#I will say though I saw a lot of out of town plates leaving the city too so like. lots of people had the same idea

[jensonsbuttons]

me: leaves Chicago

the rain: *stops*

[littlechivalry]

Eddie wakes up alone.

It shouldn't feel like a surprise. Apart from a few nights after he first moved in with Wayne when nightmares chased him out of his own bed and the few foggy memories of his childhood and mom that weren't colored by the looming presence of Al Munson he has always slept alone. Likes it that way in fact, he gets to stretch out and move, leave a light on if he wants it, pace next to the bed if he needs to.

Still, he thought...

This thing with Steve had been a surprise. Absolutely no part of it was predictable, starting with a broken bottle and Reefer Rick's shitty boathouse, racing through the closest to hell Eddie ever wants to see not once but twice, and then the hospital room.

Eddie hadn't even had the chance to make full eye contact with the guy when suddenly they were invalid neighbors, ass-baring hospital gowns and all.

Two weeks at Hawkins General, another month in Loch Nora while Wayne got their new place sorted and Eddie spent almost every waking minute feeling his mangled bites healing with Steve beside him, a full companion in misery.

Eddie had never spent that much time with another person, not one on one. The kids came and left without warning and Buckley had taken up part time residence on the living room couch but there were a lot of hours where it was just Eddie. And just Steve.

They talked about everything.

The full tale of the Upside Down was their first topic of conversation, with the rest of the party popping in to add details and commentary. Then it was music, and school, and family. They talked about their pasts, the shared moments they had discovered talking through everything else and the moments that neither had ever shared before.

They talked about the future. Eddie's first and truest love was stories. It's why he read. It's why he played D&D. It's why he loved the music that he loved.

Steve talked about family, both the one he had been born into and the one that had built up around him.

It had built so slowly over the weeks and Eddie had never felt something like this before so he didn't realize he was falling in love until he was well and truly right in the middle of it. And wonder of wonders it felt like Steve was there with him.

So why did Eddie wake up alone?

After all the time they spent hanging out together Steve had finally insisted they have an official date or as close to one as it was safe to get. They drove out of town, visited a diner neither of them had ever seen before where they knew nothing and no one and no one knew them. They had burgers, and split a plate of fries. Two vanilla milkshakes that they traded halfway through their meals, not quite sharing but as close as they could get to the single shared milkshake of Eddie's first date dreams. So close it took Eddie's breath away, that he could have something like this.

Steve drove Eddie home, dropped him off at the door with a chaste kiss. Like a gentleman. Like a knight.

And then an hour later he climbed through Eddie's window with a bag of chips and a movie.

They had fallen asleep together in a pile of crumbs and though Eddie couldn't see Steve's face in the dark, he assumed the other boy was smiling too.

Eddie rubbed his eyes. They were dry. He wasn't crying. He wasn't going to cry.

His head felt heavy with the tears he had decided, as an adult, not to cry. He used the bathroom without turning on the light and then headed out to the living room, half hoping Wayne would be there, half hoping he might be alone to mourn something that had barely begun before it ended.

"Hey there, kid," Wayne murmured behind the newspaper. "Have a good night?"

Eddie sighed. "It was. The morning, not so much."

"Yeah, I saw your boy off this morning."

"That's more than I can say," Eddie scoffed.

Wayne put the paper down and Eddie felt pinned in place by his uncle's eyes.

"Look, it's fine," Eddie said. "We had a good night but he had to leave. And I get it. This is a lot. I'm a lot." Eddie gestured at himself and if he flailed his arms a little more than usual it was fine. He was just... on edge.

Wayne looked at Eddie again and his concerned expression faded into something almost like... glee?

Eddie pointed at his uncle. "What are you laughing at, old man?" He had to admit he felt a little betrayed. Wayne had been almost as excited about this date as Eddie was.

"Look at your arm, son," Wayne says softly before picking the newspaper up again.

Eddie stepped back. "What?" He looked down at his arms.

Scars and the tattered remnants of his tattoos, nothing he hadn't seen before. He twisted his arms, trying to see whatever it is Wayne had seen and high on his bicep he saw it.

Thick black marker lines, smudged into his skin in the shape of Steve's terrible penmanship.

'At work babe. Love you.'

"How the fuck did he do this," Eddie muttered.

"You sleep like the dead," Wayne muttered. "He could have written an essay if your arms weren't so damned skinny."

Eddie gasped, then laughed. "Wayne! How could you?"

Wayne just laughed, the paper jostling with his breath.

Eddie stumbled his way to another kitchen chair, his eyes still focussed on the note.

"Don't think he wanted to leave," Wayne said. "Practically had to shove him out the door."

"Yeah," Eddie said, softly. He could get it tattooed. Those words. 'Love you.'

"I expect he'll be back tonight?"

Eddie nodded, then stood up sharply. "Not if I go to him first!"

Eddie charged for the door. Too many times had Steve chased after him, now it was Eddie's turn.

"You might want to put a shirt on," Wayne called.

Eddie froze in space, his outstretched fingers only inches away from the doorknob.

After he put a shirt on. And probably shoes. And grabbed his keys.

[withacapitalp]

(Okay I saw a post about a premise similar to this but I cannot find it for the life of me. Anyway I loved it so much that I had to write a version of it myself. A post s2 AU!) Now with Part Two

Steve was never exactly the most perceptive person in the world. 

He missed all of the signals that Nancy had given him, every sign that had pointed to their failing relationship. He hadn’t seen the moments that proved she was right about everything going on in their town either. Steve overlooked important details in his college applications, and took shots in basketball that almost always missed. He even sometimes walked right into walls these days, because his spacial awareness had kinda been shot since Billy smashed a plate over his head fifteen days ago. 

A lot of that could be forgiven, but, this…

Well this was a little bit obtuse, even for him. 

“You know you’re sitting at our table, right, King Steve?” 

Steve looked up from his Tuna Surprise, resisting the urge to flinch at both the blinding light from the windows in the cafeteria and the nickname he hated so much. Eddie Munson stared back, carrying a lunch tray in one hand and his signature metal lunch box in the other. 

“Your humble court is awaiting you on the haves side of this blessed cookery. This side is where the dweebs and the nerds parlay. A single place we get a reprieve from the endless bombardment of the average” Munson continued, flinging his arms to and fro, gesturing to the group of teens behind him who were staring at Steve like he was dirt under the bottom of their shoes. 

He hadn’t understood the majority of what Eddie had just said to him, but those looks were enough to give Steve the gist. He was not welcome here. 

“Sorry,” He muttered, grabbing his tray and sliding it to the other end of the table. He took a deep breath the second he was alone again, letting the tension melt away from his body as he collapsed back in his seat. 

Even though he was no longer welcome to sit at his old table, Steve probably could have gone and eaten in the library with Nancy and Jonathan. They had awkwardly invited him to join them a few times since everything had gone down, but he always said no. 

It was better this way. Better to be alone. Better to not have to watch the two of them try and hide how much happier they were now that they could be together. They deserved that happiness, Nancy deserved that happiness, and Steve refused to be the one to make her try and stifle any of that. 

He had hurt her enough already. 

“What happened to your face?”

Once again Eddie dragged Steve out of his thoughts. He was standing over Steve’s head, nearly hovering on top of him, watching Steve like he was trying to work him out. Like Steve was a particularly complex puzzle that he could solve just with his eyes. 

Nancy had always looked at him that way. Steve had hated it when it was her, and he hated it even more coming from Munson now. 

“Got into a fight,” Steve grunted, stabbing at his shitty cafeteria food and hoping that his abrasiveness would be enough to get Munson to leave him alone.

He wasn’t exactly sure what he could say now that they had all signed another round of NDAs, but he was pretty sure even talking about this was toeing the line. It was safer all around to get Eddie to go away as quickly as possible. 

It wouldn’t be all that hard. Usually all it took were a few well placed bitchy comments to get people to see the picture and give up on him. The only group of people who hadn’t been perturbed by Steve’s spikiness was the kids. They had shown up at his house pretty much daily since the gate had closed, and had even taken to begging on him for rides to and from school. 

Dustin in particular seemed determined to stay latched onto him like a barnacle, but Steve found that he didn’t really mind their clinginess.

 It was nice to be needed, even if it was only a group of pre-teen smartasses. 

“With who?” Eddie asked, leaning his hip on the table next to Steve and crossing his arms over his chest, “Cause Billy Hargrove is telling everyone he can that he beat your ass for messing with his sister,”

“I would never do something like that,” Steve shot back instantly, feeling the fading bruises on his face twinge as his jaw clenched in fury. He couldn’t help the words spilling out of his mouth, unable to stop them, “Billy’s a racist jackass who tried to put his hands on one of my fucking kids,”

Shit. 

“There is…so many confusing parts of that sentence,” Eddie stated, blinking in shock.

“Whatever,” Steve murmured, biting his cheek to stop himself from saying anything more and hunching his shoulders up around his ears. They weren’t exactly his kids, per say, but Steve was invested in keeping them safe now. The idea of doing anything to hurt any of them was painful, and the thought of Billy spreading that kind of rumor made bile rise up in his throat. 

Fuck Billy. Fuck this. Fuck his life honestly. 

“Look, Munson, I’m really not in the mood right now,” Steve sighed, hating how weary he sounded. It would have been better to fight his way out of this. Steve was crappy at fighting though, and there wasn’t much spirit left in him. Not after two weeks of perpetual stress and tension. 

“Harrington-”

“I moved down, I’m not in your way, isn’t that good enough?” Steve bit out, halfway to just grabbing his tray and throwing it in the trash. He was barely eating anyway, might as well go to the gym to shoot some hoops instead of sitting here being interrogated by drug dealing  extraordinaire, Eddie goddamn Munson.

Couldn’t he just let Steve eat in peace? Everything else was already so goddamn difficult these days. Could Steve at least manage to eat a mediocre meal without the entire world demanding something from him? 

By the grace of whatever god was potentially out there, Eddie took the hint, pushing off of his resting place and stalking back over to his group of weirdos on the other side. Steve let his eyes slip shut and dragged in a heavy breath, utterly exhausted. 

He was contemplating skipping the rest of the day and going home to sleep when a blue plastic tray identical to the one in front of him bumped his right hand

“What are you doing?” Steve wondered aloud, raising his eyebrows and fixing Eddie with a confused look as he sat down right next to Steve and began to dig into his meal. 

“Eating lunch alone sucks?” Eddie offered, shoveling Tuna Surprise into his mouth and shuddering, pushing the rest of the disgusting concoction to the far side of his tray, “Plus I’m hoping that if I get in your good graces you’ll give me your pudding cup,”

Steve stared at him for a few more moments, waiting for whatever prank was about to be pulled. But Eddie didn’t budge, continuing to eat around his main dish with strange efficiency and ignoring Steve’s gaze. 

“Go nuts,” He finally said, offering the plastic container over to Eddie who grabbed it and gave Steve a big smile

“Mazel Tov, Eddie said, hoisting the pudding aloft and tearing into it, “So, you have children?”

“I- I babysit,” Steve stammered out, completely perplexed by the strange set of circumstances that was playing out in front of him. Eddie paused with his spoon midair in front of him. 

“You babysit,” He repeated, turning his head towards Steve. The younger teen nodded and Eddie hummed. He put his pudding down and licked his spoon clean. When he was done, he hefted it aloft, bringing it down on the back of his right hand with a smack that echoed all around the cafeteria. 

“Ouch!” Eddie yelped, flapping his hand around in the air to try and get rid of the sting. Steve looked frantically to and fro as the rest of the room stared at them, whispering behind their hands. 

“Why would you-” 

“Had to make sure I wasn’t dreaming,” Eddie explained, interrupting Steve’s furious whisper with a breathless little laugh, “Because I just heard the words ‘I babysit’ come out of King Steve’s mouth,”

“Would you cut it out with the King stuff?” Steve snapped, beginning to lose his appetite, “It’s been a while since I was King of anything, and it was a stupid fucking idea to begin with,” 

There was a beat of awkward silence as Eddie gave him another one of those soul searching looks. 

“What are you doing Thursday afternoon?” He finally asked when he found whatever he was looking to find. Steve startled, dropping his fork. 

What kind of question was that? 

Was Munson asking him on some sort of date?!

“I’m…benched from basketball ‘cause of my concussion. So nothing, I guess,” Steve said cautiously, carefully picking his words and trying to avoid the spike of hurt that shot along his chest as he said them. 

It wasn’t much, but basketball was one of the only things Steve really thought he was genuinely good at. Not having it was kind of pure torture. 

Almost as bad as not having Nancy in his life anymore. 

“In that case, come to Hellfire,” Eddie offered, glancing at the clock on the wall and grabbing both of their trays. Steve scrambled to grab his backpack, hefting it onto one shoulder and jogging to keep up with Eddie. 

“What?”

“Hellfire?” Eddie repeated, dumping their trash into the bin and stacking the trays next to it, “It’s the club I run,”

“What is it?” Steve asked, curious but unwilling to commit just yet. There was still a part of him that was kind of convinced all of this was some elaborate ruse to fuck with him. 

But before Eddie could say anything the bell chimed all around them. The rest of the student population moved as one, and the sound in the lunchroom immediately went from dull roar to cacophonous mess. Steve’s left ear started to ring again, and he winced, shying away from the sudden noise. 

“You’ll have to come and see,” Eddie said, waggling his eyebrows, completely ignorant to Steve’s pain. He turned on his heel, raising a hand in a wave behind him as he loped towards the rest of his friend group.

“Thursday after school! In the drama room, don’t be late!”

[the-offside-rule]

Lando Norris (McLaren) - Santa's Helper

Requested: yes

Warnigs: cute Christmas stuff

Lando dropped his bags on the floor to his childhood home. Once the season was over, he would always do the same; pack his bags, enough clothes for the month of December to stay with his family until the New Year when he'd have to go back to the factory. "Lando? Is that you?" his mother called from the kitchen. "Yeah mum, I'm here." Lando began walking towards the kitchen when a heavenly smell hit him. The scent of freshly baked goods and cinnamon lingered in his nostrils. "What are you cooking?" Lando asked, walking into the kitchen but stopped dead in his tracks as he saw her sitting at the table, a mug of tea in hand and a cast on her foot. "Mum? What happened?" Lando asked, worried as anything. "I had an accident the day before your race and I didn't want you to worry." she smiled. "Well I'm worrying now, mum!"

"Cisca? Are you alright?" Lando and his mum turned to the door and saw a girl walk in. "I heard the front door open-" She met eyes with Lando and smiled. "You must be Lando. Cisca talks a lot about you." Lando was too stunned to speak (had to add a tik tok reference I'm sorry) She chuckled. "Well, I should take these biscuits out then. Can't let them burn." The girl smiled, turning towards the oven. Lando couldn't take his eyes off her and his mum could tell. "Lando? Can you help me into the living room please?" his mother asked. Lando snapped out of his thoughts and came back to reality. "Oh, yeah. Sure." He helped her up and began walking out with her slowly, not saying anything until they were out of the kitchen.

"You need to stop staring at the poor girl." she joked. "I wasn't staring. I just didn't know we had a visitor for Christmas." Cisca chuckled to herself. "She's quite pretty, isn't she?" Lando felt himself nodding but stopping himself immediately. "Who is she?" he asked. "Y/n. Our neighbour down the avenue. She's been helping me with gardening and cooking since I hurt myself." Lando's eyebrows knotted in confusion. "What? What about the old woman done the road? I though she was our neighbour." He said. "She passed away in June, remember?" Lando nodded. "That's her grand daughter." Lando looked back at her, quickly moving the hot biscuits to a plate to cool. "So she's staying down at the house?" Cisca nodded. "She is. Will I see you bringing the dog for a walk down by her house every morning then?" Lando shook his head. "Absolutely not." Cisca wasn't buying it. Lando obviously liked Y/n quite a lot from the few seconds they had briefly seen eachother. "Then maybe riding the horses. She does it every evening with Flo." Lando wasn't big into horse riding or doing show jumping or anything but for a hot minute, he was considering doing some horse riding in the mornings he was there. "Nah, I'm here to relax, not  run around doing horse riding." Cisca raised her eyebrow. "You say that but I know for a fact you will ask Flo once you don't see me." 

Over the few weeks that Lando was at the Norris household, Y/n would always come in at the crack of dawn to bring the horses for a walk and help Flo and then, after lunch, she would return with some food she picked up from the town's Christmas market. After that, she would help around for a while and leave before coming back after dinner just to check up on them. He loved when she came around and even more so when they'd share little conversations.

When Christmas Day had rolled around, Lando woke up bright and early, expecting Y/n to come on up to the house. He waited and waited. 6am. She wasn't coming. 7am. Wasn't coming either. It had gotten to about 8 in the morning and Y/n hadn't walked up the avenue. "Lando! Come on down!" he heard his father call up. He walked down the stairs to see Flo putting on her layers of jackets so she wouldn't get cold on her morning ride and Lando decided to go. "Flo? Would I be able to go on a horse ride today?" Flo looked at him, visibly confused. "You never go horse riding. What's the catch?" Lando shrugged his shoulders. "A change of heart maybe. It's Christmas, I wanna spend some time with you."

"Looking for Y/n?" Flo grinned. "Oh shut up. I'm not looking for her, just wondering where she is. Isn't she the one who usually does this with you?" Lando asked, trying to steer the conversation in another way. "Well yes, but she's staying with her boyfriend for Christmas." Lando felt a tug at his heartstrings. "Huh, didn't know she had one." In an attempt to try and make himself sound u bothered, he ended up sounding immensely hurt. "Are you alright Lando?" Flo asked him. "Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Flo knew Lando well enough to know he was in fact feeling down and she could figure out why too. "How about we go back and get some tea? It's getting way too cold out here." Lando nodded in agreement and followed her back, not a word being shared.

That day went so slowly. Without anything for Lando to anticipate on, or look forward to, it was far too slow of a day. Later in the evening, the whole family were sat around the table for Christmas Dinner. They pulled at the Christmas crackers, put on the hats and overall had a good time but Lando still felt something not quite right. He'd spent every Christmas with his family, always with the same people but this year it was as if a family member was missing or something. Everyone was grabbing whichever delicacies they wanted, ready to eat when the doorbell went. Lando stood up. "I'll get it, go on eating." Lando set his cutlery to the side and walked out to the front door, undoing the locks and then opening the door. He froze. Not because of the temperature outside but because of the person standing at the door. "Y/n? What are you doing here?"

"Hi Lando. Mind if I come in? It's freezing out here." Lando moved aside and let her walk on in. He looked at her, subconsciously smiling but then his face dropped. Outside, it was dark so he couldn't see her very well but enough to make out who she was. Now she was inside, full of light, he noticed her red, puffy eyes. More than likely from crying. "Are you alright?" Her bright smile, slowly faded into a frown and then, the tears came back. "Aw, what's wrong?" he pulled her into a hug as her tears stained his jumper. "I- I don't know why he decid-ded to- I didn't- do anything." she sobbed. "What happened?" he asked her. Y/n looked up to her. "He dumped me." Lando pulled her in for a hug again. "I'm so sorry.

"Here, how about you come in for Christmas Dinner?" Y/n's jaw dropped. "Oh my god, I forgot it was Christmas." Lando laughed. "It's alright, just come in and eat something." Lando began taking her coat off and then hanging it up. "Lando, I'll just go back to mine until tomorrow, really-"

"No, come on." Lando took her hand in his and tried bringing her into the dining room but she stopped him. "Let me wash my face. I don't want to go in looking like I cried." Lando nodded and walked to the bathroom with her. He stood outside, waiting for her to finish up and when she came back out, she looked fresh as a daisy. "You feeling alright now?" she nodded. "Yeah, let's go then."

After dinner, Lando sat at the porch his family jumped around, dancing in the garden. He could only smile and watch it all happen. "Not goin to join your family?" Lando heard a soft voice from behind him. He turned his head to see Y/n walking out the door, shivering as she met the cold air. "Nah, not one for dancing." He explained. She nodded. "Would you like to dance?" Lando locked eyes with her. Y/n smiled softly at him. "Of course. Only if you teach me though." She grinned and took his hand into hers, before starting a swaying movement. "That's all there is to dancing? I Should've done this ages ago." Y/n shook her head, laughing away to herself. "No, you muppet. I'm starting slowly."

"Can we keep it like this? I like dancing like this." She let out a sigh and greed and so they continued on swaying. They were joking, laughing, dancing. It was pure bliss and then her head rested on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He liked this feeling of belonging. He liked being around the people he loved and with someone whom he hoped to love. "Lando?" He hummed in response. "Thank you for earlier." Lando smiled to himself. "Don't mention it. Friends have to look out for eachother, don't we?" She grinned and looked up to him. "Hopefully I see a bit more of you when I'm helping around at the house." Lando laughed. "You're like Santa's helper. Like a little elf."

"I like being an elf. It means I get to meet some great people." She paused. "People like yourself." Lando felt his cheeks heating up. "I'm gonna say likewise." He chuckled. Y/n's phone buzzed. She looked at it and sighed. "I have to go. I forgot I have to drive to my mum's tomorrow so I'm gonna get an early night." She walked back inside and grabbed her coat, returning a minute later, all wrapped up like she was a matter of hours ago. "Call me when you get there." Lando said, walking along with her. "I don't have your number so I'll ring the house phone." She said. "Yeah, you can ask for my number then." She stopped and blinked at him. "What?"

"Merry Christmas Lando." Lando embraced her. "Merry Christmas." He whispered back. "Just drive safely." She scoffed. "I wouldn't tell me to drive safely. I've seen you drive." Lando chucked at her light hearted joke. "I get paid to, there's a difference." She smiled. "I'll talk to you soon, Lando." She said. "I look forward to it." and with that, Y/n walked away in the snow, her figure becoming more faded and faded until she couldn't be seen at all.

[soundspeachytome]

dusty and fraulein (shohei ohtani au)

summary: your asshole cat falls in love with your new next-door neighbor and takes shelter in his front porch while displacing his poor dog, dusty, and a whole lot of chaos in between ensues.

tropes: enemies to lovers, next door neighbor dynamics, dog parent x cat parent, fake dating, small town romance, pure, pure fluff and romance only.

word count: 11.2k

this is far from my original writing style but i hope you have fun reading as much as i had writing this! (if there are any inconsistencies, sorry in advance!)

other notes: i had patterned the two characters loosely after lorelai and luke and stars hollow as the town. *swoon!*

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

=================================

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

You squint through the harsh back light of your phone and see the time: 8:47 AM. It is barely brunch and you hear loud music and conversation from outside your bedroom window. You pull the covers over your head and try to go back to sleep but the sound of a hammer being pounded on wood disrupts your journey back to dreamland. 

It also doesn’t help that your head also feels like someone is drilling it into concrete. For a split second, you wonder why you even let that much alcohol enter your system on a Friday night, and why no one stopped you when you were such a lightweight. You try to remember the events from the night before and then it hits you: you caught your boyfriend–now ex!--sexting with an intern at his office through the messages on his phone. You were not the type to scour through your boyfriends’ phones but it was supposed to be dinner date night with pasta and Sauvignon Blanc when Jack’s phone lit up from the kitchen counter. You were busy preparing cutlery when the phone dinged again. You thought it was important from work and since you had been very open and comfortable with each after a year of dating, taking a peek would not hurt. 

Nothing could have prepared you for what you saw. 

Jack, despite being a successful finance analyst, the smart, bookish type, the one who can compute numbers in his head in about 5 seconds or less, apparently was not smart enough to keep his notifications hidden or at least try and cover them up like a serial cheater would. Not that you  wanted him hiding anything from you, but at that moment, seeing the thirst traps and the disgusting follow-up sexts from his notifications bar were enough for you to hurl his precious PS5 from the fifth floor of his apartment building and leave the crime scene with the wine and pasta in tow. 

You don’t know what happened after because you left while he was still in the shower, his apartment thrashed, with a note which you left that says, “For the record, I faked all my orgasms during our sexy time. Veronica ❤️ seems to love your *mini* performance though! PS. If you’re looking for your PS5, try looking down from the balcony, asshole.”

Love is a lie, you scoffed. You let the remnants of last night’s hurt consume you for a little bit more and cry under the covers. You cried until your eyes tired, until the weight of your head felt heavier than a bowling ball. You thought about staying in bed for a few more minutes when a boisterous laughter interrupted your thoughts. The laugh was followed by incomprehensible sentences. The voice came from a man probably in his late twenties, deep, jovial and friendly. You couldn’t make out the words from this distance but he sounded like he was giving instructions, volume fading in and out every now and then. Then more manly laughter. You didn’t know why but this person had a distinct laugh that you found very pleasant. You wonder somberly if you could laugh like that again. 

You jolted upright and went for the door. You will definitely be happy again soon but first, coffee. 

The best hangover fix is a steaming cup of coffee with a plate of bacon and pancakes. You poured yourself a hot mug of coffee and suddenly felt unstoppable, like you’re actually happy, at least temporarily. The pounding in your head has subsided but the drilling from nextdoor hasn’t. You must have new neighbors, the way you’re seeing movers coming in and out of the moving truck parked outside. You tried to catch a glimpse of this neighbor causing all the ruckus but were unsuccessful as the trees lined beside your porch were covering your line of vision. From behind you, you felt your cat, Fraulein, bump her head on your ankles, purring audibly.

“Looks like the new neighbors woke you up too, huh?” She yawned and continued looking up at you. 

Fraulein, a female American shorthair of three years, stood around nine pounds with her stocky legs and long, proportioned tail. Her fur was a thick orange coat with faint white stripes covering most of her body. She was nameless when you picked her up from the animal shelter. She was barely five months old at that time and despite being smaller than the other cats, she had snuggled up to you when you reached for a pet. When you scratched her head and heard her purr loudly, you knew right then and there that she was the one for you. She was the friendliest, clingiest and most loveable thing you have in your life, and despite her “orange cat personality” as most people had dubbed, you wouldn’t replace her with anything in the world, not even for your hound dog-looking ex, Jack. 

She did a big stretch as you picked her up while you stood idly by the window. As you stared outside, Fraulein’s purring sending you in a trance, you suddenly notice a pair of eyes looking up at you from the front lawn. Those eyes should not be there, and more importantly, the pair of eyes belonged to a dog standing just mere inches from your flowering shrubs, tail wagging. If this dog takes another step, they could ruin the gardenias you’ve been trying to grow. 

You step outside and try to shoo the dog away when it suddenly jumps and barks. 

“Hey! Get away from my garden!” You try to stay calm as the dog continues to bark and come playfully near the shrubs. Your heart sinks when his paw accidentally steps on the stems of your peonies. You’ve been meaning to pluck them this week so you can replace the wilted ones from your vase. 

“Oh my god… Please go away! Shoo!” You desperately waved the dog away but it continued to jump excitedly and roll around, probably thinking you were out there to play. Fraulein, who was still in your arms the entire time, started getting restless and was hissing at the dog’s direction, her untucked claws boring into your skin. That’s when you saw a man, probably over six feet tall, rushing towards the dog. He had thick black hair and the widest shoulders you’ve ever seen. 

“Oh my god, Dusty! What are you doing here…” He put a leash on the dog, whose name was probably Dusty, as you have heard, and carried him with one arm. 

“I’m so so sorry! I was inside the house and I didn’t realize Dusty escaped from his leash.” His big brown eyes complemented well against his slightly tanned skin. With your obvious height difference, you had to look up at him from a distance without hurting your neck. 

“He almost ruined my flowers,” You started to say, eyes still locked in his. If you hadn’t forced yourself to look towards your garden, you would have been sucked into his creamy brown orbs. 

You assessed the garden from the mini scuffle. There was a bit of overturned soil from some of the shrubs, especially from the peonies getting the most damage. The stems have been slightly bent, almost breaking from where it stood. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m sosososorry! I didn’t mean to–I mean, Dusty’s still young, he’s very playful and…” 

“I was planning on cutting them this week, anyway. Your dog has to stay away from my garden, though.” I pointed at the lopsided peonies, almost looking like they have their hands up in the air, waving sideways.

He looked so apologetic that he almost looked like it was his fault. He tightened his grip on his dog, Dusty, who looked so small and well-behaved being cradled by a big-bodied man. Meanwhile, Fraulein has not relaxed one bit after that quick garden mess and had her claws out, clinging to my threadbare sweater.

“Yes ma’am, I’ll keep a tight leash on her. I’m Shohei Ohtani, by the way. We just moved next door, so I guess we’re neighbors now. I’d offer my hand right now, but I’m afraid Dusty would jump out of my grip. ”

Now that you are able to look at his face carefully, you realize that he was fairly handsome. Correctly proportioned face, dreamy brown eyes, and a smile that invited first love butterflies kind of vibe. He was also tall and definitely bulky over that black long-sleeved sweater that was folded up to his elbows. You could tell he dedicates a good amount of time to his body.

“So that explains all this noise so early in the morning.” You say with an almost sarcastic tone of voice. You didn’t mean it and you were willing to forgive them for the morning ruckus but the garden mishap and the mini-heart attack you had for your plants had somehow added to the list of how-to-piss-your-neighbor-on-the-first-day. And you’re really bad at moving past your first impressions of other people. 

“Are all cat people always this cranky in the morning?” He commented cheekily, displaying a playful expression in his eyes. This man named Shohei is trying to get to you and it’s definitely working. For a first conversation, it surely is getting on your nerves to be read so openly, and in your own premises, at that. 

“Excuse me?”

“It’s just an observation. Cat people seemed to be more emotionally charged than dog people.” He said matter-of-factly and continued to smile. He’s handsome but he’s also starting to be annoying as hell. What does he mean by that? Does he want to show off that dog people are better than cat people? 

“Well. If we’re going to talk about stereotypes here then I must say dog people are careless people-pleasers who hogs the attention and only cares about being liked and do not give a rat’s ass on taking up other people’s space and boundaries. I’d also offer to shake my hand but I’m afraid my cat right here might scratch your dog’s face for ruining our morning.” You stared hard at him and slowly backed away, returning to your porch steps.

“Nice to meet you, too, I guess! I would suggest chamomile tea and tone down on coffee!” He waved cheerfully, as he exited the lawn and walked towards his home. You turned your heel and slammed the door shut loud enough for him to hear. Fraulein jumped out of your grip and mewed almost as angrily. She darted toward the kitchen and went out of sight. 

“What a weirdo… If Fraulein doesn’t like him then I don’t have to like him, too.” You muttered to yourself and moved to the bathroom to take a shower. 

You spent your afternoon in the garden, watering and cutting the flowers in full bloom. You wore your oldest t-shirts with a print that says “I Wet My Plants” under your pink square overalls and a sun hat to protect you from the sun. You were listening to your beloved Birdy mix on your headphones as you tended the prettiest flowers in your garden, muting the noise of the world.

I know I was stupid to let what we had go to waste

Why does everything I love always get taken away?

Ghost in the wind calling you to take me home

Ghost in the wind crying, where do I belong?

Can anyone hear me now?

Can anyone hear me now?

“Can you hear me, Y/N?”

“Agh!”

You almost jumped out of your skin when a hand touched you lightly in the arm. It was Patrick Sandoval, your high school best friend, and sometimes main supplier of Fraulein’s flea medicine. You forgot that he was visiting today.

“Whoa! Extra jumpy today?” he smiled his Colgate-white smile and cocked his head to the side. “Coffee overload, again?”

Suddenly you remembered what your new neighbor had said during your first encounter this morning. Naturally cranky… Tone down on the coffee… He had no idea to be assuming things like that, not when you had just literally met.

“Jack cheated on me and I was hungover, okay?” You grit your teeth through the mention of your ex. Like the stench of his name made the bile climb up your throat. “I decimated his PS5 into tiny cracked pieces.”

“Oh, shit, man.. I’m proud of you.” He put you in a half-embrace and patted your head. “Do you need me to break his legs for you?”

You giggled, arm still locked around his waist. “No, but I took one of his expensive wines so that evens that out for me, I think. I don’t care.”

Patrick looks at you and wonders if he arrived too late today. He notices the dark bags under your eyes and your puffy face, probably a result of crying all night. He wondered if you had been crying all morning, too. He couldn’t help but lean in and give you a full, bear hug.

“Just let me know if you need us to file a restraining order, babygirl.” You snorted and buried your face under his embrace, thankful for the assurance. Patrick has always been your rock since high school. When your first boyfriend ditched you in prom, Patrick was there to rescue you when he wasn’t initially supposed to go; you ended the night with stomachs full of pizza, sparkling soda and belly laughter.

You and Patrick had been for each other’s rarest moments throughout adulthood: gushing about your first times, your first heartbreaks, getting into college, graduation… you even wondered if both of you are just teetering from the sidelines, waiting for each other to do the first move. You always brush the thought away because to do that means risking your friendship with him. You don’t want to lose him, not even as a friend.

“By the way, I’m just here to drop these medicines for dear ol’ Frau that you asked.” He lifted a paper bag with a cute animal picture and his pet shop name printed across it. Paw and Order.

 “Thanks, Patrick. I could’ve picked them up if you called.” Patrick has been the sole pet doctor in town which contributed solely to his success. Seeing how much people nowadays prefer taking pets instead of bearing children, he took the opportunity to put up his own pet shop and clinic; you and Fraulein have been number one customers ever since.

“It’s my pleasure, milady.” He did an elegant bow, to which I returned a curtsy, and giggled. “I’m also here to let you know that I’ll be on a business trip for two weeks. So this will be sort of my goodbye.”

“What kind of business trip takes two weeks long?” You don’t really want him to leave, especially with the holidays approaching, you had planned to spend it all with him.

“The kind where your father wants you to venture to a new business spot and spend the holidays with him and his new family.” He shrugged and looked at you, hoping you’d stop him from the impending family mess he’s about to go to, but you only scrunched your nose.

“That sucks, man. You’ll miss all the fruitcakes.” 

“I know, dude.” He pouted. “How are Frau's fleas, by the way? Did the medicine work last time?” 

“Sure did, she’s better now. Speaking of which, where is that old hag?” You haven’t seen her since early morning’s commotion. The last time you saw her she was napping by the window of your bedroom.

“Just call me if you notice anything weird. The medicines should be enough while I’m gone.” 

“Leaving already?”

“First thing in the morning, bub.” He said. “I’ll miss you.”

“Frau and I will miss you, too!” And the two of you embraced in another warm hug. When you both pulled back, he helped you pick up the basket of freshly bloomed flowers you had collected for the day and went back inside the house. You had given him the extra jar of lemon iced tea you’ve been saving for a particularly warm day like this. 

~~~

It’s been a whole day that you haven’t seen Fraulein. She usually wanders off hours in a day but she always returns by dinner time. You were starting to worry as the sky slowly turned pitch black. The lampposts turn on, illuminating the streets. You turn the porch lights on, too, and leave her bowl of food and water by the doorstep, in case she decides to come home late into the night. 

~~~~

You wake up to a high-pitched yowling outside. You’re not exactly sure where but you know that sound from anywhere. You bolted down the stairs with your sleeping robe undone and ran towards the lawn. You can’t see anything until you hear it again.

“Nyreooow!”

Soon, a dog howls and you run towards Shohei Ohtani’s house.

You see Fraulein perched on top of Shohei’s porch, her entire back arched defensively, ears twitching backwards. She was hissing at Dusty, who was whimpering loudly below the porch steps and looking terrified. In your panic, you run to the lawn to pick Fraulein up.

“Fraulein! What are you doing here?” 

Dusty continued to bark loudly, trying to come near the door where Fraulein stood. She hissed menacingly at him.

At that exact moment, Shohei Ohtani emerged from the front door, yawning and trying to get sleep out of his eyes. 

“Whazhapeninhere?” He yawned, looking clearly disoriented from suddenly waking up.

“Your dog is trying to attack my cat!” I yelled, trying to go near Fraulein but stepped back as Dusty blocked your way. 

Shohei popped awake as soon as he heard Fraulein hiss at Dusty once more; Fraulein arched her back more and raised her claws in defense.

“Whoa, hey!” Shohei ran up to Dusty and cradled him in his arms like a baby. Poor dog was shaking and whimpering.

“Are you sure it’s not your cat trying to attack my baby?” He raised his voice. He was standing a few feet away from you and looked you up and down, noticing your loose sleeping robe and looking away. 

“Poor baby getting scared by a cat,” He cooed silently, helping Dusty relax.

You walked up the porch when Fraulein hissed and scratched your arms when you picked her up. She wriggled from your grasp but conceded defeat when you scruffed her by the neck, immobilizing her. 

“I don’t know what’s happening here, but please stay away from my cat.” You looked at both Shohei and Dusty sternly. He noticed the scratches on your hands.

“You’re bleeding.” He started.

You looked down on your hands and saw visible red scratch marks. They started from the middle of your arm all the way to the back of your hand.

“I’m fine.” You huffed, trying to walk away as fast as possible. You don’t know what time it was, but it could easily be past midnight. 

“No, wait. Please, I have antiseptic soap inside…” He rushed towards the house, when he looked back and saw you frozen on the steps, he beckoned you and disappeared inside. “Come on.”

You stood there for a moment and contemplated if you should follow Shohei inside. You barely know the guy and every encounter you’ve had with him always ended in a screaming match or a passive-aggressive exchange. He might even be an ax murderer for all you know. A very handsome one, at that. 

“Frau, if something happens to me, please know that I love you.” You held her near your face. “Third drawer by the sink is where I kept all your catnip”. You whispered to her ear and walked towards Shohei Ohtani’s home.

~~~

Shohei Ohtani’s home was, first of all, very clean. It did not reek of anything a dog owner normally would smell like. It had the occasional puppy toys around the living room, but much to your surprise, it was spotless. It also smelled like sweet rose and laundry detergent. You also discovered that just like you, he lives alone. 

Shohei had put Dusty inside a retractable gate to keep him safe from Fraulein as you put her down on the floor. He busied himself looking for his first aid kit. You don’t notice any other pictures on display except him and Dusty and one with his complete family on the refrigerator door. 

His tall frame reappears and he pulls you towards the kitchen sink. You soak your arms under the water and he hands you the antiseptic soap.

“Thanks,” You mumbled. He never left your side and waited until you finished rinsing off, then took your arm and put cream on the scratch marks. He was standing unbelievably close, you could almost see his long eyelashes as he had his head down, concentrating on his self-appointed task. 

He also had his other hand holding you tight, as if to make sure you won’t run off suddenly. 

“I have these at home, you know.” You trained your eyes on his fingers dabbing cream. Don’t look at his arm veins, Y/N. Don’t look at them. Don’t look. Don’t.

“Oh, gee. Why didn’t I think of that?” He mused to which you rolled your eyes. Once again, the magic had worn off. 

“Do you really have to sound sarcastic all the time?”

“C’mon, lighten up.  Besides, it happened on my property so I feel partially responsible–even if it was your cat’s fault.” He shrugged.

You coughed at his accusation. “Fraulein does not instigate fights. She is well-mannered and prim all the time, thank you very much.” You pulled your cream-covered arm away from him. Just then, you notice Fraulein bumping her head on Shohei’s legs, mewling softly.

“How would you then explain the fact where your cat steals Dusty’s bed from the front porch?” He said, crossing his arm, Fraulein on the other hand, was still headbutting Shohei on the legs.

“Oh, she did not.” You retorted. Why would she steal someone’s fray-looking bed when she has her beautiful beige 2-condo tree tower with a capsule nest and dangling balls and a charming basket-weave style oval bed at home? It didn’t make sense. “She only sleeps in the beds I bought her.”

Shohei gives you a funny look and fishes his phone from his pocket. “Well, you’re in for quite a shock, I guess.”

He shoves the phone to you after tinkering with it for a while. “That’s your cat at 30:56 right?”

You look closely, a bit disoriented at what he was trying to show you. CCTV recorded footage of his porch outside where his dog, Dusty, was sitting in his dog bed, playing with his puppy chew ball, when suddenly, you saw Fraulein enter the frame from the left. 

“It doesn’t show anything.” You impatiently looked on, disbelief and denial dripping from you. 

“Oh just you wait.” 

Fraulein was moving slowly, watching Dusty and his toy. A few minutes pass by, the video captures Shohei exiting the front door and Dusty follows him playfully, at which, the dog bed was obviously vacated, and Fraulein took the opportunity to lay on it. 

Shohei cops the phone away and crosses his arms across his chest. “The court finds the defendant guilty.”

It took you a moment but gasped dramatically at the realization. “Was she here the entire day yesterday? Napping on your dog’s bed?” You looked at Fraulein with sheer disapproval. “Fraulein von Hammersmark, that is not how female felines behave.”

Shohei stifled a laugh. He was leaning over his stomach and ears red. “Relax. I don’t mind at all. I think Dusty does, though.” He picks up Fraulein calmly and gives her  scratches on her head. Fraulein purrs loudly. 

“She has been napping here all day since morning and seems to enjoy watching her new neighbor work out in the front lawn.” 

You grimaced, making sure you showed him your disgust. “Ew, weird flex but okay.”

Dusty whimpers as he looks at the scene from outside his gate. You walk over and give him a light pat on the head. “Dusty, blink once if you need help.” 

“Oh, please.” He giggles. “I’m not the weird one for naming my cat Fraulein von Hammersomething.” Shohei returns Fraulein to you, your arms touching, his head closer to yours momentarily. 

“Y/N. I wonder what the weather is on your side. You want to wear something warmer than that?” He pointed at your loose sleeping gown, your legs showing a little bit of your thigh. A little more movement and the knots would dangerously slip out of your waist and reveal your lingerie. 

“Pervert.” You instinctively covered your chest and ran back home, arms carrying Fraulein and the weight of shame for being almost half-naked inside a strange man’s house. 

~~~~

The next few days after that incident were spent with writing articles for an obscure lifestyle website and your part-time work at the bookstore in town, Novel Nook. You ride a 30 minute bus ride to the town square everyday for work and wait 15 minutes in line to grab a cup of coffee from the coffee shop beside it. It doesn’t feel like work at all because you are always surrounded by the books that you love. It took you a long time to realize that working 9-5 in an office cubicle with ugly fluorescent lighting was deteriorating your mental headspace and when your mom passed, you jumped the gun and submitted your intent to resign.

You removed all the baggage you kept from the city and only brought the ones that mattered to you: your cat, your big books, some pretty clothes you never wore in the city but are wearing freely and confidently now, and your memories of your mom. You flew seven thousand miles back home to the place you were meant to be all this time, and you couldn’t be happier and more content. 

You were walking sluggishly back home from a tiring day at work at Novel Nook where two teenagers fought for the last copy of The Hurricane Wars and it took all your energy to de-escalate before they could start pulling each other’s hair. You can’t wait to kick your boots back, hug Fraulein and maybe continue reading a book. 

Your house is on the opposite side of the bus stop so you always (almost begrudgingly) have to pass by Shohei’s house every time. Sometimes it would be quiet with Dusty playing alone on the porch, or Shohei having a barbecue and would always cheerfully waving at you while you just give him a brief nod. Recently, you’ve grown accustomed to seeing Fraulein hanging out in his place more often than you have imagined. She’s like a teenage girl rebelling against her overbearing mother, hanging out with the wrong crowd. After that incident with Dusty, she has claimed dominance on his bed, Shohei had no choice but to buy a new one for his poor dog, while Fraulein smugly walks around in her new territory. 

You had developed some sort of weird neighbor-dynamic with Shohei after that. On days Fraulein had to take her medicine shots that Patrick had given you, you’d walk towards his house and pick her up like some sort of pet daycare. Shohei likes to call it “daddy daycare” as if you’re two divorced parents and he is the cool dad that all the kids love hanging with while you’re the uptight, overbearing mother with full custody and all, that the kids hate. 

“Fraulein, your mom’s here.” Shohei said one day, looking up from his laptop which was perched on the table he had set up on his porch, sitting adjacent to Fraulein. Dusty was chewing on his toy, as usual, and perked up a welcome upon seeing you. 

Fraulein stands and stretches her back and sits back again resting on Shohei’s foot, to which Shohei smirks almost smugly. “She loves her dad more, it seems.”

You roll your eyes and pick up Fraulein. “Stop calling yourself her dad before I burn your house down.”

“Ooh, an arsonist for a neighbor. That’s so sexy, Y/N.” He looked you up and down and wiggled his eyebrows. “You’re too cute to go to jail, though. How about going out with me instead?”

“Piss off. C’mon, Fraulein, time for medicine.” You turned and walked back to your home, trying to keep a straight face at the being called cute with Shohei. You’re too cute. You made the mistake of looking back as you turned to your corner and saw Shohei grinning at you.

This day would be no different as you passed by Shohei’s house today and saw Fraulein napping at the exact same place on his porch. He was working out doing ab crunches on the ground. You decided today, you wouldn’t dare to go on another episode of sarcasm battle with Shohei and go straight home. He was wearing workout clothes of course, with his gym shorts and sleeveless shirt, for all the temptations in the world, this one, you had proudly resisted and warded off like the devil. 

You found Dusty on your lawn, sitting by the patch of grass far from your flowers, thankfully, and staring far ahead into the direction of your home. You patted him and tried to get his attention. Ever since being displaced by Fraulein, he had been giving you frequent visits and play in your yard and you’d give him treats from your secret stash.

“Hey, bud. Were you waiting for me?” He ignored you and continued to look on.

By the door, you can see a tall black figure standing, unmoving. It was a man in a black suit with hands in his pockets. When he turns around, you see a familiar face.  

“No,” You whispered. Jack smiles at you and waves, as if nothing had happened almost a month ago. As if he was just returning from a business trip. Like cheating on you was nothing.

You started panicking and heaving heavily. Dusty senses your fear and barks at Jack when he slowly walks over to you. 

Dusty continued to growl and bark at Jack while you tried to move backward, feet heavy like lead. 

“Stop, don’t come near me, Jack.” you struggled.

“Y/N, I’m here to apologize, for whatever happened, for whatever it made you feel.” He was still slowly walking towards you, eyeing Dusty carefully.

“We have nothing to talk about anymore, Jack. It’s over, in case you forgot.”

“I said come here, you bitch.” He growled. 

At this point, you only realized you were shaking terribly when a hand wrapped on your shoulder, calming you down.

“Are you okay?” It was Shohei’s voice and you have never felt so relieved to hear his voice. You weakly put your arm around his waist and leaned on him. You were still shaking badly, from the exhaustion, or the fear, you couldn’t tell. 

“Is everything okay?” Shohei acknowledges Jack who stopped at around five feet from where you were. 

“We were just discussing something… private.” Jack shifts his eyes between you and Shohei, who was sizing him up and down. Between Shohei, who stood over six feet tall, bulky, and ripped, and Jack, just around five foot nine, body somewhat lean and lanky, Jack didn’t stand a chance. 

Realizing this, you found more comfort and confidence in your plan. You looked up to see Shohei still trying to converse with Jack while keeping a firm arm around you. 

“Shohei.” He looked at you cautiously and tightened his grip on your shoulder. 

Please promise me that you won’t get mad at what I’m about to do.

“What is it, Y/N? Who is this guy?” he said.

“He’s my ex who I want nothing to do with.” He straightened his back but you pulled him by the neck so you could whisper in his ear.

“I’m so sorry, Shohei.” 

“I’m not sure I understand–” He tilted his head in confusion. Jack starts moving forward again, looking almost pissed by just looking at you and Shohei. 

With Shohei still leaning forward, you desperately grabbed his cheeks and pecked him square on the lips. 

Shock induces both Shohei’s and Jack’s faces when you pull back, eyes focused on Jack and hoping to God he’d get the message. Wild red alarms blared and rang loudly in your head, you just kissed Shohei, your hot and annoying neighbor! You just kissed him! You ignored this and focused on the problem at hand. 

“He’s my boyfriend, Jack. Please leave now–” 

Shohei recovers from his shock and kisses you back in bigger, wider and longer strokes of his tongue. The tremors in your body shook harder and you felt your limbs melt into a puddle of water. Shohei’s big warm hands were there to catch you as your knees unbuckled. 

You kissed back and forgot everything that was happening in the background. Dusty barking, Jack’s shell-shocked face, the vehicles passing by the street witnessing your spectacle. You ignored all of this and focused on the way Shohei holds on to your body from your neck, to your back until it rests to the back of your waist, gripping tight, his firm and taut body pressing hard onto you, and his lips sliding over yours so smoothly, stimulating all the senses in your tongue and mouth. 

You don’t know how many seconds passed when you stayed inside that bubble but when you both pulled back for air, Jack was no longer there and Dusty had stopped barking. Instead, he just sat quietly on the ground, waiting for you to finish. 

You stared at Shohei and you stared back at him. Your hand was still on his neck, half-gripping the nape. You slowly let go and pull away. It’s always after the sin that you feel the shame and guilt. 

He doesn’t let go and instead takes you by the shoulder. “Come inside first and we’ll talk.”

You nod wordlessly and follow his lead. You couldn’t walk properly anyway, so you didn’t want to fight back. Your knees felt like jelly and your brain full of fog. That was hot, you thought, but also very wrong.

You sat at Shohei’s dining table chugging a glass of water. By the time you finished, he sat there in front of you and continued looking at you intensely.

In your post-kiss and post-Jack clarity, you’re now too embarrassed to admit the way you handled that situation. But Shohei, being Shohei, seemed unfazed. For the most part, he found it amusing to be part of your ex-boyfriend escape plan, of all the people. 

“A man never listens to a no,” You were too focused on the rim of the glass. You want to look anywhere but Shohei’s mouth. “And I was desperate for him to get away… so I did.. That.”

“Y/N, you were trembling out there. What exactly has he done to you?” He removed the glass from your grip and made you focus on him.

“He… I… He’s an asshole when he gets angry. And I was just scared I wouldn't be able to refuse him. I don’t want him anymore.”

“For someone as arrogant and snappish as you, that’s pretty hard to believe.” You rolled your eyes at him and smirked, lips looking luscious and fuller than the last time. 

“Look, I was probably having a panic attack back there, and I’m okay now, see?” You spread your arms widely, faking a smile at him. You’d like this conversation to end so you could run back to your house and ram your head to the wall. The more you stay in Shohei’s presence, the more embarrassed you feel about wanting and enjoying that kiss. You did. You do. And you want more. 

“I wanted an easy way out, you happened to be there and I grabbed the moment.” You rambled on. “And that kiss, it was just a one-time thing.”

“A one-time thing?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, it was a mistake. We don’t even like each other to kiss, so we can forget about it.”

“Is that right?” His lips curled into a smirk.

“Yes, tomorrow, we act like it never happened, okay?” You stood up and started collecting yourself. You hang by the door and look back, Shohei had his arms crossed against his chest, staring at you. 

“I don’t know, Y/N. That seems pretty unforgettable to me.”

~~~~~

The following morning, you woke up early to visit the farmer's market to replenish your cupboard. You wore black tights over your long beige dress and a gray cardigan. You put your hair down in loose waves today and replaced your contacts with your old prescription eyeglasses. 

Sprawled in front of you were tents and tables of farmers and sellers of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables to your heart’s content. Almost everyone you knew from town was there on a bright day like this. You said your hellos and some, who were avid customers of Novel Nook, asked about the new book releases. Since it is a fairly small town, it is inevitable to spot the ones that you direly wanted to avoid. For example, your ex-boyfriend Jack. 

He was standing one tent away and seemed to just idly window-shopping. You put your head down and try not to meet his gaze or look at his direction as you busy yourself looking through a good bunch of tomatoes. 

“Hey, Y/N.” You put your guard down and suddenly he is in front of you. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“Trying to… buy some tomatoes?” He sneered, holding a tomato in his hand. “I don’t see your boyfriend around.”

“I…He’s… Can you please stop following me?” Cold sweat ran through your spine as he noticed you fumble, noticing your lie. 

“Lest you forget, I live here, too.” 

“Not in this side of town, you don’t.” You walked away with the bag of tomatoes you purchased. You moved quickly and avoided the throng of people that was starting to build up. 

“I just want us to talk… Y/N. You didn’t give me a chance to explain yesterday.” He continued to follow you, hands behind his back. He was obviously not there to buy tomatoes. 

“I don’t want to see you anymore. Leave me alone or I’ll call the police.” You looked at him sternly, hand gripping tightly on the basket you were holding. One false move and you just might smash his head with a whole pineapple. 

“No boyfriend to come save you now?” Jack chuckled. 

“There you are.” A familiar voice sprung up from behind, and a hand snaked around your waist. Shohei was suddenly beside you, holding on to his own basket of shopping bags.  “I was looking all over for you. Look, I got you blueberries for the cake you were planning to bake. ”

Shohei pinched your sides and smiled, nodding at you to play along with his little act. You forced a wide smile and said, “Wow, yes. You remembered, love? Thank you.”

You both turned to Jack who had a repulsed expression on his face. He coughed up and tried to get back his composure, but it was too late as both of you were already walking away. Shohei did not let go of you even until you turned a corner. You couldn’t care less about shopping anymore as you worried about running into Jack again.

“It looks like your ex is adamant on following you around.” He whispered to your ear, looking back and seeing Jack following far behind. “Care to give him a show, love?” 

You widen your eyes as you realized what was about to happen. 

He moves his head closer to yours and locks you in a wet kiss. He pushed deeper into the kiss when you unconsciously opened your mouth and let him in, mouth and tongue. The smell of clean detergent mixed with a little bit of vanilla filled your lungs, slapping you drunk. The second kiss was just as good as the first. 

Shohei suddenly pulls back from the kiss and offers his hand, and continues walking along like he hadn’t sucked the air out of your body.

For a few more tents, you and Shohei walked around hand in hand in the cold morning, picking fruits and vegetables like your typical neighborhood couple. Many onlookers saw the two of you eating from the free taste section, or arguing about the right vegetable size to buy, or just happily chatting with his hand not letting you go. 

“Shohei, I think Jack’s no longer around.” You motion for him to let go of your hand. 

“Aw, I thought we weren’t acting anymore, the way you were kissing me back there.” He smirks and lets go of your hand, missing his warmth already. 

“I’m only letting your hand go because you look like you’re going to topple over with how heavy this basket is.” He took your groceries from you and led the way. Since you’re practically almost living together, you have no choice but to walk with him awkwardly. 

“Thank you, Shohei.” You said quietly, walking feebly behind him.

“Didn’t catch that, love. What–” He wheels around and stops himself after realizing what he said, the tips of his ears turning red. You tried to keep a straight face but failed as both of you got caught in the moment. 

“Don’t get used to it.” You giggled and skipped your steps, leaving him to carry all the shopping bags he refused to let you carry. 

~~~

You were slowly settling down for the night with a movie on and a bowl of buttered popcorn when you heard a faint knock on the door.

Shohei was standing outside with his hands in the pockets of his checkered pajama pants. On his feet seems to be a brand new pet backpack carrier.

“Special delivery for one order of queen of meowtown, clingy and fuzzball Fraulein!” He beamed and pointed at the carrier. Fraulein was sitting relaxedly inside. 

“Don’t be shocked or anything but I accidentally bought two of these.” He pointed at the carrier. “I-I thought you’d like to have one for Fraulein. You don’t have to accept it i-if you…”

You smiled as he stammered on. “This looks really cute, I love it.”

Shohei smiled widely and helped push the carrier to your living room. “Then I'll give this as a gift!”

“It would be improper to receive a gift like this...”

“I refuse to accept no, Y/N. Take it please.”

You wanted to mull over it, let it marinate in your head and see what happens but ever since the first two kisses you shared with him, Shohei has been… extra friendly recently. And you were not that kind of “friend”. Whenever you pass his house, he’d go out of his way and talk to you before you walk away. Asking you questions if you’re on the way to the farmer's market, or if you’re on your way to work, if you want to join him for a run. He’s been attentive and you’re not sure what exactly this dynamic has evolved into. You feel uncomfortable about the attention you’re receiving but at the same time, you feel it in your chest and in your stomach and at the tips of your fingers. The fluttering. The tremors and the shakiness of breaths. It’s always there when he’s there. 

“Okay, fine. I’ll take it. But no more other gifts, okay!” You opened the carrier to let Fraulein out who walked idly away and climbed into her tree tower. 

Shohei smiled, nodding. He was about to leave the door when you pulled the sleeve of his shirt. 

“Wait. Um.”

He stepped back and looked inquiringly. You held up a photo from your phone to his face: it was you and Shohei on the day you went to the farmer’s market, holding hands while looking at freshly picked flowers. Shohei’s eyes squinted with laughter, looking intently at you while you were captured trying to explain something trivial. It was quite a beautiful shot sent to you by a cousin who was good at photography. More than that, if you were a stranger looking at a random photo like this, you’d think you were happily in love, and the thought made your chest flutter. 

“It’s quite a small town so it didn’t come as a shock to me when people started noticing whatever this was.” Shohei was still looking at the photo, a small smile drawn on his lips. 

“My mom’s side of the family is setting up a brunch this weekend. I usually bring Patrick to this but they wanted to meet you so…” You trailed.

You coughed and took the phone away. “It’s just a small group of people. And we can always say we broke up after three months or something.”

He cocked his head, looking confused. “Are we still doing the pretending thing with your family?”

“Yeah, I mean. We don’t like each other like that, right? We can just say it didn’t work out after three or four months. They usually move on pretty quickly from the guys I date.”

“Let me get this straight, Y/N.” He said slowly, the Adam’s apple on his throat went up and down as he swallowed. “You want to introduce me to your family as your fake boyfriend on your family brunch.”

You affirmed. “Yes.”

“And we’re going to cook up a reason to break up.”

“Yes.”

“And you said we don’t really like each other that much.”

“Not one bit”

“When we already had two kisses.”

“Yeah.”

“And went on a date in the farmer’s market walking around while holding hands. We kissed twice.”

“It  wasn’t a date.”

“It was to me.” He muttered.

“It was because you were helping me with Jack, remember?”

Shohei sighed exasperatedly, his mood darkened. “Pssh, yeah, whatever. Text me the details. G’night.” He scooted to leave and just like that you were left all alone in a confused daze in your living room. 

~~~

You spent too much time tossing and turning on your bed that night. The voices in your head and the whispers in your heart having an ongoing debate about what had happened a few hours before. 

Shohei was extremely happy, almost beaming like a kid when he brought you his gift but his expression changed after you had the conversation about your family brunch. Maybe you can sit it out this year and make up an excuse that both you and Shohei couldn’t attend? Seasonal allergies? Car getting mauled? Someone’s pet dying? Gods, no. You internally smack yourself for even being near to the thought of either your pets dying, not when they’re the closest thing you have as your best friend and family. You believe Shohei believes that, too. 

And why would Shohei become upset when you proposed the idea of a fake relationship with your family? You started this whole mess and it’s slowly getting out of hand, you want to nip it in the bud so it won’t have to hurt that much later on. It was just a one-time thing, an escape plan until Jack gets out of your hair, then both of you can live as freely as you had before. 

Besides, Shohei doesn’t like you to be that upset. Does he? He’s just a neighbor who likes joking around and annoying you whenever he gets the chance. He also just so happens to be a neighbor that Fraulein spends a lot of time on, he’s just someone to you until recently. 

You touch your fingers on your lips. That kiss shouldn’t mean anything to you because maybe Shohei doesn’t think about it that much either. He’s probably had a good number of girls that he’s kissed with that mouth. Given how good those kisses were, his expertise was undeniably top notch. You’ve never had anything like that before. A kiss that makes your insides tremble with need, almost fairytale like. Something close to what Mia Thermopolis had fantasized before her royal engagement with Nick Devereaux, a kiss that makes your leg pop. That’s what it was. A leg-popping, heart-fluttering, soul-defining kind of a  kiss that you’ll ask for more.

But as much as you want this all for yourself like the next person, you just had your heart broken by Jack. Jack who had promised you the moon and the stars, and a beautiful, dreamy, family with your pets. He had you swooning and dreaming about forever. It was all perfect until that fateful date and the cheating. It hurts to realize that no matter how much you love and do better for a person, they will always look for ways to look at other people. The idea of getting into a relationship right away after what happened with Jack is preposterous at this point. The trust and self-confidence Jack broke is something you want to piece together yourself first. Even if it meant being alone for a couple of months, or years. Who knows.  

You tossed to your side once again, feeling the sleep finally get to you. You dozed off soaking under the thoughts of kittens and kissing a tall man with contagious laughter. 

~~~~

Shohei was filling Fraulein’s food and water bowl dutifully as you had asked, waiting for you to finish preparing for the family brunch in the living room. He had finally succumbed and agreed to go with you as your fake boyfriend, despite his initial feelings towards the arrangement. He still doesn’t understand what was going through your head but he nevertheless had stopped bringing it up. He realized that the more he asked, the more you pushed back and retreated into the dark. He decided that he’d wait for you to soften up. You always do. 

And that’s how the two of you went back to being friendly with each other. 

He was sitting on your living room couch with Fraulein, brushing her fur with his fingers. Just another territory she had claimed: Shohei’s lap. 

“Shohei, help please!” You ran down the stairs, all dolled up. You put your hair down again, this time, you kept it naturally soft and straight. You also donned a yellow sundress that hugged your body, showing off your natural curves. The hems of the skirt go loose from the thighs down. 

“Can you help me zip this up, please?” You said so casually. When you turned around and showed Shohei your bare, unzipped back, he swallowed hard. 

He held your waist lightly and zipped your back slowly, as if taking his time to gape at the bareness of your skin exposed for him. When his breath touched your neck, you felt goosebumps pop. 

“Let’s go.” You smiled too widely for him, trying to act like the oxygen in your house has not depleted. 

Shohei was a hit with your cousins during brunch. Turns out that all of them share the same interests in baseball and baseball teams. They were passionately chatting on one side of the garden area while you helped your Aunt Olivia set up the table.

“He’s quite the personality, Y/N.” She mused.

“Wherever did you find a man like that, Y/N?” Your cousin Evelyn commented, staring back. “Woot, what a view.”

You smiled and looked at Shohei socializing with your family. The moment the two of you entered Aunt Olivia’s home, everyone stared in awe. After introductions were made, Shohei made connections pretty quickly with his bubbly personality. You can also hear his occasional booming laughter from their group.

You were on your way to the kitchen when a hand on your waist suddenly pulled you from behind. Shohei led you to the empty pantry and pushed you back to the wall, his hands up on the wall and caging you.

“Hi?” 

“Hi.” He looked deep into your eyes, like he was looking for something. “Anyplace in this house, we are pretending, yes?”

“Yes, the moment we stepped out of the car. We are boyfriend and girlfriend.” You confirmed.

“Even here?” His lips shadowed lightly on yours, nose grazing yours. 

“Uhm. Yes.” You breathed and that would be your last breath for a while as Shohei kissed you full on the mouth. 

He kissed you frantically, with need and fervor. You put your hands over his shoulders and his hands reached the back of your leg, putting it over his waist. You stifled a moan as he bit your neck and peppered your chest with small kisses. You can’t help but push your hips forward and roll it against his. 

You broke apart like a deer in headlights when you heard footsteps nearby. You pushed Shohei and straightened your clothes. You wiped Shohei’s lipstick-stained mouth and ran away as fast as you could. Shohei, who was as kiss-hungry and love drunk as you were, could only smirk at your retreating form. 

During brunch, you sat with Aunt Olivia on your right and Shohei, by default, on your left side. You were trying to make conversation about the current weather news report while eating your plate of mashed potatoes, all while trying to avoid any contact with Shohei. 

He noticed you have been avoidant after the hot makeout session in the pantry. He put a hand on your thigh under the table, pinching it with reassurance.

“Are we good, Y/N?”

You nodded wordlessly and smiled at him. Something about the way Shohei’s attentiveness always hits you to your core. You’ve never felt this so cared for before that it’s almost bewitching. 

The party started getting up and divided: your aunts and uncles dancing happily on one side, your cousins taking selfies on the other. Meanwhile you and Shohei were left sitting comfortably by the dining table, enjoying the sweet ambiance of everyone around you. 

You held his arm gingerly, almost seductively when you felt his hard muscles from his shirt. A few moments ago, you had almost stripped him naked in the pantry with all of your aunt’s condiments as your audience.

“Why are you so toned? What are you working out for?” You said jokingly, pressing on his biceps in amazement.

“I’m preparing for the next man who tries to steal you.” He leaned in and whispered in your ear. You giggled. 

“No one can take me away from you!” You whispered back, resting your head on his shoulder. You were on your third glass of wine and it isn’t noon yet. You feel tipsy and giggly in the comfort of Shohei’s strong arms. 

“And this is a toast to our new couple, Y/N and Shohei, may this relationship be longer than the last one.” Uncle Ben bellowed, attracting laughter from the rest of the family. They clinked their glasses and toasted for the nth time today. 

You raised your own glass and sipped your wine. 

“Don’t mind them, they’re always like that when I bring a guy to brunch.”

He caressed your thigh and wanted to push the button. “Which guys?”

“Hm? Oh just Jack and Patrick. Although Patrick doesn’t count, because he’s my bestie.” Shohei looked at you and wondered who Patrick may be. He felt a bubbling feeling at the pit of his stomach. Is he jealous? Angry? That he wasn’t the first person you introduced to your family. He shrugged it off. This is just all an act, anyway. Get your shit together, man.

“This may be my favorite brunch ever.” You concluded, finishing the last few drops of your wine. Shohei stole the glass from your hand and replaced it with his. 

“The weather is perfect, the food is great, all of my mom’s family is here. And I don’t feel alone… thanks to you.” You traced circles on the back of Shohei’s palm with your thumb. 

“Why don’t we end this with a bang, Y/N?”

Shohei’s smile invites you to a peck on the lips. He held the back of your head and gently kissed you deeply, slowly this time. You don’t resist and he doesn’t let go. You hear cheers from the background as you kiss softly. Shohei kisses you for the last time today with the hopes that it removes the uncertainty in your mind. That when he kisses you better this time, it would change your mind. He prays to all the gods that would listen.

You melt into the moment and hope it never ceases, because you go back to normal after it ends. After today, you and Shohei will be two separate people once again. And that hurts the deeper parts of you without you realizing it. 

~~~~

Shohei escorted you back home after the brunch. You rode in complete silence all the way. You really really didn’t want it to end but you also didn’t want to drag Shohei into a life that you’re not a hundred percent sure of yet. 

“Thank you for the ride.” You hung back at the entrance and Shohei waited, hoping you’d say something more. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.”

He sighed. “Wait, Y/N. Is that it?”

“What do you mean?” 

“Are we just gonna go back to the way it was now that you’re done pretending?” He said almost angrily. 

“Well, that’s the plan, isn’t it?”

“That’s your plan. I don’t want this to end. Did you ever wonder why I had agreed to it without asking anything in return? Because I didn’t need to pretend at all. It was all real to me.”

You stood there dumbfounded at the sudden outburst of confession from him. You thought Shohei would be more than willing to go back to his old,  uninvolved life with you. But he was right. You never once stopped to think why he was more than willing to help you get away from Jack, or to help you lie in front of your family. 

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking properly when I asked you this…” You blink back tears forming. 

Shohei walks up to you and rests his hands on your shoulders. “I don’t want this to end. Do you?”

“I’m not sure I’m ready for all of this, Shohei.” You squeaked, finally finding your voice. 

“You’re the most attentive, thoughtful, and sincerest man I’ve ever been blessed to meet. Even I get breathless thinking how lucky I’d be if I let you in…

“This whole fake dating thing was a mess. I shouldn’t have dragged you into my problems.”

“Y/N. Please don’t shut me out. Let me in, I’d go to the trouble of warding off your ex-boyfriend if I need to. I’ll be here for whatever.” Shohei begged. You shook your head firmly.

“I’m not ready yet, Shohei. I loved every moment I have spent with you, but I need to be with myself for now.” 

Shohei dropped his hands to his sides and stepped back, his eyes glistening with tears. 

“See you around, then.”

You watched him walk away until he disappeared into his home. You closed your door and plopped down on the floor. The tears that you were holding back came gushing out, and finally you were bawling. You didn’t cry this hard when Jack cheated on you but when you saw Shohei walking away because of your own doing, you felt like your world had collapsed. You wept until there were no tears left to cry, until the only pain you have left to bear was the hollowness of what Shohei left. You crawled into a ball by the door, clothes unchanged, makeup running down your face. Fraulein snuggles up to you minutes after, sharing her warmth.

Looks like it's just you and me again, Fraulein. 

In the next couple of weeks, you would rise early to tend to your plants, volunteer additional hours in Novel Nook so you could get home later than usual, and avoid the farmer’s market. You added wearing a baseball cap or large hats as a new fashion ensemble to steer away from eye contact at the risk of bumping into Shohei. The thing  is, your efforts to avoid him were reduced to nil as you bumped into him everywhere you went. When you throw out the trash as early as five o'clock in the morning, he’d be there, warming up or jogging on your path.  When you went to the farmer's market later than usual, he was also there doing after-rush hour shopping. Even administering Fraulein’s medicine time was an arduous task seeing that she still hangs around Shohei’s porch, not understanding your human conflict and emotions towards each other. 

There are days when you feel better and the sun is shining, but there are also moments when you catch yourself at the brink of a breakdown. It takes a while for the loneliness to settle in like an unwanted guest, creeping over your shoulder, sometimes hugging you at night. It wasn’t this hard before you met Shohei, so how was it different now?

“All good, Y/N?” You lost your train of thought at the voice of Aunt Olivia. You couldn’t bear the loneliness and the quiet of your home that you packed your stuff and stayed for a week’s worth of vacation. She joined you in the indoor kitchen table, where you were having your mid-afternoon coffee. 

“Boy problems?” she suggested. One look from you and she already knew. 

“Aunt Liv, how do you know if you’re ready to love again?” You said after a moment of silence. 

“You don’t.” She smiled and cupped your hands. “You fuck around then find out.”

She chuckled to herself. “You remind me so much of your mom. She was always scared of trivial matters, like falling in love.

“But when she had a good taste in it, she never looked back.”

Aunt Liv has always been fond of her little sister. Your mom. And hearing these words from her, reminiscent of how she had been when she was your age, twinged at your heart a little bit. 

“I’m not the one who’d pry on your relationships, Y/N. But he’s a keeper, that boy. I thought he was joking at first, but he seems to be serious about it.”

You knitted your eyebrows together. “What do you mean by that?”

“He said something when I got him alone that day. He’d said, you were tougher than a potato under hot water. But he’s willing to wait for you to soften up no matter how hot it gets.”

Leave it to Shohei to drop potato metaphors to your relatives on their first meeting. 

“When a man like that comes around, I won’t ever let him go. You’re lucky if you ever meet the same kind of man twice.”

You pondered on about Aunt Liv’s advice for the rest of the day; by nighttime, you felt an epiphany dawn upon you. The next day, you packed up and went home earlier than you had planned. 

“Go get him, bubba.” Aunt Liv wished you luck. You’ll need all the luck you can get and hope it wasn’t too late. 

It took you approximately an hour to get home by taxi, the car zigzagging across the street. 

You don’t know why you were rushing. He wasn’t going anywhere, not to your knowledge. He will always be right where you left him but something inside you was telling you that a second more that you’re away from home, and you’d lose him. 

You were trying to catch your breath as you ran on your side of the street when you bumped into Shohei leaving your front lawn, a pail and shovel over his shoulders.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” He was covered in dirt from the knee up, his white shirt sticking to his body and full of sweat. He looked a little shocked and panicked at being caught mid-exit from your garden. 

“I should ask you the same question. What were you doing in my lawn?” You tried to take a peek but Shohei covered your path with his wide body. “Did you bury a body there?”

“I think that’s a good idea for your fertilizer, Y/N!” He seemed a little agitated and making offbeat jokes to distract you. 

“Step away. What did you do to my garden?” You pushed him with all the adrenaline coursing through you and jogged towards your front lawn, expecting a murder crime scene or worse, a decaying garden. 

Instead, you saw hundreds of tulips in different shades and colors spread all throughout your garden. Purple and yellow tulips lined up the path towards your home. Red and pink tulips danced in the background, swaying every time a soft breeze brushed through. 

“You’re not supposed to see it yet. I thought you’d be back tomorrow night.” Shohei said, rubbing the nape of his head, embarrassed at being caught.

“You remembered when I said… At the farmer’s market…” You stammered.

“Yes, you went on and on about how much you love tulips.” You suddenly remembered the photo before the brunch party. How Shohei was looking fondly at you as he listened to you rambling on about something trivial. It wasn’t trivial to him because it was important to you. And he remembered. 

You turned around and faced him. You held out a hand and wiped a bit of sweat off of his face. “Did you do all of this… on your own?”

He nodded shyly. “That’s not all, though.” He whistled and called Dusty.

“You’re the most stubborn and one hell of a fiery woman. But you’re also the sweetest, softest, clingiest woman I’ve lucked out on. You’re so beautiful sometimes it hurts. After that second kiss, I knew right away that I’d have to fight tooth and nail for you to keep needing and wanting me."

Dusty bursted out of Shohei’s garden stringing along a reluctant Fraulein scruffed by the neck. Both of them were wearing cute red bow ties on their neck each laced with individual messages. 

You pulled Dusty’s message and read, “I want to call you “mom” so will you be my dad’s girlfriend?

You squealed in delight as you unraveled the next message pinned on Fraulein’s bow tie: “I loved him first but can you keep him forever?”

You swooned and laughed at the corniness and the teeth-rotting sweetness. You can’t help but jump into Shohei’s arms and give him a big hug despite all the sweat and grime on his body. 

“Ew, you got all your sweat on me.” You playfully joked at the parting.

“Hmm, you have no choice but to shower with me now.” He lifted you by the waist and carried you on top of his shoulders, both of you laughing and shrieking like newly weds on honeymoon, Dusty and Fraulein at your tails. 

.This place, this scene, and this warmth spreading through your chest up to your fingertips, all of it and the familiarity of it, you realized, is the only thing you need to live a lifetime of love and happiness. You were wondering where it was all this time and you understand now that it had been right beside you all along.

[gardenletter]

Yandere orc x reader🔥🥀🔪💚

People of all species lived in mixed communities, cities and kingdoms and the land was at its highest and with all species together living was easy playing off each other's strengths. But a famine came causing a panic .Starting a war between species for resources and land as people left or were kicked out of kingdoms to their previous home lands.But before the war took place you lived in an intermixed kingdom and your best friend was an Orc boy.

"Xurl"I called as I was trying to find my friend as we have been playing hide and seek for the past 2 hours and I haven't found him yet.As I called for him again I heard a childish giggle over my shoulder as I looked up to see him hanging from a tree above.

"Hey that's sooo unfair" I whined as Xurl swung down to the grass. "Oh come on y/n don't be a party pooper it's not like we said trees were off limits....so next time look in a tree" he says with his teeth filled grin showing off more than his baby sized tusks. I pout as I grabbed his hand and we walked to my house for some snacks. A faint blush danced his cheeks as I pulled him along...

But as we reached my yard a siren cried over us.Me and Xurl never heard such a siren before but as we saw the panic in adults faces we knew it was bad.Parents we're picking up their children and leaving or grabbing other things of value.Me and Xurl just looked at each other.And just on cue a man....or a knight I have never seen before in red and gold armor grabbed Xurl and I apart and through Xurl.

"XURL" I screamed as I tried to run to him but was stopped by the human in the red armor"don't touch that filthy thing child...it will infect you"...I was shocked and scared as i looked at him"no no he won't...Xurl is my friend" and when I went to look at Xurl he was being taken by other unfamiliar people in red armor.I was scared and didn't know what to do...my friend...my best friend was being taken and I wasn't doing anything.But as he was being dragged away adrenaline ran through me as I looked around to see every thing on fire.I grabbed a small piece of wood burning with a flame and shoved it in the eyes of one of the knights holding Xurl. She cried in agony and horror as her fellow knight also let go of Xurl to assist her.The three knights were distracted as I grabbed Xurl's hand and ran never looking back at the knights in fear of feeling guilt or seeing what I have don't to the eyes of one of them.

As we ran we see that it's not just humans taking orcs it orcs taking humans or other people not of their species.I heald onto his hand tighter as we ran.We weaved through crowds of frantic people as we tried to find one of our parents remember the four of them going to town square for shopping.And as mother luck was on our side I bumped right into the chest of my dad.His eyes the size of plates as we meet eyes...he grabs me and Xurls arms with no explanation as he lead us though the crowd to an ally way leading us to mom and Xurls parents.Xurl runs out if dad's hold into his mother's arms with tears running down his face...

Some time has passed and me and Xurl were holding each other for dear life as our parents talked about what was happening and what the next plan was."kids"Xrul's mom says as she bent down to our level."this is going to be really hard...but we're going to have to leave". And of course I thought Like no shit look at the place but then she said"and go our separate ways"

To cut the sob story short it was hard.

me and Xurl had to be literally torn apart as our parents made it to the forest line and had to go our separate ways...but no matter how young we were we know deep down way we did...no we're we went would expect a orc and human family as a package deal at the time.

That all Happened nearly 9 years from now...I still think of Xurl a lot

( I have a part 2 and 3 out now)

HEYyyyyy people I hope you like this short intro to my orc character and if you are interested in a part 2 show some love and that is possible just need to know if you guys are interested ...well hope your doing well

Love gardenletter 💕

[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 22 ~ Scars

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 2

✧ Word Count : 5.4k

⚠️ TW : Mentions of attempted suicide & SH scars

In this chapter ~ When Rick and Shane decide to take Randall away from their people to drop him and fend for himself, things seem to go wrong on the other end. Beth becomes suicidal after witnessing the death of her mother just days prior, leading Rose to comfort her in a time of need. However, the heaviness that followed was a lot more than she anticipated, though luckily for her, Daryl helps her pick up the pieces.

It had been about two days since they brought Randall back, and he eventually woke from his unconscious state. Since then the place had been chaotic.

The group was constantly going around and around in circles about what to do with this guy, so much so it gave me a pounding headache. Because most of the time the arguments wouldn't go anywhere. People would just repeat the same things that had already been said, causing us to feel stuck in the same place as no one really had a solution.

Until Rick just made the final decision to do what he wanted to since the beginning, take the man far away from the farm and drop him off on his own.

So now that the man was finally able to walk and balance decently on his own, Rick and Shane took a car to drive him out in the middle of nowhere, leaving the rest of us nervously waiting for their return. Everyone eventually seemed to agree with the plan despite the possibilities of him coming back, but it's not like we had much of a choice.

I for one was trying to keep myself busy all day, helping Lori with some laundry, staying to keep watch on top of the RV, I even made a run into town earlier that morning with Glenn. We had found a few different stores in a small part of town that had some useful things in them. But there was a little something else I found that I was extra excited about besides the food and supplies.

When we walked into the last store, I saw it. The perfect thing to give to Daryl. I had never gotten him something in return when he gave me my sketchbook and watercolors, but now I had something that I thought would suit him quite nicely. It was a black leather vest with stitched angel wings on the back.

In my mind, I hoped he would really like it and I had planned to give it to him later that night. Once we all knew Randall was taken care of.

Currently I was washing dishes with Maggie, occasionally talking about random things, trying to get our minds off of what was happening today. I could easily tell she hadn't stopped thinking about it since it happened either, the anxious feeling of the man somehow making his way back to her own home couldn't have been easy to deal with. But I had hope that everything would work out just fine and things would begin to move smoothly again.

She wordlessly handed me the last plate that was in the sink, water dripping off of the edges as I took the towel in my hands to dry it. She leaned her back up against the counter as she stared down at her shoes, the sound of me stacking the final plate in the cabinet brining her out of her thoughts as she glanced back up to me nervously.

"Can I talk to you about something... more serious?" she asked.

I only nodded my head as I listened, throwing the towel back down on the counter to give her my full attention as I copied her stance.

"Well, Glenn's been avoiding me lately, and he told me that when he was out there trying to fight those guys, he froze at one point. He was saying that since I told him I loved him... that's the reason he froze, and my dad had to save his life. He said he was afraid to die... thinking about how it would affect me." she finished almost a little shamefully.

My eyes widened a bit as I was a little thrown off and not expecting that, but I was still quick to respond and reassure her. "Listen, I know that it might not feel too great that he's avoiding you, but the truth is he loves you too. I don't think he should be avoiding you, I think he should be cherishing these moments he has with you, but y'know he's a guy." I pointed out, giving her a look she would be able to read.

She laughed quietly to herself as she nodded her head in silent understanding, "But he'll come around, I promise. You just gotta give him a little time." I finished.

She pressed her lips together and nodded gratefully, "Thank you." she said, "I feel like I can really talk to you ya know? I'm glad you're here."

I smiled, "Yeah, me too." I spoke, opening my mouth again before closing it back up quickly. My dumbass almost slipped up and said something about how I was glad that I stayed, but I bit my tongue before it could come out.

My eyes then absentmindedly panned over towards the tray of food that Maggie had set off to the side a few minutes ago, "Is this for Beth?" I asked, quickly changing the subject.

She followed my gaze and nodded, "Oh yeah, I was about to bring that up to her when we were done."

"Oh I got it, I was going to check on her soon anyways." I said, moving towards the counter.

She smiled gratefully, "Thank you. You know Beth really likes you. Ever since you taught her how to play those few songs on the guitar it's really all she can really talk about. I think seeing you would cheer her up."

"Yeah, I had fun teaching her, I'm sure she'll be ready to learn some more in no time." I reassured her.

Maggie nodded her head and I fully picked up the tray in my hands, walking out of the kitchen to head upstairs and into Beth's room. It seemed quieter than usual as I made my way up the familiar stairs, something seeming a little off. But I mostly blamed it on Rick and Shane's absence, still not here even after leaving early this morning.

For some reason the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth, sensing something might go wrong out there, not necessarily with Randall. But with each other.

After what happened with the barn and the whole fight that came after that, the two had been at each other's throats ever since. It was way far off from how they used to act around each other, seeming more like brothers than friends. But something just clicked and now they almost acted like strangers. Though it was none of my business, I still noticed.

Pushing my thoughts aside, I made it up the long staircase and lingered by the closed door, knocking softly a few times before I entered. To my surprise, I heard her soft voice from the other side invite me in, causing me to open the door as best as I could with the tray still balanced in my hands.

"Hey hon, it's just me." I announced as I walked in, "I brought you something to eat, and to see how you were doing."

Her gaze panned over towards me, and my breath hitched slightly in the back of my throat. I knew that familiar look all too well. I tried to not let it affect me too much in case I was wrong, but I had a feeling I wasn't. She looked utterly broken and depressed, much more pale with bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep. She had just lost her mom, I came to find out that she was the walker Beth ran to after everything happened. I'm pretty sure I couldn't have felt worse for her after finding that out, now more than ever seeing her like this.

"You can just set it down here." she said, pointing over towards the side table next to her bed.

I did what she asked and stood there for a moment as she stared at the sandwich on the plate, "Do you want me to stay, or do you want some space."

"Some space. If that's okay?" she asked.

"Yeah of course," I said immediately, "Just...call if you need anything." I finished with a smile.

She barely gave me a noticeable nod before I turned on my heel to give her some time alone, but I couldn't just brush off the vibe I picked up. It again could be nothing, just being paranoid over something I was reading too much into. But in case I was right, I didn't just want to keep it to myself.

I ventured back down the stairs, peeking in the kitchen again to see if Maggie was around, but the room was empty by the time I got back. A sigh left my lips as I turned back around to try and find her, but I managed to spot Lori entering the house right as I was about to come down the hall.

"Oh hey, Lori?" I called out as I approached her.

She turned towards me with a small smile, hanging up her jacket, "Hey, what's up?" she asked.

My eyes glanced back up the stairs momentarily before turning back to her, slightly lowering my voice, "I just...I'm worried about Beth. She just seems a little off and I was going to find Maggie to let her know but-"

"I can tell her." she offered with a nod, "I'll keep an eye on her until she comes back."

"Yeah that would be great." I spoke gratefully, "She's just up in her room and wanted to be left alone... but I don't know I think Maggie should know."

"Absolutely." she agreed instantly, "I'll tell her the next time I see her, okay?"

I nodded, "Thanks." I said with a small smile, passing her as I moved to exit the house.

I felt a little bad not telling Maggie about it myself, but knowing someone else would keep an eye out for Beth gave me a little piece of mind. I didn't want to hover over her or pick up any overprotective instincts even though in the back of my mind I knew it was inevitable. I just wanted her to be okay.

The rest of the day passed by slowly, leaving nothing much to do around camp and everyone simply doing their own thing for the day. After not being able to find Maggie, looping around the farm a couple of times, I assumed she was back in the house at this point. So I took the much needed time to myself.

A few hours passed by with me just laying down in the yellow tent trying to relax as best as I could. Spending most of the time reading the book Daryl had stolen from me when he got hurt and it actually turned out to be pretty good, only drawing me more in with each chapter. The details were amazing and I loved the plot. I didn't plan on giving this back to him anytime soon.

I hadn't seen him for most of the day because he decided to go out hunting fairly early in the morning, leaving camp before the sun even rose. He offered for me to come with him, but I declined as I needed to go out on that run with Glenn to get some things for myself, and he understood. I just hoped he would be back soon along with Rick and Shane who continued to be gone for far too long.

Damn it was like everyone was missing today.

After closing in on the last chapter, I finally shut the book after what felt like forever, blinking my eyes a few times to adjust them. For hours I had been reading tiny words on these pages and I felt that it was time for a break. So, I placed the book back in my bag, standing to leave the tent and walked outside a little to stretch my legs, leaning from side to side as I was hunched over for many hours.

I glanced around the small camp to see who was around, before my eyes suddenly stopped on Carl sitting by the RV. He seemed distant as he glanced at the comic book sitting in his lap, barely reading over the pages as he sloppily flipped through them. A pain in my chest suddenly dispersed upon seeing him like this, knowing that he hadn't been the same since he witnessed Sophia coming out of that barn. But who could blame him?

He was grieving in his own way, separating himself from the others as much as he could for just some time alone to think. I hadn't had a proper conversation with him since that day everything went wrong, keeping my distance as that's what he seemed to wish for. But I shook my head as I began to walk over towards him, wanting to talk to him for the first time in what felt like too long.

"Hey kid." I greeted him.

He glanced up and gave me a slight smile, "Hey." he spoke as he closed the book to give me his attention.

I moved to take a seat next to him on the ground, "So, what're you reading? Tell me about it." I said.

His eyes lit up "Really?"

I chuckled a little, "Yeah, why not. Who's this?" I asked, pointing to some sort of superhero.

His excited demeanor never faltered as he went on to tell me everything that was happening in this comic book. Who all of the characters were, what their powers were, and what their mission was. This was one of the first times I had seen him get excited about something in what felt like forever, and it warmed my heart at just the sight. He began to slowly open up a little bit more the longer we talked, changing the subject a few times to talk about his favorite cartoons he used to watch before the outbreak.

I enjoyed watching him smile, it felt like it had been some time since it last happened, and I was just glad to distract him even if it was only for a few minutes. A kid his age should never have to go through half the shit that's he's been through, though he was tougher than I ever could've imagined.

After we finished talking for a while, I left him to read it in peace after that. I wanted him to have his space too, and I never wanted to overstep any boundaries, especially when it came time to grieve someone.

I found myself heading back into the house to grab something to eat afterwards, but as soon as I walked in, I jumped a little as I suddenly heard screaming from just up the stairs. I didn't hesitate for a second before I was rushing up the steps two at a time, jogging into Beth's room to see Maggie and Lori were yelling and banging on the bathroom door.

"Woah, woah, what's happening?" I asked.

Maggie's head whipped around to face me, "Beth...Beth tried to kill herself and now locked herself in the bathroom, I heard glass." she spoke quickly, continuing to pound on the door, pleading with Beth to listen.

Panic flooded through me. She tried to kill herself? And was now attempting again? I stood in the doorway frozen in shock as I felt as though I couldn't move a thing. But then my eyes quickly darted around the room, looking for something to get the door open. Lori had moved to search the room for the key, frantically looking through her drawers as fast as she could, but I spotted a metal rod sitting in the corner of the room. I didn't think twice about it as I stepped forward, picking it up in my hands before telling Maggie to move out of the way quickly and she jumped back.

Sticking the thing in between the lock and the wood, I pushed on it as hard as I could in an attempt to pry it open. There was a sudden crack after a few seconds before the wooden door suddenly flew open, revealing Beth standing there with her hand over her wrist, blood pouring out of it. Her head whipped over to us frantically as soon as she heard the door breaking, tears streaming down her face and her heart no doubt racing out of her chest.

"I'm sorry." she sobbed, and Maggie didn't waste anymore time as she went in to pull her close.

I ditched the metal rod in my hands, stepping inside the bathroom only to realize how severe the cut actually was. Blood was now running down her arm and onto the tile floor, the amount of pressure she was putting on it clearly wasn't enough. I quickly placed my hand on Maggie's shoulder to get her attention, gently pulling Beth out of her hold.

"Go get your dad, he's going to need to stitch this up." I said, trying to hide the panic in my tone.

But she caught it even though it was disguised, quickly nodding her head as she left right along with Lori to try and find Hershel as fast as possible. Beth looked up at me and opened her mouth to speak, but only a sob came out as she ducked her head, causing me to immediately shush her and bring her into a hug.

We all had different experiences with mental health, everything was dealt with differently, but I somewhat knew how she was feeling. I had been in her position not that long ago and seeing her standing there when I first opened the door, brought all the memories back, so fast it was like a tidal wave. The whole situation nearly knocked me off my goddamn feet.

After standing in place for a while as she sobbed into my arms, I slowly started to bring her back into her attached bedroom, sitting her down on the bed so she could try to relax and focus on her breathing as she put more pressure on the wound.

Hershel frantically came in soon after that with a needle and thread and started to stitch his daughter up as she cried. I stayed by her side the whole time, holding her hand to offer her some type of comfort I was able to give. Though it was heartbreaking hearing her cry, and even more heartbreaking seeing Hershel try to pull himself together as he worked. I tried to think over the right things to say to her when the time came, but I felt that there was no right thing to say. What could you say after something like this?

After Hershel was done he said he would talk to her later and soon left the room in a hurry to no doubt let a few tears fall, leaving Beth and I alone again. She slowly laid down on the mattress after he left, her cheeks still stained with tears as she tried to calm herself down, with me rubbing her back towards the end of the bed. The silence slowly becoming deafening.

"Are you mad at me too?" she suddenly asked. I could feel the pain in her voice.

I whipped my head to look at her, "Oh my God honey no, I'm not mad at all. And neither is Maggie or your dad, they just love you so much. Seeing you like this... it hurts them, you know?"

She sighed as she shook her head, "I just feel so alone in this, like they don't even understand. Nobody does." she muttered.

"You're not alone." I said with a shake of my head, "I can promise you that."

"How do you know?" she was quick to ask.

My breath caught in my throat as I thought back to my own experiences, so different, yet so similar to hers. I debated in my head for a long time in the dead silence, letting the seconds turn into minutes if I really wanted to do this. I had never dared to show anyone the things I kept only to myself, ashamed of what others might think if they caught a glimpse of them. It made me feel vulnerable, weak, and that was something that I hated, but I needed to show her that someone here understood what she was going through.

So with a heavy breath, I hesitantly lifted my shirt sleeves to reveal my deeper scars on my wrists, trying to ignore the twist in my stomach as the cold air hit my arms. Her eyes followed my movements, immediately seeing them and I watched her eyes get wider with each passing second.

"I know." I assured after the agonizing silence.

She shook her head in disbelief, "You-"

"Yeah." I interrupted her, almost like I didn't want to hear her say it.

"It was uh... at a really hard time in my life. I won't bore you with the details but someone in my life was making me feel worthless. He told me that so much I started to believe it myself, and I got really depressed. Eventually I thought that... doing this was my only option so I... tried. But I regretted it as soon as I saw the blood, kind of like you did. So I called for help and I... saved my own life that night."

She stared at me so intently, listening carefully to every word that came out of my mouth. I knew I could trust her to not say anything to anyone, just as she knew I wouldn't judge her for trying to do what she did. It was like a silent agreement that we had at that moment.

"Look, my point is I don't know exactly how you feel and I never will. But we were in the same boat you and me, we're fighters and I know you'll make it through this. You just proved that today when you stopped yourself." I said.

Her eyes refilled with tears as she looked at me with utter sadness, "I didn't realize...I'm so sorry Rose."

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, not wanting her to see me cry as I smiled sadly, "I'm sorry too." I whispered before bringing her into a hug.

She clung onto me tightly as the new fresh tears fell down her face, sobs erupting from her lungs. All the emotions mixed with the exhaustion was truly taking a toll on her body, but I was prepared to hold her for as long as she needed. Just like I wished someone had held me.

Once her cries quieted down after a few minutes, I spoke quietly to her, "I am always going to be here for you, okay? You're never alone in this. Never." I assured as I held her tighter.

"Okay." she whispered, hiccups building in the back of her throat.

Although I couldn't see her face as she spoke, I knew now that she believed me, and knew that I wasn't going anywhere. Hell, I would be at her beck and call always if that meant saving her life. I somehow knew then that everything would be okay, maybe not at first but it would be. Beth was strong and I could see that so clearly, even if she couldn't see it yet herself, she was going to be okay.

After I knew for sure she was okay for the night, her assuring me multiple times, I said my goodbyes and walked out to send Hershel back in the room to talk to her. Nothing could've probably prepared him for the things that man had to do today, but I just couldn't get over the look on his face. It was like he had seen a ghost when he first burst into the room, and it was devastating.

After I walked out of her bedroom, I found him just sitting a few feet away outside, telling him he was good to head in, but before I could walk away he caught my arm to stop me.

"Thank you for...comforting her at a time like this. I just... I don't know what to say to her once I go in there. But just know I appreciate you Rose, thank you so much." he said with visible tears in his eyes.

I took his hand off my arm, squeezing it tightly, "Just be there for her, okay? Let her do the talking first. And it's no problem, I care about all of you so much."

He nodded and then suddenly did something I didn't expect, he hugged me. I sighed to myself before I was soon hugging him back for a few moments before letting him go after a few short seconds so he could talk to Beth. After watching him go, shutting the door behind him to leave only a crack, I made a beeline down the stairs and out of the house. I practically jogged all the way back to the tent, tears threatening to fall from my eyes as I desperately tried to keep myself together. But the moment I zipped up the entrance, finding myself completely alone, I let it all out.

Seeing Beth like that was too much for me, but I wouldn't dare let her know that. She needed me and I was going to be there for her, however it just brought back painful memories from my past that I so desperately tried to avoid. I just sat there and cried quietly as I hugged my arms around my middle from the slight chill in the night. Rethinking everything that had happened today, I couldn't help but wonder how it could've been different if I had just stayed inside that damn house. How I could've prevented something from happening if I had tracked down Maggie myself. Maybe things could've been different.

But suddenly the zipper of the tent was being opened quickly, and Daryl was making his way inside as he finally returned from his hunt. I quickly looked away from him while frantically wiping my eyes, knowing he hadn't heard me crying, not even noticing I was in here at all at first from how silent I had been.

"Oh, hey." he greeted once his eyes raised from his boots, "I was bout to look for-" he then stopped himself noticing immediately the state that I was in, "Rose? Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, coming to kneel in front of me.

I tried to pull myself together, "Nothing, I'm okay." I said as I looked to the side, basically anywhere but his face.

I couldn't look at him, I just knew I would break down if I did. I could already feel the new tears building up in my eyes as I felt him gently take my hand in his and rub the back of it lightly with his thumb.

"Talk to me." he said in a soft voice.

I didn't say anything. I didn't even know where to start, today had just been painfully long and all I wanted was to go to sleep so it would be finally over. It seemed like we couldn't catch a break. And as if it couldn't get any worse, I saw out of the corner of my eye Daryl's eyes were staring down at my wrist as he still held my hand in his. I froze with widened eyes and suddenly didn't know what to do, I couldn't move.

"Rose." he said softly while looking at the scar, moving to take my opposite hand to see the other. But I quickly pulled both hands away from his grasp so he couldn't get a better look.

"Damn it." I cursed silently as I pulled my sleeves back down harshly, wiping my eyes with them as I tried desperately not to look him in the eye. I didn't know what I wanted, for him to leave or stay, when all I could feel now was just utter embarrassment.

He made no sudden movements for what felt like years, until I felt his finger and thumb gripping my chin gently to lift my head to look at him. His thumb rubbed softly on my chin as I finally brought myself to look into his blue eyes.

"Talk to me." he repeated.

That's when the sudden floodgate broke loose, my tears only falling more freely than they did before. I couldn't stop them, there was just so many emotions I was feeling about everything, and I couldn't get all of it out before he came back, so now he was witnessing it firsthand. I felt mortified about crying so much lately, it seemed like all I was able to do, like it was all I was good for these days.

His hands then moved to my cheeks when it began to be too much, his thumbs gently wiping my fresh tears away. He leaned in close to place a soft kiss on my forehead, waiting patiently for me to start talking whenever I was ready. And I did.

I told him what happened with Beth and how she tried to end her life. I ranted about how I should've been there sooner and not just sitting in the tent all damn day, but I didn't know. I should've known, the feeling I had alone was a good enough reason to stay close, but I truly didn't know. Regrettably I also when on to explain my situation as well, seeing as I couldn't really avoid it because of what he barely saw through the darkness.

I told him almost every bit of the conversation I had with her, though it made me the most uncomfortable, I didn't want her to believe she was alone in this. Informing him also that seeing her like that brought back too many memories for me and that's why I had been crying in the first place...and then we sat there. There was just silence. He didn't try to talk one time. He just listened.

After seeing that I was done, not having anything else to say, he finally broke the silence, "Yer one of the greatest people to walk on this earth, ya know that?" he asked.

I was slightly taken aback at what he said, a scoff leaving my lips as I shook my head, "Believe me I'm far from that." I responded, no longer looking at him.

"Look at me." he said softly.

I slowly tore my eyes away from my hands and met his again, almost burning under his gaze. I almost couldn't believe how much I was cowering away from someone I truly trusted, but then again this conversation was one that I didn't want to be having with anyone.

"What ya did for Beth, bein there for her, that's the best thing you can do for her. And showin her she isn't alone through all this, it's amazin what ya did for her today...now about you..." he trailed off, looking back down at my hands sitting in my lap.

He then gently grabbed both of them and slowly rolled both of my sleeves all the way up to the middle of my arm. I tensed when he did this and he noticed, but yet he didn't stop. He raised my left wrist up to his lips, and began to leave soft kisses over every inch of the scar. Then moved to my right wrist and did the same exact thing, leaving goosebumps on my skin, but a warmth in my heart.

He held both of my hands tightly once he was done, looking back up at me as he spoke again, "Yer so strong, and ya never have to be ashamed of these. They're just marks on yer body to show that ya made it, even when things were really hard. I get yer ashamed of showin em, but you don't have to be. Not with me." he finished.

I stared at the man in front of me in awe. Nobody had ever spoken so beautifully about me like this before. Nobody had ever complimented the thing that I was the most insecure about. No one had ever kissed the places I had once hurt so badly. Nobody except him.

Tears built up back in my eyes, but this time for a completely different reason. I was quick to take my hands out of his, wrapping my arms around his shoulders to bring him into a hug as I felt I could finally breathe.

I heard what sounded like a sigh of relief come from him as he quickly wrapped his arms around me as well. Maybe he was worried about what he had said upset me, but it did quite the opposite. It made me relieved. Relieved that someone cared enough for me to not only see the good side of me but also the bad.

But with the way he spoke, and the way he was hugging me back so tightly, it almost made me question if he knew the feeling as well. The feeling of being ashamed or insecure because of something marking you from your past. And maybe he did. But I wasn't going to ask. I would wait until he felt comfortable enough to tell me, like he did for me just moments ago.

~ Thanks for reading!

[sugarsfics]

Crushing On The Babysitter

Summary: Eddie finally has the courage to ask out his crush. What happens when she is babysitting? Not just babysitting anyone, he little sheep. Those same sheep he just told that having a crush is force conformity.  

A/N: Hiiii I'm Sugar this is my first fic and so many more to come so enjoy;)

Warnings: Use of Y/N, fluff, horrible writing.

Word count: 1.0k

Eddie fake gags as he watches Lucas stare at Max with the biggest heart eyes ever. As he looks around the table, he sees that almost all the boys have their eyes on someone, except for Mike and Dustin who are arguing on who's girlfriends are better. “Boys!” he says as he slams his lunch box on the table. “ Have you all been taken in my the dark side of the female gaze” he continues “Yes they are nice to look at but would they really want to be with us, us freaks it is all just force conformity” Dustin pipes in “Well Mike and I do have girlfriends” “ Still not believing till I see them, but as I was saying before they want you to look to fall in love for you to buy them stupid crap and that money that you are spending to make your “lover” happy goes straight to the big man’s pocket, that is way I never had or never will have a crush” oh boy was that a lie. 

Eddie has been hung up on the same girl since 8th grade. Y/N L/N. Just like him you were an outcast, a nerd. Your older brother was the founder of Hellfire and was very welcoming to Eddie. Sophomore year, your brother graduated and passed on the torch to you. Eddie was head over heels for you but was too scared that you did not like him. Oh boy was he wrong. After having many talks with Uncle Wayne, he was ready to ask you out. He asks you to meet him in the Hellfire room but then he got the worst news of his life, he failed senior year. He spent the rest of the day in his van smoking and fell asleep. When he woke up it was 5 pm and ran out and the parking lot was empty, your car was nowhere to been found. He apologized the next day and asked to talk to you again tonight, but you were busy. He never got the courage again then you graduated leaving him behind.  

He got home we you on his mind, as if Uncle Wayne were reading his mind “You would never believe who I saw at the store today” “Who” “Y/N L/N” Eddie’s heart skipped a beat hearing your name “Really?” “Yeah, she said she has been in town for about a month-” “Do you know how long she is staying” “Boy I did not ask her 21 questions” Eddie got a ran to his room “What are you doing” Eddie comes out with a nicer shirt on, his wallet, and a letter “Doing something I should have done a long time ago.  

You have watched the boys every Friday and Saturday since they were 5. It was always Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will and you at your house or the wheeler’s basement playing D&D and watching movies. Even though you would have thought that you would stop watching the boys since they were now in high school but nope here there are. You plated the food for Mike, Dustin, and Lucas you almost grabbed a four plate out of habit for will, oh how you missed Will. Then the doorbell rang followed by rapid knocking. “Boys come eat” the three boys ran to the dining room. You open the door not excepting the person who was on the other side 

“Eddie?” he was frozen, how could you get more beautiful he thought. “Earth to Eddie” as you wave your hand in front of him. “Oh, sorry hi hey how are you” “I am doing great you?” “I am doing good oh oh these are for you” he brings beautiful boutique of red roses to your face. “Oh, wow thank you Eddie” “No problem I heard that they are the symbol of love so-” “EDDIE?” You both look behind you to see the boys staring at you guys. “Eddie what are you doing here with roses?" says mike Eddie’s face flushed a bright red “I- um – I – Well you see- I was-” “Boys go eat your dinner” “But-” “Now” they walk into the dining room but stay near the wall to hear you guys. “ I didn’t know you knew the freshman” “Yes those are my boys remember the littles one I used to babysit” “ Oh my god those are them” “Yeah isn't it crazy, but why did you stop by” “Oh yea well um listen so the night I stood you up I wanted to tell you something but then something happened, you the whole not graduating thing, then you got busy so um-” he spins and fishes something out of his pocket “ Here!” He gave you a letter. “What is this” “Read it, it will they you everything that I was going to tell you and so much more” he starts walking away until you pull his jacket “Stay, let me read it with you here with me” “Oh um yeah sure” he nervously laughs.

Dear Y/N I haven't got you out of my mind since the first day we met. I have been wanting to tell you this for so long but scared that your brother will banish me, or you just plain out would like me so here I goes. I really really really I could write so many really and it still would express how much I like you. You are funny, smart, beautiful, and so many more things and I really like you so much so will you give me a chance and go on a date with me? -Eddie M 

“Wow Eddie why didn’t you tell me this before” “I was too scared really” “Well that suck” “Sucks?” “Yeah because if you would have told me before you would have had yourself a girlfriend maybe now if you ask so kindly” “Wait really you like me too” “Duh” “Oh wow in that case Y/N L/N will you please let me, Eddie Munson, take you on a date and have the best night of your night” “ Yes” You make arrangements then kiss him on the cheek. The boys run to their seats as they are here the door closed “What” you look that the boys “Nothing” they say in unison. Oh boy were they going to tease Eddie Monday at school.  

[changingplumbob]

Nishidake Household: Chapter 5, Part 4

In this part Kaori explores the possibility of purchasing the park.

New background characters by AlexiaVR and ObsidianLilith

...

For dinner today Kaori has invited Mt Komorebi mayor Hiro and his wife Suzu who is also on the town council. Kaori wants to discuss the possibility of purchasing the downtown park, rather than letting it be purchased by developers.

Hiro: It’s good to see you again Kaori

Suzu: It was nice to invite us

Kaori: I know you knew my grandparents

Hiro: Oh yes. Shigeru and Sachiko were always looking out for the area

Suzu: We were so sorry to hear about their passing. They may not have been official council employees but many there would go to them for advice

Kaori: Come in, please. We can eat and talk

Hiro: Are you related to my wife

Kaori: I… what?

Hiro: Anytime she wants me to change my mind she cooks a brilliant meal

Kaori: *laughs* Maybe we do have that in common

Suzu: How can we help Kaori

Kaori: Last time we talked you said the council was open to offers on Hazakura Park

Hiro: We are

Kaori: Could I buy it

Suzu: You want to buy the park? Why?

Kaori: It’s sort of hard to explain. My grandparents and I… well, they saw our family as sort of the protectors of the area, the guardians of the mountain type thing

Hiro: That makes sense, they were always so generous

Kaori: My wife and I were hoping to carry on that role. If we buy Hazakura Park we can keep it as a park. That way while developers may buy up the surrounding area, the residents will still have a park to gather in as a community

Hiro: We have had a few purchase offers. Most notable the Ito’s

Kaori: The Ito’s? Right

Hiro: But make an offer and the council will decide on the best buyer

The dinner wraps up and Kaori begins cleaning up. Before the couple leave Suzu pulls Kaori aside to talk.

Suzu: Are you okay? You seemed sad when Hiro mentioned the Ito’s

Kaori: Yeah… I dated their son Kiyoshi in high school. It did not end well. But when we were together I did learn how his father operates. He overbids on land, sweeps in to make a profit, and then leaves

Suzu: That doesn’t sound good for the area. Unfortunately Naoki has made a large offer, the council would take a lot of persuading to turn that down. But maybe…

Kaori: Maybe what

Suzu looks around to make sure her husband is distracted by the soccer game on the TV that Charlie is playing in.

Suzu: Here, I’ll give you the direct contact number for the business. I’m not meant to have it, and if anyone asks me I’ll deny it

Kaori: Why are you giving it to me then

Suzu: I don’t want to see our home overrun with poor quality, over expensive housing any more than you do. Good luck. Hiro! We should get going

Hiro: Your wife sure can kick. Please tell her I think she did a great job in that first half

Kaori: I will. Thank you for coming

Charlie: Did the dinner go alright

Kaori: Yes and no. But Char, you were amazing in that first half, the mayor even said I should tell you

Charlie: The mayor paid me a compliment? Does that make me a princess

Kaori: Not quite

Charlie: Damn. I was already sizing the crown. Thanks for watching though K

Kaori: Always

Charlie: So what did Mr and Mrs Mt Komorebi Council have to say about the park?

Kaori: They said the council is still accepting offers

Charlie: You don’t seem happy about that

Kaori: *sighs* the mayor let slip that one of the offers is from the Ito’s

Charlie: The who nows?

Kaori: It’s Kiyoshi’s family Char

Charlie: Oh… The mega rich controlling ones

Kaori: The mega rich, controlling, profiteering and stepping on the little guy ones

Charlie: *sarcastically* So we’ll be able to buy the place as a bargain then

Kaori: *sighs*

Charlie: Hey, we don’t have to give up on buying it. It’ll be better long term if we get it before people are living on the land. Do you have a next step?

Kaori: I do but I can’t guarantee anything… Clover are you trying to beg for food? Bad dog

Clover: *barks* I would be helping clean the plate

Charlie: Thanks for dinner. We’ll find a way to help Kaori, I promise

Kaori: Sleeptime?

Charlie: Yes please. That was such a long game, I’m beat

The two set about getting ready for bed. Charlie is faster due to her determination to sleep and is snoring softly by the time Kaori climbs in. The two snuggle up and dream of the future.

The next morning keeps Charlie busy with her pre work task of studying opponents. Kaori takes Clover for a run in the sun and snow.

Kaori: We’ll get home and we’ll just do it, we’ll make the call

Clover: *barks* If you say so

Kaori: Try not to get dirty, then we can skip a bath for you

As she and Clover descend the stairs near the ski lift Kaori suddenly finds it hard to keep her footing. She slides on the ice, desperately trying not to fall over. When she gets a solid footing she sighs in relief.

Kaori: We are not taking that as an omen okay

Clover: *barks* suits me

Kaori: Hello? I’m calling to discuss your offer on Hazakura Park

?: Are you from the council

Kaori: No. I’m a resident and I wanted to talk to you about the future of the space

?: Look, I’m sure you mean well, but my father doesn’t meet with residents over sales

Kaori: Your- Wait, Kiyoshi?

Kiyoshi: Yeah this is my personal business extension. I’m in charge of Ito developments in Mt Komorebi. Who are you again?

Kaori is unsure what to say. Kiyoshi did not take their break up well. If she says it’s her he might just hang up, and the park would be out of reach. But if she says nothing he’s definitely hanging up.

Kaori: It’s me, Kaori

For a long moment Kiyoshi doesn’t respond and Kaori checks to see if he’s hung up on her. He hasn’t.

Kaori: I know things got messy but I really care about Mt Komorebi. I know the boy I knew did to. Please, tell me how to reach your father

Kiyoshi: It wouldn’t matter. He’s put me in charge of the developments here, the offer on the park was mine

Kaori: Oh. Perhaps we-

Kiyoshi: I… I’m actually not doing anything for dinner. Can I take you out and we can talk properly? Otherwise my schedule is pretty tight for the next few weeks

Kaori: Kiyoshi I’m married

Kiyoshi: I heard. She can come if you want

Kaori: She’s actually training tonight. But if it’s the only time you have free, I’ll come

Kaori arrives at 5-3-1 Shinrinyoku. This restaurant was built by the gallery's own KA0260. Kiyoshi is already there.

Kiyoshi: You look good. Really good

Kaori: I see your father finally got you in a suit

Kiyoshi: You never could take a compliment. I’ve come straight from the office, I’ll change inside

Kaori: Thank you for meeting with me. The park is important

Kiyoshi: We can talk about it inside. After you

Kaori heads inside and Kiyoshi goes to grab a change of clothes. His mind drifts to the time he had the heart of Kaori, how was she even more attractive with age? And those glasses! He would bet they steamed up perfectly.

Kaori gets seated first but it’s not long before Kiyoshi joins her.

Kiyoshi: Can we just address the elephant in the room snow-bird?

Kaori: I know we ended badly

Kiyoshi: Badly? I worked for my dad on top of my schoolwork to get you that engagement ring, and what did you say when I proposed to you in front of all of our family and friends?

Kaori looks down ashamedly. It had not been her best day.

Kiyoshi: If you thought you were a lesbian, why not tell me before that? As a proposal response it’s not ideal. I would have listened

Kaori: I never liked any of the girls we went to school with beyond crush level. But the weekend before you proposed I went to the night club and I saw a European woman and… I realised I wanted her in a way I didn’t want you. I did think what we had was love but-

Kiyoshi: It was love

Kaori: I never desired you Kiyoshi. Not the way I’m attracted to women, to my wife

Kiyoshi: Really? Because I can think of a few woohoo sessions where you gave the opposite opinion

Kaori: *sighs* Please, I want to talk about the park, not the past. We can’t let our personal feeling get in the way of what’s best for the area

Kiyoshi: You’re right. Can I have an 8 piece salmon for me and my friend will have…

Kaori: 8 piece salmon would actually be nice

Kiyoshi: Some things never change. Why do you want Hazakura Park

Kaori: It’s a bit tricky to explain

Kiyoshi: Talk to me snow-bird

Kaori: It’s my responsibility to look after the mountain. A new subdivision is nothing without a communal space for residents to gather. To have a place to meet up and remember what colour grass is

Kiyoshi: *laughs* I’ve purchased other properties in the neighbourhood. I guess a park is a good idea. If it means so much I’ll buy it so the council can have the income but tell them to sign the deed over to you

Kaori: That’s… very generous. Won’t your father be mad?

Kiyoshi: Don’t worry about him. I want to do this, for you. I like seeing you happy, I like making you happy. Now, tell me about your wife

Back home Kaori paces nervously, waiting for Charlie to get home. As soon as she does Kaori kisses her on the cheek and motions for her to sit.

Charlie: How was your afternoon? Were you able to get hold of Naoki

Kaori: I did ring the number but it wasn’t for Naoki

Charlie: Did Suzu give you the receptionist number because I could have googled that to be your hero

Kaori: No. It was the line for Kiyoshi

Charlie: Oh, him...

There was a few minutes of silence. Charlie didn’t know what response to give and Kaori wasn’t sure what her wife needed to hear.

Kaori: We’ll be getting the park though Char

Charlie: We will? I thought you said that whole family was money obsessed

Kaori: I thought so. But Kiyoshi...

Charlie: He’s taking back the purchase offer?

Kaori: Not exactly

Charlie: What do you mean not exactly? He's either keeping the bid in or withdrawing it

Kaori: The council need money Char, Kiyoshi will pay them the cost of the property and he’ll sign the deed for the park over to us. That way we have more inheritance money left for the long term

Charlie: Did he happen to tell you this while staring at your boobs

Kaori: *angrily* No. I got his agreement in writing Char, he can’t take it back. And I wore my hoodie, you know my boobs get buried in it

Charlie: Did he try to flirt with you

Kaori: He did but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. Believe me, he’s never forgetting I’m a lesbian after I ruined his proposal. He even asked about you

Charlie: Yes but you know straight cis men, half the time they think lesbians are a myth because no woman could possibly turn down their pixel parts

Kaori: Look, I don't want to fight about what he may or may not think. If he tries getting handsy you can kick his ass. How’s that?

Charlie: Good because I'll kick it from here to Sulani

Kaori: Now why don’t you finish your meal so I can remind you I am 100% attracted to you. I'm in a generous mood

Charlie: Sounds like a deal

And with that, the Nishidake household is done for this rotation. I don’t know friends, it was really hard to get through this one. I’m not sure if I’m falling out of love with the household, or not finding much inspiration in their story, or just was unwell/stressed when trying to write and play. Or perhaps I was just trying to put off writing the first household of next rotation because I’ve decided to REDACTED. I really want to reach the summit with them, I’ve never played that before, but levelling up is hard when Charlie has a job that doesn’t require rock climbing. I’m considering skipping them next rotation, and perhaps returning to them in a few in game years when I can cheat the climbing skill up enough that they can survive the climb.

Previous ... Next (York)

[georgiapeach30513]

Entangled Lust, Part 7

Summary:  Another night with Frank

Pairings:  Frank Adler X Reader

Rating:  explicit

Warnings:  explicit language, explicit sexual content, smut, unprotected sex, PIV sex, creampie, mentions of bruises, mentions of abuse, 18+ ONLY

Word Count:  2.8K

Previous

Series Masterlist

*dividers by @firefly-graphics

“Roberta?” Frank leans in his landlord’s house, peeking around the corner, “I have a favor.”

“No,” she answers shortly, carrying a load of laundry through the hall before sitting on the couch.  “Whatever it is you want, the answer is no.”

“But…”

“No, Frank.”

“I asked Miss Honey out on a date.  A real date,” she cocks up her eyebrow, looking him up and down confused.  The last she heard about you, you had a something.  A boyfriend, dating, something.  “Okay, here’s the deal, the man she’s been…seeing, he’s still out of town.  She…she kinda confided in me that he makes her uncomfortable.  It was just fun, but you know how I told you I saw him at the school watching her.  She’s ending it.”

“And you think it’s a good idea to get involved with a woman who hasn’t broken up with this man?  How do you know that she even is interested, or that she will leave him.  You’re like the other woman convincing themselves that the husband will leave their wife.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Frank interjects, but his voice remains calm.  His mouth turns up into a sweet smile, “We kissed.  And there was no alcohol involved, and it was…Roberta, it was amazing.  And we talked, and it didn’t involve kids or work.  Just talked about things we liked and our childhood, and I want this date, but she’s cooking at the house, and I would like it if you watched Mary again tonight.  We don’t have much time until that man comes back, and she talked about the best way to end it with him, and…she is.  I know I sound crazy, but she doesn’t want to be with him.  She was bored, and did whatever because I was an idiot and ignoring her.  I did that.  I pushed her away, and now it’s my job to bring her back into my life.  Please.  Pretty pretty please, and I’ll make sure she makes enough food for me to bring over here.”

“Fine,” Roberta answers quickly.  Standing up she takes a few steps closer to Frank, “But I want you to be careful.  I want you to guard yourself, not too much because I know how much you like this girl.  And I’m only doing this because you know I would keep Mary any day of the week.  Why do you think she’s scared of him?  Other than the obvious of him watching her?”

“Steve, he’s friends with Bucky.  He owns a club of a, uh…it’s a sex club.”

“Of the anonymous kind?” Frank nods his head, “She got mixed up in that?  Mary’s sweet little teacher?”

“Rough sex isn’t off limits to teachers.  We talked about it, about her kinks and preferences, and they were not a turn off, I can tell you that.  But…he’s been getting rougher with her.  To the point I’ve noticed she’s been off at school.  She’s not enjoying it anymore.  She’s scared, and I just want to have a nice quiet life with her.”

“You know, if you and her work out, you’re going to have to move.  I’ve got bigger houses for you,” she runs her hand up and down Frank’s arm giving him a smile, “Protect yourself.  Don’t get in too deep until you know for sure that woman is going to leave him.  You’ve got a child to worry about.  But you’re a grown man.  I’ll keep Mary.  I’m allergic to tree nuts.  And I don’t want cold food, I want you to walk over here with a plate for me and Mary,” giving her the biggest smile, Frank nods his head, and starts for the door.  He had a lot to do before you came over.  

“You know,” you playfully say as you step through Frank’s door.  He had cleaned up.  It wasn’t just the apartment, it was himself as well.  His usual oil crusted nails were completely cleaned.  A new shirt, his messy hair was styled (even though you preferred the messy), cologne, and even his beard seemed more clean.  “You didn’t have to clean to impress me.”

“Well,” he shrugs his shoulders with a smile, “Are you impressed?”

“Mhmm,” you bite at your lip, and he pulls you close to his body.

“Is this okay?” You nod your head whispering yes, and he dips in lower to you, “What about this?”

“Yes…” oh the desire to call him sir was creeping up your throat, and you weren’t sure how Frank would feel about that.  So you stuff it down.  Not everything Bucky told you was awful, you just weren’t sure you could explore those things with other people.  You never wanted Frank to think you were a freak.

“I’m gonna kiss you, okay?”

“Okay,” your voice was already so weak.  It was practically begging him to destroy you.  Pressing his mouth against your own, it didn’t take long until you were putty in his arms.  The kiss was vastly different from Bucky.  There was so much need and desire.  With Bucky it was this animalistic lust.  

With Frank you found yourself running your fingers through his hair, you did prefer it messy.  Your body was naturally arching into him.  His hands were only on your back, and his lips were only on yours, but you felt him all over your body.  There was a need to have him.  Your body wanted what it wanted, and you wanted what you wanted, and Frank just happened to be the answer for both.

“We should,” you whimper as his mouth places open mouth kisses on your neck.  His fingers moving on the back of your neck, but his thumb rubs over the top, and a lewd mewl rings up to the ceiling, “Frank, we should…we should cook supper,” you gulp as he pulls back.  The last thing you wanted to cook supper.  But he made a promise to Mary and Roberta, and you were going to make sure that he fulfilled it.  What you really wanted was for him to either bend you over the counter, sink into the floor with you, or throw you over his shoulder as he carried you into the bedroom.  

“I’m sorry, it’s not really what I want to do,” you look down to the floor as your cheeks heat up.  You are mortified at what you just admitted.  It seemed like things were moving so fast.  But you wanted him, you wanted Frank so bad.  Wanted him more from the moment his skin touched you.  It was like fire on your body, and you were struggling to stay on task of cooking supper.  

It was what you should do, right?  You shouldn’t rush into sex.  Even if it felt like you and Frank had been playing this flirting game for most of the year.  Had already spent the night in his bed.  There was something with Frank that just felt right.  And you wanted it.  It was the one good thing that time with Bucky had taught you, and that was what your body was feeling was okay.  And it was okay to act on those feelings.

Taking a deep gulp, you go to walk around Frank, but those hands slide around your waist, “Frank…”

“I want it, too.  You don’t have to be ashamed.”

“And it’s not going too fast?” You peek around your shoulder, looking up at him, and his cock twitches in his pants.  God, you looked amazing.  Felt even better, and he hated himself for not acting on this sooner.

“No.  No, I think we earned the right to go fast,” you giggle, looking up at him.  “You gotta stop that.”

“Stop what?”

He blows a puff of air out his mouth, covering your entire face with his hand, and you continue laughing, “You know what you’re doing, Miss Honey.”

“Oh?  We’re going with formal names, Mr. Adler,” he drops his hand, and the two of you share a quick look, before you quickly get out of his embrace, and walk to the stove.  “So, no tree nuts.  Um, I thought a quick and easy hamburgers and fries, but of course jazzed up would be nice?  Oh, my bags.”

Frank smirks as you walk to get the things that you had brought.  He could see the sexual  tension build up.  Could practically feel it radiating off you.  You weren’t as reserved as you once were.  There was this air of innocence, and still you knew exactly what you were doing.  He walks behind you, and your back arches a moment.  Turning to places his front to your back he rests his chin on your shoulder, smoothing his hands over your hip.  

Frank notices the slight change in your face when he presses too hard on your hips, but makes no comment.  Just enjoys the random sway of your body, making your ass rub over his crotch.  He was ruined.  This felt natural, and he can imagine you here every day doing just this.  Could already see your belly swollen while he rubs over it.  It felt right.  It shouldn’t feel this comfortable but it does.

Frank returns from taking Roberta and Mary their plates, while you were finishing up cleaning the kitchen, “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I should do it.  I made a mess, and you,” you always forget how tall Frank is as he steps in front of you, and your eyes roll up to meet him.  “Frank, I want you to kiss me.”

“Good,” he answers breathlessly, crashing his mouth into yours.  It was the kiss that changed everything.  There was no going back, and you didn’t even care.  His hands graze down your back, landing at your ass before he pulls you up to him.  “Is this where this is going?”

“Yeah,” you breathe in his mouth, moving your lips to his neck as he walks you into the bedroom.  Crawling the two of you to the bed where you immediately start undoing his shirt.  Letting your fingers run up and down his chiseled chest, before he was pulling the shirt off.  Lifting you up, to pull off your shirt, and he growls at the site of your tits, and they are still covered.

Reaching behind your back, you unclasp your bra, and his hands move to kneading your tits.  Pulling him closer to yours, you were aching for him.  He leans down to kiss along the supple skin of your breast, and you forget how to breathe.  Your body arches into him, and your legs even spread more, letting his jean covered crotch grind into you.  

He was basically dry humping you, and you felt his bulge right at your entrance.  Whimpering up his name, you start undoing his pants.  There was enough foreplay, right now, you just wanted Frank.  Needed him.  Needed to feel what he felt like inside of you.  Upon pulling his jeans down, you tug at his boxers, yelping when the weight of his cock falls on your thigh.  “Frank!”

“I know.  I know,” he whispers on your neck, his own hands getting rid of what little was left separating the two of you.  Lifting your ass up to make things easier, and he slips your jeans and panties off in one swipe.  Licking at his hand, he rubs it over your sex, and both of you moan at the feeling.  Screaming out his name again, and he looks down at where the two of your nether regions were just right there at each other.

Gripping the base of his cock, he runs it through your glistening folds, “You always get this wet?”

“You’ve been edging me all night.”

“I’ve been…been edging you,” he only teases his mushroom tip in, before pulling out, and  slapping it over your clit.  Choosing to ignore the bruises on your body for now.  You were clenching around nothing.  Your fingers reach up to him, and you were so cute when you were desperate.  Pushing back into your heat, he pulls out.  Your body was trying to suck him into your core, while you were just whining.  

“I have had your ass on me most of the evening.  And I was edging you.  Nope,” he does it again, and you scream out in frustration.  “You’re worked up Miss Honey,” you sit up, and look down your body and how Frank was just running his tip through your slicked up pussy lips.  His precum making a mess, and your hole was being neglected.  

“Frank, please, I need you,” he pushes in a bit further, but pulls out completely, and you push him off you, throwing your leg over him, and you press your hands against his chest, “I’ll do it myself,” grabbing the base of his cock, you slide yourself over him.  Humming at the feeling.  Sinking down slowly so you feel every part of him stretch you out, but you don’t stop until you rest on his pelvis.  

The two of you just staring at one another while you get adjusted to him.  Giving a few filthy grinds before you smile at him, “You fit perfectly in me,” he nods his head excitedly, starting to sit up in the bed.  Bringing himself right up to you, and he cups your cheek.  “Wh-what are you doing?”

“I don’t want to be too far away from you.  Can you…?” You pull yourself off him before slamming right back down on him, and Frank nods.  “Yeah.  Yeah, you got this,” he stutters, watching you slowly sink over him.  You wanted this moment to last.  You needed something slow paced, where you learned Frank like this.  

Your tits were right in his face, and he didn’t have anything better to do than to suck on your hardened buds.  Those pretty baby blue eyes rolling up to look at you.  His tongue and mouth work your nipple so good while your hips pull him in and out of you.  “Frank,” you moan, slowing down even more.  All night.  You wanted to feel him all night.  

“I know,” he answers, pulling your tit out with a pop.  “We’re alone until noon tomorrow.  You just have fun.  Do what…whatever you want.  Fuck.  It’s been awhile.  Fuck,” he grunts again, lifting up his hips to twist you on your back.  Never leaving from inside your warmth.  You fit him like a glove.  He picks up the pace, rutting into you.  His thumb creates tight little circles on your bundle of nerves.  “My refractory period is quite short.  We can do it again.”

“I don’t care as long as we can do it again.”

“Fuck!” His eyes roll into the back of his head as he starts railing into you.  A beating pace that you didn’t want to come down from.  Heat blooms in the pit of your stomach, and you smile up at him.  

“Right there, Frank.  Don’t stop.  Don’t…” you bite at your lip as your walls lock around him.  Pulling him down for a bruising kiss as your cunt milks his cock dry.  Thick creamy cum filling up your cunt, and while fast, this was the best you had ever felt.  “Frank,” your voice was wrecked, and you couldn’t wait to do this again.  You hoped he had you twisted and hanging off the bed, you didn’t care what he did as long as he did it again.

“Shh, let me get you cleaned up.  Get us some water and snacks.  It’s going to be a long night.”

Still naked, his tight little ass walks through the house, and your eyes start to close.  You could get used to him.  Rules of being his kid’s teacher be damned, because you wanted him.  You didn’t want just sex, you wanted him, and everything he had to offer, including Mary.

Bucky takes a long drag on his cigarette, pulling his phone up to his ear, “Find all you can on Frank Adler.”

“Why?”

“He’s fucking what belongs to me.  And I’m going to have fun reminding her of who she belongs to.  She can’t get away with trying to screw me over.  She wants to act like a little slut.  I’ll treat her like a little slut.  I’ve got some videos.  Maybe we need a private viewing of Miss Honey’s fucked out cunt leaking of my cum.  Watch her lick the floor where I spilled out of her.  See how tears mess up her makeup as her pussy gets a beating from my cock and those pretty tits just bounce around, and how she screams for more.  Wonder how the dad’s in her classroom will feel about that sweet little teacher then.  Make Frank watch as I loan her body out to each one of those dads.  I’m tired of being nice.  She’s been a very very bad girl.  And now, it’s time for her to take her punishment.”

Next

Masterlist

Taglist: @tis-thedamn-season @marveloustaylortot @ria132love @pono-pura-vida @sstan-hoe @kaylabrooke22435 @siriusjohnpotter @potatothots @deandreamernp @cjand10 @feyfantome @flannellover67 @whimsyplaty92 @nana1000night @peaches1958 @buckybarnesandmarvel @smile1318 @andydrysdalerogers  @cjand10

[seth-shitposts]

Near the beginning of Tua and Him working together, it's just the two of them traveling between systems and doing small one-offs here and there. Small work.

They're hungry & without credits, and He suggests that they could just steal from the market place, but Tua refuses. At this point He is getting A Bit Bitchy because He's hungry.

🐟🐟🐟

"Fine, then what do you suggest, Maketh?"

"There's a large river on the outskirts of town."

"Oh, so suddenly you fish?"

"Don't try to sound so impressed." *glares slightly at him*

"If I weren't starving I would think the prospect of you trying to catch a fish with your bare hands and failing would be most amusing."

Tua rolls her eyes before leaving to barter a local fishermen into allowing her to borrow a cast net, with the promise of bringing him back fish.

Him: "so not only do you 'know' how to fish, but you also have the strength to use *that*, *and* You're already promising what you haven't even caught?"

Tua, getting very done with this: "you know what, you're right. How about you use the cast net first. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm too dainty to do anything other than forage and even then I wouldn't know what I would even be looking for."

He squints at her before accepting the cast net, as she was Very Serious about Him trying first.

The first toss is a very shitty throw; the net twists in on itself before it even hits the water.

Tua resets the net and genuinely encourages Him to try again, her irritation dying down. When she gives Him a few tips on throwing it, He actually listens, which helps the annoyance fade away from both of them.

He struggles bringing the net in, the water causing a lot of resistance. But when the net is drawn out, He searches for what had gotten caught in it. Tua points out three or four fish that are barely the size of commlinks.

He just glares at them.

"Well, it's not terrible for a first throw."

"Don't do that."

"Maybe you could snack on them while I catch you a meal?"

"These are minnows."

"That they are."

"I'm allergic."

"... well," Tua searches for anything to say to try and make Him feel better because she has never seen someone go from arrogant bastard to 'put me out of my misery' within a matter of less than five minutes. "They're good bait fish."

"I'm done here."

He walks away from the net to watch Tua from the shade, being in the sun for too long beginning to irritate His skin.

Tua releases the minnows back into the water and preps the net again. She goes a bit more upstream.

When she walks the net back to Him, He's just gaping at her. At least a dozen carps from a single throw.

"How did... where did *you* of all people learn..."

Tua gets to work on gutting the largest carp, skinning it, cleaning it. "I come from a big family. Extended family. One uncle that I spent fishing seasons with back on lothal when I took breaks from my studies and work taught me. Though, honestly, I got most of my experience with cast net last year when I was fishing to feed the community that took me in."

After cutting up the fillet, she plates half for Him and hands it to Him.

He looks from her to the food and back, taking the plate but not eating it yet. "You're... fine with me eating raw meat around you?"

It's in reference to how back in the empire, Tua would always cringe when she saw Him eating, as pau'an eat their meat raw.

"Yes, I've learned better. I'm sorry that I made you uncomfortable before."

"Well, there goes that amusement too." He rolls His eyes and places one of the bite-size cuts on His tongue.

"What do you mean?" Tua takes out a hot plate to start cooking her half of the fish.

"Those times you would just happen to walk by on me eating wasn't on accident. Not after the first time."

She looks up at Him, trying to find the annoyance in her bones at the wicked grin He bares, but can't. "Are you telling me that-"

"I was never even hungry. I just loved how uncomfortable it always made you." He smirks as He plays with another small cut, making an overdramatized show of it just as He used to.

She scoffs, turning her fillet over as she shakes her head. "I can't even be upset over it. It was my own ignorance that made me uncomfortable."

[thevestigeofvanillaan]

Watch Me.

billy hargrove x female reader Part 1.

content: underage drinking, mentions of cheating, mentions of rape and death, told as a story!, a lot of 'past-self degradation'.

i wasn't going to make this anything like the way it is? and i wasn't going to make it a 'series' but i figured otherwise it would be really long trashy thing lol.

I had to replay this story in my mind over and over again. And the story I am about to tell you is the one about the horrible, idiotic little sin of mine called cheating. It's stupid, don't do it.

Hi, I'm Y/n. I go to Hawkins High, I'm on the cheerleading team, I'm popular, I'm.. or was dating Mike Lewinski. I had no fucking clue what was wrong with me or why this kid peaked my interest. But here's a little how it all went down, okay? You're going to be me in this instance.

—♡—

So here's little old you, watching some random guy with a cigarette laying limp out the right corner of his lips, unlit. His shirt is slung over his shoulder rather than being worn. He was standing with some man before the man he'd been standing with starts yelling at him, entering the passenger side of a car and slamming the door before the car leaves.

What was wrong with this guy? You'd think to yourself as you watch the guy you'd originally had your eyes on finally light the cigarette, taking a drag. You'd figured he was just some dude who wasn't from here. It was a small place, Hawkins, so having never seen him before meant that he must be visiting.

You quickly realize the next day that he is not just visiting when you see him exit the blue Camaro that loudly parked near the red vehicle you'd been leaning against with your friends.

"Who is that?" Carol asked with a smirk on her face. You were confused, especially when you saw that little red head leave the car almost angrily. And when you noticed that his license plate said California on it.

"I have no idea," Tina begins before she looks me in the eyes, then back at the boy "But would you check out that ass? Look at it go." She'd giggle.

You were more than just confused, you were invested now. Hadn't had an idea who this was but you knew he was new to the small town, from California, he was being yelled at and left by some old man on the side of the road. Oh, and he smokes cigarettes. Real important information, huh.

You'd soon find out that the anonymous boy is called Billy, Billy Hargrove. Though you found out that his name was actually William when your Chemistry teacher was calling attendance.

Now you were more confused. Why did people call him Billy? Where did that even come from if his name is William.. He'd peaked your interest to say the least. He was constantly on your mind.

Then your air quotes boyfriend (who was really just your friend who you've known since you were three because of your parents) slung an arm around your shoulders, "Hey." He'd smirk down at you and walk with you as you made your way to your locker.

"Steve?" You'd begin and he'd hum. "Do you know that new Billy kid? Who is that?"

You figured "King Steve" would know who that is, right? He knew everyone.

"I don't know anything about him, his name is on the basketball team sign up sheet. Other than that, no." Steve would explain when Nancy walked over and he got distracted by his real girlfriend.

Soon you found Mike Lewinski, who was your real boyfriend. You'd ask him the same question to which he'd answer something along the lines of "No clue but he picked a fight with this random kid earlier for talking about a girl named Maxine or something."

You'd ponder on who Maxine could be, probably his girlfriend. That's what you'd assume, but it made no sense. You didn't know her, she didn't go here. So how would other people know, and be talking about her.

Nothing about him made sense. Nothing. Your life at school had been so normal for so long, and suddenly this random guy steps foot into your school and you're invested in who the fuck he is. It's got you going crazy.

You'd be at home doing your makeup, getting ready for the damn party Tina was hosting for Halloween night and all you could think about was that stupid pretty little boy called Billy.

Your boyfriend came and picked you up and you got there in your stupid little slutty cat outfit and danced with Nancy and Steve and your little boyfriend. And guess who was there? Billy.

He'd finally left your mind for just a little bit when you'd been drinking and having fun. Of course you see that stupid pretty face of his when you're with Steve and Nance, drinking, what else would you see?

"Looks like we've got a new Keg King Harrington!" "Yeah, beat it Harrington." Two drunk morons would say on either side of Billy as he'd get in Steve's face.

Oh that was just great, he was an alcoholic too. Keg King? Are you fucking kidding me right now? He just got to this school today, how the fuck did he even get an invitation to this damn party.

You were livid, you pulled Nancy by her arm and refilled both of your cups before bringing her to dance.

Later that night Steve would spill a drink on her then the night would be ruined for them blah blah. They broke up. That was the end of that little love story.

You'd see Johnathan who was one of the very few people who weren't drunk at this stupid party that your idiotic self decided to go to and told him to bring Nancy home.

They left and now you were pretty lonely and hadn't known where your boyfriend was. For all you knew he could've been blowing some girl upstairs right then.

You were so tired, so drunk, and so fucking stupid when your drunk ass bumped into that mother fucker Billy. You were done.

"Why are you everywhere I go? Who are you?" You'd say, slurring over your words and lightly tapping his sticky, sweaty, stiff bare chest.

"Billy." He'd smirk at you and you'd grimace.

"Billy, I have a boyfriend. You're cute but I don't think cheating is my thing." You'd laugh like an old drunk idiot and fall into him.

You were so drunk. So fucking stupid. Because ten minutes later you were being carried bridal style into your home by pretty boy Billy. Of course! Who else would? Your boyfriend? No.

He'd sit you down on your bed sitting in your bed room that you instructed him on where was. You were lucky your parents weren't home, because they'd kill you for finding you that drunk, nevermind with some half naked boy you just met.

He'd slip off your shoes and take off your dirty, slutty skirt, leaving you clad in your underwear and black tank top. You were so ignorantly drunk.

"Hey," You'd start. And now I wish that you never would've opened your stupid mouth because the next thing that came out of it was "Stay with me."

What are you doing? You don't even know this dude! He could rape you, or kill you, or tell your boyfriend that he slept with you in your bed.

But come to think of it, if he'd hadn't raped or killed you yet, I don't think he would have just because you asked him to stay the night.

"Curfew, sweetheart. I can't." Which thank the lord because I today am grateful he said that.. it's been years.

You'd meekly thank him the next time you'd see him at school which was only the next day, closer to the afternoon when you had Chemistry with him. You were glad he never told anyone about what happened, because things get around quick.

"What happened last night? You went home early?" Mike would ask when he found you at your locker, placing a kiss on your forehead.

"Felt sick, someone brought me home, can't remember who though." You'd smile and close your locker and head out of the school.

You lied, but you didn't care. You focused more on picking up your shit for cheer practice and making it back to the school to prepare for the game that would be happening next week.

[bdbriggs]

Two Truths and a Lie - FAHC

(holy shit guys I wrote a Fake AH Crew fic for the first time since 2020) It was always going to end this way.

The end is the true beginning.

It begins with a card.

 Two truths and a lie. The lie is not the one you expect.

Michael idly flips the card between his fingers. It’s a pretty thing, creamy white with golden script, bright white lace-like designs sprawling across the length of it. Two words on one side: be there. An address, date, and time on the other. What Michael should do is throw the card out and pretend he never saw it, pretend that it got lost in the copious junk mail that plagues his apartment mailbox. He should stay on the far, far side of town on that day and time, avoid sticking his nose into whatever is going on. He should expect that it’s a trap, a setup, a bad fuckin’ idea.

He should do a lot of things. Curiosity and cats, and all that, but here’s the thing; nobody ever remembers the end of that saying. Curiosity killed the cat, yes, but satisfaction brought it back.

Sue him. He’s curious.

And why shouldn’t he be? An inconspicuous little business card lands on his welcome mat. Solicitors leave pamphlets and business cards and shit by his door all the time—this one shouldn’t be special. The golden script, though. That makes him pause. Makes him consider. Makes him weigh his options carefully.

And in the end, there’s really only one thing to do.

See, gold is a recurring theme in Los Santos. It’s nothing out of the ordinary considering the millionaires, billionaires, movie stars, models, gold diggers, yada yada—the city is full of rich folks and folks wanting to be rich. Every third guy on the street has a gold watch. Every other lady has something gold—a ring, a necklace, whatever. Movie stars and gang leaders and girls dressed to the nines—they’re all flaunting golden jewelry, exotic cars, fancy clothes.

So why, then, did the color gold become such a tell in the city’s underground?

Michael can’t pinpoint the moment it started. Spray paint, metal plating, smoke, and ink. Something dripping gold sunk its fingers into the city in a way Michael’s never seen before. And while he hasn’t been in Los Santos overly long, he can tell you it’s not the norm. It wasn’t like this in Liberty City or in Jersey, certainly, and it wasn’t like this when he first arrived in LS. The city was gritty. Grey. The pollution is so thick you can feel it between your teeth, like grit after a fight or soot from an explosion. The cement buildings are grey, grey like the fog over the ocean, like the bleak alleyways and bleaker lives of the average people who live here. The first touch of gold was like a breath of fresh air in comparison.

Something stirs in the city of saints, and Michael wants to be there when it wakes.

 Jack’s cleaning up shop when she sees it. A little white business card, fluttering in the cool breeze provided by one of three fans she’s got spread in her garage. Every time there’s a heat wave, power cuts out in her neighborhood. There’s little to do besides power up the generator, grab a beer, and settle down to work on her cars. Machines are easy. People, less so. It’s for this reason Jack owns a garage—people drive cars, sure, but they don’t pay her to talk. They pay her to fix.

It’s odd, then, when this little white card flutters towards her, skipping along the floor with a bounce in its step that Jack hasn’t seen in years. This city has a way of beating people down. Even the lucky ones like her have fallen on rough times, and the golden script on the card is therefore what catches her attention.

Four words: I have an idea. A location, date, and time on the other side. Jack considers the card carefully before slipping it in the pocket of her shorts.

It’s a bad idea, is what it is. There’s no reason she should go looking for trouble. Times are hard, even for the lucky ones like her. But the gold script gives her pause.

There’s been a shift in the city, these last few years. Jack has lived here long enough to have felt it. It’s no different than a little rolling earthquake; the rolling sensation means it’s far away, but it shifts the ground and everything on top of it. Sometimes things fall, and sometimes the walls or pavement crack, but life goes on around the reminders of that little split-second event.

The evidence remains, however. Something has settled into the city, cracking the pavement and the walls, and slowly the cracks have filled with gold. Kintsugi, it’s called, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold. Few people would look at the withered and broken city of saints and deem it worthy of repair, but something has. Gold slithers into the city like snakes, and it leaves its mark on things. An influx of exotic cars. Looser lips at the bar by the racetrack. The wealthy place bets like never before, on cars, on racers, and Jack notices.

If she has a chance to see where all this gold is coming from—why shouldn’t she?

 Jeremy’s lip curls up into a snarl when a waitress brings them a drink with a business card underneath it. She’s already disappeared back into the throng of the club, or they would have called her out on it. Jeremy lifts their beer in one hand and flicks the business card with the other, watching as it twirls away with a flash of gold.

Wait.

Jeremy reaches out with the toe of one boot and slides it back to their chair, picking it up carefully and quickly. The card itself is white with lacy designs spread across it. On one side is a time and location. The other side reads, Nice job out there =) Bored yet?

It draws an honest-to-god snort out of Jeremy. They take a sip from their beer and tuck the card in their pocket.

Not many people know what Jeremy does. Rimmy Tim is a fair bit different from Jeremy, with the wild getup and crazy colors and loud vehicles. Rimmy Tim just finished a job up in Sandy Shores, their fists deployed against a handful of rednecks with guns and drugs. Jeremy, on the other hand, because that’s who they are tonight—Jeremy has a job as a pizza delivery person and two clueless roommates they’re lucky enough to count as friends.

So who in the world figured out that Jeremy is Rimmy Tim, and vice versa?

It should be upsetting. It is, to a degree, but not in the way Jeremy would expect. Whoever sent the business card clearly wants something. The location and time are evidence of that. And Rimmy Tim just had a spectacular time with a drug bust. It’s more than likely that whoever is behind this wants their particular skillset. But why approach Jeremy, when Rimmy Tim is plenty easy to find on the frequent jobs they take? Why go through the effort?

The gold inscription on the card calls to mind a particular golden gun. Rimmy Tim has only seen it a few times, and never the person wielding it. It’s small. Silenced. And the hands holding it never miss a shot. The golden gun means a swift end to whatever opposes it, and not in the way that a bullet means death. No; that golden gun stops gang wars in their tracks, assassinates the most corrupt politicians, brings genuine fear into the eyes of the LSPD.

Jeremy sips their beer and steadies themself. Whoever is behind that golden gun is worth standing beside. Things in Los Santos are about to get interesting.

 Trevor stares slack-jawed at the wallet in his hands. He’s got half a mind to chuck it off the pier and into the waves below, because it’s way too good to be true. Muggings don’t usually score him one thousand dollars. Either his unfortunate victim was loaded, or this is a setup. He shuffles through the bills quickly, and ah-ha! There’s a little white business card nestled between them.

Want more? It says in smooth golden script. The other side simply lists an address along with a date and time.

Trevor definitely should throw the wallet off the pier. He does, upon further consideration, but only after tucking the bills and card into his pocket. He may be an idiot, but he isn’t stupid enough to pass up what appear to be ten real hundred-dollar bills. After a quick scan of his surroundings, Trevor steps back into the crowds and blends right in. His victim is a quarter mile up the beach, and the LSPD have already given up their search for the mugger. Unfortunate, really.

Could his so-called victim have been the person behind the gold and white card? He wasn’t anything special looking. Messy brown hair so light it bordered on dark blonde, expensive sunglasses, nice clothes. One of Los Santos’ elite, or more likely the kid of one of Los Santos’ elite. Some rich shmuck with more money than sense who poked his nose where it didn’t belong. At least, that’s what Trevor understood from looking at the guy, and his intuition is rarely wrong. See, Trevor’s good at figuring people out. He’s good at finding what makes them tick, at learning how they move and act, and he’s even better at using that knowledge against them. Muggings are easy, then; give him a target, and he can have them all figured out after a few hours of observation. This guy was no different.

So why, then, is Trevor so unnerved by the presence of a little white business card?

The golden script gets his brain going. He pulls out the card again and turns it over and over in his hands, studying it. It’s high quality. The golden text is actually engraved into the creamy white paper, and a textured finish has been added overtop the card in a pattern akin to lace. Someone spent a pretty penny to make this card.

Someone with more money than sense.

Trevor considers this. Considers the fact that this job was a setup, and not an ordinary mugging. His judgement of character is rarely wrong—but perhaps he saw what was meant to be seen, and not what was truly there.

He smiles and whistles as he walks back to his apartment. It’s not the end of the world; he’ll just have to get a second look. And he has a convenient little card that gives him such an opportunity.

 Matt is going to scream.

Something’s wrong with his tech. And that’s decidedly not normal. He’s built eighty percent of this stuff himself. He knows his computers and his network better than the back of his hand. Nothing should ever go wrong with it to the point he can’t fix it.

Matt curses under his breath and locks his door. His roommates are home and he’d really rather not have them barge into his, uhm, gaming setup while shit’s going haywire. His lights turn off suddenly, plunging the room into darkness. Matt flicks the switch on and off a few times—no power. And it’s odd, too, because he can hear Jeremy and Trevor playing a video game in the living room. The apartment itself still has power.

It’s just Matt’s setup that doesn’t.

The thought sends an icy chill down his spine. He’s compromised. Someone found his location and managed to out-hack the hacker. Names and faces flit through his mind along with hastily cobbled-together escape plans. Who could have figured him out? Honestly, the weakest links in the chain are his roommates, but he’s been so careful and neither Jeremy nor Trevor have seemed off lately. And they’re perfectly fine in the next room, arguing loudly over Halo.

So who…?

Without warning, the printer comes to life with a godawful clattering sound. Matt shrieks and whirls around to face the offending machine. Fuck, he needs a new printer. If that thing made his whole goddamn side of the apartment short out…

But no, it appears someone is fucking with him after all. The printer happily slops ink on the fake ID he’d been in the middle of designing, spitting the card out with a horrid rattling scream. Matt picks the card up with shaky fingers and flinches when the lights flick on again, allowing him to read what’s been printed.

Lovely little place, it reads in golden ink. The other side lists a day and location.

The computer flickers back to life along with the rest of Matt’s tech. All of his screens should be displaying CCTV footage, but each individual camera’s footage has been replaced with a stylized sunglasses emoji, gold lines stark against a black backdrop.

Matt sits down at his desk and smiles sharply at the screens. Game on, motherfucker.

 Jack scouts the area from her Entity. It’s a nondescript little building up the Great Ocean Highway, well outside of town. She pulls into the nearby gas station at sunset, buys a soda and some snacks, and settles in for a stakeout. She doesn’t plan to go in, but she plans to see who does. She’s got a gun in each of her thigh holsters, a full tank of gas, and a pair of sharp eyes that miss nothing.

The sun sinks below the waves and casts a lovely pink hue across the sky. The light fades slowly to purple, then grey, then the inky blue of night. Stars wink into existence. The time stamped on the white business card in golden script fast approaches, and one man approaches the building across the highway on foot.

 Michael eyes the run-down building by the side of the highway as he approaches. It’s old and worn and grey, and from the looks of it, nobody’s been living or working there for a long while. The windows that aren’t boarded up have been shattered. Headlights from the highway illuminate a sea of glass on the concrete foundation. The back corner of the building is nearty tucked into the hillside with a high concrete wall with thick barbed wire warding off any attempts at break-ins. He can’t see inside, but Michael would bet money that there’s no easy way into that back corner from the inside, either.

And Michael has never been the lockpick kind of guy.

He hefts his rocket launcher with a grin, aims, and fires.

 Matt’s in.

Despite being abandoned for twelve years and eight months, someone has kept a CCTV camera running in a little decrepit building on the coast. The building itself used to belong to some loan servicing company that went out of business. Everything useful seems to have been stolen from the building, according to LSPD reports responding to break-ins. Except—Matt found plans, blueprints for a room in the back of the building. It has no entryway.

Seems like someone had something to hide.

Matt watches the camera like a hawk for days leading up to the date printed on the card. Nothing changes until five minutes prior to the printed time, when an explosion rocks the building and debris tumbles down the hallway. Through the opening provided, a solitary figure slips inside.

 Trevor slinks through the shadows and into the previously sealed room. Someone had blown it open from the far side, causing the rest of the wall to cave in. It allows Trevor to get inside easily. The explosion was a surprise, yes, but Trevor knew there was a possibility of others being here, of this being another part in the setup he’s allowed himself to walk into. The thousand bucks he got the other day will keep him and his roommates fed for several months, easy, but if there’s more…

Well. Trevor knows people. And he knows how to keep them away from his score. Whoever fired the rocket will wait for a response before entering. The woman staking out the place at the gas station has a loud car that he’ll hear long before it approaches his position. And the buff guy with the gun and parachute backpack crouched high on the hillside above will have to get past both of them in order to get down here. Unless—unless they’re teamed up. Shit.

A thump on the roof has Trevor regretting every decision that led him here. He pulls out his pistol and backs himself into a corner, surveying the room around him. Nothing stands out, no briefcase, no vault, no treasure. Nothing to hide behind. He grits his teeth and flicks off the safety.

 Jeremy’s pretty sure they’ve got about thirty seconds before the guy with the rocket launcher reaches the building. So, they do the most stupid thing and jump in ahead of him, hoping to secure whatever’s in the sealed room and make a stand inside. Maybe not the brightest idea when they’re up against a rocket launcher, but they’re banking on the hope that rocket-launcher-guy wants this score as badly as they do. Jeremy dives into the room and eats a bullet with their vest.

“Oh, ass!” Jeremy shrieks. They scramble further into the room, away from rocket-launcher-guy, only to roll out of the way of a second shot. Fuck, oh fuck, the gunman is inside the room!

An engine roars. Heavy footfalls in the rubble outside draw closer, closer, and Jeremy swallows thickly. Rocket-launcher-guy comes into view with his own gun in hand, and while it briefly points at Jeremy, it quickly trains on the gunman further in the room.

Fuck. Jeremy whips out their own pistol and points it at the gunman, wincing at the realization that a CCTV camera is pointed directly at the commotion. Not only that, but there are more footsteps making their way through the building.

Oh, they are so fucked.

 Jack’s glad she brought multiple guns. She trains one on the tall and thin gunman in the corner of the room, and one on the garishly colored guy crouched in the rubble to her right. The man who’d blown the building open snarls at her, and aww, isn’t that cute?

“What the fuck is going on here?” Jack demands. “What’s the big idea?”

The gunman in the corner shrinks in on himself. Poor guy has three guns trained on him at the moment. Jack doesn’t envy him.

“Fuck!” the guy blurts. “I came for the score! Jesus Christ, you guys can have it!”

The gunman to Jack’s right freezes. “I’m sorry, Trevor?!”

Trevor, if that’s his name, points his gun at the walking fashion disaster. “Jeremy?” he demands.

As if by some unspoken agreement, both of them move. Trevor points his gun at Jack; Jeremy points their gun at rocket-launcher-guy.

“Dude,” rocket-launcher-guy says. “Which of you told me to be here? This is confusing as fuck.”

Nobody answers.

Rocket-launcher-guy does a double take. “Wait, seriously? Then who the fuck was it?”

“Wasn’t me,” Jeremy says. “But I bet you it’s whoever is watching through the CCTV camera.”

Jack looks over her shoulder and, sure enough, there’s a camera pointed right at them. Shit.

“Nope,” a distorted male voice says through whatever shitty intercom system was left in the building. “I also would like to know what the hell is going on.”

Jack lowers her guns. “Did none of you send the business card?”

Rocket-launcher-guy lowers his own gun and fishes a white card out of his jacket pocket. “Not me,” he says.

Jeremy and Trevor lower their guns and pull out their own white cards.

“I got one, too,” the guy on the intercom says. “Someone used my printer to print it out.”

Jack holsters her guns and frowns. “What was the score, anyways?”

Trevor shrugs. “I dunno,” he admits. “I mugged a guy with a grand in his wallet, plus the card. I figured there’d be money in this place.”

Jack fishes out her own card and shows it to them. “That’s not what mine said.”

Rocket-launcher-guy crosses his arms. “So there’s nothing here? Well, that fuckin’ blows.”

“Aww, Michael,” a new voice coos. Jack whirls around and has both guns up and aimed at the newcomer before he can blink. “I wouldn’t say there’s nothing.”

Jack hears the sounds of guns being raised behind her, but the newcomer seems completely unintimidated. He leans back against the wall of the hallway, arms crossed loosely over his chest, smirk on his face. He’s got messy brown hair, a blue dress shirt, jeans, and sneakers. He’d look completely uninteresting if not for the golden sunglasses, the golden gun holstered at his hip, the golden watch on one wrist.

“You’re the guy I mugged,” Trevor says. “Who the hell are you? And what do you want?”

The golden boy grins. “I had this idea,” he says. “There’s this lovely little place that’s never successfully been broken into. I’ve robbed every other bank in the city. I’m bored. I want more. And I need a crew if I’m going to pull this off.” His grin turns sharp, menacing. “Will you be there?”

 Los Santos has a way of beating even the most stubborn and resilient of its citizens down. It’s easy to get lost in the grit and grey of the city, what with the pollution and fog and bleak concrete everywhere you look. But something, someone, looked at the city and saw an opportunity. A fresh start.

The end is the true beginning. And it was always going to end this way.

 The true beginning, then, was not with the card.

[tangy4ever]

Envy

WARNING: no warnings besides bad grammar, haha

Miguel O’Hara X spider!reader

fluff

You held a book in your arms as you headed toward the lab, not many spider people were up this early, as it was the crack of dawn. I mean, who could blame em’ right? You were different though, you didn’t need much sleep because you were able to consume a lot of caffeine. You considered it a superpower (sort of). You were going to the lab to work on a web fluid that was stronger than usual, there were new villains in town and you needed to be stronger. But as you walked through the pristine white halls, someone tried catching up to you. You turned around and saw a very good looking Spider-Man. Was it a Peter? You couldn’t put your finger on it. “Hey! Um, I’m Peter.” Knew it. You thought to yourself. “I know a lot of Peters, who are you? Naw I’m just kidding, nice to meet you!” You gave him a warm smile. “Wow, how are you so… awake?” He questioned, raising his brow. “Oh, I just drink a lot of coffee .” He nodded. “Anyways, I just wanted to say you look really cute.” He turned red and looked down, “I understand if you don’t like me, since we just met, but, can I get your number maybe?” You turned red, too, but agreed. “Here let me see your phone.” Just as you were about to put your number in, an alarm went off. You could hear Lyla over intercom saying, “WEEWOO! Everyone get outta here there is a blazing hot chemical fire and you will die if you attempt to put it out!” You could hear her grin through the audio. “Oh well, I’ll see you around, guess we better get out of here.” You flashed a smile. “Yeah, see you..” he seemed disappointed, you had to get that peters universe number, too. You liked his style, sort of like Hobie’s but also like yours at the same time. Roses began to grow around your feet, locking you down. “Damn it, now is not the time.” You squirmed while you tried to get out of your own trap. A deep voice from behind you suddenly speaks, startling you, “there is no fire.” You look up to see boss man himself, Miguel O’Hara, staring you down. “Oh there, uhh, isn’t?” You still struggled getting your vines off of you ankles. Then suddenly, swoosh, they were cut into pieces in the blink of an eye. “Oh, uh thanks” you say looking down, then started on your way to the lab like you were before being interrupted.

“Where are you going?” The voice sent shivers down your spine. He was now directly behind you, inches from you. You could taste his scent, smooth whisky mixed with hints of motor oil and gasoline. It wasn’t the most pleasant smell, but it was a smell to say the least. “You think that kid was cute?” You turn to face him with a confused look, “You think that was a personal question?” You say, mimicking him. “And yes, i do, he was cute, and if you don’t mind me I’m going to go work.” You push away from him and start to the lab again, before being interrupted by Miguel standing in front of you. You weren’t paying attention so you run straight into his man boobs and hit the floor. “Ow!” You say in a bratty tone. “You got stone hard pecks man, leave me alone.” He looks at you and you can see his face go from brownish to a reddish pink on his sculpted cheeks. He reaches down for your hand to help you up, but you deny and get up on your own. “carbón” <dumbass> you mumble under your breath, not thinking he actually knew Spanish right? He was just some guy, right? He looks at you with furrowed brows, not angry, but confused. “And why am I a dumbass?” You look at him in shock. “I didn’t say, uhh, I didn’t say anything.” You trip over your words then push through him into the lab. You were thankful that he didn’t follow you in. After an hour or two of work, the effects of the caffeine was slowing down and you were starting to drift off. “Come on stupid body, one more mixtur-“ you yawned and fell asleep.

You were dreaming and the smell of elote <look it up> filled your senses. Your eyes opened and there was a giant plate of it on the desk in front of you. You realized you were under a big coat and the chemical combinations you didn’t finish were tested and made. Now that you thought of it, the mixture of elote and Miguel’s scent filled the air. You took the coat off your back to look at it, and it was a big, big sweater. You looked at the tag and it said Miguel, in a pretty sloppy font, almost as if a toddler had written it. You decided to wear because, f it, and you would be comfy while you ate the amazing meal in front of you. Who could have known of your love for corn? I mean, how does one not love corn? ;) But nevermind that you didn’t think much about the name written on the tag, it was probably a coincidence. You wrapped up your project and headed back out into the hall, it was now mid afternoon and there were more people to fill the halls. You felt a tingle in the back of your head as you entered the cafeteria, you thought nothing of it, and headed to meet up with Peter, well, the one you met earlier. You said hi and made plans to meet up at a cafe in Nueva York next week. Your friends Pavitr and Hobie flagged you down and you said bye to Peter Stacey. “Hey guys.” You guys started to talk about recent villains and how much of a menace hobie is to society when your spider sense peaked again. You smelt that familiar whiskey scent behind you. Miguel. “Can I sit here?” Hobie laughed, “with us? I mean if you don’t mind me big man.” Hobie put his feet up on the table and scrunched his nose. Miguel sat inches away from you. He said that he wanted to talk about upcoming anomaly missions and ya-da ya-da blah blah. Hobbs obviously didn’t listen, Pavitr saluted every time Miguel mentioned his name, and you just kinda stared off into space. You snapped back when something brushed against your thigh, you thought nothing of it because Hobie fidgets with his guitar under the table all of the time. Again something touched your thigh, but this time it was more prominent, heavy even. Was it, a hand? No way. Hobie and pavitr had been called by Jess and went to meet with her after a hot minute of the weight on your thigh. So that’s not Hobie’s guitar. Then it can only be. You look up at Miguel. Whoosh. A portal opens up beneath you and you’re now in Miguel’s office. “Uhh, sooo, are we gonna talk about that?” You look at him scrambling to turn off the cameras of your universe, your bedroom, and your dorm at the spider society. You began to take a hint. “So, big man likes little Rose?” You walk your fingers up his arm. You grab his suit by the collar and pull him into you. He leans in to kiss you, but you put your finger up to his mouth. “Rose I-“ you huff out a sigh. You tut at him. “You thought it would be that easy? Miguel, Miguel, Miguel…” you chuckle, “before that happens, take me out to dinner first.” You wink and flutter your fingers as to say bye. His face glows red as you trot out his office in a bratty way.

Pt 2?

[specialagentlokitty]

Jacob black x reader - a monster? I don’t think so

I hope you are doing well. I'd like to make a request for a Jacob Black x F! Ghoul! Reader, maybe make it angst to Fluff? It doesn't have to be gruesome, but I'd prefer if you wrote the reader with only eating the flesh from animals instead of humans, to make it easier, I'd love it there were to be some pack and vampire drama as well. - Anon💜

A/N: this is a warning this does contain some stuff that may distress some people, it has mentions of not eating for a long period of time and such, please be careful when reading, and if you struggle please message!

Sitting on the back of your car, you sighed heavily as you looked at the blood on your hands and clothes, then across the road to where the large wolf had run off too.

He wasn’t even going to give you a chance to explain, he took one look at your black and red eyes, the seemingly endless shifting wing shaped limbs on your back and the blood around you.

“You’re a monster.”

That one sentence rang through your head on repeat.

Tears stung your eyes, and you tried your best to keep them back as you climbed down from your car and to the trunk so you could wash your hands with some bottled water.

Climbing into the driver side, you sighed to yourself and drove home.

After a shower and a change of the clothes, you debated sitting around, your eyes glued to your phone but you knew he wasn’t going to call, so you left.

You headed out of town, leaving your phone behind and everything you knew.

You were running on pure impulse, and you had to get as far away as possible, so you headed to your friends bar.

He watched you walk in, straight to the back and frowned to himself.

“What’s with her?” Someone asked.

“No idea, watch the bar?”

The woman nodded her head and he followed you straight to the apartment upstairs.

“(Y/N)?”

“Go away Ezra…”

Ezra nodded, knowing better then to ignore you.

For a few days you Simple’s stayed quiet, just crying and sometimes standing on the balcony to overlook the small town.

Ezra brought up a plate and set it in front of you, taking note of how your face scrunched up and you pushed it away, nearly knocking it to the floor.

“Hey, it’s deer, okay? I know you’re vegetarian or whatever.”

“I’m a freak. That’s what I am, a monster.”

Ezra knelt down next to you.

“What’s going on?”

You geared up again, but you couldn’t cry. You felt like you had cried your whole soul away, though the tears were there, they just couldn’t fall.

You explained what happened.

You were hunting, and you weren’t aware jacob was following you.

You didn’t know he’d seen your kagune, you didn’t know he watched you kill some poor bear, enjoying your first meal in a month.

The way he phased back and stared at you in shock, slowly backing away from you in fear.

He called you every single name under the sun he could think off, telling you if he ever saw you near forks, or the reserve again he’d kill you as if you were a vampire.

He called you a monster.

Then he ran off before you could talk to him.

Ezra watched as your body trembled with silent sobs, and he rushed over, wrapping his arms securely around you as he held you close.

“It wasn’t your choice…”

“I should’ve let those doves kill me…” you sobbed.

“No! No you shouldn’t have because your different (Y/N), you don’t have to eat humans, you can eat animals. You don’t hurt people, and the inspectors should know that, and they should just leave you alone.” He snapped.

Ezra rested his chin on your head and sighed to himself.

“You’re a good person, and you’ve saved a lot of people from other ghouls (Y/N), you don’t deserve any of this. But you can’t change who you are unfortunately.”

You didn’t say anything, you simply sat in your friends arms as you remembered jacobs face from a few days ago.

Ezra did everything he could to help you, he hunted for you, even if the smell of animal meat made him sick, he did it for you.

He tried everything, but as the months slipped by, he watched you get worse and worse.

You were wear, drying because you weren’t eating. You were in so much pain.

“Starvation is a bitch for a ghoul, please eat?” He begged.

You refused to acknowledge him.

Ezra picked up his phone and dialled a number he never thought he would after what happened.

“Hello?”

“What?”

“You need to see her.”

“No.”

“She’s killing herself because of you!”

Jacob hung up and Ezra growled lonely, sending a quick text.

Ezra: do you know what starvation does to a ghoul? It’s like hell, literally. It’s like a thousand tiny bits of sandpaper stuck in your stomach, slowly moving down down your throat and into your stomach. You grow weak, and you slowly waste away. It’s not as quick as a humans death, a ghoul can go months without eating until they slowly waste away into nothing. Fix it.

With that, he slammed his phone down and ran a hand down his face, casting a glance back into the bedroom before he went down to the bar.

Ezra didn’t know how to help you anymore.

You were dying and he couldn’t save you.

Ezra spent the next few hours checking up on your and tending to the customers.

As door went, he didn’t bother to look up, but the hands slamming down on the counter made him snap his head up.

“Where?”

“You make this right.” He snarled.

He pointed Jacob to the back and the werewolf wasted no time in running over.

He rushed up, and looked around, flinging the door open to every room before he reached the bedroom you were in.

Slowly opening the door, he turned the light on and stepped in.

He could see you huddled under the covers, clutching your stomach, the plate of raw meat sat on the nightstand untouched.

“You need to eat.” He spoke softly.

Jacob walked over, watched as you sat up before he sat on the edge of the bed.

It felt so weird to see you, he was heartbroken, torn.

But seeing like this hurt him more then he could have ever imagined.

“Why’re you here…?” You grumbled out.

Jacob looked at you, his eyes boring into your red ones before he quickly looked away.

“Because… I’m not letting you die like this…”

Jacob took the plate and the knife and fork and started to cute the meat into small pieces.

“I’m fine…”

“You’re not, here.”

You looked at him, then the food.

He could tell you wanted it, but you refused.

“Okay.”

Jacob set the plate down again and sat there awkwardly for a few minutes before he spoke again.

“Seth misses you, so does Embry and Paul.”

You smiled a little.

“I miss them too…”

Jacob smiled, and he started to fill you in on everything.

He filled you in one what was going on, and how Emmett broke the rules and came into their territory and what happened with that.

He told you about the vampire army of newborns and everything in between.

Without realising you had picked up the plate and started to eat some of the food on it, and he said nothing.

He just kept rambling on so you wouldn’t notice, and before either of you knew it the plate was empty.

You looked down at him before covering your mouth with your hand, mumbling an apology before you tried to stand up.

You were so weak your legs couldn’t hold you, and Jacob quickly caught you.

“Easy…” he whispered l.

He lowered you floor and sat with you in his arms.

“I’m sorry…”

“No, no don’t be. I didn’t think, okay? I was shocked, but you’ve never hurt a human, I know that. You always protect Bella he Charlie, you only eat animals, like the Cullens.”

You slowly nodded.

Jacob kissed the top of your head, holding you a little tighter.

“I’m really sorry, but you can’t do this to yourself… okay? I’m going to take care of you, and we’ll get you back into healthy form.”

You rested back against him, enjoying the warmth he was radiating.

“I… okay…”

Jacob smiled, sighing to himself.

He missed this, he missed having you so close.

It felt wrong with you so far away, and it hurt him as well. Not as bad as it hurt you, but it still hurt.

He was going to do everything he could to fix this, then he was going to make it up to you until he was sure you would forgive him.

Truth be told he always saw ghouls as monsters, like vampires. But you weren’t a monster, he loved you and all your weird flaws, and who you really were

[cornerofhell]

Alrighty now that we've got Eddie's backstory, may I present his girlfriend/life partner:

Annabelle Diane Jackson was born to a middle class family in one of the many towns in New York. Her father, Leonard, was the chief of police, and her mother, Florence was a stay at home mother

Neither of them were very fitting of their roles

Leonard was corrupt and an abusive alcoholic, and Florence turned a blind eye thanks to her addiction to the drugs Leonard provided her from his job.

Annie was constantly wanted to be silent in the home as if she didn't exist, but the perfect angel out in public. When she wasn't she was hit, and chastised by her mother on "why can't you just do what Daddy says"

As Annie grew older she started to try to find any reason to not go home. Library stays for "studying", helping with bake sales, just walking up and down the streets, whatever kept her out of that god forsaken house.

The more she got out, the more she met people on the streets. Hooligans, as many would call them, but Annie thought they were wonderful. Misfits like her who understood bad homes. The more people to talk to, to listen to her, to include her in fun. Drinking, smoking, smoking pot, all the while treating her like a true person.

And with new friends she began to rebel more, getting more snappy, less fearful of her father's hands, wanting to be treated better...

Of course the abuse just got worse but to finally have a purpose - to have people who cared... It stung a tiny bit less. Just a little.

And when she turned eighteen, she was kicked to the curb. "You're not our- MY goddamn problem anymore. Become a whore for all I care. Just get the fuck out."

And out she did. She grabbed the few things she was allowed to leave with and ran like hell. She wanted nothing to do with her old town besides the friends she made. She was homeless, but she was free.

She changed her name- Donna Jean Angelo, and ran off with some of her friends. Donna wanted to go anywhere away from New York, and after travelling about over the years, after the friends split their ways, doing what they could to put food on the table, even stealing, Donna ended up in New Jersey.

She was twenty-seven, living in a shitty apartment, working as a waitress, and stealing and pickpocketing what she had to from those higher up.

She met Eddie in the diner she worked at, and often saw him there as a recurring customer, sometimes with a man and a woman, sometimes just the man, sometimes alone.

The night everything really changed though, was a night like any other... Donna having tripped by a group of bratty teenagers, who had already been making fun of Eddie rather blatantly about his shaggy demeanor, and he was alone today.

Her manager began yelling at her immediately for shattering the plates, and quickly turned to Eddie but- "Nah, it's alright. She... It wasn't her fault. It was those little assholes."

Donna was surprised warmly by the defense of her, but stayed quiet, because like hell was she getting yelled at again.

Later that night, when Donna got off her shift, she passed by a dark alleyway- one she heard noises coming from-

"-you fucking shithead. Don't ever fuck with her again, you hear me? I know someone who could make you hurt a lot worse-"

Upon closer inspection, with the small light of the moonlight, it was.... That Customer. Eddie. With one of the teenagers, who now looked to be almost pissing himself...

Probably because of the gun that Eddie held to his throat.

Eddie's head snapped up and his eyes showed a look of horror at being caught, just enough for the teenager to shove him off and take off running away.

Donna stood frozen, the two of them staring at each other once Eddie recovered from his fall. She'd seen plenty of men with guns, it was New Jersey for Christ's sake...

But never one who fought for her honor like this. And someone adorable too.

"you okay?"