#I’ve been staring at this ask in my ask box for days now desperately wanting to draw it

[heyyesimtrash-whatofit]

Hiya J!

I'm obsessed with your Docpocalypse AU, its so hilarious!

Could we see Jennifer getting dragged into this, seeing all the Docs and a very tired Marty? :D

Heyo!!! So glad you’re enjoying this stupid au! Apologies for the lack of color, but this weekend got stupidly busy for me for some reason. Anyway, let’s drag Jen into this mess!!

Buckle up, Jennifer, because this ride just gets wilder with every passing minute!

[phfenomena]

❝you are the only exception.❞ || tom blyth x f!reader

request- Hi! Can I request a tom blyth x f!reader based on The Only Exception by Paramore? maybe something where that becomes their song? Thank you 🥹

A/N- this song is so depressing but i tried my hardest to romanticize it LMAO

and that was the day that i promised i would not sing for love, if it didn’t exist.

your bed is empty and cold as you roll over and stare out the window. it’s impossible to yearn for something so dearly that you don’t even want, for something you can’t have. love is the last experience you should be wanting to taste, you have your own life.

maybe i know deep in my soul that love never lasts.

you’ve had your share of flings, sure, but their touch never ignited a burning desire to be with them forever within you. they took up ten percent of your effort and time and you couldn’t care less about it.

and i’ve always lived like this, keeping a comfortable distance. and up until now i’ve sworn to myself that i’m content with loneliness, because none of it was worth the risk. but you are the only exception.

till you met tom, and he moved in and dropped his bags in his mind. you met him while working on a movie and you did the makeup of his co-star, but he always found himself in your trailer. chatting and laughing away the time in between shoots that he shouldn’t have shared with you. you found yourself thinking of him when you should’ve been asleep hours ago, the way his crinkled when he laughed, and the way he always stopped and listened whenever you had something to share.

you wake up every morning excited to work, excited to see tom. you’ve began bringing two coffees in the morning- and memorizing toms order in the process. it’s almost as if your life had been in black and white until he came along and lit everything up. he ignited you and left your hands shaking and itching to reach out and touch him, not just to fix his hair but to feel him. feel how he’s real, how he’s alive, and know that your mind didn’t conjure him up to entertain yourself.

you find yourself spending time with tom outside of set, a quick coffee run, a late night conversation over dinner, or a quick phone call to ask his opinion on a dress you found at the mall.

i’ve got a tight grip on reality, but i can’t let go of what’s in front of me here. i know you’re leaving in the morning when you wake up, leave me with some kind of proof it’s not a dream.

he finds home within you, slowly creeping into your life until your brain runs on him. slowly weaseling himself into your bed. the scenarios you once used to lull yourself to sleep were in front of you for you to touch, but he never stays. you never wake up in his arms, sometimes you wonder how he estimates when he needs to go before you wake up. before you wake up and really see him, really get to know what you guys are, or what you guys aren’t.

love is a chore, you know that. it’s tiring, draining, and it even eats you up from the inside out. someone else can ruin you in a blink of an eye, no, they will ruin you in the blink of an eye. but he’s the only exception.

your sat on your floor. the air is filled with giggles and red cheeks, it smells like wine and desperation. your guitar is sitting on your lap, having played tom any song he wanted. you’ve gone through taylor swift already and you could barley get the lovely lyrics out with laughing.

the melody of paramore begins to fill the air until the walls start closing in, until you’re in a box with tom. you’ve been careful, but when he inches forward and you meet him in the middle. it was all worth the risk. because he is the only exception.

[daycourtofficial]

Falling in Love on the Fourth Floor - Part 7

Summary: Out of an act of desperation, you move in with a guy you kind of know who happens to have a really hot brother who lives next door.

Author’s note: eeeek I’ve had parts of this one in the drafts for AGES the middle section has been drafted for at least a month I swear and I’ve been sitting on it like 🧍‍♀️ waiting to share it. I think this is my favorite part so far (but not my fav overall 🥰)

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Masterlist)

Your day had been shit. Ever since that godsawful date Mor ambushed you with last night, you couldn’t stop yourself from wondering about Azriel and Nesta’s date. What they were doing, how things were going, if she was making him laugh.

Hell, you couldn’t stop thinking about their date while on your own date. The guy was good looking, and he wasn’t terrible, but there was nothing there between you two.

He also was very into cryptocurrency, a topic that quickly took over the conversation at dinner. A topic you did not encourage him to continue on. He somehow didn’t get that memo, insisting on walking you up towards the doors of your building when he was dropping you off, where you had made a lame excuse about going to bed early before ducking into your building.

You had followed the same path Azriel took only moments ago, continuing on to your own apartment. You open the door, finding a note on the fridge in Cassian’s messy scrawl.

Have fun.

He drew a winky face, and then several crude drawings on the post-it. The drawings made you groan, Cassian’s enthusiasm for your date further solidifying your nonexistent chance with his brother.

Of course Cassian would have Mor set you up after he found out about your little crush on his brother. You felt so stupid when you saw Nesta on their couch earlier today. You hardly spoke to Rhysand on the way to lab, your thoughts too flooded with how terribly you had read the whole situation.

Cassian probably told Mor all about your dumb crush and got her to fix you up tonight. Maybe Azriel had even mentioned your text to Cassian, asking him what to do about the annoying roommate who developed a crush on his brother.

Your chest hurts, but it was just a silly crush. You’ll get over it.

Eventually.

-

Azriel stood in the elevator, waiting for the doors to close as he looked at his phone, looking at the last message you had sent him Friday morning.

Wanna grab lunch tomorrow?

He hadn’t answered, his phone having been on silent all day to focus on finishing his work for the next week and the reception in the library not allowing messages to come through. He hadn’t seen the message until he woke up this morning, the timestamp seeming cruel.

Now he stares at it and wants to throw his phone. Missed opportunities, he supposes. But what would this lunch have looked like since you’re dating that dickhead from last night? Would you have had to reject him outright?

He can see your face contort in a smile as you tell him, “oh no, Az, I’m seeing someone.” Then you’d probably laugh about it with the dickhead.

He runs his hands down his face when he hears someone yelling, “hold the elevator please!” He juts out an arm on instinct, not noticing who it is. He sees you slip inside, the doors bumping against his arm, bringing him back to reality as he looks down at you.

Fuck.

A light scent of oranges fills the elevator, and he notes it’s likely from your shampoo. He pulls his arm from the door, allowing them to close, locking the two of you in the metal box.

You look up at him, eyes going wide, cheeks heating in embarrassment at the close proximity. You’re standing right in front of him, and you can smell his cologne, a scent of night-chilled air and cedar filling your nose. You take deep breaths, telling yourself that it’s okay, it was just a little crush.

On a very pretty, smart, and very kind guy.

Who smelled incredible.

You look down at your feet, unsure how to speak to him now that you knew he was dating Nesta. And not wanting to further embarrass yourself by flirting with him.

Gods, this was how you were going to die, you think, shuffling to lean against the rail. Azriel’s voice puts a halt to the spiraling of your thoughts.

“Nice date last night?” Azriel asks, trying not to let whatever he’s feeling bubble up. Your eyebrows shoot up, unaware of Azriel even knowing about your date.

Of course he knows, you think, Cassian probably told him he’d handle it.

“He spent the while night telling me about stocks and crypto and how he wants to be in Forbes 30 under 30,” you scoffed, “so no, it was not nice.”

The elevator starts moving, and his eyebrows shoot up. “So that wasn’t your boyfriend?”

You scoff, “hell no. Mor ambushed me yesterday. She told me to get dressed up and we’d go out and have a fun girl’s night, but when I showed up she texted me that she set me up instead.

“The worst part is Mor was so confident that she told Cassian about it, so he had stayed at her place last night to give me ‘privacy’. He even left crude drawings around the apartment to help the ‘atmosphere’.”

Azriel laughs as the elevator dings for the third floor. He feels his chest lighten, knowing you definitely weren’t seeing anyone. “Mor’s always been ambitious, hasn’t she?”

You laugh. “Maybe it was just a ploy for her to have sex with Cassian.”

You say it, but you know it’s not true. The real truth was they wanted to put you out there, help you get over the beautiful man standing next to you. They knew you didn’t have a shot, especially compared to Nesta. You’re brought back to reality, and decide to hurt yourself further.

“How was your date with Nesta?” You ground out, after a pause in your conversation. You needed to know so you can completely cut off your feelings for him. You needed him to pierce you with the final dagger.

His eyebrows arch up, and he looks at your expression.

Were you upset? You won’t meet his gaze, and you’re clenching your fists. Were you - jealous?

His mouth curls up at the thought, “uh it wasn’t a date. Nesta and I study together every Thursday night. We take a lot of the same classes. We did it last night instead because she was busy on Thursday.”

Your eyebrows raise in surprise, “so you’re not dating Nesta?”

He laughs, “absolutely not. No that’s an avenue I’d never go down. But there is some-“

His words die as you hear a screeching sound and the elevator stops completely, leaving you two stranded somewhere between the first and second floors.

“No - no, no, no.”

You start freaking out - elevators always gave you a bit of concern, their small dimensions making you feel cramped. You hit the button to open the door, jamming it with your finger. Realizing that it was fruitless, You pull out your phone only to remember that the elevator always has no service.

“Fuck,” you mumble, and your breaths start coming faster and faster, and you’re trying to remember your calming techniques, when you feel cold hands gently grab your cheeks.

“Hey, look at me.”

You look up, finding hazel eyes looking back at you. They’re etched with concern, not a trace of mockery in them.

“We’re okay. Breathe with me, can you do that?”

He grabs one of your hands, placing it on his chest so you can feel his breaths as they come in and out. Your eyes stay trained on his, not wanting to look away, wanting to get lost in the gold flecks you find there.

You start following the rhythm of his breaths, but he keeps talking to you in a soothing tone. You’re too focused on breathing to register what he’s saying, but you do register the soothing tone he’s speaking to you in. You could get lost in his voice, its deep timbre a melody in your ears.

Eventually you come back down enough to focus on what he’s saying and he’s telling you about his night - everything he did yesterday.

“Rhys texted me to get some trash bags on my way in, which is where I was coming from when I pulled up and found you with crypto douche.”

You smile, your first real reaction to his words since the elevator stopped.

“There she is,” he says, his finger tapping your cheek, “wanna tell me more about crypto douche?”

“He wants to be a landlord.”

Azriel snorts, “of course he does.”

“I didn’t even want to go on this date,” your eyes stay locked with his, the golden flecks calming you down. “But Mor has been begging me to go out with this guy for ages, and then she finally decided to ambush me by forcing it on me.”

“You know you can tell Mor “no”. It’s a complete sentence.”

“I know,” you sigh, “but she loves playing matchmaker, even though she’s awful at it. Usually once every other month I let her set me up, but she was just throwing a tantrum I wouldn’t let her set me up this time once I figured out the rouse.”

He doesn’t let himself linger on the fact that you haven’t let her set you up since meeting him. Coincidence, maybe. “Have any of them been successful?”

You blow out a breath, “uh, no. Usually I stay for an hour then leave. None of them have ever gotten a second date.” You pause, thinking. “In the words of the great philosopher of our time, “I’m a pathological people pleaser,” you chuckle.

“And who said that?”

“…. Taylor Swift.”

He looks at you, a chuckle on his breath, such tenderness in his gaze it shocks you a bit. “You should stand up for yourself more.”

“I’m… not really sure how. It’s kind of new to me.”

You look at your feet, but he taps your chin so you’ll look at him again. “I stood up to my parents, and it was the scariest thing I’ve ever done.”

You had tiptoed around the topic since your admission to Cassian the day you moved in, the wound still too raw to discuss with anyone other than Feyre. Mor knew some of the details, but not the whole story. You’re sure Rhys and Az knew that something happened with your parents, but you never let them know too much about it.

They didn’t know that your parents had told you that you became everything they had tried to avoid. That, despite everything they did for you, you didn’t turn out right.

You hadn’t told Mor because you knew she would have burnt down their house with them in it.

“It was scary, moving here with a guy I hardly knew.” His grip on you tightens slightly, and he’s hanging onto every word you say.

“But I don’t regret it. Not even when Cassian wakes me up at 6 AM with his singing.”

He chuckles, and he stills as you look into his eyes, your voice clear and strong.

“I don’t… I don’t regret any of it. I don’t regret meeting you.”

His hands are still cupped on your face, his face mere inches from your own. Your confession hangs in the air as you two look at each other, and he leans closer, pressing his forehead to yours.

Your breathing hitches, but not because you’re stuck.

He opens his mouth to reply, but the elevator comes back to life, moving downwards again. It startles both of you into jumping away from each other, and you clear your throat.

“Where are- where are you going?” You ask, gesturing towards his helmet.

“Oh, uh Cassian forgot his lunch and doesn’t have time to grab anything between clients. I was going to bring him something.”

The air is lighter between you two, and Azriel feels like he can breathe you in again. The fog of confusion has lifted between you two, leaving you to be seen clearly by him.

“Do you want to get lunch?”

He echos your previous text message to him, and you nod.

“Yeah I’d love that.”

You stroll through the lobby, putting as much distance between the falter elevator and yourselves. Once you make it to the parking lot, Azriel places his spare helmet on your head, tapping the top of it lightly affectionately.

You zip your jacket up as Azriel gets on the bike first, his thighs straddling the seat. He holds the bike steady, allowing you to place your hands on his shoulders for balance, letting go of your fears as you swing your leg around to straddle the bike behind him. Your body leans against his, wrapping around him, holding onto him.

You place your head on his back, your fingers clutching onto his jacket. It feels new, electricity crackling through every inch of you that is in contact with him, despite the layers and helmets that separate you.

He chuckles at the gasp you let out when you two start moving, how your hands hold onto his jacket a little tighter than before.

He pulls a hand away to place it gently on one of the hands you have clutched to his jacket, squeezing three times before moving his hand back.

[bluem1ngs]

PAU CUBARSÍ | part 2 |

(scroll to bottom for part 1 of the story)

She was staring down at the box. It was laden with memories of their relationship, and him coming to her house to give her the things she had left at his place throughout the years struck her hard.

He entered her bedroom, and sighed, “I just wanted to make sure you had everything back.”

“You mean other than you?” she said, only then coming to realization, “Sorry.. that wasn’t fair.”

He almost scoffed, with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Pau,” she called out, stopping him from walking out the bedroom.

“You know when you couldn’t play for two months because of an injury two years ago?” she told him, “You told me that you took playing for granted before everything happened and you made a promise that if you had a second chance, you would do things differently.”

She sighed and took a shaky breath. "I know I hurt you... But I told myself that if I could get you to listen, I would tell you that," she stood up from the bed and walked over to him, "There was never a day while I was away that I didn't believe you were the best thing in my life."

He sighed and looked at her. "You can’t just say that, Daniela. Not after months of silence.”

“Why? It’s the truth.” she informed him.

"Really?" he inquired, and she replied, "Yeah."

"What about the day you threw our relationship away?" He asked her.

"You ended things between us," she reminded him, genuinely bewildered by his words.

"Yeah, after I drove a thousand miles to see you and you didn't even call me after I left!"

"Pau, you just walked away!" She argued back.

He shook his head and laughed dryly, "Well, that beats running away."

She told him sincerely, "I did call."

"You called my voicemail, Daniela!" he shouted, utterly irritated.

"Because I knew you were going to hang up on me anyway, so I had to leave a message!" she exclaimed, desperate to make her point.

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I didn't even play it. I removed your contact."

She stared at him and let out a sigh of nearly dismay.

"Well, then you deleted this," she said, taking a deep breath. “I was being childish when I walked away from you to go find myself. I was being stubborn. I handled it completely wrong, and I can’t take that back, but I wish that I could. Did I want to explore new things? Yes, I loved every night of it where I was in different countries and finding my true passion.”

She looked at him with want and passion, saying, “But I want you to know something, Pau. There was never a night where I loved it more than I loved you.”

He merely glanced back at her, unsure how he felt.

"Daniela," he said, "Let’s not get off to a bad start. I’ll see you later." With that, he left the bedroom.

When she heard the front door open and close, she sat down in her bed and took in everything.

When she heard a knock on the front door, she walked over to open it, surprised to see him standing there after days of silence.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" He asked her.

She stared at him and nodded.

She walks out of the house and closes the front door behind her.

"I just wanted to say sorry. I shouldn’t have left your house like that the other day," he apologized to her.

She merely glanced at him and said, "It's okay."

“Not really,” he breathed. “Look, I’ve been avoiding you these past few days because I’m still mad, I mean about everything.”

She takes a deep breath and anxiously wipes her hair away from her face.

“Pau, I need to ask you something, and I really don't want you to take it the wrong way, but," she stared deeply into his eyes, "I need to know what you want from me... or from us. W-What are we now?"

He shrugged, serious expression on his face, "I don't know."

She glanced at him and inquired, "What do you want us to be?"

He sighed, “I don’t know, Daniela. I can’t answer that right now.”

She exhaled, “I can. I want us to be together.”

"Why?" He inquired, perplexed, "I mean, we're so far from... who we used to be. Why fight for it?"

She informed him, "Because I love you."

He sighed and looked at her, “I know we promised to give us a second chance, and I won’t break it… but it’s hard for me to forget everything.”

She returned his gaze, holding her necklace in a comforting gesture.

“I’m going to head back home, alright?” he told her and began to walk away.

She called out “Pau,” and he turned around.

“I'm not going anywhere," she said. He slightly smiled and nodded his head.

She watched him leave her front yard and thought to herself.

Wearing the team jersey, with his name on the back there she stood in the stadium.

He gave her the jersey the day he registered for the first team, and he loved seeing her with his name on her back, but it almost hurt him that day.

Everything between the two was uncertain, with unspoken words remaining between them that had yet to be addressed. Regardless of how complicated things were, she continued to support him.

He asked her to wait for him in the tunnel once the game was over, and she did.

He entered the tunnel and was taken aback to see her standing there. Deep down, he didn't trust her, and he was almost certain she would leave him again.

She takes a deep breath and brushes her hair almost nervously away from her face.

“You played well today. Thank you for inviting me.” She tells him and met his eyes but received nothing in return.

He sighed, finally meeting her gaze, "Listen, Daniela, don't worry about us."

She nodded, her eyes heavy with sorrow.

He looked at her with loving eyes and said, "Our love is still there... it just takes time."

She hugged him and exhaled shakily. He stood there, holding her in his arms.

She drew away from his embrace and stared at him with complete adoration.

"Call me later if you want to talk or..." she laughed slightly, a smile on her lips.

He nodded and bit his lip with a smile.

Just as she turned to walk away, her phone rang. She saw the screen light up with his name on it.

She turned around to see him walking over to her, his phone in his ear, and a goofy smile on his lips.

He put his around her shoulder, and the two walked out of the stadium together.

She opened the front door to find him standing there.

"Wow, two times in one week?" She joked, making him chuckle.

His laughter subsided, and he only smiled at her.

She stood there wearing a blue button-up shirt and jeans, her hair curled and voluminous. He always admired her elegance and refinement.

"Were you going somewhere?" He asked her, hands in his pockets.

"Oh, no, I went grocery shopping earlier." She asked him, with a sweet grin, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see if I could take you out," he said, and she smiled knowingly.

“Of course," she replied, her smile widening.

She grabbed her purse and they set out for the city.

They walked side by side in silence, looking ahead at Barcelona.

She looked across at him, and he seemed upset about something.

"What's wrong?" she questioned him sincerely.

He looked across at her, unable to control the slight smile on his lips.

"Nothing," he told her, but she saw right through his lies.

She flashed him a look and he knew that he couldn't get away with it.

“I’m just kinda worried about everything. I mean, there’s a lot of things going on right now like the league, the champions coming up… and wanting to fix things with you.” He spoke softly, meeting her gaze.

She merely glanced back at him, completely enamored by him.

"You know for most of my life I would've gone through most things like this alone, but then I met you, and I finally found someone that I could depend on when life got like this," He glanced at her, looking intently into her eyes. "So I guess I wanted to see you tonight because I wanted to know if that was still there for us."

"Pau, you can always talk to me," she informed him, and he nodded as she spoke.

She took his hand, and he glanced up at her. She stood there, offering him a soothing smile.

The two started walking down the streets hand in hand.

"What should we do first?" he asked, instantly meeting her beaming eyes.

She nearly dragged him into the thrift store, and he eagerly followed her around the aisles.

She put a hat on his head and turned her head to see every angle of his face. He only grinned, taking the time to admire her.

He picked one of the sets of sunglasses on display and placed it on her nose. She giggled and gave him a funny look.

As they walked out of the store, she held her wrist against his, admiring the matching bracelets they had just bought.

He couldn't take his eyes off of her. She is the most beautiful woman, physically and emotionally.

"How about we order some food to your house?" he asked, and she looked up at him.

"I also have some ice cream in the fridge," she said, smiling, and he smiled back at her.

The two sat on her couch, a pint of ice cream between them.

With the spoon in her mouth, she used her hands to lift her hair and put it up into an effortless French twist. She only then noticed the silly look on his face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She questioned him, smiling, "Do I have ice cream on my face?" and attempted to wipe anything from her mouth away.

"It's not that, I was just remembering," he responded, laughing.

She asked, setting down her spoon, "Remembering what?"

"Your hair." he smiled, recalling, "You wore it that way the day I met you."

"You remember how I wore my hair the first day we met?" She gushed, teasing him but yet absolutely taken with the fact that he remembered something so little.

"Of course," he smiled and leaned in to kiss her lips. She carefully drew them apart and relished the kiss.

She bit her lip in a beautiful small smile, "Thank you," to which he inquired, "For what?"

"For giving us a second chance." she whispered, and he only smiled, kissing her lips once again.

(part 1 here)

[corpsebasil]

The Snow Queen Part 1

The princess of a distant, more ruthless kingdom is engaged to the prince of Ravka against her will, though he tries his best to find a place within her heart.

The prince trailed after her like a godsdammned puppy.

She was a princess made of ice, her personality a brick wall to reach, and she’d thwarted Nikolai’s every attempt at flirtation since she’d been send to Ravka to wed him. She’d even refused to speak the common tongue when she’d arrived, her handmaidens and herself speaking their native language alone. The ring on her hand still felt too heavy as she tried to fill her days with good things, refusing to let her sorrow at leaving her kingdom crush her underfoot.

But he was so. Damn. Insistent.

He’d bought her gifts, extravagant presents from all regions of the world. Jewels and exotic teas, gowns of silk and chiffon, necklaces and books and paintings for her rooms. He’d even found her a companion, a small Siamese cat that cuddled her every night as she slept. He’d realized quickly that endless flirtation and roguish behavior would not win her over, and had changed tactics to attempting to befriend her with kindness and generosity.

He was a good prince. A man with a golden heart, and he’d never stopped trying to win her over, no matter how cold she was to him. Until the day he’d came to her, face heavy with disappointment, and asked her for an audience.

She stood from her chair, raising a hand to her accompanying handmaidens, bidding them to leave her alone as they protested in her common tongue. Nikolai didn’t understand a word, though he’d tried to learn it, greeting her with a few severely incorrect words of her language from time to time.

“Your highness,” he greeted her now, sketching a small bow that suited her rank as a princess. She stood, knowing already that if he was calling her Your Highness and not love or darling or sweetheart, it must’ve been a serious matter.

“Your highness.” She repeated, nodding her head in deference as he made to sit in the chair closest to her. His hands folded over his lap, his expression pained, as he looked to her.

“It’s come to my…realization..that you’re not at all interested in a marriage to me.” Her heart dropped into her stomach at his next words, a strange desperate feeling rising up through her. “So I���m going to rescind our engagement. You can go back to your home and—”

“No.” The words snapped out of her so fast she startled, and confusion was etched across his handsome features when he looked up. “I have a duty, Nikolai. And I—” she searched for the correct words, unsure of why she was suddenly desperate, desiring, to stay at the palace. “I think that you’re…nice. And maybe if we hadn’t been forced into this we could’ve..” she trailed off, face warming as she avoided eye-contact with the man she was engaged to. “I’m saying I’d like to know you. Properly. Before I decide if I’m going to return home.”

Nikolai’s breath was short as he stared at her, at the princess he’d been unable to woo, and wondered at his sudden rush of lightness. He’d liked her—of course he had—and it had hurt him more than he wanted to admit for her to shun him so thoroughly over and over. So he smiled, tentatively, and pulled out what he’d thought would be a parting gift.

“Combs,” he said, passing her the small box. “from your country. I’ve heard the women love them there. I think—I think you’d look beautiful with them.”

Her face turned redder as she opened the lid, examining the whirls of gold and emerald, the dragons that wound themselves around the teeth of the accessories. They were stunning, and she smiled warmly as she shut the lid and glanced up at him.

“Thank you.” She said, meeting his gaze. “This was very kind.”

Nikolai stood, glancing around awkwardly all of a sudden, before continuing.

“There’s a party tonight. At the lake. Drinks, boat rides, the lot.” He paused, taking in her attentive expression. “Would you accompany me?”

Her head dipped once in a nod, thick-lashed eyes peering at the prince, and he allowed himself a quick smile before bidding her farewell and exiting the room. Y/N’s handmaidens rushed in almost immediately afterwards, practically tripping over themselves, the girls whispering and giggling as they made their way to the princess’s side.

“He’s so cute.” One said, sitting on the couch and sighing.

“He’s like a prince from a storybook.” Another laughed, dashing over to scoop up the princess’s cat when the Siamese stalked out of the bedroom.

“What did he say?” Another asked, carrying in a tea-set and placing it on the counter.

“Not much,” Y/N began slowly, running a hand over the box in her lap. “but he convinced me to stay.”

-

The party that night was larger than Y/N had expected. She wore a sheer gown, stunningly beautiful, with the dragon combs pulling back her hair. Her eyes took in the groups of people and felt suddenly shy, but kept her expression one of neutrality and steel. Lanterns hung from the trees, casting a lovely orange glow against the grass and tents. Tents which held delicious smelling foods, drinks, and desserts.

Y/N took half a step towards the revelry before he heard her name called and turned her head, watching as Nikolai approached her with a mug of something steaming in his hand.

“You don’t drink.” He told her, casually enough to suggest she’d told him and he wasn’t simply observant, and offered her the mug of tea. It smelled lovely as she took a sniff, the steam warming her face. At least, she told herself it was only the steam. “You look—” his words halted and she glanced up, raising a brow. “Very nice. Beautiful.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“No just—just Nikolai. Please.”

“Alright, then.” She took a small sip of the tea, almost sighing at how refreshing it was. “Nikolai.”

He smiled, taking her arm, and she was forced to realize how handsome he truly was. She’d been so focused on going home that she’d tried her best to ignore that fact, and now she allowed herself to really take in his features. A strong nose, smooth face, and the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. She usually wasn’t attracted to blondes, but…

He seemed to read her mind as he glanced over, watching her study him, and she knew he was still looking at her when her eyes fixed intently on the lake they approached, her face flushing with pink. She gave him a sidelong glance and saw him smiling, watching the lake too, and she almost rolled her eyes before she saw what they moved towards.

“Are we going on one of those?” The princess asked, eyeing the very small boat with a perplexed look.

“Rowboat.” He explained, nodding to the oars. They were decorated with tiny lights and cushioned seats, and a few couples had already gone out on the vast lake. “Would you like to?”

“I think I would.” She mused, finishing up her tea and looking at Nikolai, unsure of where to put the mug. She watched when he took it, returning it to a nearby vendor, and then guided her towards a boat. He held her hand as he did so, his grip soft, and damn her if her blush didn’t deepen at the feeling of his fingers wound with her own.

“Here,” he said, helping her climb into it, and she tensed when it rocked, quickly settling herself on the cushions. He followed, moving in front of her, and they sat so close in the small boat their knees almost touched.

He rowed them out, pushing away from the shore and farther out onto the water. Y/N marveled at the clear blue of the lake, stars reflecting on its surface in the darkness of night. The tiny lights on the rowboat caught on her combs, shining with gold as she leaned over and trailed her fingers through the water, relishing in the cold.

Nikolai only watched her, his eyes softening as a smile lit upon her face. Then she gasped, startling him, and pointed down at the lake, leaning over to see something he couldn’t.

“Look,” she said, voice excited. “I think there’s fish.”

He glanced over and, lit up by the dim light of the boat, there were indeed a few minnows dashing under the surface. They disappeared when the princess poked at the water, startling the tiny fish, and her laugh sounded like coming home.

“I’m glad.” He said, and she looked up at him. “That you decided to stay.”

She smiled, and then that smile turned slightly wry as she propped her elbows on her knees.

“Someone has been pining after me for months. I felt it was only fair to give him a chance.” Then she examined her nails, flawless as they were, and said, “but it might not be simple. You’ll fine I’m not easily seduced.”

Nikolai huffed a laugh, his expression saying he knew exactly what she meant, and her smile grew. But it faltered at his next words, something soft and unusual crossing her stunning features.

“Trust me, darling,” he chuckled, giving her a lazy grin that made her heart pound. “however long it takes to seduce you is worth it.”

She swallowed, and he took in her expression, his blood heating a fraction when he noted the color on her cheeks and the confusion—no, desire—in her eyes. Y/N glanced away, but snapped her eyes back to his when she felt him leaning a bit closer to her, her face already close to his as it was. But when she leaned into him involuntarily, lost in those blue eyes of his, she allowed him to reach out and touch her face, the pads of his fingers soft.

Her breathing hitched when he bent his head down, her eyes closing at the first tentative brush of his mouth against hers. And before she could press herself into him, really feel him, a sudden jolt under the boat made it lurch, and they crashed into the water as it flipped.

Y/N coughed when her head broke the surface, her eyes wide with cold and surprise as she held onto the bottom of the boat for support. She had no idea what could’ve possibly caused the flip, but Nikolai did. Because he was eyeing the giggling group of Grisha on the distant shore with a look that promised a good scolding once he’d dried off.

Y/N couldn’t help it. She laughed. She laughed and then covered her mouth with a hand, eyes crinkling at the corners as Nikolai looked her. He feigned annoyance even as a sparkling smile pulled onto his face, and he moved closer to her in the water.

“What’s so funny?” He asked, close enough to kiss, and her stomach churned with nervous excitement.

“You.” She said, still giggling, and didn’t balk when he reached out to adjust the combs that were slipping from her hair.

“Wouldn’t want you to lose those.” He murmured, fingers lingering on a strand of her hair, his eyes marveling on the softness and color. She gazed at him, feeling bold, and extended a hand to touch his own hair, her hand slipping to the back of his neck and pulling him into her.

She could’ve died. She didn’t think she’d ever had such severe butterflies with any man, not as much as she did when the prince of Ravka leaned into her touch and pressed his mouth to her own, a soft, gentle kiss that made her feel adored. She let out a soft sound that made Nikolai’s heart pound, nearly letting go of his one handed grip on the boat and sinking back down into the water. He could only hold on, marveling at the feeling of the princess’s mouth against his own, as she hooked her own free arm fully around his neck, crushing him against her.

“Easy,” he whispered against her lips, pulling back a fraction for air. “those girls might drown us if we look too into each other.”

“I can handle jealous women.” She scoffed, turning that radiant head to shoot a menacing look at the Grisha. They’d scattered, but the ones that lingered suddenly found themselves busy. “The women in my court are much more ruthless. These girls are nothing.”

“Ruthless how?” He asked, voice still low as he turned her face back to his and kissed her again, allowing her to speak after. She seemed breathless, though, her gaze having had softened again.

“Broken glass in your shoes. Poison ivy infused soaps. Oh and—” she giggled, though Nikolai was horrified. “—one time, a girl put a snake in my room. A snake.” She grinned fiendishly, and Nikolai was surprised to realize the princess that had such a cool, calm facade had metaphorical fangs of her own. “She was an idiot. It was not even venomous.”

“Did it bite you?” He asked, expression still wary. “What happened to the girl?”

“I had her whipped.” Y/N said, as calmly as if describing a stroll down the garden-path, and then let go of him to show him her arm. He saw the gouge marks of scars looked like two raised dots on her otherwise flawless skin, and he balked at the sight. She lowered her arm, suddenly worried at his reaction, and spoke quietly. “Do you think me…too violent? My kingdom too vicious?”

“No, I—” he swallowed, running his fingers through her hair again. “it’s just surprising. You seem so…calm. Sweet.”

“The most beautiful frogs in the world carry the most lethal poison, prince.” She told him, eyes glittering. “In a ruthless kingdom you must, sometimes, become ruthless as well. That is why I have begun to enjoy Ravka. The worst someone has done to me is glare or force me to swim a little.”

Nikolai chuckled at that, his hand moving to her waist as he looked to the shore.

“I think we should swim back.” He told her, eyeing the dimming lights as the night grew darker. The princess nodded and turned, swimming gracefully through the lake as her hair streamed behind her.

-

Y/N laughed as she exited the bathroom, a large, lavish robe wrapped around her delicate nightgown. Nikolai sat on the couch, playing with her cat, their late night teas sitting warm on the coffee-table.

They’d both gotten back to the palace and immediately showered, but one of her handmaidens rushed in to tell the princess that the prince had wanted to have tea with her before bed. And since they’d skipped dinner and opted instead for a lovely swim in the lake, why not have dinner together as well? The girl had asked about a million questions that the princess shook off, telling the girl to leave her be.

So as Y/N began to brush her long hair, she approached the tea-set and nibbled on the corner of a cucumber and dill petite sandwich, then moved to her vanity to apply her night creams and lotions.

Nikolai watched her ministrations, basking in the friendliness of her presence, of the wonderful smells in her room, of her lotions, and admired the beauty of her when her face was bare. It made her look younger—more girlish. And those lips of hers, free of cosmetics, looked softer than ever. His heart seemed to ache in his chest at the memory of the kiss. He desperately wanted to kiss her again.

And then his mind drifted to what she’d said about her kingdom, about the vicious things women pulled on one another. He left the cat alone, ignoring its sassy meow as it stalked to Y/N’s bedroom while he thought. He knew girls could be competitive, jealous more so, but…a snake? Someone had tried to kill her with a snake? And over what?

“Prince,” she called over a shoulder, looking to where he sat on the couch. “what are you thinking about?”

He startled, glancing up.

“Nothing. Why?”

She clicked her tongue, raising a brow.

“I can see you in my mirror. You were frowning.”

“Ah,” he said, taking a breath. “I was just thinking…did it hurt? The bite?”

Y/N finished up her routine before she spoke, and moved over to him, taking a careful sip of warm tea before she turned to him. She sat so close her leg brushed his own; it thrilled him, having her be so casually close when a day ago she’d looked at him like he was nothing more than a bug.

“I didn’t see it at first.” She said, raising her robe’s sleeve to again examine the markings, as if seeing them helped her remember. “It was curled up on my vanity. I sat down and it struck. It did hurt. Rather a lot actually.” Then she smiled, a bit wickedly, and Nikolai tried to ignore the rush he felt at that look. “I always carry a knife on me when I’m home. There are more threats than women, so I killed it. I was a bit more than relieved to see that the ditz had found a common snake and not a venomous creature.”

Nikolai smiled cautiously, his eyes flickering over her face. No fear. No fear was in his face as he looked down at her, and something in her warmed. She liked him, she realized. And she knew, somehow, that no matter what parts of her she showed, violent or not, he would care about her anyways. Would accept it. So she told him, ignoring the blush that surely spread on her face.

“I like you, Nikolai.” She said, reaching down to toy with his hand. His fingers readily grasped her own, warm and comfortable. “I think you are very…” she thought of the word. She was fluent in the common tongue, but some words…

“Gorgeous?” He offered, smirking when she rolled her eyes at him. “Devilishly handsome? Seductive?”

“I was going for persistent.” She scoffed, but smiled. “I appreciate your efforts. Tonight was…nice.”

“Would it too persistent,” he asked, tucking a strand of damp hair casually behind her ear. “if I asked to kiss you again?”

“You don’t need to ask.” She said simply, her sweet face tilted up to his, and felt as if she was melting when he kissed her.

[hopelessdelusional]

.・。.・゜✭・.✫・゜・。.

Being woken up by the sun was one of the high points of living where you did. You purposely put your bed right next to the window in order to get that vitamin D that you so desperately needed.

You flung the sheets off your body and slowly stretched out of bed. Surprisingly enough you and Hitoshi went off to bed before 2AM, the exhaustion from work allowing you to get a deep sleep.

You freshen up in the bathroom before heading into the kitchen. Today is going to be a good day, you decided grabbing a box of pancake batter out of the cabinet. While you started to make chocolate chip pancakes you hear soft footsteps walk around the apartment. A door closes, and you decide to turn on some music now that your roommate is up.

The pancakes are finally done and you grabbed the whip cream from the fridge, closing the fridge door with your hip. Hitoshi comes out of the bathroom, hair still not brushed and head down looking at his phone. At first you didn’t see him, but you were aware of his presence when the music you put on abruptly stops followed by mumbled curse words.

However the action could mean less to you as you smiled fondly at your best friend.

“I swear,” you put two pancakes on your plate and two other pancakes on another. You plant a rich amount of whip cream on both plates as you hear Hitoshi grab something from the fridge.

“You spend more time in the bathroom than I ever will.”

You snicker at your own comment before you feel something uncomfortably cold against your arm. You squeal and scatter away from your now laughing roommate.

“What the fuck?”

You scowl at him, grabbing your plate and a fork trying to get away from him.

“That was for the comment, but seriously take it.”

Hitoshi reveals that the cold object was a water bottle, and he hands it to you forcefully.

“You could have just, asked me to drink water.”

You hear a snort as you sit yourself on the couch, turning on you and Hitoshi’s favorite Youtuber.

“Like that has ever worked?”

You both settle into the couch, comfortable silence between you two. You both laugh at the same jokes the Youtuber makes, even though the two of you have watched this video a thousand times before it never gets old. You love mornings like these, window slightly cracked welcoming the cool breeze and outside noises into the shared apartment. Little decorations that scatter all over the home, showcasing both your and Hitoshi’s personalities. You were cuddled into the couch with a random plush that was bought just last week, Hitoshi cuddling with a much older stuffed animal.

“When are you meeting with Kaminari?”

You look up from your phone to look at your best friend who wasn’t meeting your eye. Since officially hearing confirmation about your theory about him having feelings for the blond, you suddenly felt a responsibility settle upon your shoulders. You desperately wanted to see your best friend in a happy and healthy relationship, considering his last ex was a literal nightmare for not only him but you as well. From your handful of interactions with Kaminari he seemed like a respectful and loving person. If he deals with Bakugou practically on the daily then he can most certainly handle Hitoshi.

“Um, around twelve.”

You take the last bite of your pancake, and Hitoshi who had been long finished stands up and takes your plate. You watch him walk away, before standing up as well and following him into the kitchen.

“Y/n, stop being weird.”

Hitoshi rinses the dishes then carefully places them in the dishwasher.

“I’ve never been weird a day in my life,” you say as you watch your best friend close the dishwasher.

He turns around, a frown on his face and a stern look in his eyes.

“You’ve been staring at me with that…look in your eyes. I don’t like it.”

You laugh, rolling your eyes and embrace the taller man into a hug. He complies, allowing you to take in his warmth.

“Come with me, I’m sure he won’t mind.”

You feel him play with the ends of your hair, his heartbeat starting to become more apparent.

“I don’t know n/n-“

You break from his arms grabbing his face and forcing him to look you in the eyes.

“I’m going to his house for the first time ever and he might have like, all of his friends over. I’m going to be awkward and uncomfortable and wishing you were there. So please? Just for some support?”

The two of you held eye contact for a minute. You could see the gears turning in his head.

He was probably trying to figure out ever out come of this day, watching his own imagination play out.

“Please Toshi?”

There was a moment of silence, the only noise coming from the street below you and the TV auto-playing the next video. Then, Hitoshi sighed.

“Fine. Now let go of me you dork.”

You quickly let go and smile wildly.

“Perfect! I’m gonna go get ready.”

You walk off into the hallway but stop once you get to your doorway. “And Toshi?”

“Hm?”

“You should brush your hair.”

“Fuck off.”

Knock knock knock

Kaminari groaned as he closed his laptop, watching Kirishima jump up from his spot on the couch and walk to the front door. Sero had to pause their game of Super Smash Bros which he seemed not to be happy about.

“Kiri!”

Mina jumped into Kirishima’s arms, the red head gladly welcoming her into his embrace. Kaminari cocked an eyebrow at Katsuki, who was standing behind Mina in the doorway. Katsuki simply rolled his eyes playfully, making Kaminari and Sero chuckle at the obvious pining between the two of their friends.

Katsuki flicked Mina’s back, stopping her rambling to Kirishima and she yelped loudly. She immediately turned around and started hitting Katsuki on his head and he easily defended himself by grabbing her wrists and dragging both of them in the house.

“Watch the nails!”

Katsuki let go of her and walked over to Sero, ignoring Mina’s cussing and ruffled Sero’s hair. Kaminari couldn’t help but stare at his group of friends, feeling his heart squeeze. He’s known these people for so long now, being able to grow up with them and see them grow up in the process.

His eyes drifted to Katsuki, realizing that he was the one who grew up and mature the most. To say the least, when he first met Katsuki he really didn’t respect him. Kaminari truly believed that he was some selfish guy who didn’t deserve anything that was coming his way. However, he couldn’t have been more wrong. Katsuki was just a hurt kid, not knowing how to deal with his own mental problems. He struggled with a lot of things, but with the help of being helped and humbled, he turned into a really good guy. Sure, he was still a bit of an asshole and seemed to be inconsiderate, but he really was kind and loving, just in his own Katsuki way. Seeing him grow up to become more affectionate and more communicative, it was truly remarkable. Kaminari was able to have deep and understanding conversations with Katsuki, along with being able to joke around with the blond. He was genuinely the brother he always dreamed of having, and he couldn’t have been happier to have that asshole in his life.

“I can’t believe you forgot we were coming over Denks!”

Mina was suddenly in his fridge, shuffling to find a soda she deemed worthy of drinking.

“Are we really that easy to forget?” Katsuki’s gruff voice was able to snap Kaminari out of his thoughts. He smiled sheepishly at the other man, who was leaned on the counter with his arms crossed. Mina walked over to him, their height difference always making Kaminari snicker, and she handed him a water.

Before he could respond to Katsuki, Kaminari felt his phone vibrate, shooting an apologetic smile at the other man and opened his phone quickly.

“Yo Denks, did you tell Katsu who’s coming over?”

Kirishima had his hands on his friend’s shoulders, squeezing them lightly enough to make Katsuki annoyed at the pressure.

“What is shitty hair talking about Denki?”

“Just one second Kacchan, let me respond to this.”

Kaminari felt his whole face flush. He didn’t know what to say, his whole body frozen from shock. Of course he wants Shinsou to come over, who wouldn’t want to have the most beautiful man he’s ever laid his eyes on in his own home? However, he doesn’t want to make a fool of himself. This wasn’t some house party with drinks that keeps him tipsy enough not to worry about Shinsou and his developing crush on the man. This was a casual work/hang out! This could get personal and make Shinsou hate his guts and never want to talk to him ever again!

“Denki, are you okay?” Mina’s soothing voice was able to calm his down a bit, feeling her long nails scratch his scalp just right. She was always able to read him like a book, and always knew exactly what to do when he got anxious.

“Yeah so, y/n asked if she could come over because she needed help with some editing stuff.”

Everyone in the room was now looking at Katsuki, who was stiff as a board. He looked inhuman in this moment, and Kaminari knew not even Mina could read him right now.

“And Shinsou is coming too apparently,” he said, getting off the stool and turning to Mina for a hug.

“Woah, didn’t know about that second part.” Kirishima chuckled, Kaminari heard a smack which he assumed was Kirishima hitting Katsuki on the back like he always does.

The red head walked over to Mina and Kaminari, making the blond pull away from his friend and walk away from the now crowd that was in his kitchen. He ran his fingers through his hair and sat next to Sero.

Sero was watching the whole thing from the living room, which surprised the blond.

To Kaminari’s demise, everyone migrated to the living room. Katsuki sat by himself in the arm chair, Mina sat herself down on floor back against the couch and Kirishima took the liberty of sitting next to Kaminari on the couch.

“Why are you freaking out dude? This is awesome!”

Kaminari put his hands on his face and fell into the cushions of the couch.

“If it makes you feel better,” Sero leaned into Kaminari’s ear, making him peek out of hands and look at his best friend who now had a shit-eating grin.

“Hot stuff over there is also gonna be with his crush.”

Slowly but surely, everyone slowly turned their heads at the ash blond, watching him tune back in the conversation.

“Fuck off!”

.・。.・゜✭・.✫・゜・。.

sweet nothing

i literally love them so much a tear was running down my face when i wrote this

you guys i recently wrote out a whole plot line for this series and im so excited like y’all are in for IT

anyways i rlly don’t have any fun facts, but if y’all have any questions i’ll answer 🫶🫶🫶

←Prev˚✧ Next→

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ updates every wednesday and sunday! happy wildest dreams sunday :)

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ TAGLIST IS OPEN just message or comment: @iiilovemilfs @0anodite0 @bakugouswh0r3 @amethyst123 @nijirosz @bakugoukatsukiwifiu @allnamesredacted @ch3rryhaze @ectoplasmictoast @cathwritestragediesnotsins @tati-the-fangirl @autumnfay @call-me-prodigy

[dumfanting]

Going Back, ch 4

Chapter 3

AO3 Link

Rating: M, mature

Warnings: hallucinations, starvation, dehydration, needles, nondescript nudity | second person pov, g/n reader, present tense

I’ve been working on this one for over a month and decided to just go ahead and post the damn thing instead of stressing over it being the ‘right length’.

2214 words

G/N reader/ Crosshair

He’s almost impressed by how vivid this particular hallucination is, then he passes out.

————

After the shouting match Hunter had gotten into with you, it takes him a long time to calm back down. So long, in fact, that when he returns to the rooftop, he can tell by the sun that it’s late in the afternoon. The door screeches open as he steps out, and his brothers heads whip in his direction. He walks over and finds Omega curled up into Wrecker’s side and staring vacantly into space. Nobody says anything, until Omega breaks the silence with a hiccup. 

“I’m sorry Hunter. This is all my fault,” she says, tears spilling over, and Hunter flinches like he’d been slapped. 

“What makes ya think that?” Wrecker asks, surprisingly quiet. 

“When I was talking with them last night, I- I asked why they didn’t just go back to Kamino alone, and they said they wanted to, bu- but they couldn’t because they didn’t know how to mask the ship’s signal,” Omega says, hiccuping again. 

“I was telling them how to do it over the comm until you caught me. They never would h-have left if I didn’t, and now they’re stuck in hyperspace and can’t get out and it’s all m-my fault!” she says, her tone growing frantic as she continues before bursting into tears. 

Hunter softly says her name and hunkers down across from her; she throws herself into his chest, nearly knocking him over as she sobs out "I'm sorry” over and over. 

“That is true,” Tech says. The others shoot him a dirty look and he raises his hands before continuing. 

“They couldn’t have left without that information from you, yes, but this is not your fault Omega,” he says, and she turns to look at him, confused. 

“B-but you just said-,” she says, sniffling. 

“You simply gave them information. You bear no responsibility for what they do with it. They could have stopped and turned back, but chose not to. That decision, and its consequences, are entirely upon their shoulders, not yours. None of this is your fault,” he says. Omega sits back and rubs at her eyes. 

“I still shouldn’t have told them,” she says, though her cries are tapering down to an occasional hiccup. 

“There’s no point in dwelling on that now,” Echo says. “We can’t change what’s already happened. But we can change what happens next.”

“Well, I guess we can try,” Omega says, calming down. She turns and looks to Hunter, as do the others. “But how?” she asks him. 

“There’s not a lot we can do from here,” Hunter admits. “But if they open the comm channels, we can at least tell them what’s wrong,” he says. 

“And how to fix it?” Omega asks, sounding hopeful as she looks back at Tech. 

“There are one or two things that we can try, depending upon the damage to the drive. There is no guarantee it will work, but there’s no guarantee it will fail either,” he says. 

“We just hafta keep calling ‘em,” Wrecker says, his comm unit back in his hand. 

—

Meanwhile, in hyperspace aboard the Marauder, you’re in the cargo bay. You’ve spent the last hour trying desperately to find anything edible. You finally spot a small box of ration bars tucked away into a corner, seemingly forgotten, and snatch it up. The box feels nearly empty, and when you open it up there are only three bars left inside. You take them out, and you notice that they’ve been expired for several weeks. You drop-kick the box across the space and curse at yourself forgetting such a basic and important thing. 

You then pause for a moment and take a deep breath. You’ll both be able to eat when you return to Ord Mantell, and you aren’t concerned with yourself anyway. You just hope that Crosshair can survive for another day or so on these bars. Expired is better than nothing, you think, and tuck them into a pocket before moving back to the bridge. 

Once there, a quick check of the navigational system tells you that you’re less than three hours away from Kamino. You nod to yourself and head into the bunks. You set the ration bars aside, then crawl into your bunk, hoping for some rest. Over an hour passes, and all you’ve done is stare up at the bottom of Tech’s bunk, your hands trembling and your heart racing. You try to distract yourself from your growing anxiety by getting up and looking around for anything you’ll need, not if, but when Crosshair comes back with you. 

You have all the medical necessities; being prepared for anything is the one thing you never budge on, and there’s a decently sized tank of drinking water with them in the cargo hold. You again realize that he’s going to be filthy, and after you check, you find the water reservoir is full enough for one shower, maybe two. On the heels of this, it occurs to you that he’s going to need something clean to wear, so you return to the bunks, searching everyone’s compartments. You dig up a set of leggings from Tech’s clutter of stuff, but the only other thing you can find is one of Wrecker’s shirts. That would be huge on its own, but it’ll be even more so with the dramatic weight loss you’re expecting. You again start thinking about what state Crosshair will be in when you get there, and you pray to the Maker that he’s alive. 

The navigation system chirps at you, and you return to the pilot's seat, shaking badly. You flip a few switches, preparing to leave hyperspace, and when you shut the hyperdrive off, the ship lurches forward with a loud screech as it slows back down. The lurch is normal, but that sound definitely is not. Before you can worry about it, Kamino comes into view, and you immediately focus on your mission. 

—

It started raining only hours after Crosshair watched everyone he’s ever cared about fly off without him. About three rotations after that, the rain was seemingly replaced by needles, with each drop that fell on his skin feeling like a sharp sting. The wind roars around him as he’s curled tightly into himself on the center of the platform. Aside from the constant noise of wind, rain, and his own chattering teeth, Crosshair can still faintly hear the steady, low beeping of his tracking beacon. 

Someone has to know he’s here, or at least have noticed that he’s been missing for so long. A small voice in his head laughs at him and says “You’re just another clone. They destroyed this place with you in it. The Empire doesn’t care about you,” and he forces the thought away, having lost count of how many times he’s already done so. He does matter, he has to. They’d given him command, that can’t have been for nothing. 

A bright flash of light catches his eye. He never really noticed that lightning can look like searchlights until he got stuck here. Having been tricked by his mind before, he ignores it. The wind picks up and imitates the sound of an engine, just like it had all the days and nights before. Although he thinks this sound is familiar, he still doesn’t look for it. No point in falling for another hallucination. 

The platform shakes as something large touches down on it, and the engine-like noise of the wind stutters to a halt. He knows it’s not the wind now; He’d recognize the sound of the Marauder anywhere. He feels the platform vibrate underneath him as a single set of footsteps rush towards him, and just before they come to a stop, he shivers so hard that he falls to one side and just lies there, too weak to even sit back up. 

Now there’s a voice, and it sounds exactly like yours, but he knows better. A pair of warm arms wrap around him, so he gives in and looks at who they're attached to. It’s you, holding him close as tears and rain mix on your cheeks. He’s almost impressed by how vivid this particular hallucination is, then he passes out. 

—

Crosshair, who had been floating in the hypnagogic state between awareness and unconsciousness, suddenly feels his entire body lurch forward. This, in combination with a shrill screeching sound, is enough to wake him completely. He sits up, and it takes so much effort that once he’s upright, he’s panting for breath. Breath that has no humid or salty taste. Confused, he turns his head and finds himself in a bunk, under a pile of blankets, sheets, and even a few tarps. 

He bends an arm and hisses loudly at a sharp stabbing sensation in the crook of his elbow. Someone’s placed an intravenous line into him. His eyes follow the line up to a saline bag, hanging from his rifle as a clearly improvised drip stand. The bag is already halfway emptied, and the drip is fast. He takes a breath, intending to raise his voice and demand to know where he is, but instead falls into a sudden coughing fit. 

He hears hurried footsteps and looks toward the sound to find that it’s you. He tries to speak, but can’t. You hold up a finger in the universal ‘hang on a second’ gesture and dash out of the room before coming back with a small flimsi cup of water. He tries to lift his arm and take it from you, but the IV jabs him and he hisses again as he drops his arm back down. 

You wedge yourself into the bunk next to him and hold the back of his head while you bring the cup to his chapped lips. The indignity he feels evaporates the moment the liquid passes down his throat. He relaxes into your touch, allowing you to gently tilt his head back as he sips at the water. Once the cup is emptied you crush it and carelessly toss it aside, then use your free hand to softly hold the side of his face and maneuver him to look at you. 

“Wh- where-?” Crosshair says, his voice barely audible. 

“You’re in my bunk, on the ship. You’re safe now, I’ve got you,” you say, keeping your voice soft but speaking clearly. Tears sparkle in your eyes. You shift a hand down to his bare chest and hold your warm palm against his heart, and this is when he realizes that he’s completely undressed. When he says your name, his voice is slightly clearer. 

“Why am I naked?” he says, confused, and you can’t help a soft laugh as you shake your head. 

“You’re hypothermic, your blacks were soaked through,” you say, then gently guide him onto his back again as you stand. You swiftly replace the emptied saline bag with a new, full one and slow the drip. Once you’re satisfied with that, you strip yourself completely, and Crosshair makes an odd noise, somewhere between a chuckle and a cough. 

“Not wasting any time, huh?” he says with a faint smirk. You roll your eyes but smile at him. 

“You’ll take in body heat faster if it’s skin on skin,” you say and he makes a ‘yeah right’ sound at you. 

Minding his IV, you have him sit up enough for you to settle in behind him. He leans back into you and gasps before instinctively curling himself around you as tightly as he can. You allow this and, ignoring how cold he is, entwine your legs with his while also wrapping your arms tightly around his upper back and shoulders, keeping his chest pressed close to yours. You reach over and adjust the pile of covers to surround him, taking care to tuck it all in closely. He rests his head in the hollow of your shoulder and takes a long, deep breath before yawning. You plant a soft kiss to his temple and you feel his breath across your throat as he quietly says “You’re so warm…” before quickly falling asleep again.

Drowsiness threatens to overtake you too after about ten minutes, but you keep yourself awake by periodically checking his pulse and monitoring the IV drip. The second saline bag is nearly empty already. Without waking him, you manage to wiggle out from behind Crosshair and get to your feet. You redress yourself and quickly switch out saline bags, slowing the drip for a third time. You expected dehydration, but not to this degree, and worry about how much you have left. You tell yourself that it’s fine since you’ll both be planetside soon. 

You adjust the pile of covers over Crosshair again, taking another look at the scarred side of his head, and something important suddenly occurs to you. You slip out of the bunks and start searching around Tech’s workbench. You find what you're looking for tucked away behind a box in a nearby compartment, and breathe a tentative sigh of relief when the chip reader powers up. You return to Crosshair's side and gingerly move his head just enough to scan it. The device beeps and the screen lights up almost immediately. 

You look at the readout and have no idea how to feel; His chip is still there. 

Taglist: @kaminocasey @madameminor @jennamelinda12 @arctrooper69 @the-cantina @jedi-hawkins @griffedeloup

To be added to or removed from this list, reply to this post

[we-were-so-beautiful]

1. day five

it's here! the first chapter of my bbu story featuring vanessa + juniper, which I'm tentatively calling "imperfectly consistent". this story is heavily inspired by many of the great pet whump series and other whump writings I've discovered in the last few months, especially those by @maracujatangerine and @whumpzone as well as @justbreakonme , @haro-whumps , @emmettnet and many, many others. this is my first time writing or posting anything like this, so please feel free to send me feedback and tell me what you think!

This entire story comes with major content warnings for drug and alcohol abuse, as well as the standard box boy universe fare: pet whump, dehumanization, conditioning, etc. Individual chapters will have specific content warnings and tags as well; please do tell me if there are any I need to add.

[masterlist] [chapter two]

“Shit. Shit.”

“What’s up?” asks the voice on the video call.

Vanessa clasps a hand over her mouth and breathes out hard through her nose, eyes wide and laser-focused on the middle distance. “Fuck. Okay. You know that… that dude on the shelter site?”

“The one who you said was in there longer than usual?”

“Yeah. He’s still there.”

“Still? How many days has it been now?”

“Five.”

The silence hums between them like a gathering storm.

“I’ve never seen anyone stay there five days before. I, I’ve been watching the site for months and I’ve barely seen anyone get to four. If he doesn’t get picked up by tomorrow…” Vanessa inhales through her nose. “Rose, I gotta do something.”

“You mean like… adopt him?”

Vanessa twitches at the term. “Fuck, no. I’d literally be so bad at being a rescuer. But like… maybe I can find someone to take him? I mean, shit, I could cover the fees for them, I could even pick him up and keep him here until they could come get him, I just… I can’t let a person die like that.”

—

“Listen, this is maybe weird but…”

“...yeah, that kind of Pet. But he’s a rescue, and…”

“...no, you wouldn’t even have to be here by tomorrow, I could pick him up for you and—”

“You do understand this is a seven-day kill shelter?”

“…Hello?”

Vanessa stares hard at her phone. There’s one last call she could make; one she really, really doesn’t want to. But a life—someone else’s life—is quite literally on the line. Desperate times, and all that shit.

She takes a deep breath and dials.

“Hey, M—hello? …of course. Bonjour, Noémie. Is Victoria available today? …no, of course not. What about tomor—right, uh huh, yeah. Okay. Well… I mean, you wouldn’t be interested in adopting a pet, would you? …yeah, of course not, never mind. Au revoir.”

So much for that.

—

They reconvene the video call hours from when they left off, Vanessa spent and Roselle somber. “I called every person I could think of, Rose. I’m so tired.” She looks it: pale, drained, practically vanishing in her chair. “Please tell me you have better news.” 

Roselle shakes her head grimly. “I put the message out on rescuetok, but nothing so far. I don’t know if it’s realistic to find someone through there on this kind of time.”

“What about your parents?”

“I’m sorry, Ness. I asked. They said no.”

“Oh, come on!” Vanessa slaps the table a little harder than she means to, jostling the screen. “But they’re so nice! Like, if anyone was going to take a rescue, it should be them! I thought they said they were against the practice!”

“They are, Ness,” Roselle sighs, rubbing at the bridge of her nose.

“Not enough to keep an actual human person from being murdered for it, apparently!” Vanessa stands up and paces back and forth across the room. “Fuck. Fuck! I have to take him.”

Roselle looks up and blinks. “You what?”

“I mean, if nobody else is gonna do it—! It’s not like I don’t have the money. Or the space. I mean, I sure as shit don’t have the personality, but—fuck, dude! What else am I supposed to do?”

“You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

“I just… watching the shelter sites was supposed to just be a little thing I could do that mattered, y’know? And now it is so big and so fucking real and, and…” Her hands are flailing past her ears now, wrists and elbows oscillating wildly.

“Hey. Nessa.” Roselle pulls her focus, the calm timbre back in her voice. “He’s still got one more day, right?” Vanessa nods sullenly. “So you’ve got a day. Think about it. Wrap your head around it, as much as you can. In the meantime, we’ll see if anyone else picks him up, or gets back to us, or if anything else that could happen happens. And if they don’t, you’ll be ready.” Vanessa raises her eyebrows as if to protest. “At least, a little more ready than you are now,” she amends.

“You’re right. You’re… thanks, Rose. You’re good at this. You always are.” She tilts her head. “God, I wish you could take him. You’d be so much better at helping him than me. Than anyone, probably.”

Roselle smiles ruefully. “Yeah, not in senior year pre-law. And definitely not in a dorm room. I’ll help you help him, though. You know I’m here for you, any time.”

“You’re the best, Rosarita Beans. Speaking of pre-law, though, should I like… let you go study? I feel like I just took up a whole bunch of your day.” She grimaces.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Like I said, I’m here for you. I probably should go, though, if you’re okay for now.” Vanessa nods again. “Alright then, text me if you need anything, okay? And make sure you sleep before tomorrow, you’re gonna need it. Oh, and I’m guessing you haven’t eaten yet, so do that for me? Okay bye, love you.”

She’s right again, of course. “I’m not hungry,” Vanessa tries to protest, but Roselle has already ended the call. 

Well, if she’s going to eat—and sleep, probably, come to that—she’s gonna need an assist. She fires off a text. AUSTIN, it says. EMERGENCY. COME TF OVER.

As you wish, he replies. The weed man cometh.

—

Austin shows up forty minutes later, and she wraps her arms around his waist and hugs him until he chucks her shoulder and says, “Dude, let me in, it’s freezing out.” They climb the stairs to Vanessa’s favorite living room and in short order the bong water is bubbling and pizzas are on their way.

“You know, the nuts thing is, just going off his picture the dude should’ve gotten picked up, like, right away. I mean, lookit ‘im,” Vanessa rambles, poking a finger at the thumbnail next to the number 414374 in the shelter site’s neat little table. It expands to show a man with sharp features, pale skin and blue eyes, with waves of black hair cascading over impressively broad shoulders. “He’s like, super hot, right? I mean or he would be without the brainwashing 'n shit.”

Austin cranes his head down to see. “Yeah, I’d do him. Without the brainwashing and shit.”

“Yeah! So like, here’s the thing right? Dudes who look like that get snatched up in like a day. Two, tops. It’s like… okay this is horrible but it’s like a borzoi at a humane society, you know? They’re gonna be there for like five minutes.”

“You said he’s been there for five days, though.”

“Exactly! So like, what is his deal, man? What could possibly be up with him that would make all the crazy ass pet people not go ‘yeah I want that one’ like, immediately?”

“Dude, yeah. Huh.”

Vanessa laughs around a mouthful of smoke until she doubles over coughing. “Oh, shit, dude, what am I getting myself into?”

[thefangirlthatwaited]

Encounter (Chapter 166) - A Destiny Universe Story

Crow x Guardian

By the time my song ended, the twins were peacefully asleep. How I wished I was as oblivious as they were. To them, Crow was away on a mission and would be home soon. They didn’t know the dangers that stood in our way. I pulled my children close, closed my eyes, and tried my best to get a few hours of sleep.

“Ruby,” I turned away, the voice trying to pull me from my dream. “Ruby...”

“Crow...” I muttered.

“We’ll be together again,” Crow whispered, his voice filled with a love I yearned for. “I love you.” I desperately tried to reach out to him, but his voice faded away, leaving me lonely.

I woke up in a jolt, my body drenched in a cold sweat, my breath coming in ragged gasps. It was just a dream. Crow wasn’t here. “Mommy?” I turned to the sound of Rory and Ari’s voices, finding them quietly engrossed in their toys. 

“Mommy is fine,” I assured them. “Are you two hungry?”

“Pancakes?” Rory asked.

“Of course.” 

The next few days passed in the same way. The twins and I would sleep in the living room and spend the day together—anything to keep my mind occupied. The nights were another problem. After I sang the twins to sleep, I was left staring at the ceiling until exhaustion took hold. It wasn’t healthy, but it was all I could do to hold myself together in front of the twins.

“You need to speak to someone,” Stell said one evening while I was putting the twins to bed.

“And say what? Crow is gone, Stell and I can’t fall apart like I’ve done in the past. I have a family now.”

“And that’s very grown-up, but you can still talk to someone.”

I sighed. “Maybe. I’ve been hiding for a week. I’m amazed no one has come to check on me.” Stell refused to look me in the eye. “You’ve been relaying updates to the team.”

“I might have,” Stell admitted. “They don’t want to bug you.” 

“Thanks,” I fell onto the makeshift bed.

“Are you going to talk?” Stell asked.

“Probably. I need to gather the courage to do so.”

The following day was a rough one. Ari decided that he had enough of me and wanted Crow.

“Daddy!” He yelled while ripping apart boxes in the living room.

“Ari.” I hissed. “I’ll put you in timeout,” I warned. He huffed and tipped the box over, spilling its contents on the ground. “Ari!” He took off running for his room and slammed the door in my face before I could grab him.

“Fuck!” I growled, pounding my fist on the door while fighting back tears. Why did my son have to push my buttons? Didn’t he know I was barely holding it together? The doorbell rang, and I peeled myself away from Ari’s door.

“Want me to get it?” Stell offered.

“Please.”

While Stell greeted our guest, I tried to coax Ari from his room. “Little man, open the door.”

“No!”

I tried the doorknob again with no luck. “Ari, open the door this instant!”

“I WANT DADDY!” My head hit the door, and I wiped away a stray tear. This boy was going to drive me to an early grave.

“Need help?” I spun around to see Jolyon and Terna standing there with Stell.

Full Chapter on Ao3

[emilyshotchniss]

When You’re Feeling Alone, I’ll Remind You of Home

deciding to write this was a very, very last minute decision - i had intended to try and finish it on Christmas Day, so I apologise that technically it’s being posted on Boxing Day :/

i hope you all enjoy nonetheless! i hope you everyone had a lovely christmas, consider this a belated gift - i’m so thankful to have stumbled across this many people who love these two as much as i do❤️

word count- 2k

warnings - none, just pure fluff with a pinch of angst if you squint :)

-x-

She was having a bad day.

Emily knew Christmas time was going to be difficult, but she failed to anticipate just how isolated she was going to feel. Ever since she returned from Paris, it had felt like she was trying to squeeze herself back into a life that no longer had room for her. She should've known the holidays would only heighten the imposter syndrome that followed her around like a shadow.

Last Christmas, life was so different that on days like this she found it difficult to fathom. From team nights out to spending Christmas Day all together at Rossi’s, Emily had never felt more at home. Only two months later, a phone call from Sean McAllister tore through her life - she wondered now if she’d ever find that feeling of home again.

Aaron could see her struggling. He saw her struggling to find her footing again, saw how she was overcompensating in both her work and personal life, desperate for things just to go back to how they were. However, he didn't want to force her into a conversation she wasn’t ready to have, and risk spooking her. He knew from experience that this was something she needed to come to him with, on her own terms.

In the end he’d had to prompt her. A gentle reminder that bad days were something he was all too familiar with, that he was always there for her should she need him. When he found her not even three days later, curled in on herself alone on the jet, he knew he’d made the right call.

“Have dinner with Jack and I tonight,” he proposed.

He didn’t miss the way her face faltered, the ramblings of imposing on them forming in her head, so he spoke again before she could get the words out of her mouth.

“I’m serious, Em. Jack would love to see you and I may or may not have left all my Christmas wrapping to the last minute. I could really use another pair of hands,”

She thought about it for a minute, before shooting him a mischievous smirk. Something he hadn't seen in far too long, something so distinctly Emily that had his stomach doing flips.

“You’re playing dirty Hotch, you know I can never say no to that angel of a son you’ve got,” she grinned.

“It’s true! He’s been asking for weeks when he can next have a playdate ‘Emmy’,” he smiled.

“He really does love you,”.

The sincerity in his tone alleviated any anxiety that had previously been looming over her, and she felt her cheeks warm as she turned her head to meet his soft gaze.

“Does six-thirty work?”

As promised, a knock on the front door rang through the Hotchner Household at six-thirty on the dot. Emily stood outside the door, grinning to herself as she heard a screech from the other side, followed by the thundering of footsteps running down the hall.

“DAD!”

Suddenly the door swung open, and to her surprise, she found Jack staring up at her from inside the apartment.

“EMMY!” he screamed, a whole millisecond before launching himself against her, hugging her legs so tight she had to grab the door frame for balance.

“Hey little guy!” she giggled, crouching down to his eye level. “Oh, I’ve missed you!” She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a proper hug, blinking away the tears that had welled in her eyes as she heard Aaron’s footsteps round the corner.

“At least let Emily get in the door Jack,” He chastised, but she could hear the humour in his tone. “Sorry about that, come on in Emily.” He offered her his hand to help her up, and ignored the shiver that ran through his body as her hand slid so perfectly into his.

“Never apologise for that sweet boy - if I’m going to get a welcome like that everytime I come over, you’ll never get rid of me,” Emily laughed.

“Don’t give Jack any ideas, that’s his idea of heaven,” He smiled at her.

Wordlessly, he appeared behind her and gently slipped her coat off her shoulders. Her eyes fluttered shut for a fleeting moment as she relished the feel of his breath on the back of her neck. Something about the way he skimmed her shoulders ever so gently she could only just feel it, had her heart beating that little bit faster.

Emily knew she couldn’t feel this way about him. But if she was truly honest with herself, she had done for years now.

She couldn't pinpoint the exact moment she fell in love with him, instead she felt it had crept up on her, getting stronger and stronger until it consumed her. She loved everything about him - from his dedication to his work to the dimple in his left cheek. Most of all, she loved the way he put his son before anything else in his life. Despite everything they’d both been through, Aaron had still raised the kindest, politest, most perfect little boy - a carbon copy of his father through and through.

“I hope you don’t mind, but Jack has decided the only thing he was willing to eat tonight was a Happy Meal, so I ordered in McDonalds. Chicken nuggets are still your favourite, right?” He said, grinning.

She narrowed her eyes at him as she tried to deflect attention from the blush forming across her cheeks. It was something he used to tease her mercilessly for, how she’d grown up immersed in so many different cuisines around the world, yet her favourite dish was a six chicken nugget meal from McDonalds.

“Try all you want to embarrass me, but I can assure you it won’t work - I have no shame.” She replied, following him into the kitchen.

“Look Emily, I put your plate next to mine so we can sit next to each other at the table!” Jack exclaimed, as he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the table.

“Wow, Jack, thank you!” She chuckled, throwing a reassuring smile to Aaron over her shoulder before following Jack to the table, leaving Aaron to plate their food.

“So tell me something,” She began as she folded the sides of the paper up and onto the gift she was currently wrapping. “Did you really invite me over to check in on me, or did you just need someone to wrap all your gifts?”

He laughed, shaking his head as he passed her a piece of tape.

“Busted,” He replied, a grin on his face.

“Knew it!” She laughed, swatting his arm playfully as she accepted the tape gratefully, securing the paper against the box.

“Okay, this one is good to join the rest under the tree,” She stated, handing him the present as he made his way to the large Christmas tree.

She began to unwind more paper from the roll, cutting a new piece ready for the next gift. When she reached around to take said next gift from Aaron, he was suddenly much closer than she remembered him being before. He sat the present on the floor next to him, before reaching out and gently squeezing her arm.

“All jokes aside Emily, I’m worried about you.” He said, a sincerity to his tone that made her feel exposed - she should’ve known she could never hide anything from him. She took a deep breath, and gently blew it out, before turning to face him.

She was met with eyes swimming with concern. “That bad?” He asked her.

“What?” She asked, genuinely confused.

“That’s your tell,” He told her, eyebrows furrowing.

“It is? For how long?” She stuttered.

“Uh, ever since I’ve known you?” He deadpanned, as she rolled her eyes.

“Well, you have one too.” She huffed in response.

“I do?” He smiled.

“Yeah, only I’m not going to tell you what it is or you’ll stop doing it.” She giggled.

“I see,” He replied, a genuine smile on his face. They sat for a moment, simply looking at one another, comfortable silence engulfing them.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He began tentatively.

“I guess…“ She started shakily. “The holidays are just hard, I guess.” She tried to shrug it off, desperate to convince him she was fine so she could leave this state of sheer vulnerability. The moment she faced him she knew that it was pointless, that he would see right through her.

“It's more the thought of the fact that I finally felt like…”

“Like you had a home?” He prompted.

“Yeah…” She replied, her voice tight, sharply inhaling as tears she refused to let fall brimmed in her eyes as she met his. “He took my home, Aaron,” She breathed out, her vision clouding over as she felt a stray tear fall from her lash line.

Aaron reached his hand up to carefully wipe it away, cradling her face in his hands like she was made of glass. The reverence in his touch only caused more tears to fall. She leant into his touch as he skimmed her cheekbone with this thumb.

“Emily, listen to me when I say this - you are home.” He told her, with so much sincerity behind his words.

“This is your home - we are your home. I need you to know that,” His voice suddenly sounding thick.

She was sure she heard something in her neck crack as she snapped her head back up to find him so close their noses were close to touching.

“Do you mean that?” She all but whispered.

“You’ve always had a home with me.” He choked out, his thumb still tracing her skin.

They stared at one another for a moment, eyes fleeting down to one another's lips and back to each other, as a feeling of understanding settled between the two - both acutely aware of the shift about to occur between them.

The moment their lips met, she knew he was right. He was always right.

This was her home. All her fears, all her anxieties melted away the second he pulled her into his embrace.

He cupped the back of her head, fingers trailing through her dark hair as her hands ran across his shoulders, and up to the short hair at the base of his neck. What began as something delicate and tentative quickly progressed, the second he gave her hair a light tug.

He swallowed up her moan, pulling back quickly before diving back in, chasing her lips. Before they even knew what was happening, he had manoeuvred her onto the floor as he hovered above her, her hands stroking the strong muscles in his back as he snuck his under the soft material of her sweater, groaning at the feel of the soft skin that lay beneath.

However, their bubble burst suddenly as Emily cried out, quickly pushing him off of her.

“Oh god, Emily, I don’t- I’m so sorry, I completely overstepped-“ He began.

“Aaron,” She smiled, cutting him off from his rambling. Why was she smiling? Hadn’t he just completely taken advantage of her?

“Relax - I just rolled onto the scissors,” She giggled.

“Oh. Oh,” He replied as relief washed over him.

She crawled off the floor and up towards him, pushing him back against the edge of the couch as she settled in his lap. She mimicked his earlier movements, running her thumb over his cheekbone.

“I’m home.” She whispered, tears brimming in her eyes again.

“You’re home,” He choked out in reply, as he brought his hand to the back of her head again, holding her in place. He kissed the tip of her nose, and slowly pulled back to look her in the eyes again.

“You have tape in your hair,” He said barely above a whisper, and she barked out a laugh as her face flushed red, resting her forehead against his.

“Way to ruin the moment you asshole,” She laughed, removing the rogue piece of tape from her hair.

They had so much to discuss, a lot to work though, but all of it could wait.

This was her forever home after all. They had all the time in the world.

[yuuniee]

🐍 إلى مفتاح قلوبنا 🧵

(To The Owner Of My Heart)

A/N: A happy (VERY VERY late) birthday to Jamil, and happy meal for Desert Puppeteer enjoyers even though it’s a bit short. Enjoy your meal and don’t forget to chew a lot and swallow~ (/j)

Taglist: @ameleii @achy-boo

It was the time where the birds would chirp together, golden and red leaves slowly fall from trees. It was truly a relaxing day for everyone.

...Except for one person.

Farah, who had been working at Sam’s Mystery Shop to make enough money for the limited edition matching keychains and the mixer as to replace the broken one, was sleeping there on the floor in a sleeping bag. Needless to say, he was surprised to see that the little imp was sleeping on the floor, or so he calls her.

He poked her cheek to wake her up, causing her to get startled.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were this desperate to get something, Li’l Miss Farah!” He asked her with a smile.

“Mmh...” She rubbed her eye and sat up like a worm. “Good mornin’, Mr. Sam.”

After the realization dawned on her, she immediately unzipped the sleeping bag and got out of it.

“I-I’m sorry! I was planning to go back to my dorm after cleaning up here but... I think I forgot to actually go...” Her cheeks visibly flushed as she mentally facepalmed herself.

As a response, he chuckled.

“Working overtime here has actually tired you out, hm?” The shop owner said while turning on the lights.

“...A bit. Nothing I can’t handle.” She dryly replied, steeling her nerves at anything that he might say or do.

“Could it be..? Are you working to get a gift for someone special?” He raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

“Yes-- No! I-I mean...” She looked away in embarrassment.

“It’s OK, don’t worry! Now come on, we have to prepare the Mystery Shop for the day!”

After she dusted herself off, she sat up and helped Sam prepare the shop and headed to the school like nothing happened.

—

As Farah was done with her shift for the day, she lightly tapped on Sam’s shoulder.

“Mr. Sam, I’ve been saving a lot of money for a while, and I would like to buy some stuff if that’s alright with you.”

“Oh, what is it?” He politely asked, to which resulted in Farah walking over and point at a couple of things.

“These keychains and that mixer...” She replied, “About a month ago, one of the mixers in my dorm broke down because of some idiot who thought it’d be a good idea to mix a hardened dough with it... So I worked here in order to get a new one while using other dorms’ mixers. I didn’t wanna trouble anyone with it, so I worked hard to replace it myself.”

“I see, so that was why you’ve been insisting on taking night shifts as well...”

She nodded as she handed him the money.

“May I buy them?” She asked with a serious stare before looking away. “...Please?”

The young man smiled and put a hand over her shoulder.

“Of course, go ahead!” He winked as the Scarabian before him was left stunned.

“Okay, Mr. Sam.” Her face brightened up while she carried the things she bought carefully to the next place she’ll go.

—

As Farah was done with her shift in Mystery Shop, she got back to her dorm with a huge box in her arms. It was sloppily wrapped, but ready to be given to the birthday boy.

She looked around the crowd to search for her beloved. After a while, she spotted the all-too-familiar feather accessory and moved towards it while muttering ‘excuse me’s, politely asking others to let her through. It wasn’t too long before she managed to reach to him.

“Albi?” His face visibly brightened up when he saw her face, “I am glad you made it. You told me that you were going to be really busy this week.”

She smirked and placed the box next to the table.

“I wouldn’t want to miss this special occasion to give something nice to someone I cherish this much.” She replied and hugged him, “Happy birthday, habibi... May it be full of joy and happiness for you.”

The vice leader simply chuckled and brushed her hair off, then kissed her in the forehead.

“Thank you, my dear.” Then he cupped her face and kissed her on the cheek.

She held his hand and leaned in to kiss him, causing his cheeks to flush in embarrassment. Then she whispered in his ear with a grin.

“I loooooove you~”

Then giggled despite the young man glaring daggers at her.

“Do you really have to do this every time we are in public?!” He elbowed her while turning his flushed face away. Farah playfully hummed in response and kissed his cheek while carrying the second box to the kitchen.

When she arrived there, she quietly made her way to where the broken mixer was and her eyes widened in shock. Because it was already replaced with a brand new one. The creaking of the door instantly snapped her out of the thoughts rushing in her head.

“I knew you were doing something to replace it.” The familiar voice of the birthday boy was heard. “I already told Kalim the next day that it was broken, and we already found the culprit and he had gotten suspended...”

She slowly lowered her head in defeat, but instantly flashed a smile.

“Whoops. Looks like I got caught, huh?” She sheepishly said, rubbing her neck. “Can’t expect anything to miss from your sight actually...”

Jamil sighed and shook his head.

“You needn’t have to work so much, you could’ve just told Kalim or me.” He said, voice laced with pure concern, frowning at the sight of her tired face. “If you need to rest, then you can. I don’t mind.”

“Says you, the king of overworkers.” She rolled her eyes with a scowl appearing on her face right after, “You always work so much until you get exhausted. And just so you know, I really hate to see you this way.”

“But you know about my duty Farah...” He replied.

“Of course, of course... But...” She closed her eyes and trailed off. Then the sound of his footsteps coming closer to her became louder until he was right in front of her. He brought a hand over her cheek and touched it.

“I very much understand your concern about me and my well-being, my jewel. I find it quite endearing.” His gaze met hers, “At least I got to rest today. The students were the ones that arranged everything for the party.”

The girl tilted her head, some of her short, midnight blue strands falling on her face. Just for a moment, she wanted to hold him. She awkwardly opened her arms for him for a hug, and she felt her lover’s embrace after a few seconds.

“Jamil...” She muttered, “I need to tell you something.”

He looked at her with his concerned look returning again.

“Ever since we started dating, I haven’t been able to say this out loud but... I really hope I showed it...” She pressed her lips together and exhaled, “I love you so much, maybe even more than you think I do.”

“You did.” He responded shortly, “I can see it well. But just don’t do it in public.”

She tilted her head again.

“Why? Only stuff I do is hugs and kisses.”

“It’s embarrassing...” He said with his cheeks flushing, turning into a slight shade of crimson color.

“I find it pretty cute though.” She grinned while wrapping her arms around his neck. “Very cute for a man who would cause some ladies to pass out with a single look...”

“Is that so?” He raised an eyebrow and grinned back at her. “Then prove it, Albi.”

“Well...” She said and kissed him on the lips while touching his cheek. Then she broke off the kiss and cupped his other cheek with her free hand. “Who wouldn’t fall for someone with beautiful eyes that looks like a pair of obsidian, glistening lips, handsome face... Augh! ...Y-you do get what I mean, right?”

His laughed and gently stroked her cheek with another smirk.

“Of course I do.” He replied to Farah who was too flustered to speak at the moment. After composing herself, she held his hand and looked away for a second, then looked at him in the eye again.

“Say, Jamil... Would you like to go back to the party together? I-I’ll be there, next to you, holding your hand like this...” She gave his hand a gentle yet firm squeeze.

“I’d be delighted to.” He replied and swept her messy bangs, then kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger longer than his usual pecks.

“T-then let’s go, okay?” She mumbled and walked out of kitchen to the party venue while holding his hand. Then she looked back at him, gave him a slight smile and mouthed a quick ‘I love you so much, Jamil Viper’.

‘Perhaps this is the best birthday I’ve ever had thus far...’ He thought to himself while they were walking. When they arrived, he felt her thumb brush against his hand looked at her. Then he noticed her smiling at him as well.

“I love you too, my dearest.” He said while leaning into her ear, causing her to get flustered again.

“You’re lucky it’s your birthday...” She said while turning to her front.

“With you being the best present?”

“Maybe...”

He leaned again and kissed her on the cheek too, then whispered.

“Then I am glad to have such a good present being given to me...” He said while sitting on a pillow.

She lightly smacked his shoulder while sitting on the pillow next to his. But then she laid her head on his shoulder and hugged his arm.

“...Again, happy birthday Jamil...” She muttered. “May it be the best year for you.”

“Thank you, my dearest.” He replied and laid his head on top of hers.

As they sat together, Jamil closed his eyes and quietly wondered what will the next year bring to him. Then he looked at Farah and smiled.

‘This year brought me a miracle... Next year, who knows?’

Then he closed his eyes again and intertwined his fingers with hers, letting himself relax just for this moment. Even it was fleeting, he secretly wished moments like this with her would last forever.

[biolumien]

unquenchable flame | rin (oc) & muriel

“please, rin,” asra implores. “i’m doing this to keep you safe. please, please understand that.” in the magician’s hand is a small box, and his other hand is clutched in a tight formation, his fingers bending as if holding tightly to a tether. 

“safe,” rin’s voice echoes. 

but it’s not quite human. green sparks fly from their clothes, their skin. their eyes are illuminated with fire, their teeth bared into a snarl. 

“safe?!” rin’s voice booms. 

and then it’s made abundantly clear— 

asra has constructed a prison. a cage to hold—

“please calm down,” asra says, his voice more of an order now. “i’ve been barely able to restore your human form—”

“what makes you think i want it?” rin screams. the skin of their hand shatters, replaced with brilliant green fire. the skin around their eyes crumbles, giving way to brilliant green underneath. “just because you got it back for me? LIED to me?” 

“i didn’t— i didn’t lie,” asra tries. “i just wanted to keep you safe. when you-when you died, i was so heartbroken, rin. i did this— i was going to do anything to bring you back.” 

“shut up. SHUT UP,” rin screams, throwing their hand out to throw a wave of fire at the cage’s wall. asra wheezes, the air knocked out of him as the fire connects. “i don’t want to hear your excuses. you sad, pathetic excuse for a magician— you lied to me this entire time. everyone in town stared at me like i was an abomination—”

their human form shatters like glass. gives way to pure fire, crackling and untamed. 

“all because you couldn’t move on with your fucking loss!” rin’s fist made contact with the cage’s wall. the wall rumbles, and asra coughs again. blood trickles from his lip. 

muriel, sweet thing— has watched the entire time, silent and unmoving. but as soon as asra begins to bleed, he rushes for his friend, his hand glancing asra’s back, not fully touching. 

“i never asked for this,” rin sobs, slumping down. “never asked to be brought back to life. from how i fuckin’ see it, everything went to shit because i was brought back. if i died that day— if i died at the lazaret… then i should’ve been left for dead.” 

their tears are fire, burning the grass beneath them. 

“i’m sorry,” asra’s voice cracks. “i’m so… so sorry.” 

“you’re SORRY?!” an explosion of power shatters the cage. asra flies back, landing in the ground with a groan of pain. rin’s eyes are furious. “sorry doesn’t fix this! sorry doesn’t— doesn’t fix the heart of the forest dying. doesn’t fix the fact that lucio is out for *blood* because—”

muriel’s arms are wrapped around rin’s body, his fingers grazing across the burning fire. he grits his teeth— it hurts, of course—

“none of this,” muriel whispers, his voice steady, “is your fault.” 

“let me go,” rin hisses, their voice becoming more desperate. “please.” their body wobbles, the flames sparking and dancing as if to jump away— but they don’t. their weight, whatever it is now— remains in muriel’s arms. 

“no,” muriel says. more confident than he feels. “you can’t go.” one of his hands rests against the small of rin’s back, the other holding their hair. it burns. his skin screams with pain, but—

“please,” rin cries. “i’m hurting you— i’m burning you.” fiery tears drip onto muriel’s fur cloak, singing it. 

“my heart,” muriel whispers. “my firebug. i need you here. storyweaver. please.” muriel’s hands reach up to cradle the crackling, flaming edges of rin’s face. “you’ve been here for me. when i faltered. how could i n-not, for you?” he laughs wetly, realizing the tears on his own face. 

rin’s breath shudders. at once, the flames seem to cool down as they lean into muriel’s touch, sobbing openly. 

“i’m sorry,” rin cries. “i— i didn’t— i didn’t, i—”

“shh,” muriel murmurs. “i’m here. i’m here. you’re safe.” 

he’s not quite sure how long they stay like this, rin’s fire crackling across his skin. but eventually, it becomes gentler. warm, but not burning. he turns to asra, who has approached slowly with an extended hand to soothe the angry red burns on muriel’s skin. 

rin’s form flickers. they almost look how they used to— nearly fully human, but the green glow under their flesh seemed to suggest otherwise. 

“i’m… sorry, asra,” rin says. “i didn’t mean to-to hurt you.” 

“you’re alright,” asra says. “your reaction… is completely normal, given the circumstance.” a small smile plays on his lips. “but i mean it. you’re a friend. and i— the last thing i wanted is for you to get hurt and implicated in this.” 

rin sighs. 

“yes,” rin murmurs. “but now we move forward.” 

they take one of muriel’s hands in theirs, running their thumbs over his knuckles. their touch is unbearably hot, feverish. maybe that will never leave. 

“stay with me,” rin says, not meeting muriel’s eyes. 

something approaching a crooked smile forms on muriel’s lips. 

“always.”

[summercourtship]

About the Kiss Drabble!!!

Can i ask for Vulpes Inculta? If yes can you do number 14?

14 - A kiss so desperate that the two wind around each other, refusing to let go until they are finished

Of course you can ask for Vulpes!! Generally, I’ll accept requests for any character I’ve written before. And I’m like… super excited to write him more, especially in an objectively sillier context than my actual vulpes x courier fic.  This ended up being slightly longer than the drabble length I had said but that’s okay lmao, I had a SCENARIO (it's like 1200 words). Anyway I love like... companion!vulpes scenarios/fics.

KISS DRABBLE PROMPTS

Vulpes was watching you struggle to climb over a fence, his arms crossed and eyebrows raised. He’d suggested multiple times that the two of you kept moving, although you knew that his motivation was to try and subtly corral you towards Cottonwood Cove without you noticing. You’d been successfully avoiding his attempts to get you to visit Caesar, but you could feel his patience wearing thin with every passing day that you continued to dodge his request. He just didn’t seem to understand why you didn’t want to visit the man whose entire ideology said that your only purpose in life was to have children.  

With a huff you swung your leg over the top of the not-particularly-tall fence, pulling yourself onto the other side before dropping onto the ground. 

“I think it would have been easier for you to try to find a hole.” He remarked. You waved your hand dismissively behind you, not bothering to look back at him. 

“That would take up too much time, I just want to check out these boxes.” You began walking to a gutted pre-war van not a few yards from the fence, with what was clearly an abandoned camp in front of it. The remains of a fire, an old bedroll, some crates, and a few ominous bloodstains sat in the shadow of the van, waiting for you to loot them. 

“So you said.” You ignored his comment, instead crouching by one of the crates and pulling out a bobby pin to try and open it. 

You had barely bent over when a force pushed you down, using the shift in your balance to easily knock you to the ground. You yelped, more from surprise than any pain, scrambling to pull out your weapon. But your assailant had the advantage over you and kicked it from your hand as soon as you had grabbed it. Distantly, you registered Vulpes cursing, though you were preoccupied with the woman above you. 

It appeared that a raider had been hiding in the van and decided to take the opportunity you presented. Luckily she was only carrying a rusty pipe as a weapon, which you were able to wrap your hands around and try to pull from her grasp. 

Then, as she yanked the pipe back from your hold, she sputtered and choked, looking down to where Vulpes was now pressing his ripper into her gut. You barely managed to roll away before she collapsed, dead. 

Shocked, you looked from the corpse to Vulpes. You didn’t even have it in you to make a snarky remark about how you could’ve handled her yourself. Instead, you could only muster a small laugh. “You saved me.”

He put the ripper away and the desert was silent without it's mechanical whirring.

“Caesar wants to see you.” He shifted slightly, almost uncomfortable as he looked down at you. “He would be disappointed if I let you die. Especially to a lowlife like that.” 

You stared at him for a moment longer before sighing and standing, brushing the dirt off of your pants. You grabbed your gun from where it had landed when the raider kicked it, placing it back at your side. “Well. I guess we should find somewhere to sleep, right?” 

Vulpes scaled the fence easily, landing on the other side in the matter of seconds. He turned back to look at you through the fence, frowning. “You cannot avoid Caesar forever.” 

“Once I have an actual reason to go down that way, I’ll pop by for a visit.” You began to climb again, the process slightly easier now that you had done it once. You could see him watching you, rolling his eyes. 

“You’ve been saying that for almost two weeks.” 

“And I haven’t had a reason to go down that way.” You dropped down from the fence. “You don’t have to travel with me.”

“I was told to bring you to Caesar.” 

“Then we’ll go on my time.” It was a conversation you’d had at least three times with him already, and it always played out the same. 

You walked with him, letting him lead the way (slightly) as you fiddled with your pip-boy and tried to grapple with your thoughts. Vulpes had killed someone for you. And even if his only motivation for doing so was because of Caesar, he still deemed your survival more important than anything.

Despite your desire to, you didn't dare sneak a look at him, sure that he would be able to feel your stare on his skin.

You only realized he had stopped walking when you almost ran into him. He was looking at you, expectantly, and you struggled to figure out what he had said before giving up and asking him to repeat himself. 

“Will this do?” He gestured behind him to a small shack. You nodded, pulling your gun and approaching. Once you had ensured that the inside was clear of any creatures or humans, you let yourself sit on the single dusty cot. Leaning back, you rested your head against the wall, letting your eyes shut. 

You could hear Vulpes moving around, placing his things down and investigating the cupboards and lockers, before his footsteps came to a stop. Then the cot dipped beside you. Startled, you opened your eyes to see him sitting in the exact same position as you, his head turned towards you. 

“I don’t like you-” You began, only to frown when he interrupted you.

“I’ve heard much worse.” 

“I’m not done.” You sighed, closing your eyes again. “I don’t like you, but I wanted to say thank you for saving me earlier.” 

“Like I said, it was for Caesar.”

“Oh really?” You opened your eyes again, leaning to look at him only to find him facing forward. He had a nice profile, you supposed, with strong features. 

“Yes, profligate.” He turned to look at you again, that same expression of annoyance that seemed to be on his face a lot when it came to you replaced by something that you weren’t able to discern. His eyes briefly looked down to your lips before snapping back to your eyes. But you’d seen it.  

And then you leaned forward, acting faster than your thoughts which were screaming at you that this was a bad idea, crashing your lips onto his. For a moment, he tensed and seemed like he was going to pull away from you before he pushed back against your lips, returning the kiss with a desperation you hadn’t expected. His hands rose to hold the sides of your head, threading through your hair to dip your face backwards as he shifted to practically drink you in.  

Maybe you would regret this when you parted, maybe you wouldn’t. You knew that this would have consequences- there was no way you made out with one of Caesar’s closest men and didn’t pay for it later. But right now, with his hands in your hair and your tongue swiping against his lips, begging for entrance, you couldn’t care less. 

You shifted, moving so you straddled his waist to deepen the kiss even further, opening your mouth and inviting him in. His tongue flicked against yours, pulling a whimper from your throat that you would certainly deny later. He groaned in response, moving his hands from where they’d landed on the sides of your face to wrap around your back, pulling you closer to him until your chest was pressed entirely against his. Your hands gripping his head, and you momentarily mourned the fact that his hair wasn’t long enough for you to pull or really grab onto. 

With a final gasp, you parted to catch your breath, panting. Despite no longer kissing, you stayed within a few inches of him as you breathed each other in, sitting in silence for a moment before he spoke.   

“Will you let me take you to Caesar now?”

“No.”

[waitimcomingtoo]

Never Been Kissed ~ P.P

chapter seven: baby, can we dance

series masterlist

On the night of your prom, you stood in front of your full length mirror in your prom dress. Your makeup was already done and had taken you a full hour since you wanted to look perfect. You stared at your body in the mirror for a long time and felt like someone else was looking back at you. You tilted your head to the side and look at your reflection curiously. You slowly reached out to touch the foreign reflection in the mirror, yanking your hand away when you heard your bedroom door open. You turned around and saw your mom in your doorway with a jewelry box in her hand.

“Hi sweetie. I just wanted to bring you this.” She said and shook the box. You nodded and she shut the door behind her. She opened the box up and took a diamond necklace out of it. You instinctively moved your hair as she placed the necklace around your neck.

“Your daddy got this for me on our first anniversary. That’s what you need to find, sweetie. A man with the means to buy you the finer things in life.” Your mom said as she clasped the necklace. You stared at the diamond pendant for a minute before your eyes flicked to the bracelet on your vanity. It was made of string and beads of your favorite color. The middle of the bracelets had beads that spelled out Peters name. He had given it to you for your one month anniversary and you’d been wearing it everyday.

“Can you zip me up?” You asked once you looked back in the mirror. Your mom nodded and zipped up yoru took dress in the back. It was a dusty rose color that you had picked up months ago. You had loved it back then, but now you didn’t like the way it hung off your body like a hospital gown.

“You look beautiful. You’ve never looked better.” Your mom smiled at your reflection in the mirror as she fixed your hair. You looked at yourself again and put your hands over your stomach.

“Mom?” You asked quietly and she made eye contact in the mirror.

“Mom, I haven’t eaten in three days.” You whispered. You held eye contact with her in the mirror as your eyes glasses over. Her eyes, however, showed no emotion. She blinked just only before throwing on a smile.

“Pretty hurts.” She said simply.

“Pretty is killing me.” You said as your voice cracked. Your mother blinked again in the mirror and seemed to be remembering something.

“I did the same thing in high school. I counted every calorie and went way more than three days without eating something. And now, I get to look back at my prom pictures and feel like I looked perfect. Don’t you want that? Don’t you want to be perfect?” She said finally.

“I don’t know anymore.” You shook your head and stopped looking at your reflection. Your mom noticed your face and her smile faltered a little.

“I was prom queen, you know.” Your mom said with a smile to change the subject.

“I know. You’ve told us many times.”

“Do you think you’ll win tonight?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s stupid anyway. It turns a fun night into a competition.”

“Life’s a competition. And prom queens get ahead. Look at me. I was prom queen and I’ve never been happier.” Your mom smiled widely after she looked at herself in the mirror. You looked at the necklace your dad had given her again and frowned.

“Are you?“

“Am I what?”

“Happy?”

“Yes. Of course I am. Why would you even ask that?” Your mom laughed like it was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.

“Then why did you make me suffer the way you did?” You asked her as you made eye contact in the mirror. Your mom gulped a little and looked away from you, pretending to be interested in the frame of of the mirror.

“Look at me, mom. Look in the mirror.” You whispered desperately. She stopped looking away and made eye contact with you again as you clutched your stomach.

“Where did I go?” You asked, mostly to yourself. Your mom stayed silent as you reached over and grabbed a photo off of your vanity. It was a picture of you and your mom from back when you lived in California. You were just a little girl in the picture, sitting on your moms lap with the biggest smile in the world as she held you close. You both looked completely different then you did now.

“Where did you go?” You asked as you stared at the photo. You looked back up in the mirror and could swear you saw your mom wiping a tear. Before you could say anything else, the doorbell rang.

“That must be Peter.“ Your mom threw on a smile and wiped her face again. She walked out of your room without another word and went to answer the door. You grabbed the bracelet Peter had made you off your vanity and slipped it on before leaving your room as well. You walked to the front of your apartment to see Peter and May talking to Archer. Peter and Archer were dressed in similar tuxedos but looked very different. Peter looked up when he heard you come in and his jaw dropped.

“You look….there are no words for how you look.” Peter said breathlessly as she stared at you with soft eyes. You smiled shyly and looked down at your dress.

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” You told him.

“Get together for pictures!” May excitedly urged and motioned for you to get together. You walked over to Peter and kissed him hello before getting into position. He held you prom style as Archer and his date did the same. May and your mom stood back and took a bunch of pictures of the four of you as you posed.

“Sweetie, suck in your stomach.” Your mom called from behind her phone. A silence filled the room and everyone looked at you with a mixture of shock and sympathy.

“She doesn’t need to. She looks beautiful.” May said it cut the silence.

“Yeah, mom. She looks beautiful. Just take the pictures.” Archer said as he looked angrily at your mom. They went back to taking pictures and May could tell that your smile was significant dimmer. Peter held you closer and leaned down to whisper in your ear.

“I think you look beautiful.” He said so only you could hear. Your smile widened again and you leaned into him.

You all left in Archers car and arrived at prom with the rest of your class. You nervously clung to Peters hand as you stepped into the gymnasium. You spotted your friends by the food table and waved to them. They all screamed in excitement and ran over to you. Peter stood back as your hugged your friends before they went to hug him as well.

“Hey Brittany. I like the all black.” Peter complimented as he looked at Brittany’s black gown.

“I’m half white.” Brittany replied.

“No, that’s not what I - okay. Sure.” Peter decided it was best not to engage and just moved on. MJ and Ned eventually joined you in your small circle, both wearing suits. You all mingled for the first hour as party music blasted behind you. As time went on, you felt yourself starting to disassociate. You stopped participating in the conversation when people started to sound far away. You looked around at the party lights and started to feel woozy. You fanned yourself a little and clung harder to Peters arm to keep yourself up right. You looked over at the food table and figured you probably needed to eat something to feel better.

“Are you hungry?” Peter asked when he followed your eye line.

“I’m okay. I ate before I came.” You lied and shook your head. Peter frowned a little but didn’t want to start another fight at prom. Before he could say anything else, a slow sling started to play.

“May I have this dance?” Peter asked and held his hand out to you.

“You may.” You smiled at the gesture and took his hand. He led you out to the center of the dance floor before assuming the position you had taught him just a few weeks ago. You slow danced in the way you practiced as the music blasted from the speakers. The loud music combined with the lights was starting to make you feel worse. You felt hot and cold all at the same time but kept a smile on for Peters sake.

“I can’t believe I’m at my senior prom with you.” Peter said with a soft smile. “I’ve always wanted this. I just never thought it would happen.”

“I know. MJ might’ve mentioned you having a crush on me.” You teased him.

“Well your friends might have mentioned you being totally obsessed with me.” Peter taunted right back. You playfully rolled your eyes and stepped closer to him. Peter looked into your eyes for a minute before leaning to kiss you. You tightened your grip around his neck and pulled him as close as possible as you kissed him back. You both knew what prom night meant. Your graduation was the next day and that meant your fake relationship would be coming to an end soon. You were going off to separate colleges come August and by this point in your relationship, you didn’t have much left to teach each other. You felt yourself getting emotional as you kissed him and pulled away. You rested your forehead against his and let out a shy laugh. The song came to an end but you stayed in each other’s arms.

“I’m gonna check my makeup in the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” You smiled sweetly at him before going to the ladies room. Once you were out of the gymnasium, you sat down on the closest bench and put your head in your hands. You felt like you were about to pass out and needed to get some air. Your stomach growled loudly and you let out a little whine.

“One more night.” You told yourself. You tried to get up but felt light headed and sat back down.

“Hey. You okay?” Brad David asked as he came up to you.

Elsewhere, Peter was in the gym waiting for you to come back. He felt like you were taking an unusually long time and decided to look for you. He got you some fruit punch before going out into the hall. As Peter walked up to you, he saw Brad walking away.

“Hey. I got you some punch.“ Peter said and handed you a plastic cup full of bright red fruit punch.

“Oh. Thanks”. You smiled weakly and took the cup. You looked back over at Brad just as he was going back into the gym and frowned a little.

“What’s wrong?” Peter asked and looked back at Brad too.

“Um, Brad just asked me out.” You said and laughed a little to ease the blow. Peter felt his heart stop and looked at Brad again.

“He did?”

“Yeah. He said he’s like me for a really long time and that you told him that we weren’t together.” You said as you kept your focus on Peter. You wanted to see his reaction, but he was still looking over at Brad.

“Did you really tell him that?” You asked quietly as you stared at Peter.

“He asked.” Peter shrugged. He didn’t mean to use such a harsh tone with you, but he was panicking. One of the most popular boys in school had just asked you out right when your fake relationship was coming to an end. Peter could tell he was about to lose you and was starting to lash out.

“Peter-“

“He asked me and I told him the truth.” Peter cut you off. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Peter.” You tried again. You could tell he was beginning to spiral and wanted to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand.

“You know what? You should do it. You should go out with Brad. That’s what we prepared for, right? This is what all the lessons were for. For you to go off and get a real boyfriend. Not a fake one, like me.”

“Peter.” You whispered and stepped back from him, feeling hurt by his words.

“I think that sounds like a great idea, actually.” Peter laughed sadly. “Go date Brad. He’s practically perfect for you. He’s a good guy, he’s popular, he’s rich, and he’s an athlete. Did you know he was on the football and the basketball team? Thats two more teams than I’ve ever been on. He’s got money, popularity, a large friend group, a basketball scholarship to NYU, and now he’s got you too. He’s living the dream. Good for Brad freaking Davis.”

“Peter.” You said, angrily this time.

“What? Why do you keep saying my name?”

“Because I want you to calm down and talk to me. You’re freaking out over nothing. All I said was-“

“All you said was what we planned for all along.” Peter cut you off. “We said we’d stop once we graduated and we graduate tomorrow. We have nothing left the teach each other so you don’t have any use for me anymore.”

“Use you? Are you kidding me?” You laughed in surprise. “We said this would be mutual from the beginning and it has been. We even said we’d continue this into the summer if we wanted to. Can you just stop feeling sorry for yourself for a second and talk to me like a normal person?”

“I don’t really want to talk to you right now. Because if I talk to you, all I’m gonna think about is you using the lessons I taught you to be a perfect girlfriend for Brad Davis. You’re gonna let him put his hands where mine used to be and go on dates with him and let him sleepover and it’s gonna be fine because that was the plan all along. That’s why you and I started this in the first place, right? It was always with the intention of gaining experience so you could get into a relationship and know what you were doing.”

“I don’t get why you’re freaking out over this right now.” You said as you rubbed your eyes. “You don’t get to be mad at me because someone else asked me out. Especially since you practically handed me over to Brad.”

“Handed you over? What are you even talking about?”

“Brad said you told him to “go ahead” when he asked you if he could ask me out. He said that you told him “she’s all yours”. You practically gave me to him as if you couldn’t wait to get rid of me. How do you think that made me feel?”

“Oh my God. That is not how I meant it.” Peter groaned. “What was I supposed to say to him? What would you have said?”

“I would’ve said that we were together. I would’ve told him it was real. Because if the roles were reversed and some girl asked me if she could ask you out, I’d tell her no. I’d tell her you were mine. Because up until now, I thought I was yours.” You said as your voice cracked.

“You were never mine.” Peter insisted as his eyes welled up with tears.

“I wanted to be.” You smiled sadly. “But not once since starting this have you suggested that we should just date for real. You’re always the one to bring up the fact that it’s just pretend. Meanwhile, this whole time I thought the only thing we were pretending about is that fact that we’re pretending. But maybe that’s just me.”

Before Peter could say anything else, he heard the principle take the microphone as the music died down.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention.” Your principle said into the microphone.

“You’re right.” Peter stated. “I was never pretending. I have been in love with you since forth grade. You never liked me back then and it’s no different now. It was never going to be different.”

“Our 2022 Midtown Tech Prom Queen is…”

“You never even asked me what I said to Brad after he asked me out.”

“Well what did you say?”

Just as you were about to respond, you heard your name called on the microphone. You frowned and looked past Peter as someone opened the gym doors. Inside, everyone was looking at you as a path cleared for you in the crowd. You looked back at the crowd in shock before looking back at Peter, who had tears streaming down his face.

“This was never going to work.” He said tearfully. “You and I are from two completely different worlds. We always have been. You’re the freaking prom queen and before I met you, I had never even been kissed.”

“And your prom king, Brad Davis.” The principle continued into the microphone. You looked back at the crowd before looking at Peter again. You both had tears in your eyes but yours were the only ones to fall.

“Yeah? Neither had I.”

You slipped your bracelet off and handed it to him before bumping his shoulder as you passed him. Peter watched your dress drag on the floor behind you as you made your way through the crowd. Brad held a hand out and helped you into the stage as Peter watched through the open gym doors. You stood center stage next to Brad as crowns were placed on both your heads. You gulped and tried to hold back your tears as you stared out at the dozens of blinking eyes that stared back at you. The brought lights and the heat were really getting to you now. You felt dizzy and the corners of your vision were beginning to dim. You had zoned out so hard that yu had ent even realized Brad had been giving an acceptance speech. People were cheering for him as Peter silently stood back and watched. You looked out at the crowd and made eye contact with Peter as a bouquet of flowers was placed in your arms.

“Would our prom queen like to say a few words?” Brad asked into the microphone before stepping to the side. You faked a smile and stepped up to the microphone stand before looking out at Peter again.

This time, Peter was gone.

You felt a wave of nausea hit you again and stumbled back a little. You held onto the microphone stand for support and gave the crowd an embarrassing smile.

“I-“ You said into the microphone, seeing feedback throughout the gymnasium as people plugged their ears. You gulped in embarrassment and looked at the principle, who gave you a weak thumbs up. You looked back at the crowd and touched your crown with your free hand.

“Thank you for this. I’m so grateful that you voted me to be your queen.” You smiled weakly as you took the crown off of your head. You looked down at it in your hands but it was blurry. You felt weak in the knees again and sucked in a shaky breath.

“I can’t thank you enough. My whole life, all I wanted was to be prom queen.” You said into the microphone as you continued to stare at the crown in your hands. You were determined to see it without the blurriness, but you couldn’t seem to focus. You need to see it for it to be real. This is what all of the pain was for. All the nights you went to bed hungry was so that you coudk look perfect when you stood on stage as prom queen. You need to see the crown now to know it was all worth it, but you couldn’t get your eyes to focus.

“I’m sorry, I’m just trying to see something.” You said into the microphone as you continued to stare at the crown. You heard snickers and confused murmurs from the students and felt your face go hot with embarrassment. You ignored it and continued to look at the crown until suddenly, it cracked in half. You heard shocked murmurs spread throughout the crowd and you felt your entire body heat up in embarrassment. You looked up and out at the crowd, but you couldn’t see anything since your eyes had teared up. You dropped the two halves of the crown and the clattered to the floor, making a sound that echoed through the dead silent gymnasium.

And with that, you took off.

You picked up the end of your dress and pushed your way through the crowd until you reached the emergency exit. Cold air hit your bare shoulders after being inside the hot gym for so long. You could feel tears running down your face and ruining your makeup as you ran into the night.

Meanwhile, Peter was sitting on a bench in front of the school. He had his best pout on as he played with the bracelet you had given back to him. He remembered the night he had made it for you and how excited you had been when he gave it to you. You were someone who owned designer clothes and fancy jewelry, but you said it was the nicest thing you owned. Peter smiled a little at the memory before remembering your fight. He sniffled and wiped his face when he heard the school doors opened. He looked up and saw Brad Davis in his prom king crown, making a chill run down his spine.

“Dude.” Brad said as he approached Peter.

“Oh God.” Peter gulped and slid down on the bench.

“What gives man? I thought you told me you and Y/n weren’t dating?”

“We aren’t.” Peter said quietly and looked back down at the bracelet.

“That’s not what she said.”

“What do you mean?” Peter asked as he looked up.

“Well I asked her out and she totally turned me down.”

“She what?” Peter asked, a new hope growing that you might be able to repair your relationship.

“Yeah. She said she had a boyfriend that she was “very much in love” with. I’m assuming that’s you?” Brad asked and folded his arms. Peters eyebrows raised in surprise and he couldn’t help but smile.

“She said that?” He asked hopefully.

“Dude, you gotta talk to her yourself. And while you’re at it, try to figure out what the hell is going on between the two of you. Because it seems like you’re on two completely different pages.”

“You’re right. I gotta find her.” Peter said as he stood up.

“Good luck with that.” Brad mumbled.

“What do you mean? Isn’t she inside?”

“No. She broke her crown in half and then ran off the stage. You didn’t see that?”

“No. I was out here.” Peter said as a panic rose in his chest.

“Well she left the building a little while ago. She could be anywhere by now. You’re probably not gonna find her.” Brad told him. Peter immediately thought of the Spiderman suit he had on under his tuxedo and nodded his head.

“I’ll think of something. Thanks Brad.” Peter patted Brads shoulder before taking off inside the school. He undressed himself as he ran through the halls until he found his secret hiding spot. He grabbed his web cartridges before stuffing his tuxedo under his spot under the lockers. Then, he took off into the night. Peter shot a web at the nearest building and ran up the side of it. He leapt from rooftop to rooftop, calling your name all over the city. When he didn’t see you anywhere, he called your phone. He knew you wouldn’t pick up after the fight, but he figured it was worth a try. To his luck, Peter heard your phone ring somewhere in the distance with his enhanced hearing. He immediately swung towards the sound until he found it a few blocks away. Peter dropped down from the rooftop and walked down an alleyway but didn’t see you anywhere. Peter frowned under his mask and continued to search for you, he tripped over something. Peter steadied himself and looked back to see what he tripped over. What he didn’t expect to see was an arm. Peter pulled his mask off and followed the arm until he found the body attached. Your body.

“Oh my God. Are you okay?” Peter dropped to his knees and rolled you over. You had a cut going across your entire face that was bleeding heavily. Peter gulped and looked up, seeing the pipe you must have scratched your face on. He quickly pulled you into his arms and shook you.

“Come on. Open your eyes. I need you to open your eyes.” Peter pleaded as he lightly smacked your face. Your eyes fluttered a little but didn’t open and Peter felt his panic grow. He stood up with you in his arms and slipped his mask back on, noticing how much lighter you felt. Peter knew he couldn’t swing with you in his arms, so he took off running instead. He ran all the way to the nearest hospital and burst through the doors.

“I need some help over here!” He exclaimed. A few doctors and nurses came over to him as someone wheeled over a bed.

“What happened?” A doctor asked as Peter gently laid you down on the bed. You let out a groan and clutched your stomach in your unconscious state.

“I found her passed out on the sidewalk. I’m not sure how long she’s been unconscious.” Peter told them as he took your hand and squeezed it to let you know he was there.

“Can you tell us her name?” Another doctor asked.

“I don’t know her.” Peter lied. “Her ID is probably in her purse.”

“Okay. We got it from here.” The doctor told him. Peter looked down at you in the hospital bed and felt a physical pain in his chest.

“Sir?” The doctor asked, getting Peters attention. Peter didn’t realize he had been gripping the railing of your bed as tight as he was and let go.

“We got it from here.” The doctor said again. Peter reluctantly let go of your bed as the doctors pulled you away. He stood in the noisy ER and watched as you disappeared while tears slid down his face under his mask.

Tag list 💋

@ivorysdinonuggies @wvndavwsion @yeswhatever33 @local-mr-frog @laamaking @edgycatx

[messers-moony]

One in the Same | R.B

Paring: Regulus Black X Wife!Reader

Summary: Reader notices Draco going through the same pain as her ex lover and desperately wants fix her faults.

“Mr.Malfoy, can you stay after class, please?” 

“‘Course, Professor Black.”

An average day in second year. Professor Black - Y/n - taught History of Magic after Professor Binns decided his time was up. Too long of teaching sleeping students who could care less about his lessons. However, once Y/n took over the position, kid's grades improved and people were no longer sleeping. She made things fun and inventive.

After class time was up, everyone filed out of the classroom aside from the blond Slytherin boy. Draco has always been on the good side of Professor Black. She was always extremely kind to him despite his rather sour attitude at times. But Draco was always hesitant to initiate a conversation to really speak his feelings to her. But this was the first time she had him stay after class. 

Y/n pulled out the chair in front of her desk as he sat down. His white-blond hair and gleaming blue eyes. His young face, not yet defined. Y/n with her h/c hair and curious glinted e/c eyes. 

“Draco, I want to start this by saying I don’t know what your home life is like.” Y/n began, “I went to Hogwarts with your parents, though, and he wasn’t always kind. Your mother was cordial with me, though.”

“If you don’t find me intruding, what’s your home life like?” 

“I- Um- It’s good.” Stammered Draco, “Father and Mother are always kind.”

Y/n’s eyes glinted with curiosity, “Lucius tolerated me.”

“Tolerated you?”

“I married one of his best friends.” Y/n chuckled, “He didn’t have a choice.”

Draco tilted his head, “Sirius?”

“Oh heavens no!” Y/n exclaimed, “Regulus. Sirius Black's brother.” 

“My- My dead cousin?” He queried. 

She nodded, “Yes. I married Regulus right after graduation. His parents weren’t thrilled, but he loved me so, here we are.”

“May I ask a question?”

“Shoot.”

“What were his parents like?”

“Horrible. The worst.” Y/n spat, “Sirius got the worst of it, but Regulus did occasionally too.”

“Walburga and Orion were awful. Using the crucio curse is not a great punishment for kids.” Draco’s eyes widened, “Both of them had scars from the curse. Sirius ran away at sixteen, and Regulus was used as their puppet. So used that at the age of eighteen, he felt like he had to prove himself. Which inevitably got him killed.”

“How did you deal with it?”

“Well, would you like my honest answer or my Professor answer?”

“Honest, please.”

“Between you and I, I still haven’t gotten over it.” Y/n shrugged, “I see something that reminds me of him, and I’m back at the start all over again. It takes time, and it’s taken plenty of time, but here I am, doing what I love. Teaching kids.”

“Anyways.” Y/n smiled, “You’re dismissed. I’m sorry I took up your time. However, if you ever feel the need to speak with me, let me know. Okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Draco picked up his bag, rustling as he stood up. The blond boy was still digesting all the information he gained. He couldn’t believe that his cousins got the crucio curse for a punishment. He thought his parents were bad. Theirs was way worse. Draco was about to walk out of the classroom but turned last minute to look at his Professor. 

“Professor?” 

“Yes, Draco?”

“There’s-“ He swallowed, “There’s a Quidditch match this Saturday. Slytherin versus Ravenclaw. If you have the time, I’d like you to come.”

“Of course. I’ll be there.” Y/n smiled. 

He walked out of the room without a second stop. He felt better about himself now. He had someone who genuinely seemed to care about him. Draco didn’t trust her just yet, but he wouldn’t be opposed to speaking with her as he had just now in the future. Professor Black had always been open and honest with her students. Perhaps that’s why kids liked her so much. 

Saturday arrived quicker than Y/n would’ve hoped for one reason. She, herself, didn’t own any Slytherin-colored merchandise anymore. But there was a box in her quarters that she brought with her to Hogwarts every year. Regulus’s old clothes meaning all his scarfs, ties, button-ups, pants, hats, etc. Y/n couldn’t seem to get rid of them. Frankly, she didn’t want to get rid of them either. 

Carefully she pulled the cardboard box from the top of her closet. Taking a pair of scissors and breaking the tape seal she had put on it multiple years ago. Inside laid many pieces of the evergreen and silver cloth. Y/n’s hands gravitated to the green and silver scarf. Bringing it to her nose, she was shocked. It still smelt like him. Godric, this was going to be more challenging than she initially thought. 

Nonetheless, she put it around her neck along with her button-up and tight-fit pants. Y/n put on the green gloves, much too big for her but had fit Regulus perfectly, the tie, and the scarf. It brought her a sense of nostalgia. It made Y/n feel like she was a fifth-year going out with Regulus on a date to Hogsmeade. But she wasn’t fifteen or in fifth year. Y/n was a Professor and a full-grown adult. And Regulus was dead. 

The game was going well for Slytherin at the beginning. But like most Quidditch games, things can change rather quickly. Ravenclaw was studious. That was for sure. They played skillfully. Y/n sat in the Professor stands with the rest of her colleagues. She sat between McGonagall and Flitwick. But white-blond hair caught her attention in front of her. Lucius Malfoy was here spectating his son. 

McGonagall nudged her, “Where’d you get the Slytherin gear?”

“Regulus.”

“How have you been, dear?” McGonagall questioned softly, “It’s been a whirlwind, but nothing I can do will bring him back, so ‘m still here for him. It’s what he would’ve wanted.” Y/n replied. 

Minerva placed a hand on the girl's knee, “If you need anything, let me know.”

“‘Course, Professor.”

The game ended tragically. Slytherin had just tied the game when Cho Chang had caught sight of the snitch. Sadly, she was able to grasp it before Draco. Leaving Slytherin with two-hundred and thirty points while Ravenclaw ended with three-hundred and eighty points. Lucius seemed furious with this conclusion and stormed off the stands. Y/n knew something was up, so she followed him. 

She came up in a deserted hallway in Hogwarts. Draco stood - now changed into the usual Hogwarts robes - and his father stood before him. From the view she had, Draco’s back was to her, and his father was towering over the boy. 

Lucius had a cold and icy voice, “You are insufferable!”

“You had one job, Draco! One! Catch the damn snitch.” He scolded, “Perhaps you were too daft to figure that out?”

“‘M sorry, father. I didn’t mean to. Honest.” Draco was pleading and begging for mercy; it made Y/n’s heartache at the familiar words. 

“Mum, Dad, I seriously didn’t mean to!” Regulus had cried after breaking a vase, “Excuses, excuses, they won’t get you anywhere in life, boy!” Orion shouted. 

Tears collected in his silver eyes, “‘M sorry! ‘M so sorry!”

Walburga pointed her wand at him, “Crucio.”

Lucius scoffed, “Malfoy’s don’t cry, wipe those tears.”

“Should‘ve sent you to Durmstrang. You come to Hogwarts and forget everything I’ve ever taught you.”

“Father, I really didn’t mean to! She just got there faster than me.” Draco begged. 

Y/n saw it before Draco did. Lucius raised his palm slowly, and Draco flinched. Y/n saw the pale hand rise into the air, and without a second thought, she ran in front of the young boy, taking the blow that was meant for Lucius’ son. Draco heard the sound but never felt the impact. Carefully he opened his eyes to see Professor Black standing in front of him, a hand on her cheek. 

“How dare you get in the way!” Lucius yelled, “How dare I? How dare you for trying to leave a hand on your son!” Y/n retorted her bright cheek red from impact. 

Draco was appalled, “Draco is your son! Not a toy or a puppet, and I will not stand for this!”

“You don’t have to, half breed.” Lucius seethed, “As you said, he’s my son. Not yours.”

“I could give less fucks!” Y/n exclaimed, “Draco is my student. I will not be having you lay your hands on my students.”

Lucius scoffed, “Where’s your child, mm?”

“Right, you don’t have one.” Lucius answered, “Because your blood-traitor of a husband decided to get himself killed!”

“Regulus was not a blood-traitor for trying to right his wrongs!”

“Regulus and Sirius were no different from each other.”

“Leave them out of this!”

“Oh, so it’s still a soft spot for you?”

“So help me, I’ll-“

“Petrificus Totalus.” Draco stated while holding his wand, causing his father to fall to the ground, paralyzed. 

Y/n stared at the body in shock, “Draco.”

She didn’t even have time to reprimand him before he burst into tears. Y/n turned quickly and embraced him into a much-needed hug while the boy sobbed on her shoulder. Y/n’s hands went through Draco’s white-blond hair gently while he let every emotion out. She pulled away and wiped the tears on his cheeks. 

“You’re going to be okay, I promise.” Y/n informed, and Draco nodded, “Th- Thank you, Professor.”

Y/n smiled and sent him off to the Slytherin common room, leaving her to deal with Lucius. The Professor dragged him to Madam Pomfrey to deal with. Later that night, in her quarters, while brushing her teeth, she noticed the considerable bruise covering her left cheek: Blue and purple hues mixed to create a dark blue-violet looking color, almost grey. 

Sixth year was now here. Y/n’s fourth year of teaching at Hogwarts, and she couldn’t have asked for a better job. On September 1st, she went through the floo-network to arrive in her teacher's quarters. Looking at the time, it seemed that students were just about reaching onto the grounds when a knock sounded at her door. 

“Come in!”

A blond boy, much taller, defined face, and grey eyes had just walked into her teacher's quarters, “Good evening, Professor.”

“Good evening, Draco.” Y/n greeted smiling brightly, “What's on your mind, sweetheart?”

Draco didn’t know where to begin as water collected on his lower lash line, and gently he pulled up his left sleeve. Godric, it felt like deva Vu all over again. 

“Y- Y/n.” Regulus called through his tears, “What’s wrong, baby?” Y/n asked, sitting beside him on the four-poster bed. 

Regulus couldn’t help the tears that helplessly fell down his cheeks. His eyes were silver and blurred. Cheeks flushed and hair knotted. This past summer had been a shit show for him with Sirius running away and just everything that had gone on. Regulus had never felt this hopeless before. 

“I- I need your help.”

“Of course, anything, baby.”

He swallowed, “Just know that I’ll love you forever. Okay?”

“‘Course.”

Gently, he released a breath of air and pulled up his left sleeve. The combined snake and skull only meaning one thing. Regulus was now a death eater to the Dark Lord. Tears sprung in Y/n’s eyes but not because of disappointment but because of worry. She didn’t know what she would do if Regulus were to be gone. 

“They forced me!” Regulus pleaded, “Please, please don’t leave me.” 

Regulus was weeping, and Y/n took him into her arms, “Shh, shh, I’m not disappointed. I’m just worried about you.”

“I don’t wanna- I don’t wanna do this.” Regulus whimpered, “Please help me.”

“I’m gonna help you ‘m love. Don’t worry.” 

“What happened this summer?” Y/n asked as Draco pulled back down his sleeve.

“Auntie Bella.”

Draco was trying so hard to swallow his tears as his Professor was now face to face with him, “Draco.”

How was her voice so sweet and calm, almost like she had done this before, “It’s okay to show emotion. It’s being human. Let it go, darling.”

Just like that, the dam broke, and Draco was a sobbing mess again. How was it that Professor Black had always managed to feel more like home than his actual parents? What had his mum done for him while Bellatrix was giving him the mark? She had just stood there watching pain contort on his face. Y/n felt more like a mother to him, more like family to him. 

“Shh. Shh. You’re safe here, Draco.”

“They- They want me-“ He was choking on his words, and Y/n placed her hands on his shoulders, “Take deep breaths and then explain. Okay?”

He began to inhale and exhale air at a slow pace, “They want me to-“ Draco swallowed, “They want me to kill Dumbledore.”

“Okay.” Y/n stated, letting out a breath of air, “You and I will get through this.” 

“You- You promise?” 

“I promise.”

Perhaps it was instinct now for Draco to stay after in her classroom. After every lesson, Draco would visit her in her classroom just to be in her company or to talk. What was it about Y/n that drew these people close to her? Ones with broken souls who believed that couldn’t be helped. Was it her kindness? Perhaps it was her caring nature—too many variables to pinpoint. 

The moment Y/n heard crying in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, she knew something was wrong. Approaching cautiously, she saw Harry Potter doing the same behind Draco, who stood facing the basin, dried tears on his cheeks. Everything happened too fast for Y/n to understand. But when Harry spoke an incantation that left Draco bleeding out on the floor, everything changed. 

She was jumping into action hastily, falling to her knees beside the blond-haired boy while Harry was almost in tears at his mistake. Y/n took her wand out and began muttering spells to heal the boy's chest. Harry was now in a heap on the floor, tears filling his glorious emerald eyes while the Professor took care of his harm. It took ten minutes before the bleeding stopped, and Y/n turned to face Harry. 

“Harry.” 

“‘M sorry. I- I didn’t know…”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad I was here.” Y/n replied, and Harry looked like a mess, “I need you to go to the Gryffindor tower and not speak of this to anyone, okay?”

He nodded and stood up sluggishly. Harry left the bathroom, leaving Y/n with an unconscious Draco. Sighing heavily, she picked up the boy and lugged him to the hospital wing, where he was taken care of. The following day an owl was pecking at Y/n’s window, leading her to wake up and take the note from the owl’s foot. 

“Draco won’t stop calling for you.”

Y/n freshened up, brushing her teeth, hair, and a change of clothes before making her way to the Hospital Wing. It was quite a ways away from. Her section of the school, but if Draco needed her, she needed to be there even if it was six o’clock in the morning. Her shoes made a light tap along with the wood as she walked and hesitantly opened the big door to the infirmary. 

“Oh, thank Merlin!” Madam Pomfrey said with her hand over her heart, “Draco has been asking for you, my dear.”

She gave a tiny smile as Pomfrey pointed to where Draco was lying. Carefully she stripped back some of the white curtain and pulled a chair beside his bed. Y/n took his hand in his. It was cold and pale. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine holding Regulus’ hand in the same exact way after a horrible Bludger accident. 

An hour later, Draco finally woke up, “Mornin’ sweetheart.”

“Professor, you- you came.”

She smiled, “You called for me, of course, I’d come.”

Draco pushed himself up into a sitting position, his grey eyes locked on her warm e/c ones, “Sorry, I just, didn’t expect you to come.”

“How are you feeling?” 

“I feel okay. Little sore but nothing I haven’t been through.” 

Y/n smiled sadly, “I knew a boy just like you, you know?”

“You did?” Draco asked, and she nodded, “I did.”

“Could you tell me about him?”

“Well, he was strong, smart, and closed off. His home life wasn’t too great either and was forced into being what his parents were too.” Draco looked eager for more, “Eventually, he realized that this wasn’t the life he wanted. He no longer cared about his parent's approval. He just wanted to be him, but by then, it was too late.”

“Too late?”

She nodded, “He was already in too late, so he did the only thing he thought of. Betraying his parents, his family. He was so caught up in what he was doing he didn’t realize what he was doing, and now, because of that, he’s no longer with us.”

“But you aren’t too late, Draco.” Y/n stressed, tightening her grip on his hand, “Let me save you. Let me help you.”

Tears ebbed at the corners of his eyes, “Please.”

Y/n took him in her arms and rubbed his back soothingly, “You aren’t alone. I’m here for you.”

It took months, but everything was over. It felt like time had stopped. Y/n could remember the terror standing outside of Hogwarts as the death eaters stood on the other side. Narcissa was calling for him - the boy who had no choice - and Draco was panicking as Lucius began calling his name. 

Draco swallowed and shook his head. 

It was the feeling of relief that brought Y/n solace. Draco took the step that Regulus took, and she would make sure he didn’t pay for it. The relief felt like a breath of fresh air now that the war was over. Y/n had stepped into the Great Hall panicking, hoping, praying that he was okay. At that moment she saw it. 

He was crouched in the corner. People were glaring at him all around. Draco saw. He saw the Weasleys crying over Fred. He saw Harry look empty, staring at Remus Lupin and Nymphadora. The way Lavender Brown’s parents sobbed over her dead body. He saw the way Dennis Creevey was yelling and screaming in pain at seeing his deceased older brother. Draco could remember how close they were. 

Nonetheless, he stood up and ran into her arms: his solace, home, and safe place. Draco couldn’t remember what it felt like to be held this tight. He dug his nose into her neck and just remembered to breathe. She pulled away to see a small smile playing on his lips. Y/n cupped his cheeks gently. 

“I’m so, so proud of you.” Y/n smiled, “I can't explain how proud I am of you. You did it.”

Draco smiled and leaned into her hands, “Thanks, mum.”

[marvelmusing]

Sick Day

Part of the Guilty of Love AU

Pairing: Vigilante!Billy Russo x Fem!Reader

Summary: Your favourite vigilante has come down with a cold, so you decide to drop in on him after work.

Word Count: 1.6K

My Masterlist

“Either we have a bad connection, or Russo is seriously congested.” One of your coworkers remarks. They’re listening into a call made from Billy’s phone. You’re not too concerned, Billy hasn’t used his phone in months - knowing it’s been tapped - so it’s likely whatever they manage to trace will be a red herring.

Once they’re finished, you ask to listen to it yourself and they’re right. Billy sounds like he’s fighting off a cold. He’s just as confident and cocky as ever, though his voice is croaky and accompanied by the occasional sniffle.

You tap your pen against your notepad as you think. You were planning on leaving early today anyway.

»»---------------------►

Billy is having a rough day. His head is throbbing, and he’s been struggling to breathe properly through his nose all day. He’s desperate to lie down in the dark for several hours, pray for at least a few hours of sleep. He’d made a phone call from his mobile this afternoon, using several different routers to hide his location. Providing the authorities with a few false leads should buy him some time to rest.

He’s surprised when he finds you leaning against the wall next to the door of his apartment. A large bag dangles in your hands, and you look up when you hear him approaching. You give him a smile, and despite his awful day he can’t help but return it with his own smile.

“Hey.” His nose sounds stuffier than when you last heard his voice on the phone line.

“You changed your locks.”

“Yeah, had a break in recently.” His grin is just as charming as ever, and you roll your eyes fondly. But you can’t help but feel a little dejected that you couldn’t get in. Billy’s eyes flicker down to you, watching your face intently as he pulls out his keys. “It’s not to keep you out, sweetheart. If you can get it, it means some one else might be able to.” You nod.

Billy’s a strategist, of course he’s going to prioritise his own safety, and you wouldn’t want anyone else to break into his apartment. You decide to change the subject,

“Are you going out tonight?” You phrase lightly as the two of you enter his apartment. His grin widens,

“You askin me out, sweetheart?” His nose suddenly wrinkles, and his mouth parts. You pluck out a tissue and hand it to him. He sneezes into it, before mumbling a very small thank you. He frowns lightly. The tissue you’d given him was so soft, he hadn’t realised how sore his nose was until now.

“I mean, are you going out vigilante-ing?” He raises a brow at you,

“Vigilante-ing?”

“You know what I’m talking about.” He shrugs, with a smile,

“Maybe. But I like watchin you struggle.”

“You know, if my help isn’t appreciated, I can always go.” You tease, stepping away slowly. Billy reaches out and squeezes your forearm.

“Don’t go.”

“I won’t.”

Billy stares down at you, his expression unreadable. Then his eyes slide away from you, nodding down to the bag in your hand.

“So what’s in the bag?” You laugh lightly,

“I think an easier question is, what isn’t in the bag.” You remark as you set it down on the kitchen counter. Billy leans against the refrigerator, watching as you pull out the contents of the bag. “I wasn’t sure what you’d need, so I ended up getting… a lot.” You tell him, faltering a little at the end.

When you were in the store, your overthinking had seemed rather logical. You had spent several minutes contemplating what kind of tea would be best, to which you ended up buying several different boxes.

“So there’s Chamomile for if you’re struggling to sleep, Ginger if you’re feeling sick, and some Green Tea for the vitamins. I’ve got cold compresses if you’ve got a headache, and a ridiculous amount of smelling oils for your nose.”

Billy’s never had this. Not once in his life has he had someone take care of him like this.

In the group homes, if it wasn’t serious there was no need to fuss. In the marines it was a case of if you can shoot, and aren’t a liability to your team, then you’re fine. When he got out, he rarely got sick, if he did he’d take some painkillers and just carry on with work. So, as you continue to list all the things you’ve brought for him, he’s battling the urge to hug you as tight as he can. He isn’t sure how he got you, but he isn’t planning on letting you go.

“There’s a lot of tissues. And I wasn’t sure what food you’d have in, so I brought some soup and fruits since I thought they’d be healthy but easy to eat.” You look over at Billy. “I’m sorry, this is a lot.” You say, examining the contents of the kitchen as if this is the first time you’ve seen all this. “I don’t really know how that happened.”

You know exactly how it happened. You went into the store and bought anything that could remotely be helpful in some sort of mildly manic state. Billy watches as you fiddle with your fingers, and he suddenly becomes aware that you’re nervous.

“Thank you.” He says, hoping that it’ll help comfort you, because it’s currently the only thing he can think of. You smile softly,

“You’re welcome.”

»»---------------------►

“Now you might feel like a bit of an idiot with this on, but..” Billy’s completely distracted by your fingers smoothing his hair away from his forehead. “I swear these are the best things ever created.”

You’re sitting cross legged in front of him, as he sits at the head of his bed. He looks down at what you’re about to place on his forehead, and he frowns. It looks like a large bandaid with luminous blue gel on it. You laugh softly at his expression, smoothing your thumb over the crinkle in his brow. This distracts him again, his eyes widening slightly as he watches your face.

You press the compress lightly over his forehead, smoothing it down to ensure that it sticks. His eyes close in relief as the cold gel begins to subdue his headache. He leans back against the pillows you’d propped up behind him with a small sigh. The soft scent of your perfume still lingers on his pillows, though he can barely smell it through his stuffy nose. Despite feeling thoroughly awful physically, Billy could stay like this forever.

“Told you so.” You say teasingly, and his eyes flutter open to find you smiling gently at him. He gives you a soft smile.

You stand up, and he worries for a moment that you might be leaving already. You make sure he can reach the glass of water on his bedside table before saying,

“Try and drink a little, I’ll go make us dinner. Call me if you need anything.” He nods, relaxing further into the pillows with the knowledge that you’re not leaving him. A small smile quirks at his lips as he sees you disappear to the kitchen. You’re wearing one of his sweatshirts, and looking far too good in it.

He closes his eyes again. The sound of you in his apartment feels so natural. He pictures you moving around, preparing the food. A crinkle of concentration on your forehead as you think everything through.

His mind wanders to other times you might be in his kitchen. He imagines the two of you making dinner together, sipping wine as he cooks. Of you frying some breakfast after staying over for the night, Billy leaning against the counter to watch you work. Baking sweet treats together, with him trying to sneak a taste of batter, or smearing chocolate over your face only to kiss it off you. Or even on a night time, both of you sitting on the kitchen counter, sharing a tub of ice cream after a night out.

He blames all this self indulgent daydreaming on his illness addled brain.

It isn’t long before you return with a tray full of food, pulling him from his thoughts back into the present.

You put your laptop at the end of the bed and pull up some trashy reality show that won’t require either of you to think too hard. Billy spends most of the time with his eyes half closed, only opening them fully to respond to you. Your comments provide him with more entertainment than whatever is on the screen.

The two of you spend the rest of the evening like this. You encourage Billy to drink or eat a little, and soon he’s feeling much better. His mind falls back to his own plans for the evening - falling into bed and hoping for sleep. He’s more than happy at the fact that you’ve disrupted those plans.

As the night approaches you mention that you should be heading home, so you make Billy one last cup of tea. You realise how late it has gotten when you look outside to see the shadows creeping over the city.

You make him a cup of chamomile, setting it down on the bedside table. He curls his fingers around your wrist.

“Stay.” He says quietly. “I know sharing a bed with a sick person probably isn’t the best idea. But don’t want you out there in the dark.” Especially when I’m in no state to come to your rescue.

You nod. You’ve never been a fan of being out alone in the dark, regardless of how far you need to travel. You smile softly at him, placing your hand over his.

“Okay. I’ll stay.”

»»---------------------►

Billy Russo Tag List: @blackbirddaredevil23 @restingbitchsblog @tiredbeebo @rafaelakelley @theysayitscrazy @hummelmi @nyx2021 @skybridgerton