#I had a free (''free'') pizza there so I decided to grab one after work

[miraculouslumination]

Honey BBQ sauce with ham slices on a deep dish/pan pizza, well done, by the way. Peace and love on the planet Earth

[magics-neptunes-things]

Struck By Love

Hi guys!

I received a lot of really nice comments about my first fic with Steph and some of you wanted a second part of this story, so here it is :)

Please enjoy ♥

And Happy New Year!

TW : Injury

Chapter Before

You probably never have been so happy in your life until now. After Emily and Kat’s wedding, you came back to London to begin your life again. It was nice to see your family back in Australia, but you must admit that you were eager to come back home. Like this you will be able to see Steph again, because the girl went back to her family in Melbourne to finish her trip here.

You didn’t take your ticket the same day as Steph, you were on the plane with Caitlin, Katie and Kyra instead. Hayley is already back in London at this time. Steph is too, but you decided that she won’t come to greet you. As you said it will have her Arsenal teammates, so it was better that way.

In January, you took her to several dates in London, enjoying being able to have quality time with her. You went to restaurants, for some walks with Calvin and you even went ice skating together.

You love having time with her, getting to know her better. You have been very honest with her about the depth and the reality of your feelings for her since the beginning, and she doesn’t seem scared about it. Which is a real relief, even if you don’t expect anything from her at any time.

You are happy to just wait for her and you let her take the lead about what she’s ready to do. The dynamic works great like this and you are secretly very happy to see that you weren’t the only one eager to have moments together. When you don’t propose to see her for two days in a row, Steph asks you if you are free the same day.

You helped her to find a flat and she finally has found something with a garden for Calvin and not far from Arsenal’s training centre. It’s closer to your flat than where she was leaving before, too.

On the fifth date, you had this conversation about knowing what the other wants about your relationship and even if no one asked the other to be her girlfriend formally, you were both clear about the fact that you will be exclusive. It was obvious for you, but Steph needed reassurance, and you were happy to give it to her.

Like if you would be able to look at someone else anyway.

There are times where you can’t see each other for almost four days because of your schedule and the games, and it’s always a little hard when it is happening. It’s the case today.

You left for Manchester on Friday to play Saturday against United and Steph left with Arsenal on Saturday to play against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday. You had your day off on Sunday, so you were able to watch Steph’s game, but you haven’t seen her for real since Thursday and it’s way too long for your liking.

It seems that is the case for Steph too, the girl is literally rushing to get her things in her bag and be able to leave the training centre. She almost doesn’t take the time to answer Kyra’s teasing while putting on her shoes and her coat.

“Why are you in such a hurry?” Katie arches an eyebrow, looking at Steph running around from her bench.

“I have a thousand things to do at home”

Steph answers casually and her answer seems to catch Beth’s attention. It is too casual to be real in the blonde’s opinion. But she doesn’t have the time to say something because soon Steph isn’t here anymore.

“What is she up to?” Kyra frowns at Beth.

“Dunno. That was weird”

Both look at each other before grinning and saying at the same time.

“We need to find out what is happening.”

********

You were far from this, finally parking your car in Steph’s street. You stopped in a local pizzeria to grab some pizza for the night, in a place you know that Steph likes. You very quickly learned her favourite things to eat or her command at Starbucks for example.

You don’t have to wait very long for Steph to open the door after you knock on it, it was only thirty seconds wait.

“Hello-ooo” you say before being grabbed by the collar of your jacket and taken inside.

Right after you feel Steph’s lips against yours and you put the pizza somewhere to be able to kiss her back easier. Your smile kind of broke the kiss but Steph doesn’t seem to mind. You kiss her cheek and her neck before taking a discreet but big breath of her perfume.

“I missed you” she whispers, and you hug her harder against you.

“Missed you too”

You still can’t believe that this situation is really happening. You never thought that you will be able to have this kind of relationship with Steph one day. You are scared to lose it now to be honest, but you try to concentrate on the present.

Steph finally drags you to her living room, where you just cuddle while eating your pizzas and looking at a film. Steph already took Calvin for his walk today and he’s peacefully asleep on his dog bed in the corner of the living room.

You aren’t really looking at the movie to be honest. You asked her a lot of questions to know how her four days really went. You wrote her messages, and you had her on the phone twice, but with her teammates around, it’s never really easy.

You are still secret for now, wanting to have this secret only between you two. You like it that way, finding Steph at the end of the day and being in your little bubble of love.

“That plaid is the best purchase I have ever made” Steph comments at some point.

You laugh while looking at the big and fluffy plaid who is big enough to easily cover both of you. It’s comfy and hot too. And it has the advantage of having Steph’s smell.

“I like it too” you smile, snuggling against her.

The pizza boxes are abandoned on the table with some pizza crusts inside. Like every time you command at this place, it was a great pizza. You haven’t eaten everything though, so if you are hungry during the night you will have something to eat.

“How are your hands still so cold?”

You smirk when Steph wiggle to get away from you, passing now both of your hands under her shirt.

“Babe stop” she giggles.

But you don’t stop, amused by her reaction. When your hands are hot enough against her skin, you kiss her, happily taking advantage of your position. She kisses you back and you kind of lose any notion of anything when she passes her arms around your neck to take you against her.

You are still kissing several minutes after, when Steph’s door is opened by a non-really discreet Kyra. But between the noise of the TV and what you are doing, it would be almost impossible to hear anything. Thank god, no one decided to burgle Steph’s house tonight.

Steph is now lying on you, still under the plaid, but during your making out session your hands never left her body. You have now one of them on her bum, while the other is in her hair. Steph’s hands are softly scratching your abs, a gesture that makes you half-crazy.

“Oh my god what the hell is happening here?!”

Kyra’s scream makes both of you jump and Steph avoids falling off the couch only thanks to your excellent reflexes. Seeing your reactions, Calvin jumps from his bed to start to bark at Kyra.

“No one ever taught you the use of a door?” Steph asks after having calmed Calvin.

“You weren’t answering! And I used the key you gave me” Kyra answers, pointing an accusing finger at Steph.

Steph groans and you silently nod somewhere in your head to take this key away from Kyra as soon as possible.

“What is happening between you two? I thought you were straight!” Kyra asks Steph, frowning at you.

You look at each other, not really knowing what to answer. You are both standing now in front of the couch where you were very intimate several seconds ago.

“Being engaged to a man doesn’t make me straight. And it’s none of your business.” Steph rolls her eyes at her.

The big sister versus little sister energy makes you smile, but you don’t show it too much, letting cowardly Steph deal with her pest.  

“I just saw you with your tongue in her mouth, it’s totally my business now”

Little sister energy.

When you see that Steph is looking at you for some help, you don’t hesitate to stand at her high though, putting a hand on her back. You feel the nerves getting out of her body a little bit under your touch.

“Was it why you were in such a hurry earlier?” Kyra asks again, softer this time.

“Yes” Steph sighs “We have this… things going on since December and even if I haven’t talked about it to anyone it makes me really happy. I just wanted to keep it for us for now”

Steph throws a quick look at you when she uses the word “things”, and you answer her with a soft smile. Like you said before, you never put a real label on your relationship.

“Are you serious about it?”

It’s a little passive-aggressive now and the question is directed towards you. You arch an eyebrow, not really used to have to face an angry Kyra with arms crossed on her chest.

“I am” you answer calmly.

“Good. Because I let an asshole coming in her life once, I won’t let another one doing the same thing”

“God Kyra, shut up”

A pillow flows right in Kyra’s face. Steph seems to be really uncomfortable about Kyra’s statement, but you find it cute instead. And you are glad to see that Steph has friends like Kyra in her life.

“Will I have shared custody?” you joke to Steph, looking in Kyra’s direction.

“She’s Mini’s kid, not mine”

Later that evening, after having kicked Kyra out and making her swear not to say anything to anyone, you find yourself with Steph in her bed. You are scrolling on your phone and texting some members of your family in Australia while Steph is lying on your chest.

You are playing with her hair too. You are very comfortable like this and you could stay here until the end of the world. Steph seems lost in her thoughts, unless she’s falling asleep. But you don’t interrupt her, knowing that she will talk to you if she needs to share anything.

It’s only when she turns her head to look at you that you put your phone on the bed, your other hand still in her hair.

“Is everything alright?” you ask softly.

She hums for only an answer, before going up on your body to put her head on your shoulder and not on your chest. You let her, passing your hand around her waist and kissing her head.

“I missed you”

Like this afternoon you feel your heart miss a beat and you love the warm feeling her words provide in you.

“I missed you too Stephy” you smile at her. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing really, just that I hope Kyra will know how to shut her mouth”

“I’m sure she will”

You have a good feeling about it, Kyra might be a little pest when she wants it, but she’s very protective about the people she loves. And you know that even if you aren’t close to her like Steph or Mini, she loves Steph. And she will do what is needed for Steph’s good.

You kiss Steph’s hair again and when she looks up you put a tender kiss on her lips. You both are pretty tired after your weekend so you quickly both fall asleep after that.

********

In late February, you are back with the Matildas for the Shebelieves Cup. You made the journey with Steph of course, but also Kyra, Caitlin, Hayley and all the girls playing in England. You are a little sad to be seated next to Charli and not Steph, who is next to Mini.

You would probably have a better sleep if you were able to put your head on Steph’s shoulder, but the travel passed anyway. You are not with Steph either in your hotel rooms, this time sharing the room with Alanna. Steph is almost on the other side of the floor every time which practically prevents you from sneaking into her room at some point.

So you are a little bit moody this morning at breakfast, between the jet lag and the fact that you haven’t slept very well because Alanna is snoring like a damn combine harvester.

You are under your hood while eating your mountain of cereals alone, until Mini, Harper and Kyra come to sit with you.

“Hello sunshine. Mind if we sit here?” Kyra smirks.

You groan for any answer, making the girl giggle. You then put your eyes on Harper, who seems sulking too.

“Are you grumpy too because they don’t have any Froot Loops and only those disgusting Kellog’s?” Harper asks you, eyebrows frowned.

“Sure am Buddy” you answer. “And because no one told me that I will be sleeping with a tractor”

“Sorry, I thought that Lani’s snores were known by anyone” Caitlin says from the table next to yours.

Your other teammates are coming to have breakfast little by little around you now.

“What is known by anyone?” Steph asks casually, sitting in front of Caitlin.

Your apparition makes a funny thing in your stomach and you wonder quickly until when those butterflies will stay.

“That Y/N slept with Lani” Harper answers with all her innocence, making you choke on your cereal, Steph spilling her coffee and Kyra dying laughing. “But Lani did it like a tractor”

“Harper, you can’t phrase things like that” a laughing Mini intervenes.

“God” you mumble, holding your forehead.

You throw a tentative glance towards Steph, above Kyra’s head who is always laughing like crazy. She receives a slap behind her head by Caitlin, distracting everyone’s attention while you and Steph exchange a glance.

She doesn’t seem disturbed by what just happened, but on the other hand you never slept with Alanna. She even has an amused smile on her face.

That moment is quickly known by all the team of course, and it makes Alanna laugh too. You have to admit that it’s pretty funny and now that you know that Steph hasn’t taken anything badly, it’s easier to laugh about it.

You are more concentrated on not looking at Steph all day, though. Not for the same reasons as before. Before it was not to be caught by Steph herself. Now it’s to avoid being discovered by someone. You find it even harder now though, because you have the right to do it.

You don’t know if Steph’s smile will stay on her face all day, however, because all the team seems to take the joke really by heart. You received some comments about it all day, from your teammates but from people on the staff too. It even went viral on social media.

Alanna doesn’t seem to mind though, given the way she takes you by your shoulders to drag you back into your room before dinner.

“Come on Casanova, show me again some moves you got”

You roll your eyes but follow her anyway, taken away from any idea of sneaking out somewhere in the city with Steph. You haven’t been able to talk to her all day long and she doesn’t know you wanted to do that, but you still miss that plan.

Of course, when you are in the room you share with Alanna, she goes to her bed while you do the same. On yours. If it needs to be said, you never had any interest in the blonde, even if you like her very much. As a friend.

You always have a crossword book with you and that is with what you were occupying yourself when you feel your phone vibrating on your nightstand, where you put it to charge.

From Pudding 💞 Having fun?

You roll your eyes and disconnect your phone from the cable of your charging. You then sit cross-legged on your bed, your book forgotten.

From You No 🥺 I miss you What are you doing?

From Pudding 💞 Nothing much. Just watching Kyra and Charli misbehave with Harper

From You If I manage to escape my room, would you like to go for a walk? We have time to do it until dinner

From Pudding 💞 I’d love to 😌

You smile and you lurk towards Alanna to know what excuse you could use to get out of the room without being suspect.

“I’m going to take something to drink, do you want something?”

“Mh? No, thanks” Alanna mumbles back without looking at you.

From You I’m coming. Find me in front of the hotel?

You don’t wait for Steph’s answer before going up, putting your shoes and your hoodie back and going out of the room. You don’t see anyone when you reach the entrance of the hotel, or at least anyone from the Australian team.

Steph is already waiting for you, hidden in the corner of the building and you hurry your path to meet her.

Your first move is to go for a hug, but Steph stops you with a hand on your stomach.

“Someone still can see us here” she explains to you with a soft smile.

You nod and follow her steps, putting your hands in the pocket of your hoodie instead. Being next to her like this without being able to touch her is torturous for you. And you are together for only two months, you wonder how a couple can hide their relationship for years.

“How are you?” you ask her after several meters.

“Fine. It’s strange to be with you all day without being able to really be with you, you know?”

“Yeah. I feel the same”

You bite your lip softly, wondering how to approach the teasing you have to endure all day. You don’t know how she feels about it and you don’t want to assume anything. But it’s finally Steph who talks again first.

“But Kyra made me realise that not talking to you at all might be suspect for the others too. I mean we were friends before and we were quite close to each other, you know?”

You nod slowly at that. It was true, you went for example in the vineyard with her before your first kiss at Emily’s wedding.

“She’s right” you smile, relieved to realise that you are finally authorized to spend some time with her. “It’s weird that this advice comes from Kyra though”

Steph smirks and, now that you are away from the hotel, grabs your arm with hers. You let her do it, quickly kissing her temple.

“She might have teased me a little bit” Steph admits after some time.

“About us?”

“Yes, and that rumour about you and Alanna. And the fact that you seemed moody all morning too”

“I was, I really haven’t slept enough” you shrug before frowning. “But I’m sorry about the teasing”

“It’s okay” Steph smiles at you. “I know it’s not the truth”

You have to admit that Steph is way more chill than you are. Or maybe less jealous? Maybe both, because you totally remember about you being jealous when she was dancing and laughing with Mackenzie at Emily’s wedding for example.

You stay silent, a little bit ashamed about it. But your silence seems to tease Steph’s curiosity.

“It’s not true, right?”

“Oh, yes. Of course it isn’t” you hasten to confirm.

You free your arm to pass it around Steph’s waist, holding her against you. You were still walking, a little bit randomly to be honest. You haven’t really discovered the horizons; you had to travel a lot in the USA for the Cup, and you would rather be peacefully in your room than walking around.

“Do you want to grab a coffee?”

You turn your head towards the Café Steph is looking at and nod. You’re not a big fan of coffee to be honest, but you know that Steph is. You follow her inside, letting her pass her command first before asking for a tea yourself.

“How do you feel about tomorrow?” you ask the other Aussie when you are seated.

“Concentrated. We need to be if you want to win”

“I wasn’t asking my Captain” you smirk above your tea. “I was asking you”

Just like she does sometimes, she looks at you with a way softer look than usual, and a cute smile, and it makes you melt. So much that you have to be really concentrated to follow the next part of the conversation.

The next day, you are playing against Colombia and when you enter the stadium, you feel pretty confident. Not because you are sure that you will win, but because you know that the team will do as much as possible to win the game. You are starting, positioned just behind Caitlin Foord in the middle of the pitch. It makes you stand in the middle of the players but you still manage to have a good view of your whatever Steph is.

You managed to go back to the hotel without no one asking you any questions yesterday, Alanna easily believing your story about being asked by Kyra for a random Uno game.

The first part of the game went great, to be honest. Colombia is a tough opponent, but you are winning 3-1, thanks to two goals from Caitlin and a really well managed free kick by Steph. You even managed to have an assist for one of the goals.

Around the seventy-minute Steph got subbed, just like Caitlin for Michelle Heyman. Your teammate from Tottenham, Hayley, is still on the pitch, just like Kyra.

In the 76 minutes, Colombia managed to score their second goal making 3-2 and you knew from that moment that they will push as much as possible to score a third one. Mackenzie is able to make some great stops and at the 82 Hayley almost scores, the ball hitting the corner of the post before going right in the stands.

At the 84, Mackenzie stops a ball from a corner and throws it quickly in the front, where you are waiting with Michelle. The blonde catches the ball and you follow her, facing two Colombians. You easily catch the pass Michelle offers you and run towards the goalkeeper, not expecting a single second a tackle coming from behind.

That is what happens though, your ankle painfully trapped between two legs, making you fall on the ground. It hurts and between the pain and how hard you fall on the ground, you have trouble breathing completely again.

You don’t hear the chaos above you, Ellie and Mini screaming at your opponent, the red card she takes or even the referee trying to calm everyone down. You just try to breathe, focusing your attention on your throbbing ankle and the design of Kyra’s boots, protectively crouch somewhere near your head.

“Hey it’s okay, you're okay” she says to you.

“She’s bleeding, we have to take her shoe and sock off”

You don’t recognize which one of the paramedics is talking, but you groan in protest when they grab your ankle. You hear the referee asking them to take you outside the pitch and some of your teammates protesting something, but you don’t really care. You didn’t have to deal with a lot of injuries in your life, but this one really hurts. It scares you, to be honest.

You hear the applause of the crowd when you are taken inside the stadium on the stretcher, but you don’t really react, hiding your face in both of your arms.

It’s way quieter when you are inside the infirmary, where a nurse gives you something for the pain. You thank her quietly, drinking the fresh water she gives you soon after with appreciation.

“We have to put some stitches on before going to hospital for a scan. Given how she takes you down, you might have something broken”

“Great” you sigh, looking at the ceiling.

Your mind goes to Steph. You would like to have her with you, but she’s the captain and has other duties. You are only friends for the others and if one of them should come with you, it would be more logical for Hayley to come with you.

But you are happily surprised to see that it’s in fact Steph who comes inside the room almost twenty minutes later, while you are still waiting for the stitches. She looks worried, but you feel your body relax as soon as she’s here.

“How are you feeling?” she asks, frowning.

“Better. The nurse gave me some morphine. But I have to go to the hospital to make a scan”

She sighs and strokes your cheek tenderly, before the door of the room opens again, making her retract her hand like if your cheek was on fire.

You look at the nurse when she comes inside, followed by a man you haven’t seen before.

“Y/N if you are ready, we are too”

She nods towards the needles and compresses in the trail she just put on a table next to you, and you can’t help but make a grimace. You are totally not ready for it. You hate needles.

“It’s going to be okay” she says, putting her hand on your arm in a comforting gesture. “Maybe it’s better if you leave?”

She turns towards Steph who is still standing in the room and you put your eyes on her too, just in time to see her frowning gaze looking at the nurse’s gesture.

“Oh. Uh, sure. I just wanted to give Y/N her things”

She puts the bag she was holding until now on a chair and turns her heels to leave, but you don’t want her to. So, you call her, almost shyly.

“Can you stay with me and maybe hold my hand? Please?”

“Of course”

She doesn’t hesitate a single second before coming back near you, sitting on a second chair and grabbing your hand.

“Thanks” you breathe. “I hate needles”

“I didn’t know”

She tilts her head curiously towards you, and you shrug. It’s not really something you talk about during your first dates usually, until you are dating a nurse maybe. You look at the doctor who is preparing his things, totally ignoring you three. You are nervous, so much that Steph can feel the tension in your body.

“Look at me. Just concentrate yourself on me”

You take a deep breath and oblige, your eyes easily falling on her. She hasn’t taken a shower after the game; she’s still wearing her kit under her jacket. She still has her bun, and she looks effortlessly pretty, even after a game like this. If you were alone, you would have said to her how beautiful she is.

It seems that she understands really easily what you are thinking about though, because you see her cheeks becoming a little more red. It makes you smile and want to kiss her. It’s frustrating, but at least like this you kind of forget what is happening near your ankle.

“Finish” the doctor says before standing up. “Ellen here will come with you to the hospital, so you have a real follow-up. And I think one of the members of the Australian team will come too”

You don’t see Steph frowning at that. You nod looking at the doctor leaving the room and the nurse following to get everything needed.

“I’ll go take a shower and I’ll come to the hospital as soon as possible, okay?” Steph says softly.

You nod again and sigh, letting your head go against the pillow of the bed. You watch Steph when she stands to kiss you, making you smile.

“Thank you for coming”

“Of course” she smiles and kisses you one more time.

She gets up just in time, the nurse coming back with all she needs. She makes sure that you have everything you need before taking you to the ambulance for the hospital. You are already on crutches, and you had hoped not to have to take the ambulance, but it seems like it’s how things are done here.

A little bit dramatic in your opinion.

Ellen and Kate, your team nurse, talked your ears off during the journey to the hospital and are still doing it when you arrive in your assigned room. The team asked for one for you to be able to take a shower and you are really grateful for it.

“Do you need help?” Ellen asks.

“Uh. No, thank you” you mumble, feeling your cheeks getting a little red.

“Look at you, Casanova” Kate giggles. “Alanna wasn’t enough, you need someone else already?”

“Oh god” you sigh.

“Is Alanna your girlfriend?”

“No” you roll your eyes.

You let Kate explain the story behind it, ignoring the different laughs coming from it while texting your parents and the Matildas’ WhatsApp group. Then you write to Steph too.

From You Are you soon here? The Nurse proposed her help for my shower

From Pudding 💞 That is not funny

You don’t have any other answer from her, and you sigh softly before putting your phone on your bed. Time to shower. You take the fresh underwear that Steph packs you with a fresh shirt and shorts too. You are glad to avoid the shirt from the hospital though.

“If Alanna isn’t your girlfriend, you still can take my help” Ellen adds, apparently more seriously.

You hesitate a little about what to answer at that. She seems serious about her help, but still teasing-flirting a little bit too.

“I still have a girlfriend” you finally answer.

You don’t know if Steph will be happy with that, like you said you never put a label on your relationship. But at least Ellen will understand that you are not interested.

“Do you?” Kate asks you with a big surprise.

“Yes” you smirk. “But it’s very fresh and you are under professional secrecy so you can’t say anything to anyone”

“You have a girlfriend, and you make jokes about sleeping with someone else?” Ellen asks, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I… I’m not the one who started it” you try to defend yourself.

“She’s right” Kate has your back “The situation has somewhat escaped her”

Ellen hums, apparently not totally convinced about your answers, but you decide not to give too much importance. First because you have to take this shower before they come to take you for the scan. And second because you will probably not see her again and that you don’t really care about what she might think.

After the shower, you went for your scan with Kate, who walks you happily around the hospital in a wheelchair.

And when you are back in your room, you are happy to see Kyra and Steph waiting for you, sitting next to Ellen. Their hair are still wet from their shower.

“How are you feeling?” Steph asks.

“I’m okay” you shrug, passing from the wheelchair to the bed. “How was the end of the game?”

You already asked this to Kate when you left for the hospital, but you want to have your teammates’ opinion. The good news is that Australia won, even if it was a close one.

“I have to go” Ellen says after Kyra’s explanation. “Will you be okay there?”

“Yeah thanks” you smile politely at her.

“It was nice meeting you” Ellen squeezes your arm affectionately.

Your eyes cross Steph’s when she leaves the room, before looking at Kyra who seems to have the time of her life.

“Do you think I can eat something?” you ask Kate.

“Sure, I’ll go to the cafeteria to grab you a sandwich or something. Do you want something else?”

You shake your head and she gets up, imitated by Kyra who claims to be hungry too. You don’t know if it’s true or if she wants to leave you alone with Steph, but you are happy to be alone with her a little bit.

What you said earlier when it was only you with Kate and Ellen comes back in your mind and you wriggle a little bit on your bed.

“Why are you acting weird?”

“I’m not weird” you mumble without looking at her.

“Don’t you dare tell me she came to help you under the shower” she says sternly.

You wince at her tone but shakes your head, searching for her gaze this time. If you are weird, she seems tense. Like very tense. You don’t want to upset her, but it seems more important for you to tell the truth.

Steph had crossed her arms on her chest, still seated in the chair in front of your bed.

“It’s not that” you say, nervously passing your hand in your hair. “But I might said that I have a girlfriend to her”

Steph looks at you blankly for several seconds, so much that you start to think that she’s waiting for you to add something.

“How is that a problem?” Steph asks.

“Kate was here too”

“And… That’s all? You seem so uneasy because you told a girl who was hitting on you that you already have someone?”

She doesn’t seem annoyed anymore; you almost have the impression that she’s repressing a smile. And you don’t really understand what the hell is happening.

“We agreed to keep it hidden for several times and we never discussed about being girlfriend” you frown.

Steph is totally smiling now, finally leaving her chair to come sit in front of you on your bed. She was upset and now she seems… softened?

“I am glad that you put a stop to her flirting with that information” Steph grabs your hand while talking “And I know none of us asked the other officially, but I would love to make it a little bit more official. Not by saying it to everyone, but at least by putting a real word on our relationship.”

“So… If I, hypothetically, ask you to be my girlfriend, would you say yes?”

“Hypothetically, yes” she smirks

And she laughs when she sees you rolling your eyes. You are not mad at her for her teasing though, how could you when her laugh is the most beautiful thing ever? You decide to try one more time, a little bit more seriously this time.

“Stephanie-Elise Catley, would you please be my girlfriend?”

“I’d love to”

You have time to see her smile before she leans in your direction, and you finish the gesture to kiss her.

Steph Catley is your girlfriend.

You don’t know what you did to be so lucky, but the happiness you feel right now makes you pass your arms around her waist, and you take her with you when you let yourself fall on the bed.

She lets out a high short scream when you make her fall on you, but her lips are soon very occupied again.

Both of you are able to hear when the door of the room is open though and you turn your head, waiting to be facing Kyra. But it’s actually Kate, holding your scan in one hand and your sandwich in the other.

“Oh… New girlfriend. I see”

[sweetdispatch]

Why are you doing this to yourself? - Q. Hughes

pairing: Quinn Hughes x girlfriend!reader

summary: Quinn's girlfriend relapsed to her old habits after his comment

warning: mentions of cheating, mentions of eating disorder, mentions of throwing up, mentions of sex (nothing graphic), swearing, angst, hurt/comfort

words: 2.4k

note: my first ever published fic!! I used a name instead of Y/N because i don't feel comfortable writing without names so sorry for that. Also, english is not my first language so apologies if there's gonna be any mistakes. I'm proud of this piece and I hope you'll enjoy reading🤍

if you are struggling with eating disorder, please talk to somebody, your family, friends or even to me, you are not alone in this!❤️‍🩹

masterlist

---

Zara never had been in a healthy relationship. Since high school times, all her boyfriends were abusive towards her. As a teenager, she got into  love-hate relationship with food. Always blaming herself and her look for not being good enough to have a partner. When she had been multiple times cheated on, she truly believed that’s because she’s fat and unattractive. The truth was that she was looking normal, like every teenage girl but her low self confidence let her believe that she’s the problem. Zara was skipping meals and when she ate something, she felt guilty and was forcing herself to throw up. When she graduated high school, she came back on right tracks. Yes, she still was struggling and had episodes of skipping meals but it got way better than it was back then.

When Zara met Quinn, she was impressed by how well spoken he is and very respectful towards her. She truly started to believe that she deserves to be loved. He was always giving her compliments and her confidence was growing. She never told him about how shitty exes she had and her problems with eating. She didn’t wanted a pity party from him. She truly believed that she’s a new person thanks to him. After a year of dating, Quinn had been named a new captain of the Vancouver Canucks. Zara was more than happy for him because she knew how hardworking person he is. Although she didn’t expected him to ask her to move into his apartment.

“Honey, I was just thinking that maybe you would like to move in to me? You already spent most of the time here and your work is closer from my place than yours. Plus with me having a new role in club, our schedules might go crazy and I want to spent every free minute with you”. Quinn casually said when they were laying on the couch watching a movie.

“It’s a huge step in our relationship Quinny… but I’m ready for it. I would love to move into your place”. Zara said and kissed his cheek.

Next week, the couple was packing Zara’s things from her place to later put them in Quinn’s apartment. Most of the things were already in his place but they still had to pick up the rest. They life living together was like a honeymoon until Quinn got into fixation about healthy food. He was always cooking for both of them and tried to keep balanced diet. Zara started having flashbacks to her life from high school, when she was trying to keep being super healthy but she said nothing to Quinn. One day, she haven’t ate breakfast because she was running late and later, completely forgot about lunch. On her way back to their apartment, she decided to buy pizza for dinner because she wasn’t in a mood for cooking. Zara ate the whole thing on one sitting finishing projects for work. When Quinn came home after the game, he saw the box. He thought she left him some of the pizza but it was just an empty box.

“Wow, you must been really hungry that you ate whole pizza and haven’t even left ma piece”. He joked, hoverer her face fell down when she realized that she ate an entire pizza this afternoon.

“Yeah, I haven’t got time in the morning to eat breakfast and later forgot to go and grab a lunch.” Zara admitted to him ashamed.

“Honey, we talk about it. You have to eat healthy”. Although Quinn meant eating three meals per day but she interpreted this otherwise.

“I know, I’m sorry”. She went to hug him and started asking him about today’s game just to change the topic.

He haven’t missed the way her face fell when he joked but decided not to mention this. Next days were hard for Zara. She had all time in her head Quinn’s words. Every evening when she was getting ready to take shower, she was looking on her body in mirror’s reflection. She started to see how her thighs got bigger and how her stomach wasn’t perfectly flat. She started to wear baggy clothes to cover her body from the world. She was also pushing Quinn away when he wanted to have sex with her. He saw those changes but he thought that she’s just overworked and tired. He haven’t asked anything but tried to be supportive as much as he could.

When Quinn had to left her for a roadie, Zara completely lost it. No one was there to make sure she’s eating proper meals. She started skipping breakfast. On lunch, she was only eating salads. When she was at home, she haven't cooked dinner. She thought that’s the best for her to started looking more attractive for Quinn.

After a week, Quinn came back home and decided to buy them takeout food from their favorite Italian place. He knew, she probably haven’t ate dinner and was waiting for him to eat together. When Quinn stepped into their place, he met unfamiliar cold. Zara wasn’t there to kiss and hug him like she was always doing when he was back from roadie. He saw her sitting in living room and watching a movie.

“Hi honey. I hope you are hungry because I bought us carbonara from the Italian place you love”. He said and kissed her forehead.

“Actually, I’m not hungry babe but feel free to eat yours. I’ll just eat it tomorrow”. She said.

“Okay. Have you ate dinner already?” He asked concerned.

“Well no, but…”

“Then take your pretty ass to the table because you have to eat”. Quinn said surprised at her words.

“I’m really not hungry Quinn”. She started getting irritated at him.

“I’m not playing with you Zara. You either gonna eat with me or I’m gonna force you to do it”. He said firmly.

Knowing that she’s in a lost position, she gave up and went to sit with him at the dinner table. She ate half of her portion and excused herself to the bathroom. In that moment, she was delighted that the bathroom is far from the living room and Quinn couldn’t hear her. Feeling the guilt of eating pasta, she forced herself to throw up. After she was done, she brushed her teeth and came back.

“I can’t eat anymore Quinny. I’ll pack the pasta and bring it to work with me for lunch". She said, knowing that she’s gonna throw the pasta to the trash the minute she leave the apartment for work tomorrow.

“Yeah, sure. What about bath together and just laying in our bed. I’m so tired”. He proposed.

“Sounds like a plan babe.” She went and kissed him.

Two days later, when Quinn and Zara were making out, he started to pull up her hoodie. She stopped him. Quinn finally decided to confront her. He was done with her not wanting to be intimate with him. He also saw that she wasn’t eating breakfast at home, always excusing herself with running late.

“What’s happening with you lately?” He asked in the nicest way he could.

“I don’t know about what you are talking about”.

“Cut the bullshit. I know you are skipping breakfast. I am not dumb not to see you always acting, like you are late and not eating breakfast when we both know it’s a lie. Also, I don’t know what I did wrong to you, but you always push me away when I try to have sex with you. So tell me, what’s happening”. He started getting mad at her with every minute.

“Quinn, I’m telling you, nothing is happening”. She was too ashamed to admit to him her problems and decided to lie.

“Fucking hell Zara. I know you for almost two years. We live together. I know you like the back of my hand. I know that something is wrong with you. You know that I’m here for you to listen and help”. He tried so hard not to yell at her.

“I’m not gonna stand here and listen to you accusations. Everything is fine!” She screamed the last sentence and left, feeling guilt for not telling him truth.

After the argument, both of them were giving each other cold shoulder. She stopped eating at all, even the salads for lunch. He wanted so hard to find out what’s going on with her but after her reaction, he decided not to push her and wait until she tell him.

Couple days later, he accidently walked into the bathroom when she was taking shower. When he saw her, Quinn thought he’s gonna cry. Her ribs was visible through her skin. She looked so skinny that it started to terrify him. He left and went to their bedroom thinking how he should ask her about it without getting into another argument.

“Hey, can we talk?” He asked unsure of her reaction.

“Sure, What’s up?”

“I saw you in the shower”.

“Oh”. That’s all she could say.

“Look, I know something is happening with you and I don’t want to push you but your body looks unhealthy. Why are you doing this to yourself?” He said not knowing where the conversation will take him. She sat quietly for couple minutes before she spoke to him.

“Can you promise me that you won’t get mad at me when I tell you?” She haven’t been looking at him, she kept her eyes on her hands.

“I promise honey”. He saw that she was playing with her nails and decided to replace it with his hand.

“I have a weird relationship with food. I’ve been struggling with it since high school. Every guy I’ve dated cheated one me and I thought it’s my fault. I started eating super healthy but when I saw it’s not getting me anywhere, I decided to skip meals. When I ate something, I felt guilty about it and forced myself to throw up. After graduation, it got better. Sure, I had episodes of skipping meals when I was triggered but it was getting better”. She said with her tears rolling down her face.

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry to hear that”. He hugged her tightly and started to smoothing her hair. After couple of minutes, he decided to ask.

“What was your trigger this time?”

“I don’t think you want to know”. Zara didn’t wanted to make him feel guilty.

“I want to know”. He said softly.

“Remember when you get back home the other day and saw the empty box of pizza?” He nodded.

“This was my trigger. When you pointed out that I ate the whole pizza and said that I have to eat healthy. I felt that you’ll find me unattractive and will cheat on me like others”. She said completely ignoring his presence. He signed, mad at himself for even saying that.

“Zara, I’m so fucking sorry for making you feel this way. It was never my intention. I was just joking but I see now how hurtful it was for you. Please forgive me”. He said with voice full of guilt.

“It’s okay Quinny, you didn’t know”.

“It’s not okay. God, I made you feel bad and I’ll never forgive myself for that”. After couple seconds, Quinn asked again.

“When I brought the pasta after I got back home from roadie and forced you to eat with me, did you… Did you throw up when you excused yourself to the bathroom?” He asked not sure if he’s ready to hear the answer. When Zara haven’t said anything, he knew how big damage he had done.

He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead. She was crying into his shoulder when he was whispering apologies into her ear.

The next morning, Quinn made breakfast for both of them. When she saw the plate, he was fast to explain.

“I know you struggle now but I want you to eat something. I’m not gonna be forcing the full meal into you and you don’t have to eat all of it. At least try. Step by step”. She felt the love and respect in his voice and decided to bite a little bit of the toast. Before she left, he gave her paper bag.

“I’ve made you lunch. Again, I’m not forcing you but at least eat the granola bar. I love you.” He kissed her cheek.

“Thank you Quinny. Love you too.” She said and gave him a kiss.

Quinn started reading books about eating disorder and was learning everything to know how to help her and not make her feel even worst. He wanted to be the best boyfriend to her knowing that he’s responsible for her relapse into old habits. When he had time, he was preparing her favorite dishes. He made one cupboard in the kitchen with her favorite snacks. Never pushed her to eat full meals but wanted her to eat something.

When Quinn had to leave her for roadie for the first time since she told him about her relationship with food, he was scared. He didn’t wanted her to skip meals while he’s gone but he also knew that he can’t ask her directly if she ate. He decided to face time her every time he knew she was supposed to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner just to check up on her and see if she’s eating at that time.

Two weeks later, Quinn came back home and could smell a steak. He was surprised because he haven’t saw Zara in the kitchen for the past two months. The minute he entered the room she said.

“I thought you might be hungry. I’ve cooked you steak with fries”. She said and went to hug him.

“What about you honey?”

“I already ate dinner”.

“Zara”. He said knowing that she’s lying.

“I’m joking. I’ve made myself pasta with pesto”.

“Good that you have jokes on you but please, let’s not joke about it”. He said firmly.

“I’m sorry Quinny”. After seeing his reaction, she felt bad for even joking about this.

“Hey! Don’t be puffy, it’s fine. I just want to be sure you’re fed and healthy”.

“Ay, ay captain. Now let’s eat before it gets cold”. She grabbed his hand and went to the table with him. After they ate dinner, he said.

“It was delicious honey. I’m so happy you’re back on right tracks. I’m proud of you and I mean it”.

“I don’t know if I would make it without your support. Thank you for everything. I love you”. She went to kiss him but he deepened the kiss.

“Quinn I have to do the dishes, can it wait?” She asked.

“Oh hell no. I haven’t had my time with you for two months and I want to show you how much I love you and how much I adore your body. I want to make sure my girl knows that she’s gorgeous”

He lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom where they had fun all night long.

[i-drop-level-one-loot]

~Yanderes For Everyone~

Here's some yandere prompts and imagines, both romantic and platonic, for those who want some non sexual yandere adoration ❤️ Happy Pride!

Romantic/Asexual Scenarios:

M!Yandere x M!Reader

Yandere!Best Friend who couldn't figure out at first why it hurt so badly when you had friends other than him until a classmate attempted to ask you out

Yandere!Best Friend really just wants the two of you to continue playing games together, and live together, and adopt a couple of dogs together, and grow old together.. y'know, like how best friends do

Yandere!Best Friend becomes a complete menace when he learns what asexuality is, and that one can be both gay and ace

Yandere!Best Friend who is determined to prove that you don't need anyone else but him, even if it means cutting you off from the outside world

Yandere!Best Friend's method of "seduction" is stealthily turning off your phone's notifications while you're hanging out and tricking you into staying over longer than you intended

"You can't leave yet! I forgot to show you this new game I bought; it has couch co-op, and I just put pizza bites in the oven!"

Fem!Yandere x Fem!Reader

Yandere!Nun who enjoys her days at the convent, tending to flowers and taking care of those in need. She doesn't care so much about her vows to God, but enjoys a life free from the societal expectations she was gifted from birth as a woman.

Yandere!Nun is stunned when she sees you for the very first time. It was like witnessing an angel descend upon the earth, or experiencing a divine prophetic dream

Yandere!Nun loves being near her own personal angel, who's voice brings a joy she's never known before

Yandere!Nun is crushed when she learns that this isn't a final home for you like it is for her, and is instead merely a way for you to receive an education before your inevitable debut into society

Yandere!Nun who becomes determined to keep you with her, forever tending to the garden and feeding the poor, and decides that she will do whatever it takes to keep you by her side...

"Really, aren't you safer here? I mean, under God's protection, we can be happy! ..together.."

Yandere!Succubus x GN!Reader

Yandere!Succubus who's never enjoyed sex, not even once in the past thousand years she's been alive

Yandere!Succubus feels she must "grin and bear it", putting on a fake smile and bracing herself for the worse when she is once again summoned to the human world

Only to be floored by you, who summoned her from a spell in an ominous old book you found in the attic, not knowing that she was a succubus

Yandere!Succubus can feel herself falling for you every time she is summoned for some mundane task that doesn't involve her body, whether it be helping you finish a work assignment last minute or assisting with household chores

Yandere!Succubus refuses to answer the summoning rituals of lonely humans, instead spending all her time with you, even when you don't call for her

Yandere!Succubus knows that when it's your time, you will inevitably be punished, and has already made plans for your "departure" from this world

It'll be like you never died, you'll blink and be 25 again, baking cookies with her in your kitchen while she tells you about her day, laughing as she flirts with you and never questioning why Monday never seems to arrive

Yandere!Merman x GN!Reader

Yandere!Merman who meets you in a very silly and cliche way: being rescued after getting tangled up in garbage

Yandere!Merman acts distraught when you refuse to accept any gifts from him, trying to convince him that you don't need to be rewarded for doing the right thing

Yandere!Merman finds himself enamored with you, wanting to extend your visit longer, going as far as to grab your ankle when you try to leave

He begins running out of reasons to keep you, but you promise you'll be back again in the morning, and boy does he feel like crying when you stay true to your word and return to him

Yandere!Merman feels a little guilty about deceiving you, but when he learns that you're only there on "vacation" and that you'll be going "back to work" soon, he had to do something!

Yandere!Merman who finally gets you to accept a gift, a little glass vial that he claims is a traditional drink his people enjoy

He apologizes over and over again when the "drink" causes you to transform, robbing you of your legs. Wiping your tears away and crying himself, claiming that he had no idea it would have that affect on a human! But that he's ready to take responsibility, and take care of you for the rest of your new life under the water..

Yandere!Spirit x GN!Reader

Yandere!Spirit who's been dead for so long that they've forgotten what it was like to be human

Their body has warped as they lost memories of their previous life, elongating and discoloring, their skin a hollow grey and their body thin and stretched

Yandere!Spirit is approached one day by you, a human who not only can see them, but isn't afraid of them

Yandere!Spirit had forgotten what warmth was, but being in your presence was almost like having a heartbeat again

Yandere!Spirit becomes addicted to you, begging to stay by your side and continue basking in the sunlight of your smile, feeling that this is what it must have felt like to be alive

"Don't ask me to stay home.. does it really bother you that people think you're talking to yourself? I just.. please don't leave me again.."

Aroace/Platonic Scenarios:

Yandere!Catboy x GN!Reader

Yandere!Catboy who breaks into your house one day, and decides that your home is now his home as well

Yandere!Catboy demands attention and affection when he wants it.. and it usually just happens to be when you're busy

Yandere!Catboy has no sense of personal space, and didn't care if you're on the phone with your mother, he needs to use your lap as a pillow right. now.

Yandere!Catboy is a pain in the ass, treating you like a prince's servant, but he adores you in his own, possessive way

"Why do you smell like another cat?! I don't care if that skank was an aCtUaL cAt, those hands should only be rubbing these ears! Now get to it!"

Yandere!Big Sister x GN!Reader

Yandere!Big Sister who isn't actually related to you, but took pity on you and offered you a ride one night when you were walking home in the rain

Yandere!Big Sister sees herself in you, despite the gender difference, believing you to be as lonely as she is

Yandere!Big Sister begins keeping an eye out for you on her trips around town, doing her best to gain your trust slowly enough where she wouldn't scare you off

Yandere!Big Sister invites herself over to your apartment the moment she thinks you might not hate her, bringing gifts of junk food and beer

Yandere!Big Sister is so convinced that you are like her, that she "protects" you from your "obviously shitty" family, blocking their numbers on your phone while you're passed out, isolating you from the people that would hurt you

"That ass forgot your birthday?! I'm so sorry, kiddo.. If it makes you feel any better.. I already picked up a cake on my way over here~"

Yandere!Cult x Deity!Reader

Yandere!Cult Members who passionately worship you with a fervor that makes you worried for their mental stability

Resurrected from obsoletion, you were obviously overwhelmed with joy, being a small, nearly forgotten deity.. but when you witnessed your congregation, you realized they weren't regular worshippers

Yandere!Cult Members exist in a state of ecstasy for you, giving up their lives to join the cult they made in your name

Yandere!Cult Members who take what little text survived from your past followers, and turned it into a doctrine so absolute, that any deviation has them on their knees begging for forgiveness

And when you make yourself known, trying to calm the pitiful humans, share some comfort with them that you are not a god that enjoys this kind of devotion, the Yandere!Cult is in a state of euphoria, unable to comprehend your words..

"You appear! For us! We are not worthy of your presence, and yet you are such a kind and loving god that you appear.. for us!! No sacrifice is too great for one such as yourself!!"

Yandere!Toy Maker x GN!Reader

Yandere!Toy Maker who never liked humans; they talk too much, they smell funny, they grow old, and worse of all, they die

Yandere!Toy Maker changes his tune when he first meets you

Yandere!Toy Maker is fascinated by you, because unlike most humans, you don't annoy him; you're like a wind up dolly, only saying what he wants to hear

Yandere!Toy Maker uses you as his inspiration, making toys and dolls of all types that look like you, often gifting you adult sized clothes that are replicas of the outfits he makes for the little yous

Yandere!Toy Maker seriously considers stuffing your body, turning you into a toy that will never grow old; never leave him

But he could never.. even if he put a drawstring on your back, it wouldn't be the same.. he still doesn't have enough recordings of you talking to replace your presence..

✨Bonus✨

Yandere!Bed x GN!Reader

The mattress was on sale at the cheap little store you were visiting for the first time. And honestly, the deal was too good to pass up. When was the last time you got a new bed? Didn't you deserve to wake up not in pain?

So you brought it home.

It was a pain in the ass, but you got it into your apartment by yourself and set it up.

It. Was. Heaven.

You couldn't remember the last time you fell asleep so quickly, but it felt like you blacked out the second you laid down. In fact, it was so comfortable, you slept through all three of your alarms.

Shit.

But even being late to work and getting yelled at by your boss didn't faze you. The entire day it was like you were walking on clouds; you were so well rested that all you could think about was going home to your new bed: excited to sleep again.

And for the first couple of weeks, your coworkers didn't say anything. But they began worrying about you, suspecting that you might be depressed or something. All you talked about was your bed; how you never slept so well in your life, how laying down was like falling straight into the dream world... But you never looked worse.

Despite your claims that you were sleeping like a corpse, you were beginning to look like the dead. The bags under your eyes were hollow and heavy, your skin was paling, and your movements were slow and weak.

However, it didn't matter what they said.

That mattress was the single best purchase you've ever made in your whole entire life.

Lying down was like being enveloped in the embrace of a parent.

It didn't bother you when your boss fired you in front of your concerned fellow employees..

It just meant that you would have more time to sleep.

[wonderingpanda]

Hallooo!

May I request reader catching the bayboys staring at them? Lovesick, maybe?

I just love the Eugene staring at Rapunzle scene.

Lovesick Stares

Bayverse!Turtles x Reader

Hi! Sorry for not posting in so long, I’ve been really busy the past month. I also want to apologise, there was another Bayverse request in my inbox but I must of accidentally deleted it since I can’t find it anymore. If the person who sent me it wants to re-request it feel free to do so. Now, I decided to not really do headcanons for this one but I wouldn’t call them oneshots either. They’re more like mini-scenarios. Anyway, with that all out the way please enjoy.

Leonardo

I was just in the lair sharpening my katanas when I noticed Y/N sit down next to me. “Mikey becoming too much for you?” “Nah, I’m just tired and don’t feel like skateboarding right now.” They pulled out their phone and began doing something on it but I couldn’t see what. I decided to just focus on my blades since I was losing concentration. After a moment or two I heard the sweet sound of Y/N laughing and turned to see them smiling at some video. I couldn’t help but let my gaze linger for a moment, they were so pretty and calm I couldn’t look away. Y/N must of realised that I had stopped sharpening my swords since they looked over to me curiously. I immediately fixed my eyes on something away from them but I knew it was too late and I’d already been caught. “You do realise you’re staring at mouldy pizza right?” Yup, caught red handed. “Well I mean mouldy pizza can be interesting. Anything can hold a story. You never know this pizza could’ve been through amazing things, lived an incredible life.” “Ah yes an incredible life of slowly dying on a sewer floor.” We laughed together for a moment before Y/N decided to lie their head on my arm and smiled with their eyes glued to their phone. “You know if want to stare at me you can. I do it to you all the time.” “Heh, thanks… wait what?”

Raphael

I swear sometimes my brothers piss me off too much! It was late in the evening and I was beating up a punching bag to let out my rage. I was so focused on hitting the thing that I didn’t realise Y/N had walked in. They leaned against the wall and just looked at me. I stopped what I was doing and turned to face them. “What is it?” “I was just waiting for you to finish up.” “Why? You want to use it?” “I’d appreciate it.” I smirked and stepped aside as Y/N walked up to the punching bag, this was going to be interesting. I was surprised when they began to land pretty tough punches on it. “Wow, who got you so riled up?” They leaned back and rolled their shoulders. “Just an annoying co-worker, don’t worry about it.” They then threw their jacket onto the floor and continued to beat up the punching bag. As they went at it I kept wanting to look at them, their face and arms, eyes, lips… I shook my head and blinked a bit when I saw Y/N staring right back at me. “Is there something you want to tell me or…?” “Uh I think I hear Donnie calling me, I gotta go.” With that, I ran off. All I could do was hope they didn’t read too much into it.

Donatello

I thought it would just be another long night in the lab. I had been spending the night working on a few adjustments to my computers. Some of them were glitching and one had stopped working completely so I was trying to fix them up asap. I figured I’d be alone the whole night since everyone seemed to have already gone to bed but I was proven wrong when I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Agh! Oh Y/N, it’s just you. Wait, Y/N! What are you doing here this late?” “Well I was spending the night studying alone but I got bored, and knowing you I knew you’d still be up and awake in your lab.” “I suppose that makes sense.” I slid my chair to the side slightly and gestured for them to grab the free one I had sitting in the corner. They pulled the chair up next to me and sat down. “Oh, and apologies for not knocking. You didn’t answer before and when I peeked through you seemed so involved in your work that I didn’t want to disturb you too much.” “Not a problem. So, were you wanting to study or join me in my computer repairs.” “I figured I could just study while you do your thing, I was just desperate for some company.” “Understandable. I’ll just get back to this and feel free to ask me if you need any help with your studies.” “Of course. Thank you Donnie.” I grabbed a few of my tools and got back to work as Y/N began researching stuff on their laptop, looking through books and writing notes down. I looked over to them and noticed the way their face scrunched up at certain things, how they seemed so hyper focused on whatever they were typing. They were simply a sight to behold. My thoughts were cut short when Y/N sent me a curious smile. “What?” I figured I must have been staring and gave an awkward laugh, looking away to the computer I was currently fidgeting with. “Nothing.” Soon enough I heard the sound of books closing and felt a heavy weight slump onto my shoulder. “I know I should be heading home right now but I think it’ll be ok if I’m a little late to class tomorrow.” “Goodnight, sleeping beauty.” “Night, turtle boy.”

Michelangelo

I was bored, and I mean really bored. Nothing was happening! Leo and Raph were training together and Donnie was locked up in his lab again. April was busy with Casey, Master Splinter was meditating. I was so close to giving up on everything when a voice filled the air. “Oh guys! Guess what I brought?” I snapped my head around only to find my gorgeous Y/N standing happily with a stack of pizza boxes in their hands. I ran over to them but before I could grab a box they pulled the pizza away from me. “Uh excuse me! You’ll be waiting for your brothers before laying a hand on this pizza.” “Ugh! But everyone else is already busy. I’ll just take a few boxes and be on my way, pretty please?” They gave me a deadpanned look. “Mmm no.” “Well then…” I stepped back and readied myself. “I’ll just have to take it by force.” I lunged at Y/N picking them up and pulling the pizza out of their grasp. “Mikey, put me down!” “Mmm no” “Michelangelo Hamato I swear to god!” They proceeded to grab my face and get close enough to the point their nose touched my snout. “If you don’t put me down safely and hand over that pizza this instant I will beat you up with your own weapons, understood?” I wanted to make some sort of witty comeback but as I looked into their eyes I found myself at a loss for words. I knew they couldn’t really beat me and they knew it too but the determined look on their face was so adorable I wanted to just let them. After a little while I felt something hard flick my forehead. “Ow! What!?” “You zoned out dummy.” “Hey I’m not a dummy! You’re the dummy.” “You sure?” “Uh huh.” “Turn around.” I twisted my head to the side and noticed that all the pizza was gone! I looked back to Y/N only to be met with a fist to the face. But to see their cute face up close it was totally worth it.

I hope this was okay. Again, sorry for not posting in a while. Please have an amazing day/night wherever you are!✨

[whump-imagines]

Pizza Party

Kelly x reader

WC: 1200 or so

A day late for @hurtcember day 14 Near Death

--

Movement on the apron caught Joe’s attention. He looked over to spot two legs and a mountain of pizza boxes.

“Someone order lunch?” said a feminine voice from behind the tower of cardboard.

Kelly looked up just in time for her to poke her head out to the side of her stack. “Hey, you! I didn't know you were coming by today.” He stood and took half the stack to hand off to Joe before taking the rest himself.

After leaning in for a quick kiss, she explained. “I was bored. Figured I'd bring some lunch.”

Capp chimed in from his spot at the squad table. “How many people are you planning to feed?”

Y/N laughed. “Too much pizza is always best. Who doesn't love leftovers?”

They headed inside and toward the kitchen. “Lunch!” she announced loudly. “I've got deep dish, thin crust, meat lovers, veggie lovers, pineapple, and one extra cheese.”

There were cheers and chair legs scraping across the floor as everyone quickly lined up to get the pizza.

Mouch scoffed. “Who eats plain cheese?”

Kelly laughed as he wrapped his now free arm around Y/N. “She does. The pineapple one is also for her.”

“I'm with her on that one.” Mills chimed in, “Pineapple on pizza is good.”

“Yes! Thank you!” She lifted her hand for him to high five. “But don't eat it all. It's my dinner for later, too.”

As everyone started to settle at the table with their food, Sylvie entered. “Hey! Severide didn't tell us you were coming today.” She pulled Y/N into a firm hug.

“He didn't know. I decided to surprise everyone,” she explained, squeezing Sylvie tight.

They both made a plate and sat down at the table with everyone. She picked the spot next to Kelly and he leaned over and kissed her.

“Thanks for coming. Love you.”

“I love you, too.” Y/N smiled at him.

An hour later, as Y/N began to combine pizzas into fewer boxes, she wobbled as she was overcome with light headedness. She grasped the counter to steady herself.

Nearly instantly, Kelly was at her side. “You alright?”

She nodded. “I think so. Just got a little woozy.”

Kelly wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “How about we go sit down for a minute.”

She took a step toward the couch then collapsed. Kelly caught her in time to prevent her from hitting the ground. “Whoa, hey, Y/N!”

Mills was beside him a moment later. “Lay her down.”

Once Kelly had laid her gently on the floor, Peter leaned down to check her breathing then pressed his fingers to her neck to check her pulse. “No pulse. Brett!”

Sylvie was already running toward the ambulance for the jump bag and monitor.

“No, no, no. You stay with me, Y/N.” Kelly pleaded, taking her hand in his. “You hear me?” He watched in horror as Peter started chest compressions.

Sylvie was back quickly and kneeling beside Kelly. “I need you to back up so we can work.”

Matt bent down and grabbed Kelly’s shoulder to pull him away. “They've got her.”

“What the hell even just happened?” Kelly wiped tears off his face. “She was just fine and then–” He couldn't even finish his sentence.

Sylvie had hooked her up to the monitor and defibrillator pads while Peter continued compressions. “Stop compressions.”

“Still no pulse,” Peter announced.

“She's in v-fib,” said Sylvie. She pressed a button to charge the defibrillator. “Clear.”

When she pressed the button to discharge the shock, Y/N arched off the ground and Kelly squatted like he could manage to stay standing any longer.

Peter watched the monitor. “Still in v-fib.” He resumed compressions. “Let's try again.”

Sylvie nodded. “Charging to 360. Clear.”

Peter raised his hands as Sylvie discharged another shock.

The monitor beeped. Slowly at first then quicker and the entire room breathed a sigh of relief.

“Sinus rhythm,” Sylvie pointed out.

Peter nodded. “Pulse is strong. Let's get her to Med.”

As they lifted her to the stretcher, she groaned. Kelly ran a hand softly over her head. “Can you open your eyes, sweetheart?”

She whimpered. “Ow.”

“What hurts?” Sylvie asked.

She slowly opened her eyes. Looking around she frowned, “What happened?”

Kelly brushed hair back from her face. “You collapsed. Mills and Brett are going to take you to the hospital.”

“Why does my chest hurt?”

They all headed towards the ambulance as Kelly explained. “Uh, your heart stopped. They had to do CPR.”

“What?” She gaped at him.

“It's going to be okay,” Kelly tried to soothe. “The doctors will figure out what happened. Just try to relax.”

They quickly loaded her into the ambulance and Peter headed to the front to drive. Kelly held her hand tightly, like he was afraid to let go.

Sylvie was sitting beside Kelly. She started an IV and wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her arm. Finally, she placed a nasal cannula in her nose for oxygen.

Y/N took a deep breath trying to calm herself and winced.

“What's the matter?” Kelly asked.

“It hurts to breathe.” She whimpered. “Kel, I'm scared.”

“I know. You'll be okay,” he said. “Connor will figure out what happened.”

Sylvie twisted a syringe into the IV port. “I'm giving you some fentanyl for the pain. That should help, okay?”

Almost instantly she felt some relief from the chest pain.

A moment later, they pulled up to the emergency entrance and the back doors were pulled open.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Connor greeted as he helped unload you. “What happened?” The question was directed at Sylvie.

“Sudden cardiac arrest. Nothing happened, she just collapsed,” Sylvie explained, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice. She gave a run down of vitals and advised that she'd given fentanyl before Y/N was shifted to the hospital bed.

“Okay. Let's get a CBC, BMP, cardiac enzymes, 12-lead EKG, and a chest x-ray,” Connor ordered.

The next few hours went by in a whirlwind of pokes and tests and nurses with vitals checks. Kelly was sitting beside her bed holding her hand while she fought the pull of sleep.

“I'm so tired.”

He ran a hand over her head and kissed her forehead. “Get some rest. I'll wake you if Connor comes back with anything.”

“I–I'm scared to fall asleep.”

He squeezed her hand. “You can sleep. I promise you're safe. I won't let anything happen to you.”

Before she could succumb to sleep, Connor came into the room. “Well, I have the answer. You have something called long QT syndrome,” he started to explain. “We need to run a few more tests tomorrow so we can figure out what the best course of treatment is. So for now, we’ll get you moved up to a room and you just get some rest.”

“What kind of treatments?” she asked.

“Medication or an implanted defibrillator or some combination.”

When he left you started googling on your phone. Kelly stole your phone from your hand. “That's never a good idea. Just get some sleep, okay?”

She sighed. “Fine. I'll try.” Trying to get comfortable, she closed her eyes trying to get some sleep before another round of testing.

The last thing she heard was Kelly whispering, “Thank you for not leaving me.”

[armeenix]

Late Night Reliefs !Roomate!Bakugo! ♤ !Fem!reader

You and Bakugo both happen to be awake late one night. He couldn't sleep, and you were trying to finish some documents that you were assigned last minute and needed to be turned in the next day. With both of your lack of sleep and stress you decide to find some stress relief in each other. They were roommates.

Erm....i didn't grammer check this shit at all but i still hope you enjoy

♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-♡-

It was around 2:00 a.m. on a Friday night. You couldn't sleep so you decided to try and get some personal work done but y2ou ended up getting hungry. You were sitting on the counter, eating some cold pizza when suddenly you heard footsteps walking down the hall coming closer and closer to the kitchen.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bakugo's rough voice filled the room as he spoke. You quickly glanced over at him before doing a double take. You couldn't help but let your eyes wander up and down his body. "What uhm...what are you doing up so late?" He shrugged as he grabbed a cup from one of the over-head cabinets before setting it down next to him. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought maybe some tea would help. What about you? Why are you up this late?" I let out an exhausted sigh before setting my mug down on the island. "I keep asking myself that, but I still haven't found a sufficient answer."

When he raised a questioning eyebrow, asking you to continue you let out a soft breath of relief at finally being able to vent. "Recently, my job has been overworking a lot of people in our department. Some more than others. I am unfortunately in the some more than others category. Every day this month I've been receiving more and more new documents to fill out. It's like for every one pack I finish, I have two more that I have to start." He let out a snort of amusement, causing you to roll your eyes. "What?"

"Nothin, it's just cute how you're complaining about paperwork. At least you can do your work from your room unlike me. Some of us actually risks our lives out there just so you have a life to complain about. But oh no~ the horror...I'm a pretty little thing who has it so bad at my comfy little corporate job...!" There he went again. Starting another petty little argument over who had it worse. Most night his antics would have irritated you, but the way he grinned as he looked into your eyes only fueled your irritation. (Need for him) You rolled your eyes before meeting his gaze in a challenging manner.

"Wow...you're really gonna mock me? That's how you're gonna play Bakugo?"

"Hell, yeah that's how I'm playin princess. He stepped closer to you, as you took a step back. "What are you gonna do about it?" Bakugo continued to take step after the other as you did the same but eventually your hips gently hit the counter. Leaving you with nowhere to go and leaving him all the room he needed to mess with you. His hands gripped the counter on both sides of your hips caging you in. You knew that you really didn't have anywhere that you could go now, but it's not like you wanted to escape anyway. "Doesn't seem like you're planning on doing anything are you Y/N?"

"This isn't fair...You know that I can't do anything while I'm cornered here. I don't have a standing chance."

"Oh, come on princess, I'll go easy on you if that's what you really want. I'll even give you a head start."

You stared into his eyes curiously. Watching as he moved one of his arms out of the way, giving you a free chance to get out of the situation. The chance was right there for you to take, and yet that feeling of not wanting to take it kept you in your spot. He kept his arm down for another minute before caging you back against the counter. "You know what I think Y/N?"

"What...?"

"I think that you don't want me to go easy on you. In fact, if I just went off the way you've looked at me tonight, I would think that you would want me to be hard, and rough with you...Is that right or have I completely misunderstood our interactions?"

"You've misunderstood. Completely. In fact, you're so wrong that it's embarrassing how wrong you actually are."

"Oh Yeah~?" He practically moaned into your ear. It drove you crazy just how close he was to you. You could feel his shaky breaths against your neck, causing a shiver to run down your spine. He let out another breathy chuckle as he felt you shiver against him. "Yes."

"I think you're lying to me."

"And why do you think that?"

 "The way you always look up at me with those sexy puppy eyes of yours. The way your breathing becomes uneven whenever I get within five feet of you...And the way you try so hard to subtly look at me, especially when I wear shirts like these. You think you're so great at hiding how you truly feel but let me tell you something princess...You. Aren't."

He had gotten you down to the tea. It pissed you off, but also kind of made you feel embarrassed at how easy you were to read. "Fuck. You." He laughed once more causing you to whimper in frustration and the way his lips right by your ear made your heart skip a beat. "Yeah, I bet you wanna fuck me huh~" He lightly kissed your neck before slowly backing up with the widest shit eating grin spread across his features. You watched him, utterly speechless from what just happened. "Too bad you won't get to do that till you actually admit what we both know you feel for me." He grabbed his mug of tea as he turned around and made his way down the hall and into his room.

"Screw off asshole!"

"Goodnight Y/N~"

You were gonna think about that for the rest of your godforsaken life.

[spoonfulofmilo]

okay i lost the request for this haha - and this is why you copy and paste requests

request: Hi, could you write something reader x james vowles where he noticed that your forgetting to eat when stressed/busy and him making sure you always have something to eat/homemade meals/snacks, gluten free because reader is allergic. Reader noticing after a few times and just being thankful for her husband. Thanks :)

This is super random btw, but i find there’s a lot of requests for this kind of fics in my inbox, and I love them. I love doing the research and finding actual recipes. If you ever see me use a recipe, and you want the recipe, let me know in my inbox and I will be happy to let you know :)

if you want to participate in my 400 followers event, look here :)

my masterlist can be accessed here

Please keep requesting - y'all have awesome ideas we agree on a lot of stuff :) - my guidelines are here, and if you want some prompts, they are here.

also feel free to come in and start chatting to me in my asks, would love to get to know y'all better

and if you want to be added to my taglist lmk :)

james vowles x wife!reader

James would consider it one of his specialities, his ability to notice things about people. It had often become useful, knowing Logan was feeling down when all the rumours were circulating about his future, knowing Alex was worried about the car, knowing his junior drivers were concerned about his treatment of Logan. And he knew how to deal with it all.

This. This was different though. He had only been home for a couple of days in his 2 week break, and during that time he had noticed how stressed his wife was. She wasn’t in bed when he fell asleep, and was gone by the time he woke up. She barely came down for meals, and James was left to his own devices and often ended up doing more work than he was planning on doing in his break. 

And James had married Y/N 3 years ago, and had met her 6 years ago. He knew a lot about her. And when she was stressed, she wasn’t eating enough.

So while he was on a break from work, he decided that they both needed some food. Because they were both suffering the ill effects of neither of them really taking care of themselves, so James was being proactive.

The pantry was a mess, but it didn’t matter. James could make do. A glance at the sparse ingredients on hand had him muttering to himself as he pulled out a bag of gluten-free flour and the coconut oil that would have to do for butter.

It wasn’t the first time he’d found himself baking in the middle of the afternoon.

“Alright,” he said, already in motion. “Coconut oil, unsweetened milk, applesauce. Then vanilla, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt. And don’t forget the apples.” The rhythm of the recipe felt comforting in the chaos of the day.

James moved quickly, whisking the dry ingredients first, the cinnamon scent filling the kitchen as he added in the wet ingredients. Then the apples, chopped small. The batter came together effortlessly, like this was how the afternoon was supposed to go. He popped the muffins into the oven, setting the timer, and the sweet, warm smell started to fill the house.

He pulled the muffins out once the timer went off, and while they cooled, he took a minute to melt some extra coconut oil with cinnamon and sugar. When the muffins were just warm enough to handle, he dipped them in the sugary mix, the crunch a perfect contrast to the soft, comforting bite. He smiled at the simple gesture.

The muffins would do the trick.

---

The next day, James found Y/N hunched over her laptop again, her eyes flicking between the screen and her phone, fingers scrolling faster than anyone could keep up with. She barely noticed when he walked into the kitchen, but James didn’t need to be told she’d skipped breakfast. He knew.

This time, he needed something fast and simple. He scrolled through the pantry and grabbed the gluten-free pizza mix with a muttered curse. Couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this unprepared for anything.

“Pizza bites,” he said, and though he didn’t expect it, he could already picture the way Y/N’s face would light up when she saw them.

As he mixed, the smells of garlic, oregano, and basil filled the air. The oven preheated with a hum of promise. James moved quickly, assembling the bites—mozzarella, pizza sauce, and the quick mix of ingredients that would take barely 15 minutes in the oven.

The timer went off, and he smiled, knowing exactly what would happen when he brought them out.

---

By mid-afternoon, Y/N was still hard at work, eyes glued to the screen. James wasn’t fooled. She hadn’t eaten, not properly.

He’d caught on a long time ago to the way she got lost in things, sometimes at the expense of herself. He didn’t mind, not really. But he knew how to take care of her.

The food processor whirred to life with the familiar scent of almonds, dates, and cacao powder. James added a pinch of salt and a few drops of vanilla, the rhythm of the process almost meditative. When the mixture was done, he dropped in some chocolate chips, rolled them into little balls, and set them on a plate.

The sweet bites wouldn’t make up for everything she’d missed today, but it would be enough to remind her that she deserved something good.

---

The event was busy. Too busy. James could see the telltale signs of stress on Y/N’s face as she reached for a snack, hesitant. She picked up a BBQ chicken bite, but hesitated before asking, “What’s in these?”

James caught the look, the flicker of doubt. “They’re not gluten-free, are they?”

The server explained them—chicken, bacon, steak seasoning, barbecue sauce—but it was clear Y/N was second-guessing.

James leaned in, his voice low but firm. “You should skip them, darling. I don’t trust them.” He didn’t care if it made him seem overly cautious. He wasn’t risking it.

“But don’t worry,” he added, giving her a quick grin, “I’ve got something else for you.”

He pulled out a container of crispy potatoes he’d made himself, all gluten-free, perfectly seasoned. Y/N raised an eyebrow. “You made these?”

“I did,” he said, giving her a wink. “And they’re safe to eat.”

She took a bite, her eyes widening in surprise. “These are amazing, James.”

He leaned back, satisfied. “You deserve the best.”

Y/N looked at him for a long moment, the exhaustion still there but softened by the simple act. “Thank you, James. I... didn’t know you were paying that much attention to me.”

He shrugged it off, pulling her in for a brief hug. “I always pay attention to you.”

taglist: @leosxrealm, @tallrock35, @wolf-knights, @janeholt3, @camelliaflow3r

[kwanisms]

Kinkuary 21 Mingi — window/balcony sex // exhibitionism

➥ big d!ck!Mingi × smaller!Reader (not tiny, just smaller than Mingi) summary: Mingi & Y/N have always shared an exhibitionism kink so when they move into their new apartment, they decide to take the balcony for a spin. wc: 3.1k warnings: afab reader, adult dialogue, established relationship, mention of alcohol consumption but not by the reader or Mingi, sexual content (minors dni!): oral (f receiving, m receiving), fingering, monster cock Mingi (cause why not), unprotected sex (be responsible), balcony sex (Mingi bends the reader over the railing), exhibitionism (they both get off on the idea that one of their neighbors could be watching), use of pet names (baby, babe, etc), dirty talk, and I think that's everything. Let me know if I missed something! Permanent taglist: @yoonguurt @candidupped @dejavernon Kinkuary full taglist: @baldi-2 @wonderfulshinee @lacie220900 @sup-dallyboy @drunk-on-dk @violagoth @mixling-blog @kosmoreads @yourfavoritefreakyhan Ateez taglist: @2hodefender @babyhailey819 @foxylilbitch @rdiamond2727 @indigo35 @sanjoongie @moonlightsora @hwarmony @kangfication @beomgyusbabygirl Strikethrough means I cannot tag you. MINORS WLL BE BLACKLISTED & BLOCKED. join the taglist!

a/n: Mingi is a big strong man and uses that to his advantage to pin the reader against whatever surfaces he can during sex or in this case, over the railing. Thank you for reading and as always, this is a work of fiction and all characters are not reflective of their respective irl counterparts. for entertainment purposes only. banner made by me. I do not allow reposts or translations of my works. All my works are ©️ kwanisms.

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"And that's the last one!" Yunho said loudly as he walked into the apartment carrying the final box. You turned to look at him, checking the label of the box and crossing it off your list.

"Perfect!" You beamed. "We got all the boxes!"

You set your phone on the kitchen island and looked over at your boyfriend who was currently busying himself with his phone.

"Where do you want this, boss?" Yunho asked, drawing your attention away from Mingi, the box still in his hands. "Put it in the den," you answered, turning away as Yunho nodded and moved to enter the den to deposit the box.

"Y/N," San called from the floor, making you peer over the kitchen island at him. He was holding a screwdriver in each hand. "Does this mean we get pizza now?" he asked excitedly.

A smile spread across your face as you nodded. "Yes, I'll order it now," you answered, grabbing the pad of paper and a pen from your purse which sat next to your phone on the counter.

"What does everyone want?"

"Pepperoni!" "Extra cheese!" "I want veggies and meat!" "Ooh, can we get some cheese sticks?" "What about the beer?" "Don't forget the extra cheese!" "Just meat please. I don't want veggies."

As 8 voices fought to tell you what they wanted, you worked to compromise and finally worked out an order of four large pizzas, two orders of cheese sticks, four 2-liters of soda, lots of plates, napkins, cups, and other utensils and finally, a small gluten free pizza for yourself. 

The guys then played rock-paper-scissors to determine who would go get the beer and unfortunately Mingi and Yunho lost. Yunho grabbed his car keys as Mingi came over to press a quick kiss to your forehead, muttering he'd be right back.

After calling and placing the order, you started to help unpack the boxes Seonghwa had brought to the kitchen. He opened and unwrapped while you put things away, having already agreed with Mingi where things would go and even making small labels to go inside the cabinets and drawers.

When Mingi first announced to the group he was moving out of the dorms and into an apartment with you, they immediately jumped at the chance to help him move not only his stuff, but yours as well. You'd made sure to pack everything up nicely, labeling all the boxes and making a list so nothing was forgotten.

They moved better than any moving company and even better, they only asked to be paid in food and beer which you were only happy to do. It was every day you had 8 strong guys to help you move. You were eternally grateful for Jongho, San, and Yeosang especially.

You chatted with Seonghwa as you worked, emptying the boxes as you went and filling your cabinets and drawers with your flatware, cookware, and other kitchen gadgets.

San and Wooyoung groaned in exhaustion, having finally finished putting the coffee table together after three separate attempts to do so. "I'm never putting furniture together with you again," San whined as he pushed himself up, gathering the tools and putting them back in the toolbox.

"Me? What did I do?" Wooyoung squeaked, still lying on the floor on hid back. "You put the legs on upside down, twice!" San quipped back. You shook your head, amused by their bickering as you resumed working. Hongjoong exited the bedroom to let you know he and Yeosang had finished putting your new bed together.

"Jongho's finishing the dressers now," he added, leaning on the counter as he rested. You opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, handing it to him. Hongjoong thanked you, opening the bottle and taking a sip. "Give these to Yeo and Bear," you said, handing him two more bottles. San dashed over to the counter as Hongjoong headed back into the bedroom.

You grabbed two more bottles of water from the refrigerator and turned back to San, handing him both. He thanked you with a grin and turned to toss the bottle (more like throwing with full force) to Wooyoung, hitting him in the chest.

Wooyoung started to whine but the front door opened, Yunho and Mingi returning with not only beer but several bottles of soju as well.

Seonghwa broke down the now empty boxes as you moved to take a few bags from your boyfriend. "Do you plan on getting everyone drunk?" you asked jokingly. "Some of this is for the apartment," he admitted, kicking his shoes off and following you into the kitchen.

Yunho set the two cases of beer on the counter and was whining about his shoulders when the doorbell rang. Mingi moved to answer it to find the delivery guy had arrived. Yunho stopped complaining immediately and rushed to his best friend's side to take the pizzas.

"Oh, I'm here," you called out, rushing to the door to pay but Mingi beat you to it, taking the soda from the delivery guy and handing over his card. You pouted up at your boyfriend who merely smiled and handed you the 2-liters.

Mingi signed the slip and thanked the delivery guy as he put his card back in his wallet and shut the door. You opened the bag with all the plates and napkins, pulling everything out and setting it up nicely while Yunho placed the boxes of pizza side by side.

"Alright, you heathens," Mingi yelled, calling mostly to the bedroom where Hongjoong, Yeosang, and Jongho were.

"Pizza's here!"

After sitting and standing around the kitchen island, eating pizza and cheese sticks, downing most of the soda and beer while absolutely obliterating the pizza, Mingi finally kicked the guys out.

It was almost midnight and you still needed to sleep before work in the morning. Of course, working from home had its perks but you still had to get up at a reasonable time.

Mingi shut the door behind San and Wooyoung as they exited after waving everyone off. With a heavy sigh, he turned to look at you, standing in the kitchen and cleaning up the mess left behind, mess being the stacked used paper plates, napkins, and cups.

You tossed everything away and started to consolidate any leftover pizza into one box as Mingi moved to stand behind you, his arms wrapping around your shoulders as he rested his chin on your shoulder. "Alone at last," he whispered.

You should have known he had an ulterior motive for kicking the guys out as he waited patiently for you to finish what you were doing, although his hands roamed, first from your shoulders, down to your hips, pulling you roughly against him as his lips left kisses along your neck.

You managed to put away the leftover pizza, soda, and beer despite your 180 centimeter tall boyfriend clinging to you like a baby koala clinging to its mother. "Are you done?" he asked, lips brushing against the shell of your ear. You hummed in response, nodding.

Mingi used his body to push yours against the counter, grinding his now obvious hard cock into your ass. "Good, cause I can't wait anymore," he growled.

You let out a groan, your body responding to him as he continued to grind against you, hands grabbing every bit of your body he could reach. One hand snuck under the hem of your shirt, moving up to grab your tit over your bralette while the other wrapped around your throat as his lips attacked your neck once more.

"This place is ours," you heard him mutter, lips ghosting over your skin. "No one else lives here. We can do whatever we want," he continued, nipping at your skin as he spoke. You felt him press his erection against your ass again, making you moan loudly.

"We can fuck whenever we want," he grunted, rutting against you again. "Wherever we want." You whined as his hips continued to move, rocking against your ass. "Mingi," you gasped, your hands moving to grab onto his forearm as he held your throat firmly.

"Yes, baby?" he whispered, rolling his hips slowly, making you feel all of him. "What is it?"

"Please," you whimpered, hands tightening around his forearm, feeling the hand under your shirt slide down, sneaking past your pants and panties, moving dangerously close to your center.

"Please what?" Mingi asked, his hand pressing against your groin. "Use your words baby, tell me what you want." You felt his lip brush against your ear. "Tell me what you want me to do."

"I want you to fuck me, Mingi."

Your boyfriend let out an animalistic growl, pulling away just enough to spin you around and take your lips in a fierce kiss, forcing his tongue into your mouth. The kiss was messy, wet, and loud but you couldn't be bothered to care when Mingi was kissing you like he'd never get to do so again.

You let out a cry of shock as his hands grabbed under your thighs and lifted you, depositing you onto the kitchen island. He was quick to undo and remove your pants, taking your panties along with your jeans where he left them on the kitchen floor with your shirt that came off next. You ripped off your bralette and suddenly were completely bare before your boyfriend.

He leaned in, kissing you passionately as one hand moved back to your tit, squeezing and kneading it slowly. Mingis lips left yours, trailing down your neck to your chest where he peppered kisses between your breasts. You giggled but it was short lived as his tongue dragged over your pert nipple, taking it into his mouth.

Your fingers tangled in his hair as you used your free hand to brace yourself on the cold granite countertop. You'd have to remember to thoroughly disinfect the counter tomorrow.

You felt Mingi's teeth gently graze the sensitive skin of your areola, making you whimper, hips rolling to find some sort of friction but you were met with only air.

Mingi pulled away and gently blew on your nipple, making you whine and the skin around it to pebble before giving the same treatment to the other one, teasing it with his tongue and blowing cool air over the wet bud.

Your chest heaved with your labored breathing as Mingi's lips left a trail of wet kisses down your chest, past your stomach as he slowly pushed you onto the counter, the cool granite meeting your hot skin.

Mingi scooted your body back and leaned over, kissing down your stomach again until his lips met your sex, giving the slick skin a single lick and groaning in response. "Fuck you taste so good," he grunted, pushing your legs further apart and diving in.

His tongue licked up your slit, finding your clit and swirling around the nub. Your back arched off the counter as your boyfriend ate you out like he didn't just stuff his stomach with pizza and beer an hour ago. The lewd sounds of his tongue against your wet pussy sent heat to your cheeks.

Moans and whimpers of his name left your lips as he kissed, licked, and suckled your clit, stimulating it as you felt two fingers toy with your entrance. "Mingi," you gasped as he dipped his fingers into your wet cunt, gliding past both knuckles.

"You sound so pretty when you say my name like that," he murmured, lips and chin covered in your essence but he couldn't be bothered to care as he set a steady pace, pumping his fingers in time with the flicks against your clit with his tongue.

You felt him curl his fingers inside you, pressing against your g-spot with ease thanks to his large hands and long fingers. The combined effort sent your body reeling towards your climax, cumming with a whine as your thighs closed around your boyfriend's head.

His tongue and fingers didn't stop, coaxing you through your high and dragging another one quickly out of you, leaving you a panting and twitching mess. You moaned out, feeling him scissor his fingers inside you. "Mingi," you whispered hoarsely.

"Yes baby?" he answered, continuing to stretch your entrance so you'd be ready to take his entire length. "Balcony," you replied, licking your lips. "Fuck me on the balcony."

Mingi moaned at your suggestion, leaning over to kiss you as his fingers continued their movements inside you. "You want the neighbors to see us? Want them to know that I'm the one fucking this tight little pussy?" he growled.

You nodded, whimpering pathetically as your boyfriend's fingers pistoned in and out of you, fucking your cunt but not as well as his cock always did. "Please. Let them see."

You cried out as he pulled his fingers from your core quickly and stripped himself of his shirt, pulling you off the counter and leading you over to the sliding glass door, opening it with ease and pushing you out onto the balcony.

The view from your apartment was incredible, the city lights sparkling like stars, headlights from the street below looking like tiny pin pricks of light. You turned to your boyfriend, pulling him into a desperate kiss as you both fumbled with his jeans.

Finally getting the button and zipper undone, you pushed the material down along with his underwear as you lowered yourself to your knees, wrapping your fingers around the base of his cock.

"Fuck, babe, you don't have to- ngh!" Mingi moaned as you took the head of his cock into your mouth, tongue swirling around the tip and sucking before taking more of him past your lips.

"Shit," he cursed, one hand grabbing the railing, the other gripping your hair as your head bobbed, taking as much of his cock as you could. "Just like that, baby. Fuck you're so good," Mingi rasped, his grip on your hair tightening as he started to guide your movements.

"Fuck, yeah. Just like that baby. Keep doing that."

You hummed, the sound vibrating around his cock and he bucked his hips, the tip of his cock hitting the back of your throat with a lewd wet noise. You didn't let that stop you, keeping a firm hold on the base of his cock with one hand, you reached up with the other to cup his balls, something you knew he loved.

"Shit, Y/N," he gasped. "You're gonna make me cum if you keep doing that." You moaned, bobbing your head as you sucked him off, ignoring the saliva that ran down your chin. You knew your face was probably a mess but you couldn't be bothered to care.

"Holy shit, come here," Mingi groaned, pulling your head back and then to your feet, he wiped your chin and pulled you in for a sloppy kiss before turning you to face the railing and bending you over it.

"God I'm gonna fucking ruin you," he growled, taking his cock coated in your spit and pushing the tip past your folds, sliding into your cunt easily. You let out a loud, long moan as he slid in, bottoming out with his hips pressed flush against your ass.

"Gonna fucking wreck this pussy."

"Mingi," you whimpered, drawing out the last syllable of his name. "Please fuck me."

He didn't need to be told twice, taking your hips in his hands and pulling back almost fully before snapping his hips forward, burying his cock in your throbbing hole. You could feel the tip of his cock hit your cervix, no doubt a small bulge forming.

"Ohhhh fuuuuck!" You cried out as he set a fast, unrelenting pace, his hips slapping against your ass as he thrust into you.

Mingi marveled at the way your ass bounced against his hips, his cock reaching deep into your body as he pounded you against the railing. "Fuck. Feels so good!" he groaned, one hand grabbing your shoulder as his hips continued their assault.

"Ahh! Mingi! Feels s-so deep. Inside m-me!" you moaned. "You like it when I fuck you like this?" Mingi growled, slamming into you, his grip on your hip and shoulder tightening as your walls clenched around his cock. "Like it when I fuck you where everyone can see?"

You nodded, whimpering with each drag of his cock against your insides. "Fuck me. Harder," you moaned, ignoring the small bead of saliva rolling down your chin. It wasn't the first time he'd fucked you so hard you'd drooled and it wouldn't be the last.

"Make me scream, Mingi."

Mingi's hips stuttered for a moment but he was back on top of it a second later, pulling you back to meet his thrusts, enjoying the whiny moans you let out with each thrust. He loved hearing you unrestricted. He loved how loud you got and knowing it was all because of him made his heart swell with pride.

The neighbors hearing how good he gave it to you was a bonus.

"You're gonna wake everyone up, babe," Mingi hissed but made no effort to cover your mouth or muffle your moans. He wanted his neighbors to know he fucked his girl so good. He wanted everyone to know how only he could make you scream.

As if that was his goal, he grabbed your waist, increasing speed and strength as he railed you (no pun intended). Your whiny moans turned into loud cries as he drove his length into you. The loud sounds of his skin hitting yours and the wet sounds of his cock entering your cunt over and over were drowned out by your screams, walls squeezing him as you finally came.

Mingi plowed into you, thrusting once, twice, thrice more before he finally came explosively, his hot load painting your walls and spilling out of your pussy around his shaft, rolling down the inside of your thighs and dropping onto the balcony.

You always joked that Mingi had horse sized loads and this time, it really felt like it. "Shit," he cursed, glancing down to see his cum spilling onto the balcony and rolling down your skin. "I didn't think I'd cum this much," he murmured. "You okay, baby?" he asked, pressing a soft kiss to your shoulder.

You nodded in response. "'M okay," you answered weakly, thighs threatening to give out any second. "I'll clean this up tomorrow," Mingi said, wincing as he pulled out of you and watching more of his load falling to the floor. "God there's so much of it," he whispered. "I don't think I've ever cum this much before."

You stood up shakily, smiling as you felt Mingi support your body with his hands. "You know what they say," you replied, chuckling as your boyfriend shook his head. "No, what do they say?"

"Horse sized load for a horse sized cock."

[oldiesstationlover11607]

Am I supposed to be impressed? - Frank Iero + Gerard Way x Reader

Pairing: Platonic Frank Iero + partner Gerard Way x Reader

Warnings: Strong language - angst

Word Count: 805

“You’ve still got it Gee!” I smile, jumping around playing the guitar riff to Bulletproof Heart. Mikey comes up behind me playing his bass, nodding at me and grinning. Danger Days was my favorite album we released. Mikey and I were always super close back in the day, hanging out whenever we had free time on tour.

“Away from here!” Gerard sings, finishing the song and most importantly, our soundcheck. 

“That was epic. The fans are gonna go crazy when they hear us,” Frank puts down his guitar and walks around the stage. We all know that both the fans and us are going to have fun, we’ve waited over 6 years for this to finally happen. Walking across the stage he connects his phone to our bluetooth speaker, putting on Revenge, the album that reminded me of him the most. In all honesty, Frank and I were the closest when the band was still together. We went on little adventures wherever we toured and worked together the most when writing. 

“Frank! Hey, uh. Can we talk?” I ask looking back to see Gerard helping Mikey with his amps. 

“Okay,” he turns to look at me, still sitting on the edge of the stage. 

“I just–I’m glad we’re back together. I missed hanging out with you.” I join him on the floor turning to face him. He looks pissed off at me. Like I did something unforgivable. “I went to some of your shows with Gee. We think your music is really great.” It was. His music was amazing. Frank’s own thing that really showed how he felt. 

“Am I supposed to be impressed?” He snaps at me like I said something wrong. Honestly the last thing that I wanted to happen was for me to lose Frank. He was my best friend, I didn’t want to lose my best friend. 

“Don’t talk to her like that man,” Gerard comes up behind me and rubs my shoulders. 

“Maybe just give us some space Gee.” I rub his leg and he leans down for a kiss which I return. 

“I love you,” he whispers into my ear before disappearing to the greenroom. 

“What the fuck is your problem Frank?!” I shout after making sure no one can see us. 

“You’re my fucking problem. I fucking liked you. I loved you. And out of all the people out there, you just had to…” he shouts back at me, “You just had to fall in love with him. Out of all. The fucking. People.”

“You’re a dick Frank. You know I liked you and you did nothing about it. It is not my fault that Gee decided he wanted to get to fucking know me better. I’m sorry if that hurt your feelings,” I move to leave but he grabs onto my arm. 

“Don’t leave!” he bursts, “I missed my chance I clearly fucking understand that. I’m sorry that I’m so pissy about it but fuck, I miss being your friend.” I miss being his friend too. I miss spending time with him. I miss laughing at him everytime he broke a bone or made out with Gerard on stage. 

“Can we just go back to normal? Please? You’re my best friend Frank and I love that but I also love Gerard and we’ve done really well over these last few years.”

“We can go back to normal. But I’m not putting up with you kissing him. I swear if I see anything.” He raises a hand at me in warning. 

“You won’t,” I laugh. 

“Ray ordered pizza if you guys want to come back and have some,” Mikey pops out from backstage. Frank immediately stands up excited yelling, “Pizza!”

//

Requests open!

[allfryam]

sub shop

Zach was a junior in college and he was having the time of his life. He was the president of a frat, he had an almost perfect physique, and he was doing great in school. His physique was his defining feature all through high school, but he had gained a couple pounds in college and his abs started to fade. You could still see them when he flexed, but there was just a bit of pudge to his once toned stomach. He assumed this was from all the beer he was drinking at his frat parties, but he didn’t mind the extra weight.

Zach’s only problem was money. He had lost his last job and had been unemployed for a few months. He saw an ad for a local sub shop that was hiring downtown and he decided to apply. They hired him and he was ecstatic. The uniform was a little awkward though. It was a light blue button up polo, with navy blue khakis. Zach thought he looked stupid wearing the outfit, but he wasn’t going to pass up this job opportunity. His first day was a breeze. He learned how to man the register, make bread, sort chips, and most importantly, make subs. All employees got free subs while they worked, and Zach took advantage of this. He had never tried one of their subs so he just got a regular size Italian sub. The second he bit into it, it tasted like heaven. Zach quickly finished the sub and got back to work, but it was all he was thinking about for the rest of the night.

Zach began to get into a routine. He would clock in, work for a bit, make a mouth watering sub, scarf it down, get back to work, and clock out at the end of the night. Most of the time he would stick to a six inch sub, but when he was really hungry, he would go for the foot long. It was like he was in a trance while he was eating. He didn’t even feel full until he was done.

Zach didn’t think this job could get any better until he looked in the mirror one day. His slight paunch has blossomed into a round gut. He looked like he had put on over 15 pounds! Was it really all of the subs he was eating? No way! He had only been there for about a month. Besides, Subs are way healthier than burgers or pizza. Although he was eating a fair share of those things at frat parties too.

Zach continued to eat the fattening subs without realizing he was continuing to grow. One night, Zach decided to try the super sub challenge. He had to eat three footlong subs in under an hour. Zach decided that it would be easy. He sat down after picking his three favorite subs and waited. When his subs were ready, he dug in immediately. He moaned with pleasure as the savory meats reached his tongue. The lettuce, tomato, onion, spices, mayo, and bacon, each with their distinct flavor and purpose. Zach was in heaven. Before he knew it, he was finished with the first sub and on to the second. He gulped it down just as fast, and the third wasn’t any harder. Zach decided this was too easy. “Bring me a fourth sub! I can keep going!” After struggling with the fourth, he finished it and tapped out. He leaned back in his chair and burped loudly. His tight pants and shirt were straining to hold back his gut.

200 POUNDS?! “DUDE WHAT THE HELL!!? I WAS LIKE 170 A COUPLE MONTHS AGO!” Zach stepped off the scale and looked in the mirror. He couldn’t believe it. That small gut he was rocking was no longer small it was round and soft, and it began to roll over his tight belt. Zach grabbed a handful of his pudge and frowned. He hated looking like this. But it didn’t stop him from going to a frat party later that night. There, he ate two entire pizzas, and two six packs of beer.

this story is actually based on a guy I used to work with. When he showed up, he would always flex his abs and brag, but after a while of working at the sub shop, he stopped bragging. It became apparent why, when his shirt started riding up and you would get glimpses of his growing belly. If I continue this story, it won’t be accurate to real life scenarios, but I wouldn’t be against making Zach even fatter. Let me know!

[karizard-ao3]

Eren and Mikasa in the kiss cam?

Hello, anon! Thank you for your patience! I wanted to write a drabble for this and it took me some time to decide on the scenario. Without further ado, I present...

Eren and Mikasa in the Kiss Cam

“So what’s going on between you and that hottie sitting next to you?” Hitch asked as she came out of the stall and joined Mikasa at the sink to wash her hands. She’d gotten free hockey tickets at work, so that’s what they were doing for girl’s night this week.

Mikasa blushed. “He just shared his nachos with me and we talked a little bit,” she said. “He bought me a beer.”

“Oh?” said Hitch, waggling her eyebrows.

Mikasa’s blush deepened. “He is pretty cute, isn’t he?”

“I’ll say!” said Hitch.

“I kind of want to give him my number,” said Mikasa, covering her face with her hands. “I don’t know! I’m too shy!”

“Do it!” said Hitch. “You should make a move. Kiss him.”

Mikasa gasped. She was the color of a ripe cherry now. “What if he isn’t into me, though? What if he’s just being nice?”

Hitch scoffed. “There is no way he’s just being nice when he’s checking you out every two seconds. I’ve been keeping my eye on you both. He wants it.”

Mikasa squeaked and shook her head. “I don’t know if I can make the first move.”

Hitch rolled her eyes, shaking the excess water off her hands and grabbing a paper towel. “You need to grow a pair, Mikasa. What’s your seat number?”

Mikasa pulled her ticket stub out of her pocket and showed her. 

“Okay, I’ll meet you back there. I have to go do something first,” said Hitch.

“What are you going to do?” Mikasa asked.

“Just stuff!” Hitch said, sounding annoyed as she pushed open the bathroom door. “I’ll meet you back at the seats.”

“Okay…” said Mikasa, following her out into the hallway, then parting ways to head back toward their section alone.

“Where’s Hitch?” Sasha whispered when Mikasa sidled her way past her towards her seat.

“She wouldn’t tell me,” said Mikasa.

“Probably getting up to something evil,” said Annie, popping  a french fry in her mouth.

“I’m going to text her and ask her to bring me a slice of pizza,” said Sasha, getting out her phone. 

“You just ate two hot dogs and a custard,” said Annie.

“I’m still hungry,” said Sasha.

Mikasa chuckled at them and continued past them to her seat, right between the absent Hitch and the brown-haired, green-eyed stranger who had introduced himself as Eren.

“Hey, you’re back,” he grinned, twisting towards her as she sat down. 

“Did I miss anything good?” she asked, returning his grin with a shy smile.

“There was almost a fight,” said Eren, leaning on the armrest dividing their chairs. “But only almost. So, no. You didn’t miss out on anything… unless you missed me?”

Mikasa’s face, which had just finally gone back to its normal color, turned pink again. Her mind raced for a flirty response. What would Hitch say in her shoes? Ah! “I was counting down the seconds until we could be together again, Eren,” she teased.

Now it was his turn to blush. “Uh… Cool,” he said, with a breathless laugh. “I was… uh… I’m glad you’re back, too.”

The guy with the buzzcut who was sitting next to him elbowed him in the arm. “Smooth,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Eren glared at him. “Fuck off, Connie!”

Connie rolled his eyes again and returned his attention to the game.

Eren turned back to Mikasa. “Um, so… Uh…” He tapped on his knees. “After the game, um…”

“Yes?” said Mikasa, biting her lip.

Eren stared at her for a moment, taking a series of progressively deeper breaths before he finally said, “The crowds can be pretty bad, so be careful on your way out to the parking lot.”

Mikasa’s shoulders slumped. “Okay,” she said.

Eren gritted his teeth, glancing at Connie, who was snickering under his breath. He scowled and slouched back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. “I mean, I’ll walk you out,” he said to Mikasa. “Make sure no one bumps into you.”

She brightened. “Okay,” she said.

“So… just stay close to me,” he said, straightening up a little bit. “I’ll keep you safe.”

“Okay,” said Mikasa, scoring a conversational hat trick. “Thank you.”

Eren chanced a glance at her. “It’s my pleasure,” he said, swallowing hard. “And then, maybe, if you want…”

“Oh my god, it’s a kiss cam!” Sasha squealed.

“Huh?” said Eren, his head swinging towards the jumbotron. Mikasa turned, too.

The screen was now framed in pink, with a heart cutout revealing the camera’s view. An older couple gave each other a peck on the lips and waved at everyone before the image cut to another couple, who laughed and shook their heads, making X’ing motions with their hands. When the camera didn’t pan away, the woman kissed her fingertips and patted it onto the man’s temple. The image cut to a little boy and his mom. He shouted, pointing up at himself with delight, then turned and hugged his mom, who squeezed him tight and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Mikasa giggled. “Oh my gosh, can you imagine being put on the spot like… Oh…” she trailed off, her stomach lurching. That was her face on the screen now. And, framed inside the heart with her, Eren. He was frozen beside her, his hands gripping his armrests. When she saw him unfreeze and turn to her on the screen, she turned to him in real life.

“Uh…” he said with an awkward laugh. “So… If you’re cool with it…” He turned his face and tapped on his cheek.

Mikasa glanced back up at the screen, biting her lip, then looked back at Eren. You need to grow a pair, Hitch’s disembodied voice commanded. Mikasa sucked in a breath as she took Eren’s chin and turned his face back towards hers. She tapped her lips. “If you’re cool with it…” she started to say, but his mouth was already on hers, his hand slipping around the back of her head and tangling in her hair. She grabbed his shoulders, kissing him back amid a stadium full of whoops and catcalls. They parted to take a breath, then dove back in.

“Uh, you can stop now. The kiss cam is over,” said Annie. “It’s been over for a while.”

“You horny freaks,” said Sasha, as Mikasa and Eren separated, panting and disoriented. 

Mikasa smoothed out her hair, glancing around, shame-faced. “Sorry,” she said, but everyone was watching the game again. She bit her lip and looked at Eren. He was staring at her, starry-eyed. 

“We usually go get food after the game if you want to come,” he said. “But, like, we can ditch everyone else and just go by ourselves.” He blushed. “If you want.”

“I do,” said Mikasa, as Hitch finally returned to her seat.

“Cool!” said Eren, grinning from ear-to-ear, then turning to his friends. “Hey, I’m going to go hang out with Mikasa after the game so you can all go fuck yourselves and eat without me.”

Hitch leaned towards Mikasa. “What’s that?” she said. “You made out with a guy in front of everyone and now you’re going on a date with him? Hmmm… It’s lucky you ended up on that kiss cam, I guess, or you never would have made a move.” She smirked.

Mikasa’s eyes widened. “Hitch!” she hissed.

“What?” Hitch asked, tossing her hair.

Mikasa studied her for a moment. “Nothing,” she said, turning back to the game and Eren. She was right.

The end.

[chr0macide]

Break In: The Novelette (Fanfic)

Part 2 is out

BOOM FIRST TUMBLR POST. I am currently normal about the Roblox Break In series so I decided to try and recreate it as a short story. This is my first time writing anything seriously for fun so I'm sure the pacing is all kinds of fucked up but I did enjoy making it lol. I tried to follow the game's storyline as closely as possible but I also took a few creative liberties and tried to give the characters more personality, not sure how well it worked though lol. This is just the first Break In but I might also do this to Break In 2 as well, probably won't happen in the immediate future though. This thing is about 9,500 words. If you have any feedback/notice errors please do comment :)

Chapter I – Silent House

An old coupe trundled down the road of a quaint suburban neighborhood. Four kids were crammed uncomfortably inside it. One of them reached into his bag of chips, elbowing his younger sister next to him as he did so.

“Ugh. Watch it, Hadrian,” she grumbled.

“You watch it,” Hadrian replied as he shoved the chips into his mouth. The girl reached over to steal one out of the bag. Hadrian slapped her hand away.

“You jerk!” she shrieked, swinging her teddy bear into Hadrian’s face. Hadrian grabbed a handful of his sister’s dark hair and pulled. The two older kids in the car groaned as their younger siblings began bickering and jostling everyone else around.

“Hadrian. Stephanie. Cut it out,” warned the older sister. The younger kids quieted down, but only slightly. “I’m serious! Prince, tell them to stop,” she said to the driver.

The car ground to a halt. “Monica, it’s fine. We’re here,” said the older brother. He removed the key from the ignition. The engine made a worrisome rattling sound as it shut off. He grabbed the handle of the car door next to him and jiggled it. The door was stuck. “Damn this old shitbox,” he muttered as he forced it open.

The four kids squeezed out and breathed in the fresh air. “Finally,” said Stephanie. Prince walked around the car and popped the trunk open, removing the family’s only suitcase.

They’d parked in front of a modest two-story house. It was old and the paint was starting to peel, but at least it looked cozy on the inside.

The front door of the neighboring house creaked open. Out stepped an older man with sunglasses. Uncle Pete. After Prince and Monica had managed to get custody of their siblings, they all knew they had to get away from their parents’ house.

Pete was wealthy. He owned more than a few properties. He’d agreed to let them stay here for free. They weren’t sure why he owned two houses right next to each other. Old people were weird sometimes, but they weren’t complaining.

Prince waved at Uncle Pete. “Evening, Pete!” he called out. Pete just smiled and waved back.

“He’s, uh, usually nonverbal,” Monica explained to her younger siblings. “Anyway. Let’s get inside,” she suggested.

Prince stuck his hand under the welcome mat and fished out a keychain. He tried to jam several different keys into the lock before the door opened. Everyone stepped inside.

“It’s musty,” Stephanie complained. Hadrian made a beeline for the couch in the living room as he shoved another handful of chips into his face. He collapsed onto it and proceeded to ignore everyone.

“It’s not that bad,” Monica claimed. Truthfully, there was a slight odor in the house, but that was probably just because no one had aired the place out for a while. “Come on, let’s open these,” she said to Stephanie as she unlatched one of the windows.

Prince inspected the kitchen. They hadn’t had a chance to go grocery shopping yet, so the cupboards were barren. He took out his phone. “Pizza, anyone?” he called out to the others. They yelled their approval from the other rooms.

“Fine!”

“Sure!”

Prince punched a string of digits into the number pad and put the phone to his ear. “Is this Builder Brothers Pizza? OK, we’ll have a large pineapple—”

“NO!” bellowed Hadrian from the living room.

Prince rolled his eyes. “Fine. A large pepperoni as well,” he added.

Monica called out to him from the other room. “Prince! Get over here!” she said. Prince finished up the call and followed her voice until he was standing before a door with a large padlock affixed to it. Monica and Stephanie turned to him.

“This door looks cool. Open it,” Stephanie demanded.

Prince squinted at the padlock. “I don’t know… Pete probably locked it for a reason.”

“What, are you scared?” the girl joked. “You can lock it again if there’s a monster inside.”

The eldest brother pursed his lips. He wasn’t worried about monsters, but he’d heard rumors of growing criminal activity around this neighborhood. Although…

Prince rifled through the pockets of his cargo shorts until he located the keychain. He found the right key and inserted it into the padlock. It clicked open and fell to the ground with a dull thunk. Prince gently opened the door.

There were concrete steps leading down into a basement. They couldn’t see anything through the darkness, but the cold, stagnant air rushed out over them.

“That’s ominous,” Monica remarked.

Stephanie grinned in excitement and took a step inside, but Prince put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “No, Steph. It’s too dark to see anything in there. You’ll get hurt,” Prince told her. Steph stuck out her lower lip and pouted, but she didn’t try to run inside again. Prince shut the door.

The doorbell rang. The pizza was here. At the same time, Hadrian yelled at everyone from the living room again. “Guys! There’s breaking news on the TV!”

“Coming,” Prince yelled back. “You guys go ahead. I’m gonna get the food,” he told the girls.

Prince opened the front door. It was almost dark outside, and starting to rain, too.

“Sup,” said the delivery guy. Prince took a small step backwards. The guy was pretty big. “Two large pizzas?”

“Yeah,” Prince confirmed. He took the pizza boxes and set them aside before he rummaged through his cargo shorts again for his wallet. He opened it. The family had been low on cash ever since they left their parents’ place. He handed a $20 note to the delivery guy, but he continued to look at Prince expectantly. “Uh… no tip this time. Sorry. That’s all I got right now,” Prince admitted, averting his eyes.

The delivery guy threw up his arms in disbelief. “Dude, are you for real?” he questioned.

“Sorry,” Prince apologized again.

The pizza guy shoved the bill into his pocket. He turned around and trudged over to his motorcycle. “This is my livelihood, man,” he muttered. Prince fidgeted with his wallet guiltily as the guy sped off.

Nonetheless, Prince picked up the pizza boxes and brought them into the living room. Right as he set them down on the coffee table, there was a clap of thunder. The lights in the house blinked out abruptly. The TV flickered off.

Monica glanced outside. The streetlights were also off. There was a power outage.

Everyone looked out the window and saw Uncle Pete’s silhouette leave his house through the back door. He ran a cable to a box outside. He ran another one from the box to their own house. The box hummed to life.

“Oh, it’s a generator,” Monica figured. The lights didn’t turn on, but the TV did. Pete noticed everyone staring at him through the window. He waved at them again before running back into his home.

They turned to the TV and started eating their pizza as the news reporter began speaking. The screen showed a gang of mobsters wearing fine suits and tuxedos, their faces obscured by comedy masks. They were dumping a barrel of some unknown liquid into a storm drain. The picture appeared to have been taken through somebody’s broken windowpane.

The Purge has Begun, Villains on the Loose, read the headline. “This is not a drill. Agents of the mafia are roaming the streets,” said the news anchor. The image on the screen shifted. A short video played of a second group of mobsters smashing someone’s car window with his crowbar. They dragged a man out. One of them raised a gun to the civilian’s head, but the video was cut off before anything else happened.

“Goddamn,” muttered Prince.

“Do not engage these fugitives under any circumstances. There have been 19 confirmed deaths and many more confirmed injuries so far. Keep doors locked and windows closed at all times,” the news anchor continued.

Another image appeared on the screen. “Their leader is Larry Clockturn,” said the news anchor.

Monica stifled a laugh at the mob boss’s appearance. A grey beard hid the lower half of his face. He was old, and he definitely dressed like it. Bowler hats were not in fashion. There was a domino mask over his eyes. He wore a violet waistcoat with a rose affixed to the lapel over his black undershirt. A peculiar golden crowbar was in his hand.

The image switched to a mugshot of Larry. Monica stopped laughing. “Wait, that’s not a person,” she said. Now that they were looking at him up close, she realized that his skin was unnaturally shiny. His golden eyes glowed faintly in the dark and his face seemed stiff and lifeless.

“Is he a robot, or something?” asked Stephanie.

“I don’t know… he looks more like an automaton,” Monica replied.

Stephanie looked at her funny. “Is there a difference?”

“Well, yeah,” said Monica. “At least, I think so. Robots use electricity, but automatons have engines or something-”

Hadrian shushed her as the news anchor continued talking. “If you see this entity, run away and hide. Larry Clockturn is considered by authorities to be an extremely dangerous serial murderer. Do not engage him under any circumstances. Special forces have been dispatched to regulate the situation. I repeat, this is not a drill.”

There was static as the program ended. A standby screen appeared on the TV. Nobody spoke at first.

“That shit is wild,” said Hadrian, deadpan. Stephanie peered through the window nervously. “I told you we should have gone to Bloxburg!” she hissed to Prince.

“And I told you, Steph, we don’t have that kind of money.”

“Guys. Be quiet.” Monica was the one staring out the window now, but the streetlights were still off. If there were any mobsters creeping around outside, she couldn’t tell. “Can’t see shit. Maybe they don’t know we’re here, either… let’s just go upstairs.”

Prince grabbed the suitcase he’d left by the front door. He partially unzipped it and felt around inside until he found the flashlight, then switched it on and held it in front of him as he lugged the bag up the stairs. The others followed him from behind until he came to the bedroom. He dropped the bag just inside.

“Phew.” Prince was too tired to unpack, and now probably wasn’t the best time, anyway. He cautiously made his way to the window at the back of the room. It might have been his imagination, but he could almost see moonlight glinting on mobsters’ white purge masks. He drew the curtains. “Let’s just hit the sack,” he said to the other kids.

They were in for a rude awakening.

Chapter II – Broke In

The kids awoke to the sound of shattering glass. Stephanie sat bolt upright and screamed. She fell out of her bed and rolled underneath it, still clutching her teddy.

A mobster had smashed the only window in the room with his crowbar and was now climbing inside. The other three kids jumped up and scrambled away from him. He planted his shiny black shoes on the floor, brushed some glass shards off his tuxedo, and brandished his crowbar at the kids, laughing.

“G’day, cunts,” he greeted them, tipping his fedora at them wryly. He started towards them.

It was only one guy. The kids whirled around, searching for something to defend themselves with. There was nothing except for Prince’s baseball bat… but it was still in the suitcase. Monica ran to the front of the room and shoved the bag flat onto the floor. She started to unzip it.

Meanwhile, the mobster raised his crowbar to bash Prince’s brains in, but Hadrian had skirted around until he was behind the guy. He kicked the back of his leg. The thug folded, eliciting a giggle from the boy, but it was promptly cut short as the mobster shot to his feet and grabbed him around the throat. “Little shit.” He lifted his crowbar again as he throttled Hadrian with one hand.

Monica had the suitcase open. She dug through it, throwing the clothes aside until she found Prince’s chrome baseball bat. She tossed it to him.

Prince caught the bat and turned to the mobster again. “Get away from Hadrian, you asshole!” he yelled as he swung as hard as he could.

There was a sharp ding as the bat connected head-on with the side of the mafioso’s skull. His head was jerked to the side by the impact. He released Hadrian and crumpled to the ground, barely conscious.

Monica rushed towards Hadrian and hugged him. “Are you OK?” she asked, fussing over her younger brother.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine,” Hadrian replied as he pushed her away, but his voice was wavering a little. He rubbed his neck. The mobster’s grip had left a red mark around it.

Stephanie finally crawled out from under her bed. “What do we do now?” she whispered, staring wide-eyed at the insensible mafioso.

Prince walked over to him cautiously. “We should… uh…”

He didn’t want to kill a guy in front of two young kids. Certainly not his own siblings. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to kill anyone at all. His eyes fell upon the broken window.

“We should… just push him back out through the window. Yeah. It’s not that far to the ground. He’ll be fine,” finished Prince hesitantly. He grabbed the mobster’s feet. Monica grabbed him under the arms. They hauled his nearly unconscious body to the window.

They draped the mobster over the windowsill. Prince gave him a little push. He slid out rather gently and grunted in pain as he hit the ground outside. Now he was really knocked out.

Prince and Monica took a peek over the sill. He was already surrounded by a few of his fellow mafiosos. They glanced up at the teenagers, faces unreadable through their masks. They started to drag their unconscious accomplice into the shadows, where Prince spied his own car. The hood was open. The engine was gone. Looked like they wouldn’t be leaving this place anytime soon.

“Shit. We need to do something before they come back,” whispered Prince, pulling away from the window.

Monica squinted as she looked around the bedroom. She opened the door to the walk-in closet. “There’re some wood planks in here. Maybe we can board up the window…?” she suggested.

“We can board up all the windows,” Prince told her… “except for this one,” he added, nodding at the broken pane. “We’ll use that to see outside.” He retrieved some tools from the suitcase. Monica had told him to leave them behind when they’d moved out of their parents’ house—they were heavy—but now she was glad that he’d packed them anyway.

Prince dragged the planks out of the closet and left them in a pile. He picked up a hammer and went to nail one of the boards over a window at the end of the hall. He swore as he hit his thumb. “Fuck.” The sun was peeking over the horizon, but it was still barely light enough to see.

Monica and Hadrian started boarding up the other windows. They spent all day securing the place, and it was dark again before they knew it. They were all making a lot of noise, but there was nothing they could do about that.

Unfortunately for them, the sound attracted some unwanted attention.

“This was a shit idea.” Hadrian glanced through the gaps in the boarded window. There were more than a few eyes glinting in the darkness outside, glaring at them. “Now they know we’re in here,” he told Prince.

“They already knew we were in here, dumbass. A purger broke through the window and tried to kill us, remember?”

“Oh… yeah. I guess you’re right.”

With all the windows boarded up, there was nothing to do except meander around the house. Hadrian went to the living room and thought about turning the TV on, but he wasn’t in the mood.

He looked at the leftover pizza on the coffee table. He was hungry, but it had been sitting out all night. The power was still gone. The refrigerator was useless.

Hadrian sighed. No eating today.

As he reentered the foyer, Hadrian heard a scratching noise coming from the other side of the basement door. He panicked initially, but when he listened closer… was that mewling?

Hadrian stepped closer. He put a hand on the doorknob and opened the basement door, but only a little. An orange tabby cat slunk through the gap.

“Have you been in there the whole time?” Hadrian questioned, staring at the cat in disbelief. He reached down to pet it, but the cat batted his hand away and hissed. It ran past him and darted through the gap between Prince’s legs—he’d been watching from behind.

The cat jumped up onto a cabinet in the foyer and stared at Hadrian disdainfully. “Tch. Cats are lame anyway,” he muttered as he shut the basement door again. “Wait… Prince, do you hear that?”

There was a strange noise outside. Tires screeched along asphalt to a standstill. There was a loud electrical bang as a pair of headlamps were abruptly switched on outside, flooding the living room with a bright light.

A van had pulled in front of the house, facing them and shining its headlights into the room. Six mobsters got out and stared at the house silently. One of them made eye contact with Prince as he peered through the boarded window. The teenager backed away. He beckoned Hadrian to follow him upstairs.

“Prince? What’s happening?” Monica asked when she saw him.

“More gangsters. Six.” Prince paused as he looked outside again. “They’re just standing there…”

Prince’s brow furrowed in thought. It felt like ages before he spoke again. “I’m staying awake tonight. The rest of you sleep,” he told everyone as he picked up his bat and paced around the room. “I’ll wake you up if something happens.”

“Prince, are you sure? We should sleep in shifts,” offered Monica.

“No. It’s fine,” the eldest refused, waving the suggestion away.

Everyone else got into bed, but Prince walked over to the broken bedroom window again. The mobsters were still staring at the house intently. He stared back, determined. It was going to be another long night.

Chapter III – Tick Tock

It was dead silent. Light from the mobster van’s headlamps was still streaming into the house, but they hadn’t tried to get inside. Prince leaned against the wall, nodding off with his baseball bat in hand. He’d been awake for hours. His eyes began to close.

The sound of glass breaking pierced the night once again. Prince snapped to attention. He heard wood splinter and nails clink against the floor as the mafiosos pried the boards off a window downstairs. He opened his mouth, about to shout for the other kids to wake up, but he instead decided to shake them awake instead. They’d lose the element of surprise if the mobsters figured out they weren’t sleeping.

“Monica, wake up,” Prince hissed, shaking Monica in her bed. Her eyes snapped open.

“What? Did they break in?” Monica asked. She rolled out of bed hurriedly and grabbed Stephanie, dragging her off her bed as well. “Steph, we have to get up. There’re more bad guys.”

“They’re downstairs. Maybe we can get the jump on them,” Prince whispered as he shook Hadrian awake as well. He hesitated before pointing to the hammers they’d discarded after fortifying the house. “Grab one,” he said to Monica and Hadrian. He didn’t want to kill anyone… but these mobsters weren’t leaving them with many options.

Prince grimaced as Monica picked up a hammer. “Actually… Monica, you take my bat. I’ll use a hammer,” he decided.

“Huh? Why?” Monica wondered.

Prince shrugged. “I don’t want you to have to kill anyone,” he admitted.

Monica shot him a look. “I’ll be fine, Prince. Worry about yourself.”

There were footsteps below. The mob was inside. Prince motioned for everyone to follow him.

The mafiosos ascended the stairs. They slunk down the hall. The one at the front reached out to push the door open, hoping to attack a few feckless civilians in their sleep… but he saw nobody.

The door behind them opened instead. Monica buried her hammer in the nearest mobster’s cranium, then wrenched it out. Blood spattered against the wall next to his head, and then he fell onto the carpet with a soft thump, dead. The other mafiosos whipped around at the noise.

Five left.

Monica was clutching the hammer to her chest now, wide-eyed and shaking a little bit at what she had just done, so Hadrian pushed his way past her before the mobsters figured out what was happening. He swung his own hammer at the closest one. The mafioso had no time to raise his crowbar as Hadrian struck him in the forehead, cracking his purge mask. He slumped to the ground as well, knocked out.

Four.

Prince jumped out of the wardrobe and rushed out of the bedroom while the mobsters were facing away from it. One of them bashed his crowbar into Hadrian’s chest, who stumbled backwards, wheezing. Prince managed to strike the side of the aggressor’s head. It bounced off the wall next to him. He heard something break. Maybe the drywall. Maybe his skull.

Three.

Another mobster rushed Prince. He swiftly retreated into the bedroom until he was standing at the broken window. The mobster followed. As he lunged with his crowbar, Prince sidestepped and took the chance to grab the mafioso, hurling him through the window. He landed on the concrete with a sickening crunch and didn’t get up.

Two.

Monica came to her senses. It was just in time, too, because Hadrian was about to be ganged up on by the remaining invaders. Prince came out of the bedroom. “You go left. I go right,” he whispered to Monica. She nodded.

One of the mafiosos lashed out at Hadrian with his crowbar. He raised his weapon to defend himself, but the hammer was too small to block anything. Hadrian yelped as his forearm took the hit. He dropped his weapon as Monica brained the offending mobster.

One.

Prince raised his bat high above his head at the same time and brought it down on top of the other mafioso’s head.

Zero.

The kids stood in silence for a while, breathing heavily. They didn’t hear anyone else in the house. After a minute, Monica spoke.

“Steph, you can come out now,” she said. Stephanie emerged from the guest bedroom wordlessly and clung to her sister’s leg. Monica took Hadrian’s wounded forearm and prodded at the injury. He winced.

“I don’t feel a break. Maybe it’s just cracked. I left my first aid kit in the car,” Monica admitted nervously. She knew it wasn’t safe to go outside right now.

Prince pondered. “We can check the basement first. Maybe Pete left something useful in there,” he advised. He retrieved the flashlight from the bedside table and switched it on as the kids moved down to the first floor. They walked past the window that the mobsters had entered through. Wooden planks and shards of glass lay on the carpet. It crunched under their shoes as they stepped over it.

“Didn’t you leave this closed?” Prince asked Hadrian as he came to the basement, shining his light inside. The door was ajar. He quickly realized what a stupid idea it was to point the flashlight into it. There was a chance someone was lurking there. He turned it off.

Hadrian started backing away. “Yeah, I did… I think?” he whispered.

There were footsteps again. Loud ones.

“Shit,” said Prince.

Hadrian hesitated. “Wait, I think it’s just one guy. We could take him.” Indeed, only one pair of feet could be heard, and yet, the floor shook as the basement dweller began to climb the stairs.

“No! That guy sounds huge! Hide!” Prince whispered harshly, pulling Hadrian—who winced again as his forearm was jostled—along with him. They and the girls ran away from the basement door as silently as they could.

Prince put his hand on the sill of the broken window, about to jump outside, but he saw too many masked men in the shadows. He doubled back and whirled around, searching for somewhere to hide. There was only the storage cabinet in the kitchen. All four of them squeezed in. It was a tight fit. They almost couldn’t breathe, but they all froze as the trespasser reached the top of the basement stairs. Prince peered through the thin gap between the cabinet doors. The guy was so tall that he needed to duck underneath the doorframe. There was a faint ticking noise emanating from him.

The ground quaked with every step Larry Clockturn took. His golden LED eyes lit up in the dark. The glow glinted off of the violet mask on his eyes. He was far more daunting in person. As he walked near the shattered window, the moonlight illuminated his tarnished metal face and the steel wires that served as his beard.

He passed the open kitchen door. Monica saw a large wind-up key affixed to his back. I told you he was an automaton, she wanted to whisper, but this wasn’t a good time.

The mob boss walked past the kitchen and out of sight, but the kids heard his footsteps move to the stairwell. The first stair, decayed with age, splintered and caved under his weight. Larry cursed and swung his crowbar at the wall in anger, annihilating the plasterboard. He tried the second step. It groaned under his mass, but it held this time. He made his way to the second floor.

Prince hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath, but now he was almost gasping for air as he pushed the cabinet doors open and darted towards the basement. The other kids ran after him.

He swore internally as he almost tripped on the first step. It was still dark in there. He turned on the flashlight just long enough to make it to the bottom.

It was chilly. The kids huddled together in the darkness.

“H-he knows we’re still in the house,” stammered Monica, voice shaking. “He was here when you shined the flashlight in the first time. He had to have seen it. What are we going to do?”

Prince said nothing. He was out of ideas. All they could do was shut up and hope Larry didn’t think to come back here.

But the mechanical ticking returned. Larry did come back.

The automaton’s silhouette appeared at the top of the stairwell. The light from his eyes, still glowing golden in the dark, faintly illuminated his face.

There was a tinny creak as Larry tilted his head, staring into the basement. It was pitch black inside. Maybe he couldn’t see them, the kids thought.

Larry’s lips parted into a malicious grin. Prince flinched in surprise. He hadn’t realized the mob boss could emote with his metal features… but he didn’t come inside. Instead, he turned from the basement door and walked away, his steel exterior clanking as he moved.

There was a loud crack as Larry forced the front door open instead of leaving through the window he’d broken.

“What an asshole,” Prince grumbled.

Monica touched Prince’s arm. “Why didn’t he come inside?” she wondered.

Prince shrugged. He didn’t know either.

“Maybe he’s playing with us.”

It wasn’t a comforting idea, but they didn’t hear Larry’s footsteps anymore, so…

“Turn the flashlight on. We have to search this place,” Monica told Prince. He did.

The shelves were cluttered with supplies and knickknacks Uncle Pete had left behind. Pete, Prince suddenly remembered. He hoped the guy was alright, but there was nothing he could do for his uncle right now.

A good portion of the items were littered across the floor as well. Larry and his mobsters had trashed the place. Prince swept the flashlight across the ground.

“There.”

He pointed to a discarded first aid kit.

Monica picked it up. “Thought we’d never catch a break.” she took a broken piece of shelf as well and assembled a makeshift splint for Hadrian’s forearm. It wasn’t pretty, but it would hold until they figured out how to get to a hospital.

In the meantime, Prince perched the flashlight on a shelf to rummage through some carboard boxes. “Oh my god. Finally,” he exclaimed as he pulled out a bag of cheese puffs from one of them. The box was full of junk food, but it felt like the kids had struck gold after having nothing to eat for a day and a half. They gorged themselves, but once they were full, they were unsure of what to do next.

Prince looked pensive. “We can’t stay down here,” he eventually said. They had no clue how long the purge was going to last, and they couldn’t subsist on their meager supply of junk food for long.

Monica didn’t say anything at first. Prince was right, but the streets were still teeming with every kind of criminal.

She had an idea.

Chapter IV – Delivery

“This is dumb as hell.”

“Just put it on,” urged Monica.

Prince finished buttoning up the tuxedo. He pulled the purge mask over his face.

They’d swiped the disguise off of a dead purger they’d left upstairs. Monica reached for the second mask that they’d looted, but Prince stopped her.

“Nope. You’re staying here,” he told her.

“You serious? You can’t go out there alone.”

“Yes the fuck I can. Besides, someone needs to stay with those two.” Prince motioned to Stephanie’s tiny form and Hadrian with his arm in a splint.

Monica sighed. “Fine… be careful.”

Prince picked up one of the dead mobsters’ crowbars. Monica took a step back and looked him up and down. “I think it’ll work. Just act casual,” she said.

 After peering outside, Prince grabbed the windowsill and vaulted over it. The mobsters lurking nearby didn’t even glance at him twice.

 The nearest convenience store was just up the road. Prince could see it from here, but as he started walking, his shoe slid on the ice beneath him. He almost fell. The wet asphalt had frozen overnight.

There was a loud guffaw from a group of mafiosos passing him by, but then one of them slipped on the ice as well and fell on his face. The other gangsters laughed even louder. “Man, shut y’all’s asses!” he hollered at them.

Prince had frozen in place for a few seconds, almost thinking he’d blown his cover, but he quickly regained his bearings. He left the gangsters to bicker amongst themselves. They seemed a lot less menacing when they weren’t trying to kill him.

As he continued towards the convenience store, Prince passed by the house of one of his neighbors. Of course, he hadn’t had a chance to meet them yet, but he still wondered if they were doing alright.

There was an earsplitting scream from inside the house, then a gunshot. The distant voice of a mobster reached Prince’s ears. “Aww, come on! I was gonna play with her first!”

Prince scrunched his face up in disgust under his mask. Nevermind. Fuck these guys.

He made it to the convenience store. The place had been nearly bled dry, but there was some fruit left in the produce crates. Prince opened the sack that he’d taken with him. He reached for an apple.

There were two mobsters sitting on the counter nearby. They turned their heads towards Prince. They were masked, but he could feel them giving him an odd look. He faltered, then grabbed the edge of the fruit crate, tipping the entirety of its contents into his sack. The mobsters looked away, losing interest.

Phew. Prince threw the sack over his shoulder and almost ran back to the house.

Monica met him at the basement door. Panic flashed through her mind until she realized it was Prince. “What did you get?” she asked as they returned to the basement.

“Fruit.”

“Lame,” said Stephanie.

Prince took his mask off and shoved an apple into her tiny hands. “No, it isn’t. You need it after eating all that junk food.” He didn’t notice the sound of a motorcycle pulling up to the front of the house.

There was commotion in the kitchen upstairs. Utensils and cookware clattered against the floor tiles.

Prince foisted his crowbar over his shoulder as he turned to the stairs. “I gotta say, I’m getting real tired of this shit,” he muttered to Monica before he returned to the ground floor.

As he reached the top of the staircase, he hesitated. This dude was kinda big, he thought as he scrutinized the person wrecking his kitchen. There was no time for Prince to change his mind, though—the mobster saw him.

“There you are.”

He sounded vaguely familiar, but Prince had no time to muse as the guy charged at him.

Prince responded in kind. He rushed at the mobster and raised his own crowbar to block the blow. There was a sharp clang as their weapons met.

It was almost like a sword duel, though not nearly as graceful. Prince was no trained fighter, but neither was the mafioso, apparently. He accidentally hooked a vase with his crowbar, sending it shattering against the floor. The opponents staggered around the foyer, neither of them gaining the upper hand at first

The mobster couldn’t get a hit in. He grew impatient and lunged forward. He swung too wide. Prince backpedaled away from the strike, and now, for an instant, his foe was wide open.

Prince delivered an uppercut to the mafioso’s face with his crowbar. The force of the strike knocked his mask askew.

The mafioso collapsed to the ground heavily, dazed and confused. “Ugh…”

Alright, Prince had absolutely met this guy before. He reached down and pulled the guy’s mask all the way off.

Prince stared.

“Dude, are you fucking kidding me?”

It was the pizza guy from a couple days ago. He sat up gingerly, rubbing his chin, and spat a glob of blood onto the carpet. “Shouldn’t have fuckin’ stiffed me, you asshole!”

Prince threw his arms up in exasperation, still gripping his crowbar. “I told you I didn’t have any more money! And you come into my house and trash the place over it? What is your problem?”

The delivery guy eyed Prince’s crowbar. He straightened his bowtie as he spoke. “OK, don’t be like that, man. A guy paid me to do it. You’re not the only one hurting for cash,” he said, pointing his finger at the boy. “The big metal dude,” he continued. “I’ve been running with the mafia for a while now, but this morning he shoved a crisp hundred into my hand and told me to come in here. Take you guys out. And, uh, he looked like he was gonna kill my ass if I said no, so… here I am, I guess.”

Prince glared at him for a moment. “Man, just get the hell out,” he said, pointing his crowbar at the open door.

The pizza guy looked outside. “Uh… actually, I think I’m gonna chill in here for a while.”

“Excuse me? No, you are not. You just tried to kill me,” Prince snapped.

The guy held up his hands in surrender. “The big guy is gonna fillet me like a fish when he finds out I didn’t get rid of you guys! I’m not going back out there,” he said. “Besides, he paid me in advance, man. I ain’t gotta do shit no more.”

Prince mulled it over. This guy wouldn’t get out of his house, but Prince definitely didn’t want to kill him, either.

“Whatever. Fine. What should I call you?” he asked.

The pizza guy stood up unsteadily. “Isaiah.”

 “OK, Isaiah, you said you’ve been running with the mob for a while. Any clue how we might get away from here without dying?” Prince asked.

Isaiah deliberated for a moment.

“The sewers. The mafia normally uses it to move around the city, but It’s empty now that they’re on the streets…” He paused again as he formulated a plan. “I overheard a li’l bit of intel. The national guard made it to 5th Street. We head in that direction. Get behind their lines, where it’s safe. Then we can exit the sewer. No sweat.”

Prince didn’t have any better ideas. “Fine. Get in here, man. Leave the crowbar,” he warned Isaiah as the ruffian reached for his fallen weapon. “No funny shit.”

“I wasn’t going to do shit,” he muttered as they descended into the basement.

The other three kids drew back suspiciously as they saw Isaiah. “Prince? Who is that?”

“He’s the pizza delivery guy,” Prince replied. “From the day we moved in, I mean. He’s…”

Prince gave Isaiah the side-eye.

“He’s chill,” he decided. “And he told me how we can get out of here. We’ll walk through the sewers until we meet the national guard.”

The other kids glanced at each other. “Unless you guys would rather stay here…?” Prince added. They all heard a bout of submachine gunfire in the house across the street.

“Nope. Let’s get out of here,” Monica said. “Tomorrow morning?”

Isaiah raised an eyebrow. “Why are we waiting?”

“It’s midnight. We gotta get some sleep,” Prince said.

Isaiah’s eyebrows crept even higher. “You guys have been sleeping at night this whole time? You can’t be doing that shit during the killing purge! How are you people still alive?”

The kids murmured inaudibly. They didn’t really know, either.

Isaiah shook his head incredulously. “Whatever. I don’t know where you got that disguise, Prince, but there had better be more. Your buddies will get jumped in no time if they go out looking like that,” he said.

Prince retrieved some more suits and a couple of crowbars from the dead mobsters upstairs. The second floor was starting to smell really bad. He was glad they were leaving soon.

The disguises were a little ill-fitting on Monica and Hadrian, but Stephanie wasn’t going to be able to wear one at all.

“What are you going to do about her?” Isaiah asked.

Prince scratched his head as he thought. “I saw a manhole cover real close by. We’ll just have her walk in the middle of us ‘til we make it into the sewer.”

“If you say so.”

The group stepped out. Stephanie stood in the middle of the bunch, hopefully obscuring her from the mobsters’ sight.

They had almost made it to the manhole cover when they heard a crash in the distance. A shrill alarm pierced their ears. Someone had smashed one of the convenience store’s windows open and set it off. The group turned to see who was responsible.

They saw a shape with glowing eyes through the glass door of the store as he strode into view. Larry downed a can of cola before crushing it in his hand and throwing it aside. He turned to look at the street.

The automaton looked blasé as he surveyed the darkened neighborhood, but his expression shifted to one of suspicion as his eyes fell on the group. Then he looked furious.

Their disguises hadn’t fooled him. Larry kicked the door open and started towards the group.

“God fucking damn it!” roared Isaiah as he hauled the manhole cover off the ground and thrust it aside.

“Get in!”

Chapter V – Clockturn

Everyone clambered down the ladder and into the sewer.

Stephanie held her nose. “It smells really bad in here.”

Something heavy tumbled into the manhole after them, landing on Prince’s head. “Ow! What the hell?” he exclaimed.

It was the same cat that had come out of the basement earlier, and it started yowling as Prince pried it off his scalp.

“Guys, he’s coming! Fucking run!” Isaiah shouted at the group. He’d broken into a sprint as soon as his feet touched the floor. “And shut that cat up! It’s gonna give our location away.”

Prince set the cat on the ground. Thankfully, it stopped screeching, but it did follow them.

The kids raced after Isaiah. “Do you know where you’re going?” Prince panted.

“Yeah, I’ve been down here before. Just stay behind me,” Isaiah assured him. “Take this right!”

As they rounded the corner, Monica risked a glimpse behind her. The concrete ground fractured beneath Larry as he jumped into the manhole after them.

The corridors twisted and turned as Isaiah led everyone further into the sewers. He barreled through iron gates in their path. Some of the paths had collapsed and been replaced by flimsy timber.

Hadrian stumbled. A board slipped out from under him. He was about to fall into the fetid sewage, but Prince reached to fish him out.

Isaiah got there before him. Hadrian’s shoe had just touched the water when the mafioso forcefully pulled him back onto the walkway.

“Hey, be careful! His arm is hurt!” scolded Monica. Isaiah simply jabbed his finger at Hadrian’s foot.

Hadrian wiggled his toes. The tip of his shoe was gone.

“I forgot to let you guys know. I saw some other mobsters pouring something into the storm drains,” Isaiah explained as he continued to run. “Whatever it was, it was corrosive as hell, ‘cause the drain stared melting. Don’t fall in there,” he finished, pointing at the water channel.

Isaiah veered left into a round clearing in the sewer. He came face to face with another gate, but he almost bashed his head into it as it refused to open. The kids skidded to a stop as he grabbed the bars and rattled the door. “This wasn’t locked before!” he shouted in frustration.

The mobster wedged his crowbar through the edge of the gate and tried to pry it open, but it wouldn’t budge. The kids glanced at each other anxiously. “Maybe Larry doesn’t know where we went,” Monica whispered.

No such luck.

They heard the ticking of his cogs before they saw him.

Larry rounded the corner. He was moving at a leisurely pace, but his footsteps were still fairly thunderous as he strolled across the improvised wooden bridge.

The automaton came to a halt as he reached the other side of the walkway. The kids could only stare at him. He was blocking their only escape.

Larry put a hand on his crowbar, leaning on it like a cane. He ran a hand through his wiry beard. His LED eyes swiveled as he looked the group over.

A lanky delivery boy, down on his luck.

Some high school dropout with a hero complex and his doormat of a sister.

A kid with a broken arm. His youngest sibling, hugging her teddy bear to her chest.

Larry laughed to himself and booted the wooden board behind him. There was a low sizzle as it fell into the waterway and began to disintegrate. The kids were trapped. His gaze shifted back to the group.

“What do you think you’re doing, Isaiah?” said Larry in his metallic peal.

His voice sent a chill up the kids’ spines. It was sonorous and hollow, filling the entire corridor.

Isaiah didn’t reply. He only yanked his crowbar out of the still-locked gate. It was futile. He walked to the front of the group.

If Isaiah wouldn’t talk, Larry would. “It’s not too late for you to follow orders, young man. Get rid of them.”

Isaiah didn’t move.

The crime lord raised an eyebrow. “Interesting decision.” Larry lifted his crowbar with one hand and rested it over his shoulder as he advanced on Isaiah.

“Hold on, boss, I-”

Isaiah cut himself off as Larry swung his crowbar. The mobster managed to duck under the blow so that it connected with the wall instead. The stone bricks cracked under Larry’s strength.

There was no reasoning with this guy.

No one knew how they were going to take Larry down, but he couldn’t go after all of them at once. Everyone scattered across the room, but the littlest was too slow.

Larry grinned as he reached down and snatched Stephanie by her tiny arm.

“No!” cried Prince. He rushed towards the automaton.

The cat was quicker. Prince had almost forgotten it was there, but it leapt onto Larry’s face, scratching and hissing. He cursed and released Stephanie. Prince pulled her away and swept her into his arms as the mob boss reached for the feline instead.

Its claws did nothing except piss Larry off. He ripped the cat off his face and flung it aside as he straightened his tie. It hit the wall before sliding to the floor and going limp, still mewling pitifully.

Stephanie normally would have begun crying by now, but she must have known it was no use this time. She gazed down at the teddy bear in her hands. It was the only toy she’d been able to take with her when the siblings had left their parents. Its voice box didn’t work anymore, but she turned it over and looked at the pull-string attached to it. She looked up at the golden wind-up key on Larry’s back. Still in Prince’s arms, she reached for it.

Stephanie twisted the wind-up key counterclockwise with all her diminutive might while Larry’s back was still turned. A steely bang sounded from inside him, followed closely by the jarring noise of an engine backfiring. The automaton flinched violently. He nearly toppled over, but he caught himself and whirled around, lunging with his crowbar furiously as he did. Prince backpedaled hurriedly, but the very edge of the crowbar just barely caught Stephanie’s cheek, ripping off a layer of skin.

“Bastard!” roared Prince. He set Stephanie down behind him. She ran into her sister’s arms. Monica steered her over to Hadrian before she went to confront their aggressor.

The group had figured out Larry’s weak point, and now he was a lot more wary. Prince, Isaiah, and Monica circled around him, but he’d turn and lunge again whenever one of them took so much as a step towards him. The three comrades glanced at each other. They all knew one of them had to engage the automaton while another tried to reach his key, but none of them particularly wanted to be stomped into red paste.

Before anyone grew audacious enough to rush Larry, the kids heard yet another odd noise. There was a resonant clang as the automaton’s steel plates snapped apart along the seams. A deafening mechanical whirr filled the sewer. All of a sudden, there was a cyclone of buzzsaws where he’d been standing a second ago.

Larry charged at Prince, who had to dive out of the way to avoid being sliced to gory ribbons.

Blood sprayed against the stone brick wall. Prince cried out as he hit the cold floor. He’d been too slow. The blades had caught him anyway. Fortunately, his arm was still attached, but there were several deep lacerations. Larry had sliced him all the way to the bone.

A pool of red bloomed under Prince as he collapsed. Monica rushed over to where she’d dropped her first aid kit. With wounds like that, he was going to bleed to death if she didn’t do something, but she couldn’t get near Prince while Larry was standing between them.

The automaton’s buzzsaws ground to a stop and clicked back into his casing. His plates snapped shut again as he stood above Prince.

Larry had his back to Hadrian now. He was so close. He had to do something. Hadrian ripped the splint off his own arm. He knew he was probably about to make his injury worse, but that was far better than dying here.

As Larry raised his crowbar to finish Prince off, he felt a pair of hands on his wind-up key.

Hadrian turned the key counterclockwise. Larry grunted in pain again as even more of his gears jammed, but he swung his weapon behind himself immediately this time.

Hadrian reeled as the crowbar struck his torso. He gasped for breath as he hit the concrete. Great. Now he had both a cracked forearm and a cracked rib cage. Larry turned away from Prince, heading for Hadrian instead.

Monica bolted to Prince’s side and started tying a torniquet around his bleeding arm. As she tended to him, Isaiah stepped in between Larry and Hadrian.

Larry narrowed his eyes. “Get the fuck outta the way, kid.”

Isaiah didn’t.

Larry scoffed and brought his crowbar down upon Isaiah with one hand. Isaiah gripped his own weapon as hard as he could with both hands and held it up to shield himself.

Their weapons clashed. Isaiah staggered, but he managed to remain on his feet. His crowbar vibrated in his hands with the aftershock of Larry’s blow, but he maintained his grip on it.

Larry raised his eyebrows, mildly surprised. Perhaps Isaiah wasn’t as lanky as he’d thought. He shook his head at the mobster.

“Little shit. I gave you a job when you were about to be homeless, and this is how you repay me?”

Larry attacked again, grasping his crowbar with both hands now. Isaiah did lose his weapon this time. It skittered across the concrete and into the corrosive water.

Monica sprang for Larry’s wind-up key. He swung his crowbar into her face without looking at her. She flew back and hit the ground, unconscious. Prince dragged himself towards her. He was starting to become lightheaded from the blood loss.

Larry swung again. With nothing to guard himself with, Isaiah took the hit squarely in the chest. He crumpled to the floor, winded.

The automaton circled him. He gave the mafioso a kick in the ribs with his steel-toed shoe.

“Come on. Is that all you can take?”

Isaiah choked out a couple of choice words. “Fuck… yourself…”

Larry scowled and opened his mouth to speak, but the cat hauled itself from the stone floor and launched itself at his face again, caterwauling and clawing with renewed fervor.

That was all Prince needed. He scrambled to his feet and leapt at Larry’s key. He grabbed it with his uninjured arm and wrenched it counterclockwise one more time.

Something rattled inside the automaton. His gears shuddered to a halt. There was a hiss as steam escaped from the vents on his face. His glowing golden eyes blinked off.

Larry lurched forwards and hit the ground with a crash, deactivated.

Epilogue

Prince opened his eyes blearily. He instantly shut them again. The lights were unpleasantly bright. He tried to shield his face, but the ensuing jolt of pain jarred him fully awake. Oh, right. He’d taken a buzzsaw to the arm.

He used his other arm to cover his eyes as he opened them. Prince was lying in a hospital bed.

“How’s it going, man?” said a voice from the left.

The boy turned his head. Isaiah was in the next bed.

“Is everyone else alright?” Prince rasped.

“Yeah, looks like it. Hadrian and Monica are right over there,” Isaiah told him, gesturing with his head to his left. “And there’s the li’l one,” he added.

Prince looked at the bed across from him. Stephanie was clambering down. She ran over to Prince and grabbed his hand, bouncing excitedly. “You’re OK!” she exclaimed.

“Hey, Steph. Ow. Don’t do that,” Prince croaked as Stephanie jostled his bandaged arm, but he was smiling. “How did we get here?”

Isaiah let his head fall back onto his pillow, brow furrowed in thought. “Uh. You beat the big dude. Or disabled him, at least. I don’t know. You passed out right after, and then… I think I heard Stephanie crying for a while. Someone above us heard it, too. They lowered a ladder into the sewer. Yeah, there was another manhole above us, apparently, but no ladder attached. Hah,” Isaiah laughed shortly. “They thought we were mafiosos at first, but I guess they figured out we weren’t when they saw Larry on the ground. And then they brought us here.”

The hinges on the hospital door squealed as a nurse walked in. “Oh! Some of you are awake,” she observed. “Don’t disturb your big bro right now, young lady. He’s going to need a lot of rest,” the nurse told Stephanie as she carried her back over to her own hospital bed.

“As for you…” the nurse examined her clipboard. “Prince Aguilar? Emancipated minor…” she read. “I’ve been told that you got into a fight with Larry Clockturn. You’re all lucky to be alive.”

“You ain’t lying,” Isaiah muttered. The nurse shot him a look.

“You should all be fine once we’re done patching you up,” the nurse continued. “But…” She checked her clipboard again. “Monica Aguilar appears to have taken quite the blow to the head. We’re monitoring her, but we aren’t going to be able to assess if there’s any brain damage until she wakes up.”

Prince sat up. “Brain damage?”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. We would be able to tell by now if it was serious,” the nurse assured Prince, urging him back down onto the bed. “At most, she has a concussion. She’ll be alright.”

Prince lay down again gingerly. “OK… I guess.” He was silent for a moment… but he was also curious.

“What happened to Larry?”

“Larry Clockturn? The police are handling that. They haven’t given me many details, I’m afraid,” the nurse told Prince. “All I know is that they haven’t moved his body yet. And the so-called ‘purge’ is over, by the way. Most of the mafia turned tail and ran after they figured out Clockturn was gone,” she laughed. “National guard didn’t encounter much resistance after that.”

Prince didn’t ask anything else. It was the nurse’s turn, now.

“It says here that four of you are siblings. Prince, Monica, Hadrian, and Stephanie Aguilar. And Isaiah… Smith,” she said, walking over to Isaiah’s bed. “It is to my understanding that you are affiliated with the mafia.”

Isaiah’s eyes widened. “Uh, I mean, like-“

The nurse held up her hand to stop him. “I’m not a police officer, but don’t be surprised if they come in here to question you guys at some point. I just wanted to warn you about it, so you aren’t blindsided,” she explained.

“Yeah… yeah, OK. Cool,” said Isaiah, even though it was not at all cool.

The nurse nodded. “Well, that’s it for now,” she said as she turned to leave. “Just sit tight. The doctor will be along soon.”

Prince took a deep breath. Larry was deactivated. They were out of the sewers. The purge was over. They were in a hospital at last. Everything was fine again.

In the sewers, however, things were not so fine. Police tape lined the walls of the room Larry had collapsed in, cold and unmoving. Officers surrounded him.

One of them looked up at the manhole high above them. “We could airlift him…?”

“Through that tiny opening? I’m not so sure,” his Lieutenant responded. No one was certain about how they were going to get this colossus out of the sewer and into police custody.

“We might have to move him all the way through the tunnel. Into the nearest water-”

The officer was cut off and his head jerked back as a bullet pierced the middle of his forehead.

The other cops drew their service weapons. The round had come from the other side of the locked iron gate. They returned fire. So did their assailants.

There was no cover in the room. More officers dropped dead. One of them tried to speak into his radio. “Shots fired. All units to the 5th-”

He was shot dead as well before he could finish.

The Lieutenant glimpsed something through the metal bars of the gate. Something green and glowing. He fired reflexively. The round ricocheted off metal. He stared into the darkness, confused, but there was no time to ponder as bullets continued to whizz past his ears.

“We’re taking too many casualties! Fall back!” yelled the Lieutenant.

The remaining officers ran from the gate and disappeared around the bend of the tunnel, leaving Larry’s body behind.

The mobsters lowered their guns. Their leader, who had been watching from the back of the troupe, made her way to the iron gate. Her high heels clicked against the concrete. The sound echoed through the now-quiet passageway.

She towered above her cohorts. The lock on the gate broke easily as she raised her slender arm and forced it open with one hand.

The lady reached the felled automaton. She walked around his inert figure and clicked her tongue in disapproval.

“Take him,” she ordered.

The mobsters, with some difficulty, lifted him up and carried him into the small speedboat they’d used to traverse the sewer’s water channels. The motor roared to life.

As the helmsman steered them back to the river outside, he glanced at his boss. “We’re not gonna reactivate him, Miss Gearwise?”

“No,” she answered shortly.

“Then… what are you going to do with him?”

The lady’s icy gaze fell on Larry. The corners of her metallic green lips curved up into a small smirk.

“I have a few ideas.”

[marvels-bitch-boy]

The Pizza Boy

Kate Bishop x Ftm reader:

Masterlist

Word Count: 3.3k

Kate Bishop doesn’t understand why you -the pizza delivery boy who works below her- continues to give her a free pie every Wednesday after your shift ends. It confuses her to no end. I mean she doesn’t see why you do it if you don’t even talk to her. You always leave it at her door with no note and it’s never the same pizza two weeks in a row.

 Now to be fair there is a possibility it wasn’t you, she never actually saw you leave the pies, but you did always smile at her from the register when she walked by.

 After about two months of this, she decided she wanted evidence of who pizza-hood was -her friends coined the name not her-. She watched through the peephole around the time she believed the drops would happen. Much to her surprise, you walked up the stairs bundled in a few jackets and a beanie with a pizza in hand and a content face as you placed the box on her doormat. 

Eventually, she got up the courage to leave a few notes on her door for you.

Thanks for the pies  ;)

Soon they evolved into really bad pizza puns

I’m going to guess your name is on a Knead-to Know basis -K.B

Hoping I don’t seem like a weird-dough -K.B

These pies are here today, gone tomato -K.B

Hope you cheesed the day (that was super bad I’m sorry) -K.B

She could see every time you read them and she could see the small smile that would creep at the corners of your lips. It slowly became one of the things she looked forward to every week.

—

After a spat with her mom, she was on her way home when she saw that you were working a later shift so she saw no harm in stopping by to say hi…that “hi” turned into a two-hour-long conversation on varying topics and ended with her behind the counter while you stepped out to deliver a pizza a few blocks away to an apartment of drunk college kids. When you came back she was sitting on the counter playing a game on her phone. 

“Wow!” you fake gasped “and here I thought I could trust you to watch this fine establishment while I stepped out!” you gestured around the barren pizza shop and turned back to her with a smirk that paired well with your furrowed brows “And you’re on your phone!”

“You can so trust me! I promise!” she placed her phone down as she stared at you “Look it’s away, you and this gourmet restaurant have my full attention” 

You laughed and before you knew it your shift was over, which meant that your evening with Kate was cut short. Right as you were leaving she stopped you and seemed to be pulling up some courage before she asked you a question that surprisingly to her you had never been asked before. 

“Can I get your number?...” she paused for a second “It’s just to play games together, in case you get bored” she finished with a small smile and you exchanged phones with a smile gracing your lips. 

“Hope I get bored soon then…” you hand her phone back and say good night before making your way to the subway.

—

She started to stop in more and talk with you. You actually took more late shifts just so you made sure to catch her. Still dropping a pizza off every Wednesday for her. 

One night you saw someone in a ninja costume carrying a dog run past the shop. Then a while later two vans with mean-looking tracksuit guys who looked as greasy as your pizzas began yelling and throwing stuff at her windows. You and your bosses all went out to get them to leave. You began shouting as loud as you can for them to fuck off and heard Kate yell from the window something along the lines of  “DON’T FUCK WITH HIM!” but quickly was interrupted when a molotov cocktail was thrown at her. You decided that was the last straw and grabbed the nearest thing…which was a bird scooter. You chucked it at one of the guys. It didn’t go far… You didn’t see Kate after the fight and your stomach was in knots at the fact that you hadn’t heard from her.

—

You didn’t see kate for a few days after the fire, eventually she came back but she seemed to arrive home late and wouldn’t stop in. You decided to leave her a pizza and a note, and when that didn’t work you texted her and then when that didn’t work…you knocked on her door. She answered looking very tired and disheveled but soon very embarrassed and startled when she noticed it was you. You let out a small giggle at her reaction as she let you in, and waited while she went to get changed for a moment. You took this time to look around her apartment, it was filled with purple and was a lot bigger than anything you could afford. Once she was back you two sat on her couch and began talking.

“Okay, so…are you doing okay? I mean last week was crazy, those guys burning this place up and everything, what happened?” you were met with a mix of emotions on her face. She looked like she was trying to hold in a smile but also stop herself from crying. She took a deep breath and began to answer each question you gave. 

Your eyes went wide trying to process all the information and events that she was describing to you but then she started talking about you… wait you? She was using words like cute and sweet which made you smile a little as she started to ramble and quickly ended with “so yeah, that’s been the last month” for a moment you just sat in shock with your mouth hanging open and your eyes wide. 

Suddenly you stood up and looked at her, then slowly smiled. She looked confused and matched your smile. ”so….you think I’m cute?” you smirked at her like you’ve never done before.

 She quickly realized what she said “No! I mean you are but like- like in a friend way…I mean don’t you call all your friends cute?” You had already reached the door of her apartment.

“Nope, no take-backs!” and with that, you slipped out.

—

The two of you began to get closer as time passed. She invited you to hang out a lot and meet her friends, you invited her to meet yours. You can’t remember who or how it started but at some point, your little banter and jokes took a more flirtatious turn. Soon you’d catch yourself staring at her from across the room, waiting for her to text you goodnight before you fell asleep, looking for any excuse to hold her hand while you two were together. It didn’t help that she flirted back and never pulled away from you while you touched each other. You didn’t know if she was comfortable dating a trans dude, hell you hadn’t even told her you were trans. You decided that was the first thing you should do, then you needed to figure out if you should get over her or eventually tell her how you felt. You decided to tell her after going to a concert together and felt it was the right time, you walked her to her door and asked if you could use the bathroom to which she happily agreed when you got out she was sitting on her couch with a cup of hot chocolate and a second cup on the counter for you. You joined her and you two began talking and eventually, you stopped the conversation and started to get more serious “so..um Kate, there was something I um- I wanted to talk to you about actually” 

she shifted slightly to face you more and placed her mug down. “There actually was something I wanted to talk about too…” she didn’t really look at you instead of focusing on her hands in front of her. 

“Mines bigger, I really need to tell you because I don’t know how you’d feel after I tell-” 

she cuts you off “-I like you” 

your eyes went wide and your jaw dropped slightly 

“a lot actually, I didn���t know how to tell you-” next you cut her off 

“-I’m trans” 

She now did a double blink and took a sharp breath in. Your mind was racing and suddenly you became aware of all the weapons she had in her apartment and you just shot up and grabbed your jacket and began to apologise repeatedly as you walked to the door, she attempted to stop you but you were out the door before she could even reach you. 

Your phone was buzzing like a hex bug as you walked down the street. You checked and saw the screen become filled up with texts from Kate and you didn’t want to know what she was saying, you silenced your phone and shoved it in your pocket. You had already lost friends because of your transition and you didn’t want to prolong the pain. You knew in the back of your mind that she wasn’t like that but you still had those lingering thoughts the ones that where telling you the moment you told her, her feelings for you were gone. That the second the words had left your mouth that any chance you had with her went up in a puff of smoke. You knew you should have stayed. You knew you should have sat and talked, but the fear just erupted like a geyser and you ran. 

As you got onto the subway you saw a young kid on the other side of the car with a few pride pins. You smiled to yourself at how happy they seemed to be whenever they looked at them. The car pulled up to a stop and a mid-size group of boys who appeared to be around the age of 17-19 got on. They were laughing and joking around and as soon as one of them saw the pins they began mocking the kid. 

“Get a load of this freak!” One of them motioned to his friends and they all began laughing. “What? You couldn’t slack it with the girls?” You warily watched the situation and listened in on high alert. “What exactly do you have down there? I mean are you one of those freaks with both?” His buddy that wreaked of liquor -so much that you could smell it from the other side of the car- moved closer to the kid and chuckled “Why don’t you let us take a look? Wouldn’t hurt anyone” The fear that became present in the kids' eyes ignited something in you. You shot up like a bullet and made your way in between the boys and the kid as fast as you could. 

“Trust me. It would hurt alot” you grabbed his wrist that had come up while he moved. You faced the rest of the group that had begun chuckling at you. “Mind your business dude” The one whose wrist you had, yanked it out of your grasp and looked mad. You didn’t back down, you seemed to have adrenaline pumping through you like a rushing river. “This is my business, so back off” You spoke through gritted teeth and didn’t break eye contact. “Why don’t you make us since you seem so set on protecting this freak” he pushed at you and his buddies chimed in with encouragement. You attempted to protest but he went to hit you in the gut and you seemed to fold under the force. 

The cold floor that your hands landed on felt as unstable as a high schooler's mental state after taking 4 AP classes. Struggling to get up you felt another blow hit your face and the sound of the train became fuzzy. You attempted to get up but one of the guys kicked your wrist and you went down once again. The adrenaline started to course through your veins, instead of jumping up and attempting to fight more you kicked at his knee and to his groin which sent him to the ground as well. The car stopped and the doors opened. This was your chance and you took it. Dashing out of the subway and hopping the turnstyle. Your face was bloody and cut, the cold air of the night felt like an antiseptic on your skin. Seeing what stop you had gotten off at you saw the way home in your head and began walking. Coming across hundreds of college students piling in and out of bars and clubs. You’re only a few blocks away from your apartment but the fatigue of your injuries was starting to set in, your ribs felt like they had been twisted and broken like a wish bone. Stopping and sitting on the edge of the street only a few doors away from a club in which about five to seven drunk college girls stumble out of, one of the more sober members of the group spots you hunched over with blood dripping from the side of your forehead. She grabs someone by the arm and forces a water bottle out of their hand. Now about four girls are standing around you as they help try to clean the blood off you in a half-drunken mess. One girl had cried when you told them you got beat up, the other looked you dead in the eyes and said in a slurred jumble “I will kill them…do you want me to?” this made you laugh as they kept pulling out tissues from their bags and soaked up the blood and water. After they successfully wipe all the blood up and you have tissues sticking to your face like they were glued on, you stood up and gave them a few hugs and the sober one wanted to walk you home but you insisted you would be fine. 

Reaching your apartment you pushed the door open and felt your phone buzz once again. You finally took a look at it as you locked the door and placed your keys down. It was messages and calls from Kate. You put it down and don’t look back at it. Going instead to your bed and flopping onto it like a dead fish. Tonight was not what you had expected. This was the farthest thing from what you had in your mind. 

—

You had called your bosses and told them what happened, taking the next week off after your doctor told you to not work for two weeks due to the concussion you suffered. They understood, your shifts were covered and you were resting now. You stayed at home and barely went out. A few of your friends would take you to the park for a picnic every so often but you’d usually leave early. Your phone would ring around the same time each day. It was Kate. Being too scared to talk with her again you never answered, she would text you as well. It was about ten days into your rest and there was a knock at your door. You checked the peep hole and saw her. Her jet black hair was wavy as she stood there. She was picking at her nails as she waited, she radiated a nervous energy. You hesitated over the door knob. She spoke up through the door “I know you’re home… Marco told me, can we please just talk?” the way she spoke tug on your heart and you slowly opened the door. Not fully, just enough to fit your body in the way. “Marco needs to learn about peoples privacy,” your jab at your boss made her smile. God, you couldn’t say no to her “Come on in…” opening it more and moving out of the way just enough for her to fit through. You locked the door and the two of you slowly walked through your cramped apartment. 

“So… it’s a nice place” you give her a curt nod, you know its small. After seeing how big her place was and learning where she grew up, this was like a closet for her. “Um– do you need some water? Or a coffee?” you adjust the hoodie you were wearing, suddenly you became self conscious of how you looked infront of her. 

“No, I’m okay…” she took a breath “what happened?-” she gestured to your face “if you don’t mind telling me” you lowered your head and cleared your throat. Attempting to avoid her eyes you spoke “I um… -kinda got my ass handed to me” you moved and leaned against your kitchen counter. “What um- what did you want to talk about?” the cold from the countertop helped your sweaty palms as you awaited her response. She looked at you with a mix of emotions and searched your eyes “Kinda thought that maybe the last time we talked would be a good start” 

You dreaded this conversation everytime. You feared it everytime, there was never really any way to get rid of the fear. Sometimes it would lessen over time. “Yeah, I um… I’m trans” she looked at you with slight shock. She had heard you say it before but it was cemented in her mind now. “I don’t care…-I mean I do care, but not like that! Obviously I’m fine with you being a girl and whatever you do to be comfortable and I’ll stick by you through thi–” you cut her off when you heard what she said “Wait, no- I’m sorry I’m not a girl. I’m a man!” she looked at you surprised and her eyes seemed like they would pop out of their eyes. “What?” she thought for a moment before she covered her mouth in horror. “I’m so sorry! Oh my god! I thought-” she was cut off this time by your laughter. This was the first time you had been mistaken for male to female. You couldn’t keep your laughter in. She yelled at you as you doubled over with laughter “Stop it!- You’re such a jerk!” she goes over and hits you lightly, as she does it she slowly starts to laugh too. 

“I just-” she see her laughing and it makes you laugh even more “I never- ooo give me a second-” you grabbed your ribs that were still slightly sore “I never expected this” you held onto each other for support as your reactions became a melting pot of emotions and mixed together. After awhile you both sat on the couch and talked it over. You told her you were fine with any questions she had. She had alot. They weren’t even intrusive, more curious about this side of you. You answered her truthfully and it felt like she was getting to know who you truly were. After a moment of silence you brought up the elephant in the room that seemed to hide behind a tree the entire night. “So, you like me?” You gave her a coy smile and she kept her gaze away from his eyes. “Cuz.. I um- well I think we need to talk about that” a faux humorless expression.

She rolled her eyes and sunk further into your couch. She hid her face from view and spoke through the pillow she was face planted in. You asked her to repeat herself with a playful tone. “I do like you…alot” you smirked at her “what? Come again” she hit you with the pillow and you once again started a small laughing fit as she pelted you. “Ah no! Hatecrime!!! Stop this is trans abuse!” She gasped at you and stopped “Really!? You’re pulling the trans card already!” you nodded at her victoriously. “It’s gonna be a regular occurrence, get ready” you lean in and kiss her lips softly “Because I really like you too… a lot” she smiles and the two of you spent the rest of the night together. Talking, kissing, and just being near each other.

[diskaywrites]

Kinktober 2024

𝟏𝟖+ 𝑴𝑫𝑵𝑰 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒕 #𝟓: 𝑹𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑺𝒆𝒙 𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈: 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒔 𝒙 𝑲𝒚𝒍𝒆 𝑭𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝑶𝒇: 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑶𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒚, 𝑫𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒔, 𝑲𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒌𝒆 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒂 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: 𝑴𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝑾: 𝑹𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑺𝒆𝒙, 𝑱𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒚, 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒆𝒙, 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒋𝒐𝒃 (𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈), 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒙, 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈

.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽..✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽..✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽..✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽..✽✦✽.◦.

Mark Davis wasn't sure what hurt more: the injury to his wrist that had kept him out of the ring for a year now or watching as Kyle Fletcher tag teamed with everyone under the sun but him. It hadn't been so bad in the beginning. Mark had understood that as a part of the Don Callis family, tag teaming with others was an inevitability. There had been no ill will watching Kyle tagging with Konsuke Takeshita at all, as there should have been no issue watching as Kyle tagged with Will Ospreay. He was their best mate, right? Kyle was part of Will's United Empire, same as Mark.

But there was something different about the match at Grand Slam, something that set off every jealous bone in Mark's body.

Part of it had had to be just how well Kyle and Will worked together. There was pride in it, seeing how well his boys worked together. They were his boys, be they his best mate like Will or his long-term partner like Kyle. Yet with every well-timed move in tandem, Mark's wrist seemed to throb. What if he and Kyle never achieved that measure of team work again? What if he never returned to the ring at all after this?

His own jealousy had been why when Kyle came home from this stretch of the road, Mark had spent the better part of the day ignoring him. Mark had disguised it as needing to go to therapy, at first, just to get out of the house. That had only lasted for so long and by the time he got home, Kyle had realized that something was wrong. The two men sat next to each other in the living room, the movie they had decided on playing in the background and a pizza box sitting on the coffee table in front of them. Kyle sat with his feet propped up on the table and Mark rolled his eyes, "Our food is right there..."

"Oh, so now you decide to talk to me," Kyle huffed as he moved his feet away from their food, almost as if it had only been done to garner the interaction in the first place. "No hello love, no how ya been love. Just a fake therapy appointment and silence."

"It wasn't fake," Mark grumbled, arms crossed over his broad chest like a petulant child, "I had-"

"Your appointment Tuesday," Kyle interrupted, "maybe next time remember the calendar in the kitchen."

Mark ducked his head, his lie having been found out. He refused to look at Kyle, until the other man rested a hand on his knee, "Kyle, I-"

"Why did you lie to me?" Kyle raised an eyebrow, voice pleading, "If there's someone else, I...I understand."

Mark laughed, "Someone else for me? Aren't you the one out here with Takeshita and Will-"

"Will? Since when are you jealous of Billy? He's-"

"Since I'm not good enough anymore!" Mark shouted, tossing Kyle's hand away from his lap as he stood. His breathing was heavy in his anger, eyes filling with hot tears. "My wrist is fucked and instead of....you told the world you didn't know if I was at your level, mate!"

It was Kyle's turn to feel ashamed. He stood, grabbing Mark's hand to try and stop him from storming away. He quickly dropped the hand, realizing that he had grabbed Mark by the bad wrist. Mark turned slowly, towering over Kyle. They stood in silence together, chests heaving with every breath, before Mark wrapped a beefy arm around Kyle's waist and pulled him in closer. He leaned down, lips crashing to Kyle's in an act of passion. This wasn't the soft kiss they had shared after their first date. This was rough, passionate. Mark's tongue pressed inside of Kyle's mouth almost forcefully, his free hand clenched in Kyle's too blonde hair.

Kyle's hands pressed against Mark's shirt, wrapping in the black cotton. He wasn't put off by his partners bout of anger. In fact, he had always found Mark's little bouts of anger to be cute. He never yelled or slammed things, just got a little huffy and a little pouty. His lips almost twitched in just the right way that his mustache seemed to move with a life of its own. With a little whine, Kyle pulled away, "Mark...I..."

"Bedroom?" Mark huffed, trying to catch her breath, hand still wrapped in Kyle's hair.

"Couch," Kyle corrected, "please...I need you..."

Mark couldn't help but let that statement drop straight to the pit of his stomach. Needed him? Kyle needed him? He pulled down the black pajama pants he had put on after hiding from Kyle, the blue boxers underneath barely containing his throbbing member. He used his hand to put Kyle on his knees, who pulled the boxers down Mark's thick legs. Kyle's hand stroked the already erect member, giving a soft hum of approval. He licked the tip, before taking Mark down his throat. His soft eyes never broke contact as his head bobbed, looking up at Mark through his lashes.

And still it wasn't enough for Mark.

The grip in Kyle's hair tightened as Mark held his head in place, hips snapping forward to make Kyle take him into his throat. Kyle's eyes went wide, but he didn't stop. It wasn't the first time they'd done something like this, Kyle on his knees being used for Mark's pleasure. The Aussie Arrow moaned around him and Mark pulled back just a little, before using the same grip to force Kyle back to his base again. 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝐾𝑦𝑙𝑒. The Kyle that needed him, loved him.

Mark let go of his grip, pushing Kyle away. He didn't want to come just yet, and with the way Kyle was taking him, Mark knew that was a possibility. "Pants off. Now."

Kyle stood, following the directions he was given, stroking his own member. Mark's may have been thicker, but Kyle's had always been longer. "H...how do you..."

"Bend over," Mark gestured to the couch with a nod of his head, "go on."

Kyle made a show of it, slowly turning around and glancing at Mark over his shoulder, as he bent over the side of the black couch. His hands braced against the cushion, teeth digging into his lower lip. Mark brought a hand up to slap his ass and Kyle let out a light cry, "Mark!"

"Whose ass is this?" Mark asked, meaty fingers of one hand squeezing at Kyle's flesh as he brought the other to his own mouth, making sure to get them nice and wet before pressing them into Kyle's waiting entrance.

"M...Mark..." Kyle whimpered softly, trying to adjust to the sudden intrusion.

Mark's movements did not stall, giving Kyle no time to adjust, "I 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 whose ass this is."

"Yours," Kyle whined, bringing his hips back in time with the thrust of Mark's fingers. He whimpered as they were pulled away, hips still wiggling, "Mark...Mark please..."

There was no time in between Mark removing his fingers and hammering himself into Kyle's core. The silence of the living room was filled first with the sounds of Kyle's cry as Mark filled him so fully. There was no time for Kyle to adjust as Mark hammered home, skin slapping against skin. As soon as Kyle tried to reach under himself to stroke his own member, Mark moved to hold Kyle's hand down. "No," he growled in Kyle's ear, "no you don't touch what's 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒."

"Yours. All yours," Kyle panted, every rock of Mark's lips sending him pressing into the side of the couch.

"Say it again," Mark begged, pushing in Kyle's ear as he pulled his lover up into a standing position. He pressed kisses against Kyle's neck, teeth sinking in lightly before he pulled away, tongue lapping at the bite mark, "Kyle, say it 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛."

"I...I'm yours," Kyle moaned as his release burst forth from him, landing on the couch. They would have to scrub that later, but he didn't care. His head was fuzzy and he was full, Mark not stopping his own movements until, finally, Mark's strangled cry left his lips and he leaned into Kyle, almost collapsing against him, his release coating Kyle's insides and dripping down his legs.

Mark let out a ragged breath, "I should have...should have told you..."

Kyle laughed, leaning back into his partner, "If this is how we resolve it? I'm just fine."

[exbex]

🥃 (date night/drinks) for the sambucky prompt game if you feel like it ☺️

I cheated and poached from a probably abandoned WIP, but it fits the prompt. There is smut and a very brief, vague mention of past trauma after the toast, so feel free to stop after that point if you’d like; the story can end at their toast.

They decide against a fancy date for Valentine’s Day. Too much attention on them, potentially, for this early in their relationship, and also, Sam points out, some businesses use it as an excuse to raise prices. It turns out to be the right call-they have an exhausting mission for three days, and by the time they return, Sam just wants to get into his sweats, eat pizza and “those cookies from the bakery, you know the one.” Bucky grabs a shower while Sam sets up a picnic in front of the sofa. Bucky raises an eyebrow when he re-enters the living room to find Sam choosing a Cabernet Sauvignon. “I didn’t know wine went with pizza and cookies.”

“That’s because you’re a philistine,” Sam jokes. “I put the orders in, can you listen for the door.”

“Absolutely.”

Bucky tips the delivery driver and pours the wine before choosing the movie. Sam comes out in sweats and a long-sleeved t-shirt. He kisses Bucky’s cheek and sits down, serving himself some pizza before picking up his glass. “A toast,” he says.

Bucky picks up his own glass and looks at Sam.

“To coming home.”

“To coming home.”

They make quick work of the pizza and cookies, and finish the bottle of wine. Bucky feels sleepy and content with Sam curled up next to him. He’s close to nodding off when he feels Sam shift away from. Bucky opens his eyes. “I can clean up Sam.”

Sam stops and straightens from picking up the wine glasses. “There’s not much. I was going to clean up and then go blow off some steam.”

“You’re going to work out? Now?”

“No, I have a new toy. Well, I’ve had it for while, but I’ve only used it a couple of times.”

“Oh.”

“Unless you want to make out. Or watch. Or…something else.”

“All of the above? Maybe?”

“Sure. Let’s just clean up and then…see what happens.”

Sam’s kisses and touches are hungry, not the slow, content making out is his usual. It piques Bucky’s interest, and his curiosity even more. Sam pulls away slowly. “Sit down, enjoy the show.”

Bucky sits on the end of the bed, eyes locked on Sam, who pulls his shirt over his head and puts it aside, then hooks his thumb into the waistband of his sweats, pulling them down so he can step out of them.

“I think this is my favorite show ever.”

“I’m just getting started.” Sam gets some lube off of the bedside table. He squeezes some into his left hand and sets the tube down, then starts to work himself open.

Bucky is no longer sleepy as he watches Sam eventually add a second, then a third finger. He picks up a toy that was sitting on the bedside table. It’s narrow, as far as butt plugs go, and has a tube that connects to a bulb. Bucky watches, curious, as Sam inserts the plug, then takes the bulb in his left hand and begins to stroke his cock with his right.

“Is that…is that going to inflate inside you?”

Sam looks at him, then freezes. “Yeah. I didn’t consider…”

“It’s fine. I want to watch. I don’t have any, you know, trauma related to inflatable things.” It’s possibly the strangest sentence he’s ever said, Bucky figures, but Sam just nods and starts to stroke himself again.

Bucky can feel his cock getting hard. He’s not sure if he wants an inflatable butt plug of his own or if he wants to be inside of Sam. Probably both, he figures. He starts to push his sweats down to get some relief.

Sam looks at him and bites his lower lip. They make eye contact and Bucky rubs a hand across his face, chuckling. “Uhh…”

“Do you want to?”

“I…I might be bad at it.” Good job Barnes, Bucky thinks. Real smooth.

“It doesn’t have to be great.” Sam shrugs. “I’ll tell you if it feels good. And we’ll stop, if we need to.”

“Okay.” Bucky kicks off his sweats and pulls off his t-shirt, tossing them aside as he walks to the bedside table to grab a condom. His erection flags but he’s soon at attention again as he hears Sam moan.

Sam carefully removes the plug as Bucky puts on the condom and applies some lube.

“Put some more on your fingers, open me up real slow,” Sam says. “Get a, well, get a feel for the process.”

Sam’s ass is a sight to behold. Bucky wonders how long he’ll last as he puts some lube on his fingers.

Sam moans as Bucky inserts a finger, then another.

Bucky has one hand on his cock, and the little whine that Sam lets out as he removes the fingers of his other hand is almost enough to end things. Bucky guides his cock inside, going as slowly as he can. He means to look up, see if he can get a sense of Sam’s expression, but he can’t tear his eyes away from the sight of his cock pumping in and out of Sam.

“Oh Sammy…” he’d be embarrassed about the whine that escapes him but the pleasure comes over him so quickly that it’s all he can do to keep his pace steady, trying to make it good for Sam.

Sam is thrusting into his own hand, his face going slack in pleasure. “Buck,” he moans, his back arching.

Bucky isn’t sure if it’s the way it feels, fucking Sam, or if it’s the way Sam looks, beautiful and free from anything resembling hurt or way, but he’s soon following.

**

“I like it here,” Bucky murmurs as he rests his head on Sam’s chest.

“In bed? Or on my pecs?” Sam’s voice is low and slow, like honey on warm bread.

“Yes,” Bucky replies. “And you know, in this century.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. The food is really good.”

“Asshole,” but Sam laughs, and Bucky adds it to his list of things he loves about the 21st century.