#I got calls asking if she (should have been her ex) wanted to sell the house from her Navy days

[paranormalfrogtivity]

How the heck does my cell number keep getting connected to my sister's real estate endeavors lmao

[jocelynscrazyideas]

I think of you, always || Quinn Hughes x Fem!Reader

inspired by the song affection by cigarettes after sex

Summary: After bit being able to tell the family if your bf, you meet his ex at a Christmas dinner. Getting jealous is super easy after hearing her get called pretty, you finish dinner and storm off.

Warnings: NOT PROOF READ!!! Smut, unprotected, language, harsh words towards someone.

『 °*• ❀ •*°』『 °*• ❀ •*°』 『 °*• ❀ •*°』

Meeting the family is difficult, meeting the friends is awkward. Have you thought about meeting the family when you’ve broken up a million thousand times?

Or worse, maybe the thought of being a very close family friend that is now dating one of three brothers, and now you have to “meet the family.”

Sounds easy, but once you realize the family wanted you to end up with the other brother, maybe it’s different.

Ellen and Jim, the Hughes parents, have always seen me with Luke, even Trevor. Trevor zegras is one of Jack’s hot friends that I can’t call hot. I’m 22. Fairly young. It’s forbidden to date older men, especially people the Hughes know.

The only reason why I have been chosen to have a future with the younger brother is because I’ve hung out with him more. I’ve always seen Quinn as another parent. He’s always watching out for me, he’s like another source of parenting. I didn’t hangout with him very much, until he had gotten into Michigan.

I graduated years earlier than I should have. My parents were moving to somewhere in Europe, but they were going to travel the world before they settled into the new home. So in order for me to move with them, I went homeschooled.

I got into Michigan, and I only applied to American schools, because being in Switzerland, and traveling to Monaco back in forth wasn’t fun.

Europe was only cool until my parents got a divorce. My dad also was moving to Italy after selling his home in Switzerland. Which kind of made me excited to see him. Italy is the place the Hughes spend some summers in.

~

The Hughes have been to my Monaco and newly Italian home several times. They love it there, but I get tired of it. My French is terrible, but Jack always tells me that I have an accent when I talk now because I’ve spent over half of my life in Europe. Apparently, I have a thick accent. Most of it is Italian, and a quarter of it is French, the rest is terrible English. “Say something in Spanish.” Luke mocks me.

For some reason they don’t believe me when I say I can speak four languages, “I told you, I speak French, Spanish, German, and Italian.” I roll my eyes and place the mashed potatoes onto the well decorated table.

Quinn touched my wrist, he sees that I have his very expensive watch on. I push my legging hugged ass back into his hips, he pushes back into me until Jim walks into the kitchen.

It’s an amazing Christmas break, the Devils have Christmas break at the same time as The Canucks, so everyone decided to come to Michigan and celebrate. Luke and I went down to Target to grab some cranberries for Ellen.

“I dunno why she always makes these, you hate them!” Luke laughs. He purchased the cranberry jar and stuffs it into a bag. I laugh and run my fingers through my cold brittle snowflake filled hair. “She likes them, she’s the cook, I don’t need to ask questions about her highness Hughes.” I bow and joked.

The thing about Luke, is he’s always laughing, he always understands me. Maybe that’s why Jim and Ellen love him for me? I’m not sure but I’m basically like their daughter. Somehow the boys were never my “brothers.”

I moved into their house for a year in Toronto because of my parents divorce. Jack was always at hockey, Luke never left my side and Quinn never hung out with me.

As soon as we got to the house I jumped out, and ran inside. I had the bag in my hand, Jack’s stupid shoes were sitting in the middle of the entry way.

I slipped and fell. I got up right away. The cranberries had spilled all over me from the jar. Glass crushed my hand. I don’t feel the pain, but as soon as Ellen comes rushing over from the kitchen I feel sharp tense pain in my wrist, and ass.

Luke runs in after me as he locks the car. He holds me up. He goes to grab the bandage kit they store in a closet. Ellen goes to grab the broom, and Quinn runs over to me to clean me up. Jim and Jack run out to get more cranberry jars for tonight’s big dinner.

I don’t question to holding onto Q for support, he brings me upstairs to his room. He sits me onto his bathroom counter and I feel my now bruised ass press agisnt the cold counter top.

Luke left us some bandages for Quinn to use on me. Luke left to go help his mother clean. Quinn and I are left alone.

~

It’s been 2 months of Quinn and I’s relationship. We haven’t told anybody, but it’s Halloween and I wnat a couple costume. Obviously I want to post the costumes for this year, so I’m left to wear something by myself.

~

Quinn kissed my cold cheek leaving a warm impression on my flushed face. He wraps my hand in pink bandage, and he helps me take my shoes and leggings off. Quinn changes me into some of his sweatpants, and a large shirt he has.

“Do you what them to know?” I ask.

Quinn pulled me into a warm hug. “Not yet, I’m not sure if my dad would be happy I’m the one you chose.” He rested his chin on top of my head.

“Well they will know because I have your clothes on, and they reek of your strong cologne.” I laugh. He holds my head as if i have a terrible headache.

He kissed my lips and carried me out of his personal bathroom. I walk to my room, and change into this gorgeous red dress, nice and lacy. I grab an ugly sweater and pull it over my head. Quinn changed into fancy- casual clothing to match my outfit.

We walk downstairs into a beautiful dining room, with a large Christmas tree that hangs fabulous ornaments that hold pictures of our childhood pictures. I notice that Ellen has labeled our sitting spots at the table.

I’m next to Jack, Luke next to my left, and quinn across from me. Ellen faces Jack, while Jim is sitting at the head, and the table is pressed up to the wall. So no one is sitting at the opposite side of Jim. There is an empty seat, I thought it was weird- Ellen never has an empty chair for family gatherings.

We stay eating, we pass peas, toast, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cheese on a stick. Then we hear the door bell ring.

I thought, “Christmas carolers.”

no

“Mom?” Quinn gets up quickly. Ellen has been outside for a few minutes. She finally comes in. She grunts in frustration.”hey Quinn.” One of many the pretty girls Quinn has had a relationship with says. She walks up to him, hugs him and sets her bags down.

“You can sit here, and I’ll take Quinn’s seat.” Ellen nods,

“Mom! You knew about this?” Quinn drags her over to the Christmas tree. He lowered his voice.

Am I nervous that Quinn’s ex-girlfriend is here- while we just kissed upstairs, and to mention… He’s my boyfriend.

yes. Yes I’m petrified.

“Of course I did Quinn. She loves you still. I’m your mother. Switch seats with me.” Ellen walks him back to the table, straightening his ugly sweater on him.

“No. I like where I am.” Quinn sits down at his original seat. He places his foot on mine, letting me know he’s with me.

“Pretty.” I mouth to Quinn. He nods his head in agreement. He winks at me and he starts playing footsie with me. My dress folds right at the cut of my hip and thighs. Very short dress for a winter party.

Classical winter music continues over our dinner. Jim laughs at everything Jack says, Luke looks at me when I eat. I look at Luke when he eats. It’s just as if we’re still little and we fling Mac and cheese at eachother.

“Grub bub.” Luke laughs while drinking his apple cider. I laugh so hard I snort, Quinn starts laughing at me. Jack holds me in and sways me around. Yep, he’s drunk.

Ellen noticed the few glances Quinn and I make.

~

“Why don’t you help me clean up?” Jim waves Ellen up. We dismiss ourselves and we go back to our rooms. Quinn, well he takes his ex’s bags up to the guest room.

While they walk up here, “oh. I love that room, may I stay in it?” She walks into my room, and lays on the bed. “Comfy!” She giggles. I walk out if my closet, I suck my teeth this selfish bitch is in my bed.

“what. the. fuck.” I laugh in a rude manner. I see Quinn astonished, his mouth open. And so were her legs.

I push quinn out. I yell in his face, “get her up, or I’ll handle it myself.”

You could say I get jealous, but why did he seemed to enjoy it?

Ellen came running upstairs, “oh my!” Ellen grabs the girl out from her arm. She takes her bags and leads her to the basement guest room.

I was angry, I walking away. I had on a lacy black thong, and a navy blue spaghetti strap tank top, and some white sweat shorts on. The thong sits on my hips, and the shorts sit right on my pelvis bone. Most of my underwear was out. I ddint give a fuck. I had no bra on- “wow” Jack says while he walks his way to his own room.

“Nice one” Jack laughs at Quinn. Quinn watches me sit down in the living room couch, I turn the TV on. He comes running down to sit with me.

“Baby, come on. What was I supposed to do?” He whines.

I roll my eyes, “uh, I’m not sure- not let her walk into a room?! Im even more mad by the fact she had her legs spread open for you, and her boobs- Her Boobs! They were just out, it wasn’t her underboob or sideboob- I saw nips.” I yell out in frustration.

I get up and slide slippers on.

I get my keys and run out the door. I go for a drive, “wait no!” Quinn runs after me. I have slammed the door on his face.

~

After awhile- no phone, no internet, no way to find me, Quinn pulls his car right up next to me. Jack sits passenger. “What the hell?!” Quinn knocks on my window.

“Oh goodness! Thought you were a murderire!” I gasp.

“No. You don’t get to do that.” He yells- flailing his arms around. I see his breathe in the air. Quinn knocks on the door.

I roll down the window. Quinn bends down to see me. He kissed my face.

“I told Jack about us. Luke is pampering my “ psychotic bitchy ex” and my mom is waiting for us with hot chocolate.”

“What about-“

“Dad? Yeah no he’s gone. He’s sleeping away from his drunkness. And Jack can drive home because I sobered him up with the news about us.” Quinn rushes over the empty parking lot towards to Jack.

“Go. I’ll talk her back home.” Quinn whispered and nods his head at me. Jack crawls to the driver seat.

“You know her well Quinn! The only way to get back home is to hit 3rd base!” Jack yells out the window while pulling away. Quinn sits in the passenger seat of my car.

We’re alone in a parking lot inside a freezing car because my heater broke, and it’s the middle of winter with tons of axe murderres.

“He’s not wrong.” I look at Quinn.

Quinn mumbles, “mhm. I know.” He slides his hand onto my thigh.

I crawl to the backseat. My back hits the cold interior of the car. Quinn climbs ontop of me. He slides my tank top up, seeing my bare hard niopples. “Oh baby.” Quinn starts sucking on one. He slides a hand into my shorts.

I feel his warm but very cold hand touch my sensitive bud. He starts rubbing into my clit, he moans while he sticks one finger into my hole. He came up from my chest- he starts aggressively kissing me.

My tounge hitting his throat, his cum covered finger slides into my mouth. I suck onto my pussy juiced cover finger and Quinn unbuttons his dress pants. I feel his hard groin hit my bare torso. He’s hard- for me.

“Quinn-“ he holds my hands up with one of his own hand. He pulls off my shorts, he sees my new thong. “Impressive.” He moans. I sit up against the door. The windows are white, but not from the frost- but from our hard breathing.

Quinn stuffs his face into my pussy as if he’s still hungry from dinner. I start to cum, but Quinn pulls away from me. He holds my hand as I start rubbing myself. With his other hand, Quinn jerks iff to start some lubricant.

He starts rocking his hips into mine. I feel his cold tip touch what feels like my lungs. He holds my legs up. I know the car is rocking a ton. But I love it.

~

Quinn slaps my ass while I’m in doggy style. He fucks me hard, and he gets tired after a good 47 minutes.

~

I hope I get to finish him. I start sucking off his cum and playing with his sensitive balls. He leans his head back, letting me crawl up onto his chest. His phone rings.

“Hey dad? Whats wrong?”

“Where are you? Is y/n coming back?” Jim yells through the phone. I can hear the worry in his voice.

“Dad. Y/n. She’s fine.” I cut him off by kissing him. I turn our camera on and see Jim. Ellen is in the corner of the camera and screams. She jumps up and down.

“I knew you’d end up with one of my boys!” She smiled. She runs up to Jack and he twirls her around. Luke winks at us through the camera.

~

Quinn cuddles me in bed and warms my back up. I feel his warmth and love, I wish we announced our relationship before the dinner.

[perfectsunlight]

( 𝟯𝟰 ) ✏ BONUS - MINJEONG & JIMIN

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: comparison, insecurity

word count: 1k

𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲

SETTING: THE DAY BEFORE CH. 33

“so, who is the girl?” 

jimin plopped herself onto minjeong’s desk, leaning closer to the student council president with a grin. the blonde’s cheeks flushed red as she looked at the older girl in confusion. “huh?”

the vice president rolled her eyes, laughing softly. “come on, min. you never text anyone during our meetings, not even your parents. you’ve got a crush. spill.”

minjeong paused her note taking and sighed deeply before setting her pen down. “that’s the thing,” she said as she slowly turned to glance at her best friend before looking down in her lap. 

“i think it’s more than just a crush.”

jimin raised an eyebrow, her grin widening as she leaned in closer. “more than just a crush, huh? now you've really got my attention. tell me about her.” minjeong hesitated, unsure how much to reveal. she trusted jimin with her secrets, but this felt different. 

“she’s so beautiful. but really annoying. and god she’s so stubborn.” the blonde mumbled as she rubbed her temples. “she gives me migraines sometimes.”

“but you like it when she gets on your nerves.” the vice president shrugged with a small smile. the president sighed deeply. “yes. i do.” she whispered.

jimin chuckled softly, enjoying minjeong's conflicted expressions. “annoying and stubborn, huh? sounds like a challenge.” 

“you have no idea.”

“you need someone to push you buttons, min.” the older girl snickered, earning a glare from her best friend. “no, i do not.”

“so you’re fine with her annoying someone else?” the brunette answered with a raised eyebrow. she watched her friend’s fists tighten before she pouted. “no.” 

the mere thought of you occupying someone else’s thoughts made her want to throw up. however, that thought might be an unfortunate reality. 

“i think she likes someone else.” minjeong slowly said out loud, drumming her fingers against the wood of her desk. “i’ve seen her come home with someone else. i can’t compete with the other girl she likes.”

“who is the girl she likes?” jimin asked with furrowed brows. “she can’t be all that.” “i think she likes wonyoung.” the blonde mumbled as she let her head fall to her desk. “i can’t compete with her. she’s tall, good looking, and rich. she’s got more interests aligned with y/n—”

“y/n? jennie’s sister?”

minjeong immediately realized her mistake and her face heated up in response. she remained in her position so her friend wouldn’t see her current state. “you know her?” the younger girl asked quickly.

the older girl only smiled at her best friend before nodding slowly. “maybe. who doesn’t?”

it was true, everyone knew who y/n was. she was smu’s celebrity. with the aces being the most coveted friend group, and y/n's sister being a global superstar, her high status position was inevitable.

“then you should know i’m not what y/n likes.” 

jimin rolled her eyes at her friend’s dramatics. “what does she like then?” the vice president held no feelings for her former ex girlfriend, but she knew that if anyone could be a wingman right now, it would be her. 

jimin chuckled softly, leaning back on her hands as she considered minjeong's dilemma. “well, for starters, she seems to like someone who cares about her. i think she’s got enough superficial relationships in her life.”

the president sighed deeply, still feeling disheartened. of course, jimin had a good point, but she couldn’t feel like she measured up. “but wonyoung is so confident and charming. she's always been the one who stands out, the one people notice.”

“true,” jimin agreed thoughtfully. “but you've got qualities that wonyoung doesn't.”

minjeong scoffed as she leaned against the palm of her hand. “like what? being introverted, a nerd, and boring?” the time you called her boring replayed in the back of her mind as she sat there.

“you're selling yourself short,” jimin insisted gently. “you're loyal, caring, and incredibly intelligent. y/n values sincerity and depth, not just superficial charm. and besides, opposites attract sometimes.”

the blonde bit her lip, considering jimin's words. “i guess i just don't know how to show her that. i'm not confident and flashy like wonyoung.”

“you don't have to be wonyoung,” jimin said firmly. "you just have to be you. y/n already knows you, and i bet she appreciates those qualities more than you realize.”

the president remained silent as she pondered her best friend’s words. however, she couldn’t shake the former memories of someone who used her before.

“what if she likes me for the wrong reasons?” minjeong whispered, eyes refusing to look up at her best friend. kiran broke her heart and made the blonde feel more insecure about herself than she ever had in her life.

but she knew y/n was nothing like kiran, and kiran was nothing like y/n.

“y/n has a good heart. she would never even hurt a fly, trust me.”

"she hates flies," the younger girl muttered to herself as she recalled a memory of you screaming at her to kill the fly in her sister's kitchen.

images of your face flashed in minjeong’s mind as she sat at her desk. images of your smile, your laughter, and the moments they shared together filled her thoughts. she could still feel the warmth of your presence, the way your eyes sparkled when you teased her, and the genuine kindness you showed her.

“you're right, jimin,” minjeong murmured softly to herself, her lips curving into a faint smile. “y/n has a good heart. she's different.”

she recalled the times you had made her laugh, the way you listened to her, and the way you looked at her. you could stare at her forever and she’d be happy. 

unlike kiran, who had been manipulative and selfish, you were genuine and caring.

“you care about her, jeongie.” jimin whispered, gently putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder again. she was right. every pencil she gave you, every door held open, even every car ride and dinner. minjeong cared about you and your happiness, you and your success. there wasn’t anything she cared about more except possibly herself. everything she did for you was because she cared.

as she thought about you, minjeong felt a surge of determination. she knew she had to take a chance, to show you her true feelings. despite her insecurities and fears of getting hurt again, she couldn't deny the connection she felt with you.

“you’re right. i need to tell her.”

𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧: @silantryoo @forever-in-the-sky2 @rosiehrs @urfriendlylocalidiot @chaewonluvsme @zhivaxo @baebeefyburrito @jisooftme @winterlve @mina1vr @rgxjsss @uzumakioden @bexisbomb @tzuyuscloud @cwpiqwon @dream-chasers-things @demtions @sewiouslyz @jeindall777

@writingficsblog @ad0rechuu @lauxymy4 @awkwardtoafault @popstaryunjin @hibernatinghamster @tocupid @myothegreat @yerevies @alexxis10 @sighsam @ddeulgiheree @kikelikesmc @ddoxhan @justalittledissociation @jenaissantex @captivq @lea-pg @skisk1 @justme-idle @neuftaeng

CLOSED.

[sharksupermacy]

k. (pt2.)

k. (pt2.) - jihyo x idol! reader

synopsis: part 2 of k.

genre: angst?, communications actually????, yes ik your response would never fly in asia, mentions of soojin (DO NOT THROW HATE ON HER), swearing, 1.1k words pt1. pt.3

the reason was simple. you had gotten a good enough score on your CSAT to be able to go to any university you desired. So you had set your heart on attending Seoul National University for a M.D. of psychiatry. Maybe it was your desire to know why jihyo had made the decision to break up with you without your approval, or maybe you just wanted to find another way to make people smile. whatever the case, you still got accepted to SNU program in psychiatry.

psychiatry was fun aside from the endless nights of studying, writing papers, and consuming energy drinks. it was still your first year when you started selling some of your songs to JYP for money and when cube entertainment reached out to you.

the email that changed your future again read as follows:

dear y/l/n y/n,

we hope this email finds you well. we were wondering if you were willing to participate in our new upcoming girl group project. although we cannot tell you the names of other members at this time, we can confirm that this will be a seven-member girl group. we heard wonderful things about you from other trainees and entertainment, and we would love to have you on board this project. If you wish to know further details about this group, please come in soon, as this is a limited-time offer.

futher thanks,

cube entertainment staff

you had a dilemma. as much as you wanted to live a normal life as a psychiatrist helping people, something inside you was yearning to take this opportunity to debut. after all, it was what you had trained for over 4 years at JYP for. two hours later, you had reached your final decision. taking up your laptop, you typed out a simple response to the cube team, forever changing the future you had laid out for yourself.

when is the closest available appointment

sincerely,

y/l/n y/n

sent.

time skip (abt a year)

you weren't going to lie that the past years had been brutual being put through evaluation after evaluation, but hey. you had six awesome girls to rely on, and better yet, you had a name to call all of yourselves. (G)I-dle. man, what a name soyeon came up with, and better yet it fit all seven of you very well. it was worth every ache to just debut with this group... i wonder if this is what jihyo felt when she made her debut. you and soyeon even made a song together that ended up on the album, which was kinda cool. 

as soon as you knew it MAMA's rolled around, and you knew that your group excitement couldn't be contained when your arms started hurting from being smacked on the arm so many times by yuqi who was beside you when the news came. as the leader and soojin tried to calm the two youngers down, you were with minnie, and miyeon where a question that threw you off so much was asked innocently by miyeon, "do you think twice will be there?" 

she looked at you, knowing that you were a JYP entertainment trainee who probably knew the most, if twice were going to be there. after all, you guys must have been friends. you responded, scratching the back of your neck a little, and tried to say in a nonchalant way "i'm not sure, but they probably will be there since it's MAMA's."

the older nodded and went back on her phone; however, minnie looked at you for a second, taking note of your unusual response to miyeon. then going back onto her phone, you, on the other hand, were sweating buckets, thinking of maybe seeing your ex at the award show. you still haven't unblocked her number, or any of twice for that matter... but then the thought hit you. 

you haven't unblocked any of twice yet... maybe you should unblock one. you felt bad for dragging all of your and her friends into the messy part of your relationship. debating between the latter, you ended up unblocking one person, mina. you weren't exactly close with her, but you saw the text kept ringing one by one. 216 messages. 125 missed calls. HOLY FUCK- you thought. you didn't even talk to the girl that much, and the last one was on your debut date, May 2 2018.

peguin minguin: happy debut date! hope you're will do well!!! i'm cheering you on!! fighting!!

you bit your lip, trying to hold back your tears from reading the message, before excusing yourself to the bathroom. typing the response to mina. 

traingle goof: thanks mina! I hope your yes and yes promotions are going well!!! i'll be cheering from the sidelines for you!! fighting!!!

returning back to your room after sending that message, trying to help soyeon and soojin calm the youngers down.

mina pov: 

it was another tireless day of promotion, and with our schedule being so packed by JYP, i was ready to just straight out pass out on to the bed.  a thought passed by me to check my phone just in case anything important happened or someone texted me. while scrolling through the notifications quickly, something caught my eye, traingle goof , no way. i screamed causing jeongyeon and nayeon to run quickly to me. jeongyeon gave me the good look up and down and nayeon well she was tired and asking what i was screaming about. i showed them the text. "no fucking way," nayeon says while being hit by jeonyeon who didn't see. 

however, the face on jeongyeon face when she saw the message was priceless; her jaw dropped wide open. she grumbled out a reply, "i don't understand why she would contact you out of all people. she wasn't really that close to you."

i understood her logic for thinking that way, and sure, we weren't really close, but we still understood each other. hell, they were closer than i ever was. i walked over to sana, who seemed to have almost just slept, until i shook her a bit and showed her the messages. she shot up almost immediately, asking me in japanese if the message i showed her was fake. she started texting y/n again, asking if she had unblocked her again. no response. then she turned back to me, asking if i could text her. so i typed out a simple response to y/n

penguin menguin: thank you! are you and your group going to MAMA this year? maybe the j-line and 2yeon could meet up with you guys!

a response was sent. now all she had to do was wait. little does she know that a figure saw a flash of mina screen when walking by.

a/n ok why is this actually like taking more than 2 parts than i thought it would be i promise it will be 3 chapters manifesting it will be. anyways yea MISAMO STREAM IK THEY'RE PROMTIONS PERIOD IS OVER BUT LIKE PLS THIER ALBUM IS LITTERALLY SO PERFECT

[piratefalls]

first list here.

round two i guess. i finally read 30 pages of a real physical book last night. progress? possibly. it felt right that while working on this "nothing's gonna stop us now" started playing. thinking about making this a wednesday thing. still trying to do a mix of new and old fics, even though it's all new to me. and much like alex claremont-diaz, this has been a mouthful. if you want me to tag you in any lists going forward, let me know!

Will You Brie Mine? by chamel

Today, as Henry tells him all about the Manchego, Alex tries his best to listen and not fixate on the mole next to the corner of Henry’s mouth or the way his shoulders strain the seams of his white uniform shirt. It’s not a particularly easy task for him, in all honesty. “Would you care for a sample?” Henry asks, as if Alex has ever said no to him. “I’d love one,” Alex tells him instead of saying I’d like to sample you. (Or, Henry sells cheese and Alex is somehow his best customer. It's not really about the cheese.)

take me out and take me home by coffeecatsme

“Shh.” Alex presses a finger over Henry’s lips. Their corners twitch, as if Henry’s desperately fighting a smile. “This is our house, baby. We gotta make it our own." Soon after Ellen's election, Henry and Alex move into a brownstone in New York. This is a story of how they make it home.

i still love you more than i should say by tkstrand

It’s been three months since Alex started working for Bankston & Shrivastava Associates, and he’s starting to think that his tiny crush on his coworker may not actually be that small. NYU School of Law may have helped him pass the bar, but it certainly didn’t prepare him for everything that is Henry fucking Fox. What makes it worse, though, is that Alex can’t do a fucking thing about it. No matter how much banter they swap, how many times he makes Henry blush in a day, it doesn’t matter. Alex can’t do anything, because Henry already has a boyfriend. Or, where a slight miscommunication leads Alex to believe that David is Henry's boyfriend.

and that's the way i loved you by HypnosTheory

Alex sighs, tilting his head back and sinking low in his chair. “What if I scare him off? He’s got a pretty big thing about commitment-” “He eats the same thing for breakfast and he wears a ring with his own initials every day,” Nora says, lifting her head up just enough to glare at Alex. “He doesn’t have commitment issues, he’s just a slut. Tell him you want him to be your slut. For the love of all that is holy.” -- Alex accidentally fell hopelessly in love with his roommate and fuck buddy Henry. He tries to plan the perfect confession, but when have any of Alex’s plots worked perfectly?

Baby, You're Gonna Lose Your Own Game by affectionatelyrs

Alex thinks he understands why people get stupid, impulsive tattoos like their ex’s name now if the sudden urge to etch the word darling onto his hip in permanent ink is anything to go by. So, yeah, Alex supposes. Henry may still be maddening, but his mouth? His voice? Maybe it was always hot, actually, and the irritation he previously felt was just thinly veiled complete and utter attraction. That would check out. Hate has always been a multifaceted word, after all. - Or, Alex decides that he wants to fuck the British out of Henry while watching him speak at a gala

flatline by rizcriz

Alex gets the call at 7:57am. It’s from an unknown number, so he answers it with an accent on his tongue and laughter in his throat, ready to troll the scammer for all they’re worth. But the voice on the other side of the line is serious, solemn, when she asks, “Is this, I apologize, all I’ve been given are initials, AGCD?” He frowns, turning away from the coffee shop he’d been about to enter. “Who’s asking?” There’s a moment of hesitation on the other end. “There’s been an incident. On the individual's phone, there’s a sticker. It says, if found, return to AGCD, alongside this phone number. Does it sound familiar?” Alex freezes in the middle of the sidewalk. “What kind of incident?” -- Or, Henry's been in an accident.

craigslist cutie (please don't go) by matherine

Here’s the thing. Alex is simultaneously very, very smart and very, very stupid. Nora calls it the Claremont-Diaz Paradox, and every time she does, June sticks out her tongue like she’s about twelve years old, and then Nora makes a comment about what she would rather June be doing with her tongue, and – okay. Off track. Not relevant to Alex’s current predicament, which is perhaps the most damning example of the Claremont-Diaz Paradox. Alex got himself into NYU Law with flying colors and LSAT scores in the 99th percentile, worked his ass off for three years, and graduated with honors and a crippling caffeine addiction. And then, because he is an idiot, he decided to take his JD, his potential, and his mountain of student loans to his brand-new job as a public defender. Unfortunately, being a public defender pays about as much as working at a Hot Topic. Which means that Alex really needs a roommate. Like, pronto. STAT. ASAP. He’s not sure who’s desperate enough to move into the other room in his beautiful, probably-not-bedbug-infested 700 square feet of Hell’s Kitchen, but he really fucking needs to find somebody. Craigslist is a last resort, but it does bring him Henry.

Professional Rivalry by clottedcreamfudge

"Decided to take the afternoon off to bump into pedestrians?" Alex asks as he gets to his feet, brushing off his chinos and pushing his glasses back onto his face where they've started to slide down his nose. "Shouldn't you be off somewhere writing about men in passionate embraces?" Henry regards him coolly over the armful of papers he's managed to retain complete control of, somehow, and Alex notices vaguely that he's got a smudge of ink just below his jaw. "Shouldn't you be taking a 1L lecture in," Henry pauses, looking at his watch, "less than five minutes?" "Fuck," Alex says again. "Fucking shit." Then he turns around and leaves Henry to bump into more people, probably, since that seems to be his only fucking agenda for the day. *** Professor Alex Claremont-Diaz despises Professor Henry Fox, so naturally they get roomed together at a conference. Alex is fine.

take a step, step again by iphigenias

This is not the first time. The first time, Alex left for class early, left Henry in their bed in Brooklyn with a kiss pressed to the exposed skin behind his ear. He didn’t hear from Henry all day. When he got home that night, Henry wasn’t in the kitchen, or on the sofa watching Bake Off, and he didn’t answer when Alex called. He was still lying in bed, and flinched, when Alex reached out to touch him.

mess me up (no one does it better) by extasiswings

Sometimes, Alex gets stuck in his own head. And for twenty-two years he doesn’t think there’s anything to be done other than to just go with it, ride out the frenetic energy until he’s fixed whatever needs fixing, or until the situation is over, whichever comes first. If he can just control everything, it’s fine. He likes being in control, he’s good at it, he’s fine. It’s just how things have always been. Until Henry.

five times henry's competency turned alex on and one time it turned him into a pile of romantic goo by helenblqckthorn

Alex has a fucking thing for competency. A competency kink, if he wants to be crude. And it just so happens that his boyfriend is one of the most competent men in England. Well, Alex, he thinks. You sure know how to pick ‘em.

Keep Most of Your Heart in London by cresswells

Alex thinks he’s prepared – as prepared as he’ll ever be. He’s been waiting for months to do this. He even did his research on the proper etiquette for a British royal engagement – and then promptly ignored it all. AKA: The one with the engagement of the century.

Red, White & Navy Blue by jedusaur

"Fine," says Alex. He clenches his jaw and his fists. "Great. Watch me. I'll bromance the shit out of the motherfucker."

how we rolled up the carpet (so we could dance) by adhoori

Henry shrugs off his suit jacket and tie, looking his usual annoyingly handsome self while Alex stifles a yawn in spite of the amount of caffeine in his system. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Henry says, looking all kinds of fond. Alex feels a little ridiculous in his tousled hair, glasses and the ratty NYU sweatshirt, but finds an answering warmth spreading through him anyway as he lets himself be kissed hello. “Hi, sweetheart,” he says, leaning back into the chair while Henry leans against the desk.

you and me, forevermore by bellamysgriffinprincess

"He pushes up on his toes to kiss Henry, who returns the kiss immediately, greedily, tongue brushing against his in a way that makes Alex's brain short circuit just as much as it did a year ago. A year ago. It still does something to him, stirs something deep inside him that makes his entire body feel like pure mush. It's a memory burned so bright in his mind - cold air, a buzz in his veins, a tree in a quiet garden, fingers gripping his face, soft lips against his. The night his world turned on its axis and shifted toward Henry, altering his path and forever tilting him closer." Or, Alex and Henry on New Year's Eve, one year after their first, and Alex wants it to be special.

All Booked Up by allmylovesatonce

A book tearing up the Bestseller’s List is quickly shoved into Alex’s hands via June and Nora. Despite his resistance, he’s taken in by the book and its whirlwind romance. When Nora insists they all go to a reading with the mysterious author, Alex is drawn in by H. G. Fox, hanging on his every word. When they meet after the signing, it sets him on a path he’d thought was impossible.

Are You Screwing With Me? by railmedaddy

Alex is only downloading Grindr because he’s curious. It doesn’t fucking mean anything, right? And when he answers a call for help from a very hot neighbour – who has no business having a shoulder-to-waist ratio like that – he’s just being friendly. It definitely doesn’t mean that he’s going to discover things about himself that he’d assumed were just passing curiosity. Or, the Grindr meet-cute AU

Yo Te Guiero A Ti by lucy_in_the_sky

“So,” Henry starts again, setting the now empty beer bottle down with a decided thud. “You want to bottom, but are having trouble fingering yourself and making it feel good?” He asks, voice deeper than usual. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” Alex shrugs, still feeling half turned on and half mortified. “And you want my help with fingering yourself?” Henry asks, slightly incredulously. And fucking hell, that’s exactly what he wants, even though he technically only asked for Henry’s advice, not his help actually fingering him. “Would you help me?” Alex breathes out, the question barely a whisper.

We were staying in Paris by hollybibble

Henry wakes up with Alex for the first time in Paris. He's desperately in love but still managing to convince himself he is in control...until Alex calls him 'baby.' Cameo appearance by Henry's leather polo gloves.

Piping and Draping on a Saturday Night by cmere

Dear Alex, Please consider this email confirmation that I am available to help supervise students at the End of Semester Dance on Saturday, December 19th. Do let me know if there is anything I should prepare in advance. I look forward to working with you. Sincerely,Professor Henry Fox, Ph.DHistory Alex doesn't really understand why boring and pretentious Professor Henry Fox volunteers to help out at his students' events every semester, but he needs all the help he can get, so he's just gonna have to put up with him.

don't be surprised, baby (it's just me) by pissedofsandwich

Henry reflects on his relationship with touch over the years.

love dares you, to change our way of caring about ourselves by kapplebougher

Henry has read it all: fairy-tales of princes and their courters, unsung histories of kings and their secret lovers, and he has read all their happy endings. But he is not a prince in a fairy-tale, and he has always thought his own secret love story was likelier to end in tragedy. Perhaps it’s time that changed. (Or, Henry’s POV the morning after The Great Claremont-Diaz Ambush at Kensington Palace)

I'd Cross Oceans by 14hpgirl19

Dating a prince is hard. Dating a prince when you're the son of the President is even harder. Alex is done with barely seeing Henry. When Henry gets sick while in London, Alex decides to take matters into his own hands. (And if he ends up with a fiance at the end of it, even better.)

watch before it ends by indomitablelove

He should be working on this essay so he can spend more time with Henry this weekend. He really, really should be working on this essay. But. But. Henry is going live on Instagram. --- that's it, that's the fic.

you turned a moment (into forever) by viciouslyqueer

Sharing an apartment with Alex had seemed like a good idea at first. They’re best friends, prices in Brooklyn are absurd, and they had both been in urgent need of residence – it only made sense. Except for the small, tiny, teeny, barely there fact that Henry has been in love with Alex from the first moment he laid eyes on him. And the fact that Alex doesn’t know, and can never find out.

[e-dubbc11]

Imagine being Rumlows roommate (he just has one because I said so 🤣) and one day you catch him coming out of his room like this:

First little peak you get of his body, but boy does it do things to you. And by each day it gets harder and harder to resist the attraction 😏

My lovely Lily, this has been sitting in the back of my brain since you sent it in. This is sort of a roommate situation. I hope what you like what I did here. Thank you for the ask my love! ♥️

Starting Over

Photos are not mine. They are courtesy of Pinterest/Google.

Pairing: Brock Rumlow x F! Reader

Warnings: Swearing and Smut! (18+ please or else I’m telling on you!) Oral F! Receiving, fingering, unprotected P in V sex(be safe out there), Drinking

Word Count: 4.5K-ish

Summary: After a bad breakup, you needed to have a fresh start but after getting a new job and selling your house, you forgot one important thing…a new place to live. Luckily a friend of yours might have a solution.

A/N: I haven’t written any smut in awhile so I think I’m a little rusty. Please be gentle and I hope you like it. I know there was something else I wanted to put in here but my brain fog has been so bad lately, I can’t remember what it is

As always, thank you for reading!  I appreciate it so much and comments, reblogs are welcome and encouraged. Don’t be shy to tell me your favorite part. 💕💕 💕

“Why can’t she just stay with you?” Brock asked, the tone of his voice was elevated and raspy.

Frustrated, Jack replied. “You know I only have a studio and she should have her own space. It won’t be for very long, I promise. She’s looking for a place to live as we speak.”

You did leave home rather hastily but your break-up had been tough. Even though you tried moving on, your ex just kept popping up everywhere you went and it appeared that HE had no problem moving on, showing off his younger piece of ass every chance he got. So for your sanity, you had to move on and move out of your hometown.

It was hard to watch so you just decided not to subscribe to that channel anymore. You stayed long enough to sell your house and find a new job in a new city. You wanted a fresh start and Jack was the only person you knew that lived in D.C.

He was a childhood friend from high school and you had been on a couple of dates with him while in school but it just worked out where you just ended up being really good friends.

Brock seriously considered saying no but Jack caught him on a good day. He felt a little bad for you that you felt like there was no other way to move on with your life except to leave town.

“Ok, fine but you owe me, Rollins!” Brock said.

Jack felt a sense of relief as he let out a long exhale.

“Thanks Rumlow, I really, really appreciate this. I’ll bring her by later.” Said Jack.

The call ended and Brock placed both hands on the counter, hung his head so his chin touched his chest, and took a deep breath. He wondered if he was going to regret agreeing to let a stranger live at his place for who knows how long.

He thought about reminding Jack what his favorite kind of vodka was so he could bring it with him later but he let it go. He finished his coffee, gathered the things he needed for work and locked the door behind him.

It was going to be a long day.

**********

Brock arrived home that night around 6 and started to prepare for your arrival. He made up the bed in the spare room and tidied his apartment a little. He was a bachelor, used to living how he wanted, not answering to anyone, and definitely not used to having a woman around.

But he would have to get used to it no matter how much he didn’t want to.

There was a knock on his apartment door around 7:30. When Brock opened the door, he wasn’t what you were expecting to see on the other side. He was quite handsome with dark brown hair and eyes the color of Tennessee whiskey. You hoped he didn’t catch you staring at him with your mouth open.

“You must be y/n. I’m Brock, Jack told me a lot about you. Please…come in.” He said.

You entered the apartment, wheeling your suitcase behind you with Jack following close behind. You had a handle of Tito’s vodka in your other hand and then placed it on the kitchen counter and extended your hand for Brock to shake.

“It’s nice to meet you, Brock. Thank you so much for letting me stay here, I didn’t exactly think it all the way through, picking up and leaving like I did. I made sure I had a new job but forgot I needed a place to live. But I really do appreciate this…I got you a little present, Jack told me it’s your favorite.” You said with a warm smile.

Briefly, one of the corners of Brock’s mouth turned up into a half smile but then went right back to pressing his lips together, firmly and furrowing his brow.

It was obvious he wasn’t really comfortable with someone invading his space like this and you couldn’t blame him for being a little grumpy. Jack did spring this on him at the last minute and gave Brock little time to prepare for your arrival.

“Yeah…You’re welcome. So, I made up the spare room so you can put your stuff away…down the hall and first door on the left.” Said Brock.

You left Brock and Jack to talk while you went to your room to settle in a little but you felt a little guilty for disrupting his life like this. Clearly, he was used to living alone and now because of your hasty decisions, he was stuck keeping a roof over your head until you could find a place of your own.

You were close to finding one though. Every apartment that was acceptable, you put in an application for it so you were just waiting to hear back from one of them at least.

You heard Jack call down to you to tell you he was leaving. He gave you a hug goodbye, said he’d talk to you soon and he would talk to Brock tomorrow. After he left, there was an awkward silence between you and Brock.

You guessed he was a man of few words and it didn’t help that you were painfully shy so starting a conversation with him would be difficult for you but you needed to make it more comfortable if you were going to be staying there.

Brock finally broke the silence.

“You wanna drink, y/n?” He asked.

You nervously sat down on the couch and protectively pulled your knees into your chest.

“Oh…yes, please. That would be great.” You replied.

“Thank you for this, by the way. It’s really generous of ya.” He said, taking ice out of the freezer.

Watching him reach for the glasses in his cabinet, the sleeve of his black t-shirt rolled back to reveal the muscles in his arms. You bit down on your lower lip wondering what his body looked like under his shirt and warmth rushed to your cheeks.

It had been months since you had been shown any physical affection and now you were sharing an apartment with an incredibly sexy man.

While Brock was mixing drinks, you pulled out your phone to text Jack.

“Why didn’t you mention that Brock was hot?”

You texted.

He texted back.

“Um, because it’s not something that crosses my mind y/n. Ohhhhhh it’s been awhile for you, hasn’t it?”

You squinted and furrowed your brow as you wrote back.

“Oh shut it…goodbye!”

He texted back a bunch of laughing emoji’s.

“Oh you’re welcome. It’s the least I could do for you letting me stay here. I promise it won’t be for too long…at least I hope it won’t be.” You said with a slight tremble in your voice.

“Here ya go, doll.” Brock said, handing you the glass with your vodka soda with lime.

You felt yourself start to blush upon hearing the little pet name.

“Thank you. So, you and Jack work together? He won’t tell me exactly what he does, I don’t suppose you could tell me?” You asked.

“Sorry sweetheart, I can tell you the basics but nothing juicy.” He said with a slight smirk, taking a sip of his drink.

You were turned on just by the way he held the glass and watched his throat move up and down as he swallowed the cold liquid. Thankfully, he distracted you with a question.

“Can you tell me what you do for work, y/n?” Asked Brock.

Your eyes widened as his question snapped you back to reality.

“Oh, the defense contractor I worked for up north also has an engineering office down here so I just found another job doing similar work.” You said.

Trading questions back and forth, you talked with each other for a couple of hours until you both started to yawn and your eyelids became heavy with sleep. It seemed like the both of you had a long day.

“Well, I’m off to bed…towels are in the hall closet for when ya wanna shower. I have a bathroom in my bedroom so take your time…goodnight y/n.” He said softly. His voice sounded extra raspy.

“Goodnight Brock, and thank you again.” You replied.

He went into his bedroom and shut the door, leaving you in the living room, alone with your thoughts. But you didn’t want to be alone with your thoughts.

It seemed all you could think of was your ex and how badly he hurt you, continued to hurt you in the months following your breakup and how he made it absolutely unbearable to stay in your hometown. That was your home, you shouldn’t have had to leave but he didn’t leave you any other choice.

With Brock asleep, you decided to clean up the dishes you dirtied and managed to find the coffee along with the filters to set up the timer on the coffee pot so fresh coffee would be ready for when you got up the next morning for work.

After your shower and with your head resting on the pillow, you just stared at the ceiling, the room filled with darkness as you waited for your eyelids to get heavy again but for some reason, they didn’t.

You were wide awake listening to the whistling sound the wind made outside your window and your mind wandered to thinking about Brock.

You closed your eyes and imagined his strong hands roaming all over your body, the scruff on his face lightly scratching the sensitive skin on your inner thighs, pinning your arms above your head as he kissed you aggressively.

That’s how you pictured being in bed with Brock Rumlow, a little bit rough but those thoughts made you so wet that a soft moan escaped your lips as you finally drifted off to sleep.

You had a feeling it was just going to get harder to resist the attraction to him and how long it would be before you couldn’t resist any longer.

**********

The alarm startled you awake and out of the dream you were having. It surprised you that you had slept so well in a strange place but you woke up feeling better than you have in a long time.

You put the finishing touches on your outfit for the day before emerging from your room to get some coffee. Brock’s bedroom door was still closed so you tried to be extra quiet while taking a mug from the cabinet and looking around for the sugar.

You heard Brock open his door. When he walked around the corner, he was pulling his shirt down over his muscular torso. It was difficult not to stare, he was in really great shape…as close to perfect as anyone could be.

The ache between your thighs was growing, forcing you to clench them together and release a soft gasp that you hoped he didn’t hear.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear ya get up. Actually, I forgot you were even here…been alone for so long, I just have to get used to ya bein’ here.” He said, the husk in his voice more pronounced after being asleep all night.

“You want some coffee?” You asked.

“Yeah…sounds great, thanks.” Brock said as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned. “How are ya gettin’ to work this mornin’?”

“Oh I have my car. I followed Jack over here last night.” You replied.

Brock looked around at his kitchen and remembered there were dishes in the sink last night. The counters had been cleaned and his mail was neatly piled at the corner of the breakfast bar. The confused look he had on his face made you crack a smile.

“The kitchen was dirty when I went to bed last night, right? I’m not seeing things.” He asked.

You covered your mouth to try and keep him from seeing you smile.

“Well, I noticed it was dirty after you went to bed so I just cleaned up a little before my shower.” You said.

Brock finished his coffee and placed his cup in the sink. “Thanks…Ok, well I’ll be back around 6 tonight. Jack told me you go into work early also but I know you’ll get back before I do. The spare key is under the mat…I’ll see ya later.”

He picked up his backpack, his motorcycle helmet and walked out.

These were the types of exchanges you and Brock had for about a week. He was a man of very few words and it was almost like he had no idea how to live with someone else.

He would go to work, come home, and that’s it. He’d never go out with anyone, not even Jack which made you a little sad for him.

You finally got a phone call about one of the apartments you had filled out an application for, it was the one that was the nicest and the one you wanted the most but it wouldn’t be ready for another two weeks.

“I’m sorry, Brock. I know I said it wouldn’t be for that long but I’ll be outta your hair in two weeks, I swear.” You said nervously.

He looked at you with a slight smirk across his lips and said, “I told you doll, it’s alright…stay as long as you need to.”

At that moment, he seemed a little more comfortable having you there. Maybe he actually liked having you stay with him? Whatever it was, it didn’t feel awkward anymore but it was still hard to pretend you weren’t attracted to him.

To know what his body looked like under his clothes, his handsome face and honey colored eyes…just thinking about him made you blush.

You got into the habit of making dinner when you would come home from work. Sometimes he would be around to eat it before you went to bed and sometimes he wouldn’t be. After dinner, you would sit and talk…he was always asking questions.

You thought the reason he asked so many questions was because it kept you from asking anything about him, which was fine…he didn’t have to talk about anything he didn’t want to.

Being in a new city was scary and having only one friend in that city was even more frightening. But after a few more days, you felt like you could consider Brock a friend too. Although, you were sure that friends don’t picture their other friends naked.

Well, maybe some of them do.

Some nights, it wasn’t uncommon for you to go to bed before Brock got home. On a particular rainy night, you heard him come home late. Large drops of rain pelted against the building and the ceaseless winds seemed to make it their business to try and uproot the trees below.

It sounded like he threw his backpack hard against the wall and continued to make a lot of noise so you decided to get up to see what was going on with him.

You should have known better than to sneak up on him. Jack had told you enough about what they do to know that they were highly skilled in hand to hand combat so before you could even say Brock’s name, he had grabbed your wrist, spun you around to face away from him and pinned your arm against your back while holding a knife to your throat.

“Brock! It’s m-me! It’s y/n!!” Your voice trembled.

His hands felt cold and wet against the soft skin of your wrist while his thick fingers held onto you very tightly. The blade felt cool against your neck and suddenly your mouth became very dry, making it difficult to speak again.

Brock finally realized what he had done and dropped the knife. You heard it hit the floor and your eyes immediately welled up with tears. After turning around to look at him, Brock raised his hands in front of him to show you he wasn’t holding anything else.

“Y/n, I am so sorry! I didn’t know it was you! You can’t sneak up on me like that!” He yelled.

His actions scared you and you were paralyzed with fear but the look he had in his eyes was equal parts sadness and anger. And rather than run away, you inhaled sharply and let out a long exhale before doing the only thing you could think of that might comfort him.

You wrapped your arms around his torso and squeezed as hard as you could. His body tensed in your embrace but quickly relaxed when he returned your affection.

Burying his head into the crook of your neck, his warm breath brushed against your skin making the hair on the back of your neck stand up and sent a shiver down the length of your spine.

“What happened, Brock?” You asked softly.

Still dressed in his tactical clothing, he told you he, along with everyone else, thought it would be a simple mission but it went wrong…horribly wrong.

It was supposed to be a convoy to go from point A to point B, drop off the package and leave. But they had a number of new agents with them that panicked when things didn’t go smoothly.

Everything worked out in the end, they finished their job and everyone made it back safely. But Brock was the leader of his STRIKE team and he wanted it all to go perfectly and when it didn’t, he didn’t know any other way to cope with it than to lash out in anger.

He was quick to apologize again.

“I am so sorry, sweetheart. I would never…” He trailed off and hung his head. “I’m…I’m sorry…”

You had always been painfully shy and quiet, never speaking unless you were spoken to, that kind of shy. And if you were being honest with yourself, it was still surprising that you had any past relationships because it was difficult for you to open up.

It was difficult for you to be assertive in any way when it came to showing affection or being confident in your own skin.

Uprooting your entire life and moving to a new city terrified you. In the past, it was something that you could never ever picture yourself doing but you did it and you did it all by yourself. You were stronger than you thought and if you wanted something then you should go get it.

So it surprised even you when you inched closer to Brock, your eyelids were warm with his breath and you ghosted your lips over his before not being able to control yourself anymore. He smelled like fresh rain and your fingers found their way into his damp hair as your lips crashed against his.

He didn’t pull away but rather pulled you closer, his kisses were hungry with clashing teeth, his tongue dancing with yours as you whispered his name against his mouth over and over again.

You were shocked at the lack of your own restraint when your hands traveled down to the hem of his t-shirt which was soaked from the rain. The heat was radiating off of his skin as your fingers lightly touched his chest and migrated down his stomach muscles to his belt.

The words that escaped his lips surprised you.

“I’ve wanted you since the first second I saw you. Jack failed to mention that you’re absolutely beautiful.” He whispered.

Warmth rushed to your cheeks as you replied, “Well he didn’t mention to me that you’re sexy as fuck, Mr. Rumlow.”

Suddenly his hands were under your ass, he picked you up with ease as you wrapped your legs around his waist and he carried you toward the bedroom…his bedroom.

Brock was not gentle with you but you didn’t want him to be. He practically tossed you onto the bed and quickly climbed on top of you as his lips collided with yours once again. He kissed you desperately and with a hunger that was so new to you.

The passion behind it was something you had only seen in movies, it never happened to you in real life but you craved this type of affection, this type of passion, and it only deepened your desire for him.

Brock nipped at your bottom lip and jawline, peppering kisses down your neck as he tightly gripped your outer thigh, your legs wrapped around his waist as he pressed his thick fingers into your soft skin.

Your t-shirt and shorts were hastily discarded onto the bedroom floor, leaving you just in your panties and his hard cock pressed against your core, causing a soft moan to escape your lips and a low growl escaped his.

You didn’t know it was possible but you pulled him down even closer to you, the warm breath from your mouth lightly brushed the top of his ear which made him even more feral and he growled louder into your ear.

It felt like torture waiting for Brock to touch you in your most sensitive area but that changed as soon as you felt his fingers dip under the waistband of your underwear and slip into you.

He moved them rhythmically, hitting just the right spot deep inside that caused you to whimper and your walls started to tighten around his talented fingers.

“You’re so wet, sweetheart. You gonna be a good girl and come for me?” He whispered against your lips.

He draws out another soft moan from you, it had been so long since you had even been kissed that you felt like you could come just from the finger fucking he was giving you. He drew circles on your clit with his thumb, bringing you closer and closer to your release, and you felt like you were going to explode.

Before you could cry out his name, Brock firmly gripped your chin and captured your lips with his so all you could do was whimper into his mouth as he kissed you aggressively, pressing his hips down in between your legs even harder than before as if to make sure you weren’t going anywhere until he let you.

Breathing heavily after coming down from your high, the corners of his mouth turned up into a slight smile. “Oh I’m not even close to being done with you, doll.”

He suddenly disappeared in between your legs. You could feel his stubble brush gently against your inner thighs as he hummed against your entrance and you ran your fingers through his damp hair. Arching your back off of the mattress, you recklessly called out his name over and over again.

“Brock…I…can’t…” Those words were all you managed to get out before he brought his gaze up to meet yours and finished what you started by removing his pants. You wanted him. You wanted to feel every inch of him inside you.

Your thoughts were all over the place, and you were still shocked this was actually happening. His focus was solely on you and it surprised you how easily he slipped inside you, stretching you out before slowly starting to move, hitting just the right spot deep within your core, the spot that caused your vision to go white and your walls to tighten around his cock.

“You can give me more, sweetheart. I know you can.” He commanded.

You’ve never had someone who had been so eager to please you, who took care of you in bed, or who put your needs first before his own. You could feel yourself soaking the sheet underneath you as the cries of pleasure he ripped from you turned him on.

He fucked you hard and deep, forcefully pushing you into the mattress while your nails scratched up and down his back as he grunted loudly into your ear.

Somehow, it was almost like he knew that you’ve never been fucked this good before. You could almost feel his sly grin against your cheek as you gripped his waist as tightly as you could with your legs before his name fled from your lips. Your walls began to flutter as his movements became faster and insistent, he was close too.

“Ah…fuck!” He cried out.

Searching for his lips with your own, you were eager for his kiss, and desperate for the passion that you haven’t had in so long.

So you lifted your head slightly and pinched his jaw gently with your teeth until his lips met yours. He kissed you hard before spilling into you and then collapsing on top of you.

You could feel yourself trembling underneath him as a tear streaked down the side of your face from the overstimulation. Brock took your hand in his to comfort you but you had never felt better.

“You alright, doll?” He asked. “I didn’t hurt ya did I?”

You shook your head and bit down on your bottom lip.

“No, of course not. If you couldn’t tell, I was having a great time.” You chuckled.

He moved a stray piece of hair away from your eyes and smiled warmly at you. It was probably the first genuine smile you had ever seen from him. It wasn’t forced or a just-being-polite smile, it was an actual smile.

“Is that an actual smile, Mr. Rumlow?” You asked.

He tried to cover his smile.

“Ah, ah…too late. I saw it already. Ya know if you have another bad night like tonight, I might be available again to help work out some of your aggression.” You said with a wink as you tried to catch your breath.

“Is that right, sweetheart?” Asked Brock.

He started to smile again but stopped himself and all of sudden looked really nervous.

“Brock? What is it?” You asked.

He inched closer to you and gently pressed his lips to yours. They were warm and soft as you brushed his stubble with your thumb and smiled against his mouth.

“I was just thinking…” He said. “This probably wasn’t what Jack had in mind when he asked if I could do him a favor. So…who’s gonna tell him?”

Quickly, you pointed to your nose and said, “Not it.” And laughed.

Brock let out a raspy chuckle. “Or, maybe he wanted this to happen. Ya think?”

Gently tugging back on his soft brown hair, you gazed into his light brown eyes and said, “Well, that should make it easier to tell him then, right?”

“I ain’t gonna tell him by myself. Even though I think I can take him, he is bigger than I am.” He joked.

You smiled, kissed him again and said, “Ok, I’ll stay in the room when you tell him, but I don’t think he’ll be mad.”

“You don’t?” Brock asked.

You chuckled as you replied, “Nah, once he sees the smile you put on my face, he’ll probably thank you.”

Your joke made him laugh.

With a devilish grin, he said “Well, I like putting a smile on your face, doll…in fact, I’d really like to do it again, if you’re not too tired.”

Maybe starting over wasn’t so bad after all.

Others that might enjoy: @itwasthereaminuteago @fluffyprettykitty @munsonownsmyass @k-marzolf @redstarsandnightmares @randomlittleimp @nutmeg17 @gijos @nekoannie-chan

If I tagged you and you didn’t want to be, just let me know and I’ll never do it again. As always, thank you again for reading!

[teaberrii]

Chapter 14: Something New

After ending a five-year relationship, you pour all your energy into work. Your latest assignment? Staying at a popular bed-and-breakfast to gather information. It should be a piece of cake... If only the owner isn't the man you scolded on the street.

Jing Yuan/You

Notes:

Cross-posted on Ao3

Female reader

Chapter index at the end of chapter one

You want information, right?

Will you help me?

You’ve been staring at your phone long enough for Jing Yuan to look in your direction. He glances at your phone and then back to you just as you say, “Now, this is suspicious, but I have a pretty good idea who this is.” You show him the texts from the unknown number. “Looks like Caelus’s uncle got in touch with her. But, how’d she get my number?”

That’s when you get a text from March saying that she bumped into Jing Yuan’s ex at the bed and breakfast.

I didn’t want to give it to her, but she didn't want to ask Jing Yuan. God forbid. She said it was about Caelus… Is everything OK?

You and Jing Yuan glance at each other and then back at your phone. You quickly write a text to March before switching over to the all-important conversation. Your thumbs hover over the keys, your mind spinning with responses and their respective scenarios.

That’s when you hear a soft, “Hey…” You look up. Jing Yuan has a comforting look in his eyes. “You're thinking too much.”

You can't help it.

“What if… What if she’s planning something? What if she and Caelus’s uncle are somehow scheming something together?”

“She's the kind of person who protects herself over anyone else. She won't trust Caelus's uncle."

“But, she trusts me? A woman she barely knows about? Or…” Your right hand is holding your phone when it drops to your side. “...She trusts you?”

You know it’s petty to get jealous because, hey, this works in your favour, doesn’t it?

“She may have just met you, but you want to find out the truth. Caelus’s uncle wants to keep her quiet.” Jing Yuan puts a hand on your cheek and leans in. “I’d take my chance with you.”

You put a hand on his cheek and gently pinch it. “Fair.” Then, with a small, teasing smile, you say, “Your little flirty tactics won’t work this time.”

Yanqing comes running with a bag of chocolate chips but stops just before he enters the aisle you and Jing Yuan are in. Yanqing's face brightens, and he waves to someone you don’t see until a shopping cart and an elderly man pushing it come into view.

“Oh, Yanqing!” he says with a smile. “Are you shopping with your father?”

“Hello!” Yanqing points to you and Jing Yuan. “Yeah! With my parents!”

The man turns, and you and Jing Yuan walk up to him. That’s when you recognize him as the man from Jingliu’s gym. He’d wanted to talk with her, but she had turned him down.

He also seems to recognize you, too. “Oh… You’re…”

“Jingliu’s friend.” Then, you say your name.“We sort of met. At her gym.”

“Ah! Yes… I saw my daughter training you.”

Daughter?

“I’m her father,” he says. He smiles at Jing Yuan. “The talk of the town is that you’re seeing someone new, Jing Yuan. I suppose this is her.”

Yanqing comes up next to you and proudly says, “She’s my Mom.”

“Is she now? A very pretty lass.”

"How has Jingliu been?" you ask.

Her father’s lips form a neat line, and the pause makes you and Jing Yuan glance at each other. “She’s fine, I suppose.”

“Did something happen?” Jing Yuan asks.

“I’ve been trying to convince her to sell that gym—dojo—whatever you want to call it of hers.” He sighs. “She needs to move on.”

“But it’s doing so well,” you say.

“She’s my daughter. I know that she’ll succeed in whatever she does. But, that place… She built it up in her time of need, and now that she can stand on her own two feet, I hope she can spread her wings elsewhere.”

“Are you asking Auntie Jingliu to start all over again?”

The man chuckles. “Oh, you’re getting smarter every day, Yanqing.”

Yanqing looks down. “That sounds scary”—he looks back up—”but exciting.”

"Doesn't it?" 

“I’m sure that when the time is right, she’ll make a decision that’s right for her."

“I suppose you’re right, Jing Yuan." A sigh. "Timing is also important.”

Then, Jing Yuan casually turns the conversation elsewhere.

By the time you finish grocery shopping, it’s already evening. Jing Yuan is driving back to the bed and breakfast when you reply to his ex. You immediately get a response back.

Let’s meet tomorrow.

“...Sounds like she’s eager to settle things,” you say.

Jing Yuan looks in the rearview mirror and sees Yanqing asleep in the back seat. Then, he quietly says, “Caelus’s death anniversary is next week. I guess she’ll want to settle things before then.”

“Still… I wonder what she’s expecting. How am I really going to help her? She might as well go to the police and tell them everything if she’s innocent.”

“...I had the same question.”

Jing Yuan’s wife had her hands on her elbows when she turned around. “What did you want to talk about?”

She and Jing Yuan were alone in the house. Yanqing was at school, giving them an hour to talk privately before she had to pick him up.

“...Did Star Rails have something to do with why Caelus died?”

She visibly stiffened. “Why are you asking me? I didn’t have anything to do with it!”

“I said Star Rails. Not you.”

“...How could the company have anything to do with it?”

“I don’t know. It’s just—”

“A hunch? They don’t, Jing Yuan. Just drop it.”

“If she had something to do with it, I thought she’d go to the police.”

“...I guess she never did. So, what was your theory?”

“I thought that Caelus’s uncle might have connections in the force.”

The car comes to a stop at a red light. “...What about not telling you? Did she not trust you?”

“Whether she could trust me, I can’t say. By then, a lot was happening at once. Our relationship was just starting to get rocky, I was going back and forth to get the business off the ground, Yanqing, and eventually the divorce.”

“I honestly can’t imagine going through all of that… at the same time.”

You hear Yanqing mumble something in the back seat. Jing Yuan glances in the rearview mirror while you turn back.

“Look who’s awake,” you say. “Did you have a good nap?”

“I had a dream…” Yanqing rubs his right eye. “...About giant chocolate chip cookies.”

The light turns green, and the conversation turns into something much lighter for the rest of the way back.

◆◆◆

You’re the first to arrive at the café the next morning. You’re sitting at a table, hands around your hot drink, when Jing Yuan’s ex sits on the opposite side. She’s wearing makeup, but you can tell she looks fatigued.

“Funny how minds can change so quickly.”

She glares at you. “Don’t make me change it again then.”

You put your drink aside. There are so many questions you want to ask. Is Caelus’s uncle already threatening her? If so, with what? And… Why you?

"What did Caelus's uncle do?" you finally ask.

She's gently tapping her fingers on the table as if contemplating her decision. You hope she's not going to suddenly walk out on you. Then, she finally answers, "He wanted to destroy the hotel from the inside out.”

"Were you involved?"

"God no. He turned a lot of people who were working with Caelus against him. Poached some of his employees, especially the younger ones who wanted to make a quick buck fast.”

“It couldn’t have been easy. Xianzhou has a strong community, and Caelus’s uncle wasn’t a local here.”

She crosses one leg over the other. “...But, he was family.”

“They have everyone fooled.”

Jing Yuan’s ex looked up from her food. “Fooled…? What do you mean?”

“To everyone, their family is picture-perfect. The definition of a beautiful, loving family."

“...Are they not?”

Caelus’s uncle poured himself some wine. “They're far from perfect, my dear.” He put the bottle down. “If only you knew."

“He made a convincing case that Caelus’s father once had a mistress and got her pregnant, and Caelus and Stelle were born out of that affair. That was one of the stories.”

“Surely, someone fact-checked this,” you say in disbelief.

“He had evidence.”

“You’re telling me Caelus’s uncle threatened to expose the family's dirty secrets if Caelus didn’t hand over his business?”

“All of it. It wasn’t just personal issues. He also mentioned tax evasion amongst other things." She glances out the window. "He had something to back up everything he was saying. Clearly, he spent time doing his research. But, I don't know... Call it a hunch, I guess. I didn't think everything was true even if he said he had evidence for his point. It's not like I had anything to prove, though."

You scoff. "Wow. So, he was trying to create a situation where people can't distinguish fact from fiction?"

"You tell me. If you've been hearing all these bad things about someone with evidence... People probably wouldn't bat an eye if something else came up. They would just accept it, would they not?"

You want to disagree, but... 

"Whether Caelus knew about all of this, I don’t know," she continues. "I don’t even know if he knew he was a bastard child. It was a messy inheritance battle he and his sister would have dealt with”

You cross your arms, skeptical. “Was anything ever released? I never came across any of these stories.”

“He used them as blackmail.”

“Was he expecting you to keep all of these secrets?”

"In exchange for putting in a good for me, yes."

“That doesn’t explain why he’d tell you. He could’ve done all of this in secret. Did he tell you what was true and what was not?”

“Of course not. But by then... Caelus had already cut him off.”

You lean back. “...So, you were his little messenger.”

“I told you I’m not interested in the deal,” Caelus snapped over the phone.

“I’d think twice if I were you.”

Caelus put his phone back up to his ear. “...Are you threatening me now? I could report—”

His phone buzzed with a message. Then, he heard:

“I’d check that if I were you.”

“I still remember how confused and frantic he was. After that, I didn’t do anything else. And it just went quiet.”

“...Did you ever think this pressure would cause Caelus to take his own life?”

She’s avoiding your eyes when she says, “I just wanted the project to succeed. That’s what I was betting on.” Her bottom lip curls inward. “Look, I regret what I did. I shouldn’t have kept quiet.”

“Why are you telling me and not the police?”

“Because as a woman who’s also climbing the corporate ladder, I would hope you’d understand.”

You almost scoff. “Why does it sound like you’re using me to try to get a lighter punishment if this gets out?"

“I just want that goddamn man away from me. I’m not an idiot. I know Jing Yuan got in touch with him. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten that phone call yesterday night.”

“You want him away from you. I want him stopped,” you mutter.

“This doesn’t involve just me, you know.” You glance at her as she leans in. “Nothing is scarier than a person who distorts the truth so much that no one can tell what’s real and what’s not. I was involved with Jing Yuan. You’re involved with Jing Yuan. Who’s to say that we won't be next? I know you probably don’t trust me, but if this gets solved, I won’t insist on bringing Yanqing back to the city. So, are you going to help me?”

Do you have a choice?

◆◆◆

“Looking as lovely as always, Natasha.”

Natasha is managing the front desk of the clinic today. She’s going through some papers when she hears the door open. She looks up, and Dan Feng and March are standing on the other side.

"I don't know if I should be glad to see you or not."

Dan Feng waves his hand dissmisvely. "It's just a check-up. No biggie."

March looks past the desk and sees mostly elderly people watching the TV on the wall. “Looks like a slow day.”

After finishing the administrative work, Dan Feng and March sit on a bench near the back. Just then, a news report about a company CEO being arrested over corruption charges appears on the screen.

“Companies and their greedy leaders,” a woman says, eyes on the screen. “You’d never see anything like that here.”

“Well… I don’t know. Wasn’t there something going on about—”

A man glares at her. “Are you talking about who I think you’re talking about? Don’t speak ill of the dead.”

“I’m not! I…”

The rest falls on deaf ears when the door opens and a woman steps out to join the rest of the crowd in front of the TV. Soon, Luocha steps out of the same room.

“Hey, you two. Come on in.” He nods toward the room, and Dan Feng and March follow him inside. “This must be serious if you came to see me.”

“I mean… I don’t know if it’s that serious,” Dan Feng says.

March slides the door close behind her. “It’s serious."

“Well, let's take a look.”

Dan Feng turns and slowly lifts his shirt until it’s halfway off.

Luocha frowns. "Is this from when—"

"Yeah," Dan Feng interrupts. "...It was from that time."

"You never said anything about it getting this bad."

"Look, Doc, I can explain but I'd rather not. Not right now, at least."

"When did you start feeling the pain? You seemed fine during volleyball."

"It was fine for a few days after that. But when I went to reach for something, I noticed something was wrong."

After a couple of tests, Luocha says, “You can’t keep pushing yourself like this.” He helps Dan Feng tug his shirt down. “...Or else you’re going to kill your shoulder.”

“How bad is it right now?” March asks.

Luocha does his best to explain it in simple terms. Eventually, he ends with:

“Bad. I don’t know if another doctor has recommended this before, but you should get surgery.”

Dan Feng sighs. “Yeah, that’s one thing I’ve been putting off.”

“Why?”

“Training… and, well, I didn’t think I really needed it,” he says, turning to March. “Self-heal, you know.”

She frowns. “Seriously?”

“Your shoulder might not last until then,” Luocha says, sighing, “with all the training you also have to do. I strongly recommend you do the surgery.”

At Dan Feng's silence, March asks, "Why don’t you want to do it?"

“Because I’d have to retire.” Then, quietly, “Something that I don’t want to do.”

“Were you planning on doing the surgery after you retire?" 

Dan Feng leans back. “...It would mean my career is over.”

Luocha and March glance worriedly at each other. “If your shoulder is busted, you wouldn’t be able to do anything,” she says.

“...Give it some thought.” Luocha turns to the computer. “You already have painkillers, right? Do you want to try acupuncture? That’ll help ease the pain.”

Dan Feng stands. “What do I have to lose?”

Soon, Dan Feng follows his friend to another room while March waits outside. A short while later, Luocha comes back and nods at March to head inside.

“How'd you find out?" Luocha asks.

"By accident," March says quietly. Then, she tells him about the encounter with Dan Feng yesterday night. "He doesn't want anyone else to know."

“Yeah.” Luocha sighs. "He was telling me to keep it between us."

“I want to help him.” Luocha looks at her, but March is looking down. “I… I think he’s afraid of doing the surgery because it means he'll be starting over.”

“I'm sure he knows athlete careers are usually short, but yeah, I sense he doesn’t want to give it up.” Luocha crosses one leg over the other. “Just curious… Has Dan Heng ever mentioned something similar? Y’know… moving onto something else?”

“I know he’s been struggling with his performance lately, but he never mentioned anything about giving up.”

A knock comes at Luocha’s door.

“Come in.”

Natasha slides the door open. “Your next patient’s here.”

Luocha nods and turns to March. “Let’s talk later.”

She nods just as a middle-aged man walks in. After leaving the room, she goes to find Dan Feng.

“How’re you feeling?” she asks, walking into another room at the back of the clinic.

“It’s an interesting experience.” He nods at the heat patches on the table. “Luocha also grabbed me those.” She walks over, picks them up, and sits on a chair nearby. Dan Feng slowly turns his head to face her. “Did your manager ever contact you again?”

March senses he's avoiding talking about the surgery, so she plays along... for now.

“He did, and I turned him down...”

“But?”

“...I can’t give too much away, but I’m thinking of signing a contract with the company. I’ll be an independent artist. It’ll be a new start.”

Dan Feng gives her a little smile. “Hey, at least you thought about it, and it makes you happy.”

“Well, I mean… public reception is another thing."

“You’re overthinking things. People love a good comeback. It’s not like you committed a crime.”

She leans forward. “Why are we suddenly talking about me, huh?”

“I didn't know my shoulder was such a hot topic."

“...Are you nervous about the surgery?”

Dan Feng looks down. “It’s more about what I’m going to do after. I’m not passionate about anything besides the sport, and…”

“...Seeing other people succeed can also be a bitter process.”

“I know it’s more about my mindset. I know it’s coming, but… I guess I have a hard time accepting it.”

March scoots her chair closer. “You don’t have to have everything figured out right now. There’s time before your surgery to figure things out. You'll also need time to recover. Health always comes first! It’s never too late!”

“Please don’t go all mushy on me.”

“If you put it that way, I won’t,” she deadpans.

Dan Feng smiles. “Sometimes all you need is a good support system.”

“Yeah, so thank us, Loser. All of us will be supporting you.”

“Maybe I should become an idol.”

“Is that a joke?”

“What do you think? I get pretty good scores on karaoke… And I don’t think I look half bad.”

March pretends to gag. “Dan Heng's better.”

Dan Feng scoffs. “We're identical twins." A small pause. "Oh, I get it. It's his air of mystery, isn’t it?”

"Anyways," she deadpans. "I bumped into Jing Yuan's ex this morning."

"Oh God. I bet that made your morning."

"She was saying she had to get in touch with 'Mom' about Caelus."

"Did you try asking her about it?"

"Jing Yuan's ex? Of course not! I'd probably be fed a bunch of lies." March takes out her phone and reads your text. "Everything's fine. I'll keep you updated."

"Well, gee. That's super specific."

"Caelus's death anniversary is coming up, and—"

"You think something's going to happen?"

"I hope not!"

"Whatever it is, we'll get through it. Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"

March sighs. "You have no idea how much I want to hit you right now."

◆◆◆

Should you tell Jing Yuan about what his ex did to Caelus? How will he react? You’ve been mulling over the question since you left the café. You’d texted Jing Yuan about what had happened, but you didn’t go into a lot of details.

Now, you’re at Jing Yuan’s house, making cookies with Yanqing in the kitchen. Jing Yuan’s upstairs, taking care of some work. Yanqing heads to the toilet while you’re putting icing on the freshly baked cookies. You sigh, standing upright, and then you feel someone’s arms go around you from behind.

“Hey.” You recognize that low voice anywhere. Just when you turn your head, your lips meet Jing Yuan’s. He smiles. “Sweeter than icing.”

You give him another quick peck before turning to the cookies shaped and decorated like different objects and people. Most of them are what Yanqing knows Clara likes. “What do you think?”

“They all look good." He points to cookies that look like a family of three. "This one’s my favourite.”

“That’s not supposed to be us, you know,” you say, chuckling. Jing Yuan rests his head on your shoulder. “It’s Clara with her moms.”

“Bronya and Seele!” Yanqing walks in and stands on his little stool to help him see the top of the kitchen counter. “Mom made the moms, and I made Clara.”

“I can tell.”

You gently nudge Jing Yuan. “Hey, are you saying mine looks bad?”

You think it looks fine, but compared to Yanqing's, it lacks quite a bit.

"I bet it tastes good."

You give Jing Yuan a deadpan look, and he kisses your cheek.

“Oh, Welt and Blade are dropping by,” Jing Yuan says.

“Really? Uncle Welt and Dad? When?”

Suddenly, the doorbell rings, and Yanqing rushes to open the door while you and Jing Yuan follow behind him. As soon as Yanqing opens the door, you hear Blade say, “Hey, kid. Miss us?”

“What are you doing here?” Yanqing asks, hugging their legs.

“Well… We bumped into each other near the train station,” Blade says, glancing at Welt.

Welt sighs and looks at you and Jing Yuan. “Caelus’s uncle… He’s back.”

Chapter 15

End notes:

MERRY BELATED XMAS! My games came early, and I got new glasses so now I feel like I'm seeing everything in 8K resolution lmao

This was meant to come out yesterday but I felt like it needed more editing, so I put it off until today. Curious if anyone has thoughts on the short flashbacks in the conversations. Yay? Nay?

Tag list: @suoshiii @lordbugs @lxry-chxn @seirenspinel @immahuman @queencybow @grimreapersscythe @nqctre @winterpein @asakenajustexistshere

[heartlandians]

What’s been going on with Lisa lately this season? I know about Dan, but I haven’t watched anymore since.

Episode 2 - Jack mentions having a phone call with Lisa to Tim and bragging to her how he drove a carriage while training a pair of carriage racing horses with Amy. It's not explained where Lisa is.

Episode 4 - Lisa cosponsors a teen community dance and becomes part of the committee. She receives a two-stepping class as a gift from one of the cosponsors and wants Jack to join her. Jack does it, but does not enjoy the experience, which makes Lisa frustrated about how he's reluclant about doing things that might be a bit uncomfortable for him but would mean the world for her, so they had a bit of an argument about it. Lisa says she'll go to the dance alone because she rather have fun than watch Jack complain and mope the whole time. Later, when Lisa goes to the teen community dance with Katie, Jack makes a surprise appearance and asks her to dance with him. Lisa accepts his apology and his invitation to dance. They make up.

Episode 5 - Lisa finds about Dan's death from Val Stanton few days after his passing and keeps the information to herself while Jack is training Blue for an upcoming event. She then mentions about it casually to Jack after dinner, which shocks him, and he expects her to feel sad about the news. Lisa's anger about the passing and how she found out on top of her refusal to grieve confuses Jack, so he makes attempts to talk about it. He even says he'll drop out from the event so he can attend the funeral with her. Lisa tells him to go, as he's been training so hard and been so excited about the whole thing, and shares that she won't go to the funeral, anyway, so that's that. When Jack keeps pressing the matter, Lisa finally confesses that she feels like she can't really talk about Dan and her life with Dan to Jack because they never got along. Finally, there's a break-through after Jack says he's okay with Lisa saying whatever she wants to say and he suspects that she didn't just have bad times with Dan and it's only natural for her to grieve the loss of her ex-husband. Eventually Lisa breaks down in tears as she recalls some of their good times together and accepts Jack's offer to join her to the funeral.

Just before his death, Dan has mailed a framed newspaper clipping to Lisa about their first winning horse together, which now arrives in mail, and she feels like it was his way of saying goodbye to her and thanking for the good times. Episode 6 - Lisa writes a speech to Dan's funeral as per his sister's request. It makes her think how adventurous Dan was, even if sometimes drove her crazy. While writing, she voices to Jack that she wishes they too would have that kind of care-free attitude, because they've become somewhat stagnant, mostly focusing on their businesses and supporting the family. Jack says his life with Lisa is an adventure itself, but Lisa doesn't feel like "it's enough".

Later on in the episode, she and Jack attend the funeral which has made her think even more about the time they have left together. She then asks Jack if he thinks they're living their best life. Jack says his life has become better ever since Lisa came into it, and Lisa replies by saying: "That doesn't really answer my question".

When Jack opens the truck door for her and says they have leftovers to eat at home, Lisa suggests they'd do something unexpected instead, since they're all dressed up, like go to a pub to eat. She challenges Jack to "live a little". Eventually Jack agrees.

They then go to a pub to have a dinner. While eating, a familiar song comes on, and Lisa suggests they should dance. Jack is confused at first because they're in the middle of a dinner, but finally agrees as it seems to make Lisa happy. They go to the dance floor to two-step and while dancing, Jack spots his old belt buckle that he had to sell when he and Lyndy (Sr.) were having money problems back in the day.

Hoping to get it back now that Jack has money, Jack and Lisa have a talk with the owner of the pub, hoping he'd sell it back, but the man refuses. Lisa then challenges the guy to wager; if the guy wins a round of pool, they'll pay him 500 dollars, but if Jack wins, he gets the buckle. Jack doesn't like the idea, but Lisa pushes it.

Eventually Jack plays against the owner and loses. The owner is smug about his win, but Lisa says she wants to try to play against the winner, and the guy accepts, thinking he'll just get more money from them.

Turns out, Lisa is actually really good at pool because she and Dan used to play it a lot. She wins the round, and they get to take the belt buckle with them. Jack finds it funny that Dan played some part in winning back that buckle, after everything they went through.

As they get home, Lisa is happy that they got to "live a little".

Episode 7 - Jack says he has "a phone date with his wife" when a Dude Ranch guest tries to invite him over for a wine. It's not explained where Lisa is.

That's it, so far. The latest episode that aired was number 7. She's going to be in episode 8 (airing this Sunday) and I suspect in episodes 9 and 10 as well.

[voidthewanderer]

Death mention tw under cut.

so… I may or may not have a job. It’s kind of up in the air at the moment (though I’m leaning towards resigning tomorrow honestly). I was bawling my eyes out since like 9:40 this morning because I learned that my grandfather’s health is declining. This is a man who has supported me the most with my art. He’s been my inspiration, my mentor. He’s the one who told me to be unapologetically myself. Not to mention, there hasn’t been the threat of family death for ten years (not including myself). Of course, she knows that I do not process this type of information well, is going to be fucking upset over it.

But instead of just giving me my task and letting me alone, she harassed me. She kept demanding to know what changed to make me like this. To get over it because it’s just a fact of life. Her tone honestly made it sound like I was just making this shit up to get out of work. Like no??? If I wanted to get out of work, I’d quit. You don’t fucking tell this to someone who nearly died three years ago. Especially not in an accusatory “get the fuck over it” tone. I know it’s inevitable, but he’s the person who shaped my goddamn life.

So, she kicked me out of the store, bitching that I’m treating her like a monster and that I should be grateful that she bends over backwards for us way more than she should. Which is a fucking lie. If she bent over backwards for us, I wouldn’t be working any closings. I would be working in the pharmacy. I would have gotten my transfer a year and a half ago like I had asked. She’d use my actual name and not my dead name. She would have given me the inventory specialist position knowing that I’m a better fit for it (was already doing inventory counts, stocking, receiving, call ins, and merchandising for a year and a half) and not the person who she favors because he asked for it first (zero training on what the position entails).

I agreed to do what she told me to do. After the agreement, I wanted to be left alone. She’s the person who chose to push me further and further. And then for her to turn around and tell me I cannot have my phone on me while I’m on standby for a potential family emergency? I finally turned around and snapped at her. I was going to be working in the cooler; my phone doesn’t work in the cooler. I would have been using it for a clock. She got pissed off at me because I checked the time to see how long she’d been harassing me for. By the way, it was fifteen minutes. The entire time I was there.

So, I contacted HR. I’m currently in the midst of a family emergency, to treat me like that, yell and cry that I did everything wrong (when you previously told me that they weren’t even going to touch the freezer) and that I need to get over something that she claims to understand what I’m going through (I’m sorry, but if she did, she would have left me the fuck alone). If that’s how I’m going to be treated before the inevitable happens, who’s to say how I’ll be treated after it happens.

Had my ex-uncle not answered his phone at 4am, my grandfather might not have been here now. One day, because he’s not supposed to be walking, he’s gonna fall down and get hurt or he’s gonna fall, my grandmother’s not gonna be able to pick him up, get pissed off, and just leave him there.

I’m seeking a part time job right now. I just need to make at least $300 a month minimum, which I’m sure I can easily get with any part time, I just need the job first. I will also be starting some designs to sell prototypes of, so if you see those crop up, I’d be absolutely delighted if people could give them a reblog and help me out.

No, I will not be starting a GoFundMe. As much as I probably should because I know I need help, I cannot bring myself to just ask for money without anything to give in return.

I suppose I should dip into my down payment funds and get one of those big tank printers, since I’m going to be starting off with stickers, charms, and earrings. I don’t want to, but our itty bitty little inkjet can’t handle mass production of things like that.

[skylarstark4826]

Ron never came help to save the day but fought alongside everyone in the final battle. Harry and Hermione never treated him the same. Draco had already deflected well before the final battle so he was upset with Pansy. Draco and Pansy were best friends but as Draco got closer to the Golden Couple, the more disappointed he was and distanced himself from her. 

After the final battle, Harry and Hermione were in a loving embrace when Ron awkwardly walked over.

"Hey guys, how are you feeling?" Ron asked

Hermione scoffed and turned away into Harry's chest. Harry whispered in her ear and she walked away before turning to face Ron.

" She's still really mad at you for leaving, I am too Ron, you really hurt us." Harry explained seriously

"I'm...I'm...sor...sorry." Ron stammered

"Sorry is not enough, Ron! You abandoned us, me, for the third time! I can't trust you anymore. We really could have used your help but you weren't there for us. You've shown your true colors one too many times. Just leave us be Ron." Harry explained before hurrying off in Hermione's direction

Letting the rejection sink in Ron stuck his hands in his pockets and went for a walk. He overheard a similar heated conversation between two women.

"Sorry just isn't enough! You've treated us, me especially, like the dirt on your shoe the whole time we've been at school. And don't even get me started on you trying to sell out Harry just to save your own skin!" Hermione exclaimed

"I said I'm sorry...I can't take back what I said and did...bu" Pansy started

"No you can't take it back! The one time when you should have stepped up, you didn't!" Hermione shouted

Pansy put her head down in shame but Hermione wasn't done.

"You proved yourself to be a slimy Slytherin, idk how you and Draco were friends all this time." Hermione seethed

By now Harry had caught up with the pair.

"Just go. Our world is safe, no thanks to you." Harry seethed pulling Hermione into his arms and turning away

Pansy was about to walk away when she spotted an interesting pair in an embrace, a blond and a redhead.

"Draco..." Pansy called

Ginny turned at the source and gave Pansy a death glare before taking a deep breath, relaxing her face.

"What is wrong with you!? Why would you try and sell out Potter? He had it under control. You gave Slytherins a bad name tonight, Pansy. Here I am the supposed baddest Slytherin, doing everything I can to stop the monster and you just want to let him have whatever he asks for. It wasn't like he wanted an object or something, he wanted a person! AND YOU WANTED TO SUPPLY HIM!" Draco exclaimed getting madder with each second

Ginny put a soft hand on his shoulder and he immediately calmed down.

"You made the wrong choice, Pansy. I...I can't even look at you right now without being disgusted by your actions." Draco stated seriously before taking Ginny by the hand and heading in the direction of the Golden Couple

Ron stared at the broken form of one of his childhood enemies and couldn't stop the desire to comfort her. He walked towards her and grabbed her arm. Pansy was quietly sobbing and without thinking, turned in to him. Instead of disgustedly pushing her away like he normally would have, he fully embraced her. When Pansy's sobs died down, she pulled away slightly to look at her savior.

"Weasley!? I never expected to find myself in your arms. Don't you hate me too?" She asked quietly

"...no I don't think I do." Ron answered thoughtfully after a minute's hesitation

"Why not? Your friends do..." Pansy stated sadly in the direction the Golden Couple and Draco left

"They're not really friends anymore...they're mad at me too." Ron explained sheepishly

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Pansy asked sweetly

Ron thought about how much had changed since he left the tent in the Forest of Dean. How Draco started working undercover for the Order and got annoyingly close to Ginny. How him leaving was probably the final push towards his ex-best friends getting together. How trying to apologize lead to two people getting berated at and put down by people who once cared for them. And how this beautiful, broken girl in front of him used to be someone he couldn't stand and now he couldn't stand to see her sad.

"I'd love to." Ron smiled and took her hand as they headed towards the Black Lake for some privacy

[alarrytale]

“But his whole 'never had a gf in public' was foiled when he called c*mille his gf. O was also one, and emrata wasn't exactly neither subtle nor private. I think the privacy strategy is no more.”

What I have learned so far is that everything what is happening with Harry’s so-called private life in public is taken as an immediate syndicator that it’s fake and it’s only work because Harry has a private life and he would never do this to his real relationship. And what was the most memorable for me was his quote from interview from Dec 2019 where they asked him about dating only famous people and he literally said “I have a private life. You just don’t know about it.” So now I’m bit confused by what you wrote above that Harry doesn’t value his private life anymore? Okay, he called C*mille his ex but wasn’t that to push the narrative for songs on Fine Line (which they, at least for larries and their decoding talent, turned out to be mostly about Louis and Harry himself exploring his inner self)? O talked about him in every opportunity she had like he’s the only reason to live for her because she was relevant just because of him - but he’d never aknowledged her as his gf and made sure to let everyone know that any song on H’sH is about her. I don’t know what Emrata said exactly because I just saw his bodylanguage and that told me everything I needed to know how comfortable (irony) he felt to makeout with her in public. So I would love to think that his personal and private life priorities has never changed and actually became more important to secure it and hide from public eyes but I’m also afraid that he’ll decide to make a 180 degree turn and do absolute opposite to what was always important for him. I want to stay hopeful and optimistic but it’s damn hard when I have no idea what is happening with him right now and people are panicking while preparing for the worst scenario.

The only thing that makes me a bit calmer is that Louis called Eleanor his gf multiple times but still noone believed him and he literally tweeted that he’s straight and yet, still fans don’t even question his sexuality. Plus he had this kid as still going stunt which is much worse than some O tattoo or 2 years of stunting while looking miserable.

Hi, anon!

You misunderstand me, i don't think Harry doesn’t value his private life anymore. When i said 'privacy strategy' i was talking about the practice they've applied to every stunt that they get papped in 'private places' and blame it on a pesky pap for invading their privacy. Like being papped on a yacht or poolside at an hotel. That gives an illusion that they are trying to be private about their relationship and not flaunting it. It helps sell it as real. Harry never confirming anything was a part of that strategy. We've had a turn from that strategy now. Harry confirming c*mille as a gf (after the fact), pda for the paps during holivia, emrata and now hussell. They are stunting right in front of our salads now, no illusion of privacy left.

Also, i have a very different view on harry's need for privacy than a lot of other people. I don't think he'd be more private about it if it were real. If it were real it would be with a man, and harry is closeted so he'd have to be private about it or else he'd have to come out. Him being a 'private' person is also a part of his image to make him look mysterious, interesting and dignified.

When Harry says 'i have a private life. You just don't know about it' i want to add 'not because i am a private person in particular, but because i'm closeted'. If harry were able to snog louis in the middle of oxford street, he'd not hesitate for a second.

I don't think people should panic over yet another stunt, but i can't control them or their feelings. I can only try helping people cope a bit. I think being hopeful, but realistic is a good approach. It will end at a point, but we will also most likely get another stunt in the future. It's been like this for years so we all got to learn to cope if we want to stay in this fandom. If it gets too much, take a break. You come first!

[duamuteffe]

Stream of consciousness getting everything out below the cut.

This past week has been the damndest yoyo. I finally got all my books in storage (aka my folks' basement)

There's 83 boxes of them, plus the four I'm taking with. We wanted to leave by the end of April but that's coming faster and faster and there's still so much to pack. I can't get Fi's strangles vaccination until the 27th unless I want to pay an extra hundred dollars for the farm call. My mother and uncle are selling the land I spent half my life on and love more than any other place on earth because none of us have the money for the property taxes. I was gutted. I've bellowed and sobbed. I've read Pema Chodron endlessly until I stopped thinking about jumping off roofs. (Mine still needs a coat of tar before we can sell. We need three days without rain to do it. How are we ever going to get out of here by the end of April if we can't get it ready to sell?)

"Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”

I'm finding comfort in the oddest places. The Allegheny Mountains are older than the rings of Saturn. They were the height of the Himalayas before the evolution of bones. Losing access to 92 (beloved precious) acres on the top of one mountain won't alter the power of a chain of hills 480 million years old. It's everywhere down there. I can follow the river and feel it everywhere (maybe someday we'll have the money for a little camp past Nebraska Bridge so I can smell the trees and earth and not have to be close enough to the Farm that my heart threatens to break again) Every inch of the place is inscribed in my memory in full 3d and surround sound

I will carry the place for the rest of my existence. And then my mother says there was a rifle stashed away for me - eight years since my grandfather's collection went to auction because my grandmother's sanity broke down in the wake of his sudden death and all of us kids were left without the (antique, carefully selected) rememberances I knew he'd wanted us to have. For eight years I had thought them all gone, just the memories of shooting skeet with my grandmother's 20 gauge (should have gone to Suz, they loved her as their grandchild as soon as I brought her home, and man was she good at tagging clay pigeons with it, there's photos of her at my wedding in her pretty dress showing how it's done) and plinking at soda bottles full of water with lever action Winchesters that were carried on saddles in the Old West (the boys should have gotten one each, the heaviest for Pat, the middle for the Doc, and the lightest for my amiable ex) They were all gone, I was told, but someone stashed one away for me. She's had my step-cousin-in-law bring it up so I could have it. The oldest one, and the most beautiful; 1760's or thereabouts, stock made of solid tiger maple from back when the trees were four feet across. Barrel forged by a patient smith. Carried to hunt for food when this country was still a colony. Too fragile by far to fire but one of Pappap's favorites; I remember how tickled he was when I told him the one I saw in the Royal Armouries wasn't nearly as nice.

I asked if the same step-cousin-in-law could be asked to bring Pappap's canoe up to my folks, and if my mother could grab a few small items from the house and she said yes, so I don't have to go there to the house where Bummy and Pappap aren't and haven't been for a few years now, and walk around in the places they're not, and have to deliberately choose a last time to stand in the field and then leave forever. The last time I was there it was a good day. It was sunny and spring and the leaves were just out, and a good friend and I were clipping small new branches from the apple trees for her to try and root (those 150 year old apple trees, will the new owners keep them? The one tree still gives the best pie apples ever grown and the russet tree gives crisp tart apples that are best after a hard frost. They could live another hundred years if tended.) I can live a lot easier with that having been inadvertently my last visit. I don't think I can go there ever again now, knowing it's the last time.

We're going to another farm to try and keep it going, I remind myself. If I can't keep my own best place I can do my damndest to help friend-family keep theirs. It's so beautiful there. There's so much to do. I'll have meaningful work again. No more retail hell. A garden. A couple of goats. Some bees. Two dozen horses to help care for. My mare, with all the turnout her little feral heart desires. Maybe she'll recover enough from the fractured hip by Fall for me to ride her again. I saw Mrs. Edwards in a dream and asked her and she smiled at me. I'm taking it as a good sign. There is so much awaiting us once we get unstuck from here. The Doc can hunt in the Fall. We can fish all summer in spare moments (Pappap said he was going to teach me to use the old spincasting rods he had from his father; they run differently from modern ones, and we didn't end up having time but I can learn online.) Unless my brother contests we're getting Pappap's canoe, and we'll haul it up with us and put it on the lake. It's sturdy enough to go fishing from. There's so much yet to do.

"When you see the Southern Cross for the first time/You understand now why you came this way/'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small/But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a comin' day"

We're going to be okay. I repeat it a lot. We're going to be okay. "Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”

It's falling apart. It's coming together. There's so many moving parts, so many ducks not in a row. But we're going to be okay.

(Knock on wood)

[bisluthq]

I fully agree with the prenup thing, everyone should have one regardless of income. But overall, I think a lot of things are weird to navigate when you’re getting married (like spending that much on a ring) because on the one hand you should fully believe that’s the only time you’re getting married but at the same time there has to be a realistic “but what if?”. So you need to decide where you can believe it’s truly going to be “until the day that I die” and not think about the consequences, and where you should sit back, think about the what ifs and plan for that. Because you don’t want the what ifs to get in the way but they also need to be considered.

It’s kind of similar to people doing extravagant renovations to their houses and people commenting about how the value of the house went down. Do you want to enjoy the house to the fullest while you have it or do you want to worry about what you’re going to be left with if you need to sell it at some point

I think the weirdest thing about engagement rings lmao in the case of divorces is who keeps it lol. My partner’s ex wife insisted on keeping hers. He asked for it back (it wasn’t a family heirloom or anything in which case her keeping it would’ve just been SUPER rude but she’d cheated on him right and he wanted his ring back) but she said like it’s not “his” ring anymore which technically it wasn’t. He did give it to her. It’s not just about the money (idk what it cost and I’d never ask) but I think for him symbolically he wanted it back and for her it was no less hers than anything else he’d bought for her.

Fwiw supposedly the history of engagement rings is rooted in patriarchy and women needing some kind of collateral/security back when marriage was sorta your main way forward as a woman. If you got ditched by your fiancé or your husband left you then at least you had shit of value that belonged to you that you could easily sell and get money from. But also even then if you were the one leaving/calling off the wedding the expectation was you’d give that shit back lol.

My partner and his ex did have a prenup but it didn’t mention the engagement ring because that’d be a really nitpicky thing to mention lol (unless again family heirloom in which case I think you SHOULD mention it) and they weren’t drafting it while planning a divorce. She prob should’ve given it back tho.

Re houses/renos idk again I’m very pragmatic. We did a complete overhaul of most of our house but one of the things I’ve been insistent on us considering is whether it is worth it in terms of valuation/resale (obviously not for things like wall colors but in terms of structural things). I think you can enjoy it and make it fit your needs without doing things that’ll significantly devalue it going forward and also imo without spending silly money on branded items for unnecessary things. Like yes I’d love a full Smeg kitchen because it’d be pretty but no I don’t think it would’ve been in any way justified and I don’t think we could’ve added the price of the Smeg kitchen onto the value lol should we want to sell one day.

[thedeliveryservicefanfic]

The Delivery Service, Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: Baked Goods

Tifa hung up the phone, unsettled. Reno, of the former Turks, had made another call to them. Apparently he had gotten a tip off about a mob ring- but with no concrete evidence of it's existence, WRO was unwilling to investigate. This was odd to Tifa, who thought that the WRO and Reeve- in particular- would take every tip seriously.

"I thought you and the other Turks were working with public safety now." Tifa had said. "As you told me before, you had to work to pay the bills."

"Of course. But now I have to follow these stupid things called rules."

"How awful."

Reno had laughed at that. Then he asked if the Strife Delivery Service could look into it. Then Reno had asked how she was. Then he asked if she was still single. Then he asked her out on a date.

After politely but sternly refusing, she hung up on  him. A weird feeling fluttered in her

stomach. Sure, she had been propositioned before- but always by a random bar patron or someone she had met in a store or something. Yet she knew Reno- in an odd twist of fate, she could even call him a friend. It just didn't settle right, because she has briefly considered saying yes. A night out, doing what normal people do- dinner, dancing, movies- with a someone sounded appealing.

Tifa's thumb hovered over her speed dial, intending to call Cloud. She could ask him for a night on the town, but she knew what he would say. That their friendship wasn't like that. That he was sorry.

It would be the same old dance, and Tifa was exhausted. It was tiring to be constantly fighting for something; feel like maybe you were succeeding and breaking walls- but all of the sudden be back at square one.

Tifa was beginning to feel that she should start moving on.

_________________

Twelve drug related deaths in the past month and they kept getting closer to home. That upset Cloud; the latest death was too close to Marlene's school. So when Tifa called and told him about the job the ex- Turk offered, Cloud readily agreed to it.

Two more days passed.

Now he was sitting on the street, dressed in an old hoodie and a knit cap, sunglasses on his dirty face to cover his mako eyes. He was without a sword, making him feel oddly naked. Luckily Tifa loaned him a pair of old fighting gloves and he placed materia in the slots, then covered the weapon with his jacket sleeves.

It was amazing. People would pass him by without a second glance, thinking that he was just another homeless person. A snooty topper- and Cloud grimaced when he recalled that old insult for people who had lived on top of the Midgar Plate- had even called him a 'waste of space'.

At the same time, people noticed him. Usually other homeless, who offered him food and water. Cloud accepted these offers, and even shared the little he had with everyone else.

"Any one wan' a materia? I need ta sell them." He slurred, and sometimes would flash his blue eyes.

"Son I ain't got what ya want." An old toothless man told him on his fifth day out on the street. "But tell you what- go to the bakery. They help."

The bakery. Cloud stored that knowledge. A front? Possible.

Luckily for him, his cover as a junkie held and many believed that he was selling anything he could just so he could get a hit of X- MAK. Unfortunately, over the next three days, no one could tell him anything else but 'Go to the bakery'.

Though no one knew what bakery to go to. Surprisingly, most people were clean. He tried and tried to get a name, an address- but everyone just told him to 'Go to the bakery'.

Cloud was getting tired of pretending to be homeless. He longed for a warm meal, his warm bed, with a warm Tifa in it.

Stop it. Cloud scolded himself. We’re not like that.

Still, the image of Tifa in the hallway was burned into his memory. She was always beautiful- but standing there, in his home, with dripping wet hair and a towel that was just a little too small wrapped around her…

Cloud pushed the thought away. They were friends. He made that decision years ago, and he could not change that now.

So, after being out for a little over a week, Cloud went home. When he got there, no one was home. He ambled around from room to room, hoping to see his roommate.

He eventually gave up and went to shower. Nine days worth of dirt and grime washed off him, making him feel relaxed and comfortable. Afterwards he walked around his room, which acted as his office as well, in his lightweight cotton pants; picking up random files and pieces of paper and placing them on his desk.

Cloud decided that since it was a nice day outside he would open up the windows and let the sun shine in. He enjoyed working on his business while the fresh air blew in from the outside. It was also relaxing to hear the hustle and bustle of the city outside- he and Tifa lived a little outside the main part of Edge, so it was not as crazy and loud as city life could be. He enjoyed it.

While working on an invoice for a regular customer and deciding what the best route to take to Junon the next week would be, Cloud heard a low rumble approach. It did not bother him; people rode bikes up and down the street all the time. But then the sound grew louder, went into his driveway, and stopped. 

Cloud's brow furrowed. Did Tifa take Fenrir? She knows not to touch her. Slight annoyance flashed in him. Tifa was always wanting to ride his beloved bike and Cloud had always told her no.

He got up from his desk and huffed over to the window, poking his head out to start yelling at Tifa. He stopped.

Tifa was not on Fenrir.

She also was not alone. Cloud saw a familiar shock of red hair and scowled.

Reno.

Tifa was only talking to the man- joking around it seemed, as she was throwing her head back in

laughter, her long black hair glimmering in the sun. Cloud felt a surge of jealousy rise up in him. The brunette gave Reno a quick hug; he started his bike and began to slowly back out. Tifa waved a little goodbye to him and turned, walking towards the back door.

Cloud heard her move around downstairs and pulled his head back in, moving back to his desk.

He heard her footsteps as she walked up the stairs, coming towards his bedroom.

"Thought I saw you in the window." Tifa smiled and leaned back against his desk. "How did it go? Did you learn anything?"

Cloud leaned back in his chair and looked her up and down, his throat going dry. She was clad in a tight leather jacket, zipped up to just under her breasts. A bright blue t-shirt was peeking out, cut low enough to show a remarkable amount of cleavage. Her blue jeans were also fairly tight, tucked into her black leather boots. She looked great.

"I was told to go to a bakery but I don't know which one. Why were you with Reno?"

"I was on a date."

"First date?"

"Second, actually. I wonder which bakery. Maybe I could ask around at the bar tonight?"

Cloud nodded. "That might help. A second date?"

Tifa smiled. She was nervous, but seemed happy. "Yeah. I wanted to do a normal thing before I helped bring down a drug ring."

"Let me rephrase my question. A date... with him?" Cloud let his disgust show.

“No one else asked.” Tifa murmured to herself, but Cloud caught it. "Reno is not as bad as you might think. I actually had a good time." Tifa defended. Cloud just stared at her, eyebrow cocked upwards. She stood firm. "Honestly. He's safe- now- and I know how to handle myself, Mother Hen."

Cloud stared at her for another moment and Tifa thought she saw a bit of sadness in his eyes. Then he went back to being business-like and turned away from her.

"I might try another neighborhood tomorrow. Mind if I steal your pearls?"

"Yes, as they were my mothers." Tifa replied a little too angrily.

"Do you have anything else I could steal?" Cloud asked. "I promise to get it back to you."

"Why the thieving?"

"Just want something nice to hock. Got anything nice?" He answered curtly.

Suddenly a tiny clink of metal sounded on his desk. He turned to look at what she gave him, and

frowned. Tifa was already out the door, telling him it did not matter if she got it back.

It was the wolf ring he bought her for her birthday.

______________

Vincent Valentine reached the top of the red stone steps, nodding to the guard on duty. He knew he would not be stopped from entering Cosmo Canyon; even though it was a closed community. The small but impressive village was at full capacity and its protector wanted to make sure everyone inside was safe.

Vincent continued to walk up more stairs to the very top of the village. He knocked on the door of the observatory and was greeted with a friendly welcome, telling him to come in. Nanaki was sitting by a window. It was obvious the creature was enjoying the last rays of sunlight from the day.

"Vincent. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Nanaki spoke with authority.

Vincent stood still. "I wish to use the machine. And a place to stay for the night, if I may."

"Of course. Have you had any luck finding Yuffie?" The beast’s voice cracked, showing his youth.

Vincent's eyes grew dark; he did not respond to the question.

Nanaki looked at his friend, sympathy in his one good eye. "I hope she comes home soon. As annoying as I thought she was, she was a good friend and I... I miss her." Nanaki lowered his head, a rather depressing sight. "A young flower should not be held in darkness."

Again, Vincent did not reply. A few more silent minutes passed.

"The machine?" The Gunman asked.

Nanaki stood up and began walking to the lift, his voice dropping back down to a lower register. "Of course."

Vincent stepped on with him and pulled the lever. The lift began its ascent, up into the dome, and the light went dim.

A universe slowly and gently formed around them. Stars twinkled and shot across the sky; planets slowly revolved in their own gravitational pull. Vincent moved toward Gaia; the blue and green of the planet peeking out from underneath the white clouds. His gauntleted hand reached out and touched the planet, and at his touch, the image of the planet grew in size. Landscapes became more visible.

Vincent let his red eyes roam over the planet's surface, letting his mind wonder. He was looking for any place he had not been to before. He was looking for any ideas.

He was looking for Yuffie Kisaragi. It was true what his friend, Nanaki, had said. The young girl was annoying. But, as she grew older and had more life experiences, her immaturity lessened. She grew into a beautiful, smart woman who surprised Vincent with her talent of being caring and kind. She did not deserve to just be gone.

Vincent couldn't handle the pained looks in his friend's eyes anymore. He couldn't handle his own guilt at the loss of the Wutai rose. For months, not bordering a year, the group had searched- following any lead, no matter how ridiculous it sounded. Nothing came from it.

He needed another plan.

"Vincent." A soft voice broke through the man's brooding. "It has been two hours."

The crimson caped man gave no reaction. He only stepped backwards and turned to face his friend. Nanaki was also staring at the planet, his eye focusing on a certain spot. The lion reached out gently and bumped the model of the planet with his nose.

Vincent looked at where Nanaki was pointing at. A dark cloud had settled over Edge.

"Grandpa once said that when dark clouds gather, death is prominent."

Vincent kept his crimson eyes on Edge. "Cloud is looking into it. The new designer drug," he explained, "is lethal."

The two continued to watch the storm clouds over Edge for a few more minutes.

Somewhere on this earth, someone out there needed protection. Someone out there needed help.

Nanaki was glad he was a protector. Him, and his friends. His family.

____________

"I'm sorry."

Tifa jumped at the sudden noise and turned around. She was sitting in her room, going through the photo album on her phone, when her roommate interrupted her. She tossed the phone onto the bed.

Cloud stood in her doorway, not daring to come in yet. "I did not mean to be angry with you."

"

It's alright." Tifa reached her left hand over to grab her right arm, giving the appearance that she wanted comfort but was too afraid to ask. "Everyone gets jealous now and then."

"I had no right to be. And I wasn't- I was just concerned." Cloud said quickly, and Tifa felt a fresh new layer of pain. "You are allowed to do what you want. Everyone has that right. I just want you to be careful."

Cloud stepped into the room. Tifa had nothing to say, yet a million thoughts ran through her head.

Just tell me. Kiss me. You infuriating piece of shit. You were jealous. I would be. I need to get out. He needs to stay. I love you. Please don't look at me.

"Tifa?"

"I'm alright." She blurted out. She let her arm drop. She was angry. She was sad. Her burgundy eyes locked with his electric blue ones.

"If anything bad happens... you'd let me know, right? I want to be there for you."

"I know. I will." Just not in the way I need you to be, right? Maybe I should call Reno and tell him no more dates. Or maybe I should just kiss him, in full view.. That might get me a rise out of Cloud. I can't do that. I'm not that person. My cheeks are burning. Please stop looking at me.

"Tifa?" Cloud asked a second time.

"Yeah?"

Cloud held out his hand. Her wolf ring was clasped in his fingers. He walked closer to her.

"Please. Never take it off again."

Tifa took the ring and slipped it on her finger, nodding.

"Thank you." Cloud said softly. "I'll be gone for a couple of days."

"Okay."

The two locked eyes again. Cloud unconsciously leaned forward a bit. Tifa felt her eyelids lower, and stared at his lips.

Kiss me. Kiss me.

A loud knock sounded downstairs. Tifa's eyes flew open, just in time to see Cloud turn towards the sound and start walking away.

Damn it.

______________

Cloud walked to the door, ashamed of himself. What was he thinking? Tifa deserved so much better than him.

He schooled his face to be blank of emotion as he walked towards the front door. Opening it, he saw who the intruder was- a hunched over homeless man.

"Heya, Son. Invite an old man in."

"The bar is closed." Cloud went to close the door, but the old man had other plans.

"I was actually looking for you, pal. The new face on the street- one whose not so homeless after all."

Cloud opened the door.

"I recognized ya."

"How?" Cloud asked. He thought he had done well with his disguise.

"Your eyes. I'd seen them before. Recognized you from here, back when I could afford ta drink." The man shuffled from foot to foot. "Come on, let me in. I can help you look for this bakery."

<Previous Chapter Next Chapter>

[raincitygirl76]

To be fair, Simon is not just protecting Sara and Linda, he’s also protecting HIMSELF. He doesn’t want a criminal record. And if his mom finds out Simon stole drugs from his dad and then blackmailed August into selling them so Simon could pay the tutoring debt, she’s going to be devastated. And also angry with her son.

That said, Linda’s actions in 1.03 and 1.04 still bewilder me. She should have asked Simon WAY more questions about where the hell he was getting the money from to pay Hillerska 5,500 kronor for tutoring. That’s a LOT of money, about $700 Canadian. He’s only 16 years old and he doesn’t have an after school job.

I realize Linda is a working class single mom on a nurse’s salary, who’s not getting child support from her deadbeat ex. This is a big debt she’s suddenly been saddled with. I’m not surprised she freaked out at Simon when she got the invoice. If she can’t pay it and Hillerska send it to collections, it will torpedo her credit rating.

But the tutoring debt is never mentioned onscreen again. Presumably Simon paid Hillerska himself (with the proceeds of the drug dealing he and August were doing) and then told his mom offscreen that it was taken care of. Linda should have asked him a lot of questions about how the hell he just “found” a big sum of money like 5,500 kronor.

He is only 16. 16 year olds do stupid, reckless shit sometimes. Like dealing drugs because they’re desperate for money fast. Linda was remarkably incurious about how Simon took care of the problem.

And I realize Simon can be pretty convincing when he lies. I’m sure he had a summer job in the summer break prior to starting the school year at Hillerska. Maybe he told his mom he still had enough saved up from his summer job to pay it, when in fact he’d spent the majority of the money on video games or whatever, and didn’t have the money.

But Linda, you need to ASK MORE QUESTIONS. Don’t just believe your 16 year old uncritically when he says the 5,500 kronor debt to the school is now paid off, problem solved, no worries, Mom. THINK about how odd that is. Start asking relevant questions, and pretty damn soon his convincing story falls apart.

P.S. Also, Linda could have approached Hillerska and asked them for a payment plan, pay it off in 1,000 kronor monthly instalments, for example. Or disputed the bill. Hillerska should NOT have taken her minor’s word for it that his mother had approved the extra tutoring. They should have gotten a signature from her first, or at least email confirmation.

I’m not upset for Linda’s initial freakout at Simon. He ran up a significant debt in her name. But she’s the parent here, he’s the idiot teen. Once she calmed down, she could’ve found a way to deal with it legally. And then grounded him for X amount of time for putting her in that position. Infinitely preferable to Simon getting a criminal record.

I’m sure Linda didn’t WANT Simon to steal pills from his addict father and then blackmail a schoolmate into selling them on campus. Pretty much any other outcome would have been preferable to the solution an impulsive 16 year old secretly found. If she’d been proactive, and the day after she freaked out at Simon, said she would call the school about setting up a payment plan, that could’ve been avoided.

The thing that gets me about this scene is that even after everything Sara did, Simon is still protecting her by not telling their mom what happened at all. And protecting his mom because he probably doesn’t want to worry her or involve her in all the drama. It makes me sad because he really is carrying so much in the family. I’m glad Simon has Rosh and Ayub to talk about things with but being 16 and taking on all that responsibility to look out for everyone else is a lot and people need to give him more credit for that.

[shadowsshowdown]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Shadow’s Showdown 51

The Short Time Apart.

Detroit.

Adam finished reading and rubbed the root of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. Closing the journal, he placed it on the coffee table. Jensen tried to accept what he read moments earlier as he would any other information, but the spectre of Joe, which would now be present in their lives, caused anxiety. He also noticed how much he resembled him, which made the concern even stronger. However, this is not the time to stick his head in the sand but to fight for Laura's affections. In doing so, he had to be himself without pretending to be someone else. Then he would best check if she was looking for another Joe in him. The man looked around the living room; it was strangely quiet, even the cats were asleep on the sofa so he got up heading to the bedroom to lie down. When ex-SWAT swung the door open he saw Laura sitting on the bed, staring at the pocket watch held in her hand. Jensen smiled.

"Where did you find my watch? I've been looking everywhere for it," he asked, focusing her attention on him. "I found it when I was at the Camarilla Club," she replied.

The Chief of Security sat down beside her, straightened his leg and leaned with his back against the wall. He waited to see when and if she would even understand what he wanted to convey to her in this question.

"Wait...Wait a minute..." She looked at the ex-SWAT. "Your watch?" the man nodded affirmatively. "I… Then..." "We danced together," he helped her finish. "I was in Crann Tara, coming home I saw you walking there. It was an impulse. I just wanted to be close, and a disguise is a perfect excuse." "How did you recognize me?" "Well, there was only one lady in blue. I ruled out being mistaken. Disappointed?"

The woman shook her head negatively. "On the contrary, subconsciously I was hoping to see you there. I thought it was you who asked me upstairs."

"It wasn't me. I left right after that waltz."

Laura handed Adam back his watch. "Unfortunately, it crashed."

"That's nothing. I'll have something to do. I like repairing old watches." "I'll make breakfast, it's late and it's probably today you have an appointment at the hospital?" she reminded something Adam didn't want to remember. "Wait. I wanted to thank you," he stopped her when she was about to get up. "For what?" she asked surprised by his words. "For being honest with me. Everything you wrote must have cost you a lot." "You're right, but you should know that. Even if it hurts."

Jensen leaned over and kissed the top of her head. After breakfast, Adam called a cab. Laura insisted on going with him, but he firmly refused. Less than an hour later, the ex-SWAT called to say he had to stay for additional tests and would only be back in a few hours. They agreed she would leave him spare keys at a neighbour's flat as if he had returned earlier and used the time to shop and look at The Jackdaw to see if Faridah was there.

Adam wasn't home when Laura brought the groceries so she unpacked them and left. She had just passed the cut-through leading to Augtasia, Camarilla Club and that third club, which still had no signboard or opening date. She remembered the man in the mask, and that alone pushed her straight to the door of the Camarilla. Until eighteen o'clock, it was an ordinary place where one could have a cup of good coffee or tea and eat something sweet without dressing up in Victorian costumes. She didn't count on meeting this mysterious man but hoped that maybe one of the guests knew him. Two girls were sitting at one of the tables, sipping coffee, eating apple pie and chatting. Laura approached them.

"Excuse me, can I take a moment of your time?" she asked. "We're not buying anything," replied the woman with dark, almost black shoulder-length hair. "I'm not selling anything. I just wanted to ask you something." "Of course. If you'll excuse me, there's someone selling something all the time lately." "Don't you happen to know who the masked man is? He probably runs this club. I was once invited upstairs, but I have no idea who he might be." "We've been to his place a few times, too. I guess every new face is introduced to him. Unfortunately, the only one that came to mind was Vannevar Thomas. The same one who has a broadcast on The Masquerade radio. "You mean Rendezvous with V?" the hacker inquired. "Exactly," nodded her blond-haired colleague. "How do you know he's the one running these broadcasts?" "Well, it's just our guess, but on the carpet in his room is the crest of the Ventrue clan so we ruled out other vampire personalities," the dark-haired woman explained.

"Perhaps that was a mistake. There were rumours that Eric Northman also appears here, so we already have two leads," the blonde interjected.

Laura wanted to ask a few more questions but was interrupted by one of the strange chaps. She called them bodyguards, but they were closer to butlers.

"Will you allow me to take a moment of your time? Follow me please," the tall, thin man in a mask asked her to come up to the bar.

The hacker had no choice. If she protested she would lose the opportunity to delve further into the club's secrets. She was almost certain she would be politely asked to leave the premises.

"Our Sir is asking you upstairs," the man explained.

The hacker reflexively looked up. Standing on the balcony was a mysterious gentleman who responded to her gaze by elegantly raising his glass of red wine in a gesture of greeting. Laura's heart began to beat several times faster. She felt herself getting hot and starting to lose her breath. She suddenly found this brilliant idea most idiotic. Again she found herself in a room with a fireplace. This time only the host was elegantly dressed. He stood facing the quietly ticking antique clock. He did not turn around hearing the soft slam of the closing door.

"Curiosity can be deadly," he said in a calm tone. "Because of it, you have lost your anonymity, Miss Werner. But your secret will stay safe with me," he assured.

The woman trembled, and fear froze her entire body bringing up dozens of thoughts. Who is the man who knows her identity? How does he even know her? What are his intentions? Is it...Damien?!

Adam had probably already visited half the hospital and passed most of the possible tests. He was tired of these unsuccessful efforts of doctors. Once he had resigned himself to his fate, there was suddenly a pale light of hope, which was immediately brutally trampled. Finally, he was asked into the office of the attending physician, so he paced down the corridor, clutching under his arm dozens of cards, X-rays, other notes and electronic test records. He entered the room armed with cold indifference.

"Come in, Mr Jensen," the doctor gestured with his hand and indicated to him a chair facing the desk. "I'll ask for the test results," he said calmly once the patient was seated. "If I may ask, be honest with me and spare this artificial gentleness," Adam's tone was rough, balancing on the thin line of being rude.

The doctor nodded slowly, correcting his glasses in between studying more cards and reviewing the recordings. An unbearable silence rumbled across the ceiling, walls and floor. Muffled voices and a baby's cries broke through from the hallway.

"You wished for honesty so I will honour that request," the man looked at the Security Chief touching the fingertips of both hands together. "Your leg will never be functional. This has not changed. Any doctor will say the same thing. You will most likely have to use a cane and take Vicodin to keep the pain from dominating your life. On top of all this, you will also have drug addiction problems. Of course, one possibility will save you from suffering..." "That's out of the question," Adam interrupted him. "I know that behind these words there is only marketing. You try making people believe that augmentations save lives, but you don't mention how much evil they can bring with them." "That's how it is with everything. We have no influence over others. We can only decide our own actions."

Jensen thought about Laura and how his selfish attitude could harm her.

"If I were to consider replacing my leg with a prosthesis, what would the whole procedure look like?" the ex-SWAT calmed his tone of voice. "Well, installing a prosthesis is quite complex. First, you must recover, then we will amputate the diseased leg above the knee and replace it with an artificial leg. After that, an adjustment stage varies depending on the patient's condition. The second option is knee endoprosthesis, which means replacing the diseased bone fragment with a prosthesis. After the operation, you will face a long rehabilitation requiring patience. I do not have exact knowledge of the last solution because it is Limb that deals with augmentations, but in addition to the prosthesis, a control implant located in the brain is also implanted. As with all surgeries, there is a risk of rejection of the prosthesis, and if all goes well you will be taking Neuropozyne for the rest of your life."

Adam nodded slowly. Perhaps he should push aside his prejudices and consider augmentation if only for his own comfort?

"I'll take it under consideration. I still have some time. Besides, the procedure itself will probably take some time?" "That's true, for the first two options you have to wait several months. With augmentation I don't know, you have to ask in Limb. That's all for the moment. Until the end of the week, please still use a crutch, then start relying only on your muscles and joints. I invite you to come back in two weeks for a check-up." "Okay, I'll be there for sure. Thank you and have a good day." "Likewise."

Jensen wanted to hear something different, but he didn't know what he was hoping for. The leg wouldn't be functional by magic or goodwill. Nevertheless, he managed to cast the bad thoughts aside. On the way back, he stopped by a candy store to buy something good to accompany a cup of coffee.

Laura retreated until she finally felt a wall behind her back and already knew there was nowhere to run. For a moment she was comforted by the thought that maybe it wasn't Damien but Joe, who by some miracle had survived. However, she quickly came to her senses. She had to be ready for the worst, so her gaze began a panicky wandering around the room looking for anything that could help her. A bottle - too far away. A table - too heavy. The woman finally found the weapon she was looking for. She carefully moved closer to her target, and her fingers slowly wrapped around the brass object.

"One false move and I'll blow your head off!" she warned when the man turned to face her.

He laughed seeing her angry face and the candlestick held with both hands. "Relax, I won't do anything to you," he assured, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Shut up. Those sweet words don't work on me!"

The host sighed. Laura left him with no choice. "Okay, I won't scare you anymore," he muttered, taking off his Venetian mask.

"Connor?! Damn it, why are you doing this?!" yelled the hacker. "Don't be angry. I wanted to remain anonymous for a while longer, but you gave me no choice. Sit down, we'll talk for a while."

The woman hesitantly walked to one of the armchairs and sat down. She reminded herself of what Adam had said. Could he really be dangerous?

"I guess you won't need this anymore?" he asked, pointing to the candlestick resting in her lap.

Laura handed him the object, which Connor placed on the table, right behind the bottle of whisky.

"Sarif doesn't pay you enough that you have to play with these disguises?" she asked, feeling her muscles begin to relax and calmness return. "On the contrary! Thanks to my job at Sarif Industries, I have the means to cover the expenses associated with this club." "And where did you even get this club? It's an expensive investment."

RK800 felt like an interrogation, Laura was very inquisitive. The man sighed. "A friend of mine had to leave Detroit. He didn't want Camarilla and its traditions to be lost, so he asked me for help. He transferred part of the shares to me, so I'm a partner."

"So Vannevar Thomas, who has a broadcast called "Rendezvous with V?" on The Masquerade radio, is you?" "Yes, it's a great promotion for the club. People come here wanting to know the truth and leave with only assumptions and vague ideas." "Isn't that a scam?" "In a way. But just look at how their imaginations start working. Instead of sitting at home and staring at the TV screen, they come here, search, ask, have a nice time, and meet new people. Doesn't this little lie do more good than harm?" "Well, actually, yes," the hacker reluctantly conceded his point. "Did I disappoint you? You were probably hoping for someone else." "If anything, I disappointed myself. Somewhere deep down I thought that..." she broke off biting her lip. "That you would see Joe's face under the mask? He must have been very close to you," he aptly remarked. "That's true," she nodded. "After my parents had died, he was like a father to me."

Connor smiled. "Is there any news from the front? Well, you know if Pritchard continues to be more grouchy than usual."

Laura laughed. "I'm staying at the company, so Frank will take his emotions out on me."

"I won't let that happen."

The hacker picked up something strange in Connor's voice, making her feel anxious, yet reassured at the same time. She wanted to reply but was interrupted by the sound of an incoming message. She looked apologetically at RK800 and reached for her phone in her trouser pocket.

I'm on the way home. I'll be there in about half an hour.

"I have to go, Adam will be home soon. He had an appointment. I want to know what the doctor said." "Sure, you can go, but promise me you'll come here again sometime." "That much I can promise. If not with Adam then maybe with Faridah. She wanted to visit Camarilla. See you around." "Bye, take care."

When she went downstairs, she noticed that more people had arrived, but the women she had talked to were no longer there. As she walked past one of the tables, she accidentally heard two boys talking.

"Thomas, do you know anything about this third club? They were supposed to open it this week." "Haven't you heard? They put the premises up for sale. I doubt if anyone will be willing to buy the place. No wonder, Camarilla and Augtasia are barely making money for themselves so why would anyone invest in a sinking ship." "It's a pity, it promised to be interesting," he added."Besides, the location is not one of the most attractive. They recently killed each other in one of the alleys. Probably a gang scuffle." "Holy shit. This city is really going downhill."

Laura felt the air suddenly thicken, turning into tar filling her throat and lungs. She began choking. With all her strength, she pushed open the door and ran outside, catching a huge gulp of air as if she had just risen from the sea depths with her last strength. Everything reminded her of Joe through which she began to forget she was dating the Security Chief. The memories came back, the fieriest ones, awakening the senses, and making her shiver. She walked down the street, and doubts piled up.

Fortunately, she managed to get back before Jensen. Laura didn't want to explain to him where she was and with whom, and with his police interrogation skills she would have told him everything at once. A quarter of an hour later, she was no longer alone. A quarter of an hour later, there was no longer any doubt. The ex-SWAT had just managed to put his shopping bag on the chest of drawers top and take off his shoes when the woman unexpectedly pushed him gently against the wall.

"Laura what are you...?" he managed to utter not much more than her name before she interrupted him.

After that, there were only her sweet lips joined with his in a hot, passionate kiss. It was long, greedy and filled with longing as if she hadn't seen him in months. Adam embraced her around the waist without hesitation. Despite the surprise, she caused by this move, he did not protest. He wanted it so much that it tingled in the back of his mind. He wanted it now and here, long, deep and unhurried. Laura felt a warm breath on her cheek, and then Jensen's tongue gently brushing her palate. She responded the same way, slowly and without insistence. She was already used to his stubble irritating her skin. She liked it. They paused only to catch their breath, and then went back to getting to know each other again, in the course of which they clashed their teeth, or inadvertently bit their lip too hard.

"What did the doctor say?" she asked quietly as Adam hung his coat on the coat rack. "Let's have dinner first. Then we'll talk," he said, and his voice was rougher than usual.

Laura sighed. Jensen's behaviour did not bode well, but she could not force an answer from him so she had to comply. The Head of Security did not allow her to help with the cooking. He wanted to do everything himself which angered her even more.

The man looked at the hacker and her almost untouched steak, but it took a long time before he decided to speak up.

"Don't you like it? I forgot to ask what kind you like." "It's perfect." "But?" he finished her statement with this one word. "You have bad test results or..."

Adam sighed loudly. "So that's the point. I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd be so concerned about it. Everything is healing well, I'm supposed to be walking on a crutch by the end of the week, then on my own so it's time for me to get back to my place."

The fork Laura was holding fell out of her hand and rang loudly against the plate. She had been so afraid of the fact that they would be living together, and now an even greater fear paralysed her at the mere thought of her house becoming deserted. The head of Security grabbed her hand and wrapped it in his. "Don't worry so much, after all, I'm not going to the end of the world. Besides, you can stay at my place, just for a change."

"Just like that?" "Mhm, just like that."

Jensen was not entirely happy with his idea. He would have preferred to be alone, to think over what he should do, but Laura was very emotionally unstable at the moment. It was more important to make her feel safe than his personal dilemmas.

After lunch, he repeated to her what he had heard from the doctor. He did so because she insisted. The reaction was what he expected. First, she pretended to be tough and took his words in a manly way, then she began to crack like a surface of thin ice to finally cry. Adam put his arm around her and waited for her to calm down. Sometimes such moments are best passed over in silence, to let the emotions run free.

By evening they were determining if and when Laura would move in. The woman became apprehensive about whether she should take up his proposal at all, and whether this separation would be better for them, but Jensen had a pertinent argument for each of them. In the end, they agreed that he would leave as early as tomorrow and give themselves two days to think about it. The hacker didn't mention the visit to the Camarilla Club or that Connor was the owner. She decided that she would be careful when meeting him, and with the trust, he has in her, she might learn more. She and Adam agreed that they should visit Rupert not at Crann Tara but at his home. After all, they ruined his Christmas with their immature behaviour.

Despite Laura's protests, Adam packed up immediately after breakfast and returned to the Chiron Building. The woman stared at the window occupying almost the entire wall of the living room waiting for the light to come on in apartment 3434. She noticed how the blinds slowly lifted, soon the Security Chief waved at her, and her phone signalled the arrival of a new message. The woman reached for the phone lying on the table by the window.

Just don't write you miss me already.

Of course, I miss you.

Jensen disappeared from her sight for more than ten minutes so she reluctantly went to feed the cat and brew herself some coffee. She couldn't find anything to do. She would have been happiest in her office right now listening to Pritchard whine. Although, after a moment's reflection, that wouldn't be a good idea.

Rupert said we could come to his place for lunch at two in the afternoon today. Does that suit you?

Yes. You know very well I don't have plans. Can I come to you a little earlier?

No.

Then no. :(

Just kidding. Come whenever you want.

While exchanging messages, Adam felt like a teenager writing to a girl he likes. On the one hand, he liked the feeling, on the other, he thought he was too old for it. Immediately after unpacking his things, he tackled the broken watch. He took it apart, cleaned each part, oiled the cogs and put it back together again. Fortunately, he had a spare glass, so he replaced it. When all was finished, he put the watch away in a drawer. As he waited for Laura to arrive, he had the feeling that time was standing still or going monstrously slow. He laughed quietly at the very memory of their first meeting. The hacker had irritated him so much, and now he felt a longing when she wasn't near.

All  chapters can be found: [AO3], [dA], [Wattpad] and [Tumblr]