#I really hope something gets done about it sooner rather than later
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blu-ish · 9 months ago
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BLU
https://www.tumblr.com/staff/743510217982083072/hi-tumblr-its-tumblr-were-working-on-some?source=share
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THANKS!!! Man I just got out of class and got tons of notifications about what happened, THE PANIC THAT I FELT FUMBLING FOR MY PHONE LMAOOO.
I encourage everyone to do the same, we have to protect what's left. It really hurts that this is what being here on Tumblr has boiled down too, all because of stupid actions out of our control. I know so many people visit this site to share and enjoy what others create or what you yourself creates only for some big headed [he who shall not be named] decided none of that matters. Let's just hope this ACTUALLY works, thanks Tumblr dot com.
I'm not leaving any time soon, and the fight against AI sure as hell isn't over either.
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seaofreverie · 5 months ago
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Wanted to start working on projects for my part-time school this weekend but instead all I have the energy to do is lay in bed and play mario kart or lay in bed and listen to music
#i started taking meds two days ago and over those two days i've felt even more dead energy-wise than before. if that's even possible#i hope this passes sooner than later because the semester's almost over#and i want to prepare something better to pass this course with than those projects that everyone did in class#and then it will finally (or rather already. time feels fake) be summer and no more obligations of such type. for now#altough i'll admit these last few months were rather easygoing#in terms of stuff i had to do for a set deadline and such#it would have been a much harder time for me otherwise#at least i'm getting this stuff sorted at last. slowly but surely#and enjoying my time gaming and listening to 4-5 albums a day on average as of the last two days#maybe 2024 is the year when my mental health problems finally caught up with me#but then with some dedication and direction i can also start getting out of it for once and for all#like i actually want to be proud of what i've done this year. because it's a lot#and it's things i wouldn't have found myself capable of just a few months ago#like. making this blog and actually sharing my feelings and thoughts somewhere#years of being your own only confidant really messes with your brain and ability to function as an adult it turns out#but yeah i hope i can get this sorted now and the meds help and make it easier to go about my previous plans for making myself feel better#i'll try not to post about this too much but i really needed to get this out today#i know many people vent on tumblr anyway but my brain will always make me feel bad about anything and everything i do lol#vent tag
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egcdeath · 7 months ago
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something old, something new
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pairing: patrick zweig x f!reader
summary: when your childhood best friend asks you to get married, how are you supposed to say no?
word count: 7.2k
warnings: MATURE (mentions of sex but no explicit sex scenes), marriage of convenience, fluff, mentions of alcohol, patrick is a bad friend (but he improves), friends to spouses to lovers, fake dating, yearning and pining, everyone is bad at communicating, many feelings are being repressed, mentions of dieting in an athlete way, one singular creepy old man, no use of y/n
author’s note: i cannot get this tennis man out of my head!! i hope you all enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it!
It wasn’t every day that you could count on hearing anything from your childhood best friend, but it seemed like whenever you did hear from Patrick Zweig, it was always an ask for something more shocking than the previous one. 
As kids, you spent many evenings doing the homework that Patrick didn’t want to do, despite the fact that you didn’t really want to do more homework either. At boarding school, you’d somehow become his personal designated driver, answering his calls no matter what time and groggily picking him up from whatever party he’d found himself at. In your adulthood, you found yourself becoming a go-to stand-in for him at events he didn’t feel like attending. The amount of times that you’d shaken hands at charity galas and introduced yourself as Patrick’s girlfriend, despite not having a single romantic encounter with him, was frankly astounding. 
It seemed like whenever Patrick needed something, you were the first person he reached out to. After his parents, of course. 
You dreaded knowing the reason behind the simple hey, text message you’d just received, but you were sure that you’d find the reason out sooner rather than later–and that whatever the reason was could not have been good. 
Like clockwork, only an hour after you’d received his message, Patrick appeared at the doorway of your apartment. He came to you equipped with his secret weapon, the kicked puppy look that he often used on you before he asked you for a ridiculous favor, like breaking up with his girlfriend for him or telling his mom that he still wasn’t joining the board of the family business. 
You sighed as you took his less-than-stellar appearance in. Downtrodden expression, wrinkled and sweat-stained shirt, as if he’d gone to the gym to sweat out his feelings before coming to you, and eyes so red-rimmed, you wondered if he’d been crying. 
If you had to guess, he’d either been arguing with his parents, who knew exactly how to get under his skin, or his tennis friends, who also knew exactly how to get under his skin, or his latest girlfriend, who probably confronted him about his own wrongdoings. Regardless of who had upset him, he had obviously come to you to lick his wounds. 
Like always, Patrick stalked inside without asking you for any further permission. The two of you had done this song and dance more times than either one of you would like to admit. 
“How are you?” he asked, stopping in your kitchen to steal an apple from your decorative bowl of fruit.
“I’m good,” you said with hesitation, eyeing him once more. He really looked like shit. If he hadn’t looked so sad, you would’ve told him exactly how much shit he looked like.  
“Aren’t you gonna ask me how I am?” he questioned, a little pathetically.
“No,” you walked off to your living room, fully expecting him to follow you. You were unsurprised when he did exactly that. “Let’s just get right to it. Why’d you come over here?” you asked as the two of you sat down on your couch. 
“My parents are cutting me off,” he explained, voice breaking as he spoke.
Surely, this couldn’t all be over an empty threat. They seemed to threaten Patrick with this every few days. In fact, you’d been in the room with him when his parents promised that he’d never see another dime from them–more than once. Every time, it ended with them coming to their senses and throwing more cash at him. 
“That’s what, the twentieth time?” you laughed. “They always threaten to cut you off. What’s different this time?”
“This time, they mean it.”
You laughed even harder in his face. If you had a quarter for every time you’d had this conversation, you’d be richer than the two of your families combined. 
“I’m serious,” he inched closer to you. “They’re tired of funding my ‘tennis habit’. They want me to get serious about life. To join the board and start a family. My dad showed me an edited draft of his will and everything”
“So?” you prompted, trying to figure out where you fell into the equation. Hopefully he wouldn’t try to put you up to something absurd, like seducing his father into convincing him to not threaten Patrick’s inheritance.
“So, tennis is the only thing I care about.”
“Okay…” you trailed off. “What would you like me to do about that?”
“I need you to help show my parents that I have a vision for the future.”
“Again, Patrick, what exactly are you asking me to do?”
“Marry me.”
You weren’t sure what you expected him to say, but it certainly was not that. Your mouth instantly dropped open and you were sure that you were gaping like a fish. Maybe if he had asked you ten years ago, you’d have instantly said yes, but you’d let that naive dream die after you’d come to realize the transactional subtext of your friendship.
“What?”
“I want you to marry me. I was thinking… you remember when we were younger and we made that pact, that if we weren’t married by the time we were adults, then we’d get hitched?”
You continued to stare at him, completely dumbfounded and not believing a single word coming from his mouth. “I… I…” you couldn’t even form the words. “We were kids!”
He gave you a halfhearted shrug, as if that didn’t matter at all, and as if he didn’t just ask you to be legally and romantically bound to him forever.
“You are fucking unbelievable! You haven't talked to me for anything other than asking me a favor in years, I barely know you’re alive apart from the random drunk texts you send me, and now you want me to marry you? Do you even hear yourself?”
You scoffed and stared at him in disbelief. “And that has to be the worst proposal in all of human history. First you tell me that tennis is the only thing you care about and then ask me to marry you? You’re a joke.”
He let you finish your rant, but after a beat he finally asked. “…Is that a no?”
———-
Stranger things had happened to you than marrying your childhood best friend just a month after he’d randomly popped back up in your life. At least, that’s what you told yourself as you walked down the aisle on a beautiful beach off of the Amalfi Coast.
The last few weeks had been an absolute whirlwind, with what felt like every second of your time consumed by making guest lists and invitations, booking hotel rooms, and finding a dress that you liked enough to get married in. Obviously, you knew this was more of an elaborate scheme than a celebration of love, but you wanted it to be nice anyway. For all you knew, you may never get married again.
You don’t know what possessed you to say yes to Patrick. Maybe the small, desperate part of you that had been begging him to truly see you since you were old enough to realize he didn’t, or maybe the desire to finally have that fairytale destination wedding you’d been dreaming about from the time you learned what a wedding was. Regardless of the reason, both of your families were overjoyed by the union. In one fell swoop, you’d been able to satisfy both of your parents’ desires for you to settle down, and you’d done it with someone both pairs approved of. 
You had to give props to Patrick, the ceremony was beautiful. Given the short timeline, the two of you decided to divide and conquer the planning of the event. You were sure that he’d outsourced the work, since he was still in the middle of his tennis season, but whoever he hired did an excellent job at giving you the wedding you’d always wanted. 
Despite the very short timeline everyone had been given, you were able to wrangle all of your close family and friends to Italy to watch you elope. Your parents had insisted on inviting second cousins and shareholders to your wedding, but you’d somehow convinced them that you and Patrick wanted a smaller, more intimate ceremony. It was probably better to have less people there, lest someone notices the artificial nature of your union. 
Part of you felt like you’d pulled off the greatest prank of all time as the two of you stood up in front of your small crowd, gazing as lovingly as you could manage into each others’ eyes while the officiant said his spiel, but the other, more logical part of you filled with dread as the reality of the situation began to set in. Patrick seemed to have a way of always dragging you into a shitty situation, and you hoped for both of your sakes, that that wouldn’t be the case for your marriage.
After what felt like a lifetime, Patrick began to recite his vows, claiming to have loved you since you were children, and promising to continue to love you ‘till death did you part. If you had been marrying literally anyone else, your knees would go weak with swooning. 
Unfortunately, you were cursed with the knowledge of the reality of your situation, one where your vows sounded more like: “We only have to stay married until I retire, which should be sooner rather than later. We don’t have to do anything together: no galas, no family dinners, no family vacations. Hell, you don’t even have to come to my games. And we don’t have to be exclusive either. This is basically just a title, so feel free to see anyone you want to. I can already see the worry in your face. Stop that. We can hire someone to make us prenups, so the divorce will be an easy, clean split of our assets. See? It’s not that bad.”
The dichotomy between the words he’d said to you a month ago and the bullshit he was spewing now almost made you laugh, but that was clearly not the reaction you were meant to be having when the love of your life was publicly declaring their feelings for you. 
Once he finished declaring his romantic, empty words, you began to read off your vows. They fell in a similar vein to his, a proclamation of a lifetime-spanning love that didn’t really exist in the first place. But when you glanced up at him from your slip of paper, he was really selling it. He stared at you like he adored you, like he wanted to study every inch of your face after running off with you into the sunset.
The ridiculousness of it all finally hit you like a freight train, and you managed to pivot the laugh that was creeping up into your throat into a weepy sounding crack of your voice. Surely people cried during their own weddings. 
You finished off your vows, doing your best to pretend like this whole ordeal wasn’t the most ridiculous scheme you’d ever been dragged into. You imagined a world where he was less selfish and you were less selfless, one where you were exchanging these vows with sincerity, and it helped you to get through the words that you knew were almost completely meaningless. 
The two of you then took turns placing the ring on each others’ fingers, with Patrick giving you a ring with the largest diamond you’d ever seen, and you giving him a band that had been passed throughout your family. He’d agreed to give you the heirloom back once you divorced, so you couldn’t complain too much about giving it away in the first place.
The announcement of being able to kiss the bride rang out in your ears, yet you still found yourself surprised when Patrick eagerly wrapped his arms around you and kissed you passionately. Cheers erupted around the two of you, and you pulled away as the officiant declared you Mr. and Mrs. Zweig.
You had successfully tricked your audience, and yet, you still had the strangest feeling. 
Your reception felt far more natural than your wedding ceremony. After a change of outfit, a huge bowl of pasta, and a few flutes of champagne, you were feeling substantially better about the arguably poor decision you’d just made. You chatted up your friends, who jumped at the opportunity to comment on how cute of a couple you two were, did some light matchmaking between single guests, and placated both of your parents with manufactured acts of affection. You even managed to get Patrick out on the dance floor, after he swore to you that he didn’t dance. 
By the time the two of you were stumbling back into your villa, the woes of the day had practically been forgotten. When you were having this much fun, who cared about a massive, potentially life altering decision? 
You immediately made a beeline to the bathroom, anxious to get into your comfortable pajamas and to wash your face after a long day of wearing tight, extravagant dresses and a heavy layer of makeup.  
“So what did you think of your big day, Mrs. Zweig?” Patrick called out from the other side of the bathroom door, where you were sure he was also preparing for bed. “Was it everything you wanted and more?”
“I think this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,” you paused as you thought about something before confessing, “but it was everything I wanted and more.”
“Yes!” he celebrated from where you couldn’t see him, though you could perfectly envision the goofy look on his face. “I owe it to you after everything I’ve put you through. I just hope you weren’t too let down by the groom.”
“What?” you drew out before blowing a raspberry. “Of course not. You looked very handsome today,” you complimented in between splashes of your face. 
“You looked pretty beautiful, yourself,” he complimented you right back. 
“Aww, thank you, honey,” you emphasized the pet name. 
“Hmm, I don’t know if I like that,” you heard the squeak of the bed from behind the door as you assumed that he’d sat down.
“Hey, you’re the one who made me marry you,” you pointed out. “Am I more than you bargained for?”
“Of course not, babe,” he emphasized his own pet name, which sent you into a fit of laughter. “It’s just so weird to hear you refer to me as anything other than an asshole.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, you’re still an asshole,” you replied as you walked out of the bathroom, donning an old shirt with the logo of your boarding school and an equally old pair of shorts. “Just a married asshole.”
You took in the sight of your now-husband as you made your way to your side of the bed, surprised to find that you quite liked the sense of domestic bliss you were feeling. The bed dipped as you sat down and glanced back at Patrick with the slightest bit of hesitation. 
“Is this weird for you? I can go to the spare room, if you want me to,” he offered, surely in reference to the two of you sleeping in the same bed. 
“Don’t worry about it,” you assured him, setting a steady hand on his knee. “What kind of couple would we be if we didn’t spend our wedding night together?” you teased. 
“The kind of couple that marries for convenience?” he suggested.
“Hey, who’s to say that this isn’t love? I had the biggest crush on you when we were kids. Maybe some of it lingered, or some shit.”
“Oh yeah?” he looked at you with that sleazy smirk that you both loved and hated. “What happened?”
“Hmm… I think I realized that you’re a dick,” you matched his smirk with a challenging one of your own.
“Huh. Did you have this realization before or after you started seeing Dan Thompson?” he questioned.
You were surprised by the mention of your first boyfriend, particularly because you weren’t sure that Patrick remembered any detail about your personal life, let alone your love life. “I realized it after you started treating me like your workhorse.”
“Oh okay, so you had a crush on me while you were with your boyfriend. Good to know.”
“Shut up,” you groaned and turned away from him as you finally full laid down. 
“Would it make you feel better to know that I also had a crush on you?” you heard the bed sheets rustle as he scooted closer to you, and you turned back to face him. 
“You’re lying.” You couldn’t see any world where that would make sense to you. In your youth, it seemed like Patrick was always off somewhere with a new person, and none of those people were you. Not that you had an issue with it, but the thought that the two of you might’ve had crushes on each other at the same time without either of you pursuing each other felt kind of weird. 
“Nope. You’re the first person I ever jerked off to,” he said as casually as if he were telling you what he ate for breakfast, not breaking eye contact with you.
“Ew, you’re so gross,” you gently pushed him, but your hands lingered where they sat on his chest. “Was that supposed to be romantic or something?”
“That’s not romantic to you?” he asked with all the sincerity of someone who was fully committing to a bit. 
The two of you broke out into laughter. Once you finally caught your breath, you began once more. “This is gonna be a long marriage.”
“Hopefully,” he remarked in response. 
“If you keep talking to me like that, I will literally go get our marriage annulled, like right now.”
“Please don’t,” he whined, grabbing one of your hands from his chest and kissing your fingers. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“Every time you promise to make something up to me, an inconsistent fairy gains its wings.”
“Hey,” his tone suddenly became very serious, completely catching you off guard. “I really am sorry that I’ve been a terrible friend. I don’t know that I’ve ever said it, but I am. You deserve so much better than me, and I don’t even know how I convinced you to do this for me.”
You almost started to laugh, unable to take the absurd situation seriously. You’d been waiting years to hear him genuinely apologize, and now hours after you’d married solely as a favor to him, he was finally telling you what you wanted to hear. 
“Please. I’m serious. I know you think I’m a piece of shit flaky ashhole, and I am, but I want to be a better husband to you than I ever was as a friend.”
You felt your heart stop beating for a second. The word husband sounded so foreign in his mouth. You couldn’t quite pin how you felt about it, but you knew you felt uncomfortable with the intimacy of his words. 
“Patrick, please shut up,” you squeezed your eyes shut, suddenly a little overwhelmed with the Patrick of it all. In fact, you couldn’t think of anything more encapsulating of your experience with him than the whiplash you got from that moment. He could be a complete asshat, but his occasional moments of earnestness kept you following him like a lost puppy, accepting his apologies and granting him ridiculous favors, despite your better judgment. 
“Are you okay?” he asked, moving closer to you to get a good look at you. You swore you felt your heart squeeze painfully in your chest. 
“I’m fine, I just-“ am overwhelmed by you being sweet? Can’t believe that I’m hearing you say this to me after so long? Also can’t believe that you and I are married?
None of the right words seemed to come to you, so you did the second best thing you could think of. 
You pecked his lips and pulled away as if you’d just touched a hot handle. You didn’t know what had come over you, and immediately began to apologize profusely. 
“Oh my god, I don’t know-“ you were cut off by his hands on your face, greedily and sloppily pulling you back in for another kiss, this one far more passionate and confident than the first. 
Your kiss was messy but fervent, years of pent up sexual frustration and non-sexual frustration behind your every movement. As you kissed, you moved to straddle him, feeling a little ridiculous in your ratty old clothes, but that didn’t stop him from groping you over your pajamas like you were the hottest thing on the planet. 
Maybe the strangest thing to happen to you that day wasn’t even your wedding.
——
That night was the first in a series of very strange events. You couldn’t even fully wrap your head around what was happening in your marriage. You just knew that the two of you had become closer friends than you’d ever been before, and that you slept together when either of you had the urge. It was basically a no strings attached situation, except, legally, all strings were attached. 
If you were confused by your arrangement, you were sure that your friends were even more lost, something they proved to you as they interrogated you over brunch. 
“So, just so we’re clear, you married him as a favor?!” your friend asked in complete disbelief. 
“Well… yeah, basically.”
“Shit. Can I ask you for a favor of a million dollars?” she joked, leading to the laughter of your other friends at the table.
“Well, that’s different. At least with our marriage, we both benefit. He gets his parents off his ass about being so focused on tennis that he doesn’t have any future prospects, and I get my parents to stop trying to marry me off to every single rich boy they find.”
“But you’re not like, actually married. Like you guys don’t have feelings for each other?” another friend questioned.
You sipped your mimosa before explaining your situation for what must’ve been the fifth time that day, “we’re basically friends with benefits.”
“But you’re legally married? Like, the wedding was official and stuff?”
“Legally? Yeah. But it’s literally just that,” you clarified. 
“Legal marriage and sex?”
“Yeah,” you nodded, hoping that they were finally catching on. 
“Then… are you guys seeing other people?”
“Oh yeah, what ever happened to that one model guy you were seeing?” another one of your friends pitched in. 
“It didn’t really work out,” you addressed that with an understatement. He rightfully flipped his shit when he found out you were going to be marrying someone else. “But neither of us are seeing other people. I don’t think either of us want to risk bringing anything back to one another.”
“That sounds pretty committed to me.”
“Not really,” you dismissed.
“Then why are you even together?”
“How many times do I have to explain how we both benefit from this?”
“No, not legally, or socially or whatever. Why are you hooking up with him? Aren’t you scared you’ll mess up your friendship or something?”
“Well, the sex is really, really good. But I’m really not worried. There's no romance between us. We’ve been friends for so long that it’s just… weird to look at him like anything other than my friend. It’s basically a loveless marriage of convenience.”
Your friend shot you a skeptical look. You just shrugged her off. 
———
The moment you found out your afternoon meeting had been canceled, you reached out to your assistant to make arrangements for you to go to Patrick’s tennis game. He’d been on a winning streak, and though he insisted that you didn’t need to come to his games, you knew that he secretly liked having you there. 
Over the past few months of your marriage, you’d grown to realize that he often didn’t say what he actually meant. Like the time he told you that he preferred to live alone, before breathily confessing in your ear that he slept better by your side. Or when he swore to you that he loved the pancakes you’d served him, despite the food being some of the worst you’d ever put in our mouth and him being on a diet. You almost found it sweet that he tried to prioritize your feelings over his own, which was surely a result of overcompensation from the way he had treated you for the majority of your lives. 
You arrived at his match just in time to watch him take a break, making your way into the stands and finding a seat where you’d have the best view of your friend as possible. You didn’t expect him to scan the audience and find you until much later on, but you were pleasantly surprised when the two of you made eye contact and he absolutely lit up. You waved, then gave him a thumbs up in hopes to communicate your support from far away. 
While you couldn’t always make it, you liked to play the role of supportive tennis wife. Getting dressed up and making an appearance not only publicly legitimized your sham of a marriage, but helped you to reconnect with some of your former boarding school classmates, who were often in the stands supporting a friend or a loved one. You also just liked to watch him play, as witnessing the passion and ferocity he had out on the court was extremely entertaining, and even at times, mildly arousing.  
With their break ending, Patrick went back out on the court and played just as well as you expected him to, crushing his competition, and looking up into the stands at you to celebrate once he’d scored the winning point. 
At first, it was surprising how proud his wins made you feel of him, a feeling that you explained to yourself by arguing that if he wasn’t giving his absolute all to tennis, then your marriage had basically been all for nothing. Although that did still ring slightly true, the truth was that you were simply proud of Patrick. Whether you liked it or not, the two of you were a unit now, which meant that his wins were your wins and vice versa. In some ways, it was kind of nice to be part of a team. Or at least his team.
You met Patrick down on the court, where he paused from packing his bag to immediately greet you with a kiss to the forehead, a small act of intimacy that was typically reserved for situations far different from the one you were currently in. 
“Hey! I didn’t know you were coming!” he exclaimed, pulling you in for a half-hug. 
“I didn’t know I was coming either,” you instinctually wrapped your arm around him in response to his half-hug. “Great job out there. You kinda demolished him!”
“I did, didn’t I,” he said just loud enough for you to hear, still wanting to appear like a good sport. “I have to go get ready for the press conference. Do you want to meet me at my hotel?”
“Of course. You don’t mind me staying for the night?” you probed, despite knowing the answer. He wouldn’t have asked you to go to his hotel in the first place if he’d minded.
“You know I never mind you staying for the night,” he gave you a cheeky wink.
“You’re so sleazy,” you commented with fake disgust.
“You started it,” he replied, reluctantly pulling away from you and reaching into his bag to grab his hotel keycard. “I’ll text you when I’m heading back.” 
The moment you received a message about him being on his way to the hotel, you made a very lengthy phone call and request to the restaurant in the building. Technically, he shouldn’t be eating any of what you ordered, on account of him being on a strict diet plan, but you figured that he deserved it after playing the way that he did. Besides, Patrick liked thoughtful acts of service, and you figured that this would count as one.
“You know me so well,” he practically gasped as he stepped into the room, taking in the platters of food you’d laid out for him.
“What kind of wife would I be if I didn’t?” you teased, though your sentiment was somewhat accurate, and it was clear that the two of you had grown to know each other far better over the past few months, you hoped that your friend wasn’t interpreting your words in too serious of a way. 
The two of you laid out on the pristine hotel bed, eating the feast that you’d ordered without much dialogue between you, other than a comment on how good something was, or a request to pass an item to one another. It felt oddly domestic, and oddly enough, you liked it. Maybe you liked it even more than you’d been willing to admit.
“I’m gonna go shower,” he announced after tossing his napkin onto a cleared off plate.
“Want some company?” you offered, raising your brows at him in a playfully suggestive manner.
“Is that what this is all about?” he feigned offense. 
“Maybe,” you trailed off. “Or maybe I just wanted to celebrate the greatest tennis player of all time,” you purred.
“Come on. You and I both know that is far from the truth.”
“Well you’re the greatest player in my heart,” you praised, much to his chagrin.
“Ugh. Shut up and come shower with me.” 
As you sleepily ran your fingers through his damp hair, you were surprised when he broke his silence with a comment seemingly out of the blue. It was more of a mumble than anything else, but you’d grown accustomed to his muffled words over the course of your marriage. 
“You’re so beautiful,” he randomly complimented you.
“You know you don’t have to compliment me to get into my pants, right?” you asked with a hint of laughter in your tone.
“I’m not trying to,” he pecked your arm–the limb he had the easiest access to at the moment–as if he was trying to emphasize his point, though all it did was bring heat to your cheeks at the reminder of the way he’d pressed slow and meaningful kisses along your calves and inner thighs while the two of you were in the shower. “You just looked so good today, I couldn’t not comment.”
“I don’t look good every day?” you asked facetiously, trying to deflect from the warm and fuzzy feeling his compliments and affection were making you feel. 
“Of course you always look good,” he reassured you rather than playing along with your game of joking instead of addressing your feelings. “I just don’t tell you that enough.”
You weren’t even sure how you could respond to that. Clearly, he wasn’t in the mood to mince words tonight, but you couldn’t bear to match his genuinity with cheap jokes. The only real, genuine thought to pop into your head were three ridiculous words that you immediately batted away. You couldn’t think of anything more embarrassing than randomly declaring your love to a husband who wasn’t really your husband in a marriage that wasn’t really a marriage. 
Out of ideas, you hit the lamp on your side of the bed. “I appreciate it. Goodnight.”
“Night,” he parroted back to you, remaining snug against your chest, despite the fact that your hands had stopped threading through his hair. 
Deep down, you knew that those three words had been on the tip of Patrick’s tongue, too.    
——
Being in the social circles of filthily rich people meant you often found yourself at random charity events, hosted by the nonprofits of families and business owners looking for a particularly large tax break for the year. Over the years, you’d felt that you’d seen and participated in it all: marathons raising awareness for a serious, but extremely rare disease, date auctions to raise money for a cause that certainly didn’t justify you having to go on a date with a man almost forty years your senior, or galas for nearly-extinct sea creatures that were essentially used as an excuse to stand around and network while drinking expensive alcohol and eating hor d'oeuvres.
You seemed to find yourself at a lot of events like the latter, including the one you were standing at now. The gala, which took place in the art exhibit it was raising money for, was a rather standard one, filled with the typical suspects who regularly attended those events. 
It was slightly ironic to be at the event with Patrick as your plus one, as this was the exact type of event he would’ve texted you about an hour before it began to ask if you would play his concerned partner for the night who told everyone a flimsy excuse about him being under the weather. 
It also served as somewhat of a reminder to you of the massive growth that your friend had undergone since the two of you became legally bound to one another. It finally felt like Patrick saw you as a true friend, instead of a reliable person who would do his dirty work. It finally felt like he cared. In some ways, your marriage was the best thing to happen to your friendship. 
Patrick returned to where you were standing, this time with two flutes of champagne and a delicious looking appetizer in his hand. 
“You’re too kind,” you said as he passed you your drink. 
“Anything for my wife,” he mockingly bowed in front of you and you chuckled and shook your head. Over the past year, the two of you slowly became slightly more comfortable with referencing each other as husband and wife, but only really as a joke. You guessed that in a lot of ways, that’s what your marriage was—a ridiculous inside joke.  
He was just about to feed you a hor d'oeuvre when you were approached by a wildly unwelcome figure: the man who had purchased a date with you a few years ago. Despite your one very awkward, stilted date, he never really seemed to get over you–which he made a point to prove at every event you both happened to be at. And unfortunately for you, his generous donations landed him on the guest list for the majority of these events. 
You were used to fighting him off on your own, as he seemed to come and flirt with you regardless of how inappropriate it was for the setting of the event, or even when he already had a beautiful young bombshell hanging on his arm. At this point, you’d learned to just tune his every word out and flee as soon as you possibly could. He was annoying, but he wasn’t dangerous.  
“Hey, honey,” he greeted you way too comfortably. You’d given up on asking him to call you by your name a very long time ago. 
“Hi, John,” you reached out to shake his hand and cringed internally when he kissed the back of your hand. 
“Oh honey, who is this?” Patrick immediately lept in, surprising you with his unsubtle passive aggressive tone and ridiculous use of a pet name. 
“You don’t remember me? I swear, we’ve met a few times.” John asked, trying to smile despite clearly being agitated by the presence of competition.
“Some people are more forgettable than others,” he said with a shrug. “How do you know my wife?” He emphasized the word and you pushed down the small inkling of pride you were feeling. Whether it was from watching Patrick try to scare this annoying man away from you, or being so proudly referred to as his wife, you couldn’t be sure.  
“Finally settling down, eh?” he directed at you, then directed his next statement to Patrick. “We went on a date back in the day.”
“It was for that one date auction thing,” you quickly added context, but paused when you took in John’s less than pleased look. He was a large donor at your own family’s nonprofit, and you were sure that your parents wouldn’t be too pleased with you if they found out he pulled out over you hurting his feelings. “We had a lot of fun, though.”
“We definitely did,” he chuckled and smirked. You wanted to punch him in the mouth. “We should definitely do it again sometime.”
It was clear that Patrick was not taking kindly to seeing you be flirted with so brazenly in front of him. Part of you wondered why he would be possessive, since part of your initial deal was that you could see whoever you wanted, even if that happened to be a creepy old man with a lot of money. The other part of you was enjoying seeing him so fired up. Particularly, seeing him fired up over you. 
“Our schedule is just so busy. Between work and us trying to start a family, I just don’t know when we’ll have time to see you again.”
Trying to start a family? That was definitely news to you. Although, the idea didn’t sound awful. Wasn’t it everyone’s dream to start a family with their closest, most dear friend? 
“Well, she knows where to find me, right, honey?”
“Mhm,” you mumbled, looking into your glass like it was the most interesting thing in the world. 
“Now if you don’t mind, my wife and I are going to go check out the exhibit,” Patrick announced, grabbing your hand and taking a step away from John. 
“You two have fun,” he said before clapping Patrick’s shoulder and leaning in to begin a stage whisper. “Make sure you treat her right and cherish her. If you don’t, I might have to swoop in and do so myself.”
He winked at you and you bit back a gag. 
“Don't you worry your wrinkly little head. Nobody lov- cherishes her more than I do,” he theatrically patted his back much like he’d initially done to him. “See you around.”
Did he almost say what you think he almost said? Surely you misheard him, or he was just playing up your relationship to scare away that creepy man. It really wasn’t anything to think twice about. 
Once the two of you had walked away far enough to be out of earshot, you finally addressed what had just happened. “Thank you, bodyguard. You don’t even know how much I despise that man.”
“He seems like he’s the worst,” he agreed with you, looking back over his shoulder. 
“That’s because he is,” you emphasized. “This is so random, but did you mean what you said earlier?”
Patrick suddenly paused, his face going pale like he’d just seen a ghost. You were a little confused by this reaction, as he’d said nothing to warrant that level of fear. 
“Do you actually want to start a family? Obviously not now, while you’re still playing tennis, but maybe eventually? I know we don’t have the most traditional marriage, but, I don’t know. Neither of us are getting any younger, and it might be fun to co-parent with my best friend,” you were clearly rambling now, but luckily, Patrick came in to rescue you for the second time that night. He looked far less aghast now. 
“I would love that,” he said to you with a genuine smile. You matched his with one of your own. 
———
“Do you have any big plans for retirement?” a reporter asked for the final question of the press conference. 
“Mostly just eating a lot of burgers. And maybe learning how to play pickleball,” Patrick responded, never one to give a serious answer to questions that weren’t explicitly about tennis. 
It was a ridiculous note to end on, but it felt right. You’d found that to be the case with most things in your life that pertained to him–most notably your marriage, which ended up being far more than you ever expected it to be.
After the press conference had come to a close, Patrick met you outside by the car, pressing a sweet kiss to your lips, then leaning down to peck your baby bump. 
“How does it feel to be retired?” you asked, ruffling his hair while he was still bending down.
“It feels like you might divorce me,” he joked. Obviously your marriage deal was only meant to cover the time that he was still playing tennis, but after years of a complicated marriage that suddenly became significantly less complicated once you finally confronted the fact that the two of you very obviously loved each other, it seemed unlikely that your union would end any time soon. 
You glanced down at your baby bump, then back up to him skeptically.  “I hope you’re not being serious.”
“Come on, I never know with you. You’re the one who friendzoned me the entire first year of our marriage!” he exclaimed.
“That was a lifetime ago,” you countered before taking his hands in yours. “If you’re really worried, I have zero intentions of ending our marriage.”
“That’s all I wanted to hear,” he grinned, stepping away from you. “Let’s get going. I don’t want us to miss our reservation.”
You nodded and obliged, passing him the keys before heading to the passenger side of the car.
Once you sat down, you were overcome with the urge to say something. You had spent so much time bottling up and pressing down your own feelings, that it was now hard to resist letting things out when they came to you. 
“I’m so proud of you,” you blurted. “And I love you. So much.”
Patrick smiled at you genuinely, before his look turned into a slightly more devious one. “I love you so much, too. One might even say I love you more.” 
“Don’t even start with that,” you laughed, not in the mood to have the kind of back and forth with him that you had at least once a week. Considering that you were carrying his child, you were pretty sure that you were the winner of the love competition.  
“Fine. We love each other equally,” he conceded.
“That’s more like it.”
You tried to think back to one specific moment where your marriage had crossed over from being one of convenience, into a union with genuine feelings attached, and realized that you weren’t exactly sure. It could’ve been the first night you spent together, when you’d finally allowed yourself to consider what your relationship might look like beyond a simple friendship, or maybe it was even earlier than that, when you gazed into Patrick’s eyes as you read off your vows. The look of pure adoration he gave you was one that you had grown familiar with throughout the course of your marriage, but you hadn’t realized at the time just how genuine he had been. Or maybe even the moment Patrick asked you in the living room of your apartment, when you’d been the first person he thought of to carry out his ridiculous scheme, and you’d said yes despite every logical part of your brain that screamed at you to say no. 
Whenever it began didn’t particularly matter. What mattered now was that the two of you fully intended to spend the rest of your lives together. 
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38riku · 3 months ago
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𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃
making the phantom bride final four feel things (it's my favorite event sue me)
warnings — suggestive? light flirting.
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𝐀. 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐀
"stop glaring or i'll mess it up."
as if to prove your point, his brows pinched further, causing you huff in irritation. "okay. what's wrong? you were psyched up like two seconds ago."
"yeah, well, that was two seconds ago and now is now." his rebuttal caused you to roll your eyes. 'boys' you thought as a viable excuse before trying yet again to straighten his eyeliner.
his eyes darted around the room where the others did similar things: riddle fixed his lapels, epel examined his bouquet, and rook practiced his lines, everyone was unaffected by the current circumstance.
not the rampaging bride that is going to doom a teenage boy to the eternal afterlife, no, the fact that you were straddling him in a small vanity chair.
why was such a compromising position seen so casually? now that he thinks about it, the two of you were rather touchy – piggyback rides, you holding his arms, hugs, etc. – still, this is really teetering the line of friendly affection.
"done!" beaming, you leaned back a bit, causing him to hold on to your waist a bit firmer to keep you upright. "riddle! you have a keen eye, is it straight or what?"
the house warden walked over to the two of you and ace was sure he'd call out how inappropriate this is, but he didn't. instead, he nodded and complimented you on your handiwork.
"no need to thank me." you snorted, getting up to go help the others.
riddle chuckled, patting his freshman on the shoulder as he spoke, "are you upset that they're casually intimate with you or are you upset they might act like that with someone else?"
"w-what?!" ace's cheeks flushed red.
"i may be romantically handicapped but i'm more perceptive to it than you think. i can only suggest to say something sooner than later."
he lowered his head, still blushing, diverting his gaze away from your swaying figure as his house warden's words sunk in.
damn. he did want it to mean something.
ace doesn't know which is more embarrassing: his crush on you or that riddle was the one to make him realize.
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𝐑. 𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒
"may i offer a suggestion?"
riddle hummed, meeting your eyes in the vanity mirror. "and what might that be? it's impossible to elevate perfection, you know."
ignoring his arrogant statement, you took a seat, propping his collar up and undoing his tie. "i think you'll stand out more it you tie it differently." you explained your actions, pausing momentarily until he nodded for you to continue.
he watched as you knotted and twirled the fabric, straightening it here and there, and you were done a minute later.
"a bow? it's rather ... cutesy."
"but you're cutesy."
riddle choked, coughing loudly and catching the attention of the other occupants of the room. as they began to walk towards him, he waved them off, effectively keeping them away from his flustered form.
"w-why would you–"
"the cuter you look, the less they'll take you seriously, and as one of the strongest mages left that's perfect for us to break their defenses."
of course, you meant it as a battle advantage – that is your area of expertise, after all.
"don't look so surprised." you joked, flattening out his collar and he hopes you can't feel the heated blush on his neck. "you were thinking the same thing too, right?"
"no, actually... i can't say that i was."
you tilted your head sideways, doubting his words but dropping the subject. "well, from now on don't look down on being cute, kay?"
standing from your seat, you left his vanity to tend to grimm, who, was arguing with ace about who knows what.
if he had half a mind he'd scold them both and cut off the small feline's magic, however, his mind was completely blank.
cute. you think he's cute.
riddle didn't take it as he usually would. for some off reason he felt giddy inside, wishing you meant it in a different ... more flirtatious manner. the poor boy has zero experience but wishing might work, right?
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𝐑. 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐓
"you need to talk normally to us so they won't be suspicious. try again."
if rook wasn't used to a strict training regime he'd undoubtedly call you a harsh teacher, but, as a lover of all things beautiful and magnificent he tossed the thought aside.
"no can do mon cherie. her actions are horrendous and nowhere near beautiful." he signed, placing a hand over his wounded heart. "but you, darling, are as heroic and magnificent as ever."
he watched as you rolled your eyes, placing a hand on your hip as you began to reprimand him for his lack of seriousness.
although he heard the words coming from your mouth, he couldn't help but focus on everything else.
despite not being a contender in this entire ordeal you were still dressed beautifully. the color is ethereal on you, he must make note of the hue for later ... and whatever scent you adorned had his senses on ten.
don't you know never to where perfume when there's a hunter nearby?
"rook! are you even listening to–"
all too suddenly he had your hand in his, the other gripping your waist firmly to keep your surprised form upright.
"let me give it to you straight then. the unseen beauty of your compassion and tender heart outshines that of a world class model. not that you aren't attractive, no, no, quite the opposite."
"how greedy can you possibly be?"
deep. rich. clear. his voice was positively enthralling when he dropped that phony accent (it does have a charm of its own in your opinion)
"perfect!" you beamed, his grip on you loosening in surprise of his own. "i knew you could do it. she'll be knocked off her translucent feet i tell you!"
rook allowed you to walk away, scolding epel who wiped his makeup off for the ninth time deeming it unmanly.
he couldn't help but laugh. he broke character, purposely, but he did nevertheless, and don't think he didn't notice the flash of attraction in your eyes.
never let your guard down in front of a predator, mon cherie.
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𝐄. 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐌𝐈𝐄𝐑
"i swear on the seven you'll have more problems than a poof of blush if you keep testing my patience."
epel felt a chill run down his spine at your words but he stood his ground. he let you do the liner, tousle his hair all nice, and even spray a painfully potent cologne – but he draws the line at that pigmented puff of doom.
"i'm telling ya i'm not wearing that!" he argued back from the other side of the table. the two of you were playing chicken to the amusement of the others who were nearly done with their preparations.
"stop being a big baby!"
"i ain't no baby!"
he flinched back as you narrowed your eyes in a glare. for a moment, he felt sorry that grimm had to live with such a scary person.
"fine. don't wear the blush." you slid the compacted container to his side of the table, raising your hands in surrender.
"let me redo your hair then. it'll fit the look better, baby."
yeah. that's right, you better listen when he — wait, baby?
you pushed him down in the nearest chair, undoing the small ponytail you had before in favor of something else.
epel thought this earlier but your hands did feel amazing as you twirled and pinned his hair. he nearly fell asleep the first time but he knew better than to let down his guard.
"what do you think of this, baby?"
you were teasing him but jeez, why did it make his heart race?
"doesn't matter what i think." he huffed, and you laughed softly at the statement.
"well, i'm no ghost bride with unnaturally specific standards but you look good, baby." this time, you drawled out the pet name, winking, and then leaving him alone to question everything.
in the end he came to the conclusion that he should've just let you put the damn blush on.
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© 2024 — 38riku. Do not copy or repost or plagiarize my work. All Rights Reserved.
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yeoobiii · 3 months ago
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hello, can I ask you to write a mini story about Heeseung, where he teaches Y/n how to kiss 🙏🏻
⋆。°✩ 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙
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꩜ bestfriend!heeseung x gn!reader
꩜ best friends to lovers (?), first kisses
꩜ during a game of truth or dare you admit to all your friends for the first time that you've never been kissed and that you're frankly scared you'll mess up once the situation presents itself. Heeseung sees a perfect opportinity to help you out with that.
or: Heeseung teaches his best friend how to kiss and both of you get a bit lost in it
wc: 5.1k (this has gotten a bit longer than I intended to but honestly I just went with the flow and here we are.)
warnings: consumption of alcohol
a/n: thank you for the request, anon! btw requests are open if you'd like me to write something specific, I can't promise you anything on how quickly I'll get it done or if it's something I'm up to writing but like the link is in my bio :)
I hope you like this, anon!
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There’s a few things none of your college friends knew about you. Despite knowing most of them for over three years now, some things just never came up naturally in conversation. Like the fact that you’ve not had your first kiss yet.
Why make a big deal out of it? You’ve also never been in love before. You didn’t feel the urge to inform everyone about these things, especially since most of your friends have a rather active dating life. You wanted to do these things at your own pace and didn’t want anyone involved in how you could “solve that problem”. You simply never intended on telling them. That is until last weekend happened and somehow your roommates were able to convince you to participate in a game of truth or dare.
It was a Thursday night and your roommate told you that they were having a few friends over for a cozy hang out and you were definitely down to chill with them because the both of you were friends with similar people and got along great in general, so having a few drinks with your friends in your dorm room seemed like a nice way to spend the evening.
And everything went smoothly enough, people were trickling in and out, the overall vibe very casual and comfortable. That is however until your friend Sofia suggested a game of truth or dare. To be fair, the overall intake of alcohol increased as the evening was progressing. It was almost inevitable that a suggestion like that would arouse sooner or later.
Before you even properly thought about it, you agreed to play and sat down in a circle with around five other tipsy college students.
Only later on did your brain register that Heeseung was one of the few chosen ones. For a split second you even wondered when he had arrived, but then you remembered that he greeted you with a friendly embrace when he first arrived about half an hour ago.
Technically, there was nothing wrong with him participating in the same game, the both of you were friends after all.
You met Heeseung pretty much the first day college started, you were both in stats together and happened to be sitting next to each other on the first day and it’s been like that ever since. However, you guys didn’t hit it off right away, you were friendly with each other, sure, but that mostly also out of convenience and occasionally you shared your notes with each other or he was making sure you didn’t fall asleep in class. It was all really casual and you would have considered him more like a colleague than a friend.
That was the case until one particular night that was destined to shape the kind of friendship the two of you would have with each other forever.
It was one of your first frat parties, the first semester was about to end and freshmen with various kinds of majors gathered to celebrate this collective milestone. Safe to say the liquor was being poured without much hesitation.
It wasn’t the first time you’ve run into Heeseung at a frat party either. Usually you’d shoot each other the occasional nod, acknowledging the other’s presence and moving on with your night and that’s all there was to it.
However, fate had other plans for this particular night.
At one point you excused yourself from the dance floor and went out the back door into the small garden to catch some fresh air, to your surprise not many people were out there, just you and a small group of three people maybe, who seemed to be passing around a blunt.
It took you a second glance to not only see your roommate but also Heeseung being part of that group, your roommate immediately greeting you enthusiastically upon locking eyes with you and beckoning for you to sit with them.
Shortly after you were sitting on your ass, your roommate's arm interlocked with yours, being pulled into the conversation easily.
Heeseung sent a brief smile of acknowledgement your way, before taking a hit from the joint. You returned his smile and also greeted the fourth person sitting with you who was eventually introduced as Heeseung’s friend Jake.
The joint was being passed around and eventually landed in your hand as well and afterwards the conversation seemed to flow effortlessly. You joked and laughed along to whatever your company was saying but were also emerged in the more heated discussions.
At one point you were so deep into the conversation with Jake that you didn’t even realize your roommate getting up and going back inside and like ten minutes later, Jakes excused himself to the bathroom and didn’t seem to return anymore.
Which only left Heeseung and you.
Now, you’d be lying if you’d say being in such close proximity with a cute guy like Heeseung, all by yourselves in this somewhat intimate setting left you completely unaffected. You could feel yourself growing slightly flustered at nothing in particular, but you eventually catched yourself when Heeseung asked.
“So, what’s your favorite dinosaur?”
You fell into comfortable conversation after that and the longer the night went on, the more intense the topics got.
Whenever you think back to that one particular part of the evening it kinda feels like Heeseung and you were the only two things existing at the moment. Your brain didn’t register the people stepping in and out of the garden as the hours passed by. 
It was well past 3am when you checked your phone for the time since sitting down. You told Heeseung and he was just as shocked as you were at how quickly the time had passed, almost apologizing for taking up so much of your time, but you assured him you were enjoying yourself.
“It has been a while since I sat down like that and was able to talk to someone for hours about whatever popped into my head.” You admitted to him and he seemed satisfied with that judging by the smile that graced his lips.
“Me too.”
And you could swear by the way his eyes shimmered in that moment that there was something – whatever that may have been – between the both of you. Or maybe it was just the weed.
Regardless of what you guys shared was something different than what you thought it might have been, you grew close very quickly after that evening. Heeseung started to joke around with you in class, you eventually asked him for his number and social media, he started sending you memes occasionally, you started to hang out outside of class in your little friend group.
At one point you were convinced he was actively seeking you out at parties, because ever since that evening, you always bumped into each other sooner or later during the night.
And whatever there might have been that one evening, nothing came of it. However, it almost seemed like you grew closer to Heeseung than all your other friends. People in your friend group would casually call you best friends and the more time passed the more that statement became true.
All occurrences in the past have led you to playing truth or dare on a Thursday night on the floor of your dorm room with each other. And usually that wouldn’t be an issue. Heeseung and you have progressed to a stage in your friendship where you knew almost everything about each other; almost.
You could feel the alcohol running in your system and were sincerely hoping you wouldn’t say something that you’d eventually regret. You just crossed your fingers and hoped for the best.
For the most part the game did run smoothly, it was fun and you had a good time, the only dare you had to do was show them your most embarrassing dance move.
That is until your roommate asked you truth or dare.
“Truth” you chose this time
“What was your first kiss like and who was it with?”
The question in and of itself was harmless, it matched the vibe of the very easy going game they had going on, Nonetheless, you felt put on the spot and before you could stop yourself – because you can’t pull off a lie for the life of you – you blurt out that you’ve never been kissed.
None of your friends seemed super unfazed by this seeing how you’ve not dated one person since you started college but Sofia’s eyes grew double in size.
“Not even a peck on the lips or something?” she questioned a bit bewildered.
You just shook your head, seeing from the corner of your eye how your roommate gave Sofia a light nudge at even asking such a question.
You couldn’t help but risk a short glance at Heeseung and were almost a bit startled when his eyes met yours instantly. He sent you a soft smile upon locking eyes with you. Was that pity you saw in his eyes? Your stomach turned itself upside down.
You really wish you could say it didn’t bother you at all, that at the age of 21 you’ve never kissed someone before. You didn’t want it to be a big deal, it really shouldn’t be a big deal.
But you couldn’t help but think that you lacked something or were one step behind everyone. It felt like missing out on an experience that usually people have in their late teens and early twenties.
You don’t know why it hasn’t happened for you yet. It’s not even that you want it to be with someone really special, the moment has simply never presented itself before and you usually take this for what it is, but right now – Heeseung’s expression burned into your skull – you suddenly feel a bit small.
“It’s not just that” you eventually start to break the silence, not yet realizing that you were about to make this so much worse, “it’s also the fact that even if I’d want to kiss someone, I wouldn’t know how.”
It took your drunken mind a hot minute to catch up with what you just said. Something within you simply wanted to fill the silence but the fact that your filter was basically non-existent due to your tipsy state was not taken into consideration the moment you opened your mouth.
You mentally slapped yourself across the face, this time not having the courage to even glance into Heeseung’s direction.
“It’s not that hard, I can show you!” Your roommate offered enthusiastically, intentions pure.
Your face flushed at the suggestion and you cringed a bit, more out of embarrassment that you ended up in this situation in the first place than by the proposal itself.
“I’ll let you know if I ever want to take you up on that suggestion.” You reply as nonchalantly as you can muster.
It’s not like the thought of asking a friend how to properly kiss has occurred to you before, but you could never quite bring yourself to get the request past your lips.
Your friends laugh at your response and easily move on with the conversation, taking the attention off of you. And that was that. Or at least that’s what you thought…
Two weeks later you enter the lecture hall and already spot Heeseung sitting in his usual spot and just like on autopilot you placed yourself next to him and the both of you exchanged greetings, just like you usually would. You’d also catch up about your weekends and shortly after the lecture started, taking up both of your attention.
It wasn’t until halfway through the lecture that Heeseung poked your shoulder, extending his notebook to you, clearly wanting to show you something.
With blue ink he has written on the page:
“You want me to teach you?”
Your eyebrows furrow, confused at what he meant.
You write down below him:
“Teach me what?” Confusion clear on your face as you watch him write something else.
“How to kiss”
You choked on your own spit.
Heeseung chuckled next to you. You could smack him across the head right now and you made a mental note to do just that once class is over.
Once you collected yourself, you took the pen from Heeseung and wrote three question marks under his proposal.
Why would he offer to teach you in the first place and out of all the places to suggest this to you he chose the middle of your lecture? Why?
He grinned at your question marks and if you didn’t know him any better you thought he was making fun of you. Had any other person done this to you, you’d probably actually have been hurt but first of all you still didn’t know if he was serious and second of all it was Heeseung. You knew him well enough to know he’d never use such a situation to make fun of you.
At that moment the professor seemed to notice your lack of attention and decided to ask you a question directly, returning your attention to the lecture where it stayed until you were dismissed.
The topic didn’t arise again between Heeseung and you even though the whole scenario didn’t seem to be able to leave your mind. At lunch you stared at Heesung making conversation with Jake over something you did not pay attention to, trying to figure him out.
In your head the puzzle pieces were just not fitting. Why would he suggest that all of a sudden? And why was it so hard for you to find an answer to his question…
After the whole frat party thing where you originally became friends, you had developed a small crush on Heeseung that gradually developed as time went by. It’s just after some time had passed and neither of you made any advances towards the other you eventually abandoned the idea of getting with Heeseung and were left with two options, getting over your crush or having to live with your unrequited feelings.
You chose the first option. It took you quite some time but you managed to accept the fact that Heeseung was simply a really good friend and your feelings faded as seasons changed.
You’d be lying saying they ever went away completely. There’s no reason denying that Heeseung was painfully your type and that no matter how hard you tried to tell yourself that you didn’t like him like that anymore, you were attracted to him.
So, saying his suggestion to teach you how to kiss took you by surprise was the understatement of the century.
He probably just tried to be a good friend, right? Your roommate had suggested to teach you as well back then and there were no other intentions behind that, you were certain of that. So, why are you questioning Heeseung so much?
The topic didn’t come up again until one day you were hanging out in your dorm room. Just your roommate, Heeseung and yourself. It was often like that, sometimes Jake was also around but today it was just the three of you, that is at least until your roommate told you that they were heading out for dinner at around six and didn’t know when they’d be back.
Once they left, it was just Heeseung and you left.
Ever since he made his suggestion in class, you dreaded being alone with him, because you didn’t know if the topic would come up again or if you even wanted it to.
Heeseung was lying on your bed, his feet resting on your lap, while you were sitting at the end of the bed, back resting against the wall. Heeseung was scrolling through his phone when you decided to address the elephant in the room, because you figured if he wasn’t the one to bring it up, why shouldn���t you?
“Were you serious?” you simply said, not in any particular tone, just wanting to clear the haze in your head.
“Do you mean about the kissing thing?” He said without looking away from his face. The fact that he instantly knew what you were talking about indicated enough that he was aware it’s been eating at you.
You nod.
He locked his phone and threw it to the side, moving to sit up and also lean his back against the wall so that he can face you.
“I was and I still am.” He said, no trace of irony to be found.
“Why?” You couldn’t help but ask.
He shrugged his shoulders, “It seemed like it bothered you that day. You know, when you told everyone how you’re scared you’d mess up if it comes down to the real thing?”
He teased at you being so open due to liquid courage, a small smile forming on his face as you rolled your eyes at him.
“I was put on the spot and that was the only thing my brain provided at the moment to fill the silence.” You whine more frustrated with yourself than anyone else.
“So, you’re not worried about that?” He asked in return.
It was silent for a moment as you contemplated his question. You could easily dig yourself a way out of this by denying it, convincing him it was mainly the liquor talking. But you and Heeseung were never really the type to lie to each other.
“I am” you eventually admit, not meeting his eyes “I don’t know… It’s a bit silly but like I don’t know anyone my age who hasn’t been kissed before and I feel like it’s gonna be really awkward if the situation arises and I chicken out because I have no idea how to actually kiss someone.”
Heeseung listened to you and took your words in before answering.
“But you know, most first kisses are kinda awkward, I think.”
“Was your first kiss weird at all?” You asked him.
“Yeah, very.” He chuckled, sitting up more on the bed, “it was kinda too much of everything, too much teeth, too much spit, just entirely too much.”
He shuddered a bit, recollecting his first kiss.
“See? And I’d have no idea about any of that.” You said almost a bit frustrated.
“Then let me show you.” He insisted, your eyes meeting.
The way he says it so casually makes you want to rip your hair out.
“It’s just a kiss, right? And it’s me! You don’t have to be embarrassed with me.” He said, eyebrows slightly raised, trying to ease your mind.
You look at him. He looks cozy in his oversized sweatshirt, his body language his usual relaxed self. It was still a bit fascinating how he could take this all so lightly but then again, it really was just a kiss for him.
And you know you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t kiss Heeseung. In fact, your head is screaming at you not to kiss him, because the risk of buried feelings resurfacing is simply too big. But you’d also be lying to yourself if you’d say you weren’t curious what his lips would feel like against yours and it were thoughts like this that’d mean certain doom for you sooner or later.
At your silence Heeseung added “Look, there’s really no pressure at all. I just thought maybe you’d like to know a few things that will help ease your mind, but of course you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
And of course he would say that. Of course he’d go out of his way to reassure you that you’re safe with him and that he respected your choice no matter what. Maybe sharing your first kiss with Heeseung wasn’t that bad of an idea after all. At least like that you could make sure it’s someone who respects you and your boundaries, someone who makes sure you feel safe and comfortable no matter what.
Maybe you could allow yourself this. Maybe having this as the memory of your first kiss wasn’t too bad.
“Like, right now?” You asked, which seemed to surprise Heeseung a little. He must have been convinced you’d turn him down.
“I mean, whenever is fine.” He responded suddenly you could see his cool demeanor crack, spotting a few hints of nervousness behind the cracks.
“I think, I’d be down.” You eventually say after contemplating for another minute.
“Really?” Heeseung’s eyebrows were almost at his hairline.
“Lee Heeseung, if you tell me right now that all of this has been a sick joke of yours after all, I’m ending this friendship right now.”
Panic flashed in his eyes.
“No! No, of course not. I was being serious. I just didn’t think…. I didn’t think you’d agree.” he admitted.
“So, how does this work?” you ask, not knowing where to even start.
“Oh, so you really want to do it right now, I see.” Heeseung mumbled more to himself than anyone in particular.
He scooted slightly closer to you.
“Well, first we gotta get closer.” He moves to sit next to you on the bed, shoulders touching.
You watch him, fascinated at how quickly his shyness has been replaced by his cool, nonchalant demeanours once again.
Heeseung and you have cuddled on more than one occasion before, but this feels different, you’re hyper aware of the place where his shoulder is bumping into yours and your tights are touching. This close, you could smell his cologne and shampoo.
“It’s not that complicated really” he starts explaining.
“If you want to just have a small, simple kiss. We’d both tilt our heads slightly as we get closer. Let me show you.”
He turns towards you, his eyes meeting yours. And you could swear there it was again. That shimmer from the first night the both of you actually talked to each other. You push that thought to the back of your head, the indications behind that too overwhelming for what’s about to happen right now.
His hand hovers above your cheek and you nod, allowing him to gently grab you by the jaw and tilt your head into one direction. The distance between his and your face shrinks as he does so, the pace of your heartbeat picking up in the process.
You could feel his breath against your lips as he spoke again.
“This is usually the point most people close their eyes and then you just… kiss.”
You close your eyes and a moment later you felt the sensation of Heeseung’s lips softly pressing against yours. All thoughts seem to leave your head the instant your lips touched, your heart basically beating out of your chest. It took you a moment to actually process the sensation and just as you were about to lose yourself in the feeling, Heeseung pulled back slightly.
“You know, this is the part where you kiss me back.” He chuckled, the sound sending a shiver down your spine and maybe it was all in your head but you could swear his voice sounded different then just a second ago; a bit deeper, maybe even a bit flustered.
“My bad” you said, making Heeseung throw his head back with laughter, making you giggle as well.
It eases your anxiety a bit that even in stations like this, you were able to just laugh with him and easing the tension so easily.
“No worries” he laughed “Wanna try again?”
Again?
What did he mean again? Wasn’t that it?
Despite yourself, you nod.
“Okay, this time make sure to reciprocate the pressure I put against your lips, got it?”
“Got it” you kept your replies fairly short, afraid your voice would fail you otherwise.
Before you knew it, Heeseung was leaning in again.
“Ready?”
“Ready.”
You close your eyes and soon after you feel the now familiar pressure of his lips again, this time making sure to kiss him back. Without thinking about it, your hand found its way onto Heeseung’s neck, where your fingers absentmindedly played with hair as you were kissing him.
This kiss lasted longer than the first one, you could feel Heeseung moving against you and followed his lead. It was easier to flow into the rhythm than you’d have thought, his lips soft and gentle against yours.
You were starting to feel lightheaded as he pulled away again and you had to resist the urge to chase after his lips.
“That was pretty good” he said, slightly out of breath, his pupils slightly dilated, his gaze fixed on your lips before he looked up at you.
“Also the thing you did with your hand, it seems like you’re a natural.” He chucked.
That’s when you saw your hand still resting against his neck, you instantly pulled it away once your brain caught up to what he was saying.
“Oh, I didn’t even realize…”
For a second there was a silence between the both of you; a silence that wasn’t quiet at all. You couldn’t seem to take your eyes off of him and neither could he. You could probably cut the tension with a knife.
“And what if… what if I’d want it to get more intense, you know?”
Heeseung’s eyebrows shot up.
“More intense?” He said, knowing very well what you were implying.
“I get how just kissing someone on the lips like that might not be that hard but what if– what if it goes further?”
Heeseung cleared his throat at your words and sat up straighter.
“You mean, if you would want to deepen the kiss?” He inquired.
You just nod, looking up at him, not failing to notice the light blush that’s starting to form on his cheeks, matching your own flusteredness.
“You want me to show you as well?”
You nod. Something about how his lips feel against yours was addictive, making you throw all your previous reservations out of the window.
“It’s kinda hard to explain though. I’d just have to show you?” He said, a bit unsure.
“That’s okay.”
“Okay so, basically you start with a kiss just like we shared before. You’ll just have to let me lead, okay?”
Something about the way he said that sent a shiver down your spine, words refusing to leave your mouth so you just nod.
Soon enough, his lips were on yours again and even though you were only separated for a few minutes, you already started to miss the sensation and the tingle it made you feel in your stomach and chest. Naturally, your hand found its way back into his hair.
Suddenly, you felt his tongue brush against your bottom lip and your heart took a leap. Instinctively, you opened your mouth for him. A few moments pass and he starts licking gently into your mouth.
You actively have to suppress sounds that were starting to build in the back of your throat at the sensation.
You could also feel one of his hands pressing against your waist while the other one was busy cupping your cheek.
Without much thinking you pressed forward, wanting to match his eagerness, which led to your teeth clinking against each other to which Heeseung pulled back slightly, chuckling.
“Take it slow, yeah?” He said, his face still incredibly close to yours.
As you nod at his remark he dives back in, taking you by surprise a bit. You were welcoming the touch of lips nonetheless.
This time you tried to dial down your eagerness and gently let his tongue guide yours, your insides turning into mush in the process.
Without thinking you slightly pulled at his hair, making him hum against your lips. 
He must like that? you think to yourself. 
Your stomach did a 360 at the thought of stirring him on further.
At this point your tongues were dancing with each other gently, no trance of any kind of hesitation left, the feeling leaving your head dizzy and your heart fluttering.
The way Heeseung kept pulling you in by your jaw and how his grip on your hip was getting tighter.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a really long time.” He suddenly blurts out in between kisses and if you wouldn’t be so lost in the feeling of his lips on yours you’d stop to question his statement, but right now your heart simply leaped in your chest.
Overcome by a sudden wave of braveness, you swung one of your legs across his lap, straddling him. Heeseung looked at you starstruck, his hands instantly finding their way to your hips caressing them.
You took the time to look at him for a moment, his pupils were practically blown out and he looked so pretty with kiss swollen lips, glistering with both of your spit.
This was the first time you initiated the kiss, he easily reciprocated.
The kisses were sometimes still a bit sloppy but neither you nor Heeseung seemed to care, too lost in the feeling of each other’s bodies pressed against each other.
His hands were traveling up your sides and down your tights again and you were drowning in this feeling, of his hands touching you; exploring you. Soon enough, him trying to teach you how to kiss turned into a full on make out session.
That was until your roommate burst into the room without any announcement, making you jump off of Heeseung in an instant, cursing your body for immediately missing his closeness.
You both looked guilty and flustered as your roommate looked the both of you up and down.
“My bad, I’m just here to grab my charger. Continue with what you’ve been doing. It was only a matter of time until this happened anyway.”
They said and were gone as quickly as they had arrived.
You and Heeseung looked at each other for a second. Both of you burst into laughter shortly after.
“I think at some point we should really have a conversation about what exactly this is between us.” He gestured between the both of you after recovering from the sudden interruption.
And you were glad he brought it up because you think your heart would have been shattered into a hundred pieces if this didn’t have the same effect on him as it had on you; making your stomach flutter, turning your insides into mush, craving more.
“Better sooner than later, right?” you smile at him, hope filling your heart.
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feel free to let me know your thoughts <3
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scribblesofagoonerr · 3 months ago
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September Love | Never Grow Up
the third and final installment in the mini series - this is the second version, more sadder so that's a heads up there
summary: remi starts her first year of school and there's a new arrival in the williamson family
pairings: leah williamson x reader
warning: talks of death.
alternative ending for this one - please don't hate me for it, i'm sorry in advance!
based on the reactions to this one, is how i am going to figure out the next mini series!
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“I can’t believe it’s this time already,” Leah says, a frown etched on her face as she stares at an old photo of Remi at 5 weeks old that she had saved in her phone, “Where has the time gone?” She murmurs.
It only felt like it was yesterday.
“We blinked Le,” You tell her, your eyes softening, “And just like that, she’s off to big school.” You add.
“But she’s still too tiny for big school, isn’t she?” Your wife exhales a sigh and continues to stare at the photo on her phone with tears welling up in her eyes.
“Le, she’s 5 years old now. We have to let her go now,” You say gently, reminding your wife that your eldest girl was indeed not a baby now.
“I still don’t like it though,” Leah admits quietly, shaking her head in disagreement.
You can’t help but chuckle heartily, “She’s only going into her first year of reception, it’s not like she’s moving out the country,” You tease your wife, which you’re quick to be on the dirty end of a scowl, “Come on Le, you know what I mean.”
“Don’t even joke about things like that,” Leah murmurs, continuing to frown at you, “You don’t get it though, it’s her first day of big school… which means she’s not a baby anymore.” She adds.
“No she’s not,” You reply quietly in agreement.
Your wife bites her bottom lip and shakes her head vigorously, “I don’t like it. Why can’t we just turn back the clock?” She asks.
“It doesn’t work like that,” You laugh humorlessly and shake your head.
“It’s just,” Leah begins to say as she finds the right words, “She was our tiny little baby at one point and now… now she’s just growing up so fast.”
“Don’t worry, we’ve still got time to go through all this again, remember?” You tell her, gesturing towards your swollen belly as you are ready to give birth any day now, “Twice.”
“I know,” Your wife’s eyes soften as she crouches down and rests her hands on your baby bump, “I can’t wait to meet you baby boy.” She whispers, placing a gentle kiss on your stomach.
“And he can’t wait to meet his Mummy either,” You tell her, genuinely smiling at the blonde, “Any day now.” You add, hopeful that he does make his appearance sooner rather than later after getting to the stage of being uncomfortable, and pregnancy during Summer is no joke.
“Why’re you sad, Mummy?” Remi’s voice pipes up out of nowhere, all ready for school wearing her brand new school uniform that you have to admit looks massive on her, her hair done up in a loose ponytail with a red ribbon attached while she wears her new black shiny shoes that you had the absolute misfortune of having to experience standing in a queue to just to get into the busy shop – that is something that you can definitely say you’re not such a fan off.
“Oh I’m not sad, baby Gooner,” Leah immediately plasters a smile on her face, “I’m just… I’m really proud of you, you know?” She adds, wiping away the stray tears from her face.
“But you’re crying though,” Remi frowns in confusion as she tilts her head to the side, “You only do that when you’re sad, like when you watch them really sad films about the puppies or when you’re on the pitch sometimes–”
“Okay, okay, I think we get it,” Leah interjects, before your daughter has any further chance to expose your wife for the softy that she really is, “I’m not sad, baby Gooner. I’m just so excited for you that you’re starting big school today. Are you excited?” She questions.
“Uh huh! I am so excited, I can’t wait to make lots of friends like uncle Jacob told me about!” Remi is vibrating with excitement, which is more than can be said about your wife.
“You’re going to make so many new friends!” You reassure your little girl with a proud smile on your face, “Alright, how about we take a picture for your first day of big school, yeah?”
“Yeah!” Remi jumps up and down in delight at the idea.
“Big smiles, Remi Roo!” You encourage as your daughter flashes you a gap-toothed smile from the tooth that she lost just the previous week.
You make it a whole family occasion with Esme toddling in to join in the photo opportunity and many snaps are taken amongst your little family of four, soon to be five.
“Perfect, baby girl!” You tell her, taking lots of pictures as you stare at them with a sense of nostalgia as all the sudden memories come to light of the several milestones Remi has achieved over the last 5 years, “You really are growing up, Remi Roo.”
“I don’t like it, it’s too many milestones at once,” Leah cracks under the pressure and shakes her head, wiping another stray tear away.
“Le,” Your facial expression softens as you wrap your arms around your wife to comfort her.
“It’s okay, Mummy!” Remi wraps her small arms around Leah’s legs, “Don’t be sad now! It’s gon’ be okay!”
“Me join!” Esme, not wanting to be left out, holds her hands up in the air for you to lift her up, “Mummy sad?” She asks, confused.
“A little bit,” You answer your youngest honestly.
“I make it better,” Esme declares, pressing a sloppy kiss on Leah’s cheek, “All better?”
“Much better, thank you Essie Bear,” Leah coos, returning a gentle kiss to Esme’s cheek.
“You can still cuddle me, even when I’m at big school!” Remi points out, peering up to look at your wife from where she’s stood, “It’s okay!”
“Oh, well in that case then I am definitely holding you to that,” Leah grins and scoops Remi up into her arms, “I’m gonna get in all the snuggles in that I can!” She says, squeezing her tightly.
“Alright, alright,” You break it up jokingly, “Let’s not smother her before she even makes it out the door for her first day.”
“Don’t you dare make fun of me,” Leah tells you, pointing her index finger in your face, “This is a big moment today.” She adds, placing Remi back down on the floor.
You snicker in amusement at your wife’s expense, “Oh don’t I know it? Big bad scary Leah Williamson crying over her little girl’s first day at big school,” You pause, the smirk not leaving your face, “Gosh, what will the world think?”
Your wife glares at you and gently swats you, “Shut up, I’m allowed to be emotional today.”
“Uh huh, and what’s the reason for every other day then?” You can’t help but wonder with a shit eating grin on your face.
“You’re lucky that I love you,” Leah murmurs, rolling her eyes at your antics to wind her up.
“And I love you too,” You reply, pecking her on the lips, “You’re the lucky one that I put up with you being a blubbering mess every time Remi does something that’s deemed ‘too grown up’,” You remind her, amusedly.
“I’m emotional, okay?” Leah exclaims, throwing her hands up in the air, “She’s our eldest, our baby… Our baby Gooner!”
“You can’t call me that anymore, Mummy!” Your 5 year old points out, “I’m not a baby!”
Your wife pouts at your daughter's words and shakes her head, “You will always be my baby, no matter how old you get,” She pauses, “Even when you’re 30 and you have your own family.”
Remi wrinkles her face up in disgust, “Boys are yucky, I don’t want a boyfriend.” She states,
“And you’re definitely right to think that,” You chuckle amusedly as you gather your small family out of the door and make your way to your wife’s BMW, “I think if Mummy had her way, she wouldn’t let you date until you’re 25 at least.” You joke.
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“I’m ready to go in!” Remi announces, standing outside of the school gates in a tone that sounds far more grown up than her 5 year old self, “I’m not scared.”
“It’s good to not be scared, you’re going to have so much fun!” You tell her, holding her hand and guiding her through the gates of the school while Leah follows behind holding Esme’s hand, “You’re going to smash it, baby girl!”
“And we’ll be right here to pick you up when the day is done, okay?” Leah reassures your daughter, catching up with your toddler, who likes to walk at her own pace.
“Okay!” Your eldest nods in agreement, bouncing on her toes as she carries her backpack that looks way too big for her.
“Rem! Rem!” Esme shouts to get her big sister’s attention, “Rem!”
“I’m going to big school, Bear,” Remi crouches down and wraps her arms around her little sister, “But I’ll see you when I’m home and tell you all about it!”
Watching the exchange between your daughters, makes your heart swell with pride and a touch of bittersweetness.
“Miss ‘ou, Rem,” Esme pouts, a little frown forming on her tiny face as her voice wobbles, as if she’s on the verge of tears.
“Miss you too, Bear,” Remi continues to squeeze her little sister tightly, “I’ll be back later though, don’t worry!” She adds with a smile that reveals her recently lost tooth.
“Come here, you,” Leah crouches down to your daughter’s level and wraps her arms around her, squeezing her tightly as if to not let go and hold on to her forever, “I’m so proud of you, here at big school, eh?  You’re going to make so many friends and learn so much! Oh, and have a lot of fun as well!” She tells her.
“Mummy,” Remi attempts to wriggle away from your wife’s embrace, “You’re… You’re squeezing too tight.” She whines,
“I’m just soaking up the moment until you’re home from school,” Leah admits, pulling back and brushing a loose strand of hair behind Remi’s ear, “Big school, eh? I wish you would stop growing up so much on me, I don’t like it.” She jokes with her.
“You have to let me grow up, Mummy,” Remi’s giggle is infectious as she squeezes your wife again tightly, “I gots’ to go in now, but I’ll see you when you pick me up, remember?”
“We will be right here waiting for you,” You tell her, unable to crouch down properly with your swollen belly in the way, “We’re so proud of you, Remi Roo!” You add, kissing the top of her head.
You spot your daughters’ teacher making her way over to your family as she gives you both a kind smile, “Hi, Remi. Are you ready to go in?” She asks.
“Yes!” Remi excitedly replies, giving you both a final hug goodbye before she takes hold of her teachers’ hand and begins to walk in the building, “Bye, Mummy! Bye, Mumma! Bye, Bear!” She calls back, her voice ringing with excitement.
“Bye, baby Gooner,” Leah waved back, her voice catching slightly as you see the glimmer of tears threatening to spill over again.
You can feel your own chest tightening as you force a smile and wave, “See you later, Remi Roo. Have the best day!”
“Bye-bye, Rem! Love you!” Esme clings to Leah’s leg, waving frantically.
“Save your tears for the car, Le,” You tease, taking note of your wife’s eyes, the tears are a lot more visible now, “I know it’s hard to watch her go in there, but it’ll be 3 o’clock before we know it.” You add, hoping that helps things a little better.
“I know,” Leah murmurs in agreement, walking round to the pre-school that Esme attended next to the school.
You can say that dropping Esme off to pre-school wasn’t too hard, although there were extra tight hugs given before your youngest daughter ran off inside without a care in the world.
Much to your wife’s disappointment, and you swear the tears threaten to spill again.
“At least we know what your weakness is now,” You joke, climbing back into the passenger seat of the car after dropping them both off, “It’s only a few hours, remember? It’ll be here before we know it.” You tell her.
Leah tries to laugh it off and shake her head as she climbs into the driver's seat, “Yeah, and to think I still have to go to training,” She pauses as wipes a visible tear away as she buckles her seatbelt in, “I wish I could just tell Jonas that we have a family emergency.” She tells you.
It’s at that moment, you completely freeze as you feel a sudden wet patch on your leather seat.
 “Um, Le,” You mumble, getting her attention as she fiddles with the dials of the car to find the right music playlist, “I think you might need to call Jonas and tell him that there’s a family emergency.” You say.
Leah turns towards you and looks confused, “Why’s that, love?” She wonders.
“Well, because I’m 99% sure that my waters have just broken,” You admit, gazing down to motion to the seat.
It takes literal seconds for your wife’s eyes to widen in shock, “What? Here? Now?” She rambles in a clear panic, “Seriously? Oh my God!”
“Don’t panic,” You murmur, trying to keep the situation calm despite your best efforts – Your wife is very much in a complete panic over this.
“I’m not… I’m not panicking,” Leah stutters her words as she runs her hand through her hair, “What'd we do? Do you feel like you have contractions? We need to get the hospital bag from the house!” She continues to ramble.
You shake your head in disagreement, “I don’t feel like there’s any currently,” You pause, “We’ll go home, stay there until they start and head to the hospital when it’s time, yeah?” You suggest, trying to keep calm in the situation despite the one being hours away from giving birth.
“O… Okay,” Leah swallows the lump that’s formed in her throat, “We’ll go home, we’ll wait there– I need to call my Mum, she’ll need to pick the girls up.” She notes in realisation.
“Yeah, I somehow don’t think it’s going to be possible to be there for the 3 o’clock pick up after all,” You murmur, exhaling a sigh, “Little man has decided today’s the day to make his grand entrance into the world.”
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Plans don’t always go as expected. You certainly didn’t expect to go into labour on the very same day that your eldest daughter started big school, but sometimes life takes you by complete surprise.
That day, life had a far bigger surprise than you or Leah could ever have imagined.
“This doesn’t feel right, you should be here,” Leah speaks aloud a few hours later, cradling your newborn son, Archie George Williamson at home  in her arms, knowing that you should be here to see this moment as well. 
His tiny breaths, soft and slow, his fingers curled into little fists – You’re not there to hold him yourself.
The labour had been far more complicated than anyone could have anticipated and you lost too much blood, and though they tried to save you, you never woke up after your son came into the world.
Leah's eyes are red from crying, but she’s holding herself together for the sake of the baby – For the sake of the three children that you’ve left behind while she strokes Archie’s head softly, “I hate that you aren’t here, I hate that my Mum had to pick Remi up on her first day," She murmurs, almost to herself, “We promised her we would both be there.”
The room feels empty without you, a hollow space where your laughter and warmth should be. Leah feels the ache of your absence in every corner, in every breath she takes.
“I hope you know how much your Mumma loved you already, little man,” The blonde whispers,  her heart breaking as she looks down at Archie, whose little face is scrunched up while he sleeps, “Believe me, she loved you so, so much from the minute we found out we were expecting you.”
As she takes a deep breath to steady herself, she continues to speak, “Our family might not be complete now, but you’re here, Archie Bug and we’ll make sure that you know all about her.”
There’s a quiet knock on the door and the sound of little feet thundering down the hallway as Amanda has brought Remi and Esme back from school. Leah wipes her eyes quickly, trying to put on a brave face as the door flies open.
“Mummy!” Remi shouts, her voice full of excitement, her hair now wild and free from it’s ponytail, running into the room with wide eyes, bright and full of curiosity, unaware of the loss that’s waiting to be explained.
“Mumma! Mummy!” Esme echoes, hot of her sister’s heels, her usual energetic self completely oblivious to the gravity of the situation.
“Shhh, girls,” Leah gently admonishes, holding up a finger to her lips, “We have to be quiet and use our inside voices.” She reminds them softly, her heart aching as she realises she’ll have to tell them soon.
Remi, always so observant, stops short and notices the bundle in Leah’s arms, but frowns when she doesn’t see you on the sofa like she thought she would, “Where’s Mumma?”
Leah’s smile falters, the weight of her grief momentarily overwhelming as she struggles to find the words, “Mumma… She’s not here anymore,” she says softly, her voice quivering.
Remi’s head tilts in confusion, not able to understand your wife’s words so much, “What do you mean, Mummy?” She asks as her eyes fix on Archie as she tiptoes over to Leah with exaggerated caution, “Is this him?”
“It is,” Leah responds, her voice trembling, “Girls, this is your baby brother, Archie.”
Esme’s face lights up with delight, “Baby?” She says, her voice high-pitched and curious, “My baby?” She asks.
“Your baby brother,” Leah corrects with a small, sad smile as she continues to hold Archie in her arms.
Amanda, who has walked through the house with Jacob, peers over to look at her new grandson, “He’s perfect, Bubba.” She says, sharing a sad smile with her daughter.
Jacob scoops Esme up into his arms to give her a better look at your newborn, “He’s very little still, Es, so you have to be very gentle with him.” He tells her.
Remi leans in closer, her little face filled with wonder, “He’s tiny, Mummy,” She reaches out, carefully touching Archie’s tiny hand, “He’s smaller than my dollies.”
Leah laughs softly, tears threatening again, “He is, isn’t he?” She pauses to settle Archie down in his Moses basket, “But he’ll grow up to be big and strong, just like you.”
Jacob sets Esme down next to Remi, watching the two girls stare at their brother in the Moses basket as Amanda takes the moment to wrap her arms around her daughter to comfort her.
Wanting to be brave for her children, Leah wipes away any visible tears and plasters on a fake smile as she looks in the direction of her daughters, “What do you think, Essie Bear?” She asks, catching the moment that Esme tries to reach out and poke Archie’s cheek gently, “Gentle, Essie.” She reminds her with a soft smile.
Archie just lets out a soft sigh but still remains asleep, already learning to find comfort in the noise around him.
“He likes it, Mummy,” Esme declares confidently, trying to reach out and poke him again.
“We have to be gentle with him, Es. He’s only little,” Leah tells her softly, her voice catching in her throat.
Remi glances up at Leah, “Mummy, will he like Arsenal, like you do?” She asks, curiously.
“I mean I hope so, but if not then that’s okay too,” Leah answers honestly, pushing past the weight in her chest, “Just as long as he doesn’t follow uncle Jacob and support Spurs.” She jokes, trying to make light of the situation despite how heartbroken she feels inside.
“Of course you just had to get in there, didn’t you?” Jacob rolls his eyes, shaking his head in amusement.
“What? We’re a family full of Gooners in this house,”  Leah shrugs, trying to hold onto the joy in the room, “Just as long as all 3 of my kids are happy then that’s all that matters to me now.”
“Can I hold him, Mummy? Please?” Remi leans in closer, looking at Leah with those big, hopeful eyes that match her own.
Leah nods with a smile that almost feels real, “Okay, Rem, but you have to sit down and be very still, okay?” She instructs gently.
Remi eagers nods and hops onto the chair beside the bed, her little legs dangling off the edge as she waits in anticipation to hold Archie. Leah gently lifts the sleeping baby from his Moses basket, cradling his body with steady hands, though her heart feels anything but, as she slowly places him into Remi’s waiting arms.
“Hi, Archie,” Remi’s face lights up with pure delight, her grin stretching from ear to ear as she cradles her baby brother with such tender care in the world, “I’m Remi, I’m your big sister and I love you lots!” she whispers, her voice filled with awe.
“He loves you lots too, Rem,” Leah whispers back, her voice breaking just a little, how she wishes you were to see this, to be part of this moment.
“My turn next!” Esme declares, standing on her tiptoes, trying to peek over Remi’s shoulder, “My turn!” She repeats, a little too loud as Leah quickly hushes her with a finger to her lips.
“Soon, Essie Bear,” Leah promises, brushing a hand through Esme’s curly hair, “Remi’s just having a cuddle first, see?”
Esme nods eagerly, her face scrunched up in concentration as she watches her sister carefully, “Okay, I wait,” She whispers, “He’s cute, Mummy.”
“He is, isn’t he?” Leah agrees, her smile wobbly but genuine as she looks down at Archie before leaning down to kiss the top of Esme’s head, “He looks just like you when you were born as well. Tiny and perfect.”
As Leah watches her three children, she feels the weight of your absence, an ache that will never fully leave but she knows that no matter what, she needs to be strong for them now. Making sure that they never forget you, she will keep your memory alive in every way that she can.
Because even though you’re not here, your love is and Leah will make sure that’s enough.
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© scribblesofagoonerr
216 notes · View notes
arcanefox207 · 7 months ago
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The Wolf You Feed (Part 2)
Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader
Rating: Explicit, 18+ MDNI
Word Count: 5.6k
Part 2 / ? (Ongoing Series) (AO3)
Summary: Set in a fictional New England town, you fall for your handsome, intense and outdoorsy neighbor while renting out your parent's vacant summer home during a brutal winter.
Warnings: No Outbreak, AU but with TLoU characters, Large age gap (Reader is 29. Joel is 50). Pet names but no use of Y/N. Reader is smaller than Joel and has hair he can grab. POV Switching. Series contains Angst and lots of Smut (to avoid chapter specific spoilers you can expect things such as but not limited to Unprotected PiV, Cream Pies, Oral, Masturbation, Dom!Joel, Subby reader, Pining, Infidelity) 
A/N: In case you are just jumping in, you can read Part 1 here. Part 2 is more smut heavy! I aim to have Part 3 out much sooner as time allows!
A O 3 | M A S T E R L I S T | N O T I F I C A T I O N S
Comments / Reblogs are so incredibly appreciated and give me the motivation to write 🧡
Without further ado... for your reading pleasure.
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It’s late on Saturday morning and you have a pot of coffee brewing while you shower. You stand in the stream of hot water far longer than you need to. Your thoughts shrouded by your evening with Joel Miller. How rough but passionate his touch was. How he made you get on your knees for him. How he tasted and how badly you wanted… needed  more of him. Your hands trace over tender spots where he held onto you and you relish the memory. 
He tested your obedience and you followed his orders. You hope it turned him on as much as it did you. You liked surrendering yourself to him. Despite his roughness you felt safe with him. You couldn’t explain it yet but you could feel that his burly facade was hiding something softer. 
You finally step out onto the cool tile and dry off in front of the mirror. You pat your hair down with your towel and when the steam starts to dissipate you catch how happy you look. An old you that you have not recognized for a long, long time. 
You smile to yourself and resolve to put Joel out of your mind for now or nothing would be getting done today. 
The coffee helps wake you up enough to plan out your morning. There is a light coating of fresh snow and the sky looks gray and ominous. A big storm is expected to hit overnight so you head into town to pick up some food and provisions. You make a quick stop at Grind when you see Marlene’s car parked in front.
There are a few customers and you are surprised to see Marlene working. By her expression, she wasn’t too pleased to be there.
“Hey!” You greet her as you approach the counter. “You got stuck working today?”
“Yeah, someone called out.” she rolled her eyes. “Don’t feel too bad for me, it’s your turn next.” she jokes. A teenager is busy checking out a customer and another is making a latte. Marlene steps away for a moment to chat with you.
“So…” she prods. “How did it go?” You fail to hide your smile and thoughts of Joel overtake you once again. 
“It went… great.” 
“When can I meet him?” 
You laugh nervously at her question.
“Lets not jump ahead. Right now it’s just something… casual.” 
She is skeptical of your reply and stares at you for a moment, trying to will more out of you, but you don’t give in. 
“Ok. Whatever you say.” She rolls her eyes again. “I have to get back to work, but you are going to have to tell me sooner or later.” She points at you and furrows her brow. 
“Yeah, Yeah.” You joke. “See you Monday!”
You leave the shop and cross the street to the grocery store. The place is mobbed and the shelves wiped out of the most in demand items. You grab a few things and chat with your mom who calls you to check in. Rather, to tell you all about her excursions and gossip about people you have never even met. You don’t mind and just tell her things are going well, you like your job and let her ramble on, not really listening. Mindless chatter in your ears while you shop. 
She does catch you off guard when she mentions hearing about the storm and “Joel will plow for us if we ask him to” casually. Your ears perk at the mention of his name but you act cool and collected. You don’t like the way she volunteers his services so nonchalantly. It strikes a nerve in you and reminds you of how she always insinuates you are incapable of being responsible. It makes you feel defensive for Joel, too. Her disregard for his time further illustrating how self centered she is. This was one of the factors that pushed you away for so many years. 
“Your father will call him later—” 
Absolutely not. You interrupt her sternly mid-sentence. 
“Mom. I will take care of it.” The last thing you want is your parents harassing Joel or trying to control you from across the country. This was a string you needed to make clear was not going to be attached to your current living arrangement.
“I have things under control.” 
“Oh… ok then.” Her tone is short and then she is off talking about her beach plans again. This goes on for another 10 minutes and by now you are in the checkout line. You say your goodbyes and calculate another week or two before you have to do that all over again. 
You hadn’t really considered the snow aftermath but you had a shovel and your car would be good enough to get out of your driveway… probably. You were not going to bother Joel regardless. 
The call puts you in a bad mood as you drive home. The spitting snow reminds you of the impending storm. The cheerful start of the day is gone and replaced with a heavy feeling.
You drive past Joel’s house and wonder if he is home and what he is doing. Wonder if you should call him. Wonder why he has not reached out to you either. You don’t want to be that girl. It’s not like you and him are anything. You shouldn’t be expecting anything from him. However, you still feel a faint sting of disappointment. Maybe he had his fun and that was it. Self doubt poisons your mind but you try to swallow it back. 
The rest of the day you spend eating junk food and watching movies on Netflix. You fall asleep on the couch early in the night before forcing yourself into bed. The wind and snow has ramped up and your power flickers. 
You pull your comforter tightly over you and take one last look at your phone but you already know there is nothing from Joel. 
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Saturday Night (Joel POV)
Joel sits up in his loft on his worn out couch, strumming his guitar. He takes a sip of his whiskey, neat, and poorly mouths the words to his song. 
He plays a few more riffs but feels distracted and unfocused. All attempts to keep busy have been ineffective today. He spent the afternoon preparing his truck and stacking firewood. Once that work was done he had nothing but free time.
The truth is, you have been on his mind. It was hard not to think about you. He had only explored the tip of the iceberg with you and wanted more. He knew it wasn’t right to pursue you for a magnitude of reasons, but the desire was not waning. He felt things with you that he had not felt in a long time. Feelings he was afraid to give in to.      
Joel replaces the guitar in his hands with his phone and hovers your name in the recent contacts.  This isn’t the first time today he has almost called you. 
What are you doing, stupid. He thinks to himself. 
He shuts down the moment of weakness and locks his phone. He knocks back the last of his whiskey and heads downstairs. He turns on his TV to the local news and listens to them fuss over the storm. He knew tomorrow would be a busy one for him with his side hustle as the plow guy many locals depended on. Just another thing to keep him busy. 
He goes to take a shower before calling it an early night.
The shower is hot and comforting and in no time his mind is wandering back to you. He thought about your brief evening together and how intriguing you were. How bold you were. How tight you were when he was fingering you and how needy you sounded.  
He puts a fist against the shower wall to brace himself and hangs his head low so his shoulders block the bulk of the water. He uses his free hand to wrap around his semi-hard cock. He remembers your playful hold on him and gently strokes himself. It doesn’t take very long to get hard as he relives that moment in his mind. His strokes get harder and faster and he wishes he was fucking into you and not his own hand.
He groans as he comes and watches his spend drip down the shower walls and into the drain. His few moments of bliss quickly fade away. He balls his fist in frustration at his unfulfilling release. He needs more. He needs you. 
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Your Sunday morning begins with anything but peace and calm. You are startled awake by the grinding sound of heavy metal dragging across pavement. You look outside your bedroom window and see the snow has blanketed everything and there are still a few lingering flurries dancing in the sky. The trees are struggling with bent over branches coated in ice and snow. 
Leaving your warm and cozy blanket fortress is the last thing you want to do. You lazily grab a hoodie to pull over your oversized shirt you slept in and your pajama shorts and make your way to the front of the house. The floor is cold on your feet but the air is warm. You cranked the thermostat before bed, making you feel rebellious in the moment but it seemed silly and wasteful now.
You look out the front window that faces the driveway. There you see Joel Miller in his truck, plow attached, barreling towards you and crashing into a snowbank he started building up. He looked so serious and professional backing up his truck with an arm stretched across his seat as he looked over his shoulder. He was so focused he was not aware you were watching him and his scowl at work. 
It doesn’t take long before that familiar ache between your legs returns. The longing to let Joel have his way with you. A desire that is getting harder and harder to ignore.
The realization that you look like you just woke up from bed hits and you scramble to the bathroom to run a comb through your hair and brush your teeth. You can hear the drag of the plow continue as you finish up and then rush to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. The stove clock reads 7:32am. Way too fucking early for a Sunday morning.
You hear his truck door slam and the sound of crunchy snow under his boots. He is walking with a heavy foot and grabs the shovel leaning by your door.
Joel is shoveling your walkway, weaving a modest path for you to get from your house to your driveway without trudging through the snow. You can hear him grunt as he tosses the heavy snow out of the way. What would have taken you probably an hour takes him just a few minutes. 
He plunges the shovel into a snowbank when he reaches the end of the path and leans on it to catch his breath. He looks exhausted and rightfully so. You want to comfort him in whatever way you can. At least offer him some respite to show your appreciation. As much as you hate to admit it, you would have been totally fucked if you had to tackle your driveway with your inadequate self. Joel saves the day, again.
You crack open the front door and call out to Joel, reluctantly interrupting his moment of peace. 
“Hey!” 
He slowly turns in your direction when he hears your voice. His eyes scrunch as he makes out your figure hanging out the door. He gives a lazy wave of acknowledgment. 
“Come inside and warm up? I made coffee.” 
He picks up the shovel to return it and makes his way towards you. 
“Yeah, ok. Just for a minute” He follows you inside.
Joel closes the door hard behind him and scuffs his boots on the mat to get off any snow. He brushes his hand quickly over the top of his head to knock off any lingering snow and unbuttons his jacket. He empties his pockets and puts his wallet and phone on the end table. He saunters over to you as you hand him a fresh cup of coffee, black. 
“Thanks.” He manages a smile. He returns to the living room and groans as he lowers himself to the couch. He recklessly sips his piping hot beverage and seems immune to the searing heat and delighted to have it.  He rests his mug on the table and leans back and closes his eyes. His hand comes up to his brow as he pinches his thumb and finger together across his eyes.   
You lean against the doorway between the rooms and sip your coffee. You notice how tired and worn he looks. His damp hair is shiny. His heat is melting the last few snowflakes and making him look messy and wet. His jacket is open and disheveled and his flannel undershirt is haphazardly draping on him as he slouches back. 
Despite all that he is still as handsome as ever and you like seeing him this way. Vulnerable in this out-of-character state. 
“Tired.” He grunts with his eyes closed and it snaps you out of your thoughts. “Been a long morning.” 
You take a few steps towards him to close the gap.
“I’m too old for this.” He sneers as he looks at you with lazy, heavy lids.
“You didn’t have to worry about me, you know…” Your voice trails off as you wonder if he was there on his own volition. You can’t help but ask. You need to know.
“Did… did my dad call you?” 
“No.” he answers firmly with a suspicion in his tone, almost sounding offended. 
“Good. I mean, thank you. That was really nice of you to come over.” You pause and smile at him. You feel guilty, but also have never had someone so capable looking out for you before.  
“I was going to shovel it.” 
He raises his brow at the ridiculous claim.
“No you weren’t. Wouldn’t have let you if I saw ya out there.”
“Well.. Thank you.” 
“S’nothing. I don’t mind… having an excuse to see ya.” His brows raise and wrinkle in the middle. He has a softened expression as he looks into your eyes. 
Your heart skips a beat and is heavy in your chest, you wonder if he can hear it beating. Having an excuse to see you. You replay it in your mind. He wants to see you. You feel stupid for getting carried away thinking otherwise.    
You put your coffee down next to his and casually walk around to the back of the couch. There is a force compelling you to comfort him. Encourage him to relax. That fluttering feeling in your stomach surges. Joel Miller is exhausted on your couch and isn’t going to be putting up much of a fight if you fuss over him and you want to fuss over him. 
You stand behind him and reach your arms down and spread them slowly from his shoulders down to his sides. He lets out a tiny moan as you circle his taut muscles. You pinch and massage them as you go. You lean forward and bring your mouth just behind his ear. 
“You don’t need an excuse to see me.” It comes out softly and seductive. You can feel his body tense under your words. 
You rake your hands back up to his shoulders and curl your fingers under his open jacket. He halfway cooperates as you tug the jacket off his shoulders and pull it away from him. It's wet and heavy and most of the snow has melted into it by now. You toss it on the back of the couch and return to his shoulders. Your hands massage him and you can feel his muscles tight and knotted under your grasp. His head tilts back into the couch as he lets you tenderly work him.
“Feels good. Really good.” He says in a low, almost inaudible tone. His exhaustion has let his body surrender to you and he isn’t fighting to be in control. 
You lean forward again and plant your mouth on his jawline with a sensual kiss. His damp whiskers prickle your cheek as you drag it against him and go to his ear.
“Let me take care of you.”
He makes a deep, throaty sound in response. 
His flannel is damp and hot and he looks so uncomfortable and stuffy now that he has been inside a while. You slide one of your hands down to his chest and unbutton his shirt. You are halfway down and he reaches his arm up and curls his fingers behind your neck, pulling you down to his mouth. You can feel the shift in the room, like you woke a sleeping bear. 
“Come here.” He uses his free hand to tap his lap and loosens his grip on you.
You walk around to the front of the couch and stand in front of Joel. His legs are spread and he is still lazily slouched back but he motions for you to join him. His half unbuttoned shirt teases you with his thermal undershirt peeking out, still hiding his bare skin. At least you are getting closer.   
You step towards him and move to straddle him on the couch. You have a leg on each side and he puts a hand on each hip under your baggy sweatshirt. 
His hold is tender but makes you melt when you feel the wingspan his fingers have on you. His thumbs brush over your hip bones and trace down to the soft skin just above the crease of your thigh as he casually dips them along your waistband. His touch sends sparks through your skin. 
He lazily stares you down with a narrow gaze over his nose, still resting his head back. 
“Keep going.” He closes his eyes as your focus goes back to finish unbuttoning his shirt.   
As you get close to his jeans you can feel him hardening and straining against the zipper.
You pop open the button and carefully unzip him. His cock springs loose in his boxer shorts. It teases you behind the cloth barrier and you reach for his waistband so you can grab a hold of him. His fingers dig into your sides and he pushes you back slightly to make you stop. He fights through the laziness and is now fully alert. 
“You want my cock?” He grits through his teeth.  “Think it’ll fit in your pretty pussy?” He drags one of his hands to your center and grabs you through the fabric. He smirks as he can feel you are wet and damp through your thin sleep shorts. His fingers sneak into the leg hole of your shorts and he teases your clit through your cotton underwear. You clench remembering the stretch from his thick fingers deep inside you just the other night.
“Yes–” your words catch in your throat as he pushes your underwear aside and thumbs over your folds. He barely touches you and opts to tease you instead, deliberately feathering over your swollen clit. You reach down to grab the wrist of his occupied hand and grind into his fingers. Your body craves the friction. 
“Fuck me, Joel.” 
His eyes darken and with a devilish smirk he takes his hand back and watches as you slide off him to take off your clothes. He looks at your body with a sleazy ferocity. If any other guy looked at you that way you would have slapped him, but not Joel Miller. You want his attention and you like the way it makes you feel when he is eyeing you like a starving wolf.
You pull off your hoodie and shirt and toss them to the piles of clothes building up on the floor. You stand in front of him completely naked. Exposed.  Joel brings out a side of you that makes you feel confident and bold. The way he looks at you with intrigue and desire encourages you. You take a brief moment to tease him back and drag your hands over your breasts and one continues down to your cunt. 
Joel stirs in his seat. He is so easy to rile up. He pulls off his flannel and kicks off his boots. His thermal long sleeve remains hugging his body in all the right places. He arches forward as his hand grabs his thermal from the back and pulls it off over his head. It makes a prickly, staticy sound as it brushes over his hair. He tosses it to the ground and for the first time you can fully take in his body without so many layers hiding him. 
His broad shoulders and chest taper down to a narrowed waist. His body is rugged and defined. For an older man his physique had been well maintained thanks to his lifestyle. His tanned skin and his messy, dark hair with silver streaks sends tingles through you. You have never been so physically drawn into someone before on a level that almost felt primal. 
His eyes sweep your body up and down as he drags his thumb along the side of his mouth and rakes his fingers through his scruff on his chin. He bites his lip while he drinks you in. 
“Damn, baby.”  He curls his thumbs inside the band of his jeans and tugs them down along with his boxers. He kicks them off his legs and reaches towards you, wrapping around the back of your thigh and beckons you to return to him. 
“Come ‘ere”
Your eyes gape as you take in his sheer size. It is intimidating but makes you ache with desire. 
You are back in his lap straddling him with little coercion needed. You stretch an arm behind you to hold yourself up and the other touches yourself. This position lets him take all of you in; bare, exposed and wanting. Wet and needy for him. 
His hand reaches for his throbbing cock. He palms himself with a few labored strokes. He is already beading precome at the tip. You feel a pang of jealousy and wish it was your body wrapped around him. He catches the hungry way you are looking at him. You catch how much he likes it. 
“You wanna ride this cock?” He brushes the tip against your opening and you let out a whimper in response and lurch forward. You brace yourself on his forearm and your other hand pushes against his chest to keep yourself upright. His skin is firm as you grip into him. His body hot and radiating like a furnace.    
“Haven’t gotten you off my mind since Friday.” He confesses. “Thinking about how tight my cock would fit in you.” He teases you with the tip again. Your whimper grows into a needy moan making him harder. Making him want you that much more. 
He crudely spits into his hand and rubs it along his shaft and then he notches it at your entrance. You can feel your body begging to be filled with him and you’ve been wet since you woke up to him in your driveway. You’ve lost count how many times you imagined Joel fucking you. He puts his hands back on your hips with a rough grip and you move your hands to his shoulders as you slowly lower yourself onto him. He helps keep you steady. 
“Joel! Fuck–” You moan. His thick cock sears your skin as it stretches you. He is slowly splitting you open inch by inch and you have never felt more full. He lets you control the pace for now, with pained restraint. He searches your eyes to make sure it isn’t too much. He knows he is a lot to take but the slowness is making him go insane. 
Joel lets out a grunt as he gets closer to bottoming out inside you. Your walls clench around him and the sweet pain from the stretch subsides as your body adjusts to his size. You slowly ride him up and down until you have him fully sheathed inside you. Your body is so full you don’t even have room to form complete thoughts. You can only focus on his burning hot heat inside you, tearing you open. Every moment before this pales in comparison.
“Fuck. So tight.” he snarls. His grip on you tightens as he pulls your body up and then thrusts into you, hard. He keeps the pace slow but more forceful than you were. He tries to be gentle but you can feel his patience slipping away.
One hand drags to his biceps where sweat is glistening. As he lifts you his muscles flex and contract he makes it seem so effortless to maneuver your smaller frame. Everything about Joel is big and strong and rigid. The epitome of masculinity.
Each thrust up into you makes you dizzy. You can feel yourself on the verge of orgasm, cock drunk and blissed-out. His heavy breathing and hitches in his voice send you over the edge as he pounds up into you. You ride the wave as he fucks you through it. Your arms entangle in each other and your bodies slap together, sweaty and panting. Your incoherent words and moans heighten with each thrust.
He makes you feel alive and pleasured in a way that you have never felt before. It is intoxicating. 
As you start to come down from the high you feel him getting close to his own release but he is still reserved and careful with you. Through gritted teeth he tries to keep his pace steady and builds you back up, never quite letting you recover.  
“Joel, Don’t… don’t hold back.” You manage to get out of your lips. You stare into him with hooded eyes and can only imagine how fucked out you look. He brings one of his hands up to the side of your face and strokes his thumb tenderly across your cheekbone.
“Ok, baby.” 
He leans into you and in a sweeping motion he twists and lays you back into the adjacent couch cushion. It is more of an oversized loveseat and not very ideal. He barely loses contact with your body as he positions himself above you. You can feel his weighty cock press into you and pin you in place as he leans forward, crowding you in the cramped confines of the couch.  
His mouth is on yours; rough and messy. He bites at your lip as he pulls away and reigns in his focus. Your legs clamp around his sides and your arms hold onto his neck. Your fingers snake into his hair and you grab hold of him. He slides his hands down your sides so he can hold you close as he resumes fucking into you. 
With this leverage, he somehow hits you deeper than before. His cock kisses the deepest parts of you again and again. Your sides bruise as he grips you harder. All his gentle inhibitions have been replaced with raw, unhinged furor. 
His pace quickens as you can feel him coming undone inside you. He is in a frenzy fucking you hard and deep and his grunts get louder. The heavy feel of him dragging out of you and shoving back with such force has you crying out his name along with a steady stream of expletives. 
You are so close but you beg your body to hold on, you don’t want the feeling to end. You want to live in this moment forever being trapped under Joel and being filled with his cock. You moan out his name as the second orgasm explodes through your body.  
“Fuck, baby..” his body quivers as he tries to hold out long enough for you to peak. 
He suddenly sits up and groans as he drags completely out of you. You whimper at the loss of him inside you and his wet, leaking cock slaps onto your belly. He strokes himself once with a heavy fist and grunts as hot ropes of cum spurt onto you. You relish being branded in his release. It coats your stomach and drips messily onto your cunt. You revel in the last fleeting moments of your orgasm being shared with Joel’s.   
He languidly strokes himself a few more times until he is empty. His chest rises and falls quickly as he breathes shallowly. His muscles weaken as the high from his climax rolls through him. 
He leans forward and presses his forehead to yours. The sticky mess spreads between your bellies as his body pushes into you. It's lewd and you love it. You love how filthy Joel makes you feel. All you can smell is sweat and sex and Joel.
He presses a kiss to your forehead and then sits back to catch his breath. Your bodies untangle and he goes back to his original spot on the couch. You stay laying back lazily with a leg draped casually over Joel and the other bent at the knee. You still need a moment for your legs to be in any condition to work properly. 
One of his hands rests on your thigh and he grazes it with comforting drags of his fingers. He doesn’t say anything but the gentle contact from him is welcome. The connection you share now is so contrasting to when he was railing you. It is a side of Joel that feels like a privilege granted to you.
The calm is interrupted by a vibration of his phone. Joel reluctantly picks it up to look at the screen and groans with disappointment. He answers it but doesn’t stop rubbing you gently while he conducts his business. 
“Fred, I’ll be there in 20.” 
You can’t make out the other end entirely but you can detect a man's voice. He doesn’t sound happy.
“Yeah, I’m running behind. Your house is next.” Joel tries to placate him. More chatter and you start to feel bad for holding him up. 
You move off of Joel and make your way towards the bathroom to wipe up the mess on your belly and grab your silky bathrobe off the door.  
“Ok, Fred. Be there soon.” You hear him hang up and toss his phone down with a grumble. He turns in your direction as he stands up to pull on his jeans. 
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I gotta’ go.” His tone is solemn now. You pop out of the bathroom and catch him using his undershirt to wipe up his mess. It’s gross but you like seeing him being comfortable being a typical, nasty man in your presence. Points for being resourceful.
“I heard. Didn’t mean to hold you up.” 
He glares at you and smirks as you make your way back to him. 
“Didn’t mind one bit.” He takes a few steps towards you to meet you halfway and kisses you on the top of your head while he wraps his arms around you. He breathes you in with his embrace and it feels so perfect being wrapped up by Joel. A final moment before it all ends and he pushes away from you, reluctantly. 
“And s’not a big deal. Snow aint going anywhere.” He says as he puts his flannel on, sans the thermal, and starts to button back up. 
His messy hair is mostly dry now and even more unruly with wild curls. You feel that fire inside you building again. It’s insatiable. You don’t want him to go. 
He laces up his boots and gathers his things. 
“Ok. I’m gonna hop in the shower.” 
“Ok, baby.” You exchange a final look and go your separate ways. You feel his eyes on you as you return to the bathroom. 
When you go back to the living room he is gone. All that remains is his dirty shirt and an empty coffee cup. 
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Sunday Night (Joel POV)
After a few more hours of plowing Joel returns home. 
He takes a shower just long enough to wash the sweat and stink of exhaust from his body.
He pours himself a whiskey and collapses on the couch to relax. 
His body is weary, but his mind is still firing. It has not stopped. He has to face the reality that he is falling for you, whether or not he should be. 
He pulls out his phone and stares at it blankly. Hesitating. He scrolls through his contacts until he finds the one that he has been avoiding. He knocks back his drink and sends the text.
Joel: Tess. We need to talk.
Onward to Part 3!
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Thank you to @magpiepills for beta-ing 🧡
Love to my ladies that mean everything @magpiepills @legendary-pink-dot @youandmeand5bucks @exquisiteserotonin @for-a-longlongtime @sparklefarts38 @pink-whiskey-woman @redhotkitchen 🧡
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mothwingwritings · 6 months ago
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WOW!!! I LOVED "The Innocent Act Of Dredging Up The Past", IT WAS VERY GOOD!
I wonder how Y/N reacted when she found out she was pregnant and how Fox allowed herself to keep the baby because he doesn't seem like someone who likes sharing attention.
Thank you so much darling!!! I am so glad you asked me this because I have been thinking about Ren as a father nonstop since that request. My brain has been full of many thoughts and opinions and I am happy to have an outlet for sharing lol. That being said, forgive my blathering. ^^;
(18+ and warnings for noncon, pregancy/baby birthing talk, incredibly unhealthy relationships, abuse, and being kidnapped/held against your will.)
Being impregnated by Ren would be absolutely dreadful for you, causing you to spiral into a pit of fear and despair the moment you miss a period or begin to feel queasy in the morning. With the signs starting to show, your brain comes to the instant conclusion that you are with child-his child, and it frightens you like nothing else before. At first you try and convince yourself nothing is wrong, that you are probably just late due to stress, and your upset stomach can be any number of things, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are pregnant. Any of your symptoms can be explained away by something else, so in an effort to try and maintain your sanity your brain churns out explanation after explanation, no matter how nonsensical they may be, in hopes of calming your rampant nerves by coming to some other resolution. A stream of constant lies and false reassurances play on repeat in your brain, forcing the thought that you may actually be a mother to the farthest reaches of your mind.
But the longer you wait and the more you dwell on it, the more you are faced with the inevitable. He never wears protection, you haven’t had access to birth control, and despite your warnings of it being a delicate time of month for you, his base instincts always won out in the end. There was nothing else this could be.
Faced with the reality of the situation, you were now tasked with the burden of sharing the news with Ren. You didn’t want to tell him, terrified of what his response would be, worried that he would somehow blame this all on you and hurt you because of it, quite possibly worse than he ever has before. But an even more horrifying concern than that is if the news actually pleases him. What if he wants to keep the baby? What if you were forced to carry this pregnancy to term while trapped in this grim environment, left to raise another human that shares half their dna with a man who has done nothing but cause you irrevocable damage?
No matter what the outcome, none of them are favorable.
But you didn’t have a choice, and you knew it was better to break it to Ren sooner rather than later, lest this whole nightmare become irreversible. In the event he saw things your way, you wanted this thing out of your body as soon as possible (though you loathed to consider what strings Ren would pull to achieve this, and what backwater procedure would be done to do so).
At first Ren brushes it off, not truly believing your concern. He’s had sex with you countless times without protection and just now you get pregnant? Seems suspicious, so he concludes you’re either overreacting or trying to get a rise out of him, potentially both, and that in and of itself riles him up. Are you telling him this as some kind of ploy? Are you using a false pregnancy as a means to get him to ease up on you a bit or as an attempt at escape? After all you had gone through together, after all the love he has lavished upon you by sharing his home, his life, his heart, with you… Would you really tell a lie like this?
He struggles with that possibility. Despite his inclination to feel otherwise, he has a hard time believing you would use a pregnancy scare for your own selfish benefit. You have always been a good girl, his good girl, and deep inside he knows this is not something that is within your nature to do, even if he does have some major doubts.
So, though he doesn’t truly believe your claims, he buys the pregnancy test more as a means to shut you up and prove a point than because he actually believes you. Needless to say, he ends up biting his tongue over that one.
When hit with the truth, his emotions are mixed. On one hand, he wants nothing to do with children or child rearing. He didn’t have to do much of a self-assessment to recognize he would be a shit father, and he never particularly wanted to be a father to begin with. His own upbringing wasn’t the best, he himself never really having a father figure that was worth a damn to guide him or show him any love or support. He had no parenting manual to go off of, and was sure that a culmination of having no positive family experience and maturing into the warped individual he had become led to no other conclusion than NOT being cut out for fatherhood in the slightest.
More than that however, the thought of sharing you, even with a life he helped create, really REALLY pissed him off. Thinking of all the nights you would be spending tending to the baby when you could instead be wrapped up in his arms, or all the attention and affection you will be giving some inept kid that could instead be going towards him, truly gets under his skin. He doesn’t WANT to share you. You’re HIS. And while a baby isn’t going to change that, he doesn’t want the needless competition to begin with.
But on the other hand, having a baby does have its appeal. It would be nice to bring a life into this world that loves him from the get-go, completely relying on him while being totally oblivious to all that has happened in the past. That sort of pure, blind love is hard to come by in this world, and the fact that he could obtain it so easily from a life he created with you, a human that has your blood running through its veins, is EXTREMELY appealing. And on top of that, you are sure to love the child whether its conception was wanted/planned or not. If you loved a child that was half his for the remainder of your life, would that not bind you to him for just as long? Though he didn’t doubt your loyalty (or his ability to keep you tied to him with no hope of escape), it would be a nice assurance to have in the rare event things did not end up going his way.
Once that thought enters his head, it’s over. No further thinking or future planning is required-he is going to be a father, and YOU are the beautiful mama! Congratulations! (Does he get off to you being pregnant? Did this pregnancy make Ren Hana realize he has a breeding kink??? Sources say yes and that’s your problem to deal with now. :))
Holding his newborn for the first time, he has never been so nervous. Tears flood his eyes as he watches the small bundle squirming in his arms, his heart aching as they stare up at him with wide, pure, inquisitive eyes. He was no stranger to ending lives, but creating them? This was something entirely new, as exhilarating as it was scary. His smile grew as he stared at her small face, pleased that she looked so much like you. He could only hope that her personality would mirror yours as well.
As time passes and the baby grows, you find out quick that Ren has a very ‘hands off’ way of parenting, which is to say he relies on you to do most of the work. And honestly, he feels that is fair. He’s the breadwinner who works hard to provide for you and the newborn, which leaves all other parental duties in your capable hands. You are left to be the child’s main caregiver, their guiding force to lead them through life, their teacher, confidante, and friend. It’s a daunting task, all residing solely on your shoulders.
Ren won’t readily admit it, but he much prefers it that way. All the abuse that he has suffered through from an early age, every heinous act of violence that has been carried out by his own hands (your wounds, included), all of it has turned him into something unrecognizable, something grotesque. Even if he wanted to have more of a presence in his child’s life, he knows he doesn’t deserve it. If he had too much sway in the kids development there’s a good chance they will grow up to be like him in some way or another, which would be a waste of all the love and hard work that you had put into raising them into being an upstanding person. Ren had made peace with who he had become, but that didn’t mean he wanted to keep a cycle that someone like Strade had begun going either.
So, the baby more or less becomes your soul responsibility, and god is that a burden for you. It’s bad enough that you have such little support from Ren to begin with, but the fact that this is YOUR first time being a parent as well makes it all so much worse. You have no idea what the hell you are doing, and with Ren making sure to keep you as isolated as possible you had no one else to turn to for help, either. It was just you and this brand new life with no one else to rely on, if you fucked up in even the smallest way it could be devastating to the baby. If your daughter got truly hurt, sick, or worse in your care, you didn’t know how you would live with the repercussions, let alone handle Ren’s reaction.
If your life with Ren hadn’t already made you a strung out, nervous, irritable wreck, being a mother certainly would. As she continues to grow, Ren refuses to discipline the child at all, not wanting in any way to appear like a ‘bad guy’ to your daughter. Given the circumstances, part of you is thankful for that (you honestly don’t know what you would do if he turned his ire towards her), but it also just makes things more difficult with you. You are already beyond stressed about trying to raise a child in this type of environment, having no united front and constantly butting heads makes raising her that much harder, especially when any kind of rule you attempt to establish can so easily be overridden by her father who has no remorse over the frustration this causes, nor care as to how his flippancy may affect your child’s development in the long run.
It’s also not lost on you that being the sole disciplinarian also paints you in a less than favorable manner in your child’s eyes, something you are sure Ren has thought about as well. Being the ‘strict’ parent means your child will be more likely to hide things from you, or seek out her father instead of you for support, approval, and advice. Given whom Ren was as a person, this thought didn’t sit particularly well with you.
All you can really hope and pray for is that somehow despite the lack of social interaction and outside influence she will grow up to be a decent human. Even maturing under the delusion that her father is a noble man, even if in some instances you have to make yourself the villain, as long as it helps her out in  the long run you’ll do everything you can to insure your daughter lives the best life she possibly can, whether her father helps you or not.
I think the REAL problems will begin when the child gets older. When she truly comes into herself and forms her own opinions, develops her own personality, and starts to forge her own way of life… It’s gonna be messy. :/ Your child’s autonomy is definitely going to be a point of contention for Ren in the future, and he won’t be so pleased if/when she catches on to his true nature and begins to rebel or straight up reject him. God forbid she tries and join forces with you or attempt to become your savior. It’s going to take a lot of cunning on her end to make it out unscathed.
Also, I kind of touched on it previously, but Ren would be incredibly horny the whole pregnancy. Not that he isn’t already incessantly slavering over you, something about seeing you round and full just makes him snap. Which is scary in its own right, Ren isn’t the most gentle of lovers to begin with and has a tendency to lose himself more often than naught, hurting you in the process. It’s a constant struggle to satiate him while protecting yourself and the unborn baby, best of luck to you! :D
(And he’ll definitely breastfeed from you. He’s gotta make sure you are producing enough for the baby, ya know? :))
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spaceshipellie · 1 year ago
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for the ethel cain requests!! i absolutely adore this idea!! can i get one with abby and, "something they all want that only you can have"
in tlou universe! with fluff or angst! (maybe have it set in the stadium or on patrol!)
“something they all want that only you can have”
pairing: abby x reader
summary/warnings: all the girls want to be with abby but she only wants you. tlou au, fluff, flirty tension. this is really short but cute
you couldn’t blame abby for how many girls had a crush on her. or the way they’d stare with stars in their eyes at her in the gym. watching the way the muscles moved in her arms and back when she lifted weights. it was enough to make anyone swoon but that didn’t mean you didn’t get jealous.
it was crazy, really. you weren’t even dating! just very close friends who occasionally flirted and every time you hoped she’d take it a step further, she never did. right as you thought she might lean in and kiss you she’d playfully punch your arm and call you dude or something instead. maybe that was her way of flirting or maybe she just saw you as a friend. either way, you were determined to find out sooner rather than later.
“so, how was your workout earlier?” how was your workout earlier? you couldn’t be any more pathetic if you tried. you strolled alongside abby through the building you were currently investigating on patrol.
“it was good,” she chuckled, shooting you a quick glance as her hand momentarily brushed your side.
“good,” you nodded, not really knowing what you wanted to follow up with.
she spread a large hand over her shoulder and rotated it. “already starting to feel sore though, might have over done it a bit today.”
“yeah, you really seemed to put on a show for the girls,” you half laughed, half mumbled.
“what was that?” she queried but her laugh told you she heard what you said.
you tried to hide your embarrassed smile from her teasing look. “nothing, nothing.”
“you jealous or something?”
“what?! no, no–“
“i’m fucking with you.” she stopped to push a door, holding it open so you could walk in under her arm.
you both searched the new room, finding a stack of dusty books on one of the counters. you wiped some of the dust off with your fingers before wiping your fingers on your jeans.
“hey, don’t you have a copy of this?” you asked, holding up the copy of little women to show abby.
“i do, it’s a good book. you should read it.”
“hm, maybe i’ll take this then.”
she sauntered over to you, taking the copy from your hands and flicking through.
“you can always just borrow mine. besides, this copy is only part one where they’re kids, mine is the complete story,” she mildly bragged, giving you a smirk.
“oh, fancy,” you teased, “okay, i’ll take you up on that.”
her fingers brushed yours and her eye contact lingered as she handed you back the book before you set it down again. you felt yourself growing nervous under her gaze and had a feeling she was enjoying it.
“good.” her voice was low and silky.
you cleared your throat to snap yourself out from her hypnotic trance and looked down at your feet.
“we should probably worry more about infected than literature,” you tried to joke.
“eh i wouldn’t worry, think we’re all alone up here.”
“i see.”
you pretended to keep looking around, trying to find supplies or take an interest in anything that might make it look like you weren’t just burning with the urge to grab her. you spotted something on the top shelf that looked like it could be spare ammo but groaned in annoyance when you couldn’t reach it. as you were about to try climbing onto the counter you felt a warm hand on your back.
“let me,” she said, softly pushing you aside, her hand remaining on you.
you froze on the spot even when she brought the items down to show you, smiling as she then shoved them in her backpack.
“thanks,” your voice cracked.
“s’okay.”
you realised how close you two were and how she wasn’t making any attempt to move away. the urge to lean in was so strong you were convinced your body would do it against your control anyway if you didn’t do something. despite abby’s flirty nature with you, you still weren’t sure if she meant anything by it.
“so, i overheard nora talking about you earlier. coincidentally after you’d just left the gym.”
she chuckled slightly. “and what did she say?”
“she was talking to leah about how she thought you looked hot, and would die if you ever asked her out.” nerves were creeping into your voice.
“oh yeah? that’s… good to know i guess.”
your shy eyes snapped up to meet hers. “so, you would ask her out?”
“i didn’t say that.”
“why not? she clearly likes you.”
“hmm, she’s cute but she’s not really the one i’d want to ask out if i could.”
your heart sunk. she liked someone.
“huh.” your voice was laced with disappointment.
“you okay?” she asked, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards as she leaned in a bit closer.
“yeah, fine. so, why can’t you ask this other girl out?”
“oh i don’t know, might ruin the friendship.”
your breath hitched in your throat. “seeing the way they all look at you, i’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”
“hmm, maybe… and why are you so convinced it’s one of them? the girls that apparently love to gawk?”
“well, who else would it be?”
“take a guess, babe.”
she was impossibly close now and your insides were twisting into a pile of mush.
“i, i don’t know.”
“oh come on, try for me.”
“um, katie?”
“no.” her fingers brushed your hip.
“dani?”
“nope.” she brushed a piece of hair away from your face.
“ma–“
“i’m going to stop you before you list every girl in the WLF that’s not you.”
WHAT. “what?”
“have i not been making it obvious enough? my apologies.” her tone was sweet and her hand still continued ghosting over your skin, tempting you to lean in to her touch.
“i just thought…” you stopped yourself before you said something embarrassing.
“thought what, sweetheart? tell me.”
“i just thought… out of everyone who wants you, why would you want… me?”
you tried to look away but her hand cupped your face lovingly, making you look at her.
“i can assure you, you’re the only one i want.”
“really?”
she laughed and soaked in the way your pretty eyes scanned her face before she closed the gap and kissed you. she deepened the kiss once she felt you moving closer to her, one of your hands fisting her shirt.
“are you convinced?” she smiled against your lips.
“hmm, maybe one more will do it.”
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shiorimakibawrites · 3 months ago
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Hi! Congratulations on 300 & here’s to many more! 🫶🥳
would you be willing to write something warm & fuzzy & fluffy with husband! Matt?
I’m thinking cool early autumn mornings with no obligations. Just cozy-in-sweatpants snuggling. ☺️
Thank you for your request 😊
I hope this satisfies, it was fun to write despite my computer's attempts at sabotage.
Credit to @sunflowersandsapphires for the breakfast in bed idea.
Cozy Sunday
It wasn’t often that you woke up before your husband. Matt frequently had difficulty falling or staying asleep. More often than not, you woke up to discover him already awake. But not this morning. This morning, he was deeply asleep.
You relished the rare sight before you. No little worried furrows across his brow. No stress or anger pulling down the corners of his mouth. Not tightness in his jaw or around the eyes from pain. Just utter peace. Lightly brushing his hair out of his face, you pressed a kiss to his forehead.
What was normal about this morning was the way he was curled around you like an oversized octopus. Which rather complicated your planned surprise. You needed to get out of this bed for it. But you didn’t want to wake him up if he was sleeping this well. He so rarely did . . . And it wasn’t like either of you had anywhere to be this morning. Technically there was Mass but you made the executive decision that Matt was skipping it. He needed the sleep more.
But as the sun rose above the skyscrapers, you knew that you would have to risk it. Sooner or later, the increasing noise of the city would penetrate his snooze cocoon. Or someone would call. Or one of the thousand other things.
After pressing another kiss to his forehead, you managed to extract all your limbs out of his octopus grip. And wonder of wonders, you didn’t wake him up. He must be really tired.
You shivered. There was a distinct bite in the air this morning. Especially when you weren’t cuddled against your husband. Who, in addition to being an octopus, was five feet ten inches of human furnace. But you ignored the chill in favor of walking to the kitchen as quietly as you could.
You put on the coffee, using the beans that you had ground the night before and stored in the fridge. It was probably some kind of coffee sacrilege but it had to be done if you were going to succeed. Matt preferred fresh-ground coffee but the grinder would absolutely wake him up. So you crossed your fingers and hoped it wasn’t too stale.
Also out of the fridge came the tray of cinnamon rolls that you had prepared yesterday. You were confident that Matt hadn’t opened the fridge when he dragged himself in last night. Or rather this morning. Rather long night since he had slipped out just as the sun was setting. You had stirred a little when he came in but he didn’t seem hurt when he crawled into bed. Just tired and slightly damp from the shower.
He likely hadn’t missed the smell of yeast and flour but you baked things all the time. Not even the smell of apples and spices should have tipped him off to your plan. It was autumn. You made many things with apples this time of year. No reason for him to think you were making his favorite cinnamon rolls.
The rolls had done nearly all of their proofing before being put in the fridge so you didn’t have to wait two or three hours to bake them. Just pop them in the oven and finish making the apple topping. As with the rolls, you had done all the prep for that last night. You just needed to cook the apple and spice mixture in some butter until everything was all gooey and delicious.
Matt must have been more tired than you thought after a hard week of lawyering and Daredeviling. Normally the smell of coffee and breakfast would be enough to rouse him. But as you plated the rolls and poured the coffee, no vigilante / lawyer came stumbling out of the bedroom. Perfect. He had surprised you with breakfast in bed on your last birthday. Now you could finally return the favor.
“Whaz that?” Matt slurred, his voice thick with sleep as you placed the serving tray on the bedside table.
“Morning, sleepy head,” you said. “And this is your breakfast.”
He blinked. It was unbearably cute. Especially when his hair looked like it had been styled by a hurricane. “My breakfast?”
“Yep,” you said, popping the p. “Your favorite cinnamon rolls.”
“Why?” His brow furrowed, clearly trying to remember which special occasion might have slipped his mind under the weight of an intense week of Daredeviling and lawyering.
“Because I love you,” you said simply. Matt smiled, looking simultaneously deeply touched and slightly disbelieving. The battle to convince your husband that you loved him as he was, warts and all, was ongoing but it was one you were determined to win.
It didn’t take much coaxing to get Matt to sit up and eat his cinnamon roll while it was still warm. And it didn’t take much coaxing on his part to convince you to return to bed after the food had been put away. As you noted earlier, it wasn’t like you had anywhere to go or anything that you had to do today. 
And if you wanted to spend all day cuddling with your husband in your sweatpants, who was going to stop you?
ENDING NOTES
I didn't see anyone doing that apple topping with cinnamon rolls, all the recipes I could find had them putting the diced apples into the rolls, then baking them. But I figured that if you finely dice the apples, then cook them in a pot with some butter, sugar, and spices, you'd get a nice topping to pour over the rolls.
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fallow-hollow · 7 months ago
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Aaa! Your Kabru x reader was really nice! May I request a Holm x Reader where the reader helps him when he freezes up in rapid situations?
pick-me-up
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…ft! holm kranom x gn! reader
…tags! pre-relationship, fluff, a little banter, reader knows some magic, some magic lore i may or may not have made up
…word count! 1167
…notes! people who are madly in love with side characters are truly god’s strongest soldiers. i hope i characterized your man correctly!!
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As close as you and Holm were, neither of you really seemed to idealize one another too much. Being in the dungeon, you had to be aware of all your teammates’ strengths and flaws, regardless of personal opinion. When it came to the gnome you called your closest friend, even he didn’t deny it — he did not operate well under pressure.
Considering that you were in a place where foes could ambush you at any moment, anybody could see why this wasn’t a great quality to have. From being unable to save your friends to even being unable to save yourself, there were a lot of potential consequences to locking in place during the middle of combat. Something had to be done about it sooner rather than later, and if he had to ask someone, he’d rather it be you than anybody else.
The plan was formulated during some downtime the party had — something to stop Holm from going stock still whenever he felt overwhelmed. Luckily, your companion already had an idea for you.
“I figure the easiest way to deal with this’ll be using magic.”
You nodded. Not much of an obstacle, since you already had at least a few spells under your belt.
“As long as you have a rudimentary understanding of magic, it’s not gonna be too hard to get down.” For a moment, the gnome deliberated, wondering how to explain the concept to you. “You know how healing magic can hurt sometimes?”
With a grimace, you shook your head in understanding. Rin and Holm were pretty good about that sort of thing, but there had been more than a few occasions in past parties where healing and injury hurt even more than obtaining it. Seeing that you were familiar with what he was saying, the man continued.
“Well, that’s actually how healing magic is by default. When it doesn’t hurt, that’s because the caster is using a separate spell to numb your sensations.” As you listened, your mouth formed a little ‘o’ shape to show your interest. “Naturally, you can alter people’s sensations with magic in other ways, too.”
“Oh,” you would interject, “so I could use magic to make you more….focused?”
“Not quite, but yes.” At your approximation, he held up his index finger. “I was thinking you could use just a little bit of mana to sort of perk me up, almost like a spike of adrenaline to set me back in motion again.” His hand then lowered, turning over so his palm faced upward. “It’s pretty simple, just transferring mana through touch like you would with a healing spell.”
“I can do that, no problem!”
Ah, he was still looking at you, even after you said that… was there still more he wanted to share? When your eyes wandered down to the hand he held out, embarrassment that you hadn’t realized sooner quickly washed over you.
“Ah, you wanted to practice?” At first, you feared that your slow uptake had caused Holm some annoyance, but the relaxed smile on his face didn’t give way in the slightest. He seemed almost amused, really.
“Guess I should have been more clear about that, huh?”
The smirk on his face let you know that the question was most certainly rhetorical. Answering it would have been a moot point anyway, so instead you pouted and mumbled, “You’re always so snarky with me… not fair.”
Transferring mana was something you were fairly familiar with doing, so you were able to take the gnome’s hand into two of your own with little hesitation. Back when you’d just joined the party, the act of touching him made your cheeks heat up, but exposure to it over time had made the experience far from unfamiliar.
Just remember to envision the flow of the mana, you reminded yourself. Truly feel it, from your head to your toes, through your veins and bones, and out the tips of your fingers. Feel the current connecting you to him…
With your eyes trained on your joined hands, half lidded while you chanted the spell as instructed, you hardly noticed the way your companion’s ears actually twitched and perked up when the incantation was completed. Only when his whole body jolted did you shoot up in turn, concern pooling in your irises.
Said concern seemed to be unneeded, judging from the pleased look on his face. It was one that brought you relief, not just from the knowledge that you’d done well, but from the sight of him alone.
“That’s good, I think you’ve got it.” Even his voice seemed cheerier than before, and you weren’t quite sure if it was from the magic, your success, or both. Nonetheless, it was kind of nice to see his usually laid back demeanor become more enthusiastic from time to time. “So remember, the next time I get stunned in an overwhelming situation, use that if you’re near.”
“Of course!” You grinned, knowing you’d always be neat if you could help it.
That little practice session with Holm had been a few days ago by now. It took quite a while for a situation to actually arise that called for your little backup plan, but you most certainly kept your word.
Perhaps if it was just one stray suit of living armor, Rin or even Daya would’ve been able to dispatch it just fine. But in a whole hallway full of them with no way around, you could only tiptoe past them in hopes that maybe they’d ignore you, or even end up just being normal suits of armor. You should’ve known, of course, that the dungeon is no place for wishful thinking.
When the intimidating armored figures inevitably sprung to life, the first thing you did was look to Holm. Unsurprisingly, he was completely still by your side, eyes blown wide and mouth hanging open while he didn’t even shake or quiver.
Just do what you talked about. Transfer the mana as quickly as you can. You may have taken the latter half of that a bit too seriously judging by how, instead of taking his hand like you had during practice, you immediately reached for his face instead.
Only halfway through chanting the spell did you notice the slight tint on his cheeks, likely from embarrassment, and it took everything you had in you to continue the spell without stuttering from your own flustered state. After all, restarting the spell would take even longer, and that was pretty much the exact opposite of what was needed right now.
The second the spell had been completed, the both of you pulled away from one another, invigorated by both magic and embarrassment respectively. You heard Holm utter a quick thanks to you, but you were too busy feeling completely mortified by the way Kabru had just glanced at the two of you, seemingly more entranced by your interaction than the imminent peril you were dealing with.
You’d never hear the end of this, would you?
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hungermakesmonsters · 1 year ago
Text
Catch Me If You Can
Chapter Two
Plot summary : When your friend interviews for a position at Anvil, you have a chance encounter with Billy Russo. He takes you for coffee and, by the time you’re done , Billy decides he’s anything but done with you.
Pairing : Billy Russo x Reader
Story Rating : R 
Chapter Rating : this one is pretty PG
Warnings : [This is a fic for 18+ only, minors DNI] Nothing in this chapter is warning worthy, there’s a little tiny bit of sex talk but that’s it. Please check the warnings on each chapter if you choose to follow this story. 
Word Count : ~2.8k
A/N : this chapter happens in the days after chapter one. Thank you so much to everyone who read and liked the last chapter, it really means the world to me!
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
You didn’t have the nerve to tell Tammy that you’d rejected Billy’s advances and that she’d probably not get the job because of you. You let her hold onto the idea that you’d been doing something good for her, instead of something stupid for you. The whole thing reminded you of why you’d become friends with her in the first place; when Tammy was being nice to you, when she wasn’t making petulant demands, she could be great to be around.
But, she kept asking when your date with Billy was and by the third day of waiting to hear about the job, you were taking extra deliveries just to avoid the apartment. You knew you’d have to tell her sooner rather than later, but you really were hoping it would be later, at least after you’d figured out a way to explain to her that you’d cost her a job because you’d told Billy Russo no.
And when she came into the den screeching and clutching her phone? You thought she finally knew the truth and were ready to give her the apology that you’d spent the last few days trying to practise. 
“I got the fucking job!” She squealed, jumping up onto the sofa beside you.
“You - what?” It took a moment to hear her over the screeching and - no, surely Billy hadn’t given her a job just as a way of getting to you. He was a businessman, he wouldn’t do something so dumb just to get you into bed. 
After the initial excitement fizzled out, Tammy dropped onto the sofa to sit beside you. “I start on Monday! I can’t believe I’m finally going to get my parents off my back.”
“I thought you didn’t even want the job at Anvil? Before the interview you said it sounded boring.” 
“That was until I saw the guys that work there, I mean, it’s literally a building full of hotties. And I can still do auditions in the evenings and on weekends. Besides, most people work crappy jobs before they get famous.” To your surprise she was being very mature about the whole thing, though you weren’t sure how she’d deal with actually working a nine-to-five job.
“Well, I’m happy for you.” You forced a smile because you were happy, even if you weren’t sure that it wasn’t all going to fall apart when Billy realised he was never going to convince you to go to dinner with him
“Okay but you’re going to have to promise me you won’t fuck this up for me.”
“How would I even -”
“I get it, Billy Russo is hot, but I know what you’re like with guys...”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” You knew exactly what she meant, and that was the worst part. Tammy had tried, and failed, in the past to set you up, to put you on dating apps, and play wingman for her during double dates, and every time it had ended badly.
“Just don’t go leading him on and then ghosting or whatever it is you normally do to guys. I don’t need you pissing off my new boss.” 
“I’ll try really hard not to, Tammy.” If she noticed you were being sarcastic, she didn’t seem to care.
It wasn’t long before she disappeared off to celebrate with her friends, leaving you alone in the apartment, leaving you to try and figure out what was going on. As much as Tammy was - well, let’s just say she had certain skills that would be helpful in a secretarial position, you just couldn’t figure out why she’d been given the job.
Billy Russo wasn’t an idiot, that much you were certain of; he wouldn’t hire Tammy just because of you. In fact, he probably wasn’t even involved in the hiring process. You were overthinking it. And, ultimately, it didn’t even matter because you weren’t going to see him again. 
You weren’t going anywhere near the Anvil building ever again.
But that didn’t stop you from opening your laptop and Googling his name. 
It felt like an invasion of privacy, reading through articles about Anvil’s financial successes, about the heroic ex-Marine who’d built the company from nothing and now gave so much back to his fellow veterans. Your stomach knotted at every photo taken at some gala or corporate event where he had some stunning woman hanging off his arm (women who, upon reading the image captions were revealed to be leaders in their fields; lawyers, models, psychiatrists, and even a surgeon). Jealousy had you closing your laptop, and self-loathing had you making a promise to yourself to stay away from Billy Russo and Anvil.
But it wasn’t that simple. You kept thinking about his smile, the way his dark eyes had looked at you like he wanted nothing more than to take you apart piece by piece, and the way his laugh had felt like the rarest sound you could draw from him. Most of all, you kept thinking about the kiss, playing it over and over. Sometimes you even found yourself wishing that you’d just said yes - what was the worst that could have happened?
(No, no, you didn’t want to think about that.)
You couldn’t stop yourself from going back to the Google search, over and over again, just to look at him. There was just something about him, something that made you feel like a ridiculous teenager with a crush, but every time you looked at his eyes, it did something to you; it made you want something you knew you couldn’t have. 
You needed to stay away from him.
But Tammy had other plans.
Her first day of work, the following Monday, she’d begged you to drop her off. Then, once you were there, she’d demanded that you help her carry her things to the door, using the reasoning that she had taken the job for you as well as her, so you could keep the apartment that you both loved so much.
All you wanted to do was get out of there as quickly as possible, so the moment Tammy was by the door you were pushing the box into her arms and stepping away, all the while telling her that you couldn’t pick her up later because of work. Tammy tried to complain, tried to talk over you, but you didn’t stop; you were going to get as far away from that building as quickly as possible. Ignoring her frustration, you shouted good luck over your shoulder and started back towards your car.
Only, there was a surprise waiting for you when you got there.
“I like your strategy; in and out before anyone can notice you.” Billy smirked, his arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the driver’s side door of your car.
“Well, clearly it didn’t work...” you answered awkwardly, stopping a few feet away from him, out of his reach.
“It’s hard to pull off when you’re dealing with a Recon Marine,” he laughed, still smirking that smirk that looked so good on him. “I hoped we’d run into each other again.”
“It’s hardly running into each other when you own the building and you know what my car looks like,” you shrugged and Billy’s smile waivered a little. Your stomach knotted at the sight, at the way his playful smile dimmed to something that seemed almost forced. He took a breath, unfolded his arms and stood away from your car.
“Look, I just wanted to talk - to apologise - I guess I was a little heavy-handed last time,” the words were enough of a distraction that he managed to take a couple of steps towards you. “I just - I’m not very good at...” he let out an awkward laugh and threw his arms out in a shrug, not finishing the thought.
“Asking women out?” You offered with an uncomfortable huff of laughter. “I don’t believe that.”
“No?”
“No.”
“Why not?” And, just like that, you were being pulled into another one of his little games. 
You could have walked around him, could have told him that you needed to go, but you didn’t. The truth was, that you enjoyed it, you liked that playful side of him, even though it wasn’t fair of you to indulge him when you knew you’d still have the same answer for him at the end of all this.
“Because you’re - you.” And that was all the answer you could offer him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Billy laughed and your cheeks started to warm again.
“You don’t exactly strike me as the type of guy who struggles to get dates?” He remained silent, a questioning look on his face; he wanted you to say what you both knew you were thinking. “You know, the whole tall, dark, and handsome thing you’ve got going on...”
“And you think that makes it easier for me?” His smile was back, that playful glint in his eye that you just couldn’t seem to say no to. 
“Doesn’t it?” 
“Well, you said no, didn’t you?”
Shit. You’d walked yourself into a trap.
“Not because of you - or, I mean, not because of anything you did. I just don’t date.” You started to play with the cuff of your hoodie, not sure what else you were supposed to say to him.
“What if it wasn’t a date? What if it was just two people going for dinner?”
“I think it’s a bit late for just dinner, Billy.”
“‘cause I kissed you?” your gaze dropped, cheeks burning hotter. “I shouldn’t have, I should’ve waited, I just - I have poor impulse control when it comes to things I want.”
You didn’t say anything - what could you even say to any of that?
“What if it wasn’t dinner?”
“Billy...” you sighed.
“Is it really so bad that I want to spend some time with you? Get to know you a little?”
Was it? The terrifying thing was the fact that he almost had you convinced, almost had you relenting and agreeing with him.
“I’m not really worth knowing,” you shrugged, “I’m nothing special, Billy. I’m just a bike messenger who spends most of her time driving her roommate around.”
“I like talking to you, you make me laugh,” Billy shrugged. “And I think you are worth knowing, and I don’t give a shit if you’re a bike messenger or a brain surgeon, it doesn’t change anything.”
“Right, one of New York's most eligible bachelors taking a bike messenger out to dinner, I can just picture it,” an embarrassing snort of laughter escaped you, “probably couldn’t take me to any of the fancy places that you’re used to, so what does that leave? Pizza Hut or Five Guys?”
“‘I’ll take you for pizza if that’s what you want. We could go right now?”
“Billy, it’s eight-thirty in the morning, I’m pretty sure Pizza Hut isn’t open yet.” You laughed, despite the feeling that you’d been letting this play out for far too long now.
“I’m sure we could find a way to kill some time until it opens?” 
“Oh really?” You shot him a look, eyebrows raised, very unimpressed with what you thought he was implying.
“Hey, I meant go get a coffee or something, get your mind out of the gutter.” He grinned and you couldn’t help but laugh again.
“I’d just be wasting your time.”
“I don’t think I’d consider any time spent with you a waste,” he retorted without even missing a beat.
“You don’t even know me.”
“I don’t, but I want to.”
“Why?” Why was he being so persistent? What did he think he was going to get from you?
“Why does anyone get to know anyone?”
“I don’t know.” And you really didn’t, that was the saddest part of all. “I’m not your type.”
“And what do you think my type is?” He asked, barely managing to hold back a laugh.
“Doctors, lawyers, psychiatrists - women who make at least six figures a year?” You realised far too late what you’d given away. “Women whose wardrobes cost more than I’ll make in my lifetime?”
“Did you Google me?” Billy asked, not even trying to hold back the smirk.
“N-no, I just - it came up when I was researching the job for Tammy.”
You fell silent and, for a few moments, so did Billy, long enough for it to make things feel all the more awkward when he finally spoke again.
“I’m not a bad guy, y’know.”
You looked at him, confused, not sure what he meant. Your fingers kept picking at the stitching on your cuff, and Billy seemed to notice.
“I’m making you uncomfortable.” He was, but you hated that he knew it. It wasn’t so much him that was the issue, it was you, it was all the messed up things in your past that made you the way you were.
“I don’t think you’re a bad guy, Billy." You said, not wanting to address whether or not he was making you uncomfortable because it was less him and more the general situation.
"Then let me prove it to you." You didn’t respond. “Just give me one night.”
“And, what? I’m supposed to fall madly in love with you?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Not that. I don’t - love isn’t a thing I’m capable of, it’s not something I’m interested in.” He explained, like it was such a simple and ordinary thing.
“Then why waste a night together if you don’t even want it to go anywhere?”
“There are plenty of other places it could go. I could show you the best night of your life and, at the end of it, if you wanted to walk away from me, you could.” Billy shrugged.
“So you just want sex? There are easier ways to get laid, Billy.” You told him with an awkward sort of laugh.
“I don’t want easy, I want you.” Normally you’d laugh at a line like that, but the way he was looking at you, the way he looked like he was barely holding back from showing you just what he meant right there in the parking lot kept you silent. “Tell me you haven't thought about it, that you’re not thinking about it right now; how it’d feel to spend the night with me inside you.”
You bit your lip, giving away far more than you wanted to.
Yes, you’d thought about it - how could you not?
“Billy...” you sounded almost breathless and that really didn’t help the point you were trying to make. 
“I can make you feel things you’ve never felt before.” The way he said it made you want it, made you want things that you knew you shouldn’t.
“So, you’d fuck me then leave me?”
“Not if you didn’t want that.” He took the slightest step forwards and you couldn’t bring yourself to recoil.
“But you said -”
“I said I wasn’t interested in love, that doesn’t mean that it has to be a one and done thing, if you don’t want it to be.” Billy offered like this was some business deal and you were negotiating the terms. You could see why Anvil was so successful with him in charge. 
“Fuck buddies then? Until - what? - you get bored of me?” You didn’t even know why you were encouraging him, why you were playing his game and letting the conversation drag on.
“Or you get bored of me,” Billy shrugged. “Admit it, you’re thinking about it. You’re thinking about what it’d be like to fuck me.”
“Maybe I am, but that doesn’t change anything. I don’t date and I don’t think sleeping with you would do either of us any good.”
He waited a moment before dropping; “was the last guy really that bad?”
And, just like that, everything seemed to change.
“What?” It was obvious though, wasn’t it? You should have been surprised that he hadn’t put it together sooner; you didn’t date because your ex had been a real piece of shit to you. A moment later, you shook your head. “It’s not - I don’t like to talk about it...”
You steeled yourself for what came next; the endless questions, trying to figure out what had happened to you and just how bad it was, how he could fix you. Only, it never came. He didn’t push, didn’t try to convince you that he was better than whoever might have hurt you. Instead, he seemed resigned, like he knew he couldn’t do any of that.
“I’m sorry,” he offered softly, “I’ll leave you alone.”
And, just like that Billy seemed to give up, his smile almost completely gone, replaced by a look that you didn’t want to think about. It wasn’t quite pity, but instead an uncomfortable compassion, an almost understanding. Someone had hurt him too, you realised. You frowned, frozen in place as he closed the distance between you and gently pressed his lips to your cheek.
“You know where to find me if you ever change your mind.”
As he pulled away from you, your breath caught in your chest, but you didn’t dare watch as he walked away from you. It was too dangerous, you knew you’d say something, knew you’d call him back.
CHAPTER THREE
END NOTE : so the first two chapters were mostly set up, from next chapter onwards things will actually start to go somewhere. From this point on, things will get smutty and dark. The next three chapters are mostly done and I'll probably start scheduling chapters to post on the weekends going forwards.
Thanks for reading, I hope you have a wonderful day!
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miss-bushido · 2 months ago
Text
you make me feel like I am home again
Written for @steddiesmuttyseptember week 2: prompts ‘backseat’ and ‘clothes on’
Rating: Explicit (very explicit)
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October 3, 1988
Steve leaned against the column just outside of the Arrivals exit at the airport, lightly tapping his finger against his arm. Eddie’s flight had been delayed coming in from Boston: he’d opted to take a different flight than the other guys so he could take a quick trip up to Salem and see all the quote-unquote spooky shit up there. Steve had teased him about coming back with a witch’s hat or a spell book or something, and Eddie had threatened to put a spell on him if he didn’t be quiet. Steve had laughed and pretended he was going through a tunnel and had to go.
“You’re on the phone in the kitchen!” Eddie had scream-laughed as Steve made his words fade in and out before he clearly yelled back, “See you at midnight!” and then hung up.
Delayed Flight 5498 now arriving from Boston. Baggage will be available at carousel number 4 sounded over the speakers.
Steve checked his watch as he stifled a yawn and shifted his stance. He was tired- it was after midnight after all- but he knew that he was going to get a burst of energy soon. Being around Eddie always did that. His energy was infectious even under normal circumstances. Especially when he hit you with that dimpled smile. God, it made Steve weak every time.
It would be more potent now considering how long it had been since they’d been in such close proximity to one another. Eddie and the other members of Corroded Coffin had done a mini-tour of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Their Wraiths on Wings Tour had started in late August, kicking off in Indianapolis before moving to Cleveland, Columbus, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Syracuse, New Haven, Providence, and finally culminated with two nights in Boston. Steve had only been able to go to the one in Indianapolis, but he’d been more than happy to support Eddie doing something he loved. On the numerous phone calls they’d shared after each gig was done, Eddie had gushed about how electrifying it was to be on stage. How fucking awesome it was to be able to play on the same stages that bands like Dokken, Metallica, and Iron Maiden had years before.
Steve was so proud of Eddie, and the other guys, and he always made sure to let Eddie know that. The praise always made Eddie’s tone turn soft on the phone, almost bashful. Whenever Steve heard Eddie ask, “You really mean it, Stevie?”, that was when he dialled up the praise: telling Eddie what a good boy he was, how hardworking and dedicated he was. And all of the things Steve was going to do for him once he got his hands on him again. He sincerely hoped that none of the switchboard operators of the hotels they stayed at ever listened in on their phone calls, or else they would have gotten an earful of the lead singer of Corroded Coffin and his boyfriend having phone sex more than a few times while the guys were on the tour.
Apart from the quick call earlier in the day, the two of them hadn’t been able to connect before the show in New Haven five days prior. As it was, Steve was itching to get his hands on Eddie more so than normal. The fact that the flight had been delayed was like rubbing salt in the wound. He just hoped deplaning and getting the baggage wouldn’t take too long. And while he didn’t drive like Eddie did, he was planning to go a little bit faster to get them back to their apartment sooner rather than later.
About ten minutes later, he saw the shadow of a familiar figure making its way through the arrivals corridor towards him. It rounded the corner, and there stood Eddie: looking every inch the rockstar sex god he showed to the world. He had developed an on-stage persona to play to the audience, which allowed him to separate a little from how he acted onstage to how he was normally. Onstage Eddie was more cocksure, ten times more brash, and he exaggerated his movements as he played and sang, really milking the sexy rockstar angle. The clothes he wore- tight black jeans, a tank top with a deep v-neck (or sometimes no shirt at all), combat boots, studded bracelets- and the way he carried himself fed into this, and the audience couldn’t get enough of it.
Eddie looked up and broke into a big grin as he saw Steve at the end of the corridor waiting for him. It wasn’t Onstage Eddie. It was His Eddie. Still sexy and brash, of course, but also nerdy; shy at times (which always surprised Steve when those times happened); in constant motion even when he was sitting down; and happy to stay in rather than going out and partying.
Steve stood up straight and gave him a little wave, immediately holding out his hand for Eddie’s suitcase as the distance between them closed. The Warlock was in its case across Eddie’s back, and Steve had learned very early on that only Eddie would carry his beloved guitar. “Good flight?” Steve asked as they fell into step, moving out of the airport and into the cold damp air of the Indiana night. “How was Salem?”
“Decent flight,” Eddie answered, brushing his hair away from his face. “Salem was nice. Kind of crowded, though. I want to go again. One day wasn’t enough to see everything.”
“Did you get a spell book?” Steve asked as they approached the Beemer. He opened the trunk and put the suitcase in, letting Eddie maneuver his guitar on top of it, before they both got in the car.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Eddie asked as he buckled up.
Steve shook his head, giving him a smirk as he started up the car. The radio came to life at the same time the engine did, the last few chords and lyrics of ‘Hazy Shade of Winter’ by The Bangles filling up the car. As Steve drove them out of the parking lot and down the road, INXS’ ‘Don’t Change’ came on.
Eddie smiled. “I actually don’t hate this song.”
Steve raised an eyebrow, putting on the windshield wipers as he turned onto the dark back road. “Really? I didn’t realize you listened to INXS.” It was beginning to drizzle, so he slowed down a little.
“Not usually,” he admitted. “Just this one song.” He turned his head to look at Steve, the orange glow of the passing street lights reflecting in his eyes as they drove. “It makes me think of you.” As if the radio heard him, the lyrics he was thinking of came on, and he couldn’t help singing along with Michael Hutchence:
Resolution of happiness, Things have been dark for too long. Don't change for you, Don't change a thing for me
Steve reached over and took Eddie’s hand in his, bringing it up to kiss the back of it. “You’re sweet.”
“You’re just saying that to get into my pants,” Eddie countered, sliding over a little. He kissed Steve’s wrist and took his hand back, sliding it up Steve’s arm and onto the nape of his neck. He used his nails to slide up the back of Steve’s head, feeling him shudder at the touch.
“Babe,” Steve breathed, adjusting in his seat. “I’m driving.”
“I know,” Eddie said, massaging the back of Steve’s scalp. He leaned in closer and kissed Steve’s neck. “You look so sexy. And I don’t know if I can wait until we get back home.” He placed his other hand on Steve’s inner thigh, mere inches from his dick. Steve gasped and gripped the steering wheel tightly.
“I’ve really missed you, Stevie,” Eddie purred, sliding his hand from Steve’s inner thigh to his bulge. He squeezed him lightly, his own moan echoing Steve’s at the feeling of his cock pulsing inside his jeans. “I want to taste you, baby.”
Steve groaned loudly, slowing down as he pulled the car over, the gravel crunching under the tires as he made his way off of the road. As soon as he put the car in ‘Park’, he undid his seatbelt, and pulled Eddie almost onto his lap to kiss him in one fluid motion.
Eddie smiled against Steve’s lips, fumbling for the seatbelt to unhook it. Once he did, he straddled Steve, kissing him hungrily, hips grinding against him. “God, fuck, I need you so badly.” he groaned.
“Me too,” Steve moaned, sliding his hands up into Eddie’s hair. He moved his leg and hit his knee on the steering wheel. “Ow,” he hissed.
“Backseat?” Eddie asked, almost breathless with desire.
“Backseat,” Steve agreed.
Both of them scrambled over the front seat and into the back, limbs tangling as they resituated in the backseat. Steve pulled Eddie back on his lap, hands sliding up the back of his shirt. The familiar feel of his skin and the muscles underneath made Steve gasp. “God, I missed the feel of you,” he said against Eddie’s mouth. “I missed your mouth, how you taste.”
“I missed you, too, baby,” Eddie moaned, breath catching in his throat as he rolled his hips, feeling Steve’s erection below his own. “I want all of you. Your taste, your smell, all of the sounds you make. The phone calls helped, but it wasn’t the same. How you sound in person? Fuck. It was all I could hear in my dreams.”
Steve tilted his head back, sliding down in the seat. The new position made Eddie loom over him, his hair falling around them. “I want to fuck you. I need you so much,” he rasped.
Eddie grinned, all teeth, as he resumed kissing Steve. His hands travelled between them, quickly undoing Steve’s belt and the button on his jeans. He unzipped him and gave his jeans a tug. Just enough to move them from his hips to the middle of his ass. It allowed his briefs to be pulled down, too, so Steve’s cock could be released from the cotton confines of the briefs.
Putting his thumb in his mouth, Eddie sucked on his finger pad. “Touch me, Steve,” he breathed.
Steve made short work of getting Eddie’s cock out of his jeans, too. Steve’s tip was wet, but Eddie’s was wetter, precum streaming out of him to drip down onto Steve’s lap. He let out a deep groan at the sight of his boyfriend’s cock, mouth watering at the image of wrapping his lips around it.
“Thought about you every night, Steve,” Eddie rasped, rubbing his wet thumb over the tip of Steve’s cock, making his hips jerk forward. He wrapped the rest of his hand around him and began stroking, the slick sounds of precum filling the car. “Thought about deep throating you, spreading your legs on the bed and fucking you hard into the mattress. Thought about cumming all over your face, having you lick all of it up and then beg me for more.” Steve let out a sharp gasp at this, eyes rolling back into his head.
“Thought about you too, Eds,” he managed, panting hard as Eddie stroked him and put all those pretty images in his mind. “Thought about eating you out from behind while I stroked your cock. Thought about you using your handcuffs on me to keep me in bed, fucking me over and over until we’re both spent.” As Steve spoke, he had also begun stroking Eddie.
“Stevie,” Eddie whimpered, closing his eyes as he bent forward, his forehead resting on Steve’s shoulder. “Oh fuck I’m so fucking close.”
“Me too,” Steve gasped. “I thought about you riding me, my hands gripping your hips as I fucked deep into you. Your cock was dripping all over me, and when you came, you covered my chest and stomach. And after I came deep inside you, I fingered you until you came again while you straddled my shoulders and your cock was deep in my throat. So I could get every drop you had to give me.”
“STEVE!” Eddie shouted, hips thrusting forward as he came hard, the loud groan turning into a whine. “Oh my Go-o-o-od!”
The sight and sounds Eddie made meant Steve followed with his own orgasm no less than ten seconds later. He repeated Eddie’s name over and over before he kissed him hard, still feeling himself pulsing for a good minute afterwards.
Eddie caught his breath first, giving a few breathy chuckles as he pushed his hair out of his face. The back of his neck was sweaty, his cheeks were flushed and his throat was raw. “That was so fucking hot!” he exclaimed.
“Mmm,” Steve hummed in agreement, blindly reaching with his free hand for the hand towel he kept in the back of the front seat. Ostensibly, it was to get rid of condensation on the windows, which he did use it for: they had steamed the car up something fierce. It was also a good way for them to quickly clean up.
Eddie kissed him hard before he threw himself to the right, extricating himself from Steve’s lap so he could catch his breath and get his pants back up. He watched as Steve did the same, cheeks ruddy and mouth wet as he got himself together. “Let’s shower together when we get home,” he said, reaching out to run his hand up Steve’s arm.
“Yes,” Steve breathed, leaning over to kiss Eddie on the mouth. “I want to fuck you on the stairs before I eat you out in the shower.” He gave Eddie’s lower lip a quick bite before pulling away. With a grunt, he pulled himself back into the driver’s seat, getting himself situated once more.
Meanwhile, in the backseat, Eddie watched Steve, wondering how he’d gotten so lucky to deserve him. His sweet, handsome, surprisingly kinky partner. He zipped his own jeans up and moved back to the passenger seat. “Sounds like you’ve had this planned, huh?”
Steve gave him a smirk as he put the car back in Drive and started off down the road. “I guess you’ll just have to find out when we get back to the house.”
“It wasn’t a spell book,” Eddie said abruptly.
“What?” Steve asked, confused until their earlier conversation came back to him. “Oh. What was it?”
Eddie didn’t immediately answer. It was only when they were at a red light, about two miles from home that he finally said, “It was two rings.”
Steve bodily turned to look at Eddie, eyes wide and shining at the implications of this purchase. “Eddie,” he breathed.
Eddie leaned over and kissed Steve on the lips. “Get us home, big boy, and I’ll give you one of them.”
Steve seemed at a loss for words until Eddie kissed him again. “However far away,” he sang-spoke quietly, “I will always love you.”
“However long I stay,” Steve responded, also sing-speaking, voice thick with emotion, “I will always love you.” He kissed Eddie once more and then leaned back, wiping his eyes. “Since when do you listen to The Cure?”
“Not usually,” Eddie answered, watching as Steve continued the drive back to their house. As he parked in the driveway, Eddie continued, “Just this one song. It makes me think of you.”
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bangchansgirlsblog · 1 year ago
Note
I have a request, you could pick which ever <3!! stray kids (idm the member) making a bet on the reader to get with them, stray kids comforting reader thinking they’re cheating but the reader isn’t. I’m
I saw someone else do this and it was so good, but your one of my favorite stray kids writer , but if your not wanting to I totally understand ><
- 🌷
Silly bet
Warning: None
Pairing: Han x reader
Summary: ^^
!kinda proof read!
Thank you for the request love ☺️
Hope you enjoy the story!
-🩷
**
It wasn't like I should have found out but the truth comes out at the end.
today was a long day at work. There was no lie there. Everything was so frustrating. The day started with my co-worker spilling coffee all over my brand new shoes, then losing the earring Han had just got me for our 2 year Anniversary and then lastly falling down and twisting my ankle when I was rushing down the stairs because my ignorant boss thought it would be "funny" to make me run with stacks of papers in my hand trying to see if I can make it for one side to the other. So yeah my day wasn't going great. At all.
"Han?" I call for my boyfriend but I hear no response. The house was quiet. Was he not home yet?
I put my shoes by the rack and limp over to our room to put everything away before I could start on dinner. All the rooms were dark and had no sign of human activity.
I put my bag down and changed into something more comfortable and head back out to the kitchen.
"What should I cook today?" The thought run through my head but after some time I just realized how tired I was so I just decided to order some Chinese. 
I grab my phone to call my boyfriend to see what he would want from the shop,
"Hey baby?" I say into the phone after he picks up after a few rings.
"Hey my love!" He beams. I could hear a few voices behind. The boys must be with him.
"I've had a long day, I don't think I'm going to cook." A sigh leaves my lips as I play with the collar of my...well his hoodie.
"Awe my love, do you want talk about it now or when I get back home?" His voice is laced with worry, I can hear it.
"When you get back home please, but don’t worry it’s not that bad," I explain to him knowing Han he would literally leave work at that moment just to come home.
"Okay…rehearsals are almost done anyways so I'll see you in like and hour yeah?"
"Okay but I'm ordering Chinese. What do you want? Should I get the usual?"
"Yeah let's do the usual yeah," I hear some laughter and a few screams which cause me to chuckle. “All of you shut up!”
"Okay I'll see you in a bit,"
"I love you,"
"I love you too baby doll,"
A small smile plays on my lips as I wait for him to hung up.
"Who was that?" I hear through the phone. My curiosity took the best of me. Plus he hadn't hanged up yet so I technically wasn't breaking boundaries?
"Just Y/n, she's had a long day at work," Han softly says and rummages through something probably in the studio. "I'm worried about her, she's been so stressed lately,"
"Dude I can't believe you’re actually in a 2 year relationship, remember how this all started?" The other voice says, it was hard to tell who is was.
"Chan, I still haven't told her about it and I don't think I ever will, it'll just ruin things," Han replies to him. What will ruin things? And what hasn't he told me yet?
Was he cheating? Is he doing something behind my back?
"I'm just saying Han, she was a stupid bet I don't think she'll really care if you tell her sooner rather than later. Plus your in LOVE for crying out loud. You guys have been together for 2 years! I don't think she'll care about a stupid bet,"
My body freezes as I listened in on the conversation even more. I was a bet? A bet? What the hell? I knew Han was out of my league when we first started to get to know eachother but I thought maybe he liked girls like me….i was wrong the whole time? I was just a bet?
"I know I know but it still feels wrong and she's been so stressed lately so no I don't think I'll ever tell her,"
I remain silent as a screeching sound runs through my ear. A bet? I was a bet….
I had no words literally and the constant voices were running through my head in all directions. Heartbroken was in understatement.
Nausea hits me really hard as the thought of my 2 year relationship was being based on a bet. 
"Anyways what time is it anyway, I need to get home to the wifey,"
The phone goes quiet until I hear Han's panicked voice. Probably realizing I was still on the phone.
"Y/n? You're still there?"
I small 'fuck' in the background made my Chan and whispers start to echo through the room.
"Y/n baby? Did you hear any of that?" He asks again. Panic was very visible in his voice. His breathing getting heavy.
"I was a bet?" Is the only thing I could say and ask. Nothing else could come out. My brain couldn’t scrape anything at all.
"No- I mean- baby- let me explain-" I hung up the phone and drop it to the ground. Everything was a lie.
My heart was aching with pain and the room seemed to become very very shaky.
A heavy breath leaves my mouth before a sob escapes. The vibrations make my body shake and the ground feeling like it was swallowing me.
The floor was cold and the room felt hot. The clothes in my bidy were slowly suffocaying me. i didnt know what to think or what to do.
My phone vibrates over and over. The picture of me and Han popping up with each ring. The feeling of throwing up coming now and again as I clutched my body trying to make sense of everything.
How could a person affect you so much Y/n? Han knew how much I loved him he knew how much I cared for him, if he really did love me why didn’t he just tell me? Why didn’t he just explain it to me?
My stomach started to hurt due to how hard I was crying. As each sob left my mouth a shiver went down my spine.
“Baby?!” A voice causes my neck to snap towards the direction of the door. The love of myself stood before me as he quickly shut the door and put his shoes away.
“Han?” My sore throat is able to make a sound but my voice is hoarse and breaking.
“Babe, don’t cry my love please?” He takes a few steps before he is right infront of me. His hands reach out but my body dodges his touch.
“How could you?” Was all I could say through sobs. “I thought you loved me..”
“I do love you mama, I really do. I just- we were just young and stupid. Please let me hold you. Please let me carry you onto the couch. You’re gonna get a cold.” His eyes are soft. His lips were plump and worry was painted all over his face. He was wearing a hoodie and some sweatpants with a beanie on his head.
I nod my head slowly and his hands work quickly . He pulls me into his embrace. His scent filling my nostrils.
“Are you okay?” He softly asks. I nod in response. It’s all I could do.
We were sat on the couch now. My knees were against my chest as I watched him move back and forth around the house before sitting down beside’s me.
“Can I please explain now?” He asks, “I hate seeing you like this my love. Look at me please?” I refuse to look at him. I was afraid that I would fold, I wouldn’t be strong.
He lets out a sigh before beginning, “Y/n the bet was stupid. The bet was almost 3 years ago my love you have to believe me when I say it only last a month before I noticed I was actually in love with you. I told the boys that I didn’t want the money and that I had fallen for you. They told me it was okay and that we would never have to speak about it again but guilt was eating me alive-“
“Then why did you just tell me?” I look at him looking for answers.
“I- I was so scared of losing you…” he pauses and takes a deep breath in before wiping the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes, “ You are my first love, my first everything, I didn’t want to lose you because of some stupid mistake,”
“Oh…but what about the trust? Has everything been a lie?”
“No no no no, you have to believe me there Y/n. That’s the only thing I haven’t told you. I swear, you know everything about me, more than the boys do-“
“Oh…” a silence falls upon us as I play with the promise ring he had given me when we had gone on vacation to Greece. He had gotten down on one knee when we were on the beach and I started to freak out thinking that he was going to propose but it was a relief when I heard his question. Don’t get me wrong I will marry him one day I just thought we were still too young to get married plus he has his career still building up. It was just horrible timing.
“It hurts, you know?” I break the silence.
“I know my love, please let me make it up to you? Don’t give up on me please. I was stupid and young and my action has no excuse but please forgive me. I love you with everything in me.”
A little sigh leaves my lips as I study his face. His hand was on my lap. The silence fell upon us again. The panic attack that had happened a few minutes ago had now died down.
“I- I forgive you Han but I don’t know maybe it’ll take time to fully forgive you for lying to me,”
“That’s totally okay my love,” a small smile plays on his lips, “I’ll wait for you but just know I really do love you okay? And your my everything,”
“I love you too Han, so much it hurts.”
**
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thesparklingwriter · 1 year ago
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words of comfort
" You’re not alone in this world anymore, so please just stop acting like you are.”
word count: 0.8k
original ask
tags: hurt/comfort, kaeya is working too hard and reader says 'no more of that', there's a mild innuendo at the end but i couldn't help it it was the kind of opportunity that i know kaeya wouldn't pass up but I've been so conflicted as to leave in or not because i feel like its too soon but kaeya's also the type of guy to not dwell on things too much after it's solved but i still feel like it might be too soon but we all know he wouldn't pass on an opportunity like that and i'm just going to let you read it
taglist | masterlist
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Perhaps Kaeya underestimates how much you notice. He thinks he’s done a fantastic job of hiding how exhausted he is from you, from everyone. He’s been putting a little extra effort into his work, so desperate to prove to himself that he could work harder, that he could take things seriously, he could be better for you. You’d never asked that of him, and he knew you wouldn’t, but something in him made him think you deserved better. And he couldn’t stand the thought of ‘better’ being someone else, so he buried his worries and concerns into his job in hopes he could work them away.
When he finally gets home, he’s convinced that you’re fast asleep already—a fact that doesn’t fill him with excitement. Rather, it increases the feelings of inadequacy he’s been feeling recently. He slumps onto the couch, rubbing a hand over his face and pulling off his eyepatch. 
“Kae?” He hears you coming down the stairs and sits up with a fake casual air.
“Hey, sunshine.” he grins. “How was your day?” 
“It was alright,” you say quietly, reaching to turn a nearby lamp on. He must have been so exhausted when he got in that he didn’t even have the energy to put the lights on. “Yours?”
“Same as usual,” he says, pulling you onto his lap. Being close to you makess him feel like he’s floating in the clouds. You protest slightly, but he ignores you, his hands gently massaging you. “How come you aren’t asleep?” 
You look at him properly then, in the warm light of the lamp, and you curse yourself for not putting a stop to his working sooner. Of course, you noticed he was tired, and coming home later, and you tried your best to comfort him the best way you could without making it too obvious. Sometimes it was staying up late for him, or sneaking into headquarters during the day to bring him lunch or just distracting him a little to force him to have a break, but your efforts clearly haven’t been working, and you’ve left it way too long.
“Kaeya,” you say quietly. “Tell me the truth. Same as usual?”
Kaeya maintains his aloof composure, and if you didn't know him as well as you do, you might have missed the slight twitch in his right eye. “Why the sudden interrogation, hmm?”
“You come home late, you’re so exhausted that you don’t even take your jacket off or turn the light on, and you don’t even make it to bed some nights. I’ve tried to make things more comfortable for you without saying anything for your sake, but it’s not working.” Tears bunch in your eyes as you speak, and Kaeya feels the guilt mounting up again. More than anything, he wanted you to be happy. He didn’t want to bring this to you and he thought he was hiding it well enough.
“Sunshine–”
“No. I’m not going to sit and let you waste away. I care about you so much it hurts. Watching this happen to you hurts. You’re not alone in this world anymore, so please just stop acting like you are.” The tears really start coming then, and you can’t speak anymore. Kaeya quietly pulls you to his chest, gently rubbing circles into your back.
It was never his intention to hurt you this much. To be honest, this was what he was trying to avoid the whole time. You made the long days and short nights bearable, with the smile you gave him every morning, and the patience you had for him. You were healing him in places he didn’t realise he was broken, and somewhere along the line, he had taken that for granted and allowed insecurity to replace the peace he should have felt.
“Kaeya, I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me. You deserve peace, you deserve to be happy. You deserve to sleep at a godly hour.” You pull away to look at him properly, gently wiping stray tears from his face. “Am I that unapproachable?”
“No,” Kaeya replies. “No, you’re not. I just assumed you had better things to worry about.”
“‘Better things to worry about’? The only thing I worry about is you when you throw yourself into work like you’re trying to run away from something. I’m scared for you sometimes, Kae.”
“I’m sorry for worrying you,”  he replies carefully. “My intention was never to hurt or scare you. I just didn’t want to be a burden.”
“You are not a burden. You will never be a burden to me. You never have been. Okay?”
Kaeya nods. You cup his face in your hands, gently planting a kiss on his forehead and suddenly all his worries and insecurities melt away. If he had known that all it took to calm his thoughts would be a few words from you, he would have gone down that avenue first. It would have been significantly less work for him.
“You’re taking a day off tomorrow,” you say quietly. “And we’re getting you out of that stuffy jacket and going to sleep.”
Kaeya smiles softly. “Just my jacket?” He smirks, and you laugh, taking his hand and standing up.
“We’ll see.”
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author's note: hello kaeya nation it has been a hot minute ToT
nonnie i cannot apologise enough for my inadequacy in getting back to you on time i don't even know if you're still around, idk if you survived the shadowban of 2023 but i hope you get to see this
taglist: @tartigglez @aixaingela @atlaincorrect
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scribblesofagoonerr · 3 months ago
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September Love | Never Grow Up
the third and final installment in this mini series.
summary: remi starts her first year of big school and there's a new arrival in the williamson family
pairings: leah williamson x reader
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“I can’t believe it’s this time already,” Leah says, a frown etched on her face as she stares at an old photo of Remi at 5 weeks old that she had saved in her phone, “Where has the time gone?” She murmurs.
It only felt like it was yesterday.
“We blinked Le,” You tell her, your eyes softening, “And just like that, she’s off to big school.” You add.
“But she’s still too tiny for big school, isn’t she?” Your wife exhales a sigh and continues to stare at the photo on her phone with tears welling up in her eyes.
“Le, she’s 5 years old now. We have to let her go now,” You say gently, reminding your wife that your eldest girl was indeed not a baby now.
“I still don’t like it though,” Leah admits quietly, shaking her head in disagreement.
You can’t help but chuckle heartily, “She’s only going into her first year of reception, it’s not like she’s moving out the country,” You tease your wife, which you’re quick to be on the dirty end of a scowl, “Come on Le, you know what I mean.”
“Don’t even joke about things like that,” Leah murmurs, continuing to frown at you, “You don’t get it though, it’s her first day of big school… which means she’s not a baby anymore.” She adds.
“No she’s not,” You reply quietly in agreement.
Your wife bites her bottom lip and shakes her head vigorously, “I don’t like it. Why can’t we just turn back the clock?” She asks.
“It doesn’t work like that,” You laugh humorlessly and shake your head.
“It’s just,” Leah begins to say as she finds the right words, “She was our tiny little baby at one point and now… now she’s just growing up so fast.”
“Don’t worry, we’ve still got time to go through all this again, remember?” You tell her, gesturing towards your swollen belly as you are ready to give birth any day now, “Twice.”
“I know,” Your wife’s eyes soften as she crouches down and rests her hands on your baby bump, “I can’t wait to meet you baby boy.” She whispers, placing a gentle kiss on your stomach.
“And he can’t wait to meet his Mummy either,” You tell her, genuinely smiling at the blonde, “Any day now.” You add, hopeful that he does make his appearance sooner rather than later after getting to the stage of being uncomfortable, and pregnancy during Summer is no joke.
“Why’re you sad, Mummy?” Remi’s voice pipes up out of nowhere, all ready for school wearing her brand new school uniform that you have to admit looks massive on her, her hair done up in a loose ponytail with a red ribbon attached while she wears her new black shiny shoes that you had the absolute misfortune of having to experience standing in a queue to just to get into the busy shop – that is something that you can definitely say you’re not such a fan off.
“Oh I’m not sad, baby Gooner,” Leah immediately plasters a smile on her face, “I’m just… I’m really proud of you, you know?” She adds, wiping away the stray tears from her face.
“But you’re crying though,” Remi frowns in confusion as she tilts her head to the side, “You only do that when you’re sad, like when you watch them really sad films about the puppies or when you’re on the pitch sometimes–”
“Okay, okay, I think we get it,” Leah interjects, before your daughter has any further chance to expose your wife for the softy that she really is, “I’m not sad, baby Gooner. I’m just so excited for you that you’re starting big school today. Are you excited?” She questions.
“Uh huh! I am so excited, I can’t wait to make lots of friends like uncle Jacob told me about!” Remi is vibrating with excitement, which is more than can be said about your wife.
“You’re going to make so many new friends!” You reassure your little girl with a proud smile on your face, “Alright, how about we take a picture for your first day of big school, yeah?”
“Yeah!” Remi jumps up and down in delight at the idea.
“Big smiles, Remi Roo!” You encourage as your daughter flashes you a gap-toothed smile from the tooth that she lost just the previous week.
You make it a whole family occasion with Esme toddling in to join in the photo opportunity and many snaps are taken amongst your little family of four, soon to be five.
“Perfect, baby girl!” You tell her, taking lots of pictures as you stare at them with a sense of nostalgia as all the sudden memories come to light of the several milestones Remi has achieved over the last 5 years, “You really are growing up, Remi Roo.”
“I don’t like it, it’s too many milestones at once,” Leah cracks under the pressure and shakes her head, wiping another stray tear away.
“Le,” Your facial expression softens as you wrap your arms around your wife to comfort her.
“It’s okay, Mummy!” Remi wraps her small arms around Leah’s legs, “Don’t be sad now! It’s gon’ be okay!”
“Me join!” Esme, not wanting to be left out, holds her hands up in the air for you to lift her up, “Mummy sad?” She asks, confused.
“A little bit,” You answer your youngest honestly.
“I make it better,” Esme declares, pressing a sloppy kiss on Leah’s cheek, “All better?”
“Much better, thank you Essie Bear,” Leah coos, returning a gentle kiss to Esme’s cheek.
“You can still cuddle me, even when I’m at big school!” Remi points out, peering up to look at your wife from where she’s stood, “It’s okay!”
“Oh, well in that case then I am definitely holding you to that,” Leah grins and scoops Remi up into her arms, “I’m gonna get in all the snuggles in that I can!” She says, squeezing her tightly.
“Alright, alright,” You break it up jokingly, “Let’s not smother her before she even makes it out the door for her first day.”
“Don’t you dare make fun of me,” Leah tells you, pointing her index finger in your face, “This is a big moment today.” She adds, placing Remi back down on the floor.
You snicker in amusement at your wife’s expense, “Oh don’t I know it? Big bad scary Leah Williamson crying over her little girl’s first day at big school,” You pause, the smirk not leaving your face, “Gosh, what will the world think?”
Your wife glares at you and gently swats you, “Shut up, I’m allowed to be emotional today.”
“Uh huh, and what’s the reason for every other day then?” You can’t help but wonder with a shit eating grin on your face.
“You’re lucky that I love you,” Leah murmurs, rolling her eyes at your antics to wind her up.
“And I love you too,” You reply, pecking her on the lips, “You’re the lucky one that I put up with you being a blubbering mess every time Remi does something that’s deemed ‘too grown up’,” You remind her, amusedly.
“I’m emotional, okay?” Leah exclaims, throwing her hands up in the air, “She’s our eldest, our baby… Our baby Gooner!”
“You can’t call me that anymore, Mummy!” Your 5 year old points out, “I’m not a baby!”
Your wife pouts at your daughter's words and shakes her head, “You will always be my baby, no matter how old you get,” She pauses, “Even when you’re 30 and you have your own family.”
Remi wrinkles her face up in disgust, “Boys are yucky, I don’t want a boyfriend.” She states,
“And you’re definitely right to think that,” You chuckle amusedly as you gather your small family out of the door and make your way to your wife’s BMW, “I think if Mummy had her way, she wouldn’t let you date until you’re 25 at least.” You joke.
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“I’m ready to go in!” Remi announces, standing outside of the school gates in a tone that sounds far more grown up than her 5 year old self, “I’m not scared.”
“It’s good to not be scared, you’re going to have so much fun!” You tell her, holding her hand and guiding her through the gates of the school while Leah follows behind holding Esme’s hand, “You’re going to smash it, baby girl!”
“And we’ll be right here to pick you up when the day is done, okay?” Leah reassures your daughter, catching up with your toddler, who likes to walk at her own pace.
“Okay!” Your eldest nods in agreement, bouncing on her toes as she carries her backpack that looks way too big for her.
“Rem! Rem!” Esme shouts to get her big sister’s attention, “Rem!”
“I’m going to big school, Bear,” Remi crouches down and wraps her arms around her little sister, “But I’ll see you when I’m home and tell you all about it!”
Watching the exchange between your daughters, makes your heart swell with pride and a touch of bittersweetness.
“Miss ‘ou, Rem,” Esme pouts, a little frown forming on her tiny face as her voice wobbles, as if she’s on the verge of tears.
“Miss you too, Bear,” Remi continues to squeeze her little sister tightly, “I’ll be back later though, don’t worry!” She adds with a smile that reveals her recently lost tooth.
“Come here, you,” Leah crouches down to your daughter’s level and wraps her arms around her, squeezing her tightly as if to not let go and hold on to her forever, “I’m so proud of you, here at big school, eh?  You’re going to make so many friends and learn so much! Oh, and have a lot of fun as well!” She tells her.
“Mummy,” Remi attempts to wriggle away from your wife’s embrace, “You’re… You’re squeezing too tight.” She whines,
“I’m just soaking up the moment until you’re home from school,” Leah admits, pulling back and brushing a loose strand of hair behind Remi’s ear, “Big school, eh? I wish you would stop growing up so much on me, I don’t like it.” She jokes with her.
“You have to let me grow up, Mummy,” Remi’s giggle is infectious as she squeezes your wife again tightly, “I gots’ to go in now, but I’ll see you when you pick me up, remember?”
“We will be right here waiting for you,” You tell her, unable to crouch down properly with your swollen belly in the way, “We’re so proud of you, Remi Roo!” You add, kissing the top of her head.
You spot your daughters’ teacher making her way over to your family as she gives you both a kind smile, “Hi, Remi. Are you ready to go in?” She asks.
“Yes!” Remi excitedly replies, giving you both a final hug goodbye before she takes hold of her teachers’ hand and begins to walk in the building, “Bye, Mummy! Bye, Mumma! Bye, Bear!” She calls back, her voice ringing with excitement.
“Bye, baby Gooner,” Leah waved back, her voice catching slightly as you see the glimmer of tears threatening to spill over again.
You can feel your own chest tightening as you force a smile and wave, “See you later, Remi Roo. Have the best day!”
“Bye-bye, Rem! Love you!” Esme clings to Leah’s leg, waving frantically.
“Save your tears for the car, Le,” You tease, taking note of your wife’s eyes, the tears are a lot more visible now, “I know it’s hard to watch her go in there, but it’ll be 3 o’clock before we know it.” You add, hoping that helps things a little better.
“I know,” Leah murmurs in agreement, walking round to the pre-school that Esme attended next to the school.
You can say that dropping Esme off to pre-school wasn’t too hard, although there were extra tight hugs given before your youngest daughter ran off inside without a care in the world.
Much to your wife’s disappointment, and you swear the tears threaten to spill again.
“At least we know what your weakness is now,” You joke, climbing back into the passenger seat of the car after dropping them both off, “It’s only a few hours, remember? It’ll be here before we know it.” You tell her.
Leah tries to laugh it off and shake her head as she climbs into the driver's seat, “Yeah, and to think I still have to go to training,” She pauses as wipes a visible tear away as she buckles her seatbelt in, “I wish I could just tell Jonas that we have a family emergency.” She tells you.
It’s at that moment, you completely freeze as you feel a sudden wet patch on your leather seat.
 “Um, Le,” You mumble, getting her attention as she fiddles with the dials of the car to find the right music playlist, “I think you might need to call Jonas and tell him that there’s a family emergency.” You say.
Leah turns towards you and looks confused, “Why’s that, love?” She wonders.
“Well, because I’m 99% sure that my waters have just broken,” You admit, gazing down to motion to the seat.
It takes literal seconds for your wife’s eyes to widen in shock, “What? Here? Now?” She rambles in a clear panic, “Seriously? Oh my God!”
“Don’t panic,” You murmur, trying to keep the situation calm despite your best efforts – Your wife is very much in a complete panic over this.
“I’m not… I’m not panicking,” Leah stutters her words as she runs her hand through her hair, “What'd we do? Do you feel like you have contractions? We need to get the hospital bag from the house!” She continues to ramble.
You shake your head in disagreement, “I don’t feel like there’s any currently,” You pause, “We’ll go home, stay there until they start and head to the hospital when it’s time, yeah?” You suggest, trying to keep calm in the situation despite the one being hours away from giving birth.
“O… Okay,” Leah swallows the lump that’s formed in her throat, “We’ll go home, we’ll wait there– I need to call my Mum, she’ll need to pick the girls up.” She notes in realisation.
“Yeah, I somehow don’t think it’s going to be possible to be there for the 3 o’clock pick up after all,” You murmur, exhaling a sigh, “Little man has decided today’s the day to make his grand entrance into the world.”
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Plans don’t always go straight forward. You certainly didn’t expect to go into labour on the very same day your eldest daughter started big school, but it is what it is sometimes.
“I hate the fact that my Mum had to pick Remi up on her first day,” Leah murmurs in a hushed voice, settling on the bed in the hospital beside you where you lay after just giving birth.
“Rem will understand, Le,” You lay back against the pillows with your newborn son, Archie George Williamson, cradled against your chest, fast asleep while you can hear his tiny breaths that are slow and even, his fingers curled into little fists against your shirt.
“I know but we promised her that we would be there,” Leah exhales a sigh as she gently strokes your baby boy’s head, “Someone was just too impatient to wait.” She coos.
“I think our family is complete now,” You whisper, careful not to disturb your newborn son nestled against you.
“I’d say so,” Leah replies, her voice soft as her eyes never leave Archie’s face, “He’s perfect, isn’t he? His big sisters are going to absolutely love him when they meet him.”
You both share a quiet, knowing smile as you capture this moment of magic that feels entirely new and familiar to you both. However that tranquillity is short lived, broken by the unmistakable sound of little feet thundering towards your hospital room.
“Speaking of sisters, it’s after 3 o’clock,” You whisper with a chuckle, bracing yourself.
Before your wife can even get a chance to even reply, the door flies open with a bang, “Mummy!” Remi shouts, her voice full of excitement as her hair now wild and free from its ponytail, running into the room with wide eyes, bright and full of curiosity.
“Mumma! Mummy!” Esme echoes, hot of her sister’s heels, her usual energetic self completely oblivious to your sleeping newborn nestled on your chest.
“Shhh, girls,” Leah gently admonishes, holding up a finger to her lips, “We have to be quiet and use our inside voices.” She reminds them softly.
Remi is the first to stop short, suddenly aware of the little bundle lying against your chest, “Is that him?” She whispers, her eyes widen even more as she tiptoes over to you with exaggerated caution as she barely is able to manage her own excitement.
“It is,” You nod, smiling at her, “Girls, this is your baby brother, Archie.”
Esme’s face lights up with delight, “Baby?” She says, her voice high-pitched and curious, “My baby?” She asks.
“Your baby brother,” Leah corrects with a grin, scooping Esme up to give her a better view of your newborn, “See? He’s very little, so we have to be very gentle with him.”
You watch as Remi leans in closer, her little face filled with wonder, “He’s tiny, Mumma,” She reaches out, carefully touching Archie’s tiny hand, “He’s smaller than my dollies.”
“He is, isn’t he?” You chuckle softly, “But he’ll grow up to be big and strong, just like you.”
Your wife sets Esme down next to Remi, “What do you think, Essie Bear?” She asks, the two girls staring at their new little brother, your 3 year old in that moment reaching out to poke Archie’s cheek gently, “Gentle, Essie,” She reminds her with a smile, pulling Esme’s hand back just a bit.
Your baby boy just lets out a soft sigh but still remains asleep. At least you know it won’t be so much a problem to sleep in a noisy household with 2 older sisters.
“He likes it, Mummy,” Esme declares confidently, trying to reach out and poke him again.
“We have to be gentle with him, Es. He’s only little,” You tell her softly.
Remi glances up at Leah, “Mummy, will he like Arsenal, like you do?” She asks, curiously.
“I mean I hope so, but if not then that’s okay too,” Leah answers honestly, “Just as long as he doesn’t follow uncle Jacob and support Spurs.” She jokes.
“Of course you just had to get in there, didn’t you?” You laugh, shaking your head in amusement.
“What? We’re a family full of Gooners,” Your wife shrugs her shoulders and sticks her tongue out playfully, “Just as long as all 3 of our kids are happy then that’s all that matters to me.”
“That is what matters the most,” You agree, feeling the warmth of this very moment as you lean back against the pillow with a content sigh, “But I have a feeling that little man might very well support you before we know it.”
Leah grins, her eyes twinkling with mischief, “Oh he’ll be a little Gooner, alright. I’ll make sure of it.” She says, determined.
“Can I hold him, Mumma? Please?” Remi leans in closer, looking at you with those big, hopeful eyes.
You glance at Leah, who nods with a smile, “Okay, Remi Roo, but you have to sit down and be very still, okay?” You instruct gently.
Remi eagers nods and hops onto the chair beside the bed, her little legs dangling off the edge as she waits in anticipation to hold your son. Your wife gently lifts Archie from your chest, cradling his tiny body with expert hands, and then slowly places him into Remi’s waiting arms.
“Hi, Archie,” Your eldest daughter’s face lights up with pure delight, her grin stretching from ear to ear as she cradles her baby brother with such tender care in the world, “I’m Remi, I’m your big sister and I love you lots!” she whispers, her voice filled with awe.
“He loves you lots too, Remi Roo,” You whisper back, watching the moment with your heart swelling with pride and love at the sight of your three children together. You are glad that your wife is able to capture this perfect moment on her camera.
“My turn next!” Esme declares, standing on her tiptoes, trying to peek over Remi’s shoulder, “My turn!” She repeats, a little too loud as your wife quickly hushes her with a finger to her lips.
“Soon, Essie Bear,” Leah promises, brushing a hand through Esme’s curly hair, “Remi’s just having a cuddle first, see?”
Esme nods eagerly, her face scrunched up in concentration as she watches her sister carefully, “Okay, I wait,” She whispers, “He’s cute, Mummy.”
“He is, isn’t he?” Your wife agrees, leaning down to kiss the top of Esme’s head, “He looks just like you when you were born as well. Tiny and perfect.”
As you watch your three children, you can’t feel a time where you felt more happier than being surrounded by your small family you’ve created with your wife.
Because despite the ups and downs in life, the unpredictability and the chaos that life sometimes brings, you wouldn’t change a thing.
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© scribblesofagoonerr
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