag - that he would see you in the corner of his eye. He’d stop short, whipping his head around, tears welling in his eyes as he was met with nothing. His chest would rip freshly in two, just as it did the night you first left, and he’d run off with Alpine or slam his fist even harder on the punching bag.

At night, if he was able to sleep for even a few minutes, he’d dream of you.

It was always the same dream. You running through the woods, him chasing after you, trying to stop you from leaving. Your voice echoing in his mind as he screamed out your name.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t look for me.”

“Please.”

It would just make him run faster. If he was lucky enough to have a good dream, he’d manage to catch up and grab your arm. As soon as you spun around to look at him, he’d see the start of a smile forming on your face before he woke up.

Most nights, no matter how fast he ran, how loud he screamed out to you, he couldn’t reach you in time before you drifted out of sight.

No matter the outcome of the dream, he would wake up in a cold sweat, gasping for air, your voice still whirling through his brain.

“Don’t look for me.”

“Don’t look for me.”

“Don’t look for me.”

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss you or throttle you after reading that note. How the actual fuck could you possibly think that he wasn’t going to go to the ends of the earth to find the woman he loved.

God, he wished he had fucking said it. The words had always been spoken humorously, but he meant it every time.

Bucky wondered if he had found the fucking balls to say it earlier, to try to find the words to tell you how much you meant to him, that it might have been enough to make you stay. That he might be able to get you to understand how much it would actually destroy him to not have you by his side. That he would have fought Hydra tooth and nail until he breathed his last breath if it meant he could wake up with you in his arms.

Or would it not have been enough, to know how much he loved you? Was leaving him easy for you? Were your feelings for him less consuming than his were? 

No. He couldn’t think that way. Refused to think that way. 

He knew how you felt about him. Knew it with every hug, every kiss, every fucking look you gave him that put butterflies in his stomach and changed his center of gravity.

“Don’t look for me.”

Sorry, Sweetheart, but I’m never going to stop looking until I find you. 

Bucky would find you.

He had to.

There was no other option.

Bucky beelined to the meeting room as soon as they walked through the gates into Shield. From the corner of his eye, he saw Cass, AJ, and Morgan standing in the garden, none of them waving at him upon his return. When you left, he had grown even more cold and distant than he had when he thought Steve was dead along with so many of their family on the night of the Hydra attack. Even after that devastation, he was always able to manage enough energy to smile at their ridiculous jokes, or hug them back when they wrapped their tiny bodies around his massive one.

Now, with you gone, Bucky no longer had the heart to smile or laugh. Didn’t have the energy to fake enthusiasm when Cass told him he managed to do a full pull-up or when AJ asked him to sit at their table during dinner. 

They didn’t even try to win his attention anymore, because he showed no interest in it, and that knowledge broke him more and more each day.

He wanted to tell them that he loved them all so much. Loved everyone here with his whole heart (or, what was left of it). That if he could smile at the dumb fart jokes Morgan made, he would. He just….couldn’t. Every moment he existed since you left was spent drowning, and Bucky didn’t have the strength to swim up for air.

The meeting room was empty when he walked in, and he went straight to the map that had now grown significantly since the gang started going past their comfort zones in search of you.

It was covered with dots, routes, red X’s, each spot a mark of failure. 

Bucky lifted up the red marker and added another X to their most recent destination, the taste of iron on his tongue as he bit too hard on the inside of his cheek.

As his eyes stared blankly at the map before him, his mind wandered elsewhere.

“Is that all you got, Beefcake?” you taunted, fists shielding your face as you prepared for another attack.

Bucky grinned, pretending to act tough as he readied his next move when all he really wanted to do was cage your adorable, sweaty face in between his hands and kiss you until you passed out.

It had been a few days after the small fiasco at CVS, when Bucky found out you were immune and the two of you realized that the feelings you felt for one another were - believe it or not -  reciprocated. You were already in the gym training with Yelena when he descended the stairs for his usual workout (one that had conveniently switched around to overlap with yours), and he felt his stomach do somersaults when your eyes met his and you took the fraction of a second you had to smile and wink at him before dodging another blow from your fierce trainer.

Once Yelena was done with you he stepped forward, challenging you to show him your ‘mad skills’ (as you called them).

Yelena just rolled her eyes with a snort, grabbing her things and running away to leave the two of you alone as you sparred.

“You’re talkin’ a big game for someone who’s about to get their ass kicked, Sweetheart,” he said in a low, menacing voice. 

If he was being completely honest, Bucky was unsure of who was going to win. Though he knew you were amazing and strong and sexy and everything good in this world, he had always thought of himself as a top-level fighter. But, you had been training with the one person who had consistently been able to hand his ass to him, so it did make sense that you’d be able to do the same.

He was also way too distracted by the fact that this was the steamiest fight he had ever been in. The feel of your muscles tensing around him as you moved out of his hold, the way your chest moved up and down as you panted for breath, the small gasps you let out whenever he made a move you weren’t anticipating. 

Bucky was an absolute goner, and all he could do was smile when you eventually jumped up his body, wrapped your legs around his neck and brought the two of you to the ground.

“Fuck YES,” you breathed out, doing a small fist bump in the air. “That’s the first time I’ve nailed the leg thing.”

Bucky chuckled, turning onto his side, head rested on his elbow as he stared at you. “It’s an honor to be your first victim, Sweetheart.”

Your eyebrows wiggled as a sly grin crept up your face. 

It was silent for a few moments then, only the sounds of your heavy breathing echoing through the room. Bucky didn’t care, though. He was just so, ridiculously, stupidly happy to be able to stare into your eyes as you stared into his, the inches separating your lips growing smaller and smaller-

“Bucky.”

Bucky turned around as Sam and Steve walked in, their expressions stern.

He ignored their looks and turned back to the maps. “I was thinking we could try going farther North next time. I can be ready in a few hours and we can head out-”

“Bucky,” Sam repeated, crossing his arms. Him and Steve exchanged glances before turning back to their friend. “You’re being benched.”

His brows furrowed. “The fuck does that mean? This a baseball game or something?”

“It means,” Steve continued, hands on his hips, “that you aren’t leaving camp anymore. For the foreseeable future.”

He scoffed. “You’re grounding me?”

“We’re trying to keep you alive, man,” Sam said, eyes filled with sadness. “You can’t go on like this. You’re not eating, you’re not sleeping, and now Steve is saying that you’re getting reckless and aggressive while out in completely new territory-”

“I have everything under control,” Bucky barked out, glaring at Steve, who directed his attention to the floor in front of him. “You can’t make me stay in my room to think about what I’ve done instead of going out and finding her.” 

“You don’t have it under control, Buck!” Sam yelled. “You’re making too much noise. There’s no secrecy, no tactfulness, just you blindly going into danger and compromising you and whoever you’re with.” He sighed, running a hand over his face. 

Steve took over. “Bucky, look, we all want her back as much as you do - don’t roll your eyes at me - but if you’re going to continue to make it so obvious to Hydra that we’re hunting them,  they’re either going to take us out or move farther and farther away until there’s no chance of finding her. Or worse, they’ll decide she’s not worth the trouble and kill her without second thought.” Bucky punched the wooden desk next to him. “You have to hear us on this, Bucky. Your caring too much is making you careless, and all of us could pay the price for it. Y/n especially.”

“And just because you’re not going out anymore doesn’t mean that we won’t either,” Sam said. “We’re going to keep searching until we get answers. We won’t give up on her.”

 Bucky stared at them for a few moments, expression hard and - if he were being honest - the tiniest bit hateful.

“If she dies because I wasn’t able to find her in time, I’ll never forgive either of you.”

He walked out before they could get a word in, too ashamed by the looks of devastation on their faces.

He went straight to your room and slammed the door shut behind him, pacing and running his hands over his head.

It was all so overwhelming, the amount of emotions running through him. Pain, guilt, anger, confusion, anxiety. His brain was so overloaded that he couldn’t even feel any of them. 

Eventually he laid down in your bed, face pressed against the pillow.

He started ‘resting’ (if you could even call it that) in your room after you had left. It was this strange, instinctive need to be surrounded by your scent, to breathe in the air you once  inhabited. Even the faint imprints in your mattress formed by your body was something he craved.

Eventually, breathing into your pillow, his eyes fluttered closed and he dozed off.

You were running away from him in the woods.

He sprinted as fast as he could.

Until finally….he was able to reach out for your hand.

When he spun you around, blood was pouring out of your eyes, and you screamed when you saw him.

He awoke with his own scream trapped in his throat, sitting up in bed as he caught his breath. Though the dream only lasted a few seconds, the darkness outside your window indicated that hours had passed.

More time wasted when he could have been back out finding you.

Fuck this, Bucky thought, standing up and grabbing his pack. They can’t keep me locked in here.

Bucky quietly opened the door, creeping down the hallway as he snuck out of the dorms.

“Going somewhere?” a low, Russian accent asked casually from the shadows behind him.

He stopped, head hanging low in defeat.

“Stay out of this, Yelena,” he replied flatly.

He saw her feet walk past him. “Follow me, Barnes.”

With an annoyed sigh, he followed her.

Yelena led them to the gym, neither of them saying a word as their steps echoed down the stairs and into the open basement.

She walked over to the corner, grabbing two pairs of boxing gloves and handing one of them to Bucky.

He looked at the gloves, then at her, and when she raised her eyebrows in a wordless challenge, he grabbed them and put them on.

“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?” he asked with no attempt to hide the annoyance in his tone.

“Hit me,” was all she said, arms limp by her side.

Bucky cocked his head to the side. “What?”

“Hit me.”

He let out a confused chuckle, shaking his head. “Yelena, I don’t know what your plan is, but me hitting you isn’t going to-”

Bucky let out a small oof as the small Russian’s fist socked him in the jaw, his giant body stumbling back.

He slowly turned back at her, anger bubbling in his chest. “What the fuck was-”

She punched him again, this time in the stomach.

“Come on Barnes, we don’t have all night,” she said, taunting him. “Just fucking punch me already-”

Yelena was on the floor before she could finish the last word, and Bucky’s right arm was fully extended, his chest heaving from the rush of adrenaline.

When she stood back up, there was a smile on her face.

“Good.” And then she was winding up for another strike.

It was the literal definition of a tit-for-tat, Yelena getting a blow on him, and Bucky getting the next.

At first it all felt childish, like they were just two punks trying to see who could wail on the other person the hardest. 

But there was so much more to it, Bucky began to realize. All this time, he had been filled with such anger and aggression that he tried to release through the inanimate punching bag, a zombie who mistakenly crossed his path, or a Hydra agent who would just laugh in his face at the pain and rage behind his eyes.

Here, with Yelena, someone who was filled with the same agony he felt, meeting him punch for punch as tears filled their eyes, it was like there was someone here who understood the emotions ripping their way through him constantly. 

Like he was finally able to fully let go.

The more they fought, the more exhausted his body became, the less he was able to hold everything in.

It was even worse because the friend before him had this look in her eye the entire time, a look that told her that it was okay. That she was there for him. That she could handle this burden for him.

Then, finally, as he raised his right fist to ready another hit, the breath he took in hitched, and was followed by a small sob.

His fists lowered to his sides, feet shuffling side to side as he tried to balance himself, emotion completely washing over him.

He was on the ground instantly, elbows on his knees, face in his gloved hands as he body shuddered from the wails choking out of him.

Yelena removed her gloves and knelt behind him, wrapping her arms around his and squeezing him as he cried.

They stayed there for what could have been minutes or hours, he truly couldn’t tell. Eventually, his sobs turned to soft sniffles, and his shoulders stopped shaking.

Yelena took that as her cue to release her hold on him, and she moved to sit by his side, staying silent as she waited for him to regain composure.

“Thank you,” he finally croaked out.

She nodded, pressing a finger under her nose to check for blood (there wasn’t, and Bucky let out a small sigh of relief).

His brows furrowed when she let out a scoff. “This actually wasn’t as bad as I was anticipating,” she said. “When Clint had me do this with him right after losing Natasha, I nearly shattered his nose.”

When Bucky laughed this time, it was genuine. “Well, I made sure not to get your face with the metal arm. Even with the gloves, I feel like that would have done some nasty shit.”

“I appreciate that,” she said, lightly punching his arm. “I’m sure Kate will, too.”

The two shared a laugh, and then the Russian’s face went a bit more somber. “I know how much it hurts, Bucky. How unbearable it is when you’ve lost someone so important. How much easier it feels to just shut down. But we have to think about what the people we love would want for us. Natasha…Natasha was the only family I had for a really long time. And I thought she was all I was going to have. All I wanted to have. And when she was gone, I didn’t want anyone else to fill in the void left behind by her. I couldn’t even look at Kate for a few weeks, because I felt guilty about seeking comfort from someone who wasn’t my sister. Like I shouldn’t be allowed to feel anything else but sadness because someone I loved so much wasn’t here anymore.”

Bucky nodded, tears continuing to stream down his face as he swallowed down the lump in his throat. He thought about Steve, the way he had been so cold towards his best friend because he didn’t feel like he deserved to be comforted.

“Eventually I realized that Natasha would have hated that, to see me so lonely and isolated because of her. Like I was doing it as a favor to her, even though it was just a waste of a life that still had a chance to live, to carry on with the love shared between my sister and I.”

She rested a hand on his shoulder. “You, Barnes, you need to keep fighting the pull toward that empty void, that urge to shut down. Not just because there are people in this camp who love you and don’t want to lose you, but because Y/n would be devastated to see that the love you two shared was locked up and hidden away forever. And not only that, but I know with every fiber of my fucking being that she is still alive, and she deserves better than to be reunited with a cold, distant version of you.”

Bucky’s gaze went to the ground, vision blurry as he continued to cry silently. 

Then, without a word, he stood up, taking off his gloves.

Just as Yelena was about to stand, he extended a hand out toward her. She smiled, grabbing it as he hoisted her up, wrapping his arms around her as soon as she was vertical.

“Love you, Lena.”

“Love you too, Barnes.”

When Bucky returned to your room later that night, the moment his head hit the pillow he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

He awoke the next morning to the sound of his stomach growling, and Bucky got up to grab himself breakfast.

Lately, whenever he did eat (which was rare these days), he would simply sneak into the cafeteria and grab a bowl of food left aside for him by Dum Dum and escape back to your room to eat by himself.

He was about to do the same today when something caught his ear, causing him to stop in his tracks. 

“Dear Ella. Impatience is not usually my weakness. But your letters torment me.”

His chest swelled at the familiar words, and Bucky turned his attention to Morgan, AJ, and Cass sitting together at their usual table. Morgan held the book up as she acted out the words she read, the boys completely enraptured.

Unable to help himself, Bucky’s feet pivoted, and he walked over to them.

Three sets of eyes were on him in an instant; wide, hesitant, and a bit confused. The new Bucky they had come to know never seemed to want anything to do with them.

“Where’d you find that?” he asked, gesturing to the movie tie-in copy of Ella Enchanted he had gotten you months prior.

Morgan gave him a sad smile. “It was left outside my room after….after Y/n went missing.”

He nodded, hand smoothing over her head.

“Can I tell you a secret?” 

Three heads nodded up at him, eyes now wide with excitement.

Bucky sat down next to AJ. “I fucking love this book.”

Giggles erupted from the kids at both the admission and the curse word, and Bucky found himself laughing along with them.

“Alright Morgan, keep going.” He took a big spoonful of oatmeal and gulped it down. “Shit’s about to go down with Ella.”

More giggles followed, and then Morgan continued reading. Occasionally the boys would make gagging sounds when something overly romantic happened, but that didn’t stop them from begging for her to keep going at the end of each chapter.

Every so often, Bucky would catch someone in the corner of his eye stopping to stare at the scene before them. At one point he looked over once to see Yelena and Kate watching them from their own table, and Yelena winked at him when their eyes met.

Cass and AJ eventually made their ways onto Bucky’s lap, their heads resting on his shoulders as they listened to Morgan. 

He had missed this. Missed spending time with the kids, giggling along with them, hugging them with reckless abandon. He promised himself that no matter what happened, he wouldn’t take it for granted ever again.

“And so, with laughter and love, we lived happily ever after.”

The table - and Dum Dum - erupted with applause as Morgan finished the last sentence, and she stood from her seat to give them all a grand bow.

“Next time, I want to be the one to read!” Cass exclaimed. 

“No, I want to read!” AJ pouted.

Bucky chuckled, lowering them to the ground as he stood. “You can both have a chance to read, guys. We can make a book club and everything.” His heart stung for a second at the memory of you saying almost the exact same words during one of your first watch assignments, but the smile didn’t leave his face as the kids cheered loudly at the proposition.

“Is this book club exclusive, or can other people join?” Bucky turned to see Steve standing there, a small, grateful smile on his face.

Bucky nodded. “The more the merrier, Stevie.”

His best friend nodded, jaw clenching as he slapped a hand on Bucky’s shoulder. He responded by pulling Steve in for a hug.

“I’m sorry,” Bucky grumbled into Steve’s shoulder.

He felt Steve nod again. “I’m sorry, too.”

“Love ya, punk.”

“Love you too, jerk.”

They exchanged playful hits to one another's shoulders before heading out of the cafeteria, Dum Dum giving them a small salute as they left.

“I know you’re probably busy,” Bucky started, holding the door open for Steve as they stepped  outside. “But are you down to play a round of War-”

The gates creaked open in front of them, Clint, Laura, and Sarah running through.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked, the two of them following behind as their friends ran by.

“Sarah, get your brother. Laur, go find the others.” was all Clint said as he stormed up the stairs to the meeting room.

“Can someone please tell us what the hell is going on?” Bucky asked, hands on his hips.

Clint ignored him, walking over to the disheveled map, his fingers tracing along some invisible route.

Then, his finger stopped, and he turned around until his eyes locked on Bucky’s.

“We found her.” 

You ran through the woods, gasping for air, limbs exhausted, hands gripping to each tree for any added support you could get.

You just had to go a little farther, a few more miles.

Just to be sure.

Put some distance between you and them.

Your brain was so panicked, so tired, that you couldn’t even remember how you escaped Hydra.

It didn’t matter. You were free. You were safe.

A hand gripped your arm from behind, stopping you so immediately that you almost fell on your back from the force of it.

Instead, you found the strength to keep yourself upright, pulling away from your captor.

But then…you heard the voice.

“Sweetheart,” the soothing, baritone sound caused a wave of relief to wash through you.

You whipped around, breathing out a small whimper as you looked at his smile, his eyes.

Those perfect, adoring, cerulean irises.

“Bucky,” you gasped, jumping into his arms as he held you in a tight embrace.

“It’s okay Sweetheart, I’m here,” he whispered into your ear, and you clung to him.

“I missed you so much.”

“Why did you leave?” he asked, arms nearly crushing you.

You took a sharp inhale from the growing discomfort of his hug. “I…thought it would be for the best. I thought it would keep you safe.”

Silence.

“Bucky?”

“You’ll never keep me safe, sweetie.” The bite in his voice was unfamiliar to you.

You tried to pull away to see his face. “Bucky, what’s going on? You’re hurting me.”

A menacing, familiar chuckle rumbled in your ear. “Did you really think coming back would keep them safe? That we wouldn’t go after them as soon as we broke you?”

You cried out, finally registering this new voice.

With all of your might, you pushed away from the suffocating hold.

Brock Rumlow smiled at you.

“Time to wake up, sweetie.”

You screamed.

The scream echoed in the room as you jolted awake, limbs pinned to your body with thick leather straps.

You gasped for air, eyes wide, evaluating your surroundings.

No longer in the woods, you were in the testing room that you had frequented for weeks. The cold, stinging feeling of something around your neck, a phantom pain on your skin where it touched you.

That feeling lasted at least an hour after the onslaught of electrocution the collar emitted. 

You wondered how long you had been out for this time. Was it seconds? Minutes? Hours? It was different each time, depending on how many rounds of shock torture you had gone through for the day.

“You did very well, Meine kleine Puppe,” Zola said with a level of enthusiasm that made you sick. “Your vitals have already risen to normal levels in such a short time, and you managed to last five whole minutes before going unconscious.” He walked into your line of sight, jotting down notes on his clipboard.

You glared at him. “What do I get as a reward? Six more minutes of electrocution?” you spat out.

“You know this can all end, sweetie,” Brock cooed, and you turned to the shadows in the corner of the room, making out his cross-armed silhouette. “Tell us everything we want to know about Shield and Banner and we’ll make all the pain go away.”

“So you can go take down their camp like you promised not to, even though that’s the only fucking reason I’m here? No way. I’ll gladly stay in this hell and keep you here with me, Rumlow.”

He jumped up, charging over until he hovered over your prone form, face inches from yours. “Listen here, you little bitch,” a fleck of spit hit your forehead, but you refused to flinch, matching his death glare. He squeezed your face in between his hand, jerking it to the side to expose your neck. “I know this bite is new, that Shield had to have found out about your special blood.” Brock stood up straight, attempting to tower over you as an intimidation tactic. “Ward says that mad scientist can solve anything, including developing a cure for everyone based on the shit flowing through your veins. He figured it out, and you’re going to tell us how.”

You lifted your shoulders as high as you could while tied down to the chair. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Brock,” you responded in a mocking, sickly sweet voice.

You heard the crack before feeling his fist slamming into your jaw.

Blood pooled in your mouth, and once the initial shock had worn off and you were able to turn your neck, you spit out the iron substance on the floor.

“I swear to god Y/n, we are going to hunt them down and make each and every one of them suffer twice as much as you have. Even the fucking kids. All the while telling them that it was your fault-”

“Enough, Rumlow,” Johann Schmidt’s voice echoed in the room, sending chills down your body as it always did. Even Brock’s eyes widened ever so slightly from the sharp tone of his leader.

Brock looked up. “Sir, I apologize, it’s just that we’ve been trying to break her for weeks-”

“Have you really been trying?” Schmidt countered, a hint of mocking amusement in his voice. “If you had, she would be crawling at your feet by now.”

Rumlow opened his mouth as if to argue with his superior, but closed it before saying something that might put him in a chair similar to yours.

Johann continued, walking up to Zola’s side. “Sure, we could go on over to that tiny Shield camp and burn it to the ground just like last time,” you clenched your fists, “but where’s the fun in that?” He rested a hand on the scientist’s shoulder as they shared a knowing grin. “Me? I’d rather spend our time learning how to make a seemingly strong mind shatter to pieces.” He moved to you, stroking your cheek with his pointer finger.

You spat more blood in his face. Johann closed his eyes, only appearing slightly annoyed at this sign of disrespect as he slowly wiped his face.

His lips curved upward into a wicked grin. “Looks like someone’s ready to get started. Zola?”

The scientist approached, a syringe filled with clear liquid in hand. 

Your body jerked instinctively, trying to get away from yet another needle. 

Still, even as your body was going into panic mode, you found the courage to stare Johann in the face right before the substance was injected.

“I don’t care how confident you are,” you said, head immediately starting to feel dizzy, eyelids heavy, “I’ll never betray the ones I love.”

Johann simply chuckled. “You’re loyal to a fault, pet. It’s clear as day to anyone who comes across you. Our goal isn’t to change that level of loyalty…” He moved to whisper into your ear, his voice slowing and slurring as your brain grew more and more foggy, fighting to process his words.

“I’m simply going to make you loyal to me.”

The drug flowing through your veins was so strong that when you finally closed your eyes, there were no comforting blue eyes to greet you as you fell into darkness.

When you finally woke up some time later, you realized in horror that you were met with the same level of blackness with your eyes open as you were when they were closed.

After so many years of traveling under the cover of night, your eyesight had developed so significantly that you could see almost as well in darkness as you could in daylight, able to use any sliver of light available to make out objects, landscapes, people, undead.

This was different.

This blackness surrounding you was man-made, and it was unforgiving. There was no light, no shadows, nothing. Just darkness.

You felt around the ground, trying to make out your surroundings, only to be met with cold concrete.

Standing up, limbs heavy from whatever drug lingered in your bloodstream, you walked around until you found the walls. Whatever room you were in was small, the only thing inside here being a toilet.

One part of the wall felt more hollow than the rest.

It was a door. A locked one, but still a way out.

You pushed harder, and nothing happened.

You slammed your fist against it. It didn’t budge.

You screamed. The movement of your vocal cords brought your attention to your neck.

Where the collar still remained.

“I see you have finally woken up, pet,” Johann’s voice echoed in the room and you jumped, eyes searching the darkness for the source, fists clenched and ready to strike.

“Now, now, no need for that,” he cooed, and you whipped around and swung, your punch meeting air. “You won’t be able to hurt me or anyone else in here, pet.”

That was when you caught the crackling in his voice, and you realized he was speaking to you through an intercom.

“What’s your grand plan, Schmidt?” you taunted, throwing your hands up in the air. “Gotta tell ya, I stopped being afraid of the dark long ago.” Not a fan of this level of darkness, though, you added in your mind.

No response.

“Oh, so now you’re afraid to reveal this new tactic? Don’t want to give anything away? Afraid of me finding out?”

Once again, your questions were met with silence.

It was so unsettling, you found yourself wishing to hear the monstrous voice of your captor.

Sixty long seconds passed.

Then, you heard a different voice than Johann’s through the intercom.

“Bucky,” the new voice said in a low, neutral tone. 

And then the collar around your neck surged, pain ripping through your body, the bite on your neck burning.

You screamed, clinging to the device to try and rip it off.

The charge didn’t let up, and soon you were writhing on the floor, tears streaming down your face.

It took you five minutes to pass out.

You were back into the woods, running….

A hand wrapped around your arm, turning you around…

Bucky….

His name flowing through your subconscious caused a small tingle in your neck.

Just as he reached up to touch your face….

You woke up, greeted once again by the overwhelming darkness of your new prison cell.

How much time had passed? How long had you been in here?

The thought made your skin itch.

“How long do you plan on keeping me in here, Schmidt?” you asked as you stood up, forcing your voice to not shake. “Don’t you want to rip into my body more and see what makes me tick?”

No one answered, and all you were met with was the same, terrifying silence.

Until….

“Bucky.”

The collar went off again, the immediate onslaught of pain brought you to your knees in an instant. 

You used all of your strength to try to pull the collar off, writhing and screaming in pain.

Until everything went black once more.

You were running in the woods…

Bucky grabbed you…

Your neck felt a tiny sting of pain….

He raised a hand….

You awoke, body covered in sweat.

“Whatever you’re doing isn’t going to work!” you screamed once you had finally composed yourself.

The third time you heard the person say Bucky over the intercom, a tiny part of your mind felt disdain for the name.

Each unconscious dream was the same - as it had been when they first started torturing you to the point of passing out. It had always provided a small source of comfort to help you go on.

But as each round of electrocution came, and the dream repeated itself, it began to gradually shift.

Each time you saw Bucky, when his name entered your mind, the phantom pain in your neck would grow.

When he reached his hand to touch your face, it became less comforting, and made you more uneasy.

You’d wake up, completely disoriented, body exhausted, brain in such a deep fog that you would sometimes need a handful of seconds to remember where you were. Or worse, what life had been like before the dark room.

And the more you went into the safe place in your subconscious, the less safe it felt.

The more times you met Bucky’s eyes, the more fearful you came of this person grabbing you in the middle of the woods.

Who was he again?

Bucky.

The source of your pain.

Your neck burned when you were awake and when you were unconscious, and it was because of Bucky.

You had lost count of the number of shocks you had endured, the number of times you had allowed the darkness to consume you.

At some point though, when your mind and body were totally spent, you heard the name over the intercom, and a whimper escaped your mouth before the shocks started up again.

That time, when you saw Bucky, his eyes were black, menacing, his smile malicious.

And when he reached up to touch you, he wrapped his hand around your neck and squeezed.

When you came to, the scream that left your tired body was almost inhuman.

Schmidt stood in the observation room, hovering over the Hydra agent that was conducting the experiment.

He was amazed that you had lasted three whole days, even after having to send a few medics to check on your vitals for the times you remained unconscious for hours at a time.

The whole process had taken longer than expected, but he knew he would eventually break you.

Just as he had broken the others.

He stared at the screen, a cruel grin on his face as he watched your body tremble on the ground, crying for help, begging to be saved from your once beloved Bucky.

“Bring them in,” he finally murmured, not even bothering to turn his head towards the other agent who silently stepped out of the room.

It wasn’t often that Johann Schmidt felt any semblance of excitement in his life. Usually it was all too much dulled by the stupidity and inadequacy of the human race. He had felt it a few times before; when they had first injected the serum into your veins to prevent the zombie virus from spreading through your system, or when they turned Rogers into a superhuman.

Nothing could ever top the day he and Zola managed to create a virus so catastrophic, that they broke the entire world.

This moment though, one that he had been preparing for since you first escaped, this one came close to that level of excitement he felt five years ago.

Now, it was time for the real fun to begin.

Your body was glued to the hard floor, every inch of your skin pulsing from the lingering pain that you were convinced would never go away.

You trembled with each rasping inhale of breath, praying that one of them might be your last. That you could finally be put to rest and never have to exist in this horrible, horrible world.

An unending darkness, one that didn’t scare you, but brought comfort, peace.

A bright light illuminated the entire room and your eyes squeezed shut as you hissed in pain, the sudden contrast too overwhelming.

When you slowly blinked them open, everything was a bit blurry as your sight adjusted, taking in the small, white-walled room.

In the top corner, you saw a camera pointing towards you.

Over the sounds of your heavy breathing, you heard the locked door slowly creep open.

When you saw the two people in front of you, you wondered for a moment if this was just a new dream you had created. That your mind was still being tormented and that the pain would soon return.

Or maybe you were finally dead, and they were here to comfort you as you passed on.

Regardless of whatever your current circumstance was, your heart swelled as they walked slowly toward you, tears in the woman’s eyes as she knelt down, a silver collar that matched yours around her neck. 

Her pupils were so dilated they looked almost black. Still, you could see the inherent kindness that had always existed behind them.

“Sersi?” you said in wonder, then turned your gaze to the man standing behind her, a small smile on his face, same black eyes, same silver collar. “Druig?”

“Y/n,” Sersi exclaimed, pulling you into a warm hug. You clung to her.

“It’s good to see you, Birdie,” Druig said fondly. Hearing the nickname he had given you years ago had your shoulders shaking as you sobbed.

Sersi rubbed your back.  “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

You nodded, tightening your hold as she whispered into your ear. “Bucky won’t be able to hurt you anymore.”

Chapter 15

[roosterscockpit]

His Little Girl | Bradley Bradshaw x reader P. 23

click here to see the master list

Hi babes! I’ll be posting back to back to back again! I have a cute little Halloween HC for this cute little fam 🥹🫶🏼. ALSO! I would like to thank everyone so much for wanting to be in the story! Y'all are lifesavers! I love you all! 💕 Happy reading and enjoy! ❤️

NOTE: If I tag you in the story below, can you let me know if you get the notification that you’ve been tagged? My tags have been acting up lately 😩

A/n: Today is the banquet. You get to meet the dagger squad’s lovely dates 😍

Word Count: 4.2k

Warnings: cursing, nudity, mentions killing someone, but LOVE LOVE LOVE and MORE LOVE ❤️

Please don't take my work, I will find you.

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

After talking to Billy you made your way to the patio with Bri, Bradley, and Leia. Bri and Bradley were sitting on the swings talking to each other. Leia was on the slide. When she saw you she slid down and ran into your arms. You knelt down as she crashed into you. You hugged her tight and kissed her over and over again.

“Momma!” She was giggling, “Stop, please!” 

You kept attacking her with kisses. Bradley and Bri made their way over to you and Leia. Bradley was laughing at Leia's suffering. You gave her one last kiss and stood up. 

“I’m going to miss you, Lei.” You scratched her head. 

Leia wrapped her arms around your hips, “It’s only for tonight, momma. I’ll see you tomorrow!” She nuzzled her face into your side. 

You looked over at Bradley and Bri, “Everything okay?” You looked between them nervously. 

Bri wrapped her arms around Bradley’s waist, “Never better. I can get used to having him as my brother-in-law.” She patted Bradley on his stomach. 

Bradley wrapped his arm around her shoulder and hugged her from the side. He laid his head on top of hers, “Thank you, Bri. Seriously. For everything. You and y/n did a great job with Leia. Thank you for being there for both of them when I wasn’t.”

Bri flipped her hair, “Oh me?” She laughed, “I love them, Captain Bradshaw. I’d do anything for them. Killing you be one… if you fuck this up again.”

Bradley chuckled, “I’m never hurting them again.” He looked over at you and smiled. 

Leia ran to Bradley and hugged him tightly. He hugged Bri and Leia at the same time. “Thank you for watching her tonight, Bri.” He sighed, “I want to thank Billy too, but I think he will beat my ass.” 

Bri scoffed, “He’s smaller than you. You’re a big boy, Captain.”

You all made your way inside. Billy was watching TV. You went to go hug him and thank him. Bradley followed you. Billy stood up and stood face to face with Bradley. Billy looked him up and down, “Take care of my girl, blue jay.” He smirked and put his hand out.

Bradley shook his hand and nodded, “Always.”

You and Bradley headed back for your car. He walked with you to the passenger side and opened your door for you. He helped you in and gave you a kiss. He placed your bag into the back seat. He ran around over to the driver's side and jumped in. You both waved to Billy, Bri, and Leia before pulling out of your driveway. 

After a 20-minute ride, Bradley pulled into his driveway. He parked next to his Bronco. He got out and ran to your side. He got your bag from the back seat and slung it across his body. He then opened your door and right as you put your feet on the side step he swooped you into his arms. He kissed your forehead.

“Bradley! Put me down!” You squirmed in his arms as he kicked your door closed. 

He ran with you in his arms to his front door. He set you down. He kissed your nose and unlocked the door and opened it. “After you, babe.” 

You walked in and he grabbed your hand and ran upstairs with you. He brought you to his room. He opened the door and pulled you in. His room was very simple and clean. His bed was neatly kept, with no clothes on the floor, his cologne and lotions kept nicely on the dresser, and pictures of his mom and dad were on his bedside table.  

You sat on his bed and he jumped onto you, “Oh fuck, Bradshaw.” You slapped his back, “I can’t breathe.” You were struggling to get his heavy body off of you. He finally got up and sat next to you. “You gonna shower?”

You shook your head, “No I already did. I need all the time I can get to get ready.” You kissed his nose and took your bag off of him.

“M’kay well, I’m gonna shower.” He stood up and started to strip in front of you. He threw all his clothes at you while he undressed. He threw his underwear at your face and ran for the shower.

You pulled his boxers off of your face and gagged. You continued to look through your bag. You grabbed your hair products from your bag to freshen up your loose natural curls. You brought them into the bathroom. You set your stuff up on the counter and started to apply the products to your hair. Bradley pulled the curtain slightly and peeked out at you. 

“Damn, sweetheart. You already made yourself at home.” He laughed.

You shook your head and continued to fix your hair. You could hear slurping coming from the shower. You looked over at the curtain with narrowed eyes. You took a step closer and were about to open the curtain when you saw a stream of water come up and over the shower. 

“What the hell?” You stepped back and laughed.

Bradley ripped open the curtain and spit the rest of the water he had in his mouth at you. “Bradley!” You looked at your wet shirt.” He closed the curtain closed and laughed at you.

You went to go and look for a cup in the cabinet. You found one and filled it up with cold water. You went over to the curtain and ripped it open. Before he could do anything else you threw the water at him. His eyes flew open, “OH SHIT, Y/N/N!” He was tense. You stood there and laughed at him. “Baby, we are even. I surrender. Please!” He laughed as he lifted his leg to his torso and had his hands out to you. 

“Truce, Bradshaw.” You closed the curtain.

You went to your bag and got your makeup bag out.

You spent at least 20-30 minutes on your makeup. Bradley finally stepped out of the shower. He went into his closet and came back out with a white T and boxers. He walked up behind you as you applied your finishing touches. He kissed your cheek and wrapped his arms around your waist. “You look so beautiful, baby.” He smiled and placed his chin on your shoulder. “You’re going to break necks tonight.” He kissed you one more time before he went back into the closet. 

“Baby, come in here for a second please.” He called out to you.

You went into the closet. You were taken aback. You looked around. Everything was color-coordinated and organized neatly. “What uniform are you supposed to wear tonight, Bradley?” You kept looking around his closet. 

Bradley looked at his phone, “Mav said we are all going to be in our dress whites again.” 

You looked over at him deviously, “I love how you look in your dress whites.” You winked at him. “Oh, but you are the messiest eater in the world.” 

Bradley looked at you annoyingly, “I know.” He sighed. “Don’t let me eat anything messy, sweetheart.” He grabbed his freshly pressed suit from a dry cleaners bag and brought it to the bed. He laid it down and continued to get ready. 

You shared the sink area with Bradley while you both brushed your teeth. Bradley started to fix his hair. He applied some gel to his curls and combed his hand through them. He styled his hair nicely. It was upkept and swooped slightly to the side. He went over to the bed and started to put on his uniform. 

Bradley put his dress shirt on. He straightened himself out and started to apply his medals and ribbons to his shirt. He went back into the closet and brought out a long but small black velvet box. He opened it and showed it to you. Inside were wings. You smiled at them, “I thought Leia had your wings, Brad?”

He smiled at you, “She does. These are my dad’s.” He brushed his thumb over them. “I finally get to wear them. Can you put them on me, sweetheart?”

He handed you the box and you took out the wings delicately. Bradley stood tall as you placed them tight above his medals. You pinned them on him and rested your hands on his arms. “Beautiful, Bradley. He is always with you.” 

He looked down at you and kissed you tenderly. “As I with you and Leia. Thank you.” He finished buttoning up his shirt. He sat on the bed and put on his white dress shoes. He grabbed his hat and went to his full-body mirror. He crouched down so he could see his hair. He fixed a couple of hairs and stepped back. He looked at himself as he straightened out his uniform. He took a deep breath and turned to you. “I’ll see you downstairs, baby.” He kissed your cheek.

“I’ll be down in 5.” 

You looked through your bag and pulled out your dress and laid it on the bed. You grabbed your heels and placed them by the bed. You undressed and slipped into your dress. You put some earrings on along with a simple dainty necklace. You sprayed yourself with some perfume. You sat on the bed and slipped your heels on. You went to the full-body mirror and looked at yourself one more time. You grabbed your small white dainty clutch and made your way to the top of the steps. 

“Baby, are you ready to go?” Bradley slipped on his watch.

You took your first step down the stairs. Bradley heard the click of your heel against the wooden stairs. He turned around. You held onto the railing with one hand and the other onto your clutch and your dress so you wouldn’t slip and fall. You stepped down 5 more steps and Bradley was able to see all of you. His jaw dropped and he gasped. He looked at you in amazement. You stepped down to the floor and stood before him.

“So?” You dropped your dress from your hand and stood there. Bradley looked you up and down. You were wearing a long black column dress. On one side it had one shoulder and a long sleeve while the other shoulder was exposed, it hugged your waist perfectly and it had a slit that was mid-thigh. You wore black strappy heels. Your dress was level with the floor perfectly, it didn't drag and it wasn’t too high. It was just perfect. 

Bradley’s eyes were practically bulging out of his head. He wiped the drool from his lip, “You look so good. You’re going to sweep me under the rug, sweetheart.” He reached his hand for yours and placed his lips to your knuckles, “Shall we?” You nodded and blushed.

He helped you into his Bronco and closed your door. He got into the driver's side and you headed for the venue. The banquet was being held at the Admiral Kidd Catering and Conference Center. Bradley helped you down from the car. He put his hat on and offered you his arm. You loop your arm with his and rested your other hand on his bicep. He placed his free hand on your hands and walked you into the venue. 

It was beautiful, there was a big chandelier in the middle, and there were blue and white roses throughout the building. The tables were set up around the stage. It was like nothing you’ve ever seen. Everyone was assigned to a table. Bradley patted your hand, “Let's go find the group, baby.” You nodded. 

Bradley walked you over to the outside, it was even more beautiful. Céline Dion’s My Heart Will Go On was playing softly outside. There were warm fairy lights strung on the back patio. There were more tables outside and a bar. The food was set up outside with servers still setting up a few things. There was a huge grass area and after that grass area was a beautiful view of the ocean. You could see the sunset from where you stood and it was breathtaking. There were boats in the water in the distance. It was a surreal view. Bradley found the squad. He walked over to Mav and Penny first. 

They both looked at you with wide eyes, “Holy crap, y/n! You're hot!” Penny was checking you out in your dress. “So Beautiful, sweetheart.” Mav leaned in and kissed your cheek. After having a conversation Bradley brought you to the squad. 

Bradley started to walk over to Phoenix. She was enjoying the view. Bradley pecked your cheek as you made your way over. . Phoenix caught a glimpse of you two. “Well if it isn’t the Bradshaws.” She turned to you two. 

You smiled and waved to Phoenix. 

Bradley blushed. He looked at you and smiled. He lifted your hand on his bicep to his lips and kissed it. Bradley hugged Phoenix. “You guys go and say hi to everyone, I’ll be here.” Bradley nodded and kissed Phoenix’s cheek. 

Bob came to you and Bradley. He shook hands with Bradley and gave you a light kiss on the cheek to greet you. He looked at his date and rubbed her hand on his arm. She looked at him shyly and blushed. He was all giddy and excited, “Y/n, this is Abbie ( @chaoticweirdogeek 😘). Babydoll, you remember Rooster?” She looked at Bob and nodded. You smiled and gave her a light kiss on her cheek to greet her, she did it back, “It’s lovely to meet you, Abbie.” Bradley leaned in and did the same. He placed his hand on her arm, “It’s good to see you again, sweetheart.” She smiled at Bradley, “It’s good to see you both!”

You and Bradley made your way over to Fanboy and his date. They were having a conversation. “Babe, I could totally smoke you in go-kart racing.” She hit his arm, “You’re a co-pilot for a reason.” He opened his mouth wide at her and they both laughed. Bradley fist-bumped Fanboy, “How’s my wingman?” Then he leaned in and placed a light kiss on Fanboy’s date’s cheek, “It’s great to see you were able to make it, Lucky.” She nodded at him. “Y/n, this is Baylie ( @bayisdying 😘), call sign, Lucky.” You gave her a light kiss on her cheek and shook her hand gently, “It's nice to meet you, Baylie.” You looked at Fanboy and nodded, “Fanboy.” He nodded back, “Y/n.” He kissed your cheek lightly. 

Coyote patted Bradley’s chest. The two of you waved bye to Fanboy and Baylie and brought your attention to Coyote and his date. Coyote brought his date’s hand up to his lips and kissed it. “Rooster, you remember my girlfriend Mikayla ( @persephonesportal 😘)?” Bradley nodded, “I could never forget, Hecate. How are you, darling?” Bradley lightly kissed her cheek. She bowed her head at Bradley. “You look nice tonight, y/n.” Coyote placed a light kiss on your cheek. “Y/n. This is my girl, Mikayla. Mikayla, y/n.” You two exchanged light kisses on each other cheeks. “It’s nice to meet you, Mikayla.” Bradley leaned into you, “She’s a damn better pilot than Coyote.” Mikayla dropped her head, “I say we are the same.” She looked at Coyote and patted his hand in hers. 

You and Bradley stepped aside He rubbed his hand up and down your back. He gave you a few pecks. You looked over and saw Payback with his date. You patted Bradley's chest and he looked at you, “Yes, baby?” You nodded over to Payback. Bradley looked over and smiled. He patted your back. “Let’s continue our rounds, love.”

You both made your way over to Payback and his date. They were standing over by the railing that overlooked the ocean. Payback had his hand on his date’s lower back and he was facing her. He was looking down at her as they had a conversation and repetitively brushed her hair behind her ear. Bradley slapped his shoulder, “Mind if I cut in?” Payback smiled and hugged Bradley, “Hey Rooster, Y/n!” He placed a peck on your cheek. He looked down at his date and wrapped his arm around her and rested his hand on her waist. “My wife, Emily ( @minstens 😘).” She looked up and smiled at him. You leaned in and hugged her while placing a kiss on her cheek, “Hi, Emily. It’s nice to meet you.” She smiled at you. Bradley placed his hand gently on her upper arm and leaned in to give her a kiss on her cheek, “Glad to see you again, Em. Your husband here saved my ass on multiple occasions during this detachment.” She looked up at payback, “That’s my man.” Payback placed a sweet kiss on her lips.

Bradley brought you over to Hangman. Hangman looked at the both of you, “Well ain’t that a sight for sore eyes. Rooster you look good.” Bradley laughed and hit Hangman’s chest, “You’re making me blush, stop.” Hangman smiled at you and lightly kissed your cheek, “Y/n. You look okay.” You laughed, “Next to this stud. I am a stick in the mud.” You looked at Bradley and he kissed you. Hangman placed his arm around his date and looked at her, “Rooster, Y/n this is Sarah ( @sarahsmi13s 😘).” He smiled at her getting lost in her eyes. She looked at you and Bradley. You reached your hand for hers and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek, “lovely to meet you, Sarah.” Bradley kissed her cheek as well, “Nice to meet you, sweetheart.”

After making your rounds, you and Bradley took a small break. He brought you to the railing to watch the sunset. He stood behind out and wrapped his arms around your shoulders. He rested his chin on top of your head. You two just stood there and admired the view. “It’s beautiful just like you, honey.” You laid your cheek on Bradley’s arm. He moved his hands and turned you around. He placed a kiss on your forehead, “I’m going to go and get us drinks, okay babe?” You nodded and kissed him before he left. You turned back to the view. 

Someone stood next to you and cleared their throat. He rested his hands on the railing. You turned and your eyes went wide. He smiled at you. “Hey, sweetheart.” 

You smiled back, “Austin? What are you doing here?” You turned and rested your back against the railing.  

“I actually am here with a friend of mine. I’ve known her since high school.” He turned around with you and leaned his back on the railing. He looked at you and smiled, “Where’s your guy?” 

You looked over to the bar and pointed, “He is in that long ass line getting us some drinks.” 

Austin looked over, shook his head, and raised his brows, “Oh man, he’s going to be there a minute.” He put his hands into his pockets. “You look lovely tonight, y/n.”

You nodded, “You clean up pretty well yourself, Aus.” You looked around, “So who did you come with?” You narrowed your eyes.

Austin looked around, “Oh here she comes right now actually.” He smiled and put his arm out for her. She came and wrapped her arm around him and patted his chest. 

Your mouth opened widely, “Phoenix!?” 

Phoenix looked over at you, “Hey babe! I’ve been looking all over for you and Rooster!” She came over to you and wrapped her arms around you. “Have you met my BFF since grade school? This is my good friend Austin.” She pointed over at him.

You looked at Phoenix and Austin and then back to Phoenix, “I actually know him! He is my best friend’s boyfriend’s friend!”

Phoenix laughed, “No way! What a small world!” She looked over at Austin and they both laughed together. “Stud isn’t he? He was my wingman before Bradley was. Doesn’t he look like a young Elvis?” She squinted her eyes at him and shook her head.

You nodded and laughed, “Sounds like him too.” You and Phoenix laughed as Austin blushed and shook his head. 

After an hour of small talk with everyone, you all made your way back into the venue. Bradley finally got back to you with the drinks. “God that line sucked, sweetheart. I’m sorry.” He kissed your cheek. Bradley pulled out your chair and held your hand while you sat down. He sat in his chair next to you and pulled it closer to you so he could be right behind you. He took his hat off and rested it on the table. He threw his arm over the back of your seat and you leaned against him. “I think you're the most beautiful girl in the world.” He whispered in your ear. You giggled. 

The ceremony started. The Navy Color Guard made their entrance. You were all standing. The national anthem played over the speakers. After the anthem was finished, the color guard exited and everyone sat. Everyone from the squad was called onto the stage by Cyclone and was awarded a miniature combat medal. When they all received their medals they all stood together and took pictures. You snapped one for Bradley on his phone. Bradley came off of the stage and showed it to you in its case. Cyclone made his closing statements.

“I would like to thank every one of you for your bravery and your dedication. I want to take this time to also thank those of you that have come with our aviators. I am sure when they are gone for long periods of time, it is hard to cope and hold things down. Without any of you, they wouldn’t be where they are now. I especially want to thank my wife, Davina ( @cycbaby 😘). We have 2 boys together and she works so hard whenever I have to leave. Honey, thank you for always holding down the fort for the both of us when I have to go. I love you. I am sure that goes for all you moms and dads out there that have to take care of everything while we are gone. Thank you all, and enjoy the rest of your night. Congratulations to all of you and thank you for all that you’ve done.”

Cyclone made his way down the stairs and ran to his wife. He slammed into her and held her tight. He gave her a bunch of kisses all over her face. They laughed together and he rested his forehead on hers. They looked at each other as his hands rested on her waist. She had her arms around his neck. They were so lost in the moment. He gave her a kiss on her forehead, nose, and then lips. You could read his lips, “I love you, baby. Forever.” He kissed her again.

“I have never seen that man so swoon, he’s always so serious at work.” Bradley sighed. You let out a small chuckle and Bradley leaned into your back, “I’ll have what they’re having.” He kissed your cheek. “I want that to be us, sweetheart.” He kissed you again. 

After the ceremony, everyone made their way to the back patio. Bradley took a picture with all his friends. They all stood together and flashed their new medals. Bradley came to you after you took the picture of them all.

“Baby, will you do the honors?” He handed you his medal. 

You grabbed the black velvet box and carefully took the medal out. Bradley stood tall and you pinned it onto him right in line with the other 4 he had. You gave him a kiss on his cheek after you pinned him, “You look so handsome, Brad.” 

Bradley brought you back over with the group, and you all had a conversation. You and the girls migrated to your own group. You got to know more about Phoenix, Sarah, Abbie, Baylie, Emily, and Mikayla. As you were conversing, Bradley heard Prince’s, I Wanna Be Your Lover start to play. He excused himself from the guys and came over to your group of girls. He smoothly twirled you around and stole you slowly from the group. The girls started to giggle as he placed his hand on your waist and pulled you back separating from them. He was dancing slightly to the beat. You matched his energy and did a little dance. He interlocked his free hand fingers with yours and your hands above your head. He slowly shimmied with his head tilted back. Stepping to the beat, he brought his head back up, closed his eyes, and sang to you in a high-pitched voice to match Prince.

“I wanna be your lover. I wanna be the only one that makes you come running. I wanna be your lover…”

Eventually, all the guys came and grabbed their girls and danced with them. You and Bradley sang together. The whole squad and their dates eventually migrated together and you all danced together and sang the song lightly. This eventually caused everyone at the banquet to get together and join. You laughed and had a good time. Bradley wrapped his arm tightly around your waist and pulled you to him as you danced. You threw your head back and laughed and he leaned in and kissed your chin. 

“How’s that for starting a party, sweetheart?” He smiled. 

Bradley Bradshaw, your goofball, the life of the party, strikes again. 

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

BABIES! Thank you so much to all of you that wanted to be in the story! You will forever be a part of the story now! Thank you so much, everyone! There will be more opportunities to be a part of the story as it goes on! SO, if you weren't;t able to make it this time... LOOK OUT FOR NEXT TIME! I’ll see you all in the next chapter, babes! 🫶🏼 

Tag List

@lonelywitchv2 

@shakespear-picaso-lovechild

@emma8895eb

@beebslebobs

@creativitybeware

@peachiicherries

@hotch-meeeeeuppppp

@b-uckyreadss

@winterrebel04

@rosiahills22

@treblemakeronbase

@multiple-fandoms-girl

@inky-sun

@carsgeek24

@caitsymichelle13

@justanothermagicalsara

@shouldershimmycity

@itsmytimetoodream

@javden

@bregarc

@misticbullet

@castle-bookworms-world

@asteria33

@shanimallina87

@bayisdying

@smells-like-perfect-senses

@teenwolf01

@milestomaverick

@minstens

@luckyladycreator2

@khaylin27

@missbayside

@tallrock35

@phantomxoxo

@itsdesiree86

@adaydreamaway08

@devvbabyy

@spookycookie​

@ts1mp0ne​

@secretsicanthideanymore​

@notanordinaryprincess95​

@mak-32​

@abaker74​

@rintheemolion​

@lexhalstead3​

@badasspizzalover​

@xoxabs88xox​

@sarahsmi13s​

@mushy-mushroom04​

@hazeli410​

[navalcriminalimagines]

sorry, not sorry for this, but i'd carry this man babies

Pairing: Alden Parker x Reader

Words count: 6.4K

Warnings: fake dating, smut (towards the end), wall sex, PIV, unprotected sex, bitchy ex, kinda toxic fam, imply age difference, baby talk

Not too old

You didn’t want to go to that wedding.

But you know you wouldn’t hear the end of it, even if you used work as an excuse.

Your younger sister was getting married.

You were the only out of four kids to not be married, and/or have kids. And your family wouldn’t let you forget it.

The last wedding you went to was a few years back, and thank god Tony DiNozzo was your plus one. The family knew he wasn’t your boyfriend or anything, and you didn’t plan on faking it anyway, you just needed a friend by your side. You needed someone to have your back, while your parents, and other members of the family kept asking when it’d be you. Telling you that you work too much, and that you may end up alone if you didn’t do anything about it.

That was years ago. You had a serious relationship since then but it didn’t work - mostly because of your job. So, a few weeks before the wedding, you considered your options:

You could try to find someone, going out to meet someone new, but it seemed like a lot of work for no guarantee.

There was Tim McGee, but some members of your family already met him, and they also knew he was married and had two little kids. So, no.

Then your eyes fell on Nick Torres. Theoretically, it could work. However, your family knew your taste in men and Nick was nothing but. It would be like the time you took Tony, they wouldn’t buy it for a second.

You looked at Alden Parker right after, but shook your head and thought about Jimmy Palmer, down in Autopsy. Probably the most lovely man you’ve ever met in your life, and you knew your family would love him immediately - who cannot love him? - and for several minutes, you thought you’d found the solution.

“Agent L/N!?”

You jumped and looked up to find Agent Parker standing right in front of your desk. “Wow, you were really far!” He chuckled. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah! I was just—yeah, I’m fine. What’s up?”

“I asked you if you wanted to interview our vic’s best friend with me? He just arrived.”

You agreed and followed Alden upstairs to the conference room. You weren’t the one who called the best friend, and as you entered the room, you realized you didn’t know anything about that person.

Until you saw him.

“Luke? What—?”

Your most recent ex. You dated for more or less eight months and broke up almost two years ago.

As you were standing in the middle of the room, shocked, Luke walked up to you and much to your surprise, he hugged you. As his arms wrapped around your shoulders, you felt that this hug was more for him than for you. “Please tell me it’s not true. Tell me it’s not Jay.”

Jason. His best friend. You met him once, just once. And you talked about the Navy for a long moment. How could you have not realized it was him? How could you have—forgotten?

“I’m sorry, Luke.” You whispered, hugging him back a little tighter.

Over his shoulder, you saw the confusion of Alden’s face and you lightly shrugged your shoulders.

“How did it happen? What happened?” Luke asked, drying his eyes with the back of his hand.

You invited him to sit around the table and told him what you knew. Then you asked him things you needed to know. He gave you and Alden some interesting information. As you were standing up to leave, Luke gently grabbed your hand. From the corner of your eyes, you saw Alden stopping himself to watch. “How are you?” He asked. “When that agent called, I was hoping for two things: that it wasn’t true and that I’d see you.”

“I’m good.” You said, “Work and all.”

“Of course. Always, right?” He sadly smiled.

“Luke—“ you whispered.

“Do you—“ he cleared his throat while briefly looking at Alden, who was still standing there. Waiting for—whatever he was waiting for. “Do you think we could meet once you’ve found who did this to Jay?”

“I’ll call you, okay?”

Luke reluctantly nodded. “I heard that a lot.”

You didn’t want to do this now, especially not in front of your new team leader. “I gotta go, an agent will escort you out.”

“Can’t you walk me out?”

You opened your mouth, searching for an excuse. But before you could let out a sound, you heard Alden’s voice. “Agent L/N needs to go down to the lab. Our tech is waiting for her.”

His voice was sharper than you’ve heard it. Luke nodded and let go off you.

“Thanks, Parker.” You said as you and Alden were walking back to the bullpen.

“Looked like he had a lot of resentment towards you. I didn’t like his comments.”

“I kinda deserved them. I haven’t been the best girlfriend to him.”

“I’m sure you were honest with him from the beginning, about the job?”

“Well, yeah, but—“

“If he felt like he wouldn’t handle it, he should’ve said it immediately.”

You stopped on your tracks and your coworker did the same. You took one more look at Alden and understood something. “That’s why you got divorced, isn’t it?”

He locked eyes with you and sighed. “Mostly, yeah.” You watched him crossing his arms. “I mean—we know how hard this job is for people around us. I’m completely honest with people I meet, even with my family. My ex-wife and I had been dating for two years when I proposed, she already knew what it was like. I’m honestly still wondering why she said yes, considering everything she threw at my face when she asked for a divorce.”

You attentively listened to what he said. Alden has never been a closed off person, he was pretty honest and open about himself, but it was the first time he actually talked about his marriage - or his divorce - and the first time he said that much to you. You felt touched about his trust and honesty.

There were several things you wanted to say, respond to everything he said. But what got out of your mouth took you by surprise.

“Would you be my plus one for my sister’s wedding?” You heard yourself say. You were about to take it back, asking him to forget what he just said, but he was faster than you. You heard him chuckle and say:

“I’m not sure what’s the link here, but yeah. Sure,”

As you started to walk back to the others, Alden asked you when the wedding was and where. As you reached the bullpen, he walked very close to you and basically whispered to your ear, “I expect you to explain to me why you asked me, at that particular moment.”

Even you weren’t sure where the connection came from. Or why you started to see Alden Parker differently.

A couple of days later, the case was closed. The team found who did it and why. Reluctantly, you called Luke to let him know. You were standing in the hallway, phone against your ear as he asked you if you could meet. He told you how his best friend’s death was hitting him hard, and then said the three words you didn’t want to hear, “I need you.”

You sighed and were silent for a moment. “I can stop by your place in an hour.” You said. Luke thanked you and you hung up.

“You sure it’s a good idea?”

You jumped again and turned around to see Alden standing at the corner of the hallway. “Eavesdropping much, Agent Parker?”

“I just wanted to make sure the phone call went well and I can see it didn’t.”

“He’s not okay and—“

“It’s not on you. It’s not your place to—“

“I owe him, Parker. I wasn’t—“

“The best girlfriend, I know. But honestly, what do you think is going to happen?”

“We’ll talk—“

Alden snorted. “Sure. Until he’ll make a move and you’ll feel too guilty to turn him down.”

“Luke is not—“

“He’s a man. We all are like that.”

“Call me naive, but are you?”

Alden didn’t answer right away. He kept eye contact with you as he took a step closer to you. “If I was in his shoes, I’d definitely hope this would lead somewhere.”

You both stayed silent for a long moment, just looking at each other. So much was going through your mind, you couldn’t say anything. As Alden started to walk backwards, you settled on one thing you wanted to say. “Are you hoping my invitation for the wedding will lead somewhere?” You asked.

“Good night, Special Agent L/N.” He smirked and disappeared.

You stayed in the hallway, realizing that you liked his answer - or non-answer.

Alden Parker was right. Luke tried something and for a moment, you let yourself go. It was when you both were in your underwear that you stopped it all, and left his apartment. But it wasn’t the worst.

The worst part was that all the time you were making out with him, you just couldn’t stop thinking about Alden. All you could see was his face, and all you wanted was that he was there instead of Luke.

Sleep was hard to find that night, and you caved in and touched yourself until you reached your climax and all that while thinking about Alden goddamn Parker.

For the following weeks, you could barely face the man. You were cold with him, without doing it on purpose. If him or someone on the team noticed your behavior, no one said a pip and you were grateful for it.

The wedding was approaching. You and Alden haven’t talked about it since you suddenly asked him to be your plus one. But a few days prior, as you were about to leave work late at night, the team leader stopped you. “I need your opinion on something.” He said.

You took a deep breath and followed him to the locker room. Alden made you wait for a few minutes outside and then he came out.

In a tuxedo.

A fucking tuxedo that made him look a god. The most handsome you’ve ever seen of your life, you were positively sure about it.

“Is that not okay?” He asked, and you heard the concern in his voice. You realized that you went silent for a long moment, just staring at him up and down. Imagining all kinds of things. “Cause that’s the only one I got. I mean I could get a new one, but—“

“You’re perfect, P-Parker.” the words were out of your mouth before you knew it. “The tux—is perfect.” You added, clearing your throat.

“Are you sure? Cause I imagine you whistling, or wow-ing me or something,” he joked.

“Have you ever been whistled at, Alden?”

“Nope.”

“Consider yourself lucky, it sucks.”

Alden smiled while you took a step closer to him and gently fixed his bow tie. “So it wasn’t perfect.” He said.

“‘It’s the important stuff that makes things perfect.’” You quoted and Alden hummed at that, like he was approving this statement. “Mary Cooper, in Big Bang Theory, during Sheldon and Amy’s wedding.” You clarified and saw the confusion on his face. “What I just said was a quote from Big Bang Theory.”

“What’s Big Bang Theory?” He asked.

“You—are such an old man.” You laughed.

“Oh?” He challenged. “Then maybe the old man I am will back down on you, two days before the wedding.”

“You and I both know you wouldn’t do that.” You smirked.

“I’m too nice.” He said and you realized how close his face was from yours. His lips were right there, all you had to do was to lean a little and finally have a little taste. “But I really want to show you what kind of old man I am.”

This was very subjective. You knew it, he knew it, and he knew that you knew.

Your knees almost gave up on you, right there.

“Well—show me you can be the best date ever first, and then maybe—“

You started to walk away from him, a smile dancing on your face.

“I’m glad this tux upgraded me from ‘plus one’ to ‘date’” he winked before going back into the locker room.

You knew how the end of the wedding would go. But not during.

Being the bride’s sister, and one of the bridesmaids, you had to be in early. You helped with the last minute prep, and then stood by your sister’s side while she was getting ready. You were happy that everyone’s attention was on her, and besides being extremely nervous, she was the happiest and it was endearing.

As you were having your makeup done, your phone dinged. “This better not be work, Y/N.” Your mother warned you.

ALDEN: How’s it going? Is my old man ass still invited? 😉

You smiled.

“Don’t worry mum, that smile means it’s her boyfriend.” Your other sister said.

“Boyfriend? You didn’t say anything about that guy being your boyfriend? I thought it was like when that Italian guy came? Are you dating someone, Y/N? Is it serious? Like, actually serious?”

Here it was.

You felt trapped.

“Very serious.” You heard yourself say.

“Then tell us all about him!” Your cousin cheered.

“Wedding serious? Baby serious?” Your mother had to ask.

ALDEN: Don’t leave me on read, Y/N…

“Yeah, all of that.” You almost pinched yourself for saying this. “But you’ll learn about him when he’ll be there.”

YOU: Still invited. But you got upgraded again…

ALDEN: Ah? To what?

YOU: My very serious boyfriend. 🫣

No answer.

YOU: Don’t leave me on read, Alden…

ALDEN: I wouldn’t do that to my girl. 😘 See you in a few, very serious girlfriend. ❤️

Guess it meant he was on board. And you found yourself to smile even more.

The attention was on your little sister again and luckily, it stayed like this.

You made sure to meet Alden outside, away from everyone, before the wedding. As you were walking towards him, you noticed the big smile on his face. He looked even more delicious than he did two days prior. It was sunny outside, so he had his shades on. You had to stop yourself from jumping into his arms and kissing him on the spot.

“I can’t whistle—“ he said, while you were still walking to him. “But can I wow you?”

You chuckled. “I think you can do better.”

“Like what? Dropping on my knees, telling you how powerless your beauty makes me?”

“Okay, does this kind of talk work with other women?” You teased, stopping yourself right in front of him.

“Don’t know, never said anything like that to anyone else before.” Smiling, Alden softly grabbed your hand into his and intertwined his thick fingers with your smaller ones. “Never actually felt this powerless before.” He added, but barely above a whisper. “You really are stunning, Y/N.” He gently kissed your cheek, leaning a little longer than a normal kiss.

“Thank you, Alden. You are absolutely handsome.” You returned his kiss. “Are you okay with— I don’t know why I said it was serious between us. I felt trapped and pressured and—“

You stopped talking when his lips crashed on yours. Holding your face in his hands, Alden’s kiss was sweet and gentle. He let his lips linger on yours for a moment before pulling away. “So I guess you’re okay with it.” You joked.

He chuckled, “You know, if you wanted to ask me out, you could have just said so.” He teased.

“That would’ve been too simple.”

“I need to know one thing before we go,” you looked intensely at him and waited for his question. “Did you sleep with your ex that night?”

“Almost. But somehow, you were all I could think about.”

“Okay. I may also almost sleep with someone else tonight, then.”

You punched his chest and he laughed.

Little did you know he already had slept with someone that was there.

When he saw her, Alden thought he was hallucinating. He hoped he was, more than anything. He couldn’t face a situation like this. Couldn’t admit that the groom’s aunt was one of his exes. It happened years ago, they dated from almost a year, until she talked about moving in together, and wedding, and babies.

Alden Parker doesn’t want to get married again, and he considered himself too old to have kids now. Moving in together with someone was the best he could give a woman. If she didn’t get that, he thought it was better to end the relationship.

His ex didn’t see him right away, and he was glad about it. Maybe he should tell you? Warn you? After all, he didn’t do anything wrong. It was an ex, he had no idea she’d be there. Pretty much like you with your own ex, a few weeks prior.

But he didn’t have a single second to talk to you. As soon as you walked to the venue together, a few people came to introduce themselves. For a moment, he realized how much he liked being there with you. You introducing him as your boyfriend, either holding his hand or him having his hand on your hip.

You were absolutely gorgeous. The most gorgeous woman Alden has ever seen, and to him, you were overshadowing the bride, even though he hadn’t seen her yet.

He felt a little embarrassed when he met your parents, especially when your mother started to ask tons of questions. Luckily, the ceremony was about to start. You gently kissed him, like it was the most natural thing before joining the other bridesmaids, which included your older sister, your sister-in-law and the bride’s best friend.

Almost mechanically, Alden grabbed his phone from his pocket and took some pictures. Of you. Lots of you, and he smiled. He didn’t know what tomorrow would be like, but for the rest of the day, you were his. He was going to make the most of it.

The ceremony was beautiful. Everything was perfect, and Alden clearly noticed the single tear running down your cheek at one very particular moment. He also noticed the small glances you sent his way.

Maybe, just maybe he spent the entire ceremony looking at you. And for a while, he forgot about who he saw when he arrived.

That didn’t last though.

As you were going to find your table, hand in hand, someone grabbed his arm. He turned around to find his ex.

“Alden!” She exclaimed, before hugging him. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed your surprise and confusion. “What are you—“ she took a quick glance at you, then your joined hands and back to Alden. “Doing here?”

“You probably know Y/N?”

“Well, yes. But how do you two know each other?”

There was no point to lie. “We met at work.” He said, and he let go off your hand to wrap his arm around your waist.

“This isn’t going to work.” She stated, very sure of herself. Both you and Alden looked at her with furrowed brows. “Without even talking about the age difference, Y/N wants everything you don’t, Alden. You know, the reasons we broke up?”

You looked at Alden and waited until he looked at you too, “Broke up? Were you two—?”

“For a year,” she answered. “Until I talked about marriage and babies, and Alden Parker here just ended things, right there and then.” From her tone, she was clearly still upset about the break up. Maybe she’s not over him?

“Look, our relationship and my relationship with Y/N are very different. And it’s her sister’s wedding, there’s no point talking about all of that.”

“Right. Like her parents will approve of you.”

And with that, she walked away.

“That was—interesting.” You said, without looking at him.

“I had no idea she’d be there. I haven’t heard about her in a very long time,”

“You have a past, Alden, that’s okay. I just wish I didn’t have to face it at my sister’s wedding.”

Alden wrapped his arms around your middle, pulling you against him. “Do you want me to leave?” He asked. “Maybe it wasn’t a good idea in the first place.”

“Because you learned that I, eventually, want kids and get married?”

“What? No! That has nothing to do with it. I just don’t want to rest of the night to be awkward for you.”

“And I just want you to kiss me right now, and dance with me later.”

“I can do that.”

He did give you your kiss, until your brother came up to you and cleared his throat. “No PDA, thank you very much.”

“Alex,” you sighed and introduced the two men. Luckily, your brother was the one you get along the best with. He always was a bit overprotective with you but you never really minded, because it’s his way of showing his love. And most importantly, he never pressured you into anything or judged your decisions. He was pretty proud to have a badass federal agent sister, unlike the rest of the family who thought you should switch jobs.

“I’m a little hurt you never told me about him before today.”

“Because the parents know we’re close, they always question you and you’re a terrible liar.”

“I’m a terrific liar! No one here except you knows that I don’t like the groom.”

“I do know now.” Alden smiled. “Is he not a good guy?” His question was for both you and your brother.

Alex got closer to the two of you, like he was going to tell a secret, which he was. “I gave them two years. Y/N was generous and said five.”

You couldn’t believe it. You punched your brother in his shoulder and he whined. “Why are you telling him that? How do you think it makes us look?”

“Hey, we love our sister, we were honest about how we feel,” he answered your question but looked at Alden while doing it. “Y/N and I just like placing bets, on nothing and everything.”

“I understand the bets with Torres, now.” He told you.

“What? Are you betting with someone else than me?”

“Wow, sorry for such a betrayal.” You rolled your eyes.

“Too late. I’m going to bet with someone else, about whether the parents will approve of Alden or not.” He said while walking away.

“Dick!” You called out.

You looked at Alden, a little embarrassed about this encounter with your brother, but it quickly disappeared. “I like him!” Alden smirked.

“You don’t think we’re horrible siblings?” You pouted and he chuckled, softly kissing your forehead.

“Nah. I mean, you were honest with your sister apparently. I’d get on the bet if I knew them.”

“Maybe you will.”

As soon as the words left your lips, you started to walk to your table, not giving Alden time to respond to anything.

Things went smoothly at first. Everything turned around the newly weds, Alden was an absolute dream. Never keeping his arm off the back of your chair, or his hand off your thigh. He was flirty, kissing your lips or temple from time to time for no reason.

You were at the table with your siblings and their spouses. They asked a lot of questions to Alden and you, about the relationship, and you were amazed about how he handled them like a champ. Even when your older sister was saying how she felt about your job, how it prevented you from so much.

“My kids feel like they don’t really know their aunt.” She said, and Alden squeezed your knee. “They don’t have a lot of memories with her and it’s sad. How will it be when you have kids?”

“It works.” Alden answered. “I don’t know if you already met Tim McGee from our team, but he’s happily married and a proud father of twins. Would he be able to spend more time with them if he had another job? Sure, but it doesn’t mean he’s a bad parent, or that the kids are unhappy. It’s not necessarily about the quantity but about the quality.”

You wanted to kiss him more than anything at this very moment. You kept staring at this wonderful man until your sister’s voice brought you back. “Did she make you rehearse that?” She asked.

You were upset about the way she was talking to him, but Alden just gently smiled. “No. Actually, we haven’t talked about kids yet. But I’ve been doing this job for a long time, most coworkers I had were parents and I’ve met very happy kids who were proud of their parents.”

“Why don’t you have kids then? I mean, you’re clearly older than my sister.”

“Fair enough. We tried with my ex-wife, but it didn’t work, and since then, I haven’t found someone I wanted to try again with.”

You wanted him to add ‘until I met Y/N’ but he didn’t. Was everything he was saying a way to make your family buy this masquerade? But you knew you weren’t the only one who noticed the lack of certain words.

Thanks to your brother, the subject changed to something meaningless after that.

After the first dance of your little sister and her husband, Alden surprised you by taking you to the dance floor. You danced together for a moment, from quite sexy dance to slow dance. As you slowly moving, with your head resting on his shoulder, one of his hands in the small of your back, you closed your eyes and enjoyed this moment. You didn’t know if there would be another one and that hurt a little.

“How am I doing?” He asked, against your ear.

“You’re a dream.” You said, without thinking.

“Enough for the parents to approve of me?”

“Does it matter?” You looked at him. “We’re not really dating.”

“No, but couldn’t we be after this? If I take you out on an actual date?”

“Is there a point? My family and I disagree on many things, but they have a point when they say I want—“ you looked around, “this. And kids.” Your eyes fell on Alden’s ex, “and from what I understand, that’s not what you want.”

“If you want me to be completely honest, it’s not that I don’t want all of that. I’m just too old for it.”

You saw the pain on his face. He was utterly honest about this, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t hurting him. Alden and his ex-wife tried to have kids, meaning that he did want to be a dad. It just didn’t happen.

“Are you?” You just asked, before kissing the corner of his lips and put your head back where it was until the song ended. Alden didn’t answer.

You and Alden only separated when you had to go to the bathroom. During a trip there, you were surprised by Alden’s ex as you were washing your hands. You knew she wasn’t there to pee. “Whatever you want to tell me, I don’t want to hear it.”

“You do, because otherwise you’ll end up being as hurt as I was.”

“My relationship with Alden is none of your business.”

“You’re young, Y/N. You can find someone your age, who will give you everything you want. Alden won’t.”

“Maybe. Still not your business though.”

“Fine, but I told your mother who he is and what he did.”

“He broke up with you because you wanted different things! It doesn’t make him a monster.”

“No, but finding him in bed with someone else just a few days after, does.” With that, she was gone. Leaving you so many things in your head, you felt like it was going to explode.

You didn’t really know Alden Parker, did you?

When you got back to your table, you felt like the lord was punishing you. Your brother was sitting next to Alden and his daughter, your two years old niece, was on Alden’s lap, exploring his face with her tiny hands.

“I thought I’d make the introductions,” your brother winked at you.

You focused on Jasmine - Jazzy - giving her many kisses while she giggled, her hands still in Alden’s beard. Then you extended your arms to her, inviting her for a hug but the little girl chose to crash herself against Alden’s chest. “Okay, that hurts.” You said, sitting down.

You heard Alden chuckle and locked eyes with him. “I wanna steal her.” He mouthed, and you felt like your heart was going to explode. He was trying to kill you, wasn’t he?

“Been there.” You said and saw your brother standing, his phone in hand.

“Jazzy baby, look at me!” He said, and once the little girl stopped playing, Alex managed to take a cute picture of the three of you. You immediately heard the ping on your phone.

You didn’t have time to check the picture, as the song changed and Jazzy climbed off Alden, exclaiming “dance! Dance!”

“It means ‘come dance with me Uncle Alden’ in case you didn’t get it.” Your brother told your fake boyfriend. Alden laughed, grabbed your hand and you both went to dance with Jazzy, who was having the time of her life.

After the dance, she finally gave you the hug you asked for, earlier. And to your surprise, Alden joined in. “Do you really think I’m not too old for this?” He asked.

Being a two-year-old child, Jazzy found something new that interested her and she ran away from you and Alden. He wrapped his arms around your middle and you did the same around his neck. You sighed, “You may do exactly what Jazz just did after you hear this but—“ you took a deep breath, and approached your lips to his ear. “I’d happily carry your baby, Alden. Does that answer your question?”

His hold on you got tighter, and he buried his face in your neck. “It does. And it does many other things too.”

Then you felt it. Alden had to hug you, so you would cover his growing erection. After all, you were still standing in the dancing area of your sister’s wedding.

“I admit that all of this is a very unusual way to start a relationship.” You chuckled against his ear.

“Pretty sure many people have done worse. But if it helps, I like you sweetheart. Have been for a long time. Actually, everybody knows it at the office.” At his words, you shot your head back to look at him. “Yeah, I’m not that discreet, apparently. You really didn’t know?”

“No!? I mean—I guess I was more focused on how I felt and how to hide it. But—“ you stopped talking, not sure if it was the time to bring what his ex had told your in the bathroom.

“What is it?” He asked, putting a strand of your hair behind your hair.

“We need to get to really know each other.”

Ask me anything, he’s going to say, if I’m correct.

“Ask me anything.” He said.

“Did it really only took you just a few days to have sex with someone after breaking up with her?”

“I liked her, but I wasn’t in love with her.”

“But—a few days?”

“I’m a man, sweetheart. I really don’t have explanations, and I don’t want to make up excuses for my past.” He tentatively kissed your lips and you let him, because one thing you loved about Alden for the beginning was how true and honest he was. “But for what’s worth, she never gave a hard-on by simply saying she wanted to carry my baby. No one did, actually.”

“I like the sound of that.”

You started to kiss him quite passionately, until someone cleared their throat next to you.

Your mother.

It had to happen.

“This is your sister’s wedding, and I’d like you to behave, Y/N. Especially since this man shouldn’t be here in the first place.”

"Mum," you sighed. "I--"

"No." she cut you off, "We'll talk about--this later. For now, just stop groping each other like teenagers." she started to walk away, but Alden called out.

"Ma'am, I'm--" this time, she raised her hand to make him stop talking.

"I'm not interested in anything you have to say. I don’t expect to see you again after tonight."

On that, she truly walked away and you knew better than trying to argue. "Your ex really made sure you didn't stand a chance." you stated, without thinking.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Annoyed and upset by everything that's been happening since Alden arrived, you gave up. You started to walk out of the venue, fully aware that Alden would follow and he did. He only stopped you as you were walking through a hallway and before you knew it, you were locked in a maintenance room with him. "Talk to me." he whispered, softly stroking your cheek.

"Your ex told my mother whatever happened between you and her. And in case you haven't noticed, my family is very specific about what they want for me, and from me, and it's just so--exhausting."

Alden noticed the tears in your eyes as soon as they formed. Gently, he put his hands on either side of your face and pressed his forehead against yours. "What do you want?"

There were so many things, but you weren't able to clear them enough to tell him. You stayed silent for a moment, before locking eyes with Alden. "You." you just said, because at this very moment, Alden Parker was all you wanted.

He closed the distance between you two and kissed you. It started as gentle as possible, Alden was placing soft kisses on your lips until you parted them, inviting his tongue. You kissed quite a few times that night, but it was the first time you had a real taste of each other. And you both lost it.

As he kept kissing you all teeth and tongues, Alden trapped your body between his own and the wall. You moaned against his mouth, while scratching his scalp with your nails. Alden groaned and his hands started to explore your body. He started by squeezing your butt into his palms and shifted to your breasts. His mouth moved from yours to your neck, where he found your sensitive spot. You moaned a little louder and Alden pressed his growing erection against your lower stomach.

You wanted to touch every part of him, feel his soft skin against yours, but you decided that this could wait for another time. He did look so good in his tux. So you concentrated on his pants, undoing the button and the zipper. Alden moaned deep against your neck as you started to palm his cock.

"Are you sure you wanna do this--here?" he asked.

"Yes, I want you right here, right now. We'll have the opportunity to really discover each other later, right?"

"Trust me, sweetheart. I fully intend to touch, kiss and love every inch of your body."

It was all you needed.

You kissed again, with more intensity. You freed his cock and stroked him while Alden lifted your dress above your hips, slid his hand in your lace panties and felt your wetness with his fingers. "So wet for me, uh." he grunted.

"I need you, Den."

No one ever called him 'Den' before. Actually, he didn't really have a nickname. He was just 'Alden' to his family and some friends, and just 'Parker' to his coworkers. But if he was honest, you could call him whatever you wanted.

"You have me, honey." he whispered and planted one more kiss on your lips.

He slightly bent his knees, and replaced your hand by his around his length. He stroked himself while putting your panties to the side. He took a moment to regain control of himself while taking a real good look at your pussy.

Then he rubbed the head against your clit, teasing you. Your wetness and his pre-cum mixed together and neither of you could wait any longer. He placed his cock at your entrance, and looked at you while he pushed inside. The face and noises you made were divine to Alden. He pressed himself against you and kissed you like he was trying for the two of you to be just one person.

You wrapped a leg around his waist, making it easier for Alden to thrust hard and deep inside you.

"You've been driving me crazy ever since I met you," he said against your mouth, as he pulled out for a moment. "I won't last."

"It's okay, me neither." You smiled, before tightening your hold around his neck and you jumped. Alden caught your legs, before pressing you against the wall again.

"You're perfect." He said, pushing his cock back inside your pussy. Neither of you cared if someone could hear, you both deeply moaned.

"Fuck, Den! Yes, right there!" You were holding onto him so tightly, it felt like you could never be separated ever again. Alden smiled because he loved every second.

"I'm gonna cum, baby." he breathed out. "Where?"

Please, tell me inside I can come inside you.

"Inside. Don't pull out," you begged.

Fuck yes.

He wanted to respond but he couldn't as his orgasm hit and he came deep inside you. He wasn't sure what set you off, but luckily you came too, your body shaking against his, his name on your lips.

It was only when you were fixing yourself up that something occured to Alden. "Are you on the pill or something?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

You chuckled, stepping closer to him to fix his beautiful grey hair, "I am. I won't call next mouth with a surprise."

Would he have minded if you did?

"We have a lot to figure out before that happens." you told him.

"Like how can I win your mum's heart?"

"Exactly," you were fixing his bowtie and he made sure your hair was waving down your front, like he loved it to. "But I'm not worried."

"How's that? She seems more than reluctant."

"Yeah, but you're pretty. How could she resist that smile and those eyes?"

You kissed him one more time before leaving the room. As he followed you, Alden felt like a teenager deeply in love, who needed to make his girlfriend's mother love him.

He could do that.