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kirstoons · 7 days ago

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SDV Sebastian x Female Farmer (Yandere)

Author: Me (kirstoons)

Editor and Queef: @gayrahim

TRIGGER WARNING: NSFW, 18+ content, MDNI

Chapter 1.2

Summary: After you depart from his house, Sebastian starts setting his plan in motion. This chapter also gives you a sneak peak into his perverted mind.

After you leave Sebastian’s house

Once you’re out the door, Sebastian immediately starts making plans. This is far too perfect of an opportunity to pass up. Just like in Solarian Chronicles, he is in control of the board and just needs to make the path clear for you. To do so means to make alternative paths… inaccessible.

Robin gives Sebastian a small look of surprise saying, “I’m surprised you’re being so hospitable.” Sebastian paints an expression of boredom as he replies, “yeah, well she is basically part of our group now. I should be friendly, at least to keep the peace.”

Robin gives a knowing nod, a little disappointed in her son’s answer. She kind of hoped that he was putting himself out there more but his response reflects only preservation of the status quo.

“So you’re gonna be away working this week?”, he tries to get the answers he needs but also not tip his mom off about any of his intentions.

“Yeah, I gotta finish these blueprints tonight and have her approve them. If that goes well, I’ll prob head there tomorrow morning to start construction. I’ll be working pretty late so it’ll likely just be you, Maru and Demetri for dinner these next few nights. Try not to antagonize either of them, please?” She gives Sebastian a pleading look knowing it’s a hard task.

“Ughh”, Sebastian groans as he turns his back to her to walk to the basement, but he already has a wicked grin by the time he reaches the door. He plops down in his computer chair and takes a deep breath as he readies himself for the next part of his plan.

Later that evening, a small ding sounds from his computer sending him in an excited frenzy to get to the notification.

Email from: [email protected]

To: y/[email protected]

Hi y/n,

Here is an attached copy of the blueprints I designed. Let me know if you have any questions or edits. I was planning to head over to your farm tomorrow morning, after I get these plans approved. Also, the day that you can’t stay in the house should fall on Thursday, Fall 11. I’ll be sure to keep you up to date with any changes.

Looking forward to seeing you,

Robin

Sebastian downloads the blueprints onto his desktop and begins studying them thoroughly, typing notes on his other monitor as he peruses them. He then opens up the file in his editing software and starts to make a few adjustments. Some are small, like a larger closet, an access door from the house to the crawl space, large bay windows out front, and LOTS more electrical outlets and other cable hookups. Most of these would go unnoticed under that cute, oblivious nose of yours. He made sure to to use the most technical terms and odd specifications for all the electrical work, knowing that they’d confuse his mom, resulting in her asking for his help with installation.

Now for the more sizable changes. A small wood shelter to the side of the house that can be passed off as extra wood storage or whatever farm shit you wanted to put in there. He made sure it was the perfect location to obscure his motorcycle headlights for his “late night visits” and far enough from the house for the sound of the engine to not disturb your precious sleep. This change would be obvious to you but he knew he could pass it off as kindness from his mother who just appreciates her business. The last big change was that crawl space. Sebastian couldn’t help but think to himself what a lucky girl you are to be receiving a fully finished crawl space (an expense he’d have to foot but knew it was well worth it for his precious girl).

While finishing up his special tweaks, he received another email notification.

Hey Robin!

These look sooooo great! I’m so excited to get started! I only have one edit to ask and it’s super small. Could you install a security camera to my front porch? I bought the camera already, so it just needs an install. Other than that, the blueprints are officially approved :D

Thanks again!

Y/n

Even in email format you were adorable. Sebastian could feel his dick twitch as he read the email in your voice. And your compliance certainly helped. You definitely made his plans go a lot smoother and he couldn’t help but to utter “good girl” under his breath. He had already prepared for your response and had your email go straight to him instead of Robin. He then composed an email from your account to read nearly the same but asking for the additional edits he made. As he prepared a response to your email posing as his mother, there was a knock at his door.

Sebastian quickly and skillfully minimized the applications and opened a decoy webpage that had articles on Solarian Chronicle.

“What” he shouted in his typical annoyed tone.

Robin gently opened the door and stood in the doorway. “I know you hate when I bug you, but I just got an email from y/n about some edits on the blueprints. Everything is pretty standard but she asked for some internet wire stuff - or something like that - and, while most of the installations are easy, hers are pretty specific. I’m just a little out of my depth on this one so I was hoping that maybe you’d be willing to take a look and give me a hand?”

To his expectation, Sebastian threw his head back letting out an annoyed groan. “Fine, I guess,” he said in usual flat tone, even though he was thrilled to see his plans fall into place. Robin gave a warm thanks to Sebastian, trying not to gush over how happy she was to have him help her and retreated back up the basement stairs (making sure she closed the door behind her).

Sebastian, still playing middleman between yours and Robin’s emails, finished up the last of the emails, letting you know that your requests would be accommodated and giving a small heads up to the mini shelter in order to prevent you questioning Robin in person. He tilted back on his chair with pride at his tactical approach and flawless execution.

His thoughts turned from self praise to imagining the final outcome of all this hard work. You. You belonging to him. It made him hard just thinking about you being all his. His long piano fingers work their way down to the large bulge in his jeans. He gently cups it from below and gently rubs his thumb over his denim covered shaft. He lets out a satisfied moan as he melts away into his fantasy of you begging on your hands and knees for his cock.

Unable to pull himself from his imagination he hastily undoes his jeans, slipping them to his ankles, and reaches back to the drawer behind him to grab his needed supplies. He moves a piece of fabric to the desk and fishes out a pink bottle of lotion labeled with the scent “ sweet pea and cherry blossom”; the same lotion and scent you use. He squirts a generous amount into hand and swatches a small amount of the creamy, soft pink liquid under his nose. He takes a deep inhale of the scent and focuses back into his fantasy of you being so needy for his dick.

He starts stroking the length of his shaft as he imagines you on all fours, ass in the air, moaning and begging for him to satisfy you. He imagines your pussy’s lips dripping wet and trembling in anticipation and desire for him to stick it in you but he loves seeing you in this state and wants to tease you further into submission. All four fingers are wrapped tightly around his cock, now, and he begins making longer, faster strokes along his shaft.

He thinks of him teasing your soaked cunt with his index finger, circling your precious, little hole as you beg for him to be inside you. You’d even buck your hips trying to maneuver his finger inside you but it doesn’t work. He’d call you a naughty girl for trying a trick like that before he’s given you permission. He firmly slaps your ass as punishment and to reposition you. You let out a horny shriek as you can still feel the warm sting on your ass cheek.

Sebastian pumps faster on his cock, engaging his thumb to rub the underside of head, forcing him to throw his head back and release a deep moan. He sinks further into his fantasy. He imagines feather lightly teasing your clit, causing more of your juices to spill out. Your struggle breathes a clear sign of your stimulation. He runs his head around the edge of your hole as he continues playing with his favorite button. All the anticipation and teasing becomes too much for you and your plush, pink walls contract in orgasm, shooting your slick juices out and onto his tip where he was still making playful circles.

Sebastian was furiously fapping at that point, edging himself closer and closer to release. He knew exactly what would push him over the edge. He would gently scold you for cumming before he even got his dick inside you. He calls you a needy, impatient princess who can’t stand not having things go her way. He also reminds you that he didn’t give you his permission to finish. Even though you would still be coming down from the high of your orgasim, his scolding would leave you disappointed in yourself and on the verge of tears for not properly obeying Sebastian. Right as you attempt to form an apology, Sebastian rams his cock deep into your still gushing pussy. You let out a sharp yelp but Sebastian prevents if from escaping when he presses his mouth into yours.He then starts with a few slow pumps trying to give your tight pussy time to adjust to his long, thick member. But, similar to you, he can sometimes be a bit impatient and begins thrusting faster, harder… deeper. He can hear the sounds of your juices squelching with each thrust and the smell of your cum mixed with the scented lotion wafts up to his nostrils. He feels absolutely euphoric. His cock throbs inside your warm, sticky insides, indicating how close he is to releasing his load. It’s also clear to him that you are equally as close, due to the rhythmic tightening of you fleshy walls. He whispers to you, “be a good girl and take it all, okay? Only good girls get to cum.” You bite your lip trying your best to obey his commands but the pleasure is beginning to swell again and you’re unsure of how much longer you can hold on. Thankfully, Sebastian nears his climax, giving deep grunts with each thrust. “That’s my girl… such a good… obedient g-girl.” He pushes out the words in deep, airy breaths. “My perfect g-good gir…. fffff-f-fffuck”, he roars as his thrusts deep into your sloppy pussy, gushing his hot, thick cum into your velvety soft lips. As soon as you feel his sweet cream inside you, you immediately erupt into your own orgasm that clenches his dick, push out every drop of his cum into your overflowing hole.

Before he shoots his load all over his desk he grabs the cloth from earlier, using it to cover the end of his dick as he releases his actual load in real life. It pours out of him, soaking into the cloth and dripping down the sides of his shaft and hand. He lays there for a bit as his cock empties and he imagines what your face would look like when you orgasm. He wipes up the rest of the mess with the small cloth, now fully soaked in seamen and holds it in his hands, unfurled. Your pink and white panties, with a little lacey trim are drenched in his sperm. His dying boner twitches at the sight of them.

He gently places the cum-soaked panties in a ziploc bag and rummages to the back of his closet to pull out a large trunk with a lock. Fishing the key from his secret hiding place behind the outlet, he tenderly unlocks the chest and places his newest treasure delicately inside, next to the other pieces of his collection. He picks up one photo in particular to examine. The picture is of you looking over your shoulder toward the camera while reaching back to unhook your bra. It’s clear that the photo was taken unbeknownst to you and just outside your bedroom window at night.

Sebastian gives the photo a gentle, tender kiss as he places it back on the stack of what seems to be hundreds of others like it. He pushes the chest back into his closet and rehides the key.

After another masturbation session in the shower with his imaginary version of you (one where you needily ride his cock as he plays an online game sesh with Sam and Abigail), he cleans off and stations himself back at his desk.

“Time for the next phase,” he says softly to himself with a sly grin. He then pulls up the window on his computer that displays all the text messages on your phone. He sips from the cold mug of coffee that you had drank from this morning and begins typing away.

#sdv farmer #sdv sebastian #sdv sebastian x reader #sebastian x farmer #stardew sebastian #sdv #sdv smut #sdv fanfic #stardew valley #stardew farmer #smut #smutty fanfiction #stardew smut #stardew valley fanfic

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purpleyoonn · 2 years ago

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baby (you complete us)

P R E V I E W

summary: Soulmates were a common occurrence, so common, in fact, that the world sought an easier way to find your other half: A bracelet that would scan your mark and match you with those who shared your mark. Within recent years, soul groups were becoming normal, and your own bracelet said you have seven matches.

Or where you wear your bracelet for ten years, and finally give up the hope you would find your soul group, only for BTS to put theirs on and see what they were missing.

status: coming soon

genre: soulmate au, idol au, angst, fluff, eventual smut,

pairing: Idol BTS x Disabled MC

warnings: angst, mentions of depression, disabled mc (Ehlers Danlos syndrome), eventual smut, fluff, lots of fluff, mentions of disability, simp bangtan

Some warnings may be added to the beginning of individual chapters.

masterlist // taglist

@imnotlauriane @mageprincess7 @m1sss1mp @0funsite0 @strawberry-moonpies @this-isthe-way @singukieee @btsw1fe @gooooomz @fluffy-canada-pancakes @carolinexkpop @agusfree @sakurarukas @iamkookiesforyou @skyys-universe @toughbook @plutoneu @whisperssuga @yourleftsock @cryingpages @strxwbloody @drissteele @dustyinkpages @crushedblackroses @blaaiissee

----------------------------------------

It had been almost a week since you had taken off your bracelet, consequently giving up the hope you had of ever finding your soulmates.

It was a weird feeling, almost as if you noticed even more the number of soulmates around you, like your heart was still hoping your soulmates would just show up, in front of you, or give you a sign at least that they were looking for you as well.

But you knew that wasn’t going to happen. If it did, it would have happened years ago. Soulmate bracelets had become common a couple years back, and almost everyone you knew wore one.

It was around 9 o’clock am and you were at your favorite café, your work laptop in front of you as shifted through emails, sending ones to trash as you deemed fit. You had a large coffee in front of you, refilled probably twice by now along with an empty plate that once held a lemon loaf slice.

The tv played in the background as you listened to the sounds of the café, taking a small break so you don’t end up hurting your eyes even more. You had been there since they opened at five thirty, unable to sleep.

You had been having trouble sleeping since taking off the bracelet, attributing the issue to the different feeling of a weightless wrist. Change was always a motive for your body to have sleeping difficulties, unfortunately.

Rubbing your eyes, not caring about the left over makeup residue, you open them again only to catch sight of the television, one of your favorite kpop groups, BTS, was on it, well a picture of them was. It was followed by a twitter post, the word “soulmate” catching your eye.

You quickly close out your email and head to google, going straight to twitter and signing in. The first thing that came up was the post from the official Bighit account.

Hello.

This is BIGHIT MUSIC.

The collaboration BTS is doing with Soul Connection has brought to our attention the presence of another soulmate within the already bonded group. All seven members have responded to the bracelet notification and are waiting for their soulmate to respond.

However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, they have been unable to get any information about their soulmate, as their profile is private due to either personal settings or from not wearing the bracelet.

We are asking that if their soulmate is reading this, that they please answer the messages that have been sent and get into contact with us.

This is of the utmost importance, as now that both parties are aware, soul symptoms are soon to begin and we wish to place importance upon the health of both parties.

Thank you.

The tweet was retweeted by BTS themselves, with the caption, “please help us, army.”

It had your mind racing, wondering if they were your mates, seeing as you had seven of them according to the app. You looked down at your mark, before looking away, a sigh leaving your lips.

There was no way BTS were your mates. Absolutely ridiculous.

Your brain was just trying to save you the heartache of being completely abandoned by your own soulmates, so it was coming up with ridiculous ideas to ease the pain. But it wasn’t going to work, as you were already familiar and comfortable with the idea of pain.

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differenteagletragedy · 1 year ago

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What would actually happen if somehow in some way Baxter actually goes back for the MC he got pregnant

Baxter sat in a desk by the window, idly twirling his pen and glancing out at the grounds. He was taking the last final of his sophomore year, and although he wasn't having trouble with the material, he was having trouble maintaining his focus.

After he turned in his test, that would mean that his summer vacation was starting. And after last year, the idea held a lot more meaning for him.

He looked at the trees, full in bloom now that it was May, and the mountains in the distance. He didn't like to do it too often, but he also let his thoughts wander to you.

What were you doing? Were you happy? Did you still hate him?

Pushing the thoughts away as best he could, he looked back to his paper and finished up the last few questions.

Now he was free.

Baxter wasn't interested in spending the summer in Golden Grove, and he got so much more than he bargained for when he let his parents pick a vacation destination last year. Instead, he decided to keep things simple and stay in Virginia.

His parents had arranged for him to stay in his dorm room for the summer semester, so he hadn't needed to pack any of his things. He saw his roommates off, then settled in for what he was sure would be a quiet, boring, pain-free summer.

Then he started going through his phone.

It started as just a way to pass the time. He checked his email, listened to a bit of music, and before long he found himself in his texts. He knew you'd sent some after he left, but he'd always deleted the notification without looking at them, too scared to read what you said but too lovesick still to get rid of them entirely.

Getting a burst of bravery, he opened the old thread he'd shared with you and got himself up to date on what you'd had to say.

"Please call me, it's important," the first one sent after his departure read. Most of them were like that -- you'd begged him to call you, to answer you, just to communicate with you in some way, and you had something important to say.

It was the last message you'd sent that stopped him dead in his tracks. The one that said that you were pregnant and scared and didn't know what to do.

Before he knew what he was doing himself, Baxter jumped into action. In one hand he held onto his phone, finding the quickest flight out to California. In the other he threw some clothes in a bag. Within a few hours, he was headed west.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I think I'm dying," you told Cove as you waddled around your shared apartment. You were two weeks away from your due date, your belly was round and tight and so heavy, and yeah, this might be what dying feels like.

"You're not dying," Cove told you, giving you a smile from the kitchen where he was making you a milkshake.

You simply moaned in response, too miserable to stay sitting but too top heavy to keep walking. As a sort of compromise, you tried lying down on the couch, but your belly hung over the side too far for even that to work. You groaned again.

"You have two weeks, if that," he told you, handing you your treat as he moved to sit beside you. "I think you can manage."

"The books said that first time pregnancies can go past the due date though," you reminded him. "What if I have another month?"

"Tough break," he grinned cheekily, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

"You're lucky you're cute," you told him grumpily. "And that you make good milkshakes."

Before he could reply, your phone started ringing. Your forever helper, Cove reached over to the side table where it set and went to hand it to you, but when he saw the screen he made a face.

"What?" you asked.

Instead of answering, he just held the phone out to you.

Baxter was calling.

You looked to Cove, confused, but he looked just as puzzled as you were. After a moment, curiosity won and you answered the call.

There he was -- your ex-boyfriend, the father of your baby, and the guy you'd never thought you'd speak to again. From the way he spoke, you could tell that he was trying to hold it together, but there were several emotions he was pushing back. Maybe anxiety, maybe fear. Possibly a touch of regret.

What shocked you the most was that he said he was actually in Sunset Bird. He'd finally seen all the texts you'd sent him, and he wanted to see you. You agreed.

"Well?" Cove asked when you hung up the phone.

"Looks like the ghost is back in town."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A little while later, Cove dropped you off at the tropical place so you could meet with Baxter. He'd offered to go with you, but you told him it wasn't necessary, that you thought you'd need some time alone with Baxter to talk about everything. He reluctantly agreed, but made sure you knew that you just had to call if you needed him and he'd come running.

When you made your way into the restaurant, it didn't take long to spot your old boyfriend -- none of the locals had picked up on his unique fashion sense during his time in the area, and that head of black and white hair stood out anywhere.

It was a a bit more bittersweet than you'd expected to see him again, but when he saw you, you thought he might break down in tears then and there. He stood as you approached the table where he'd been seated, eyes flitting between your face and your belly. When you got there, his shaky hands moved to hold out a chair for you.

He tried for a few pleasantries, long enough for a server to take your orders, but eventually you got to business.

"What do you want?" you asked him.

"I ..." he paused, lost for words, then said, "You had reached out to me."

"Yeah, months ago. You could have just texted me back then. You could have texted me back now. Why did you come all the way out here?"

After another pause, he admitted, "I'm not sure, really. When I heard," he gestured to you here instead of saying the words, "I suppose it was just instinct to come to you. Part of me wants to believe it was for a noble reason, so that I could ... become a father."

Baxter stumbled over those last few words, but still, he soldiered on.

"I believe I told you in part that my own parents were lacking in their warmth," he said. "I'm sure I didn't share any details. The fact is, I did have a good childhood in that I had a roof over my head, food on my plate and a good education. I had many things and experience others envied. But as far as having a truly loving mother and father, I can't say I know what that's like."

He met your eyes then, but you didn't say anything. You sensed he wasn't done quite yet.

"Are you intending on raising this child? It is entirely your choice, of course."

You nodded.

"Right," he said. You saw his right hand move just a bit towards yours, but he stopped himself. and continued. "Then this baby will have a loving mother, full of goodness and warmth. I'm quite aware that I am not as good, not as warm, but ... I am here. And I will try."

"Seriously?" you asked. "It took you five months to answer an 'I'm pregnant' text and you want to try?"

If your words hurt him, he didn't show it. Then again, knowing him -- and you did -- he'd likely been telling himself much worse.

"I would, if you'll have me. I wouldn't wish for any child to wonder why their father doesn't, or can't, love them. I know that pain all too well."

You considered everything he said, then told him, "You said at the beginning that part of you wanted to believe you came here to be noble. What was the other part?"

His lips turned up slightly at the corners, the closest thing to a smile you'd seen that night. Without hesitation, he said "Weakness."

"Huh?"

"I pulled away from you like I did because I couldn't believe that I was someone important to you, or that I had the capacity to become someone important to you. And now, it appears that I do."

He looked down at your stomach then, and a real smile spread across his face. There was a warmth behind it, and you thought you could see a bit of hopefulness as well.

It was confusing, the whole thing. Part of you was thankful for Baxter making the effort to come to you. Another part was still furious that he'd left in the first place and the ignored your pleas for help. There was sadness, excitement, grief, and a tiniest bit of that rush you felt spending last summer with him.

You weren't sure what exactly would happen next. But he was here.

It was a start.

#our life beginnings and always #our life #baxter ward #cove holden #our life baxter #baxter x mc #baxter x reader #baxter x you #baxter ward x reader #baxter ward x mc #baxter ward x you #olba baxter

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antianakin · 10 days ago

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@46imperialremnant Your ask isn't showing up in my inbox, but I got an email notification for it, so I'm answering it this way.

I didn't think I'd heard anything about it, but it was available at my library in ebook form, so I just read it and got to the bit you're referencing in this ask and realized I'd seen that particular panel already on someone's post about this comic I guess.

Spoilers for Tales from the Death Star ahead if you haven't read it and don't want to know anything about it.

Horror's not really my thing, neither are stories about Imperial characters, so it was kind-of an interesting concept overall, these weird ghost story things about the past Death Stars being told to one of those defected First Order Stormtroopers who's trying to get to the Death Star ruins for... reasons. I don't really get what that storyline is supposed to be about, I don't know what I was meant to get out of it, and I was honestly kind-of disappointed we didn't figure out who the fuck the cloaked figure was at the end and he just disappeared like another ghost. Again, I don't really do horror, so maybe there was an obvious clue about it that other people picked up on that I just didn't, or maybe the lack of answer was part of the point and other people will find that really compelling, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I was waiting for a cool answer about that character and hoping it would help tie everything together and then it just didn't happen and I felt like I got left hanging and so the ending felt kind-of flat to me.

On the one hand, the creativity of seeing all the different variations of horror stories on the Death Star was a cool concept and I appreciated the different writers taking different approaches to it, but on the other hand, again, I do wish it felt like it had more flow and connection from one story to the next and the wildly different tones between some of the stories gave me a little whiplash. Some felt almost comedic in their horror (like the zombie one) while others went for horror that was just fantasy horror but in space (the Wild Hunt reimagined as a Wild Squadron) and others went for horror based on taking canon content and really honing in on the horrific elements already inherent in it that simply weren't focused on in the main storyline (the Tarkin backstory one).

Some of them I liked, others I didn't as much. I think my favorite was the Tarkin backstory, I personally just prefer stories that look at what's already THERE and expand on it in a way that really adds something to the story, and this felt like it did that by having Tarkin haunted by his own past sins and how that parallels all of the ghosts from the Death Star's relatively short history. My next favorite was the Wild Hunt one simply because I think that it was a fun concept to take a more inherently fantasy thing and put it into Star Wars which, while set in space, is very much more a fantasy story than a sci-fi story. The downside to it was that I simply did not care about the characters involved and was more invested in the world-building aspect of the "Wild Squadron." They mention its connection to the Jedi and it brings up all these questions about whether the "Wild Squadron" only started to become a thing post Order 66 and it's directly related to that, or if it's actually FAR older than that and has been around for thousands and thousands of years now. I wasn't as into the weird creature one or the zombie one. 2/4 isn't bad? 2/5 I guess if you count the Sequel timeline story.

It's always nice to see a reference to the loss of Alderaan, the loss of Bail and Breha. I also appreciated that the loss of the Rogue One crew and Saw Gerrera got their cameos, as well (with Saw's ghost actually getting TWO cameos!). It's interesting that it seems to be explicitly only counting DEATH STAR kills, so we see Cassian and Jyn, but not the rest of the Rogue One crew who were killed on Scarif by other means and were already dead by the time Tarkin showed up with the Death Star. Same with Galen Erso who was killed on Eadu (and actually technically killed by Rebel pilots), even though Krennic is there. It's such a clearly intentional choice, and I appreciated that.

I'm eagerly awaiting the new Reign of the Empire novel trilogy about Bail, Saw, and Mon Mothma, though! It's supposed to be for fans of Andor and I am actually really interested in that concept, so here's hoping it's good and we get some great stuff for Bail and his family within it even if he's just one protagonist out of three.

#star wars #tales from the death star #bail organa #breha organa #wilhuff tarkin

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wannab-urs · 2 years ago

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Build Me Up Buttercup | Ch. 2

Just to let me down?

Summary: You get a verdict on your essay and have a little run in at the bar

Word Count: 800ish - sorry it’s so short. I couldn’t resist the cliffhanger and had to cut it off.

Warnings: Still none... but we're getting closer!

P.S. I plan on updating this daily but also if I can't get a chapter finished, I can't get it finished, ya know?

You’re sitting in the library, presumably working on an essay for Modern British Lit, but really you’re thinking about Dr. Miller. Yesterday, you had been closer to him than you ever have before. You sit at the back of his class and never raise your hand to answer questions, afraid he’d dismiss your answer outright.

He’s hot from a distance sure, but up close? Holy shit. The way his curls fell over his eyes as he worked. The way his tongue poked out between his lips. It’s almost cute. And then the way his biceps bulged beneath his weathered band tee… He’s seriously gorgeous. He has to be, what? In his mid 50s? You were used to men that old looking like your granddad… he was far from looking like a grandpa yesterday.

The sound of an email notification interrupts your train of thought.

See me in my office

-Miller

How formal. God damn, he’s an asshole. He’s an asshole. He’s not fucking cute.

You assume it’s about your essay, so you decide to stop by his office after your Chaucer class. That class is a trip. The professor wears these weird ass outfits all the time with vibrantly colored pants and you’re honestly kind of living for it. But he also keeps giving you Bs on all your essays without any feedback as to why they’re not As. You’d take your solid B in that class over your 57 in Miller’s class any day though.

You resolve to go to his office hours again later today and go back to trying to write your essay.

He’s preoccupied again, taking notes on a book you can’t see the name of, when you get to his office. Today he’s opted for a black Led Zeppelin shirt that’s obviously vintage, small holes revealing tiny peeks of his broad chest. His hair is even more unruly today and the disheveled former punk vibes are a really good look on him. Bastard.

Before you even open your mouth to speak, he does that hand thing, like he’s shooing you away. You decide to just sit down and wait for him to finish what he’s doing.

After what feels like half an hour but is probably a minute, he sets his pen down in the book and closes the cover. The book is called “Neoliberalism on the Ground” Seems… actually interesting. Your eyes flick up to his face and he’s looking at you expectantly, as if you asked to see him.

“Well?” You arch an eyebrow at him.

“I reread your essay.” You stare at him waiting for him to elaborate. He doesn’t.

“And?”

“And it was good.”

It was good? That’s all? “And?”

“And I’ll change your grade to a B.”

A fucking B? Fine. Whatever. Best you’re gonna get. “Why the change of heart?”

“Didn’t read it the first time.”

“Are you serious?” No like, is he actually fucking kidding right now?

“Saw the neo-gothic cathedral on the cover, gave you a D, moved on.”

“What!? I spent hours on that! Days! And you had the audacity to not even fu--- to not even read it? Are you kidding me?”

“Listen, sweetheart, if you had to read 98 amateur architecture essays, you’d skim too.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Do you want me to change the grade back?”

“Do you want me to report you?”

“Fair enough.”

God, you want to strangle him. “Is that all, then, Miller?”

“Don’t call me that.” Jesus fucking christ.

You roll your eyes and stomp out of his office.

You’re sitting at a hightop in the bar just off campus with Cooper and your other friend Em, filling them in on the essay drama.

“So, yeah, he called me ‘sweetheart’ and I left,” you finish.

“Wait, is Dr. Miller the hot one?”

“Yes, Em, pay attention,” Coop says, rolling their eyes.

“Yes. He’s attractive. That is SO not the point, though?!” Your friends are ridiculous.

“So… how did you get him to up the grade? Did you give him head under his desk or something?” Em teases, a conspiratorial glint in her eye.

“Gross! No!”

“I would have… I’ve seen him on campus. I’d suck the meat off them bones.”

“You are absolutely disgusting, Emily. No I did not give my professor a fucking blowjob to get a better grade!”

“I’m just saying! You could do worse…”

“I just asked him to show me a modicum of respect. Jesus fucking Christ.”

“Oh my god is that him?” Cooper is staring hard at the back of some dude’s head at the bar. He has curly brown hair streaked with gray and broad shoulders covered in a green flannel. Shit that could be him.

“There’s no way Dr. Miller is here right now. I will literally kill myself.”

At the sound of his name, Dr. Miller turns and looks over his shoulder, immediately locking eyes with you.

“Oh shit, that is him,” you say, ducking your head and hoping he won’t see you. Play it cool. There’s no way he actually heard you.

“Is he still looking?” You ask, peeking up at your friends.

“Um-” Cooper starts.

“Hi there, sweetheart.”

Tag List: @beskarandblasters, @cutesyscreenname, @atinylittlepain, @wednesdayday, @whoiscaroline, @goldenhxurs, @northernwindd, @djarinxore, @worhols, @amanitacowboy, @silkiers, @4ueijos, @livinxdeadxgrl, @chknikkbxss, @thepriceofpepper, @lexic-22, @sunshinebtrfly, @ccelinea, @harriedandharassed

#joel miller #joel miller fics #joel miller fan fiction #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #the last of us fanfiction #tlou fanfiction #Joel Miller AU #Professor!Joel #Professor!Joel Miller

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beybaldes · 1 year ago

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I could offer you a warm embrace

summer sleepover masterlist

will kitman x gn!reader

summary : “not that i think cuddling will fix everything, but i’m pretty sure it can’t make things worse.” requested by anon.

an : will kitman anons I love you all as though I birthed you Adele title because I love her music

“do you want a cuddle?” Was an expression you heard almost everyday around the dog track.

If it was cold on the pitch, Will was asking you, unzipping his jacket so that you could wrap your arms around him and up his back, keeping your hands warm as well as the rest of you. When you were too sleepy to keep yourself up right in the early mornings, he was asking, wrapping his arms around you, holding you tight and keeping you awake. On the coach to and from away games, his arm was over your shoulder, his hand pushing your head against his shoulder and encouraging you to sleep. Even in Amsterdam, after Higgins had convinced you to join the two of them, Will had his arm wrapped around you waist in the Jazz club, asking after his senses your discomfort with the unfamiliar setting. He kept it there even when you eased into the flow of the night.

On occasion, it was different. You’d seek Will out throughout the four walls of Nelson road, sheepishly requesting the warm embrace you’d come to need. Sometimes you’d find yourself slipping your arms around his waist in the changing room, not saying a word but just working your way into his hold while Ted addressed the room with a speech. Or you’d call him asking him to come to you, whispering bashfully that you needed a cuddle when he finally arrived. One time, you’d found yourself practically storming your way onto the pitch mid-training, ignoring concerned calls from Ted and marching your way right into Will’s arms.

Though no one questioned your actions, it had started a ripple of murmurs throughout the team about what could possibly be going on between the two of you.

Today had been weird. Since walking through the door at 7am, you’d yet to see Will, and right now, all you wanted to do was see him. Everything had been going wrong all day: first you’d woke up late leading you to miss an important meeting you were meant to sit in for, then you’d realised you’d forgotten your lunch, your shoelace kept coming undone, non of your email notifications were coming through right and now you couldn’t find your pen. It seemed stupid, to get so worked up over such little things, but seemed today that the world was out to get you and all you wanted to do now was cry.

At the thought alone, tears started flooding your eyes, prompting you to stand from your chair and walk briskly in the direction of the changing rooms, hoping you’d find Will before it was all too much. When you opened the changing room door Colin took one look at you and pointed in the direction of the boot room with a smile you didn’t have it in you to return quite yet, muttering a quiet “thank you.”

“Will.” You whimpered out as you closed the door behind you, his dark head of hair peaking out from the far side of the room behind the boot shelves. “Can I-“

“Do you want a cuddle?” He was quick to drop the pile of kits he’d been holding as you solemnly nodded your head, the frown on your face getting deeper and tears pouring down your cheeks. “What’s wrong?”

“Everything.” You murmured into the crook of his neck, sniffling between every stroke of his fingers through your hair.

“What can I do to make it better?”

“This is good.” You answered earnestly, trying to burrow yourself even further into your favourite kitman. “Not that i think cuddling will fix everything, but i’m pretty sure it can’t make things worse.”

“Very true.” Will mused, pulling you even tighter against him as your sniffling began to stop. “Besides, I quite like cuddling you.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

#beybaldes summer sleepover !!#will kitman x reader #will kitman imagine #will kitman oneshot #ted lasso x reader

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something-tofightfor · 2 years ago

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Competing For Christmas 2: Oh, Christmas Tree

Pairing: Modern Din Djarin x Female Reader

Word Count: 9,650

Rating: T/M: There’s some language. That’s about it - aside from Din being absolutely charming, which requires a warning on its own.

Summary: It’s getting closer to the beginning of the competition, but there’s an opportunity to squeeze an “early” hangout with Din in ... is he up for it, too?

Author’s notes:

Thank you SO MUCH for the response to part 1. I love this story - and I’m so damn glad you all seem to, too. I appreciate every message and comment and set of tags - please keep them coming!

Questions, concerns, comments? My inbox is open! You should all know the drill by now.

To get alerted when I post new chapters/stories, follow @somethingtofightfor-shares and turn on post notifications - you can also ask to be added to my tag list (link in bio or at the top of my taglist reblog)

Mando’a translations at the end!

Masterlist / Part 1

By 2 pm on Wednesday, you were counting down the seconds until you could clock out for the long weekend. Even though you’d cleared a lot of your workload throughout the week, it seemed like every one of your clients was having some sort of emergency that desperately needed attention before the end of the day, and you were done.

You’d splurged on an iced coffee after lunch for an extra boost, having it delivered instead of going down to the cafeteria for one of the basic ones, and even though it was down to mostly half-melted ice cubes, it had distracted you some. “But not enough.”

Lowering your head onto your folded arms, you groaned as another new email came in, the little red flag next to it most likely unwarranted. “You, uh, doing alright in here?”

The sound of Din’s voice made you raise your head, spinning in your chair so that you could look at the doorway - and him. “Din? What are you -”

“I’m on my way back to my office. Just finished reinstalling the VPN on that new guy’s computer.” He paused, shifting his weight to the other foot, one hip jutting out. “Something Vanth? I don’t know his first name, all that was on the work order was the initial.” Din paused for long enough to look past you at the computer screen, and you saw him wince at the sight of your open email client. “Looks like you’ve got a full inbox.”

“I do. I’m halfway tempted to unplug the power cord and then not reach out to my IT guy until ten minutes before the day’s over.” He laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he stepped fully into your office.

“You could just do what the one lady in sales did last week.” He moved closer, spinning your chair again so you were facing your desk before leaning over your shoulder and pointing at one of the buttons on your laptop’s keyboard. “Just press that button and turn off your trackpad. There’s no light that goes off or anything, so it’s impossible to know what changed without someone taking a thorough look at it.”

His proximity stunned you. Not only was his physical presence imposing - the man’s weight leaning against the back of your chair, along with the underside of his arm brushing against your shoulder - but you were shocked that the air in the room felt different when he was there, too. Are you thorough, Din?

You were still frustrated and exhausted, but you were smiling, the scent of Din’s cologne - spicy and slightly woodsy - thick in your nose. Before answering him, you turned your head and closed your eyes, inhaling. He smells good. Really good. “You being here now defeats the purpose, though.” Finally finding your voice, you sighed. “All you’d have to do is press it again, and then I’d be right back where I started.”

“Now you know for next time.” He straightened up, keeping the hand on the back of your chair. “And since you’re busy I won’t stay too long, I just figured I’d stop in and see what time you wanted to meet on Saturday. I know the thing starts at 7, but I didn’t know if you wanted to meet there, or -”

“That’s probably the best plan.” Sighing, you tapped your fingers on your desktop before looking back over your shoulder at him. “It’s about the same distance from both of our houses, so there’s no point in going out of the way just so we can take the same car.” You shrugged. “That way if we lose horribly, we don’t have to drive back together in angry silence.” He smiled again, nodding. “Got plans for tomorrow?”

“I’m going to catch up on sleep.” He took a long breath, watching you closely. “Make dinner for the two of us, and then just lay on the couch all day in my sweatpants.”

“That sounds amazing.” It did - even though you loved your family, you wouldn’t have said no to the opportunity to do the same as Din - and the idea of spending the day with him and Grogu was more than appealing. Sweatpants? I … “What about Friday? Are you going to the tree lighting? They flip the switch at about 8.”

“I heard about that.” He wet his lips. “Thought about it.”

“You should. Bring Grogu. A lot of people take their dogs. It’s busy but not packed, and he seems like he’s really well behaved when you’re giving him commands, so…”

“Are you going?” You watched his fingers flex against his biceps, your eyes drawn to the movement before they moved up, locking with his. They were warm once again, studying you with an intensity that surprised you, and you knew that there was something else he wanted to ask, but hadn’t.

“I am. My friend Stacy and her husband are going. We’re meeting our other friend Cara for dinner beforehand. She lives a couple hours away now, but always comes home for the holidays, so it’s kind of tradition.” You didn’t add that for the previous three years, James had been there, too, but you figured that he knew just the same. “If you go, let me know. I’d love to see the little… what’d you call him? Whump rat?”

“Womp rat.” Din’s lips twitched. “Just something I heard as a kid, and it fits perfectly for him.”

“I’d love to see the little womp rat again, Din. There are vendors that set up on the street, and some of them usually sell dog treats, so I think he’d have fun, too.”

“Hmm.” He nodded, closing his eyes briefly. “Good to know.” Din sighed then and squinted at your screen. “I should let you get back to work. I’m pretty sure you’ve gotten a couple more emails since I’ve been standing here.” I know. Don’t remind me. You groaned at his words, covering your face with both hands.

“What button did I need to push again?” He laughed as he turned away, heading for the door. “Din? Is it the one with the -”

“Have a good Thanksgiving. I’ll see you later this week.” He paused in the doorway, one hand rising to grip the wooden frame before he turned at the waist, grinning at you. “Don’t start pressing random buttons on your laptop, alright?” There was a challenge in his voice, one eyebrow arched so high that it all but disappeared into a wavy lock of his hair that hung down over his forehead.

“Is it this one?” Reaching behind you, you jabbed blindly at a key. “Or this one? What about -”

“Stop touching things.” He rolled his eyes at you before he narrowed them playfully. “I’m not going to help you.” Keeping a neutral expression on your face, you pushed a third button and Din rolled his eyes again, muttering the word “unbelievable” under his breath before exiting the room completely, his hand lingering on the wooden doorframe until the last possible second.

“I’ll see you on Friday, Din!” You called after him but he didn’t reply, and when you turned back to your computer, you were smiling, despite the fact that he was right and there were more emails that had come in. “That was a nice distraction.”

Admitting it was a lot easier than you’d thought it would be, and when you reached for your cup and sucked the straw between your lips, even the taste of the watered down coffee wasn’t enough to sour your mood.

—

Near the end of dinner Friday, you got a message that didn’t include any text. It was just a picture, and when you opened it, you nearly dropped your phone.

Clumsily grabbing for the device before it hit the table, you didn’t even try to stop your sharp intake of breath, Stacy cutting her husband off mid-sentence to ask you what was wrong. “Nothing’s wrong…it’s just…”

Turning the phone toward her, you chewed on your lower lip. Her eyes widened and she reached out with a fingertip, tapping the screen. “Who’s that?”

“Grogu. Din’s dog. It looks…” You sighed. “It looks like they’re downtown, which means he’s here for the tree lighting.” Like I told him he should be. “Wonder if I’ll run into them.”

“He sent you the picture so that obviously means he wants you to know where it is.” Cara sipped her beer, leaning back in her seat. “I think that means he’s hoping to see you.”

“I agree.” Stacy’s smile widened as you pulled your phone back toward you, eyes on the screen - and the image of the dog staring into the camera, mouth open and tongue hanging out with the familiar sight of the town square’s decorations partially visible behind him. “You’re downtown. They’re downtown. Does he know you’re here?”

“He does. I told him the other day he should come, but he never said whether or not he’d decided to, and…” Trailing off, you let the screen go dark. “I didn’t know.”

“Now you do.” Cara cleared her throat, turning in her seat to signal for your server to bring the check to the table. “And we’re about to pay, which means in less than ten minutes you will also be at the town square.”

“Cara, it -”

“What?” She took the booklet from the woman when it was handed to her, not even looking before she stuffed her credit card into it and then handed it back. “You’re going to say it isn’t that simple? That you don’t know if you’ll see them?” She thanked the waitress quietly before returning the gaze of her dark eyes to you. “Sometimes it is that simple. I haven’t been around much lately, but you’re single. He’s single. It’s been a couple weeks since you and James have even spoken, even though he’s still living here. You wouldn’t be doing anything wrong. And it’s not like I’m suggesting you marry him, but when the hot guy with the cute dog sends you a picture of said cute dog being extraordinarily adorable out of nowhere… you should go with it.”

The four of you sat there in stunned silence at her outburst, the chatter of the other restaurant patrons loud in your ears. She’s right, but… “Can I say something?” Joseph - Stacy’s husband - cleared his throat. “I never really liked James, and I think Cara’s right.”

“What?” In disbelief, you leaned in, mouth dropping open. “I was with him for years. We always went out places together. I had no idea. I -”

“I wasn’t allowed to say anything.” He sighed. “Stacy told me I couldn’t be a dick about it because the two of you were together, so I tolerated him the same way she did. But man was it hard sometimes.” He went quiet as Cara’s card and the receipt came back, the woman taking it and then signing it with a flourish. “I don’t know this Din at all, but Cara’s got a point. There’s no reason for you not to have fun this year. You finally have a real partner for this competition and won’t have to pull the dead weight, and it sounds like this guy is…” He trailed off, searching for the right word, and his wife supplied it for him, reaching out to cover his hand with her own.

“Worth it.” She grinned at you, eyes full of mischief. “And you know it.”

From the limited interactions you’d had with Din, you agreed, but you knew that there was more to him that you didn’t know - and that you had to be careful. “I’ll text him back.” You held up a finger to interrupt both women, whose mouths opened to respond to you. “On one condition.” Lips pressed together, they stayed quiet, waiting. “The two of you cannot intervene in this. Whatever happens, I want it to happen because Din and I are -”

“Deal.” Stacy held up both hands, nodding. “As long as you do something. I just don’t want to sit here and watch you pass up on a good thing because you’re still thinking about James or worrying about what might happen later on.”

“I have a condition, too.” Of course you do. Cara stuck her tongue into her cheek and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t just keep this about the competition. Get to know him. You have what, five nights with him over the course of the next month after tonight?” Nodding in agreement, you eyed her, waiting for the other boot to drop. “I will sit back and let you blow it if that’s what it comes down to, as long as I can see that you’re making an attempt not to let that happen.”

You laughed at her, the woman’s expression serious, but soon enough all four of you were grinning as you stood from the table, putting your coats on. “Alright, Cara, Stacy. I will try to get to know Din. I will try to make it about more than the competition. I will try to let myself… connect with him, if that’s what he wants.” Joseph winked at you, wetting his lips.

“Shouldn’t you start by telling him you’re heading over to the tree lighting, then?” Stacy rose onto her toes and kissed his cheek, the man’s arms going around her waist. “You did just promise my wife that - “

Grumbling as you zipped your jacket, you reached for your phone and opened Din’s message, hesitating briefly before you typed a reply.

We just finished dinner and are heading over to the square. Are you and Grogu still around?

Flicking the phone from silent to not, you pressed send - all four of you hearing the confirmation as the message was delivered. “Happy?” Cara was - you could see it in her eyes, and even Stacy looked relieved. You understood that - she’d been around during the breakdown of your relationship and the immediate aftermath, and had seen how the changes had impacted you. And she’ll see this too. She’ll see how …

Your thoughts interrupted by an incoming message sound and a vibration in your hand, you bit your lip at Din’s reply.

We are. There somewhere we can wait for you?

It took only seconds for you to think of an answer, the words of your friends echoing in your head. It’s just a couple weeks. And he seems like a nice guy, even if he’s … withdrawn.

There’s a statue on Maple and Main outside of the parking garage… that might be a good place?

You followed your friends outside, not bothering to put the phone away while you waited to see Din’s response. And he started typing almost immediately, the little dots appearing on the screen before you’d even made it a few steps down the sidewalk.

We’ll be there. He was typing again, and then stopped… but to your surprise another message came through seconds later, almost like he’d sent it before he could stop himself. See you in a few.

—

You saw Din before he got eyes on you, and before you could even react, Cara was reacting for the group. “Holy shit, he’s good looking.” She whistled as you exited the garage and turned toward the statue, and the woman’s jaw dropped at the sight of the man and his dog. “How have you not shown me a picture of him before now?”

“He doesn’t have social media.” You shrugged, stuffing your hands into your pockets. “Actually, until he took a picture for the website the other night, I hadn’t even seen a picture of him, so…” It was a little strange but you couldn’t fault him for it; you had a few other friends without an online presence. But if he had one, it’d be easier to make friends.

The closer you got, the sharper the man’s details became, and you felt something building in your chest at the sight of him. It felt strangely like hope, the promise of something new and exciting, even though everything was an unknown. Getting to know the man over time and through a variety of different methods almost seemed like it was too good an opportunity to be true. But it’s not, because he’s… he’s right here.

Din was dressed comfortably though you could tell he was warm - a pair of dark jeans and boots, a puffy gray utility jacket, the light from above making it shine silver. It had a hood, but he wasn’t wearing it - instead he had a dark knit hat on, pulled low over his ears. But the hat couldn’t hide all of his hair, one longer lock curling out from under the band of it and over his eyebrow, much the same way it had in the office earlier in the week.

It makes him look younger. But you absolutely agreed with the remainder of Cara’s assessment of him, and when you were close enough, you took a deep breath and called out his name before you lost your nerve, drawing the man’s attention from the leashed dog at his feet.

He turned toward you almost immediately, lips curving upward into a smile as he said hello followed by your name. “You made it.” He’s never looked at me like that before.

“I did.” And I want him to do it again. Grogu was whining, the leash taut in Din’s hand as he attempted to get closer to you. For the moment, though, you ignored him, instead focusing on the man. “We did. Din, these are my friends.” Introducing them quickly, you were happy to see that he greeted each of them with genuine interest, reaching out to shake Joseph’s hand and telling Cara and Stacy that it was great to meet them.

“And this is Grogu. Like I told her the other night, he might bark a little bit, but he doesn’t bite.” Grogu’s tail wagged furiously as Stacy knelt down to pet him, Cara not far behind. While they exclaimed over the dog, you kept your attention on Din, surprised to see that the man wasn’t paying attention your friends and was instead focused on you, a tiny smirk still on his lips. “You were right.” He put his free hand on his hip. “We’ve seen more dogs tonight than I thought. Grogu’s loving all the new friends.”

“Good.” Casting a glance down, you took a step closer to the man as your friends kept petting the dog’s soft fur. “Did you find the vendors?”

“I thought I’d wait til you got here.” It was a simple statement, but it made your eyes widen nonetheless, Din’s casual shrug doing nothing to lessen the impact of his words. “Figured you could show us where the good ones were.”

“She can and she will.” Stacy stood, moving over to squeeze your elbow. “We’re going to go and find the hot chocolate.” Stacy, what are you doing? Leaving me here? You … But you realized that she was doing exactly what they’d promised to do: letting you lead, letting things evolve without their interference. “Text me later if you want.”

Assuring her that you would, you turned to say goodbye to Cara, too, catching the woman’s eye - and the look in it. I know. I know, Cara. “It was nice to meet you.” Din raised one hand in a wave, the others saying goodbye shortly after. As they walked away, Stacy cast one last look over her shoulder at Grogu before they turned the corner and disappeared, leaving the three of you alone. “That was subtle.”

Din’s comment surprised you, your lips parting as your attention returned to him. “Din, it’s not like -”

“No, I get it.” He closed his eyes, scoffing. “Believe me, my… friends at home are the same way sometimes. I know how it is.”

You wanted to ask him more - to know about his friends and where he was from, but didn’t want to pry and so you didn’t risk it. You finally took your turn crouching down and greeting Grogu, both of your hands going to his face much like Din’s had the night at his house.

He licked your nose and inched even closer as you laughed, your hand moving back to his neck and shoulder. “Hey big guy.” He barked and then crowded against you, turning in a slow circle as you continued to pet him. “You’re excited tonight, hmm?”

“He is.” Din’s voice interrupted you and when you looked up, locking eyes with the man, you realized what position you were in. Shit. Your hands froze on Grogu, a single breath escaping from between your parted lips. Oh, this … You watched Din’s fingers flex; curling into loose fists as he watched you, and despite the brevity of the moment that passed between you, you couldn’t deny the heat that ignited in your belly at the sight of him above you. Stop it. Stop it now, this is … “If you …” Din finally spoke after drawing in a deep breath and blinking rapidly, breaking the tension. “If you ever want him to stop, say Gev. Down is daab.”

You repeated the words to yourself and then looked away from Din and back at the dog. You were skeptical that he’d listen to you, especially with Din so close. “Gev, Grogu.” Even though you spoke quietly, the single command was enough. He went still and then backed off, settling on his haunches next to Din’s legs. “Holy shit. Really?” You glanced up again and then stood, the smile on your face growing. “What… what language is that?”

“Mando’a.” He shrugged. “I learned it as a kid, and when I found Grogu, I wanted to make sure that he listened.” You started walking toward the center of town again, Din next to you. “How many people say stop or sit or down or no on a daily basis? So teaching him in a different language made sense.”

“It does.” You stepped closer to avoid a couple moving in the other direction, your elbow brushing against Din’s. “That’s smart. So now when he hears it, he knows you’re the one saying it, so he has to listen.”

“Yeah.” Din sighed, winding the leash a little tighter around his hand as the crowd materialized in front of you. “And he usually does.”

“Does he know any English commands?”

“He knows food and eat.” You laughed loudly at that, covering your mouth with one hand, eyes going back to the man next to you. “Walk. Outside.” Din looked down and then leaned closer to you, lowering his voice. “Treat.”

At that, Grogu barked, twisting around to face the two of you again, tongue lolling out of his mouth. “Oh, you definitely know that one, don’t you.” Both you and Din laughed, continuing the walk along the sidewalk and toward the tents that lined the street further down. “Maybe one of these booths will have something for you to snack on, buddy.” Pausing, you looked back up at Din. “If he’s allowed, I mean.”

“Of course he is.” Din grinned at you, the warmth in his expression chasing the chill from the air. “And he’s not too picky, so…”

You figured that the dog would eat just about anything, so the confirmation wasn’t much of a surprise. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to pick something good. You passed a few vendors - people selling Christmas ornaments and wreaths, hand-made blankets and carvings; even a few stands that were filled with soaps and candles.

You didn’t see anything for pets, but Din didn’t seem to mind much, the man asking you questions about some of the stands as you passed them. He’d shortened Grogu’s leash to keep him even closer, and you were happy to see that he was well-behaved, staying near the man’s side and not tugging to run ahead.

“You said they turn on the tree at 8?” He paused at the end of one set of tents turning to face you. “We’ve only got a little longer than half hour left.” Reaching into your pocket, you pulled out your phone and checked the time, finding that he was right. Shit.

“I didn’t realize it was so late, Din. I’m sorry.” I really am, because it means that I’ll have to leave sooner. “But yeah, it’s getting close. So we should find Grogu a snack and then -”

“And then maybe we should find some of that hot chocolate your friend mentioned for ourselves.” He elbowed you gently, shifting closer. “If it was good enough that they ran off right away to find it….” He trailed off and it made you laugh, the three of you beginning to move again, that time toward a smaller grouping of stands.

“It is good, Din.” You didn’t have time to say more than that because you caught sight of the booth you’d been looking for out of the corner of one eye, reaching out with your hand to alert him. “Dog treats on your right.”

He corrected course immediately, leading you and Grogu to the table. “Hi!” The woman behind it greeted you with a wave, eyes darting between you and Din and then down to Grogu. “Looks like the three of you - and especially the little guy - are in need of some snacks.”

“I think he’d like that.” Din cleared his throat. “His name’s -”

“Grogu. I can see it on his collar. I’m not calling him that though. I’m gonna call him Bright Eyes because that’s exactly what this little cutie has.” She stepped around from the table and then crouched down, her gloved hands shooting out to ruffle the dog’s ears. “Isn’t it.” He moved closer, tail wagging, and before Din could tell him to stay down, the dog was on his hind legs, front paws resting on the woman’s knees. “What do you like, little guy? Pig’s ears? Peanut butter? Bacon?”

The wagging of Grogu’s tail sped up with each word the woman spoke, but it wasn’t until she leaned in and kissed him on the nose before rising to her feet that he barked, a happy sound that you could hear even over the crowd around you. “He likes all of it.”

“I know.” She turned and headed back behind the table, holding one hand - and one finger - up. “He looks like he’d eat just about anything but I’ve got just the right …” She bent down and then popped up a few seconds later, a triumphant smile on her face. “Homemade. Dogs love ‘em. Fun shape makes ‘em different. Here you go Bright Eyes, how about this one?”

She rounded the table again and held up what she had in her hand - and while you barely contained your laugher, Din wasn’t able to do the same. “Is that a … frog?”

“It sure is!” The woman nodded once, holding the treat up. “Good for the teeth and the gums. Gets all the crud outta there and it tastes good.” She paused, sucking in a breath and then looked back at Grogu. “Wanna try it?”

He was sitting again, paws neatly placed in front of his body, tail thumping on the ground. You watched him tilt his head back, sniffing the air, and then the dog’s tongue poked out of his mouth as he licked his chops. He does. Look at him. “I’ll pay for it, Din.” Reaching for your purse, you pulled out your wallet. “How much?”

“Couple bucks.” She waved her free hand, bending over again as she lowered her hand. “You can put it in the thing on the table if he likes it.”

“Puhoi, Grogu.” Din’s low voice from next to you made the dog whine quietly, but when the treat was just in front of Grogu’s mouth, you were shocked to see that he remained in place, shifting his paws but otherwise not moving. The woman paused and then looked up at Din, and though it pained you to do so, you looked away from him and at the dog, waiting to see what would happen next. “Hiibir bic.” And then he moved - the dog gently taking the treat from between the woman’s fingers and closing his jaws around it, rising onto all four feet and taking a step back before he set it down, sniffing it.

“Look at that,” the woman exclaimed, her grin returning full force. “I’ve never had a -”

But her words were cut off by Grogu inhaling the frog-shaped treat, chomping down on it with vigor. It crunched into tiny pieces and he devoured them in only a few seconds, nose moving along the ground followed by his tongue to catch any crumbs that he might have missed. That’s more like it. Laughing along with them, you moved around the woman’s body and put the money into the waiting container, fingers deftly picking up one of her business cards from the displayed stack. Peli Motto. Never heard of her before; she must be from out of town.

“Well thank you, Peli.” You held the card up as you stepped back next to Din. “I definitely see a few more of these things in Grogu’s future.” You didn’t know if that was actually going to be the case, but you hoped it would be, especially with how quickly he’d eaten the treat. “I’ll check out the website, and -”

“It’s all there.” She waved her hand again before bending down to scratch at Grogu’s back, the dog nudging against her calf. “Frogs and biscuits and bones and jerky and everything you can think of. I’ve also got a site for my other businesses, and there’s a link on the pet page if you decide to look through it.” She straightened up, looking between you and Din. “Somea the stuff I sell is perfect for couples, and -”

“We’re not a couple.” You interjected before she could get too carried away - and before Din could question why you were letting the assumption slide. “Just friends. But thank you, we’ll take a look.”

She stood straight up again and then stepped back, her attention shifting momentarily from you and Din to another person that was hovering nearby. “If you say so.” She shrugged. “Glad he likes that one though. It’s very popular. And I sell a ton of ‘em for the holidays so if you’re going to want some, make sure you get your order in soon.” She eyed Din again, one hand on her hip. “I do offer expedited production and delivery for a fee, so…”

“You’ll be the first one I call.” Din’s lips twitched into a small smile and then he nodded. “Thank you again. You made his day.” She gave the three of you another nod and then turned her full attention to the new people, the sudden departure blanketing you and Din in relative silence. That was a lot. “Ready to find that hot chocolate?”

“Sure.” Sticking your hands in your pockets as you headed back for the main tree, Din tugged on Grogu’s leash to pull him with you. “And if you don’t want to wait in line with him, we’ll find a spot and then I can go.”

“Is every year like this?” He avoided your offer, gesturing to the people in front of and around you with his free hand. “For the tree lighting?”

“It’s usually not this busy, actually.” You sidestepped a small group of teenagers, bumping into Din’s side as you did. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He steadied you with one large hand, palm resting at the center of your back - and even through your jacket, you could feel it; the pressure welcome and sending a thrumming energy through you. Oh no. “You alright?”

“I’m fine. I didn’t run into any of them.” You sighed, closing your eyes. “Anyway, it’s usually not this busy, but because it’s been nice the last couple days … everyone’s here.”

“Yeah, almost all the snow’s melted.” The three of you reached the corner of the street where the tree was, the brightly colored lights on the food trucks cutting through the darkness. “I was surprised. What happens if there’s no snow for the snowman thing?”

“That’s why it’s not first.” You pointed out the hot chocolate truck, squinting to try and see the line. “Three weeks in gives them plenty of time to figure something out if they need to. I’m sure there’s a backup plan, but we’ve never had to use it… and I’m sure we won’t this year, either.”

He stayed quiet for a few seconds and then Din said your name, the man turning toward you. “I hope you’re right.” Pulling his lower lip back and between his teeth, he stared at you for long moments, the man silent. What’s going on, Din? You wanted to ask but didn’t know how to, your fingers curling into loose fists inside of your pockets. “Look.” He sighed, closing his eyes. “I’ll let you stay here with Grogu, if this is a good spot.”

“What?” He held out the leash, the smile returning to his face. “Din, he -”

“He’ll be good.” Din’s eyes flicked down and then back up, “It’s only a few minutes.” Pulling one hand free from your pocket, you took the handle, fingers threading through the loop and then closing around it, the majority of it resting against the back of your wrist. “Wait here?”

“I might move a little closer to those trees.” You gestured with your chin. “But I’ll be there.” When he turned away from you, you said his name, stopping the man in his tracks. “Do you want money? I -”

“No. You bought him that frog. I’ve got it.” He waved you off with one hand. “Marshmallows or whipped cream? What do you like?”

“Marshmallows.” Biting your lower lip in thought, you narrowed your eyes. “And if they’ve got those little candy canes, grab me one of those, too. Please.” He assured you that he would and then Din began moving again, disappearing into the crowd. You watched until you couldn’t see him anymore and then turned your attention to Grogu, saying the dog’s name. “C’mon pal. We’re gonna get to a better spot, alright?”

He went willingly as you weaved through the crowd and about fifteen feet to your right. It wasn’t any closer to the main tree, but the ground where you were standing sloped up and back, elevating you a few feet over the rest of the crowd - and giving you a better view of everything beneath you.

As you let yourself watch what was happening, you zoned out, head tilted to one side and your fingers holding the leash tightly. I’m here with … James hadn’t ever wanted to go to the tree lighting with you, citing the hectic nature of the night along with the long lines at the concession stands - and the traffic jam that getting out of the parking garages could become. And I never fought it. You’d gone every year without him - meeting friends or going alone - but it had never felt perfect; there’d always been something missing.

And you hated to admit it, but the missing piece was someone there with you because they wanted to be - someone that wasn’t just a friend that you’d known for years. You loathed being a third wheel, and even though Stacy and Joseph never made you feel unwanted, you couldn’t help it sometimes. “It’s weird, right Grogu?” Looking down, you watched as he lowered himself onto the ground, paws outstretched in front of him before he settled his nose between them. “This is the first time I’m not here with my friends in about a million years.”

He didn’t reply - or look up - so you returned your attention to the crowd, trying to see if you could spot your friends. I should text them. I should let them know where I am. Pulling your phone out, you saw that there was a message from Cara. What does she want?

Saw Din in the hot cocoa line by himself. Did you scare him off already?

You fought back a laugh at that, sliding the loop of Grogu’s leash all the way back and around your wrist so that you could type.

No, I’m waiting with Grogu by the trees on the hill. He offered to go.

She began typing back almost immediately, and her reply was blunt - though not unexpected.

You can tell me where you’re at all you want, but you’re on your own. We’re staying where we are… and so are you. And Din.

“I knew it.” Groaning, you rolled your eyes and sent a message back,chewing on the inside of your cheek.

Fine. But I still need a ride back to my car later.

She took a few seconds to respond, the bubble appearing and disappearing at the bottom of the message multiple times.

You know where we’re parked.

Slipping your phone back into your pocket, you shuffled your feet and then stuck your hands back in your pockets, seeking out the warmth. Even though it had been warmer, the temperature drop after dark made things chilly. The cup will warm my hands up when he gets back.

As the minutes passed and people’s attention turned toward the main tree, the crowd gathered around it growing steadily larger, you wondered if Din was going to make it back in time. I’d hate that. I wouldn’t want him to miss the tree getting turned on, especially since -

“Hey. I’m back.” Looking to the left, you saw Din approaching, two green cups with lids in his hands. “Sorry it took so long.”

“You made it back just in time.” You took one cup, shaking the leash back to between your fingers before you held it out to Din. “Got a couple more minutes.” He took the loop from you, and despite your best efforts, you couldn’t stop yourself from staring at the way his fingers looked against the dark rope, his palm nearly swallowing the braided material as he closed them around it. “The view’s much better up here.”

“It is.” He moved a little closer to you, Grogu still laying on the ground at your feet. “I saw your friends while I was in line. They pretended that they didn’t see me.”

“I’m going to be honest with you, Din.” Sipping the cocoa, you licked your lips clean. “They’re trying to convince me to … I don’t even know what, exactly, and …”

“They’re being good friends.” He took a drink, too, shoulders rising and falling in a shrug. “I take it they’re not trying to wait and see if you end up back with your ex?”

“God no.” You rolled your eyes. “Stacy pretty much threw a party when we broke up, and Cara wasn’t a huge fan, either. I could probably pick any random man in this crowd and they’d approve more than they did with James.” He laughed, the sound quiet - but you still heard it.

“So they ignored me so I couldn’t tell them where we were standing?”

“Yes.” The taste of chocolate coated your tongue, warmth seeping through your body a little more each passing second. “I sent a text to Cara, and she pretty much told me that I was on my own until it was time to leave.”

“Could be worse, right?” Din turned his head toward you, gifting you with an eyeful of his profile.

You’d looked at him before, but that night - with the soft glow of the overhead lights shining through the tree branches and from behind him, you saw the man in a new light. The curved bridge of his nose, his full lips, the well-kept mustache and short, stubbly beard … all of it separately was attractive, but everything together - and there with you - made your stomach flip.

With every second that he spent watching you, it became more and more apparent that the crush you had on him wasn’t going to go away. And we still have five events to do together. This is .. bad. This is going to be … hard.

“I mean… you could be alone, or not have hot chocolate, or…” He trailed off and you were overcome with the desire to hug him, though you stopped yourself, tightening your grip on your cup. “Oh, speaking of …” He reached into his pocket and pulled out two plastic-wrapped candy canes, holding one out to you. “Sorry, I forgot to give this to you.”

You took it from him, plucking the peppermint stick from his fingers and deftly opening it with one hand before you stuck one end between your lips, sucking. Not only did it distract you from what you’d been thinking about, it gave you a few extra seconds to come up with a response. Make it funny. Make it so that he doesn’t think you think this is more than it is.

“You know,” you finally said as you pulled the candy cane from between your lips. “I always thought that if you were a single person out somewhere with a cute dog, there’d be people lining up to talk to you.” You used the candy to point down at Grogu. “But you left me with him for like ten minutes, and no one came up to me, Din. I think your dog’s broken.”

“Definitely not.” Din swallowed a gulp of cocoa and shook his head, licking his lips. “I had at least three women walk up to me before you got here and tell me how cute he was.” Of course you did, but that has nothing to do with the dog. “And when we’re walking, people are always asking about him, too.”

“Must be me then.” You muttered the words, unable to stop yourself. I -”

“No.” He turned toward you, angling his body so that he faced you without needing to turn his head. “It’s definitely not you.” You felt the weight of his stare - the man’s gaze warm and pulling you in, heating you from the inside out more than the hot chocolate ever could have.

“Din, you -”

But before you could say anything else, you heard feedback through the microphone on the square, the sound making you wince and Grogu whine, the dog getting to his feet. “Ouch.” Din winced too, ducking his head and averting his eyes. “You alright, pal?” You looked, finding Grogu’s face peeking out from behind Din’s calves, head tilted so that he could look up. “I know it was loud.”

The moment was broken - and while part of you was thankful, another part of you was upset, the idea of never knowing what you might have said or what might have happened if you hadn’t been interrupted something that you knew would gnaw at you. But it’s better this way. “They’re starting.” You pointed, saying Din’s name. “That’s the mayor and then the winners from last year’s competition.”

“What are they doing up there?” He spoke loudly to be heard over the sound of increasing cheers and clapping, and instead of raising your voice to yell, you shifted closer, turning your head so that you could speak directly into his ear.

“They flip the switch.” You paused, trying to disguise your shiver at the way Din moved, too,closing the distance between you even more. “That’s one of the prizes that stays the same every year. The winners are a part of the tree lighting.”

“So that’s gonna be us next year?” He turned his head to look at you, lips pushed out into a smirk. “Standing up there with everyone watching us?” Wait, what?

“Thought you said I shouldn’t expect anything from you.” You spoke breathlessly, your fingers tightening around your cup as your heart hammered behind your ribcage. “Because -”

“I changed my mind.” He wet his lips, the tip of his tongue flashing into and out of view. “I want to win.” And you said I’m the competitive one. A laugh escaped you then, your nose wrinkling as you shut your eyes, nodding. “What?”

“Well if you’ve changed your mind, Din, then I guess we have to win.” He was grinning at you when you opened your eyes again, but before he could speak, the sound of the Mayor’s voice interrupted, welcoming everyone to the celebration.

The two of you faced forward, eyes on the man and two women that stood next to him, the three of them wearing colorful coats and hats. And even though you were paying attention to what was happening - the man reintroducing the winners with a broad sweep of his arm, thanking all of the vendors for being present, wishing everyone a happy holiday season - you were much more aware of Din’s presence beside you than anything else.

He hadn’t moved away again, the heat radiating off of his body along with the scent of his cologne, and for a few minutes, you let your mind wander, imagining what it would be like to know that you got to attend events with him, to casually reach over and take Grogu’s leash from his hand and wind it around yours, to be able to lean over and rest your head against his - “Hey.”

Din’s voice cut through your thoughts, forcing your attention back onto him just as the Mayor was reminding everyone that the contest began the following night, and that an updated schedule of events was available 24/7 online. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for inviting me.” The smirk had turned into a soft smile, Din’s eyes warm beneath the band of his hat. “I’ve never been to anything like -” There was a smattering of applause that was accompanied with a countdown, and with some regret, you closed your eyes and gritted your teeth. Dammit.

“You probably want to watch this, Din.” Even though you were annoyed that your conversations kept getting interrupted, you couldn’t deny the excitement you felt at the fact that you were only moments away from the true start of the holiday season. “Look at the tree.”

He did - and you did, too, your breath catching as the two women stepped forward and reached out for the oversized switch, their fingers closing around it as the residents of the town began to count backwards from 10.

When they hit 3, you shifted on both feet, glancing down to see that Grogu was sitting again, paws neatly arranged and his ears perked up toward the sound of the crowd. Good boy, Grogu. You smiled at the sight and then looked back at the tree, biting down on your lower lip as the switch flipped - and then a few seconds later, the lights on the tree came on, followed by strings of them leading out and away from it and over the square.

“Oh, dank farrik.” Din’s voice was filled with awe, and as you looked over at him, you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling at his expression, the man’s eyes wide and his pupils huge. As the lights continued to turn on in succession, you briefly closed your eyes again, taking a deep breath. “Whoa!”

Reopening them, you watched Din’s neck stretch as he looked up, his eyes on the branches above you, which were strung with hundreds of tiny multicolored lights. “Surprise, Din.” Before you could stop yourself, you reached over, laying your hand on his arm. “When I said we decorate here, we decorate.”

“You weren’t kidding.” When he looked back at you, the awe was still there, though there was a deep crease between his brows as he stared at you. “This is …” He trailed off, frowning. “Everything at home is so formal when it comes to the holidays, and … I’ve never…”

“Can’t say that anymore.” You tightened your grip on his arm, fingers sinking into the soft, puffy material of his coat. “And it only gets better.” He eyed you for a few more seconds and then looked away, his attention moving over the lights and the crowd before it honed back in on the tree, the man smiling again. “You should bring Grogu back here at night sometime.”

Letting go of his arm, you crouched down, setting your cup between your feet and reaching over to pet the dog, fingers moving slowly through the short fur on the top of his head. “Yeah?”

“Mmmhmm.” He leaned into your touch, whining softly when you scratched him behind the ears. “It’s a good photo op. There’s a little wall that you can have him jump up and sit on, the tree’s perfectly placed behind it. You can sent it back home so everyone can see him.” Din stayed silent, even as you picked the cup back up and stood, taking a sip. “Wait a week or so and get some snow in there, and it looks like a Christmas card.”

“You could come with us.” He turned to face you, lifting one shoulder in a shrug as he took a drink, too. “Show us the right spot.” I’d… I’d love that. You wanted to reply immediately but forced yourself not to, instead taking a deep breath and nodding. Don’t let him see how much you want that.

“If you want.” You finished your cocoa, lowering the cup to your side. “And that way you’ll have someone to take a picture of the two of you.” You saw the confusion return, his eyes narrowing briefly. What did I say? I didn’t mean to… “Din?”

“There you are!” You swore under your breath and unless you imagining it, so did he, but both of you turned toward the sound and watched as your friends headed through the crowd and toward you, Cara holding a cup similar to yours and Stacy and Joseph behind her, their hands linked. “Well, what do you think, Din? You like the lights?”

“I … do.” He nodded at them, winding Grogu’s leash tighter around his hand. “There are a lot more of them than I thought. And I’m used to only white lights, so…” You are? His smile widened, Din nodding. “I like this.”

“A lot of the buildings decorate, too.” Cara swigged from her cup and then grinned. “You’ll see that tomorrow at trivia, to start.”

“I’m sure I will.” Din looked from your friend back to you, a flash of disappointment in his eyes. “But we should probably get going now so we can beat the crowd.” Oh. You’d known it was coming - the time that you had to separate - but you were disappointed, too, the abrupt arrival of your friends changing the feeling of the night. “And that way I can get home in time to study.”

“Study?” You grinned. “Din, are you going to go home and look up -”

“I am.” He straightened up and set his shoulders, his attention fully on you. “Just going to look at a couple things.” He arched a brow, head cocked slightly to one side? “Any recommendations for where to start?”

“I’ll text you a couple links.” You pressed your lips together, warmth toward the man filling your chest. He’s taking this seriously. It’s just a stupid contest, and … “If that’s ok?”

“Yeah.” He took a breath and released it, finally looking away from you and at Grogu. “But I should go and get him home. It was … I had a good time tonight. Thank you for telling me about it.”

“This is only the beginning.” Stacy spoke up, her head resting on her husband’s shoulder. “If you had a good time here, you’ll love the rest of Mistletoe’s Christmas.”

“I hope so.” Eyes darting back to you, Din opened his mouth and then closed it, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yep.” You stepped back and toward your friends, making the first move to put space between yourself and the man. “Have a good night, Din.” You looked down, your smile growing. “You too, Grogu.” Din’s mouth moved but you couldn’t make out what he said - though as soon as he stopped, Grogu barked happily, his tail thumping against the man’s leg. I’ll have to ask him about that.

“G’night, Din.” Cara held up a hand in a wave, the woman reaching over to link arms with you. “See you around.”

As she pulled you away, you looked back over your shoulder at him, finding that Din was watching you with a small smile on his face, one hand stuffed into the pocket of his jacket. Mouthing the word “goodnight” at him, you watched Din nod once before you faced forward, Cara tugging you closer as Stacy and Joseph led the way back to the car.

Once he was out of earshot, you wrenched yourself free, tossing your cup into a trash can before facing your friend. “What was that? You said that you’d let what happened happen. That you wouldn’t interfere, and -”

“I said we’d stay out of it when it came to getting the two of you together or manipulating that.” Cara looked to the side at you, shrugging. “But I didn’t say anything about cutting in in an attempt to pull you apart.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.” You were confused at her logic, the four of you continuing to walk back toward the car. “Cara, what do -”

“We watched you all night.” Stacy spoke up, clearing her throat. “We needed to pull you out of there before the two of you got too far ahead of yourselves.” Ahead of ourselves? “There’s definitely a connection there, but there’s no reason for you to rush anything.”

“Rush anything?” Laughing as the parking garage came into view, you rubbed at your forehead. “Don’t sabotage myself, but don’t go too fast, try to get to know him but don’t get too close. What the hell am I supposed to -”

“You just broke up with Captain Asshole, and you might not know Din well,but he’s aware that you were together for a while.” All of you crowded into the elevator, Cara’s arms crossed over her chest and her dark eyes locked with yours. “If you rush into anything with him, or … cross a line with him now, you might regret it. And he might, too.” Oh. That… makes sense.

Stacy spoke up next. “We won’t be there every time you’re with him, but tonight? This is the first night, and since the competition is starting tomorrow, we wanted to make sure it wasn’t… that it didn’t get awkward.” That made sense to you, even though you didn’t want to admit it. “It’s easy to get caught up in the moment. We’ve all done it. But this is … different. And you said you weren’t looking for anything, so -”

“I agree with you.” Sliding into the backseat, you leaned your head back, eyes closed. “I’m not looking for anything. But it’s hard to remember that when …”

“When you’re standing next to someone like Din?” Stacy looked back at you from the front seat, grinning. “Understandable.” Even Joseph laughed at that, and as he pulled out of the garage and onto the main street, you settled back into the seat, eyes out the window. I’m not looking for anything … and even if I was, he… he hasn’t dated anyone the whole time he’s been here, and… shit.

—

An hour later, you were changed into your pajamas and ready for bed, though you decided to watch a movie before heading up to your room.

After settling on the couch and wrapping a blanket around your shoulders, you pulled your phone out and debated over whether or not to text Din. I said I would. Chewing on your lower lip, you started at the screen and then unlocked it, opening your texts.

The picture of Grogu was the first thing you saw, and you couldn’t keep the smile off of your face as you stared at him, the dog’s large eyes bright and focused on the camera - and on Din, in turn. It won’t hurt anything.

A few minutes later, you’d put three different links into a single message, thumb hovering over the send button. It’s just research. You sent the message and then immediately followed it up with another to explain yourself.

Just some light reading for you. They usually go pretty heavy on the general trivia.

It took a few seconds but when Din opened the messages, he began typing back almost immediately - and his answer was not what you expected.

Got it. Thanks, I’ll take a look.

Maybe he’s upset at how I left tonight? You hoped that wasn’t the case - that your friends hadn’t inadvertently ruined things for you while doing what they thought they could to help. Or maybe he’s having second thoughts about tomorrow.

Deciding to send one message back - a smiley face with a simple you’re welcome - you were in the middle of typing when another message from Din came through.

I had fun tonight. It was nice to get out with Grogu … and you.

You nearly dropped your phone at that, and spent the next 60 seconds staring at the screen, mouth hanging open. What? “How do I even respond to that?” You needed to - and you knew it, but you didn’t know what the appropriate reply was, especially after your friends had cautioned you earlier. I just have to be … careful.

I’m glad. I did too.

It felt hollow, though, and as soon as you sent it and reread the message, you were typing again, pressing send again before you could stop yourself.

Can’t wait for tomorrow.

You didn’t expect a reply from Din, but when your phone buzzed again moments later, you let out a breath, covering your mouth with one hand and sighing in relief.

I can’t either.

—

Puhoi = slow

Hiibir bic = take it

Jorhaa'ir = speak

#din djarin x reader #din x female reader #din djarin x female reader #the mandalorian au #pedro pascal character #din djarin modern au #IT guy din #star wars #star wars fic #hallmark christmas 2022 #competing for christmas #christmas story 2022 #grogu #din and grogu but in a new way #choose your holiday 2022 adventure #christmas fluff #ALL the holiday tropes #din djarin masterlist #competing for christmas masterlist

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k-evans-reads · 2 years ago

Text

In Living Color

Chapter 13 - Part One

Summary: When Natalie Marton, lead character designer for Buzz Lightyear, meets the voice of Buzz, Chris Evans, the sparks are undeniable. But when their work pushes them away from each other, both physically and emotionally, will the sheer differences between their worlds be enough to force them apart?

Pairing: Chris Evans x Pixar Animator OFC Natalie Marton

Word Count: 7,739

By: @k-evans-writes and @ourfinest-hour

We do NOT give permission for our works to be reuploaded, translated, or reposted on any other site. Our work is our own.

Warnings: Sexual content. 18+ ONLY. Minors DNI.

Previous | Main Masterlist | In Living Color Masterlist

October 4th, 2021

It was starting to grow dark when Chris finally was able to shut his laptop with a long sigh, stretching out his muscles from where he was sitting at the kitchen table. He hadn’t even realized just how long he’d been sitting in the same spot, going through Zoom meetings and answering emails for ASP, but he was finally finished for the evening and by the looks of his loving pooch who was gazing up at him hopefully, Chris wasn’t the only one who was glad that he was done.

“Hey bubba, you ready for a walk? You ready to go, buddy?” Chris asked as ghosted a hand over Dodger’s head, scratching the fur there.

Responding to his attention, Dodger’s tail started wagging and he let out a happy bark as Chris stood up from the chair and went to grab his leash and slid on his warm coat before heading toward the front door. The chilly evening air hit him as he stepped outside, happy to get warmed up once he started moving and walked Dodger down his long driveway. It had felt so good to be home, having arrived back in Boston a few weeks ago after meeting Nat’s family and had planned on going back to Los Angeles around this time for the last bit of voicework they’d needed to rerecord, but the schedule had gotten pushed back and allowed him to stay in the sanctuary of his home. Although it had been so wonderful having this extended time at home, it was a little more bittersweet than normal, wishing there was one other person here.

He got pulled out of his thoughts when Dodger barked and started bouncing around his feet once they made their way to the end of the driveway. Chris couldn’t help but smile at the dog as he led him inside the fence of his large property, asking, “You want to run, Dodge? You want to get some exercise, you goof?”

Chris only laughed when Dodger barked again and he unclipped the leash and then leaned against the fence. He fished the rubber ball out of his pocket and showed it to Dodger, getting his attention before throwing it with impressive force across the yard and sending the happy dog running. While waiting for Dodger to return, Chris pulled out his phone, finally responding to the few lingering texts, clearing all his notifications before he started mindlessly scrolling Instagram, flicking past the photos that filled his screen before stopping on one in particular.

The caption had him laughing out loud as Dodger ran back over, bringing the ball that Chris threw again before he pulled up his text thread with Nat, quickly telling her ‘That’s exactly that I mean when I ask for nudes.’

‘Thought so ;)’

But the quick response only brought a melancholy feeling to his heart, hating that he didn’t even know when he’d get to hear those comical responses in person. They hadn’t made any set in stone plans, Chris being so happy here in Boston and Nat being busy with work, but when he flipped back to Instagram and saw that cute face, it only made that longing in his heart for her even worse than it had been.

It wasn’t as if it was the first time he’d been apart from Nat, but somehow this felt different. When he had gone to Europe earlier in the year, they hadn’t been an established couple. Things were still a bit unclear and his feelings for her hadn’t developed to the level they were at now. He was so in love with her, in love with everything about her, and being apart from her felt like torture, but so did the thought of being away from home. As much as he wanted to just hop on a plane and go be with her, so much of his heart was here too.

He’d been away from home for so long between beginning work on Lightyear in the spring, then jumping right to filming The Gray Man in Long Beach and all over Europe, then making a short pitstop to grab Dodger before he went back to Los Angeles until the end of September. After those hectic, stressful nine months, being back home at his house during his favorite time of year felt almost healing. He loved getting to run errands with his mom, go have dinner at his sister’s house, and hang out with so many of his lifelong best friends. He’d given up so much time this summer to be in California and although he wouldn’t trade it for anything because he got to spend that time falling deeper in love with Nat, he also wanted to be home, and right now he hated that he had to choose one over the other.

That heaviness of missing Nat lingered over him as he walked up with Dodger back to the house, but soon it got replaced with a smile when an idea popped into his head. He quickly fed Dodger, getting the dog settled for the evening before he made his way over to the computer sitting on the table. Without a moment’s hesitation, he navigated to Jet Blue’s website, just as he began calling Nat on speakerphone.

It rang a few short times, but Chris didn’t worry as he continued his search for a flight. Before long, Nat answered, “Hey baby.”

He smiled at her greeting as his eyes scanned the webpage in front of him. “Hi Nattie. You off work yet?” He asked, eyes darting away from the screen as Dodger barked excitedly while he ate his food.

“Yeah I’m just packing up my stuff,” Nat filled him in, shifting the phone around as she got ready to go. “I’m going to Mark’s house tonight and we’re going to get caught up on Only Murders In the Building because we’re behind on a few episodes.”

“I still need to watch that,” Chris murmured half-heartedly. “But hey, guess what I’m doing right now?”

“What’s that?”

He grinned, clicking on a flight for that Friday night. “I’m booking you a ticket to come see me,” he told her as his eyes scanned the seat options.

“What?” Nat asked him, her voice shocked and quiet as she suddenly stopped moving.

“I’m getting you a ticket for this weekend so you can come out to Boston,” Chris explained, unable to stop the smile from growing across his lips as he selected her a seat in the first class cabin, one with a window, and then started filling in her information. “I was going to surprise and just text you the ticket, but I just couldn’t wait.”

But Nat sighed in frustration, her voice tense as she muttered, “Chris, I can’t come out.”

He scowled, his eyes moving off of the computer screen to stare across the room as he incredulously asked, “Why not?”

She scoffed, acting like it was obvious. “I can’t just drop everything at a moment's notice and fly across the country,” she explained, her voice raising before it dropped just as quickly.

“It’s not like your flight is tonight,” Chris muttered frustratedly. He missed her and he thought she’d missed him as well, she’d been saying so the last two weeks. It was hard on both of them, going from being together every day to rushing phone calls in between meetings, but he’d been making this new relationship work, putting in the effort to make her happy, but right now? He felt like it wasn’t being reciprocated. “Don’t you want to spend some time out here? You’ve never even been out to Boston before.”

Nat huffed again, a thud in the background before she spoke again, telling him, “Yeah but I can’t go on this short notice. Why don’t you just come to me?”

“I’m so fucking tired of California. I really want to show you around here and just get to see you,” Chris whispered. He knew, in his heart, that the only reason he’d spent as much time in California these days was because of her. If Nat hadn’t crashed – literally – into his life, he would’ve quietly recorded the bits he needed to in Burbank before finishing the rest of his lines in New York throughout the rest of the summer and fall. He was open with anyone who asked about his hatred of Los Angeles at this stage of his life, with the bubble and hyperfixation on the lives of himself and others in his position, but he’d toughed it out through the early stages of their relationship, growing it behind closed doors and in the privacy of their homes. But he’d missed home, missed having a place where he wasn’t constantly looking over his shoulder, where he didn’t have to worry about having at least five phones on him anywhere he went. He could fly relatively under the radar here and he’d never take it for granted, but more than anything, he wanted to be here with Nat, get to hold her hand as they went for a walk on the trails with Dodger, and go grocery shopping together. It was something they’d yet to actually have the luxury of doing yet, but here they could.

“Well I kind of have a job I need to go to everyday,” Nat began, snapping Chris out of his thoughts. Her voice was low, frustrated, and verging on angry at him.

He leaned back in the dining chair, pulling the baseball cap off of his head and running a hand through his thick hair. “I was going to book it for Friday night and have you come back Sunday night! You wouldn’t even miss any work,” he tried to explain, almost begging her to take it.

He could practically see Nat rolling her eyes as she questioned, “Have you not been listening to a word I’ve said lately about how I’ve been having to work late and most Saturdays because we’re behind on Lightyear?”

Chris sighed, knowing that she’d spent a lot of her time at the Burbank offices lately, even on the weekends. They were approaching the last big deadlines with the trailer’s impending release, but most of all…. He just fucking missed her. He missed her so much it was blinding him and he nearly pleaded, “C’mon Nat, it’s not like you can’t get one fucking day off.”

Nat was quiet for a few dangerous moments until she wondered, “I just don’t understand why you don’t just come see me.”

“Do you realize how much fucking time I’ve spend in California for you already?” He asked, regretting it the moment he said it. He was hurt at her outright refusal, not even giving his offer a second to linger before she shot him down. He’d realize later how much of an asshole move this was, this lashing out, but right now, all he could see was hurt and red.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t realize that I’m such an inconvenience for you,” she told him slowly, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

He rolled his eyes as he stared at the ceiling, his jaw clenched in frustration. “I never said that but you’re the one who isn’t putting any effort into this relationship right now,” he ground out.

“Chris, I’m not doing this again,” Nat hurriedly said, sighing before she scoffed. “You’re acting like a spoiled baby because you decided something without asking me and I said no. You can call me back when you get the stick out of your ass.”

And with that he heard a click on the other end of the line as she hung up the call. He couldn’t help but squeeze the phone in his hand, trying to relieve some of the frustration inside him but it didn’t seem to help any. All he was trying to do was something nice for her… for them. It had been almost a month since they’d been together and hearing her hesitation made him feel as if she didn’t want to be with him and stirred up all his insecurities and anxieties that she’d realize just how complicated this relationship was with a person like him with his crazy schedule.

He kept fuming as he closed his laptop and tried to busy his brain by pulling out some food for dinner. Nothing could stop the noisy thoughts in his brain while he started whisking the eggs but suddenly his brain reminded him of that one phrase she said that didn’t make sense at the moment when she said ‘I’m not doing this again.’

Although it hadn’t made any sense before, it suddenly did when he recalled his last deep in-person conversation with her. Chris recalled laying on his large bed in California listening as Nat spilled her heart out to him about Shane and what had broken them. He remembered her saying how he hadn’t valued her job, just expecting her to drop and give up everything for him and what he wanted and it suddenly made sense why this triggered Nat more than he would have ever have imagined. And just thinking of himself causing any bit of pain like what Shane had caused made him feel like the biggest ass in the entire world and had him grabbing his phone and clicking the call button.

He worried that with each passing ring, she’d let his call go to voicemail. But at the final moment, she answered, silently. He listened to the background noise on the call, able to tell she was in her car now, and breathed, “Nattie, I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want you to say it just because I’m upset, Chris,” she replied coldly, her voice so unlike herself.

“I mean it, baby. I’m so sorry,” he repeated, leaning his back against the counter as he held the phone to his ear. “You were right, I was being really insensitive to your schedule and your job.”

She was quiet until a shaky breath left her lips and she told him, “I forgive you Chris, but I just want you to understand that as much as I want to be with you all the time, I can’t just drop everything to come see you.”

“You’re so right and I’m sorry. I just had a shitty day and a lot of horrible meetings and I let it impact me,” he explained. He’d had a pounding in his temples all day, likely due to his busy schedule, a couple of frustrating calls, and not drinking enough water earlier, but it was certainly no excuse for how he’d treated her. It wasn’t up to Nat to put up with his bullshit, to put up with taking the brunt of his frustration. He was allowed to vent to her, but he was never allowed to mistreat her because he felt like shit. “I just wanted you and I got excited at the thought of seeing you and I put what I wanted above you and I’m sorry for that.”

“It’s okay, Chris. My job just isn’t one that I can take off, especially not right now,” she explained, her voice much kinder than it’d been only a minute earlier. She sniffled before continuing, “I want to see you too, but just talk to me first next time, don’t assume.”

“I promise I’ll work on it,” he assured her, before glancing at the calendar near his fridge, eyes scanning the month. “How about Halloween? Would that be enough notice to ask for time off?”

Nat took a moment to think, then replied, “I think it would be, but let me talk to Jamie tomorrow and I’ll let you know.”

He nodded to himself, moving to the stove and turning the burner on before he moved the eggs into a pan. “Okay, that sounds good,” he responded, his cheeks burning in shame as he thought over his actions.

“Chris…”

He raised an eyebrow as he balanced the phone on his shoulder and stirred the eggs, brow furrowing as he heard the beep of his security system. “Yeah?” He asked, keeping an ear out as Dodger ran to greet the visitor. His shoulders relaxed as he heard his mother’s voice in the front hall as she spoke to Dodger, but then turned his attention back to Nat.

“I want you to know that I really want to be with you too. I love you so much and I just…” she paused, struggling to find the words before she continued, “miss you a lot.”

“I love you and I miss you too, Nattie. So much,” he assured her, staring down at the burner as Dodger led his mother into the living room and den. “I’m so sorry, Nattie.”

They exchanged quiet goodbyes before he promised to call her again later that evening, and within seconds he’d hung up the phone. He put it down with a sigh, willing himself to finally relax his tense muscles, but he was all too aware of his mother’s gaze.

“Hey Ma,” he turned, shooting her a half-smile as he kept cooking himself dinner.

“Hi honey, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just wanted to bring that package that you had sent to my house,” she smiled sheepishly, raising the small Amazon package in her hand before she put it down on the butcher block island in front of her. She raised an eyebrow, voice kind but curious as she mentioned, “I take it something happened between you and Nat, huh?”

“Basically I was being an ass and she called me on it,” he shrugged, knowing Lisa wouldn’t sugarcoat things. “I’ve just been missing her like crazy and was going to buy her a ticket to come out to see me this weekend.”

“Hasn’t she been working a lot on Lightyear though? Would she have time to come?” Lisa asked with a frown, the look in her eyes telling Chris enough about how selfish he’d been.

“No, and that’s basically what we fought about,” he informed her, reaching for a plate before he served himself dinner. “I just was so busy thinking about what I wanted that I didn’t think about her.”

Lisa just nodded as she listened to him, understanding with her years of life that people didn’t always react in the right way but had always told him and his siblings that all that mattered was being able to say you’re sorry and change your behavior, something he had tried to take to heart tonight. He moved the pan to a cool burner and turned the other one off as Lisa told him, “I’m glad she told you so though. We all need people in our lives to help us grow and see when we’re not doing things right.”

Chris nodded, knowing how true it was and then let her know, “We talked about it and she’s going to see if she can maybe come for Halloween.”

“That would be nice if she could. I’d love to meet her and I know Carly and Shanna do too,” He loved seeing the way his mother smiled, knowing that she genuinely meant it.

“... I just miss her, Ma,” he sighed, sitting down at the island as he shook his head. “I hate being away from her for so long.”

He saw Lisa pull out a barstool next to him and sat down, just watching him for a long moment before she asked with a soft smile, “You really love her, don’t you?”

“More than I thought possible,” Chris answered without hesitation, turning his head to look at her, showing his mother the pure honesty in his eyes.

“She’s good for you, I can tell.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because she pushes you. She doesn’t just let herself get run over by you,” Lisa said as he started eating his dinner but kept explaining, “And I’m not trying to say that you aren’t considerate of her, but your fame and schedule does have the capacity to either have people want to date you just for what they can get, or get completely steamrolled by it and it seems like Nat isn’t in either category.”

“She’s certainly her own person,” he nodded, knowing just how true it was. Nat wasn’t someone who bowed to social pressure or ideas of what she should or shouldn’t be. She was unapologetically herself while still balancing a healthy view of knowing she wasn’t perfect and listened to people and situations that showed her where she needed to grow. Nat was the most sensitive, kind hearted, hilarious and beautiful person he’d ever known and there was nobody like her to him. “And that’s what I love about her.”

He loved seeing the smile on his mother’s face as she commented, “I have a feeling that this one’s going to be around a while.”

“I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that’s true.”

October 28th, 2021

A soft sigh came out of Nat as she trekked through the airport, a heavy backpack on her shoulders, curls falling out of her messy bun and a small carry-on suitcase rolling beside her, occasionally bumping into her foot as her eyes turned bleary. She couldn’t believe just how tired she felt as she trudged through the busy airport, weaving in and out of people as she tried to follow the signs in the unfamiliar territory.

She was finally in Boston, and although she was happy to be here knowing that Chris was somewhere outside waiting for her, the only thing she wanted right now was to lay down and close her eyes. With her being off work for a few days, she had so much extra work the past week, then add on top of it that they had been in crunch mode trying to make up for time they’d lost in getting behind on Lightyear, all Nat wanted to do was rest. She had worked the whole weekend previous, getting everything squared away so she could take off work early today and catch her flight.

It had been over a month since she’d seen Chris and she wanted today to be special. She tried to change her flight to get out earlier in the morning but an unexpected meeting had shot that down. She had planned on swinging by his favorite bakery in Burbank on the way to the airport and picking up his favorite pastries to bring him, but the worse-than-usual Los Angeles traffic had ruined that plan. And finally, once she sat down on the flight and felt like she could breathe a sigh of relief, she had wanted to catch up on her sleep in the comfortable first class seat Chris had booked her, but the lack of comfort on the plane hadn’t allowed her to be able to fall asleep, leaving her walking out of the airport empty handed and exhausted. As she was trying to tuck away some of her wild curls that had fallen, she heard her phone ding, getting her attention as she looked down, seeing a text from Chris.

She knew how true his words were, not only for himself, but for her. She missed him so much. Life in California, even with the friends and relationships she’d formed years before meeting him, suddenly felt incredibly lonely. Chris wasn’t there, she’d dedicated so much of herself to her work. It felt as if she’d been running on fumes for a long time, putting in long hours in her office only to turn around, go home late, and keep working all night, only pausing long enough to talk to Chris for a bit before he headed to bed himself.

Despite the way this trip had come about initially, she’d been looking forward to it for weeks now. It was the finish line after a long, tense month apart, and she’d breathed one small sigh of relief yesterday when the initial trailer release for the film went well, but now it was onto the next deadline, but not before her four day long weekend in Massachusetts with Chris.

The exhaustion felt heavy in her body as she walked toward the SUV that seemed so far away, her Nike's scuffing along the pavement and she saw Chris, true to his word, popped the trunk for her. She knew why he wasn’t getting out, not wanting anyone to sneak a picture of him picking her up from the airport but Nat almost wished he could as she lugged her stuff into the trunk, the bags suddenly feeling so much heavier than they actually were. After quietly loading her things in and closing the trunk, she pulled open the passenger door and climbed in, but when she turned her face, it suddenly felt as if that weight slid right off her shoulders.

She saw Chris sitting in the driver's seat, a warm flannel on and his brown hair fluffy and longer than it had been last time she’d seen him. There was a sparkle in his blue eyes that she could see even in the dark evening but it was the soft familiar smile on her lips that made her feel like she was home. Nat saw him look around, seeing the empty area around them before he reached over to rest a hand on her cheek, leaning in to connect their lips for a first time in over a month.

Nat hadn’t realized just how deeply his absence had affected her, but the comfort she felt when his arms wrapped around her the best he could from his spot in the driver's seat. She could finally smell his musky scent, hear that loud hysterical laughter from right next to her, and feel his loving touch. Although she didn’t know it, Nat had surprised Chris with her behavior. He had expected her to be her normal bubbly self, bounding to the car and shining that giant smile at him while she cracked some ridiculous joke that made him crack up. But instead he felt her clinging to him as she quietly cried against his shoulder.

But she couldn’t help it. She just was so happy to be with him, so happy to be loved by him, and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face deeper into him as she told him, “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Nattie,” he murmured, his low voice a welcome sound. “I love you so much.”

She moved a hand to wipe her cheek but kept her face buried in him, simply replying, “I love you too.”

At her sniffle, Chris pulled back, eyeing her carefully and asking, “Are you okay, honey?”

“Yeah…” Nat shrugged, leaning back in the comfy seat as she wiped her eyes again before admitting, “I’m just really tired.”

“Then let’s get out of here and head home,” he smiled, reaching a hand over to rest on the center console. After she buckled her seat belt, he pulled away from the curb and headed to the highway, gently reaching for her hand as he drove. “So what’s been going on that’s made you so tired? Anything different than what you’ve told me?”

She watched mindlessly as he drove, before she remembered to text her dad, letting him know she got to Boston safely. “No, just trying to get back on track with Lightyear and then being off to come here,” she explained to Chris.

He chuckled, squeezing her hand and confessing, “I still can’t get over the trailer though, it looks so fuckin’ good.”

“I’m really proud of it,” Nat admitted, knowing the sigh of relief she’d felt yesterday once Mark had sent her the link to the trailer online. “It’s nice to have that off my plate but now we’re onto the next deadline.”

“I hope having a long weekend away helps you relax and not make things worse,” he whispered to her, glancing over at her before he shifted lanes on the – thankfully – nearly empty highway.

Nat still couldn’t take her eyes off of him, almost in disbelief that he was right there next to her, that they’d made it this far after a hectic few weeks apart. “Coming here to see you is what’s gotten me through this month,” she explained, squeezing his hand before she let their hands fall against her leggings-covered thigh. “It’s given me a lot to look forward to.”

He leaned his head against the headrest with a happy grin, his voice low as he assured her, “Me too.”

She stayed quiet for several moments as they merged onto another highway, heading up towards his town in the dark, chilly night. They were content – listening to the low music playing as they intermittently chatted about a few things, until Nat remembered he’d been having a rough few weeks himself, with rising anxieties and a few crappy days. “How’s your anxiety been, baby?” She asked, her voice quiet in the otherwise calm car.

“Honestly?” He began, sighing as he shook his head. “Pretty bad.”

She frowned, having hoped it’d be better lately. He’d been burning the candle at both ends with reading scripts for possible new projects, getting ready to film and produce a new project in the late winter, and trying to manage ASP with his other work projects. “Did you end up seeing your doctor yesterday?” She gently asked, knowing he’d been trying to make an appointment.

“Yeah, and he changed my dosage on my medication so hopefully that’ll help,” he shrugged, leaning forward as he checked his mirrors and shifted lanes towards the exit for Concord. “I’m not sure what it is, but it’s just been fucked up this whole month, but it feels so good to have you here. You just make me calm.”

“Well that’s a change because most of the time calm isn’t the word people use to describe me,” she couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head in disbelief. “Normally the word is something closer to chaos.”

“Maybe at moments, but when I’m with you it makes me feel like everything is going to be alright,” he shrugged, glancing over at her as he stopped at a red light just off of the exit. “I just love you Nattie, and I’m so happy you’re here.”

“I am too,” she confessed, giving him a relieved smile. “I really am so excited to be here with you.”

He moved their hands over to rest on his side of the console, gently lifting them as he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. They were quiet and content as he drove through the small town and onto the winding back roads until he pulled onto a long driveway, the headlights revealing a white farmhouse at the top of the small hill.

He pulled into the garage, a yawn that turned into a sigh escaping his lips before he turned the car off and unlocked the doors. She barely glanced around the garage as she got out, too tired to do much else, but her eyes noted the muted green car sitting on the other side of the garage, tucked away from where he stored other things and the busier part of the garage.

She didn’t even realize he’d grabbed her things before he gently guided her into the home, where a tired but still all-too-excited Dodger greeted her in the tile back hallway before he scampered into the house in search of his lion. The faint smile on her face grew into a large, surprised one when she saw a large, almost ridiculously so, bouquet of daisies and peonies on the counter next to a clearly brand new box of Cheezits and bag of Reese’s, two things she knew he was well aware of her love for. She turned to watch Chris as he headed further into the kitchen while she stood frozen in the large open archway, not shocked by the pleased grin on his face as he pulled out two glasses for them and began filling them with water.

“Chris, did you get these for me?” She asked, moving forward as she stood on her tiptoes to see the entire bouquet, shaking her head at the grandeur of them.

“Yeah,” he smiled, handing her the glass of ice water once he came to stand next to her, taking a sip of his own.

“They’re gorgeous,” she breathed, then turned to look at him curiously. “Daisies and peonies are my absolute favorite.”

“I know. I texted your sisters and asked them,” he admitted, his head hanging as he shook it from side to side before he sighed, straightening up and looking at her. “I just wanted to get you something to say just how sorry I still am about what happened before when I tried to buy you that ticket. I just didn’t-”

“Chris, please don’t,” she interrupted, putting the glass of water down before she placed her hands on his broad shoulders, staring him in the eyes. “Everything is fine. We worked it out and I’m happy to be here. I’m sorry if I’m not showing it more right now, I’m just so exhausted.”

“It’s okay, Nattie. Don’t worry about it,” he whispered, his own hands coming to rest at the small of her back as he pressed his lips to the top of her head placatingly. “We’ll get a good night's sleep and you can have this whole weekend to unwind.”

She sighed and shook her head, a grin crossing her lips as she heard Dodger running throughout the house and squeaking a toy. “My body still is on west coast time so it’s only eight to me,” she told Chris. She always hated traveling to the east coast, losing so much of her day to the flight but also jumping ahead three hours. It didn’t help that she and Chris had chosen a mid-day flight for her when the red eye likely would’ve been preferable for this case, but they already only had three full days together as it was. A good night’s sleep would likely fix all her issues, but her body couldn’t quite get with the program yet.

Chris watched her carefully, his voice quiet when he finally nodded and mentioned, “But if you’re tired, we can go to bed whenever.”

Nat considered his words for a moment before she shrugged. “Maybe I’ll just go take a shower first. I think that’ll help me relax,” she decided, leaning up to press her lips to his briefly before she moved out of his grasp, heading to grab her small backpack and carry-on from where he’d left them near the table.

“I’ll go let Dodger out while you do,” he responded, whistling for Dodger and waiting by the back door.

Dodger ran through the hallway, zooming past her to wait next to Chris. He’d just unlocked the door and was about to open it when Nat interrupted him. “Chris?” She asked, knowing she had a self-conscious look on her face. “I don’t know where the bathroom is.”

Chris laughed loudly, shaking his head as he opened the door for Dodger and turned on the outdoor lights. “I can’t believe I forgot you haven’t been here yet. It’s right down that hallway, just go to my room and you’ll see it,” he told her, chuckling to himself while she moved to the aforementioned hallway, hearing him call out, “I’ll be there in just a minute.”

She found his room at the end of a window-covered hallway, slipping her sneakers off just as she stepped onto the carpeted floors. This space, while very different from the also spacious home he owned in California, was so distinctly Chris still. The calming colors and decorations were present in both homes, but this room itself felt more like Chris than anything he had in California. While in the past he clearly considered California a home base, leading up to 2021 it’d become a stopover for him to spend a week or two at a time in while there for work. But this, this was his home, and it was obvious in the pictures of him, his friends, and his family on the walls throughout the years, in the sheer amount of clothes he kept in the closet that she snuck a glance in while heading to the bathroom, and in the clutter he had on the counters near the sink.

Those thoughts stayed with her as she pulled clothes out of her suitcase and toiletries from her bag, then she stepped under the hot stream of water and let out a sigh of relief. The hot water soothed her aching muscles, the long day having taken its toll on her. Between working in the morning and the stressful previous weeks to the hectic afternoon and the uncomfortable flight, getting into that car with Chris was the first time she felt relaxed that day, and now here, in his ridiculously big shower, she felt at peace.

She quickly rinsed off the travel from her body and cleaned herself up, brushing her teeth and pulling on her pajamas before she dried her curly hair and headed back out into the bedroom, unsurprised when she found Chris laying in the bed beneath the covers and Dodger at the foot of the bed. He was sitting up, his back against the headboard while he held a book in his hands, eyes scanning over the words as he intently read.

Having shaken off a lot of her tension and tiredness in the shower, she finally was able to fully take in the sight of the handsome face she’d gone so long without seeing in-person. She was so thankful for technology, being able to facetime him and talk with him often, but it just wasn’t the same as being here with him. She noticed just how tired he looked too, knowing this had been a rough month on him and Nat realized just how much they both needed this, needed being together.

But when Nat watched Chris turn his head to look at her now that she’d entered the bedroom, she saw the way he leaned his head against the pillow and gave her that soft closed mouth smile and Nat couldn’t help but feel weak at the knees. Seeing him in bed with the blankets pulled up to his waist, showing off his bare toned chest was reminding her that there were other things she had been missing too.

She watched him close his book, setting it on the bedside table before patting the spot next to him, silently inviting her in. Nat climbed underneath the covers and curled up to his side, loving that she finally was able to feel his arms around her and the soft prickle of his beard when he pressed a kiss to her lips. She let her hand rub along his warm chest, feeling his firm muscles and soft chest hair underneath her touch before her hand kept climbing up farther until it came to rest on his bearded cheek when they finally pulled apart to catch their breath.

“I’m so fuckin’ happy you’re here, Nattie,” his low voice whispered while he gazed down at her from underneath those long eyelashes. “I just love you so much.”

And the honesty that was dripping from his voice had Nat melting in his thick arms, feeling more at home here in an unfamiliar place than she had for over a month. She let her thumb stroke his cheek, just studying his face while she reminded Chris, “I love you too. I missed having you hogging the bed at night.”

Chris‘ eyes widened and he was incredulous as he asked, “Hogging the bed? Well I wake up in the morning and have to peel you off me!”

But she simply shrugged and smirked, informing him, “Yeah, that’s because you hog the bed and I have nowhere to go but on top of you.”

Hearing this made Chris throw his head back onto the pillows, moving a hand from her waist to slap to his chest while his eyes squinted up and he roared with his wild laughter. Nat felt as if her heart was being squeezed in that moment, loving that sound more than anything in the world before she told him, “You know I’m right.”

“Well either way, I don’t really mind having you as my own personal blanket,” he conceded, moving his hand back to her waist and settling it on the slip of skin between the hem of her worn shirt and her pajama pants, moving his thumb back and forth mindlessly over her skin.

“By the end of this weekend you’ll be singing a different tune,” Nat playfully muttered, raising an eyebrow as she leaned into his touch.

But Chris shook his head, his low voice honest as he assured her, “By the end of this weekend I’m going to be ready to call Jamie and beg him for you to have more time off so I can keep you to myself.”

She couldn’t dwell on that thought for too long, couldn’t dwell on the fact that he yearned for her, desired her and couldn’t stand to think of parting ways after this weekend as planned. If she had, she’d likely get embarrassed and insecure, so she settled on simply telling Chris, “You’ve got me right now.”

“And I couldn’t be happier,” he confessed, smiling down at her as she leaned against his bare chest.

All Nat could do was smile when he pushed some of the curls out of her face so that he could pepper little kiss all along her cheeks, nose and forehead, taking his time in doting affection on her. She swore in that moment that she could have melted right then and there but when he started kissing her lips again, Nat was convinced she really was melting right there in his arms. Ever since their relationship had started, she knew it wouldn’t be easy. It wasn’t as if Chris was the type of boyfriend who worked in a few offices down from her or came home from work everyday at five. He had a job that took him all over the world, brought him fame, pulled him in different directions, and created an insanely different lifestyle than anything she was used to.

There were so many parts of it that were hard, but at the same time, so many parts just seemed so easy. She had never loved anyone the way she loved him. Nobody made her feel the way she did when she was with him and although there would be hurdles, she knew that loving him was the best thing that had happened to her. And now she was here, tucked in his arms beneath the covers of his warm bed in the place he called home and the tenderness of it made Nat’s emotions stir in the most beautiful way possible. She just wanted him, all of him and all that came with him and wasn’t planning on letting any of it go anytime soon.

She felt his arms tighten as he kissed her deeper, their tongues wrapping around one another as they kissed over and over again. Although their argument they had earlier in the month had been resolved once they talked it through, it still had been hard for Nat. She always had been a tender and sensitive person, craving physical touch as her favorite love language and not being able to have any of those soft touches after arguing had been hard on her, not to mention the almost month and a half it’d been since they were together.

But now it was different. She was here with him and getting all of the love and affection she’d been missing so dearly. It had so much love stirring for him and Nat couldn’t help but let her hand wander down his firm chest and grazed over his boxer briefs. The touch had Chris softly pulling his lips away from hers, panting as he caught his breath and looked down at her, wondering, “I thought you were tired, honey?”

“I just want to feel you,” she whispered, her hand moving through his thick, longer hair, relishing in every sensation she felt after their time away from each other.

Hearing the tender comment had Chris smiling sweetly while he pressed a few more sweet kisses to her lips before he grabbed her waist and moved her into his lap. Nat let him adjust her, sitting between his legs and resting her back up against his chest. Chris dragged a hand over her shoulder, pushing her curls to one side so he could attach his lips to her neck, sucking and biting gently and making sighs pour out of her. Nat could tell that she wasn’t the only one who had missed this, feeling him growing harder as he kept making her sigh and whimper from his actions.

He let out a ragged breath, his low voice nearly desperate as he groaned, “God, I missed those moans.”

But he didn’t give her a chance to respond, his hands moving from where they were locked around her waist to slipping underneath her pajama top, sliding up until he could grasp each of her breasts in his big warm hands. His actions of squeezing and kneading gently, occasionally tugging softly at her perky nipples only had Nat moaning louder as she felt her arousal pooling. As if reading her mind, he let one of his hands slip down and work down the band of her pajama pants and panties, pushing them down around her thighs while Nat took them off the rest of the way, leaving them on the edge of the bed.

Knowing where this was headed, Chris wanted to get her ready and used his free hand to grab her leg and hook it over his own before doing the same with the other, leaving her wide open for him and just the sight of it had his blood rushing south. Having each other close again was causing so many feelings inside them both but Nat couldn’t focus on all her tender feelings once Chris’ index finger pushed between her folds.

She laid her head back against his broad shoulder while he slowly rubbed soft circles on her sensitive bundle of nerves, helping her wetness to pool before he could push a finger inside of her. Nat let a loud moan pour out, but it was quickly swallowed when Chris captured her mouth with his own, kissing her senseless while he pushed another finger inside her and started to gently stretch her.

After being apart from him for so long, it just felt so good to feel the softness of his touch, she didn’t even care how. But the way he was dragging those fingers against her walls had Nat squirming in his arms as he slowly worked her body, making her melt against him as he kept up his movements. She wanted him close, every single inch of him and as much as she was enjoying this, she knew that she couldn’t wait any longer to have him.

Nat reached down to move his hand, pulling it from between her legs before she moved to get onto her knees. She could see the inquisitive look that Chris was giving her until her hands grabbed the waistband of his boxer briefs and he quickly was clued in on her plans. He lifted his hips, letting her peel off the black fabric and leaving him bare to her. As much as she wanted to just take her time, being able to wrap her lips around him, she needed him closer.

She put her hands on Chris’ broad shoulders while tossing her leg over his lap so she could straddle him, then reaching between their bodies to hold his hard length before she slowly lined him up and gently started sinking down. The feeling after so long apart had both of them moaning as she kept slowly sliding down his length until she was sitting on his lap. Her chest was heaving with her heavy breaths while Chris’ hands fell to her hips, his thumbs rubbing soft circles while she gently moved herself on his lap, getting his hard cock in the right spot.

“Oh yeah, get comfy baby,” he murmured to her, a near smirk on his lips as her chest heaved with her deep breaths, almost overwhelmed by the feeling of him after over a month apart.

Her arm was looped around the back of his neck while her forehead was pressed against his shoulder. She smiled faintly as he pressed a few kisses to her messy curls, relaxing in his embrace as she told him, “You feel so good.”

“So do you,” Chris whispered, pausing as she shifted slightly in his lap. “You’re so warm and tight, Nattie. Feels fuckin’ amazing.”

Nat knew that she surprised him when she chose not to start bouncing herself on his lap, but right now all she wanted was to be close to him. She wanted every bit of them connected and just wanted to have the intimacy of feeling him fill her. Nat wrapped her arms around his neck, laying herself down on his chest while she buried her face in the crook of his neck and pressed a few soft kisses there.

His warm hands rubbed along her back, kissing the top of her curls as he asked, “You just gonna warm my cock, baby?”

“I just want to feel you,” she whispered, relishing in feeling him surrounding her, touching any inch of her he could, while he was tucked inside of her.

“I love it, Nattie,” Chris admitted, his voice low and sweet, making Nat feel that much more relaxed and at ease. “I missed being inside you.”

Hearing his words made her clench around him, causing a grunt to come from deep inside Chris’ chest, but neither wanted to move. With her face nuzzled in his neck and his thick arms wrapped around her back tightly, this was the moment they both needed, every single inch of them touching and feeling the deep love they shared without a single word being spoken.

Wanting to feel him a little deeper, Nat kept her arms around his neck, holding onto him as she lifted her hips up slightly before moving back down as she arched her back to help get his cock nestled just a little bit deeper as Chris’ low voice praised her by saying, “That’s my girl.”

And it was a good thing she was already laid out against his chest because that one phrase would have had her melting against him if she wasn’t already. With the arch of her back, she knew it gave Chris a good view of her bare backside and she figured he must have noticed when she felt him twitch inside her before one of his hands dropped to rest on her round cheeks, giving a few gentle squeezes before he rubbed her skin softly.

Nat felt almost dizzy from just how good it felt, breathing in his scent, feeling those soft kisses to her forehead and having the comfort of his touch. But eventually once she began moving up and down on his lap and her lips met his again, Nat felt whole for the first time in over a month, knowing that the piece that had been missing in her life was right here.

A/N: We are so excited to share their Boston weekend with you all!

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