#I want to be knocked out so badly I wish I had anyone to hug

[chaseprice]

A student who earlier in the day was being so disrespectful that I just had to stop the lesson and sigh loudly saw me crying in the hallway hours later and checked in on me and gave me a hug

[cosmichorrorsarestillnicerthanme]

I know your probably not going to see this since you have so many asks but I’m going to try anyway

Could you do relationship headcanons with the Elden ring girls?

(Whatever ones is up to you since I want to see which ones you will pick)

Oh ye of little Faith Anon!

Also, I decided to go the angst route for Marika and Melina so fair warning for that.

Now, since you gave me free rein to choose… My Wish Is My Command!

Malenia was not much of a talker.

She liked her alone time.

That said, she did like listening to others talk on occasion.

She especially liked listening to people talking about normal, everyday life.

It was a guilty pleasure of hers.

To hear about the simple things.

Hugging those they care for close.

Kissing the ones they love.

All the things she rarely ever felt.

But then, one day, she met you.

It was a complete accident, something that, if she had stepped on a different piece of the cobble path, never would’ve happened.

While she was walking the path, her head in the clouds, she caught her still flesh and bone foot on a broken piece of stone.

She, of course, was able to return herself to being upright near instantly.

Though… not without accidentally smacking you in the nose with her prosthetic.

Her unalloyed golden metal prosthetic.

Needless to say, you were bleeding.

Badly.

And Malenia, for all her grace and strength on the battlefield, was absolutely horrible when it came to people.

So, Malenia being the expert in Diplomacy she is, grabbed you by the back of your collar, and dragged you off without a word, nose still absolutely pouring blood.

And that is how you got here.

Sitting on a chair in THE Malenia’s room, pieces of cotton stuck up your nose as the red headed woman paced the room, not saying a single word.

This was an absolutely surreal experience.

An actual Demi-God, someone who could cut down an army with ease, had just accidentally wacked you in the face, dragged you into her room, and was pacing the floor like she had just committed some grand, unforgivable crime.

It was just a bloody nose, not even broken.

She looked like she was about to collapse from stress.

You were pretty sure she was about to wear a hole into the ground with how fast she was pacing.

“U-uh Lady Malenia?” you tentatively asked.

The red head went rigid and turned to you in a manner more akin to an automaton from the Academy Of Raya Lucaria than a humanoid creature.

“I am Malenia, Blade Of Miquella.” Malenia declared without room for response or retort, leaving the room in complete and utter silence as you looked directly into the helm she wore.

It was now that a knock on the door rang through the room, and a wave of relief ran through both parties.

“Malenia! I heard you dragged someone into your room! Did you get a Consort and not tell your favorite sibling!?” a joyous and booming voice cried through the door.

“Consort? Me?” you muttered in confusion.

“Miquella is my favorite sibling.” Malenia stated bluntly, seemingly causing a physical impact to the person on the other side.

“Then your biggest Sibling!” the voice declared joyously.

“Radahn is my biggest sibling.” Malenia stated in the same tone of voice, causing direct harm to the speaker.

“I am going to smite you with lightning.” the voice declared in an oddly happy voice despite the very real threat.

“You can try, Godwyn. I will simply cut the lightning.” Malenia declared.

The door was promptly thrown open and the giant blonde man in the doorway shouted.

“YOU CAN’T CUT LIGHTNING!!!”

“Has anyone tried it before?” Malenia asked.

“No-” Godwyn began before getting cut off.

“Then I shall be the first, and I shall succeed.” Maleina declared in her eternally even tone of voice.

Godwyn moved to advise against this ill fated endeavor but then, he noticed the guest in the room.

He looked at you for a few moments, perplexed, before walking over to Malenia and dragging her out of the room by her ear.

A few moments later, a young Blonde poked his head into the room.

��Excuse me, but have you seen my sister Malenia?” the blonde asked.

“Uhm… you just missed her. Lord Godwyn dragged her off somewhere.” you responded.

“Hmm… I see. Thank you.” the blonde muttered before walking off.

Then, you heard the stomping of running feet and the blonde shot into the room, shouting.

“WHO IN THE ERDTREE ARE YOU!?”

This was how you met the children of Queen Marika The Eternal.

The Demi-Gods that are feared and respected by all.

Malenia, The Blade Of Miquella, a woman of impossible strength, grace, and to you, beauty. She was also pathetically inept when it came to social interaction.

Godwyn The Golden, a man of immense power and lauded as one of the greatest diplomats in history. He had a habit of saying terrifying things with a happy voice and a smile.

Miquella The Unalloyed, a being of unparalleled intelligence and magical power. He tended to have his head stuck in the clouds.

It was such an odd thing to see.

Especially considering your new job that you received as an apology for Maleina accidentally striking you.

You were now the official “Cultural Examiner”.

Also known as, the person who Malenia pays to hear talk about the day to day life of those who lived normal lives.

If there is one thing Marika needs in her life, it is a singular fixed point, an unmoving and unbreaking rock in a rough sea.

That was all she asked you to be, and the only thing she would ever request of you.

To be someone to lean on when she needed it.

She wasn’t supposed to catch feelings for you.

She wasn’t supposed to spend her nights thinking about you.

She wasn’t supposed to start to see you as more than an advisor.

But, she did.

And for years, she suffered for it.

She said she would only ever ask one thing of you, and that is an oath she intended to keep.

No matter how much she wished to ask you what you thought of her as only you had ever truly seen.

A person.

No matter how much she wished to ask you who if anyone you liked.

She occasionally caught herself thinking of you telling her that she was the one you liked.

She wanted to ask you if she was a fool for acting like a young love sick maiden in her private moments.

She knew she was.

But… she still liked to have her dreams.

Even if the nightmares were far more numerous.

Still, even if you felt the same feelings for her… could she even reciprocate them?

The blood on her hands… Her chains to the Golden Order… Her own innumerable sins… she couldn’t force that on you.

And yet… the want to simply sit with you and mumble and grumble about whatever minor inconveniences came to mind overpowered her again and again and again.

She knew she needed to stop on the off chance you reciprocate her feelings since she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from saying yes.

But she couldn’t.

And that was the only thing related to you she didn’t know how to feel about.

Melina The Kindling Maiden

Melina was born to burn.

She knew that from the moment she could comprehend the world.

Her existence was to find a Tarnished without a maiden, serve that role, and then when they reached the mountaintops, use herself as the match to burn the Erdtree.

Not once had this ever bothered her.

But now, as she stood on the edge of the forge with you, her Tarnished, on the ground behind her…

She wished she had a little bit more time with you.

To watch the person who charmed her with their strange antics and many eccentricities.

To eat Prawn with you and Boggart.

To sit by a grace and wait out the rain.

To spend the night under the stars.

To simply spend the day as the two of you always did.

But… Now that was but a sweet dream.

There was only one thing to do before she burned.

She knew better than to turn and face you.

But, that did nothing to stop the tears pricking at her eyes.

“Torrent, please, I beg of thee. Watch over My Tarnished as best you can.”

“Beloved Ranni, you know all someone would have to do to ruin that oh so perfect persona you have cultivated is to knock your books out from under you.” You told the witch with a cheshire grin.

“I have no idea what you mean, I have no mask to wea- FATHERS BALLSACK!!!” Ranni squealed as a single book was removed from the stack, sending her tumbling right into your arms.

“There she is! Ranni, the one whose mouth your mother had to wash out with soap more than anyone can ever hope to count.” you told the doll-like woman with a teasing grin as you twirled around with her.

“Wh- You son of a-” Ranni began to say, preparing to go on a tirade before stopping.

That was exactly what you wanted out of her.

For her to prove your point.

Instead-

“Ack! Cold! Cold!” you began to cry as Ranni wrapped her arms around you.

Ranni was never the type to be above pettily pranking someone.

Especially not you.

After all, if you were to be her Consort you had to know what you were getting into.

[marymary-diva17]

Hili I have a request! Ok it's kinda long cause it's all a dream I had

Jake sully × reader

Ok let's say reader and jake were married before everything (when he was still human) and she got knocked up by him and lates say like in the movie jake falls for neytiri and reader finds out and during the war reader gets injured and they take her to eywa, eywa saves her baby but it's transformed to a Navi baby (let's say it's neteyam) while reader is stuck still being human so k Jake and neytiri takes care of the kid it's angsty especially with neteyams death

Broken vows

Jake x reader + son neteyam/ sully kids/ neytiri

sure I can that for you but there might be changes here and there.

avatar masterlist

Never in your wildest dreams did you think you will be on the planet of pandora, you are a scientist on earth and had spent most of your life studying about pandora. Now you were getting the chance to see the planet and the navi with your husband Jake hoping to start a life with him and having new adventures. You and Jake had a wonderful marriage and you thought you will always have a life with him, that was until he had fallen in love with neytiri leaving you in his past. Soon change came to you life as you had become pregnant and lost your avatar, your son had been saved and born. Jake and neytiri had mostly raised him but you were still his mama no matter what anyone said to him or about you. Life now on pandora had changed for everyone and it seems like there was no going back, as change has come for everyone.

y/n " ummm" you had gotten out from bed and started getting ready for the day, you navi body was no longer of use for you as it was badly damages during the accident that nearly killed you. So you were now human and your relationship with Jake was rocky at the moment, he still loves and cares about you but had become distance over the years.

Norm " heading out y/n"

y/n " yes I'm"

Norm " say hello to the children for me"

y/n " I will" you soon left the human base to visit the clan and see the children, you are half way there when you saw three blue navi kids running towards you.

????? " mama" tuk the youngest of the bunch had reached you first and hugged you.

y/n " hey sweetie"

lo'ak " hey mum"

y/n " hey buddy"

kiri " hey mum"

y/n " hey honey" Jake and neytiri had two more kids together and they were lo'ak and tuk. Kiri was born form grace avatar and taken in by them, you had helped take care of the kids over the years.

y/n " how are my children"

tuk " we are well mama we came to see you today we wanted to spend the day with you"

y/n " well I'm happy you all came here to see as I was coming to the village"

lo'ak " we tried to get neteyam to come but something came up for him between dad and mom"

y/n " oh I undertand kiddo well come one let head to the village" neteyam is your son but like your other children Jake and neytiri, were able to be with them more verse you. This had broken you heart as you wish to be there for all your kids.

Jake " oh y/n you are here today"

y/n " yes I'm here today I came to see the children and everyone, if it not a good time I can leave"

Jake " no stay I'm sorry that was rude of me I'm happy you are here"

y/n " I and the others are doing our best but there might be a low chance I get to use it again"

Jake " don't worry my love everything will be fine I know it"

y/n "so where neytiri and our son are right now"

Jake " well neytiri and I were speaking with him early I'm guessing the children told you, they went off to their ikrans to care for them"

y/n " thank you I will go see them"

Jake " I can show you the way"

y/n " Jake I know the way and if you want time alone with me you can ask" you smirk toward Jake making him smile and laugh and bit he soon, took the other kids and walked off. You soon went to find neytiri and neteyam and it was not the hard.

y/n " I swear I need my avatar body back climbing this as human is fun and dangerous"

neteyam " mama you are here" neteyam and walked towards you and soon help you onto the top branch, as she smiled towards you he was so happy to see you.

y/n " hello my boy how are you doing"

neteyam " I'm doing well mama"

neteytiri " hello y/n"

y/n " hello neytiri how are you doing"

neytiri " ma teyam I will leave you to speak with y/n"

neytiri " yes mom" soon neytiri left you were trying to have a good relationship with neytiri but it seems like she didn't, like you as she saw you outsider. The both of you have a relationship with Jake and it seems like neytiri didn't like the idea of you being with her husband as well.

neteyam " I think she coming around mama"

y/n " don't worry about me and neytiri my boy that is something, we have to handle ourselves"

neteyam " yes mama hey will you love to come flying with me"

y/n " sure honey" neteyam smiled as he had taken you to his ikran helped you on and soon got on as well, the mother and son took taking off into the sky. The two of you had a very close relationship neteyam always made time for you and you always made them for him. You will do anything to protect you son as a mother that is your duty.

Sometime later

Jake " y/n we are leaving"

y/n " leaving for how long"

Jake " I don't know the clan has to leave the rad found us and they have these recoms"

y/n " ....."

Jake " we are all leaving everyone"

y/n " what about us here"

Jake " you cant come yet none of you neytiri and mo'at don think it safe"

y/n " so you are taking my son and the kids away from their home and the family they have"

Jake " they will have me and neytiri they will be okay"

y/n " he my son Jake my son as you are my husband"

Jake " I was your husband times have changed y/n you need to move on, as I have moved on with neytiri we will take care of him"

y/n " no Jake ...."

Jake " yes as the boy father he will be coming with me I knew we shouldn't of done this now look where we are... the kids are all attract to you they call you mama when you are aren't their mama"

y/n " I don't care what they call me Jake they feel like they are my kids"

Jake " well If you want to be a good mom and wife let me and neteyam go we need to live our own lives, if you are there or not"

y/n " Jake you don't mean that"

Jake " yes I kinda of do I wish that times you went back to earth or gave up clam of neteyam to make all our lives better"

y/n " if he goes with will you give me update on him and the kids"

Jake " yes"

y/n " then he can go he wont go unless he knows I approve" Jake looked at you and saw you were about to cry, neytiri was watching from few feet.

y/n " neytiri promise me you will keep my son alive and well, as you are his mom as well"

neytiri " yes"

y/n " then I hope you all have safe journey there bye" you soon tuned away from Jake he waned to go after you and comfort you, but he felt like he was getting looks from everyone else.

neteyam " mama are you sure you want me to go"

y/n " yes baby I need to know if you and your sibling are safe"

neteyam " then who will be here to keep you company and make sure you are safe"

y/n " I have your uncles here and all my friends we will keep each other safe"

neteyam " are you sure I wont leave you here if you wish"

y/n " go my son and have all new adventures and tell me everything once we each other again"

neteyam " I love you mama"

y/n " I love you to baby now go" neteyamm had hugged you one last time, he seems like he didn’t wish to let you go. He soon had to let you go and leave with everyone else all the other kids were crying saying goodbye to you. You will get to speak with the kids on days that were good and getting updates from Jake. Until one day your world came crumbling down.

norm “ y/n it kiri" you soon looked at norm he had explained everything you packed everything you need and left with max and norm, heading toward the metkayian village. The metkayian were shocked to see humans and they were so shocked, to see you new medicine so well. You were able to awake up kiri and she was happy to see you all the kids.

y/n " ......." you were given a permission to stay which made the kids happy, you were getting use to your new life here. The kdis were having you meet their new friends and you had made new relationships here, making Jake and neytiri a bit jealous on how many adults were flirting or being close with you.

lo'ak " mama mama we need you" a battle had started between the navi and RDA you were attending to the injured, when lo'ak came running towards you.

y/n " what the matter"

rotxo " neteyam been shot by one of the recoms we need you" panic had set in as you heard one of your kids are in dangers.

y/n "lo'ak grab my kit and take me to your brother" lo'ak had grabbed your kit and took you to neteyam who was laying down with his sibling and friends near him.

neteyam " mama"

y/n " I'm here baby I'm here"

????? " kids" you were trying to save neteyam life as she was struggling to breath as Jake and neytiri came, they were trying to help as well.

y/n " it going to be okay baby"

neytiri " what happened"

tsireya " he was shot by one of the demons"

neteyam " mama"

y/n " yes my son I'm here"

neteyam " dad"

Jake " I'm here son I'm here"

neteyam " mom"

neytiri " hush my boy" neteyam had grabbed onto your hand as you held it kiri soon started helping with, trying to keep neteyam alive. The was heart monitor tracking neteyam heart beat it was not good.

neteyam " mama I'm sorry ... I'm so sorry"

y/n " no baby there nothing to be sorry about"

neteyam " mama I ... I ....." neteyam soon stopped moving and breathing soon the heart monitor stopped as well.

y/n " no neteyam please no not my baby boy ... please dont leave like the please no ...." you started wailing and crying holding onto your son as Jake and neytiri were trying to comfort you. the kids had stated breaking down as well.

y/n " no please no please no why him why him" it seems like everything had become silent around you and it felt like the world stopped. Soon there was beeping sound coming from the heart monitor that got you attention.

tuk " mama what happing"

y/n " he still alive ... we need to get him to the hut right now call norm now"

Jake " y/n"

y/n " I said now Jake" Jake had nodded his head and called Jake, the boys helped your carry neteyam body. as he was rush to the hut where norm and max are waiting. You were waiting outsider the tent with the kids as norm, max, and moat try to help neteyam. The kids were comforting you.

y/n " please great mother hear my prays I will do anything for keep my son alive, so please don't take him away from me" soon moat and max came out of the tent.

neytiri " mother"

mo'at " the boy will live but he will have a scar for the rest of his life"

y/n " thank you"

mo'at " you are good mother you help us save him by using your medical ways"

max " it going to be okay y/n neteyam will be fine" the kids soon hugged you and you hugged them back, night had fallen and the kids were taken home by mo'at to rest. spider was being take care of by max and norm who went into the human small base to find him a place to sleep. as you stayed with neteyam taking care of him as Jake and neytiri were still there.

Jake " y/n"

y/n " ........."

Jake " y/n please say something you haven't looked or even spoke to us"

neytiri " say something please"

y/n " just stop please just stop"

Jake " stop what"

y/n " stop acing like you care about me as you never did, I have missed out so much of my son life because of you two ... Jake you were married but then you left and said nothing ... you neytiri treat me horrible when I have been noting but nice towards you and the kids I treat them as my own"

Jake " we are still married"

y/n " oh are you because last time I seen it you haven't treated me like a wife or a friend"

Jake "I'm sorry"

neytiri "I'm sorry as well I should've of been nicer"

????? " mama" you soon looked down to see neteyam was waking up slowly.

y/n " hey baby"

neteyam " hey mama..."

y/n " no don't move so much you are hurt and need time to heal"

neteyam " yes mama"

Jake " son how are you feeling"

neteyam " good"

neytiri " we are so happy you are okay my son we were worried" neteyam nodded his head but gave his dad and mom a look.

y/n " you should eat something I made your favorites soup you can have that and soon rest"

neteyam " what about everyone else are they fine"

y/n " everyone is fine you can see your sibling in the morning or they might come here to sleep, spider in the small base over there so are uncle norm and max"

neteyam " what about you"

y/n " I will be here as well my boy " you gave neteyam something eat he was speaking with spider, as you were outside with Jake and neytiri.

y/n " started today or tomorrow's things are changing for this family, I'm not being pushed out my son or his sibling lives again by the two of you anymore"

Jake " y/n I'm sorry we still care for you and love you "

y/n " we can deal with what going on between us later on as neteyam needs someone to comfort him right now, as he has bene through enough today"

neytiri " y/n I'm sorry for how I been ...."

y/n " we can talk more about what our lives will be like in the future, I think it best if we all head home for the night and get some rest neteyam will be staying with me until he better"

Jake " please y/n I ...."

y/n " here Jake I should of give this back to you many years ago" you soon removed the necklace that had your wedding ring on it, it was the ring Jake had saved up so much mondoe for to buy for you and give you.

y/n " you are no longer my husband you haven't been my husband in many years, you no longer give me that look of love you once had for me .... neytiri should have it as she the one you love the most and care for about in the end" you soon place the necklace in Jake hands as he looked at you with heartbreak.

Jake " no take it y/n it belongs to you it symbolizes what we have"

y/n " what we had Jake it no longer there goodnight you two" you soon started walking back to the tent, Jake and neytiri watched you walk awya from them not look back like you use to and smile at them. You had entered the tent to see neteyam and spider talking, they seem to so happy to see you. The other sully kids and tonowari children had came to spend the night with neteyam and spider, you had given them permission. That night you felt happy that your son was alive and well, but also felt some happiness that you will be starting a new life with the ones you love from here on now.

[ssaaaronmontgomery]

Sooo i saw those promts and immediately fell in loveee. Just imagine a heated argument between hotch and reader with “why do you even care?” and “because i care about you, okay!?” Like inagineee the feelings😩😩

Caring

Warnings: Angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, mentions of sweet Jack bug, Aaron feeling bad :/, some pining?, nothing past friendship though, happy ending!, I think that's all!

Word count: 2k

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x gn!bau!reader

A/n: Ohhhhh yes!! Yes yes!! I wrote this about Aaron feeling like he's not there for Jack enough as he grows up so I hope that's fine! I'm not really sure I made it angsty but more hurt/comfort maybe? I hope you like it 🫶.

Forever tags: @greg-montgomery @boredelle @hotchsdoormat @ssahotchnerr @criminalskies @beardedhotchh @hotchnerbau @ssamorganhotchner @mrs-ssa-hotch @canuck-eh @luvehotch @callm3c0nfus3d @ivyflowers13

Hotch: @14buddy22 @pastanoodles11 @htchnr

Let me know if you want to be added to my tags🫶.

Aaron has a tendency to keep everything locked inside. Everyone knows it. You wish he would talk to you, or at least talk to someone, but to your knowledge he never really has.

You know he's not okay. The entire team knows it. You don't know what exactly is eating at him so badly but you know there's something going on whether it's his home life or his work life. The last few days he has come into the office only to shut himself in and not talk to anyone unless he really had to. When he did talk he kept the conversations as short as possible.

Rossi tried to talk to him but Aaron shut him out just the same. You decided you would try. You had always been closer with Hotch when it came to understanding each other whether words were spoken or not. It was always easy to tell when the other wasn't alright. Not that he ever talked to you when he wasn't, but you always let him know he could if he wanted or needed to. You would pat his shoulder or squeeze his hand. Once you even hugged him and he was tense during it but still welcomed the embrace and managed to relax into it slightly.

You planned it out a little. You would stay late, or at least until everyone else left aside from Hotch of course, and then you would go to him. You would try to console him and help him through whatever was going on inside that head of his.

Once everyone has gone home for the night you make your way to Hotch's office and knock which, as always, is met with a 'come in' that is muffled by the closed door.

You open the door and step in then close it behind yourself. He immediately looks up from the papers on his desk and meets your eyes. He wasn't really working. You don't know exactly how you knew but you just knew. It almost looked like he had been crying before you came in, but you couldn't be sure about that. It was darker in the office than he normally kept it. He looks a little...lost. He just looks sad or like he's carrying something inside that he doesn't know how to deal with.

"How can I help you, y/l/n?" His voice is cold as it usually is.

You walk closer and sit down in the chair across from him. You don't hesitate. You want to know what seems to be tearing him up inside. So you ask him.

"Hotch, what's going on? What's wrong?" Your voice is soft but you're direct about this.

"Nothing is wrong, y/n. I'm fine. Everything is fine." It's empty. The words are empty. He doesn't mean them. You always know when he doesn't really mean what he says and he knows it. Why he still chooses to do it, to lie, you're not entirely sure because you both know it is pointless to lie to the other.

"Hotch, you're shutting everyone out and shutting yourself in. You've been short with everyone, even Penelope and you almost never get upset with her. You are staying even later than you normally do, which definitely says something because sometimes it already seems like you never leave. You yelled at Derek and Emily for joking around like they always do, you never yell at them you just tell them to focus but it is always calm and stern. This time you yelled. You couldn't be more obvious about this, Aaron." You always use his first name when it's something personal and between the two of you. You both use each other's first names when you're trying to get a point across. Neither of you are sure about when that started.

"Y/n, I'm fine. Really. I just have a lot of extra work to do right now. That's all." Once again, he's lying. Every word right there was a lie.

"Aaron, come on. Stop lying to me."

"Stop profiling me."

"Why won't you let me help you?"

"I don't need your help." That hurt you for some reason you're not sure of right now. You brush it off for now.

"What is going on? Aaron, you're not okay and we know it. You need to talk to us, to someone. Let me help you, please. I want to be here for you."

"Why do you even care?" He shoots back harshly.

"Because I care about you, okay?!"

All of these words were rushed between you both and hardly thought out before being said. You just yelled at him and that was the last thing you meant to do. He yelled first, but he's hurting and you understand that. You're excusing him raising his voice but you are internally scolding yourself for raising yours. All you want is to help him. You divert your eyes from him and look down.

"I care about you, Aaron. I'm sorry I yelled." It's a whisper.

When you look back up at him, his gaze is soft and gentle. "It's okay. I shouldn't have yelled either. You're just trying to help and...I'm being stubborn." You chuckle at that. "That's nothing new, Aaron." He smiles a little at you. You were known to joke about his stubborn and cold attitude around the BAU from time to time, he knows it but he doesn't mind.

"Aaron, please? Talk to me? I do care about you and I just want to help you or at least do what I can to try." Your voice is no longer a whisper but it's still soft and more on the quiet side. Aaron sighs and rubs his eyes a little. "It's about Jack." That immediately raises alarms in your mind and you're more concerned now.

"What's wrong? Is he okay?" Aaron can see the worry etched into your face and he understands that maybe he shouldn't have started with that.

"Jack is fine. It's more about...I feel like I'm not a good father to him." Another sigh escapes Hotch and he is now holding his head in his hands. You think you can understand why he would be thinking this. He is away very often, but you know he's still an amazing father. You've been around them both enough to know that.

"Aaron, why? You're a wonderful father. You love him so much and he knows you do. We all know you do. You do everything you can for him. I'm sure he knows that." He looks back up at you and he seems defeated. He still looks sad and lost with himself.

"But I'm hardly ever home with him. I'm not around as much as I want to be. I want to be able to help him figure life out as he grows up. I've missed important things in his life. I don't want him to grow up feeling like he had an absent father." You think you see tears in Aaron's eyes, something you've seen a few times during a few cases. It breaks your heart to see such a good man feeling like such a terrible dad.

"I think Jack understands. You've explained it to him, that the job takes you to many places. And he won't see you as a failed father. He sees you as his hero, Aaron. He looks at you like a real-life superhero. He understands that your job helps save people and even though he's just a seven year old boy, he supports it. He loves being able to talk about how awesome his dad is for saving people all the time." You offer Aaron a smile but he doesn't return it.

"How do you know all of this? He's never said all of that to me. Once he said I was a hero on Halloween, but not everything else."

"The playdates I've been over for and the dinners at Rossi's where the BAU kids were invited. Aaron, Jack loves you so much and he looks up to you." He smiles at that. Jack loves you too and often asks for you to come over to watch Spider-Man or to play with his action figures with him. He's a wonderful kid to be around.

"That's...that's really nice to know. It does help. But it doesn't change that I still feel like I'm missing out on more than is acceptable." He frowns again and looks down at his desk. You think for a moment and an idea comes to mind.

"I know it's hard to have a home life with the job we have and I also know that for you it's hard to get everything done in a reasonable amount of time because you have more to do. So I want you to let me help you a little more. A couple nights a week when we don't have any cases and I've finished my work for the day, I can stay a bit later and help you finish enough work to be able to go home to Jack before he's already asleep. How does that sound?" Your tone and expression are so kind and hopeful. You hope he takes you up on your offer, but you wouldn't be surprised if he didn't.

Aaron stays quiet for a moment and you can tell his mind is letting loads of throughts fly through it. Probably about how he shouldn't take advantage of you offering this or maybe how he thinks it's unfair to you. He wants to say yes but another part of him clearly wants to decline because helping him with some of the extra work he has isn't part of your job.

After about a minute of him considering what you've said he finally speaks. "Y/n, are you sure? It's not your responsibility. You really don't have to do this. I'm sure I could find a way to do this without taking up your time." "Aaron, I don't have anyone or anything to go home to at night aside from my bed and my TV. I'd rather stay a little later and help you go home to see Jack." He finally cracks a small smile and takes another moment to think before ultimately nodding.

"Okay. But only a couple nights. I don't want to take you away from your time to relax." You nod in return before responding. "I think we'll all be able to relax as long as the boss man isn't snapping at people or shutting himself in all the time anymore." His smile widens when you call him 'boss man'. He's always thought the nickname was a little funny but he wouldn't tell anyone that. "Don't worry. I won't be yelling at anyone as much, I'm sure."

"You might want to apologise to Reid for when you went off on him about his physics magic the other day. I think you hurt his feelings." He chuckles and it's such a sweet sound to hear. "Yeah, I do feel bad about that. He really is starting to get some distance on those. He almost hit Strauss with one so I think that's why I yelled." You snort a little. "Would that have really been bad if he had hit her with one?" Aaron grins at you. "No, I think it really would've made everyone's day actually. Erin would have come down on me for it but I guess now that I think about it, it would have been worth it to see her expression and confusion about physics magic." Both of you laugh a little at the thought.

The deal you made started and you stayed later to help Hotch finish the extra work he had left to do. That night you were also invited to have dinner at the Hotchner house and you're pretty sure it was the best meal you had ever had. Filled with laughter and smiles. It was something that made your heart flutter. You're happy to help Aaron, especially when you know it means he and Jack both get to be much happier.

[strayflowersstarsandlove]

Flannel (hanjisung)

You lock your phone and smile to yourself, nervous and excited at the same time for you did purposely forget a tiny little detail about your situation: you were currently wearing no bra. And this really wasn't the way you wanted Han seeing you topless for the first time.

But past you really did not think it through when you attempted a new cool trick while doing rhythmic gymnastic the other day. And ended up falling badly from the high bar. The excruciatingly white hot flashing pain you felt from your elbow down in those first few conscious seconds after the fall fortunately only l lasted briefly before you passed the fuck out and only woke up when you felt your team mates splashing water on your face as the paramedics brought out the stretcher in wich they carried you out to the ER.

That was over 3 days ago and the pain had subsided, mostly. You really had underestimated how much a broken bone could hurt and thought you could have just gotten your cast and be done with it but no. You still needed painkillers every night cause each time you laid down your whole shoulder and neck tensed up sending painful shockwaves down your stiff arm, tightly wrapped in layers of gauze and that sticky powdery white stuff they used to glue together your plaster cast.

The thing was heavy, smelly and it made any movement next to impossible. Hence why your roommate decided against even trying to help you putting on a bra last night, figuring you would be going to sleep anyway. Except she totally forgot you still needed to leave your apartment and you felt way too bad to ask her to come help you this morning.

You had been dating Han for a little while now, the both of you were very independent people and that's probably why you clicked so well, you hated asking for help cause you really did not want to bother anyone and since your relationship was still so new you really did not want to burden him.

When you hear a knock on your door you basically leap from the couch and scramble to the hallway, trying to adjust yourself the best you can, considering the large flannel you were wearing paired with your teddy bear printed red pajama pants and your still fairly freshly washed hair that got a little kinked by the pillow you were resting on earlier.

"Hi baby!!". Han's smile was so bright and heart shaped when you opened the door it made you instantly forget about your nervousness and your dishevelled state, even as he awkwardly tried to give you a hug, "I really wish I could give you a big squeeze but I also don't want to crush your arm even more", he apologises, chuckling nervously as he manouvers around you while you giggle and invite him in.

"Thank you again for coming on such a short notice too, I owe you one", you say sheepishly, leading him to the kitchen where you try your best to one handedly pick up two mugs and fill them up with the coffee you had made earlier, "oh yeah you can definitely pay me up in kisses. I'll let you know how many I request on a daily basis until you covered up your debt. I also want dinner tonight", he quips, winking at you and helping you pour the coffee without you even mentioning needing his help, which only makes you swoon even harder.

You spend a a few quiet hours just drinking your coffee and chatting, Han occasionally stopping mid sentence just to purse out his lips, silently requesting one of the many kisses you already shared, making you giggle each and every time. There's a sort of warmth and comfort, a quiet complicity building up between the two of you and you honestly forget all about your arm.

Up until a loud notification on your phone finally brings you back down on earth and makes you check the time: "oh. It's almost 6.30 pm already. Would you mind if we started getting ready? It might take a while for me to get out of these" you ask, pointing at your pajamas.

Han silently follows you upstairs and into your bedroom where you pick out the easiest clothes to put on you can find, opting for another checkered flannel shirt, a non sleepy time flannel at that, and a pair of cotton sweatpants that shouldn't be too hard to pull up your legs by yourself, "aren't you going to be cold with just that on?", your boyfriend holds up the shirt, an unsatisfied look on his face, "it's a bit chilly outside, you should wear a t-shirt underneath, maybe an oversized one, or is that too complicated to put on?".

You bite the inside of your cheek and nod quietly, your heart suddenly feeling uneasy as the thought of you being half naked in this awful state of yours resurfaces again, " ye-yeah no it's okay I should actually dress warmly", you concede, making a beeline for the bathroom where you intend to freshen up a bit and at least put on your pants by yourself.

With a bit of an effort you manage to strip out of your pajama pants and wear your sweatpants, giving up on tying up the strings and just sticking them on the underside of the hemline, you brush your teeth and comb out the front pieces of your hair while you try to compose yourself. Deep breaths. Just take deep breaths. It's just Jisung. He's not going to judge you, you keep repeating in your head over and over.

"I'm - I'm ready for you to come in", you announce timidly, trying to resolve in the least strained smile you can muster when Han steps inside, "right, so is there a specific way you want me to go about it? Do you want me to pull out your arms or you head first?", he asks giggling, "uh... you choose? I don't mind. I uh - I...",  you nervously bite at the inside of your cheek again and shut your eyes for a sec, "I'm not wearing any bra. Just a heads up".

You can tell Jisung is instantly blindsided by the way he squints his eyes and his ears go deep red. He swallows a few times and blinks away the stunned expression pervading his face, "oh? O-okay I did not know that. Didn't notice", he mumbles, his eyes quickly scanning you up and down, "I'm sorry. I didnt mean to freak you out I sort of... Well it's really uncomfortable. To put on and also to just wear right now, the straps dig and pull at the elastic band of my sling and I can't fasten the clasps of a strapless bra right now. I just figured it was too unconvenient but I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. You know what? I'll just keep my pj's on and add a warmer jacke-".

Your rambling is cut off short by Han kissing you then and there. To say you're bewildered would be an understatement. You look at Han completely puzzled and he just chuckles," it's okay, I promise. I don't want to make you uncomfortable either. I'll help you undress and then close my eyes if you want me to, though I cannot guarantee I'll be much help if I can't see where your sleeves holes are supposed to go".

You both start laughing in hysterics. Probably in part to relieve the tension and awkwardness of this whole thing. And it works. Him making you laugh like that makes you feel way more relaxed. "I'd rather you kept your eyes open, please", you admit shyly as he nods his understanding, "okay then, let's get this bread- I mean this shirt". His remarks are so funny, he's so naturally hilarious you actually feel the nervousness melting away, leaving you feeling all jiddy.

Han tentatively starts unbuttoning your shirt, nimble fingers slender and beautiful as he kneels down and works his way up to your collar, now you're eye level with him and you can see that even if he's clearly still a bit nervous he's trying his best to make it quick and easy for you. Once he's done undoing your shirt he steps away to the side, not without locking eyes with you first, silently asking if you're still doing okay, and you nod slightly, extending your good arm out for him to pull the sleeve off of.

"This really isn't the way I imagined you seeing me topless for the first time, so anticlimactic, so dull. I feel the opposite of sexy right now ", you mumble, huffing and puffing a bit when you two finally manage to pull your cast arm free. Han giggles and gently drapes the t-shirt upside down over your shoulders so it covers you up a little before he brushes some of your fly aways away from your forehead, which you find so endearing and sweet of him, "you are gorgeous", he says, his voice a little deeper and raspier as he goes through the motion of slipping your other arm inside the sleeve first, his eyes meeting yours for a brief second as he smiles warmly at you.

In a few minutes you're fully dressed and ready, and Jisung's cheeks are a little blushy but you haven't caught him "slipping" once. The whole time he helped you get undressed and then covered up again, he not once let his eyes wander nor his hands linger on your exposed skin, you actually felt quite comfortable throughout it all: "thank you. I really truly appreciate how kind and respectful you've been. I'm sorry I didn't warn you earlier", you blurt out, gently brushing his high cheekbone that juts out now that he's smiling that million dollar heart-shaped smile at you, his eyes all wrinkly and squinty as he beams at you.

"You have nothing to apologise for. Nothing. I'm glad I could help and-", he grabs your hand and kisses each of your knuckles, "I can totally pretend this never happened if it makes you feel a little better, I don't ever want you to feel embarrassed when you're with me. I have the memory of a goldfish anyway so I'll easily forget all about it", you laugh out so loud and you half hug him to the best of your abilities, "hahaha you don't have to! Hopefully next time I'm half naked I'm also all in one piece".

[cloudcountry]

SUMMARY: you fall asleep on isaac's shoulder while he's working.

WARNINGS: none!!! :D

COMMENTS: ASGHFDHSAGD THIS IS MY FIRST TIME WRITING FOR IKEVAMP!!!!! i literally adore isaac sosososososo much he is so cute :((( I HOPE I WROTE HIM WELL!!!! :D

OH YEA tagging @dove-da-birb because i think you said you wante dto be tagged ahgsdhas

The weight of their head on Isaac’s shoulder snaps him out of the concentrated trance he’d found himself in. He turns his head, slowly and with bated breath, and feels his cheeks flush bright red at the sight that greets him. Sure enough, they’d fallen asleep on him. He should probably wake them up, he thinks, but as they breathe softly and their chest rises and falls and he watches, he’s not thinking much at all.

He couldn’t understand why they’d insisted on accompanying him for his late-night research session when they had other things to do. There was no reason to do so since he’d gotten by completely fine on his own, but they hadn’t backed down. Isaac was notoriously weak to them anyways—anyone in the mansion knew he would have said yes no matter what. They had a way of making him feel calm, like his existence wasn’t torture, like he didn’t constantly make mistakes and misunderstand the people around him.

They were quite the paradox. They laid themselves out to him like an open book, and yet he couldn’t read much of the words. Over the weeks they’d known each other, he’d learned how, but most of the pages were filled with jumbled words he didn’t understand and beautiful pictures he couldn’t interpret. And yet they were never a cruel teacher. They were the most patient person he’d ever met, guiding his hands across the gold-lined pages and helping him sound out the words that lead him through the paths of their heart. Sometimes, the words he found helped him find the way through his own heart. It was undoubtedly a beautiful thing, and although it was void of the equations he’d depended on his whole life, Isaac found himself less frightened by the day.

They would never hurt him. They treated him far too gently for that. Always there with a kind word and a nod when he began to ramble, always there to tell his housemates to knock it off with their teasing but often teasing him themselves, always there to hold his hand and ask him if he needed a hug at the end of the day. They prepared him tea on nights when he couldn’t sleep, too focused on his research and knowing he’d pass out at his desk and wake up with a blanket draped across his shoulders. There would be a little note scribbled out resting on top of his stack of papers, signed with their name and letting him know that they’d be bringing him breakfast in the late morning.

He wishes he had the courage to do the same for them. It was one of the many things about them he found adorable and one of the many things he would never admit to thinking about them.

“Do you think of me the way I think of you?” he murmurs to them, although they are fast asleep. Of course, they do not answer.

The ticking of the watch he fixed just for them echoes in the silence he leaves.

“If I asked you to stay...if I was selfish enough to ask that of you...would you comply? Would you fulfill my wish?” Isaac’s voice is impossibly softer, the yearning in his aching heart betrayed by the wobbling of his words.

They don't belong here. He knows this. They belong back in their world, where they have a family and friends and a life. He isn’t a natural part of who they are, even if he wishes he could grow to be. He wants to be part of what they want so badly, but that’s not possible. He’d only hurt them. And even if they say they trust him over and over, he does not trust himself. They are precious to him, someone he wants to protect more than anything—and to lose them now would destroy him.

His eyes flick back to his forgotten work, and he sighs. Raking his hand through his hair, he picks back up his pen and starts to write again. Their head on his shoulder burns through his shirt. He can feel their warmth. His hand shakes as it scribbles out an equation, and his cheeks still burn a fiery red. He’s gnawing on his bottom lip and bouncing his leg so fiercely he almost bangs his knee on the wood, but he doesn’t stop.

Do they have any idea how serious this is? Isaac could lose control of his hunger at any moment and hurt them just like he did before. His eyes flicker to their hand, and even though the bandages are gone, he still feels that stab of guilt. How do they feel safe enough with him to fall asleep near him? Even if it wasn’t on purpose, they should have left the second they were feeling tired. They should have bid him goodnight and patted his shoulder like they always did when they said goodbye and left him to his own devices. And yet they did not, because they are the strangest phenomenon he’s ever witnessed.

He loves them. He loves them like they strung up all the stars he loves to study in the sky, he loves them like they’re the only person he’ll ever know this well, he loves them like they’re the only person who would ever care for him even though they’d insist they’re not. He loves them like they’re everything and he knows there’s no way he could tell them that. He’s not good with words. He’s not good with affection.

And he is certainly not good with love.

Isaac turns back to them in what he wholeheartedly believes is a moment of weakness because they smell so nice and they look so at peace and—

They whisper his name.

A soft “Isaac” leaves their lips, and he stiffens at the sound. His face burns hotter now, his leg bounces more, his heart is pounding in his ears and his blood is rushing through his veins and—

He whips his head back towards his paper, intent on focusing on his work, only to see loopy scribbles of their name on his notes.

Gah, he needs to control himself.

Even when he wasn’t thinking, his body still yearned for them. How traitorous his hands were.

[plsdonttakemyname]

— — — — — — — — —

Characters; Nikolai Gogol

Genre; angst, hurt/comfort, scenario

Warnings; reader has family and friends problems, mental breakdowns, Bad writing. So please don't read it if you're uncomfortable with these. This might not make sense since this is my second time writing an angst , hurt comf and scenarios but I hope you enjoy it <3..

— — — — — — — — —

Knocking at the door of Nikolai's office with a tired look on your face as you walked in. You were greeted by Nikolai, your beloved boyfriend.

"Oh, hello dove. I was expecting to see you there. Would you mind to share a conversation?"

"I just wanna cry." Nikolai's eyes widened abit before speaking again. "Cry away Dove.. It's okay. Let go of your tears and let me hold you close. You know how much I care for you. I'll never leave you alone again." He said and kissed your forehead " Now come here, sit on my lap. I want to kiss you right now" he said with a smile on his face. "I love you so much Kolya, it's just things are getting more and more harder for me y'know.." You were really tired after studying for hours straight without any rest at all. "I know, baby. But don't worry. Everything will be alright. Just stay strong for me alright ?. We have each other, we can make it through anything together.I promise everything will work out just fine". He said as he holds your hand gently "I just I feel like I'm always not good enough, my friends and family doesn't even understand that I'm trying my best to make them happy.." you said as tears started to build up in your eyes.

"I'm trying my best Kolya. I really am. but none of them believed me. I got called a whore, spoiled and ungrateful. I don't know what to do anymore. I just feel like I wanna cry my heart out." You choked out a sob as soon as you finished the sentence "Oh, Dove... That sounds horrible. What happened?.. Tell me everything, please. Don't keep any secrets from me. I'm here for you. Always. And if anyone tries to hurt you or insult you, they won't get away with it. Not ever. Okay? Do you trust me Love?" He says as worries started to build up in his eyes and pulled you into a hug "yes I do trust you.. I'm studying really hard for college. my parents always told me to get off my phone and yelled at me when I'm clearly texting my project teacher about my work.This morning I got into an argument with my parents. They just slapped me because I talked back and I was trying to defend myself." You started crying while Nikolai is hugging you tightly on his lap.

"Oh Dear... You poor thing..That must've been awful. I wish I could protect you from these people who would do such terrible things to you. My love, you deserve better than this. If only..." He looks at the floor with sadness in his eyes "...if only I had done something sooner.." "All of my friends are just using me and talking behind my back I really don't know what to do anymore Kolya.I really don't. It just hurts." Your voice started to crack "I'm sorry Dove.. I should've known better than to think that those thing were worth trusting. They're nothing but troublemakers. They'd use you until you broke down completely. Then they'd laugh at you when you cried. They're disgusting creatures." He said while rubbing circles behind your back trying to calm you down "I wanna cry my feelings out but I'm really scared.." He hugged you tightly "It's okay, my love. Let it all out. Cry as loud as you need to. I'll hold onto you forever. No one else matters but us. Only us." He strokes your hair and gently tucking your hair behind your ear that was covering your face as he continued.

"You're safe with me.Never forget that. M'kay?" Your nodded and your sob slowly turning into small sniffles "Kolya?" You said his name after calming down abit. "Yes? What is it, my love?" He smiled warmly at you "Is there anything else bothering you besides your bullies,being treated badly by others or feeling worthless?" He takes his hands in yours and looks into your eyes lovingly "Tell me everything Dove."

"Am I annoying to you?.." You asked him as he laughs softly "Of course not, my love. Why would you ask such an absurd question? Of course not. You are absolutely adorable. The most beautiful person I have ever met. There isn't another person alive who compares to you. In fact, no other person even comes close besides you , Dos-kun and Sigma. You smiled at his response "I'm sorry for breaking down like this when you're busy... I just can't do this anymore I've been too stressed out lately." He kissed your forehead gently "Don't be sorry, my love. Just remember how much happier we are together. Remember how happy we make each other. And never doubt yourself again. You are perfect." He says and holds you close against him "I promise you will find someone special soon enough." "But...You're special to me and I love you Kolya." You whispered In his ears with a smile on your face now as he blushed at your words "I love you too my Dove. Now come here and give me a hug. Hugging helps calm you down after stressful situations. It makes you feel loved and protected too.. So... He said as he pulls you closer to him "C'mere! Give me a big hug I've missed you so much my love "

— — — — — — — — —

A/n; Hii ! I hope you like this fic :) I'm so sorry if anyone is going through this too. I hope you're all doing okay now <33 Make sure to stay Hydrated and Eat in time, Just a reminder you're all perfect no matter who you are, You're all good enough. Some words can be extremely hurtful sometimes but it's the best to try and ignore them :D I'm always open to talk about it if you're going through a rough time/day :) I love you all mwah <3

— — — — — — — — —

[yaemikomine]

I wish you would.

summary: you wish he would come back so badly, you need him in your life. After 1 month of being broken up and you still think of him, thankfully he still thinks of you too. Featuring : Megumi Fushiguro part 1. masterlist

“I wish you would come back, wish I never hung up the phone like I did. And I wish you knew that, I’ll never forget you as long as I live. And I wish you were right here right now, it’s all good I wish you would”

It’s been only a month since you and megumi had broken up, and it’s been HELL for you. You no longer had the energy to go to your classes or talk to anyone besides nanami. And if you ever did go to your classes, you would no longer have the excitement you had before. Seeing megumi absolutely nonchalant and not caring about the fact you looked horrid when you would go to your classes - Which made you always have to leave early, sobbing on your way out.

you don’t know what to do anymore, crying in your room. There’s a knock on the door, shutting your cries. groaning as you get up from your bed, your eyes bloodshot red and your clothes a mess. Opening the door to see Nanami, you walk back to your bed. “What do you want nanami…” laying back down, he sits down on a chair near your bed. “Satoru told me that you left your class early again…you can’t be doing that” your eyes met, giving him a mean look before explaining how you just can’t be near him right now.

“Nanami- I just can’t see him. It hurts too bad you know how long we’ve been together and just to see him act so… normal. It hurts me” you slowly get up from your bed, seeing him grab your hairbrush from your desk. He began brushing your hair, starting from the bottom of your hair, slowly making his way to the top. “I know but you have to go to your classes. don’t let a silly boy who obviously doesn’t care about you two breaking up enough to reach out to you. Keep going to your classes don’t let him bother you so much” he said

You wipe the tears off your eyes with the palm of your hand, “I know- I know” pursing your lips as he placed the brush on his lap, he softly stroked your hair. Sighing, “…I’ll try.” You smile at him. He smiles back, “ok good and let me know if you’re still struggling. You know you can talk to me any time, especially if you need help. I have to go now” he sat up from the chair - you give him a hug and walk him to the door.

“It’s 2AM in my room, headlights pass the window pane - I think of you. We’re a crooked love, in a straight line down. Makes you wanna run and hide then it makes you turn right back around”

After you ran off crying that day, kugisaki, gojo, and itadori looked at your running figure before they walked to megumi, kugisaki fuming, itadori scratched his head. “Megumi what it wrong with you?! You two were together before I came here and you broke up with her, for what?” She kept reprimanding him - megumi just sat down on the wooden floors, staring at the ground, seemingly sad. “Answer me, megumi! Why would you do that to her?”

He finally looked up and everyone could see the sadness surrounding his eyes. “…i- I want her to be happy and do better. She… she never did better with me. Trust me, she’ll get over this then she’ll be better and she will forget all about me…- about us”

Silence fell over them, “megumi…” she spoke out, everyone looking at him, shock written over their face. She finally spoke up, rage still in her voice, “well fuck that! She loves you. So much, you were all she cared about. She did better with you so get her back” she pulled him up by his arms. Satoru and itadori finally spoke up, “yea megumi get her back!! You two are meant to be” Satoru said, itadori agreeing with him. He shakes his head softly, “I can’t. I broke up with her, if I hurt her again I won’t be able to do it anymore” he gets up from the floor, walking away and back to his room where he sees nanami leaving your dorm.

Nanami and him make eye contact as nanami continues walking, “is…is she okay?” He asked quietly, he stops to look at him. “No. But she will be, I know that” he says, briefcase in one hand before walking off as he stares at where nanami once stood at. He opens his dorm room, laying down on his bed. His head softly resting on his pillow, looking up at the ceiling - thinking of your beautiful face and your amazing smile that lit up his whole world.

“You always knew how to push my buttons, you give me everything and nothing. This mad mad love makes you come running. To stand back where you stood”

It’s been a week now and you’ve finally been doing better. You began showing up to your classes and actually staying the whole class instead of having to leave early like before. You began talking to everyone - besides megumi, unfortunately. And you do care, you care that you two aren’t talking but you won’t put in the effort. He isn’t talking to you and you won’t talk to him either. But everything still doesn’t stop you from thinking of him at night. You never got over it - the pain just got easier to manage for you.

But if it seems like too much, you call nanami. You tell him everything you feel and how you don’t know what to do without him anymore. But everyone doesn’t see that besides nanami, they see that you finally bounced back after the break up. But as you got better megumi got worse. But like you - he kept it hidden never showed it to anyone. You both think of each other at night, wishing you could both hold each other again.

But tonight was bad, really bad. Satoru had taken everyone out to a small coffee shop and everything was normal. Until the cashier had begun flirting with megumi - you closed your hands into a fist, wishing you could punch her repeatedly. But instead you looked down, not wishing you could see what was happening right now. Once megumi was done placing his order for a black coffee with a blueberry muffin - your favorite. You ordered a small latte and quickly sat down with kugisaki, who had already ordered.

When everyone was done placing their order, they all sat down. Megumi sat down in front of you, both of you looking at each other’s eyes before looking away quickly. Pulling out your phone, waiting for the waitress to bring everyone’s order. Everyone began talking but you just continued paying attention to your phone. Itadori sat right besides you, he looks at your phone - quickly snatching it. You gasp, “yuji, give me back my phone!” You smiled at him, trying to grab your phone from his hand. He smiled, “naha - not until you get off of it and pay attention to what we’re saying!!”

You finally grab it, placing it on your lap, “ok - ok! I will” you laughed out softly, not noticing the way megumi looked at you two with rage in his eyes. After a while of talking with the whole group - the waitress finally brought the order. You noticed it was the same one who was flirting with megumi. You see her place down his coffee and muffin with a note. You saw it had a number on it, a sharp inhale made it’s way out of your mouth.

You tried not to pay attention to him after that - just talking to kugisaki and itadori while gojo just listened and often said a few words which was truly unlike him. megumi, like gojo, listened in but never spoke unless itadori spoke to him. Until he finished half of his muffin, looking at it for a second - “..do you want the rest?” He looked at you, softly sliding it to you. You looked at it for a moment and then looked up at him, smiling softly. “Yea, thanks” you broke off a piece, eating little by little. The note that the waitress had given him was underneath it, acting like a plate for it.

Once everyone was done with their food, they all got up ready to go. You ate the rest of the muffin, shoving the note into your pocket.

“2AM here we are, see your face, hear my voice in the dark. We’re a crooked love in a straight line down - makes you wanna run and hide but it made us turn right back around”

After you were finished telling nanami what had happened early, he sighed over the phone. “well if he gave you the napkin, he obviously didn’t care enough to look at it” you hear clacking in the background, he’s obviously typing on his computer - ready to go home and relax. You looked at the note in your hand, “yea…yea your right. I don’t know what I was thinking, he obviously didn’t even notice” you laugh, “he’s so stupid sometimes he doesn’t know anything…”

“Yes, also didn’t you say he gave you the rest of his muffin? He’s trying so I think you should also try talking to him as well and if not just don’t mind that and continue working on getting better with your strength” he said, still working. “Ok ok goodnight nanami, I’ll let you go since it’s two in the morning right now. But tomorrow you’re still gonna take me to go shopping, right?” You question as he goes silent for a second, “mhm, goodnight and get some sleep tonight so I can do that” he says before you hang up.

You lay down once again, staring up into the ceiling - thinking of him. It’s hard not to think of him when your whole world used to revolve around him. Shaking your head, you got up and began to walk out of your dorm room.

“I wish we could go back and remember what we were fighting for and I wish you knew that, I miss you too much to be mad anymore. And I wish you were right here, right now, it’s all good - I wish you would”

Sitting down on the field of grass, staring out into the small pond - you came out here to get some fresh air and to clear your mind. Not knowing someone else came out here for the same reason as well. You hear something behind you, turning around to see megumi standing there. Turning back around, “if he sits down I’ll say everything I want too” you think repeatedly, eyes shut tightly closed.

You turn around again, no one was behind you. going back to face the pond, immediately thinking the worst until you see he’s on the other side of you, sat down - looking at your face. “Megumi-“ you breath out, eyes wide. He cuts you off, “I’m sorry. I still love you, I miss you so much - I think of you all the time” he rambles off, tears form in your eyes, smiling at him. This time it’s your turn to cut him off, you kiss him.

He shuts up quickly, kissing back as you grab the nape of his neck, pushing down on him. He lays down, still kissing you. Your hand on his chest, pulling back - “Megumi I missed you so much, it was awful without you…” looking into his eyes, which showed his love and adoration. You kissed him again, a quick peck on his lips, then on his neck, another peck on his forehead and then all over his face, coddling him once again. You began to kiss his lips again, grabbing into his hair.

He flipped you both over, your back on the grass, and him on top of you. In between your legs, you wrap your legs around him - still toying with his hair. He pulls away like you did before. Looking into each other’s eyes - you both start laughing softly, you wrap your arms around his - promising to never let go of him now. He lets you and he promises the same thing to you and to never hurt you again.

[sinofwriting]

Favorite Player - Simon Minter

Words: 655 Summary: He was always filled with dread when having to meet any boy that his daughter brought home, but little did he know that this one would be different when his daughter brings home Simon Minter, his favorite football player.

Masterlist | Support Me!

The older man sighed, resting back in his chair as he eyed the clock. The time was drawing near and nearer and every minute that passed dread grew inside of him. He had hated the first time his little girl had brought home a boy, even if it was their next door neighbor and they were only ten, and at seventeen the hatred was joined with dread when she brought home her first boyfriend. And now she was bringing home a boyfriend for the first time in years, one that neither he or her mother knew the name of and it was just days before the season started. Dread wasn’t supposed to sit heavy in his stomach in August. Excitement should be brewing as the days grew closer to the first match of the season.

He grumbles as another minute ticks by and he can’t help but wish he had a pint. It would help a little bit. He glances at his wife and can’t help but smile at the way she’s fluttering about, clearly excited to meet their daughter's boyfriend. He took pleasure in the fact that if it went badly she’d join him in a drink. Always one to have a drink after a shit experience, his wife.

A knock makes her pause her adjusting of the throw pillows, standing straight with a bright smile. “They must be early!” He sighs at the excitement in her voice and casts a longing look at the tv, where he had been about to watch some highlights from last season. Last season had been an amazing one, his favorite player since he’d joined Leeds had been above and beyond, a season to remember and he could only hope that he performed just as well if not better this season.

Standing, he follows his wife from the living room to the front door that opens with a swing. Immediately enveloping their daughter in her arms. “It’s so good to see you, sweetheart.” She smiles, hugging her mom back. “It’s good to see you too, I’m sorry it’s been so long.” She looks at both of them before stepping into her dad’s arms for a hug. He holds her close, his only child, his daughter, his little girl. “Don’t worry about it, we’ve been busy and so have you, it happens.” He tells her when they’ve let go. “Still,” she insists, but seeing the look on his face stops her from saying anything else. She glances behind her at the door that’s still open and the smile that immediately takes over her face reminds him of why exactly she’s visiting and his fingers twitch at how brightly she’s smiling.

She looks back at them, smile still on her face but a little softer. “Mom, dad, I want you to meet Simon, my boyfriend.” She says, as she extends a hand out to grab her boyfriend's hand and pulls him inside. He’s about to extend a hand, greet him, knowing if he doesn’t he’ll get an elbow to the ribs. But his mouth falls open and he’s unable to move a muscle as he gets his first look of his daughters boyfriend.

It was Him.

Number seven for Leeds United. His favorite player. Simon Minter. Miniminter. His daughter was dating Miniminter. Her boyfriend was Miniminter. His mouth closes and his hand goes out, when an elbow hits his side, shaking him from his shock. And he can’t help the smile on his face as he greets the footballer enthusiastically. The dread that had been sitting in his stomach was gone, excitement only there.

Miniminter was a good lad, had his own non-profit, liked meeting with fans from what he saw on twitter and such, and in his whole career had never had any horrible accusations come against him like other footballers. He still wasn’t good enough for his little girl, but he was probably the closest anyone could get.

[knoxvillesjackass]

the greatest loss of all

warning; this story involves the death of ryan dunn

Occasionally, there is a moment in the early morning when everything is silent.

Not a single car rumbles down the street.

The lamp posts are still dimly lit as the sun slowly rises to welcome a new day, the birds only just waking up, singing their morning tunes. The dewy grass is still cold and wet to the touch.

Everything is so simple then. But, when the body awakens and catches on to reality. When everything settles in, the simplicity disappears, and everything's the same again.

Lonely.

I slowly opened my eyes, turning my head to the left, my sight landing on the neon lights, shining brightly on the screen of my alarm clock.

Hitting snooze with a stretched, tired arm, I sighed and shuffled from my bed, towards the bathroom of my tiny, one-bedroom apartment, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

A short and bony figure stared back at me in the mirror. My hands went to turn on the metallic faucet.

I tried to convince myself that the cool water that splashed against my face would somehow make my problems go away. It did not.

The world felt a little colder now. A little worse.

The depressing news on the television suddenly seemed to matter a lot more than what they had before.

Before, when Ryan was there, the bad news felt like white noise in my ears. Now, they're the only thing I hear.

My mother's voice had once again sounded on the answering machine. I hadn't had the energy to talk to anyone.

She was arranging the funeral, and wanted to know if I was going, let alone even alive. I hadn’t talked to her since the crash. I didn’t want to talk to her.

The only person I wanted to talk to, was gone.

A knock sounded at the door, and I figured it was the landlord. It wasn't until I heard the whispers of a familiar voice, that the realisation kicked in.

The funny accent sounded from outside my door, and I rushed to open it, and suddenly stood face-to-face with Bam. I hadn't seen or talked to anyone from the crew for six days. He looked broken, not to mention exhausted.

There was a short moment of silence before Johnny engulfed me in a warm hug. My hands found their way around his body, and I squeezed him tightly, realising that I hadn't felt the touch of another human being for almost a week.

"I miss him so badly," I managed to sob out into Bam’s shoulder, and I could feel him nod against my neck.

I’d lost a brother, and Bam had lost a best friend.

"I miss him too," Bam whispered, and I could feel a drop of cold liquid on my shoulder, and figured that Bam, the man whom I'd never even seen shed a tear, was softly crying.

"Please stay, just for a while?" My voice was hoarse and broken. I hadn't eaten, nor had I had much to drink for days.

"Of course," Bam nodded and closed the door behind him as we walked to my couch, sitting down together.

Bam was a dear friend, maybe even more. The whole thing between us became awkward after a drunken make-out session a couple weeks back. I hadn’t really thought about that, though. I had other things to worry about.

“Your mom has been calling me,” Bam said. I shook my head in embarrassment. Of course she has.

“She’s so worried. We all are,” Bam said. I looked up and raised my eyebrows. “The crew and I,” he said and I nodded.

“I just-“

The very familiar sensation of stinging tears, a sensation I’d gotten used to over the last days, visited me once again. A dark cloud felt as if it hung above me.

“I just don’t know how I’m supposed to move on and keep living. He was everything,” I sobbed and Bam’s hand caressed my back as he pulled me into a hug, kissing the top of my head.

“We don’t have to move on. None of us will be able to just move on. But maybe, we can remember Ryan for the amazing person he was, and cherish the fact we all got to know him,” Bam said. His speech warmed my heart.

I nodded into his chest. Ryan wasn’t going to come back, even though I wished for it every night.

But, what I did have was a community of folks, that loved Ryan just as much as I did.

“Thank you, you know, for checking up on me,” I looked up and wiped my cheeks free from tears.

“Come here,” Bam smiled and pulled me into yet another warm hug.

[leebrontide]

Secondhand Origin Stories, Chapter 4

Here's this week's chapter!

For those of you just joining us, I'm posting a chapter a week of my free near future scifi/low neon cyberpunk YA/NA novel, Secondhand Origin Stories, which has been described as

"-a character driven, compelling story full of family, queerness, corruption, brain altering nanites, secretly teen parenting AIs, and taking aspects of the superhero genre to their very human and rarely-explored natural conclusions."

For content warnings, chapter index and more, check here:

You can follow along by following #SHOSweekly

Chapter 4

Jamie didn’t want to be awake at this hour. She’d tried repeatedly to go back to sleep. She’d puttered around her room for an hour. Carefully watered the entire tiny city of over 50 potted cacti lining her windowsills, shelves, and the stairs to her bed loft. She’d added dirt to the ones who’d lost some by getting knocked over the day of the attack. She made her bed. Failed at reading three different books. Stared blankly at the ASL app. Finally, she’d given up, showered and dressed, and switched to the living room for a change of pace.

The living room was full of cut flowers and gift baskets. By now, the whole world knew at least the basics of what had happened. The exact nature of Issac's injury wasn’t public yet, as far as she could tell, but people knew enough to send sympathy cards and flowers. They’d accumulated on the kitchen counter, filling the living room with a morbid perfume. Other superheroes, Mom’s business friends, even Dad’s army buddies from way back before the Vancouver Convention banned altereds from serving in any military on foreign soil. So many gifts. But so few phone calls.

Jamie’d gotten emails, though. Mostly from the other superheroes’ kids. None of them asked questions. None offered help they couldn’t provide. But they wished Jamie and her family well. Told her to send Issac their words, or hugs, or generic support. They offered to move the date of the next book club chat, but she’d decided to leave it where it was. She didn’t have anything better to do.

She sat on the living room floor, her back to the baskets and vases, watching her city. She lived too enclosed a life to feel like a real, true Chicagoan, and neither of her parents were from Illinois, but she loved this city anyways. Even if 24 stories and bulletproof glass separated her from the rest of Chicago. It was soothing to watch lights come on in windows of other high-rises. Points of yellow and white, amidst the slowly lightening blue of pre-dawn. Tens of thousands of lives unfolding all around her. No matter how oppressively still things inside this room had become, the rest of the world kept going. Even after the attack, she couldn’t help but think her dad and the team had the best job in the world, protecting all those people out there. All those points of light-- all those stories unfolding, every second of every day.

Jamie didn’t want anything to do with the fame of superheroing-- her few public interviews were painfully awkward. But she wanted so badly to do something for all those people. Especially when she couldn’t seem to do anything for anyone in here.

A soft shushing sound behind her, and Jamie turned sharply, just in time to startle her mom. Mom yelped, but recovered immediately. “Jamie!” Her voice was hushed, but relieved. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” Jamie whispered back. There wasn’t any point in whispering, but it somehow felt appropriate. 

Mom sighed, scratching her fingers through her hair. “I didn’t realize you were having trouble sleeping, too.” Jamie shrugged. “Your brother’s still out.”

Nobody had interacted much with Issac in the three days since the attack, much less passed on words from acquaintances. He was mostly asleep, resurfacing now and then to ignore the sympathy gifts as he rummaged slowly through the kitchen for snacks. Mom checked on him about every 20 minutes.

Mom padded wearily towards the couch, also ignoring the flowers and baskets. Jamie was sure someone would get paid to write thank-you notes later. 

“Anyone find Skittles yet?” Mom asked around a yawn. Jamie shook her head. Yael’d run out of energy to be frantic about it, but xe still kept wandering around trying to find xyr hamster. It made that lost look on xyr face a little better if Jamie attributed it to Skittles.

There was a cigar sticking out of Mom’s robe pocket. Jamie’d estimated that Mom was smoking about three times as many cigars as normal. Which wasn’t actually that many cigars, but enough to be worth noting. Jamie liked the smell of mom’s cigars better than sympathy flowers, though she was also more allergic to them. Which was why Mom only smoked in the courtyard. She must have been on her way there, now. Instead, she sat on the huge white U-shaped couch. “Want to watch the news?”

Jamie felt a small smile appear. She used to watch the news streams with Mom when she was little and woke up far earlier than Issac could be dragged out of bed. She nodded, climbing up on the couch and resting her head on a throw pillow, sneaking her socked toes under Mom’s knee to stay warm. Mom directed MARTIN through her yawning, booting up a preferred stream. 

Jamie half-listened to the droning journalist talking about stocks. This, at least, was familiar. She tried to let go of the questions she shouldn’t ask. She’d only get told “we’ll have to wait and see” again. She knew that was the only available answer to most of the questions preying on her mind. Everyone in the tower was waiting, as if the whole family was holding their breaths together. It wasn’t clear what they were waiting for, what the signal to return to life would be.

Inevitably, the news turned to the attack on the tower. Mom gave an irritated “mmmph.” and forwarded through it. Jamie caught the supertitle, though, over a photo of a younger-looking man with resigned rage on his face. Altered Pilot Still Under Investigation -- Eustus Hamlin apprehended --

Jamie hadn’t given the attacker much thought since he’d been caught. She’d been focusing inside the apartments. For the first time, it occurred to her how weird it was, how she took for granted that someone wanted to blow up her house. She hadn’t even questioned it. After all, it’d happened before. She’d just assumed some people wanted to, and that other people would deal with it. “Mom, is that guy downstairs?” There were detention cells in the APB offices. Did they put the pilot in the same building he tried to blow up? The same one they lived in? 

Mom blew a hard breath out through her nose and scratched her fingers through her hair again, looking out the window. “He was altered. There wasn’t anywhere else to put him until they transfer him to Michigan.”

There was only one prison for altereds in the US, and that was the one in Detroit. It’d never annoyed Jamie before that her home was therefore the only spot you could detain an altered in Illinois. “Did they figure out yet why he did it?”

Mom flicked lint off the back of the couch with a hard click of her nails. “Nope. And since they’ve banned the team from the investigation, it’s probably going to take them a while.”

Jamie frowned. Banned the Sentinels from the investigation? Why?

Well, she’d watched enough crime procedurals to guess. It would be hard for them to be objective about someone who’d almost blown up their kids. But it still wasn’t fair to keep them in the dark about it. 

And, by extension, keep Jamie in the dark about it.

“So Dad hasn’t been down there investigating, all this time?”

Mom rubbed her face. “Jamie. Please. I just woke up.” That was normally the best time to ask Mom about things. Mom was a die-hard morning person. She wasn’t kidding about not sleeping, then.

“But I haven’t seen Dad since Issac came home--”

Mom groaned and leaned her head back against the couch. She didn’t want to look at Jamie. “I know.”

Dad’s absence was bad enough if he was out protecting the family. But if he wasn’t… “Where’s he been, then?” That didn’t make sense…Dad was only distant in the emotional sense. Physically speaking, incessant hovering was way more his style.

She noticed another out-of-place element. Mom’s nails. Jamie’d gone through a brief nail-biting period as a kid, and had been subjected to multiple lectures about the importance of your hands representing you well. Mom’s nails were a point of pride. She went to get them done weekly, and had a kit at home, just in case. And she was missing two of her gel nails. Another one was cracked and ripped. And one of Mom’s cuticles actually looked chewed on. It was a tiny detail, one she wouldn’t have cared about on anyone else. But Mom never took off her nails unless she was camping. The color was so dark, the damage was obvious. Jamie was sure she’d take them off rather than let them sit in a state like this.

Except that, obviously, that was exactly what she was doing. 

Mom drummed her out-of-character nails on the sofa, thinking hard. Trying to spin an answer for Jamie. At Jamie’s bristling, Mom’s shoulders drooped a hair, like she was giving up. She looked wearily at Jamie. “Catching your brother took a lot out of him. You know catching people mid-fall is hard.” Jamie nodded, not quite understanding, but feeling like Mom was trying to give her the truth. It matched what Solomon had said before. But Mom just shrugged. “He’s not feeling great.”

Jamie waited for her mom to elaborate, but Mom merely raised an eyebrow at Jamie’s waiting, giving her another shrug. “That’s it.”

That didn’t even make sense. Jamie’d seen her dad come home from missions her whole life. She knew what it took to take Dad down for multiple days. Things like “punctured organs” made that list. Things like “catching Issac” shouldn’t come close. Dad was a powerhouse. Issac’s weight was nothing to him, even in midair.

But while Mom was overprotective, and sometimes omitted information, Jamie hadn’t ever known her to outright lie. 

Nobody was making sense. 

It put her on edge. “I’ll go see if Yael’s awake.” 

Mom seemed relieved. “Good idea.”

“Breakfast at the normal time?”

“I think I’m just gonna graze this morning, if you don’t mind fending for yourself.”

“I can pour milk on my own cereal,” Jamie agreed, wondering whether she should be worried at Mom disrupting her favorite routine. She ended up retroactively feeling childish about the fact that her mom always did make breakfast for her.

Mom mumbled in thanks as Jamie slipped out into the courtyard. There was no mistaking the smell of outside air seeping under Jenna's locked front door. The courtyard was colder than Jamie could remember it being since back when the ceiling had been glass. The construction company wouldn’t arrive till 8. They made an incredible racket, but luckily, the noise couldn’t bother the person who needed rest the most.

She looked around the courtyard. No sign of Skittles. 

She had to figure out something productive to do, or she’d lose her mind. Every time she’d tried to do something in the last couple days, she started worrying that Issac would walk in, see her living her life normally, and feel…She wasn’t sure what he’d feel. But she didn’t want to be the reason he felt it.

She tried the handle to Dad’s door, experimentally. It was still locked. She’d never even thought about whether or not it had a lock. She’d never not been able to get in, before. She hesitated, glancing around, then pressed her ear to the door. She didn’t hear anything.

Jenna’s apartment was the one directly opposite hers, so Jamie took the long way to Yael’s door, following a subtle breeze and chill. With Jenna’s door closed, only the air hinted at a breach.

What if Skittles was in Jenna’s apartment, with all the construction workers and tools? 

She tried the handle. Locked. Home felt a lot smaller, more claustrophobic, even though she could feel and smell the outside world through the break.

She wished Jenna was still here. Jenna always knew what to do with Issac. Now even her stuff was gone.

Jamie was struck with an idea-- maybe it wasn’t much more than a gesture, but it was something. Jenna’s things had fallen. Something must have survived the fall. If she couldn’t bring Jenna back here from wherever she’d disappeared herself to after she got hurt, then at least Jamie could bring back something of Jenna’s memory. She headed back towards Yael’s door with new energy and a good excuse to get outside her shrinking home for a while.

* * *

On the ground floor of the Plaza, there was a little lobby. It was more of a wide hallway than anything, leading from the elevators to a discreet door to the outside. It was just black and white tile, some sconces, and a little side table with a mirror. Hardly anyone ever used it. Yael and Drew were the only ones who regularly left the building’s residential floors on foot, which meant the rest of the world mostly ignored the back door of the building. 

Which was good, because they’d get in trouble if they attracted attention right now.

Next to Yael, Jamie was doing that thing she did sometimes when she’d hold very very still and look very very serious. She was bundled in three layers of loose clothes, even though it was May. Yael was pretty sure the overshirt was an old hand-me-down of Issac's. Yael’d always seen Jamie’s swiping xyr and Issac's old clothes as lazy-- a way to avoid the clothes shopping expeditions she hated, or possibly a tiny act of rebellion against Melissa's attempts to cajole Jamie into clothing that actually fit. Today, it seemed more like a memorial. 

Yael made sure to get to the outside door before Jamie, and scanned the area. The APB had done a good job of keeping media scroungers and photography drones away. There was hardly anyone out on the street at all, and the sky was clear of cameras. Jamie ducked under Yael’s arm when Yael didn’t move fast enough for her. Yael rolled xyr eyes and followed.  

Xe slowed as they approached the taped-off rubble. Jamie took a few more steps forward before she noticed Yael lagging. She stopped and waited.

There was something painfully and unexpectedly final about seeing Jenna’s old paperbacks shredded on the ground. It hadn’t rained since the attack, but the air was humid enough to warp and curl the pages. Yael was suddenly a lot less excited about this plan. Nothing here seemed comforting or reassuring. None of it seemed like a good apology gift to bring Issac.

Xe looked around. Xe needed to stall. Xe couldn’t face that pile yet.

Just around the corner of the building, xe could see four men in APB uniforms and a security cart. Perfect. “You start, OK? I’m going to check in with the bureau. Thank them for protecting Jenna’s things.”

Jamie’s face twitched. She almost called Yael out on xyr cowardice-- Yael could tell. But her eyes flicked towards the rubble. Yael went outside alone all the time, to the comic book shop, the humane society, or just to go draw. Jamie was only allowed out if she had someone with her. For security reasons. The temptation of being outside, unpatrolled, and almost alone was enough. She trotted off, ducking under the caution tape. 

Yael used the short commute across the damp, dewy lawn as a chance to change xyr shape. Xe’d learned that people in uniforms or suits usually took xyr more seriously with a “male” presentation. 

Contrary to what xe’d always told the others, this was by far the most difficult shift xe could do. Xe’d practiced it in secret for months to get it right. And it hurt-- not so much that xe couldn’t make it look effortless. But it did hurt. 

But it was worth it, to avoid being trapped in a category that wouldn’t fit xyr. Xe changed as much as xe could without xyr pants falling off xyr hips. Xe really needed to get into the habit of wearing belts, or suspenders or something. Xe’d look good in suspenders. Maybe some nice, bright ones. 

Embarrassingly, one of the uniformed men watched Yael shift, studying the motion like Yael was performing a magic trick, and he was trying to figure out how xe did it. Xe realized too late that xe should have done that in the elevator, not out in the street. Jamie wouldn’t stare.

Xe knew it was a unique and pretty amazing ability-- to change even some of xyr shape at will. But somehow, having a stranger watch xyr do it was uncomfortable.

The APB knew about Yael’s powers, of course, Nodiah's sarcastic pretending aside. But out here, anybody might see. And there was a chance Nodiah was right about the public’s reaction to xyr.

Papa hardly ever talked about his six siblings, and he especially avoided talking about Yael’s birth parents. But when he did, his descriptions were serious and sentimental. When other superheroes discussed xyr birth parents, it was always as a cautionary tale of what could happen when superpowers weren’t contained. 

Yael xyrself knew them as much through 18-year-old news articles and modern textbooks as anything else. Ezekiel and Miriam of the Heavenly Rule Line. Just like Papa and Nodiah, they’d been built-- gene by gene-- to conquer the world. Unlike Papa and Nodiah, they’d never given it up. For a full year, the two of them terrorized South Dakota, killing hundreds. It’d taken that long for the team and the government to take them down. And that had been long enough for them to make Yael. But each of Papa’s siblings had unique superpowers. Which meant xyr powers marked xyr, immediately and irrevocably, as Ezekiel and Miriam’s. 

Thus, the staring.

They all turned their attention to Yael as xe approached. One of them paused in loading a crate onto the back of the cart.

Another of them-- an older man with a little bit of gray in his mustache and clear seniority by his uniform-- spoke first, and shoved his foot directly into his mouth. “Good morning, Ms--” He floundered. Scanned Yael. He knew who xe was, and his idea of xyr didn’t match the assumptions he was making about xyr body, now. He soldiered on, repeating his mistake. “Ms. Meade. If we’d expected to see any of the family we would’ve brought down the card we’ve sent around for the boys to sign.”

Yael gave him a tight smile. For a second, xe toyed with the thought of correcting him. But xe’d never done that before. Xe’d only ever even talked about it with Issac and Jamie. If Papa hadn’t caught on, how could xe expect a stranger to get it? And it was nice of them to have sent around a card. Melissa was ignoring them, but Yael was glad to see people cared. After the hospital had tossed Issac out so fast, xe hadn’t been sure. Xe bit xyr tongue and answered, “Hi. Jamie and I were just going to poke around a little bit for personal keepsakes. Thank you for looking out for everything this far.”

The guy who’d been loading the crate shut the hatch and came around towards them. “All loaded up, Kev.”

“Loaded up?” Yael echoed. The weapon had been on the jet-- that was already in custody. And the rooms hit were a storage room and Jenna’s apartment. There shouldn’t have been anything interesting enough left to warrant APB custody. Something angry and protective rustled inside xyr. Why were they taking Jenna’s things away? Her personal stuff didn’t belong to them-- Jenna had left it all with the family. So it should stay with the family. 

Xe didn’t realize xyr irritation had made it all the way to xyr face till xe noticed subtle shifting in all the officers’ posture. 

Yael was scary. Xe had to remember that. Had to be careful not to exploit it.

But dang it, why did they want Jenna’s stuff?

Oh. 

They weren’t looking for Jenna’s things. They were looking for Issac’s research. And they must have wanted it really badly, if they were still digging things up three days later. What would they do with his research if they found it? Was this a matter of keeping it out of the wrong hands, or was there an investigation at play?

“Jenna’s old stuff?” Yael asked, as guilelessly as possible. “I can bring it back upstairs. I can’t imagine there’s anything important left in there after three years. The labs weren’t even hit.”

The older man waved away xyr objection. “It’s tagged and boxed. Vault’s expecting it now.”

“But it was just-- I mean, it’s all Jenna’s stuff, it should be--”

“It should be not sitting outside,” he interrupted. “Dr. Tillman or anyone on the team can come pick it up whenever they want.”

“I can sign for it,” Yael suggested.

The older man laughed. “Kid, you know better. In fact, from what I hear, you could probably tell me the exact code that says you can’t sign for it.” Yael could, in fact. For someone with no official security clearance, xe knew a lot of procedures, and a lot of secrets. He smiled, looking up at xyr. “Besides, it’s just a bunch of Jenna’s old junk, right?”

He was studying xyr. Yael couldn’t be sure what all they had packed up and taken, but xe was suddenly sure he was trying to figure out what Yael knew about it. Which had to mean they were investigating Issac and his brain-altering nanites. What else could Yael possibly be complicit in?

Yael wasn’t the best liar out there, but xe had a few tricks up xyr sleeve. Xe pushed xyr form back to the “feminine” proportions the man in front of her insisted on connecting to xyr identity, trusting that the novelty of the shift would cover any flaws in xyr performance. “Yeah. I guess so.”

* * *

Opal couldn’t believe the bus had gotten here early. So early, in fact, that Aldis wasn’t awake, and the next connecting bus she needed wouldn’t start running for another half an hour. Sightseeing was more appealing than sitting at a bus stop, so she explored a little.

The difference between Detroit and Chicago was striking. They were both Midwestern cities that’d grown exponentially as the coastal cities either flooded or became too expensive, when fortifications against the ocean got bigger and pricier every year. Detroit was full of southern refugees who couldn’t afford to go…well…to Chicago, probably. Or Minneapolis. 

Chicago was cleaner, for a start. The new buildings were newer, and the old buildings were in better repair. The cars were nicer, and the roads had fewer holes, at least in this part of Chicago. The people repairing those roads and cleaning these streets had to live somewhere, too. But maybe it shouldn’t surprise her that they didn’t live this close to Sentinel Plaza.

By this point Opal’d been on a bus all night. She was sweaty, all cramped up, and she was starting to think her underwire might have it in for her. But Jane Eyre had gotten worn out and gross from travel, too. So it was OK. Opal didn’t quite feel like this was the moment she was starting her epic new life. Sweaty in Chicago was better than blacked out in a British moor.

She was in the middle of considering the chances that her bra's attempts to pierce her ribs were a sign that supervillains of the future sent it back in time to prevent her from becoming the greatest superhero ever known, when she rounded the corner and saw it.

A perfect view of Sentinel Plaza. The upper floors, where the heroes lived, were haloed in the first rays of dawn, casting the rest of the tower into silhouette. There was just enough light to glimpse the big, ragged hole, 20-odd stories up, almost hiding in the shadow of the darkened side. She looked down, and sure enough, much closer and easier to make out in the weird bluish glow of Chicago's eco-friendly algae streetlights, there was a heap of rubble, fenced off with much less poetic-looking yellow caution tape. She wondered which apartment had been hit. LodeStar's son had been the one to fall, so probably his.

Back home, the APB building was a plain red brick thing with narrow riot-glass windows, and an atmosphere somewhere between a low-cost medical clinic and a minor government building, which was exactly what it was. It was situated between a public library and a Walmart. 

The Chicago APB building, on the other hand, looked a lot like a literal ivory tower, with an elaborately engraved “New York Altered Persons Bureau” above brass and glass doors, all in cool art deco styling.

As she walked closer, she noticed movement in the expanse of wasted walls, floor, and furniture. She squinted, and saw it again. She looked around, but Sentinel Plaza was on its own plot of land, and nobody seemed to be paying much attention to it right now. 

No, not quite true. There were some white men in APB uniforms talking to the biggest man Opal had ever seen. She could just make them out on the far side of the rubble. None of them were looking this way.

But there was definitely movement within the rubble pile, too. Dreams of finding and stopping a bad guy who was trying to sneak into Sentinel Plaza flashed before her eyes, but it seemed a lot more likely to be someone from a tabloid, or just a gawker, taking advantage of distracted guards. They must have anything important out of there already, if they were this relaxed about it. Well, she’d still be doing them a favor if she shooed away a non-supervillainous trespasser, even if it wasn’t a thanks-and-welcome-to-the-team kind of favor. 

Once she got closer she found a new issue. The trespasser was a kid. Like, 14 years old, maybe. Just a little older than Shani. Skinny…probably a girl by the haircut, in baggy but clean flannel. She was digging through the rubble as if she was looking for something. Probably just a fan. Opal debated ignoring her, or maybe alerting the APB. After all, Opal was a lot more likely to get into real trouble if she got caught trespassing on private superhero territory. 

She looked at the precarious piles of building material. Ugh. No. This was not an OK place for a kid to be-- especially by herself. 

Opal ducked under some of the tape, praying that the big guy would keep the APB busy. Better make this quick and discreet.

She tucked her suitcase by the caution tape and darted over to the girl as quick as she could. She spoke as quietly as she could while still using her patented Babysitter Voice. “Hey, kid. I don’t think you’re supposed to be in here.”

The girl whirled to face Opal. She was the palest human being Opal had ever seen. She looked like a watercolor painting somebody had forgotten to finish. Guilt, fear and surprise flitted across her features. Ha. Caught. She knew she shouldn’t be down here.

But that only lasted a second before the girl straightened, her expression bizarrely serious for a fangirl digging around for trophies. Her voice didn’t quite make the trip, though. It was uneven and teetering on breathless. “I could say the same thing to you.”

Opal didn’t really think about the annoyed flicker of green light that she knew, logically, she’d be showing right now. If she had, she probably would have suppressed it. Auntie was right. Nobody here knew her. Least of all the skinny strawberry blonde thing in front of her. 

The girl realized she was an altered, and stumbled backwards in alarm. She tripped on a beam, headed to fall onto some concrete spiked with twisted metal.

Opal jumped forward, making a grab for the girl as she fell. Which would have worked, if the kid hadn’t twisted to avoid her mid-fall. Opal still managed to grab her wrist. It must have jarred, but the girl’s feet slid out from under her where she was, instead of letting her fall back to get more seriously hurt.

There was a split second of frozen assessment. And then Opal got hit broadside by a bus.

At least, that was what it felt like. She was knocked the whole length of her side-- hard enough to lift her off the ground. The tiny wrist was torn out of her hand by the impact. 

As she hit the ground she got a better look at what had hit her-- it was the huge guy from before. Except now he was covered in a silver-black sheen, and instead of irritated, he looked like he was out for blood, white teeth bared and stark against the metallic darkness of his skin. 

Ezekiel.

The impact with the ground knocked her breath out from her for the briefest second, but she managed enough of a lungful for a good, loud “Kid, run!” while she brought her arms up to try and defend herself for whatever was coming next. She wasn’t worried about being caught now. She just wanted someone to get that kid out of here. 

Also, she’d really like to survive this. Please, God.

The blow she was expecting didn’t land. Ezekiel paused, scrutinizing her while her heart pounded. She considered trying to get in a hit of her own to push him off-- maybe a solid kick. She wasn’t going to worry about hurting some kind of zombie back-from-the-dead supervillain. 

Something told her not to. 

The huge guy didn’t take his eyes off Opal, but he pitched his voice to be heard. “Did she just tell you to run?”

The kid answered with resignation and the same growing embarrassment Opal was starting to feel. “Crap.”

Opal relaxed her fists, just a little. Then her stomach clenched, as she heard four men’s footsteps rushing towards them, shouting for them to freeze. 

The silver guy sat back with an apologetic grimace, them seamlessly stood. “I…guessed wrong here, didn’t I. I’m really sorry.” He looked in the direction of the shouting officers with a scowl. “Stand down. I made a mistake.” The silver-black seeped back under his skin, under his eyelids, and he was white again.

Opal didn’t dare move. Her heart was hammering in her chest. The man-- maybe not a man, actually? He was tall, but younger than she’d originally made him out to be-- actually turned his back to the officers, offering Opal a hand up. He whispered, “Quick. What’s your name?”

“Opal Flynn,” she whispered back automatically. She didn’t take his hand.

The skinny girl answered the officers wearily. “It’s fine! It’s fine. Yael made a mistake. We’re OK.”

The guy-- Yael, apparently, not Ezekiel-- grabbed Opal’s hand gently and hauled her to her feet. Opal numbly went along with the motion, heart continuing to hammer away at the sight of guns in the uniformed men’s hands. Opal should put her hands up, shouldn’t she? Shouldn’t-- well, the other two weren’t, and she didn’t want to stand out. The tall guy, whose name apparently wasn’t Ezekiel but who just so happened to have Ezekiel’s powers, dusted off Opal’s pink, rose-decorated hoodie and put one huge hand on Opal’s shoulder, gesturing to her with his other hand, pointing her out to the armed men. His voice was annoyed. “This is Opal. It’s fine.”

One of the men looked more than skeptical. He hadn’t fully lowered his weapon yet. “Your friends usually come visit at this hour?”

Another of them snorted, looking far more relaxed. “They’re teenagers, Kev. They probably haven’t even gone to bed, yet.”

An older man glared sternly at the three of them. “You kids should be more careful. You could have ended up shot.” 

Opal was hyper-aware of her look now-- scuffed shoes, wrinkled hoodie, and a body that suggested to people that she had put effort into being strong. Being threatening. She was hyper-aware of her skin, dark enough to paint a target on her, and doubtless flickering with bioluminescence that told them, if they did want to attack her, they’d have to use a lot of force. Force those four guns would easily provide them. 

She looked down at her feet. She wondered what her fear looked like to them. If it looked like guilt. Like obedience. She didn’t know what the armed men thought of her being defended by the man who looked like Ezekiel. If that was helpful, or painting an even bigger, brighter target on her. There were mechanical clicks, and Opal didn’t know if that was a safety being turned on or off. Air locked in her chest and her eyes watered. Oh God, what do I do?

Yael chuffed a laugh. “None of you even made it over here by the time we resolved it.” He was taunting them. Fantastic. Opal managed to look up enough to stare at him in shock. “Now, we’re just going to look around for keepsakes, OK?”

Opal was ready to object, but the watercolor girl spoke up. “I’d like a few minutes of privacy, please.” Opal glanced back. The girl was quiet, but with a dignity to her, rather than the shyness Opal might have expected.  

The uniformed men grumbled, but moved off with just a few last admonishments, mostly to Yael.

The girl came closer as the big guy brushed off Opal’s hoodie again, his voice low. “Again, sorry. We’ve had…a bad week.” He gestured vaguely upwards. 

She glanced up, automatically. 

Oh. Oh. 

She stared at them, more openly than she should have. Neither of them looked anything like the Sentinels. 

So they had every right to be here. This was the wreckage of their own house. She’d been in town one hour, and she’d managed to get guns pointed at the children of the very small handful of people she really needed to impress in this huge-ass city. “I’m…sorry. I thought you were a trespasser. You know, someone rooting around looking for dirt on famous people. I would not have bugged you if I’d known it was your stuff.” That explained why they could get away with talking like that to the APB, despite one of them looking like one of the most notorious supervillains in American history. 

It didn’t explain why he looked like one of the most notorious supervillains in American history.

The girl smiled lopsidedly. “It’s fine. I hate tetanus shots. And we don’t really like people snooping around, either.”

Opal hurried to explain. “I wasn’t trying to snoop. Just, I saw you snooping and--“

Yael shook his head. “You were going to fight…me, to protect Jamie. That tells me everything I need to know about you. You don’t have to explain.”

The girl stepped forward, hand extended. “I’m Jamie, hi.” Her handshake was startlingly firm and she looked Opal straight in the eye. It was a bizarrely adult handshake. Like she was going to ask Opal to vote for her in the next Senate election. How old was she?

Yael patted at their hands, interrupting. “Shh. We’ve been friends for years, remember? Opal, my best friend, help us sort through this mess to find things that aren’t hopelessly smashed?”

Well, if she was going to spend her first day in Chicago as a conspirator, at least she was doing it with the kids of the Sentinels? She had come to help their family, after all. Opal glanced behind her, but the guards had moved along, and were ignoring them now. She nodded, and wandered over to the piles of debris. Now that the uniformed men were safely across the lawn, drinking some of the ludicrously expensive coffee she’d seen on her walk here, and the strange man was clearly known to the APB and clearly not an undead super villain, she could breathe properly again. Mostly. Opal sat on a beam for a second to catch her breath as the other two got started digging around.

They fell into their own groove, Yael flipping things over or lifting heavy stuff for Jamie to scrunch down and inspect. They started making a little pile. Looked like they were aiming for sentimental stuff-- pictures, old books, that kind of thing. Pretty obviously non-supervillainous. Opal got her pulse almost all the way under control, and stopped flashing purples. Nobody here knew her, but they might know Capricorn. He’d have the same language of lights that she did. They may be able to translate her anxiety. Her skin still prickled every time she had to put her back to the guards in the street. 

Within a few minutes, she felt safe tipping her hand a little. Nobody even looked her way when she casually knocked the twisted wreck of an iron support beam off a pile. Well, altereds would be common around Sentinel Plaza, right? With the clinic and APB offices here.

Opal flipped over some plywood to reveal a mess of smashed and bulky electronics. Huh. You’d think LodeStar would have the latest and greatest of everything. She couldn’t even identify what the machinery used to be. Something biggish.

Beside it was an old fashioned thumb drive. Again, weirdly anachronistic. She bent to pick it up. It wasn’t exactly a family photo album, but maybe there’d be something on it worth keeping? She didn’t know why anything like that wouldn’t just be in the cloud, but it could be a backup. It had a name handwritten on it-- Issac. That was LodeStar's son, wasn’t it? 

She rejoined the others. “I found an old flash drive labeled Issac. It doesn’t look broken. Do you think he’d want it?”

She was momentarily distracted from their answer by the fact that the huge guy was now-- she was pretty sure-- an equally huge girl. How had she missed that before? She’d been awake too long. 

Yael and Jamie exchanged looks. Yael set down the remains of an entertainment center. Jamie answered, a little too casually, “Yeah, maybe. Let’s go upstairs and start cleaning all this off. I’m hungry, and it’s time for Yael's second feeding.”

Yael seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the prospect of food. It sounded pretty good to Opal, too. She grabbed her suitcase, and followed. This wasn’t how she’d planned to get into Sentinel Plaza, but she’d take it. 

* * *

Issac wasn’t sure how long he’d been staring at his own bedroom ceiling before he realized that his wandering thoughts were coherent. He wasn’t sure how far to trust this assessment, but he was definitely more with-it than he had been recently. He was also in more pain. He suspected the two facts were linked. 

He closed his eyes anyway. Let himself stay in bed. Let it look like he was sleeping to anyone who might check on him. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, and had no real urge to get out of bed. 

OK. There was one thing he could think of outside his bed that he wanted. Or at least, that his bladder was demanding. 

He levered himself up. Re-catalogued the dozen or so distinct twinges, stabs, and aches distributed over his body. He lifted his pajama leg to reveal a gross mottled camo pattern of purple, black and green. More green than yesterday, general lightening. Improvement, for what it was worth. 

He hobbled his way to his bathroom and dealt with nature’s demands. He avoided his reflection. Seeing injuries on his head was still more than he could cope with. The painkiller bottle caught his eye as he was washing up. Morphine. Geez. Well, that confirmed his suspicion about the link between increased pain and improved lucidity, anyway. He just hoped that was the only thing making him dazed, tired, and loopy.

He licked his lips, opening his mouth to address Martin for the first time since he’d gotten back.

He shut his mouth after what probably amounted to half a syllable. It was too weird. How had he never noticed before how disgusting the human mouth was? Without being able to hear his voice, he was hyper-aware of every drop of saliva, every ridge of his own tongue, each drying gust of air. He’d heard that your other senses got sharper if you lost one-- or had it taken away. Nobody’d ever told him how nasty it was. 

He hated not being able to hear his own voice. To know that anyone around him had more information about what he sounded like than he did. Did his voice sound gross after all that debris inhalation, or from not talking for several days? 

He dragged his carcass back towards the bed, and picked up his tablet off the nightstand. The screen lit up as soon as he reached for it. Martin was watching him, waiting. 

Issac stretched aching fingers and started typing, slowly. The screen was a little blurry. I’m not going to take the morphine today. I’m sick of being high.

The response was instant, but took him several minutes to read.

MARTIN: I was wondering when you would talk to me. From the medical records I got, the way you look, and the way you’re moving, I have to imagine you’re still in significant pain. 

Issac glared at the tablet, puzzling out the words, then glaring harder. He typed his answer with jabs of each finger. I don’t care. He had to get a better feel for what was going on with his family. With his brain. 

Losing his hearing hurt. It hurt a lot. Music was gone, now. The sounds of his family's voices were gone. He didn’t know how he would ever be able to handle synagogue again-- knowing the music was right there, and not being part of it. Even the sound of his own voice was lost to him. Those things hurt. 

But not nearly as much as everyone else’s reactions to the loss of his hearing. People in this family got hurt all the time. But even with Jenna, Dad had been around. People had cringed; the pained sidelong looks now bestowed on Issac were familiar. Mom’s distance was new. The total disappearance of his dad was unprecedented.

His vision blurred, and for a terrified second, he thought his brain might be more injured than he’d realized. Then the blur left his eye, and rolled down his cheek.

MARTIN: Please don’t do that.

Issac glared at the screen, gritting his teeth, furious over how slowly he was forced to type. Well some of us have bodies and don’t get to choose our every function and upgrade.

MARTIN: Yes, I understand that. Issac almost pitched the tablet onto the floor. The hell he did! Martin was infinitely upgradeable. All his parts were replaceable. Back-up-able. Functionally unbreakable. But I hate to see you upset.

He bent over the tablet, typing as fast as he could manage. He didn’t think he was topping 50 words per minute, but hopefully that was just because of his aching, scabby hands. Would you tell me if they knew I was permanently screwed up? More than my hearing-- my brain?

MARTIN: I’ve taken the liberty of examining your records myself. Your prognosis for everything outside the audio cortex is extremely good. It’s actually mostly the primary audio nerve that’s damaged, so even your sense of timing and balance should be mostly fine. 

Issac released a shaking breath, closing his eyes. His shoulders and neck relaxed as much as they could when they were so strained and bruised. He had parameters. He wasn’t going to be like Jenna.

But then, that meant that everyone was avoiding him because…just because he was deaf? Was that all it took for his dad to stop talking to him?

No, no. Issac was concussed. He couldn’t actually know if Dad had been by. He might have just forgotten, or been asleep. Maybe Issac was misunderstanding the situation. That prospect was a lot more approachable, now he knew his confusion would only be temporary.

He looked around his room, really looked at it, for the first time since the attack. The laundry hamper was empty. There were fewer empty mugs on the nightstand than there should be. Nothing was knocked over. At some point, someone had been in here.

OK. Either way, he needed to get up and make some changes, just to be safe. Get up and try to look functional. Clear his head and assess the situation. He definitely couldn’t have any morphine. He glanced at the clock. 5 AM. Mom would be in the shower. But plenty of people would be up by now. Maybe he’d find Jamie. She’d tell him what was really going on. Or Solomon. He could see if he was really as uncomfortable around Issac as Issac thought he was. Maybe that would settle down if Issac could show them he was still 90% himself.

He hobbled himself though the unreasonably bright living room, carrying the tablet in an arm that refused to swing normally. He was less worried about showing that he was physically injured. That would heal. He could ignore the pain in the meantime. He was the son of a superhero and a former pro ballet dancer, after all. He could push that pain to the back of his mind.

He froze the minute he got past his own front door. There in the courtyard was Jamie and Yael-- which was fine-- and some completely random girl he’d never seen before. 

Who, of course, turned around to look at him. The girl was maybe…160cm, built like an altered. Not dressed like anybody Issac would expect to see up here. Clearly not someone from the APB.

And Issac hadn’t brushed his teeth or combed his hair in four days. And, oh great, now he was hyper-aware of how he smelled. He actually tasted his own morning breath. His patchy, half-hearted stubble was grown in, and he was walking like bad Claymation. In front of some utter stranger. This had Jamie written all over it. Mom was gonna have a fit. This was not how Issac was supposed to represent the family. But it wasn’t his fault there were random strange girls around all of a sudden!

His entrance ground their conversation to a halt. Stranger-girl smiled at him, hesitantly, probably wondering who the flannel-clad hobo in Sentinel tower was. Then she started to talk. To him. He froze, confronted unexpectedly by the first person to talk to him that didn’t know what was wrong with him.

Yael interceded. Xe didn’t look at Issac, barely looked at the new girl. He could tell from here xe was mumbling xyr explanation. Jamie watched the girl carefully, then tilted her head in confusion as the girl brightened at Yael’s explanation. Issac blinked a few times when she seemed to glitter all of a sudden. Perceptual anomalies? 

No. No, he was right before. She was altered. From the Detroit line, just like Drew. 

He realized she was waving her arms at him while he was distracted. No, not waving. She was signing at him. And why would an altered know ASL? She could obviously hear.

He opened his mouth to say-- something, anyway-- but he crashed into the same problem from before. What would he sound like? His throat felt tight from anxiety and embarrassment. Did he need to add scratchy, high-pitched, obviously terrified words to this situation?

This time Jamie tried to save him, with a few earnest words at the new girl. She paused to listen. He watched concern, comprehension, then embarrassment and a fleeting spread of red-orange light over her face and hands. 

He considered bolting back into his room before anything else had a chance to happen. Except he couldn’t really bolt in this state. He’d land flat on his face. Not better.

He wasn’t fast enough. She turned back to look at him, with another apologetic smile. And oh crap, she was walking over to him. He did not want to interact with her. 

For her part, she had her chin up and her shoulders back, as if it was taking serious courage to get within smelling distance of him. 

Once she got in range, she thrust one hand out towards him, and he flinched again. But she stayed there. He looked down at her hand.

Issac might have to find a way to tolerate services after all. He was going to have to give thanks for this. 

This total stranger had brought him his backup data. Not all of it, but enough. Enough to make his research feasible again. And she was presenting it to him when there was no one associated with the APB, not even the adults of his own family, here to see it.

He grabbed it, faster than he’d thought he could move. This time she flinched. He looked over her shoulder at Jamie and Yael. They’d know what it was. Neither looked disapproving, and that was good enough for him. 

The girl looked startled, blinking at him owlishly, her skin still glittering. He should say thanks. His throat tightened again at the thought. Instead, he made himself stand as close to normal as he could manage, and tried for a grateful nod. 

She raised her eyebrows, but nodded back.

Close enough! He turned and headed back behind the safety of his own front door as fast as his dignity and throbbing knee could manage. 

Then he sagged against the closed door, and looked down at the treasure in his hands. After everything, he had one good thing happen. A bright spot to hold on to. Something to throw his attention on. Focus. Direction. A way to prove he was still himself. Still capable.

This would help.

[itchunderyourskin]

TW: Vent post basically

I don’t think anyone, understands how bad it sucks being afab with a single mother. This woman is the hand that feeds, yet also the hand that beats. She tucks me in at night gently brushing my hair as I fall asleep. We’re supposed to kill for each other, mother daughter. No one is supposed to be able to touch that. I.. I am not a daughter, I may have been once, but she is not a mother.

I reflect on a specific post I ran across a bit ago, talking about how a mother stabbed her daughter, and still the daughter choked, begging for the mother to hold the daughter.

This story eats me alive sometimes, because my mother wraps me in her thorns, and oh when she loves me it feels so good, when I behave and be exactly who she wants she actually hugs me, she doesn’t shove me away,

I despise myself at the moment, because I always crawl back to her, like the mutt that I am. She can beat me, starve me, lock me outside for hours, abandon me over and over and over; yet,, I still crawl back. I don’t want to beg for her love. I really don’t. But,, sometimes I just want to sit in her arms and let everything fade away.

I vividly remember, I had busted into tears in the car one day when I was 7 because I didn’t want to grow up, I didn’t want to loose my mother, I didn’t want to move out. I hate change. But, I think I will always crave my mother’s love no matter how badly she hurts me.

My mother who has choked me, beaten me, threw me to the ground, knocked my feet out from under me and beat the animals I love when I beg and cry for her to stop. It,, gods it sucks, because she’s such a bad person but I’m so scared to disappoint and hurt her. She had her life stripped away from her because of me. Her childhood, her body, her self was ruined because of my existence.

I think I try to make it up to her all the time. I bring her gifts, and buy her things to earn her love. But,, I hate getting shoved away, I hate when she’s mad. I wish,, I wish I didn’t annoy her so much. It feels so awful to get shoved away when I’m already begging for love.

One day I hope I won’t have to run into arms that slit me open for love. I don’t want to have to bleed out everytime for love. Please.

[1-800-imagines]

our little secret part 7

authors note: writing this chapter was like pulling TEETH for some reason so if it sucks i’m sorry. i don’t know why i’m having such bad writers block

NOTE: nate is HEAVILY romanticized and is absolutely NON-canon. he never abused maddy. he is abused by his father. basically an alternate universe of how nate COULDVE been

masterlist for series

—————

getting home from the hospital was fine, except for the fact that fez and ash wouldn’t leave your side, which was sweet, but meant you couldn’t sneak out to see nate or sneak nate in.

“lovie you gotta lay down.” ash said as he ushered you into your room. you shook your head.

“ash, honey, i’m fine. head doesn’t even hurt anymore.” you were lying, and badly. as soon as ash had turned on your room light, you had winced.

he shot you a look and you put your hands up, “fine.”

“do you want that soup you like from the corner store?” he asked, he was your little protector. no matter what.

“that’d be nice. thank you bud.” you gave him a light smile. you gently hugged him and climbed into your bed.

after a few minutes, fez knocked on your door, “yo, you got a visitor.” your heart sped up with excitement. you couldn’t believe nate had the balls to just come in and hang out with you.

except it wasn’t him.

it was maddy.

you groaned, “close the door, would ya? i’m gonna assume she’s gonna keep it civil since i’m already beat to shit.” you eyed her as you spoke to your brother.

fez nodded eyeing maddy as well. maddy scoffed, “you think that little of me? that i’d kick you when you’re down? i’m not that much of a cunt, damn.”

you nodded at fez and he closed the door. you pushed yourself up so you were sitting and motioned her to sit down anywhere in your room.

she decided to sit at your desk chair. you waited for her to start talking. she cleared her throat, “i know we don’t like each other,” she paused, “but if he hurt you, you could tell me.”

you gritted your teeth. the thought that nate could hurt you, repulsed you. you had to take a deep breathe. you knew they had a previously volatile relationship, but he had never laid a hand on her. you knew that for certain.

“he didn’t hurt me. he wouldn’t do that,” you spoke softly.

she scoffed, “you’ve seen what he can do, love. don’t be naïve.” she was referring to nate beating the shit out of people. in fact, he beat the shit out of people FOR her. but violence was part of your world. and you knew why nate was so violent. it was how he was taught to express his emotions.

“i appreciate your concern, but he didn’t do this.” you shot back.

“why are you protecting him? it’s not like you guys are together.” she rolled her eyes a little as she said it. she was slowly piecing everything together, “there’s something you’re not saying.” she shook her head one last time.

“just fucking stay out of it, maddy. you’ve said your piece. you don’t know shit about what’s happening. okay?” you were more hostile than you meant to be.

maddy just stood up and walked out of your room. you groaned as she left, grabbing your phone to text nate.

‘maddy just came to surprise visit me’ you typed, ‘today is utter shit and my head hurts still.’ you didn’t even finish typing the text before erasing everything and throwing your phone to the side.

you hated hiding your relationship with nate. it was the dumbest shit. if anyone wasn’t happy with it, they could fucking shove it.

at times like this especially, you wished your mom was around, or grandma kitty was awake from her coma.

the boys wouldn’t understand as they were half the reason you were still hiding nate.

you hated that nate wasn’t fighting to make your relationship public. why did HE want to keep you a secret? was he ashamed?

tears began to stream down your cheeks and you let them. you weren’t one to show your emotions normally, but after everything, it made sense.

you hadn’t even been able to tell your best friend about nate. rue had been your best friend since before you remembered. and when jules came in the mix you easily befriended her as well.

when rue and jules got together, that meant you inherited jules as a best friend - in law. which meant not associating with nate by proxy of his father for what he did to jules.

but they didn’t know that nate hated his dad for similar reasons.

you rolled over in the bed with your pillow covering your face. not wanting to deal with anyone, or even text nate. your whole body was hurting, even your heart.

tags later)

[anime-rambles]

"OMEGA STOP PART 1"

Pairing: Alpha Bakugou x Alpha Kirishima x Omega Reader

Type: ABO Dynamic, Angst, blood, SFW

Word Count: 2900+

A/N: Seeing how everyone is loving “Welcome Home Omega” I decided to do another omegaverse fic this time with lots of angst. Thank you so much for all the kind words, reblogs, likes and follows. Was thinking of making a Part 2 for this? What do you think?

Summary: Omega y/n returns home to her alpha’s after being away in Europe, thinking she would be able to re-join her alphas and be happy. Only to discover they move on without her.

Link to Part 2 = https://anime-rambles.tumblr.com/post/657712192264814592/omega-stop-part-2

************************************************************************

I collect my suitcase from baggage claim and make my way towards the arrivals gate. It has been an incredibly long 8 years since I’ve been back home in Japan. After graduating UA with all my friends, I decided I needed a new path, something exciting that didn’t include my alphas. Being away from my family and friends has been one of the most difficult things to go through and more importantly being away from my alphas. It was nice to be needed and not just because of my second gender.

After graduating UA, I joined Fatgum’s agency and from there I met Jackie one of fat’s previous partners on the drug squad. She needed a bright new hero that wanted to work outside of Japan and head off a special unit in charge of investigating quirk enhancing drugs. At first everyone was onboard and excited fir me but as time went on, it was becoming increasing hard to keep in contact with my busy alphas. So, one Christmas, two years into the job we all agreed to stop dating and put our relationship on hold, until I was finished with the special unit or until one of the alphas said enough, come home. I agreed happily, never thinking I would get the come home call, but here I am. I left Europe and returned home.

The doors of arrivals opened in front of me, I look around the barrier hoping to see either of my boys, Bakugou or Kirishima, but neither blonde nor red head could be seen. I walk the corner a small bit, thinking they might be hiding but nothing. I spot movement in the distant, a blur of pink rushing to my arms, knocking me off balance.

“YYYY/NNNN, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOUR HOME” Mina sobs into my ear. “Mina” I say back hugging her tightly. Out of everyone in UA Mina stayed in constant contact with my updating me on the group’s latest gossip and everyone hero’s ranking. “Come on, lets get you home” She speaks again, taking one of my bags and my hand in hers. I smile to her and gladly accept her hand. Mina is an omega like me, after UA her and Sero got together and currently have a beautiful house and a serval fluffy cats. Once we reach the car and start our journey. Mina tells me of everyone, what they are doing and what is planned for my coming home party tonight.

“Wait, slow down, where are you taking me first” I say, laughing at her excitement. With her hands on the car wheel. She says “Bakugou and Kirishima’s” I pause for a second. They must just be living together and not actually still together without, right? They wouldn’t betray me, would they? These thoughts are fully my head, maybe coming home wasn’t a good idea. I should have ignored the “come home” agreement. What if they just want to use me to have their kid and toss me aside.

“Y/N, please say something, you made me promise not to talk about the boys when were away and right now you’re kinda scaring me.” She presses.

“I’m… just thinking. So out with it tell me what has been going on, why are they living together.” I asked shifting in my seat to look at her and she drives down the straight road.

“Okay, so it started whe….”

Mina basically said what I thought she might after I left fully and didn’t come back like we agreed. Kirishima and Bakugou stopped for a while, they didn’t live together, socialise or anything but after Kirhisma was badly injured in a battle, they moved back in with each other and kept their relationship quiet, it’s been 6 years, that they been together while I have been alone.

“So that’s basically all of it y/n, I’m sorr…”

I cut her off, “Mina this is not for you to apologise for, you kept your promise to me and now I must face the music as they say in Europe.” We had arrived outside their house ages ago, but we ended up talking. I step out of the car and move to grab my bags. I look up to the house, it’s huge and white. Very modern and what’s looks to be very expensive. But what can you expect from the Number 1 and Number 5 heroes in Japan. Mina steps out and comes to my side of the car to hug me goodbye and to tell me the information for tonight. Just then the front door opens, Kirishima steps out with a huge grin on his face. He has changed a lot since I left. He is like a wall, thick with muscle and sporting a high red ponytail.

“There she is,” Kirishima says, holding out his arms as he makes his way down the path towards me. I drop my bags and run to him. I can be anger later, but right now I need this hug. “Here I am,” I say back to him, I took my face into his neck to breathe him in, he tries to do the same but it is unable as I have my marks and scent glands covered as Europe has different rules than us. I can sense the confusion and say I will explain later. Kirishima greats Mina and they discuss briefly about this evening's plans and Mina is off on her way, waving goodbye. With his arm around me, he guides me inside towards the kitchen. We each stand on opposite sides of the Island, not knowing what to say first.

“So, where’s Bakugou? I thought you would both be at the airport” I say frankly to him, showing my frustrations. “He had to work, but he should be back home soon,” Kirishima replies shuffling his feet. I stare at him, I want to voice my anger, I want him to know how much I hurt, I need to do this with Bakugou. “Okay” I reply looking at my bags, why did I come here, why did I think we could go back to normal. “He’ll probably be late like always though, why don’t show you to your room and you can get ready for this evening” He smiled at me, like he trying to form an olive branch between us. I nod and follow him out of the room and up the stairs. All around me are reminders, parties I could not attend, award shows I missed but right now I can’t dwell on that. My time in Europe was the best experience of my life and right now I want to go back. Kirishima leads me to a guest room and leaves me to get ready. I sigh, this is going to be difficult.

************************************************************************

Doing the finishing touches to my hair, I smooth my dress down as I look in the mirror. I’m wearing a tight-fitting black dress, that is off the shoulders. I rub my hands down my neck, wishing I could have had the surgery to remove my mark guards yesterday before I came home. Just to show them, that I kept my promise to them. I hear noises downstairs, Bakugou had arrived home ages ago but did not even come to say hello, just went straight to the shower. Although I know what Mina told me was true, I needed proof if I was to enter an argument with Bakugou. I walk a small bit from my room trying to stay quiet, I turn a corner and see a wall of photo frames, most are from UA and some are from Dates we three had together. The difference, I was no longer in the photos, I was cut out. You could see my arm or a sliver of my hair and maybe an eye. I felt rejection, my inner omega whined. Why would they do this to me? I ripped the frame from the walls and marched downstairs. My heels clicked on the floor beneath me. I rounded the corner and enter the kitchen not bothering to wait for their conversation to finished. I throw the frames onto the countertop and look up at both of them making eye contact. If I wasn’t so mad and hurt, I would be shocked at how mature and sexy they both are right now. Kirishima's hair is half up, half down being supported with braids and he is in a maroon shirt opened slightly. Whereas Bakugou wears a white shirt and supports an undercut. My alphas have matured, I suppose I have as well.

Kirishima looks at the frames and stays quiet. Bakugou does not dare to break eye contact with me.

“So, let me get this straight. I leave home, to become great in something that is bigger than me. I leave my alphas with an agreement, that we all would hit pause, and eventually I would come back or get a called from either of you to come home. I follow the rules, and it seems to me what I got in thanks was to be cut from your lives.” I raise my voice, guesting to the pile in front of me.

“tck…” Bakugou replies and looks at Kirishima.

“Don’t tck me Bakugou, it seems to me that I’m not even wanted here anymore, so why was I called home, let me guess you need an omega to have your child and then I’m to disappear,” I respond. “No that’s not why we called you back” Kirishima speaks up, slightly walking towards to appear less hostile.

“Funny how you call us your alphas but yet, our marks, our bond is no longer on your neck,” Bakugou responds, pointing towards me. “They are not gone, they are covered by a skin slip, in Europe is safer to have them covered in case you are kidnapped and forced to bond with someone,” I say back to him. “Omega, please let us explain, I understand your hurt, but we want you still, your part of our family,” Kirishima replies placing a hand on my elbow. I jerk away from him.

“So, all this time, when I was away, suffering through my heats alone. Omega depression after omega depression. You two, were what? Together happily rutting away.”

“Yes, how do we know you never had it off with anyone else,” Bakugou said leaning on the Island in front of me. “Bakugou, don’t say that -” Kirishima scolded him. “- we don’t think that y/n”. I stand there shocked; I can sense he is hurt but right now I will not be his vent.

“ah, I see, I was away fucking my way through Europe apparently and my alphas decided that instead of coming to see me and to tell me. They went behind my back” I stare at Bakugou not daring to back down. “How do we know you weren’t, how do we know you didn’t get our marks removed?” Bakugou asked.

I scuffed and turned out of the kitchen, towards my bags that were left at the bottom of the stairs. Both Alphas stayed in the kitchen and spoke to each other. I opened my bags and reached into it to find a wrapped plastic bag. I walked back into the kitchen, hearing Bakugou raising his voice at Kirishima, “I can’t Kiri, you almost died.” Kirishima hushed Bakugou as I re-entered the kitchen. I threw the bag at Bakugou.

“Go on, open it -” I say with my hands on my hips. “- There’s your proof” I stand and watch it. Bakugou opens the bag and pulls out two jumpers, one of his and one of Kirishima’s. Their scent has well worn out but mine could be smelled. Years of being alone, years of depression, laid in their hands. Kirishima’s eye watered. “This proves nothing, maybe if you weren’t lying about our mark being gone, we wouldn’t have this problem,” Bakugou said, dropping the jumpers on the countertop. “What do you want me to do, perform surgery right now, you know once you never doubted me” I laugh under my breath.

“Yeah well once, you weren’t such a slut, betraying your alp-“Bakugou responded but Kirishima stepped in creating a barrier between us. Tears started to form in my eyes, my vision blurred. Fine, if Bakugou wants proof right now that I was loyal then fine, I’ll give it to him.

I look at my nails and smile to myself, I thank whatever god is listening that I have long pointed nails today. Kirishima is currently speaking to Bakugou, standing in front of me. I can no longer hear him. All I know is, those skin slips have to go now. I take a deep breath in and dig my nails into my neck around where the stitched used to be. I whimper, both can smell blood and turn to look at me. I rip the slip from my skin, blood starts to pour from my neck but nothing that would majorly hurt me. I reach for the other and dig my nails in. “Y/n stop, what are you doing” Kirishima reaches to stop me, but he’s too late I pulled the other off and make eye contact with Bakugou. “You wanted your proof, here you are Bakugou, take a whiff I have NEVER BETRAYED EITHER OF YOU” I scream, throwing the slips onto the counter and storm off.

“Omega come back now” Bakugou shouts after me, I can hear him chase me and reach for my arm. I pull it forward and turn to face him. Tear are leaving my eyes, ruining my makeup, my dress ruined from the blood. “What Katsuki, you believe me now? What do you want from me, why are you mad?” Bakugou stands in shock, unable to talk. “ANSWER ME NOW,” I scream again. Bakugou reaches forward grabbing my arms, tears forming in his. Kirishima was leaning on the door behind him.

“HE ALMOST DIED, AND YOU WEREN’T THERE, I WAS ALONE, WATCHING HIM DIE AND YOU WERENT THERE, YOU PROMISED ME I’D NEVER BEEN ALONE, AND YOU LEFT ME ALONE WAITING FOR HIM TO COME BACK” he roared at me. I shoved Bakugou off me.

“I CAME HOME WHEN EIJIROU WAS IN HOSPITAL” I shouted back, both alphas heads shot straight up and looked at me. “I was there, I broke me promise to stay away until I was asked by either of you to come home. But I saw the fight, I saw Eijirou get knockdown and didn’t get back up. I hopped on the nearest flight and came home. You need proof, ask Fatgum, Denki, Tamaki, Deku.. anyone who sat in that waiting room.” I said looking into Bakugou's eyes. Kirishima walked forward to join us. Bakugou went to speak. “No you let me speak, I was there. Kirishima opened his eyes and called me an angel and then you shot into the room in a panic and threw yourself on him. Bakugou you looked in my eyes and didn’t say a word, so I stepped back, you saw me there, you. Don’t blame this on me. Knowing how angry you would be, Deku came and got me, promising to watch over both of you.” I stopped to wipe the tears from my eyes.

“How dare you hold that over me Katsuki Bakugou,” I say to him, Kirishima reaches for my hand as if to pull us all back together. I step back, I need to breathe to get out. I walk about the front door, grabbing my handbag. “I’ll see you at the party, some welcome home this was,” I say not looking back and slam the front door.

I walk down the path and reach for my phone, dialing Mina’s number. “Hey girly, I’m just about to leave for the pub,” Mina says down the phone. I start to cry and sit down on the curb. “Sero, wait a second” Mina whispers away from the phone. “Y/n, what’s happened, what’s going on,” She says again her voice has lowered. “Mina I need some help; I can’t see everyone looking like this,” I say back to her. I cry again, I can hear the door behind me open and I stand. I turn and see Kirishima, “Y/n wait please, come back in, we can sort this out,” he says, and I look over his shoulder. Bakugou is frozen in the same spot, staring at the floor. “I’m almost there, start walking to me,” Mina says and hangs up. I bend down and undo the straps of my heels, steeping out of them leaving them on the step. I start to run down the street, I need some quiet, I need to think.

“OMEGA STOP” Bakugou shouts behind me, but I can’t. I see Mina’s car and run towards it.

[toppersbitch]

Violent / Rafe x Reader

Summary: You're tired of Rafe constantly being aggressive and violent, but Rafe can’t stand to lose you.

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: fighting, talk of drugs, angst(lots of it), blood, hints of self harm, fluff(if you squint), possibly some un edited work

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

A knock came to your white trimmed window, at 2:30 am. It had to be Rafe, he’d been doing this a lot recently.

He kept getting in trouble, with the law, with his dad, with anyone at all at this point. He wanted a reason to fight, any reason would do. He always ran to you, of course, you didn’t mind, but it was getting too much.

He had started to lash out at you, never physical. That boy could never hurt you. Ever. Not a single finger would ever hurt you.

You got up from your bed to open the window, his back facing you.

“You can’t keep coming this late love,” you pushed it open and he turned around. His face covered in his own blood, his shirt stained from his and probably another’s.

He grips the window seal to hoist himself over and into your room. His ring-clad fingers cut up, his knuckles raw and bloody.

You frowned, why did he have to keep being so violent? Why couldn’t he just be normal Rafe anymore?

He was standing staring at you, his eyes dark, his hair frazzled.

You placed a hand to his chin, rubbing your thumb along the jawline,  where a large bruise was. He flinched slightly, your frown growing bigger as you drop your hand to take his. You bring him to your bathroom.

“I wish you wouldn’t keep doing this,” Sitting him on the closed toilet.

“What else was I supposed to do?” He said, a harshness in his words. You grabbed the hydrogen peroxide out of the cabinet.

He was picking at his scabbed knuckles frantically, not looking you in the eye.

“Rafe,” you said, kneeling in front of him and taking his hands from him.

You took a hydrogen peroxide-soaked cotton ball and dabbed the wounds. He tensed at the feeling but still never looking up.

“Rafe?” you say this time with more annoyance in your voice.

Finally, his head slowly moves up, his eyes meeting yours. There’s a sadness in them now.

“Tell me what happened please?” You asked, your hand moving to his neck, rubbing your thumb to comfort him.

“I-I don’t even know,” he said, his eyes filling with sadness and the slightest bit of rage.

You took another cotton ball, dabbing the cut where his cheek had split between the puncher's hand and cheekbone. He winced before continuing.

“Some guy told me that- well that-“ he paused and tensed his jaw while you kept dabbing the wound, “well he said that you were well I don’t want to repeat the things he said about you,”

“And so you got into a fight?” You asked, now applying a topical cream to the wounds.

“I couldn’t just let-“ you cut him off.

“Stop getting into useless fights, I don’t care what someone says about me. You’re just hurting yourself,” your frown grows, and you can feel the corners of your mouth dropping more.

“But,” he said standing up.

“No, no but Rafe. Now sit back down and let me put a Band-Aid on it,” Your temper grew shorter and shorter the more you think about the past week. He was here every single night after a physical fight.

The first night, his calf burnt after riding his dirt bike on the gold course, purposely causing chaos.

The second, his elbows were badly cut and his eye bruised after a scuffle with Barry about money.

The third, he ran into JJ and just had to make a remake to get himself choked, visible fingertip marks on his throat.

And tonight, with his cheek busted open and bloody knuckles from reopens wounds, all because someone made crude remarks about me.

You placed the bandage on his cheek and held his head in your hands, you wanted to slap some sense into him but that would be the opposite of your point.

You pulled him into a hug, his head against your chest, “No more fights this week, I’m not kidding,” you pulled his head up to look at you, “now go to bed.”

He said nothing as he got up and stripped to his boxers. You placed a towel on the pillow, in case any excess bleeding occurred. He climbed under your covers. You climbed in shortly after, he lay flat on his back as you placed your head on his chest and arms around his torso.

You woke to steady breathing, it was Friday. You planned to keep Rafe with you all day so there was no chance for him to get into a fight.

You yawned, stretched, and stood. Not long after Rafe stretched with soreness in his movements.

“Let’s go to the beach today?” You asked, pulling a tank top over your bikini. 

“Is that a question or a statement?” He asked through a yawn, referring to how you already had your swimsuit on.

“Get up and hurry,” you said with a smile, leaving the room to get breakfast.

You hurried to Rafe’s truck and he sped to his house. After that you finally reached the beach, just the two of you sitting on a large towel soaking up the sun.

After that the day seemed to move slowly, it dragged on through lunch, and shopping, and then dinner.

A party had been talked of and that made your stomach churn, parties were prime real estate for a fight. Especially if pogues would be attending. Rafe never turned down an opportunity to punch a Pogue. 

You arrived at the party pretty late, drinks were handed to you instantly. Rafe disappeared, showing back up with pupils huge and black. His hands shook intensely. You linked arms and started to walk outside.

“Let me know when sloppy seconds are available,” some said for Rafe, it was some random pogue.

“Say that again,” Rafe gestured by cupping his ear to hear better.

“Rafe don’t,” you tried to pull him away but he shook you off.

“You wanna fucking say that again buddy,” his voice raising it made you shudder. You knew what was coming.

“I want your sloppy seconds,” the pogue said, closing the gap between him and Rafe.

Rafe threw the first punch, hitting him right in the nose, blood began gushing instantly.

“Rafe,” you screamed as they began throwing fast punches.

You tried to grab at his arms, he swung his arm back, his fist still clenched, it hit you in the nose. You stumbled back in Topper, he pushed Kelce towards Rafe. Topper held your nose and tilted your head back.

Finally, it became quiet, Kelce had pulled Rafe off. Rafe was huffing his chest, oblivious to his surroundings.

“Don’t ever talk about her again,” he said, finally turning around to see you, blood down your chin and chest, head tilted back in Topper's hands.

“I-I’m sorry,” he said, his act softening instantly. He came to walk over, you put out your hand to stop him.

“No,” you said, you pulled your head forward keeping your hand on your nose.

You walked farther from the crowd, Rafe following.

“I’m done Rafe,” you said, he looked defeated with his other eye being punched and the other severely bruised, “I can’t handle this anymore, I can’t handle all the violence,” he looked even more defeated. His knuckles were bloody and re-opened yet again, his cheek bleeding again, his shirt bloody and his mouth blood soaked as well.

“Y/n just-“ you cut him off, “No Rafe it’s over,” you turned walking towards the house. Topper had begun to walk towards you with an ice pack.

“Y/n!” yelled, Kelce walking to hold him back so you could leave.

“Can you take me home,” you asked, grabbing the ice pack, he nodded, grabbing his keys.

The car ride back was silent, not a word spoken. The only noise being your phone ringing over and over, text messages spamming.

I’m so sorry

I really didn’t mean to

Please talk to me

Please answer

Y/n I’m sorry please

Y/n

There was no excuse, if he wasn’t so blinded by rage then maybe he would’ve been aware of his surroundings and actions. You were livid but you wouldn’t sink to his level and act out the same.

Topper pulled into your driveway unlocking the doors.

“He didn’t mean it (ur nickname),” his face was sympathetic. “I’m sure he didn’t, but I can’t handle his violent actions anymore,”

You got out of the car, grabbed your bag, and went inside your house, and to your room. You decided a shower was needed, the hot water running over your face and coloring the water a dirty brown.

Rafe had become so unfamiliar. The boy that once showered you in gifts and kisses, turned into the boy that was short-tempered and aggressive. And now into the boy who was so blinded by his anger, he could hurt the so-called love of his life. It pained you to watch, but there was only so much you could do.

You hopped out of the shower, the things he’s bought you surrounding you. Memories flooding into your head, all the times he’s slept over, so much of your teenage years spent with him. Most being the most loving and magical of your life, and now…well he wasn’t Rafe, he wasn’t anyone you ever remember meeting.

You mindlessly grabbed Rafe’s shirt, lifting it over your head and pulling it down. The smell of Rafe’s cologne filled your nose, the sweet woodsy smell reminding you even more of how much you loved him. Tears brimmed your eyes and you collapsed on your bed. 

You held a handful of the shirt to your nose as you curled into a small ball on your bed. You wiggled under the covers, hiding your body and head underneath. You let out shaky breaths as tears streamed down your face. Wailing out occasionally, no one was home. No parents to comfort you. Your only friends at the party.

You cried, soaking your pillow, your wet hair soaking your blanket. You slowly and eventually dozed off, calming yourself in the process. 

You blinked yourself awake, realizing the noises coming from your window yet again. There was a loud banging on the window, a lot harsher than usual. 

You rolled your eyes and lifted yourself out of bed. You combed your fingers through your hair and then turned the unlock to the window. 

Of course, it was Rafe, he was disheveled. Hair messy, nose bleeding. Not this again. 

“Look I’m really sorry and I’m-“ he was beginning to climb through the window, talking fastly while doing so. 

“Rafe I don’t want to hear it anymore,” you stared at him, you felt yourself sinking. 

“Y/n,” his eyes look sunken, no doubt from getting punched but also darkened and intensely sad. 

“Let’s get you cleaned up so you can go,” you pulled him to the bathroom and sat him on the toilet. Wasting no time to dab a wet washcloth to the dried blood. 

“Y/n I- I’m sorry,” he said, his voice cracking with sadness. His eyes began to brim with tears. 

“Rafe I really don’t wanna do this right now, it’s 4 am and I’m sick of this shit, I don’t wanna do it anymore,” you snapped, still keeping your voice level. His eyes became sadder if that was even possible. 

“Y/n just listen please,” he grabbed your hand away from his face, which had begun to rub the washcloth too harshly against his sensitive skin. 

“I really- I-I’m really sorry, I’ll stop, I promise I’ll stop all the fighting and the violence and I’ll stop everything,” he was stuttering more than ever, words spilling out of his mouth without reason. His eyes looked up to you, his hand still gripping your wrist. 

Tears brimmed at his eyes once again, you didn’t know what to do. 

“R-Rafe you’re just so unfamiliar now, I feel like I don’t know you,” you paused, Rafe, letting go of your wrist and dropping but hands to the side of your body. “You’re so- so violent,” 

“I promise I’ll stop,” tears began to stream out of his eyes. 

You said nothing while reapplying a Band-Aid to his cheek.

“I promise,” he moved his hand to grab your hand again, “I can’t lose you,” He whispered under his breath.

“Three strikes Rafe, and I’m not kidding,” You held his hand back. He embraced your torso, still keeping his seat on the toilet. His head was in your chest, you hugged his head. You stayed in that embrace, taking in the smell of his cologne. You felt wetness soaking onto your chest and heard him sniffle. Maybe he was actually going to change this time.

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

This went through like 3 different stages and this is the final result lol, lmk what you think <3

Here’s my masterlist

[ggreactionsandscenarios]

Hii! Could I get a Dreamcatcher reaction to saying something they regret/hurting their s/o's feelings badly during an argument and like, how they would make it up to them?

Dreamcatcher Reactions

Being mean/harsh during an argument and feeling bad about it

Jiu

"Y/N, I'm sorry.. "

Minji hates it when her words go farther than her mind intended to. She immediately felt guilty for saying such things but it was too late, the bomb had been dropped and your feelings hurt. She'll wait outside the bedroom waiting for you to open the door. She knows she messed up and shouldn't invade your space now. She'll be miserable though, she hates it when you don't talk to her, she'll wait for you to hear her explanation before trying to make it up to you.

Sua

Bora needs a little more time before she realises that she'd been really unfair to you. Too proud to just apologise like anyone would, she'll try to make up for it in other ways without having to say sorry. Making you breakfast, baking you cookies and things like that. Things that she would never do for anyone. You should consider yourself an exception for sure but don't forgive her too fast though. She knows how to get you to but you should be able to enjoy the cooking for a few days before doing so.

Siyeon

Lee Siyeon does not know how to do little, in any kind of situation but it's even more true when it comes to apologising. The set up of her mini concert was almost ready when you stepped in. Not ready enough apparently, your girlfriend run out of the little stage to cover your eyes before you could see everything.

"Oh no no no, baby step out, wait five minutes and step back in. I'm not ready yet."

She'll sing for you for hours until you have no choice but to forgive her and join her on stage to sing some karaoke duo.

Handong

Handong is unapologetic, she thinks that if she said something harsh during an argument it's that deep inside she needed to let it out. She's sorry that it came out that harsh though, for that she will indeed apologise. She'll come to you and explain what she actually meant. There's no slightly bit of rudeness in her she just needs to be honest with how she feels, she doesn't mean to hurt you. For that she'll trap you in a hug until you forgive her.

Yoohyeon

Yoohyeon knocked on your bedroom door before carefully opened it enough for her head to pass through.

"Would you accept to watch a movie with me ? It's called ' I'm sorry I've been an asshole '. It's not new but I'm always scared to watch it alone, I can really see myself in the main character."

Yoohyeon always had that ability to make you laugh even when you're mad at her. It can sometimes be annoying but most of the time it just reminds you of how much joy she brings in your life.

Dami

Dami was always careful with her words, it wasn't often that she let herself go overboard. Yet when it does happen she doesn't need long before knowing she's in the wrong and has to fix what she's just done. But she knows boundaries, she knows that you might want to be alone and not hear her apologies. So she let you go even if she wishes she could just take it back and go back to how things were. She'll bring you flowers, snacks and write you poems but will only let it at your door in order not to overstep.

Gahyeon

Gahyeon's hands went immediately to her mouth after she said something she thought she'll never say to you. She wishes she never said it and even more when she saw how much it hurt you. She wouldn't let you leave before she can take everything back. She'll make sure to plan something to make it up to you. And not just a simple thing but rather a date worthy of a wedding proposal. Hell she'll do anything you want in exchange of your forgiveness.

Hey, back with some dreamcatcher content, hope you like it 😁 To everyone requests will be opened again soon, you can send some in already if you want to 😉 -Ael