#I'm sorry but this is the guy Louis called BORING?

[armand-dearest]

I'm in the middle of reading the Devil's Minion chapter and tbh why were the blenders and microwaves what people focused on when trying to sell how bizarre Armand is. Blending stuff based on colour alone and microwaving rats were the most normal vampire things about him that I've read so far 😭.

I'm more surprised that the guy has a literal gaming room. A whole room for his videogames. He also recorded a timelapse of himself sleeping, and watches it back for fun. He was obsessed with taking long haul flights, sometimes returning back to the same location on the same night. Bro just had a hyperfixation on planes, he did not care where he was going. He also hyperfixated on astrology and had massive telescopes installed onto buildings he only lived in for days at a time before moving on. He gets so impatient to go out with Daniel that he throws his boyfriend in the shower and washes and shaves him himself if Daniel is feeling sleepy. He's actually insane

[lecsainz]

PICTURES

parings: harry styles x actress!reader

request: Hey, saw u write for Harry Styles! Can u do a oneshot where y/n's parents r famous actors, she n Harry got somethin' goin' on but ain't makin' it official. He's on the Take Me Home tour when she calls him to sort things out 'cause paparazzi pics with other girls surfaced, but he didn't actually cheat.

authors note: OMG haven't written anything about harry in years, like seriously, this brought back sooo many memories 😭

☆. . . masterlist !

Y/N Aniston was the daughter of a renowned actress, yes, Jennifer Aniston herself. She grew up with the media at her feet, and just like her mother, she chose to follow a career in acting. Little did she know that due to her fame, she would end up meeting a singer from one of the biggest boy bands of 2013, who would bring her a lot of headaches.

Harry and Y/N crossed paths during the VMAs, in line for the bathroom. They don't remember when exactly, but at some point during the night, they found themselves in her limousine, having a quickie. However, that quick encounter became a regular thing whenever they met up.

And Y/N developed feelings for the green-eyed boy. She liked him a lot. Maybe she even loved him.

Harry had embarked on the Take Me Home tour, and some photos of him with other girls had been taken by paparazzi. Even though they weren't officially an item, her heart shattered nonetheless. Those pictures felt like daggers to her heart, and they hurt like hell.

And here she was, sitting on her bed, heart almost racing out of her chest, waiting for Harry to appear on the screen.

"Y/N!" Harry's face popped up on the screen, lying on the tour bus bed with a sleepy yet adoring smile.

She managed a small smile, her nerves getting the best of her. "Hey, Harry."

His eyes sparkled as he looked at her. "Missed you."

Y/N felt her heart skip a beat. Despite everything, the sound of those three simple words from him still had a powerful effect on her.

"Missed you too," she admitted, her voice soft.

They talked about everything and nothing, the conversation flowing as naturally as it always did between them. But as the minutes ticked by, Y/N knew she couldn't avoid the elephant in the room any longer.

"Harry, about those pictures..." she trailed off, her heart racing.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Y/N, I'm so sorry you had to see those."

She looked down, feeling a mix of emotions. "It's just... hard, you know?"

Harry's expression softened. "I know, love. They're not what they seem."

She raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, they're not real," he confessed, his voice earnest. "It's all a publicity stunt, arranged by Simon."

Y/N's eyes widened in surprise. "What? Why?"

"He wants to maintain that image, make me appear as the 'ladies' man' for the fans," Harry explained, frustration evident in his voice. "But it's all a facade. I hate it."

Y/N felt a mix of relief and anger. Relief that the pictures weren't real, and anger that she had been hurt by something so manufactured.

"I had no idea," she admitted, her voice softer now.

Harry's eyes bore into hers. "Y/N, you know I care about you, right?"

She nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Yeah, I do."

"I'm not looking for meaningless flings, Y/N," he said, his voice determined. "I want something real."

She felt her heart race, hope stirring within her. "Harry..."

Just then, the atmosphere on the tour bus shifted as the other members of One Direction appeared on the screen, grinning widely.

"Hey, is that Y/N?" Niall's voice chimed in.

"Y/N!" Louis exclaimed, waving enthusiastically.

“Our favorite girl!" Zayn added.

Y/N chuckled, her heart swelling with fondness for the boys. "Hi, guys! I miss you all."

"We miss you too!" Niall exclaimed.

Y/N's cheeks turned slightly pink as she greeted the rest of the band. She had known them for a while now, having met them through Harry. They had always been incredibly welcoming and friendly towards her.

"Long time no see," Liam said with a warm smile. "How've you been?"

Y/N chuckled. "Oh, you know, just taking over the world."

Harry rolled his eyes playfully. "As if she hasn't already."

Zayn smirked. "You're in good company, Y/N."

Niall leaned in closer to the camera. "Harry talks about you all the time."

Y/N shot Harry a teasing look. "Oh, really? What kind of things does he say?"

Harry's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Just good things."

Louis wiggled his eyebrows. "We can all tell he's smitten."

Y/N couldn't help but laugh, feeling a sense of camaraderie with the guys. She had seen them at their goofiest and most genuine moments, and she was grateful for the bond they shared.

"Well, Y/N, if Harry doesn't treat you right, you know where to find us," Zayn said with a wink.

Y/N playfully rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Zayn. I'll keep that in mind."

"We saw those pictures, by the way," Louis said, his tone slightly teasing.

Y/N's cheeks flushed, but she managed a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I guess they're making quite a buzz."

Niall rolled his eyes. "Don't take those too seriously. They're just playing with ya."

"Yeah, Simon probably thought it was good for marketing," Liam added.

Zayn nodded. "It's all part of the game."

Y/N let out a sigh of relief, feeling their genuine support. "Thanks, guys. It's just been a bit overwhelming."

"We know, love," Louis said, his eyes softening. "But remember, you're stronger than the headlines."

Zayn chimed in. "Harry's been a mess ever since those pictures surfaced."

Louis nodded. "Yeah, he's been moping around like a lost puppy."

Y/N's lips curved into a grateful smile. "Thanks, guys. Your words mean a lot to me."

"Anytime, Y/N," Niall grinned. "Now, you make sure to keep our Harry in line, okay?"

Zayn chuckled. "Yeah, we can't have him causing any more trouble."

Harry pouted playfully. "Hey, I'm a changed man."

"Sure you are," Louis quipped, earning a laugh from everyone.

Harry leaned closer to the camera, his voice soft. "They adore you, you know."

Y/N's smile grew warmer. "I can tell. And I adore them too."

The connection was beginning to falter, the image on the screen slightly pixelated as Harry's voice crackled. "I wish I could hear your laugh properly right now."

Y/N chuckled, the sound distorted by the poor signal. "We'll have to fix that soon."

Harry's expression turned more serious. "Y/N, I've been thinking... I want to talk about this face-to-face. This distance between us, it's not fair."

Her heart skipped a beat, hope and apprehension mingling in her chest. "Harry..."

"I mean it," he said with determination. "I want to have an honest conversation, in person. No screens, no miles between us."

Y/N nodded, her own resolve strengthening. "Okay, Harry. When?"

"I'll be back in a few weeks," he replied. "After this leg of the tour. We can find a place to meet up."

She felt a mixture of emotions, excitement and nerves intermingling. "I look forward to it."

"I do too," Harry said softly. "I want us to have a proper conversation, Y/N. No misunderstandings, no miscommunications."

Y/N smiled, her heart swelling with anticipation. "I want that too."

As the signal continued to weaken, Harry's voice grew fainter. "I'll see you soon, Y/N."

"Can't wait," she whispered, her voice barely reaching him.

And then, with a final wave and a promise in their eyes, the call disconnected, leaving Y/N with a renewed sense of hope and a countdown to the day when they would bridge the physical and emotional distance that had grown between them.

[ca-suffit]

It's so annoying when Nalyra and this book group use excuses like this as if we're all dumb. There's lots of people who talk about the books and the show without being racist about it. The deeper issue here is not because people haven't read the books and think what you're saying is shocking.... What's really happening is that this group of BFFs loves to remove all mention of race from everything. They love pretending you can just overlay the books to the AMC show and it's a perfect match. Then, when anyone mentions how important it is to factor in race when discussing these things, here comes the screaming victimhood and all the "it's what's in the book" gifs. The "I'm sorry you just can't handle gothic literature SWEETIE" attitudes that are v tiring. Any race can be racist too (isn't that this group's favorite line too, they should know....) and only care for the wellbeing of white fandom, so these brown emojis or black fans who will make callout lists on other black fans under the language of calling out "fandom issues" or "antis" aren't fooling anyone to what the real motivation is behind it. People who worship Anne Rice are always going to be airheads who can't take criticism because look at your girl and all she was ever doing. Any adult who wants to defend her or the books is not a critical thinker or an intellectual. It's v possible to discuss her and the books without the stan goggles on. The black fans this group is always sneering at do it all the time. That's probably where the real issue lies, because it's done much better than the horseshit fanon Nalyra, Virgnia, and the rest are slinging and thinking is epic meta or something. I lurked for a long time before coming here to start pointing this out. I've seen these egos get bigger since the show has been off the air and book people crawled out from the depths to try and tell everyone "what's going to happen." It's a stupid power trip and nothing else. This group doesn't have the ability to analyze anything like they think they do, so they've grown together since the show stopped airing to start harassing other fans and pretend they're the victims just because they don't think talking about race is important in their....erm...."analysis" lol. They only think they have power because the fandom became smaller when S1 ended. They're gonna be muted again when it comes back because they aren't keeping up with the themes of the show and their takes aren't interesting. Saying the white man is always innocent, the black man is lying, the brown man is manipulative is what society already does. It's boring and it's not what the show has shown us in its own canon that it's doing. This group and white fandom in general love to take an inch and run a mile with it. Whenever anyone (but especially Jacob) mentions Louis might be a liar or an unreliable narrator they're jumping on the chance to spread that statement over every part of the story. They want so much for all of it not to be true because they need Lestat to be the good guy. They always claim they love stories about monsters except their favorite white guy can't even stay a monster for them to adore him. He can't ever even be any kind of fuck up and grow from it, he's just supposed to immediately be perfect. What's the point of the story then ffs? This is why you need to read other books that aren't written by idiot, egomaniacal authors who don't have editors and are in love with their own creations. If you always find a way to excuse the white characters, say all the black and brown characters are the unreliable, scheming ones, and scream and yell "it's what's in the books" whenever anyone reminds you to notice race......then you're just racist, girl. It's not even a mystery lol so stop this crap like you're fooling anyone. You can be as loud as you want but it doesn't mean you're actually a victim of anything but your own racist stupidity. Just because Anne Rice didn't get as much pushback as she deserved in her dumb life doesn't mean you're going to get the same treatment. It's 2024, bitch.

[docholligay]

Is Marius in the vampire books just Roman Vampire Akio?

AS A NECESSARY PART OF ANSWERING THIS ASK, THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES BOOKS. TO WHAT EXTENT THESE EVENTS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE SHOW "INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE" I DO NOT KNOW. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

No, I think that flattens both Marius and Akio, and besides that, it is completely at odds with what the two writers had in mind when they were writing these stories.

Akio is supposed to be taken as a kind of predator--we can argue a lot of niggling points as to the means by which he is an abuser, the degree to which he himself is abused, the nature of his becoming Akio and how much sympathy we do or do not have for the prince. Actually, in a group of smart, good faith people, i think this is an incredibly fun discussion to have. But i don't think I could take the argument that Ikuhara means for us to read he and Anthy as an acceptable romantic pairing. However you come down on the details between the two of them, I think "Tragic romance" is a tough read.

On the other hand, I think that's exactly how Rice means one to read Marius and Armand. Marius and Armand reads much more like a toxic romance between two adults than any modern day reader is going to take a--how old was Armand when Marius bought him, 15?--year old who is his kept boy, that he turned at 17. That he always intended to keep, was raising to make his companion.

But because we are talking about vampires, and we are talking about gothic fiction, and we are talking about Anne Rice, it's intended to read in a much more, 'Wow, get a load of this wild shit" way. Not a "cycles of abuse continue ever on, figure out who is the bad guy here oh wait it is this obvious character" way. If you are looking for a bad guy, I am so sorry, these books are not for you. Everyone is the bad guy*. We are meant to see Armand and Marius as a romance, as a bitter, difficult romance, but a romance nonetheless.

I would not agree that we are meant to do the same for Akio and Anthy. I think Akio and Marius are doing completely different things within their own narratives.

*One of my actual greater...I'm going to say concerns, but that feels like it has more weight behind it than what I mean, is, because there is a modern and very online audience for this show, we are going to strip a lot of the very worst out of the characters so people feel like they can 'like them'. We stripped out a lot of the weirdness between Louis and Claudia, I don't know if we're going to get into the full bore incest between Lestat and Gabrielle, I don't know if we're going to reveal Armand's kept boy-pet, I think anything that a Twitter (and tumblr I guess if I'm being fair) audience might call 'icky problematic SA" is probably going to be taken out. I don't know how I feel about that! it's not like I sit here longing for Lestat to get weird about his mom, but I feel like the taboo sexual components are such a part of the vampire chronicles, and such a part of realizing that these are MONSTERS, that it bugs me a little bit to make them palatable. I know I'm constantly team "i can make him worse" about everyone, but you know, this is supposed to be about bad people!

[albumwalloffame]

Top 10 Worst Album Covers of 2023 - Part 2/2

Part 1

#5. Lordi - Screem Writers Guild

You know, one of the key differences between drawing for illustration and for animation, is that animation does not require a whole lot of detail, especially on characters because that is just more stuff that has to move and more time spent on superfluous details. Illustration allows you get more detailed… but this may just be too detailed.

Also, I get the pun, but it still bothers me "Screem" is misspelled.

#4. Various Artists - A Very Metal Christmas

I'm sorry, but you cannot make Christmas a "badass" holiday.

#3. Dungeon Wolf - The White Elf

The sad thing is… the last time Dungeon Wolf had an album cover on this list, was an improvement. It was disgusting as Hell, but it was at least competently put together, I mean… do I even need to explain why this is awful? It should be pretty obvious right? Then again I thought it would be pretty obvious to not take influence for your album cover from Adema's "Topple the Giants" and Louis Prima's "The Call of the Wildest". It's got a frame and everything too, it's like the most basic ass photoshop job ever, I could have done this when I was learning to use Photoshop in High School. The worst thing is, I'm pretty sure it's intentional, I'm fairly certain that the guys behind Dungeon Wolf just want attention and will try to get it in anyway that doesn't involve putting in any actual effort. Congrats, you got your consolation prize, your participation trophy, bronze medal, you reached third place again, even your practically offensive album cover wasn't bad enough to be number one, but to be number one means you would actually have to try, put genuine effort into what you do.

I doubt this is the last we'll see of Dungeon Wolf, but we can hope, right?

#2. Willie Nelson - Bluegrass

I know it is… wrong to speak ill of our patron saint of country and folk music Willie Nelson, but my autistic ass just wants him to back the Hell up. I can get the blue tinting, the weird effect on the edge, I can buy all that, I can vibe with that, but I don't want an old man getting so close in my face I can hear him breathing, frankly I don't really want anyone that close to my face without my consent. Willie, please, back up!

#1. Parannoul - After the Magic

There is thought that goes into ranking these lists. I really do have to think about what the intent behind the album cover is, if it's funny bad or just normal bad, sometimes I even have to ask if I actually hate the image or if I'm just attaching something around the album to the actual album artwork. However, something I do have to think about is, "Can I really argue that this is the 'worst' album cover", like I have to justify this to myself before I justify it to you. I mention all of this because, as soon as I laid eyes on this album cover, this bright ass photo with a television static filter placed over it, this eye-burning eye-sore of an album cover, I knew this immediately had to have the number one spot. There are more boring album covers, album covers that are lazier, more offensive, uglier, grosser, sillier, album covers that actually make me uncomfortable to look at, but this album cover is just the least good. There it is, worst album cover of the year.

Honourable Mentions:

Melanie Martinez - Portals; You know, I think even Marilyn Manson was done with this schtick at one point.

Roger Waters - The Dark Side of the Moon Redux; Obviously, the best way to improve one of the greatest album covers of all time is to shrink it down and put in something's eye, clearly.

Sufjan Stevens - Javelin; This would have been on the list if I wanted to have a three-way tie on the list.

Flume - Arrived Anxious, Left Bored; This album cover is a mood and I hate it.

Tim Hecker - No Highs; It was between this and the Foo Fighters cover.

U2 - Songs of Surrender; Come on guys... You're better than this.

Veil of Light - Sundancing; Okay, honestly, I hate pastels. Not enough of a reason to put it on the list proper, but I hate pastels.

Fairly Odd Bops; This was on the list before I remembered that Dungeon Wolf did a thing.

Everything But The Girl - Fuse; I'm sorry, F U S and E do not make shadows that look remotely like E B T or G.

Haken - Fauna; I'll admit, I kinda like this one, but it's so silly. It's the kind of bad that loops around and becomes good.

[legoshi-plz]

I'm not sure if you did this already but I was thinking of First date prompt 🥺

A/N: No problem! These are all SFW by the way! (Pretty shocking coming from me 😭😭)

Louis:

- Mr. Vanilla

- Invites you to dinner only to be a complete snob the entire time. Grills you the with a million anxiety inducing questions before the food even arrives.

- The type that will scoff when you order juice or tea at dinner, then proceed to tell the waiter you’ll have a glass of whatever fine wine he’s drinking.

- He doesn’t mean to be an asshole, he’s just nervous. He wants you to like him (because he already really really likes you), so he’s trying to make a good impression even though it comes off as arrogant and narcissistic.

- Kisses your hand at the end of the night once he walks you to your door. If you seem receptive he’ll probably go for a real kiss but he’s kind of been a jerk all night so you probably don’t let it happen.

- Sends a bouquet of flowers the next morning to express his gratitude in being able to spend the evening with you. Honestly, it’s probably the only thing that got him a second date (which went infinitely better than the first).

Legoshi:

- Is a nervous wreck the entire night, but luckily for him it’s endearing and kind of cute.

- Thinks he’s constantly going to mess up, says sorry a lot. Also has times where he goes completely quiet because he’s overthinking things. It’s a little unnerving but you make sure to snap him out of it.

- The date is something pretty chill, like a Ice Cream Shop date followed by a night stroll while eating said ice cream.

- Walks you home but wouldn’t dare go for the kiss, he’s way too shy for that on the first date. You, however, had a great time and probably are the one to pull him down for a kiss. He’s frozen in place at first but returns it once his brains starts working again.

- The second date goes by kind of like the first, he’s just not AS nervous, still pretty anxious though.

Juno:

- Invites you somewhere SHE likes, that you weren’t sure about but end up enjoying anyway. Probably somewhere like a Play, or the Opera, etc.

- She’s not completely self-centered, she made sure to pick something that you would enjoy too (and you did.)

- Holds your hand as she walks you home, she’s very confident naturally but she feels extra reassured as she hears you go on and on about how much you liked the show.

- Goes for the kiss but keeps it short and sweet. You kinda wish she had advanced a little further but you decide to just be happy that she kissed you at all.

- Second date is just as amazing as the first, this time the two of you do something that you like.

Riz:

- Very laid back guy, not really nervous for the date because he’s probably hung out with you so many times before he even asked you out.

- The two of you do something relaxing like go to the movies. He, of course, picks a scary movie and you’re grateful because it gives you a chance to cling to his bulging muscles that you may or may not have been staring at all night.

- When his hand brushes agains yours in the popcorn, he laughs and puts the bucket down in the seat next to him so he can hold your hand.

- Walks you home and kisses you. And yes, it’s hot and he has you pressed against your front door. You ask him if he’d like to come in so the two of you could take this inside but he chuckles and offers a “maybe next time.”

- There’s definitely a next time, with the two of you having your second date just a couple of days later.

Bill:

- Takes you to a party. You don’t know anybody there but him, meanwhile he knows nearly everyone there. Or at least they know him.

- Everyone’s trying to get his attention and you end up feeling left out and lonely.

- When he finally comes back from getting you a drink after being held up by two different groups of people trying to rope him into long conversations, you tell him you’re leaving.

- He feels bad and leaves with you. Drives you home and the car ride is kind of awkward. Bids you goodnight but doesn’t walk you to your door. (He’s an asshole)

- Doesn’t text or call or talk to you for a few days. You were sure you were never going to hear from him again when finally, he calls you out of the blue and apologizes sincerely for the horrible date.

- Makes it up to you on the second date, the two of you do one of those two person bike-riding tours. It’s fun and you end up kissing him at the end of the night. He’s an excellent smoocher.

Collot:

- Mr. Vanilla 2.0

- Takes you somewhere like a Insect Sanctuary or a botanical garden. You’re bored out of your mind the entire time but he’s enjoying it so you fake it.

- He honestly believes that you’re enjoying yourself and is over the moon that the date is going so well. Buys you a huge stuffed insect plushie at the giftshop. You weren’t a fan of bugs but even you had to admit the plushie was pretty adorable. It’s too big though, so he had to carry it for you.

- Once he walks you to your door, you can tell he’s about to call the date to an end but you’ll be damned if you go the entire night without having any fun so you brazenly invite him in.

- Surprisingly, he accepts and the two of you are up all night with bugs being the furthest things from your minds. He might be a little boring, but Collot is very exciting in other aspects.

- When he leaves the next morning, you hate to see him go but he promises the two of you can go out again next weekend. You agree but tell him you get to pick what you two do.

[zmediaoutlet]

in support of Texas relief, @claraxbarton donated $50, and requested Dean Winchester & Bucky Barnes. Thank you for donating!

to get your own personalized fic, please see this post. (no longer taking prompts)

Curfew to get back to their bunks is 2200 hours but Carlisle's still trying to prove something and so Bucky's still out, too, because hell if he's going to let some jerk from Long Island out-drink a Brooklyn boy. "Think you're gonna fall asleep soon, punk," Carlisle says, grinning wide and loose and his eyes real red, and Bucky raises his eyebrows and knocks the next shot back. He doesn't rise to the punk thing even if he wants to sock the jerk one. See, Steve, he wants to say, but of course Steve's not here. Bucky sucks the inside of his cheek, not feeling the burn anymore after this much—maybe a bad thing—but he waves to the girl leaning against the bar, signaling for another. Becky, is her name, which caused some comment from Carlisle too. She's in a too-short skirt and Bucky knows from when Carlisle got a hand on her ass that she's not too worried about keeping the hemline down, giggling as she leans over and puts the next round on the table. Carlisle pulls her in by the hand, murmuring something in her ear that Bucky can't hear over the jazz from the jukebox but that she hears perfectly well, from how she giggles and leans in, her bosom squishing up and catching Carlisle's attention just fine. Bucky sighs, sits back. Maybe the competition's over, after all. He sips at the next shot instead of downing it, actually tasting the whiskey—crap, but better than he used to be able to afford back home—and ignores how Becky's showing off the top of her stockings, the peek of white thigh above them, and looks over the top of Carlisle's head at the lawyer-type who's been sitting toward the back of the jazz club, this whole time, watching them.

Hat on the table, a beer half-sipped at his right hand. A paper pad open, at his left. Doodling something. Bucky sips at his shot again and Becky's now in Carlisle's lap, her arms around his neck. The bar's emptying out, most everyone from boot camp gone home, and Bucky's maybe got a point to prove but he's tired of this. He knocks back the rest of his shot and then reaches out and takes Carlisle's, and kicks him under the table for good measure. "Hey!" Carlisle said, distracted from sweet Becky's plump white throat, and Bucky said, "Sorry, pal, you forfeit by way of boring me to death," and gets up from the table in a scrape of the chair on the wooden floor, and Carlisle starts to stand up but of course Becky's weighing him down and she says, "Hey, slugger, you're gonna leave me all alone?" and Carlisle's distracted, soothing, long enough for Bucky to walk away, toward the back of the bar, the shot still heavy in his hand. He wants to drink it but he wants something else, too.

Jukebox, in the back. He leans over it, flipping through. Glenn Miller, Gene Autry. He wonders who put on the run of Louis Armstrong—fourth song in a row, by his count—and in the corner of his eye he can tell that the lawyer-type is watching him, from the table right there, and doing a good job of pretending he isn't.

2200 hours. Bucky checks his watch. Ticking closer. He's not the most rule-abiding guy at the best of times but he knows he's been pushing it, with his sergeant, and if he's found out to be back late again then—well, it's latrine duty for sure, if not a full ten miler with all his gear. He sucks the inside of his cheek. Worth the risk? If he's thinking of going to Europe to fistfight Hitler, then what isn't?

"Hey, pal," Bucky says, turning, with this feeling in his gut like running into a fight in a back-alley in Brooklyn—but the lawyer's up, leaving his beer half-drunk on the table, walking past him to the hall where the WCs are. Bucky licks his lips. There's a doodle left on the table, a torn-out page from the guy's pad: some weird symbol that Bucky doesn't recognize, in heavy pencil-marks, sketchy and strange. He frowns, looking over his shoulder, but the door's swinging, and he's—sure, almost. He's gotten that kind of look, before. He's given it.

The hall's empty, but there's another door at the end, frosted glass, EXIT in reversed letters, just closing. An alleyway—well, hell. Bucky's done worse in worse places but the danger of it is leaping in his throat, now. The chances that someone might see, might catch his uniform in the dark, might—but he's a real knucklehead, it turns out, and he's pushing through the door, the glass of booze still clutched in his other hand, and then: the alleyway, and whatever's waiting, and… the lawyer nowhere to be seen.

He turns around, squinting in the mostly-dark. Trash bins, and a cat racing away out toward the streetmouth. Bucky steps forward, looking—wondering if he was seeing things he wasn't meant to be seeing, wondering if his stupid heart was manufacturing things that weren't there, like always—and—there, on the other side of the wooden gate, a glow. A candle? No: a… circle, somehow drawn on the alley wall like with fire. Strange symbols that he can't make out as he gets closer. They're bright but slowly fading and he reaches out, caught by the strangeness. No heat, as his fingers hover over the coal-flames. In the center, one of the symbols looks like a star, and he licks his lips and takes a deep breath and like an absolute knucklehead presses his hand flat against it and then –

*

"Of course I'm—look, I'm the one who had to haul his ass into the trunk, okay? And he's heavy as hell. So, thanks for sending me out here solo, by the way."

Bucky keeps his eyes closed, trying to keep his breath even. He's waking up slow, not like from a bad dream but from a deep, long sleep, and he hasn't had one of those since before basic—since before Joe moved back into Ma's house—since before he slept over at Steve's, when they were younger and Steve's mother was at the hospital, and Steve was snoring on his half of the bed but Buck was—well, it hardly matters. His head feels queer, memories close to the surface and hurting. He's laying on something soft.

The man starts talking again: "Dude, for the last time—yes, Sam, I'm sure. You know how many History Channel docs I've watched about Cap and the Commandos? There's some kind of federal law that it's all they show at noon on a weekday. Check the insignias from the uniform, I'm telling you. This ain't a reenactor, it's the real deal. Plus there was that Thule sigil still burning on the alley wall." A pause. Bucky doesn't know the half of what this guy's talking about. Thule? What the hell is a history channel? "Yeah. Hey—look, he's—okay. Call me when you find something."

Another pause. There's a shift, fabric rustling, and then a creak of bedsprings. "You want to stop faking? You're not that good at it."

"Says you," Bucky says, but he opens his eyes.

A room, like a hotel or something. Nighttime, from the dim, and a lamp making a pool of light between the two beds. He's on one, laid out on his back, and on the other, when he turns his head: a man, older than him, sitting on the side of the mattress, watching him. Bucky presses his lips together, looking. Not the lawyer type who gave him the slip in the alley and not anyone he's ever seen. The man's looking right back at him, studying his face, and then his eyes go skipping down Bucky's body, and Bucky's still wearing his uniform but he feels—"What's a Thule sigil?" he says, to cover up his reaction, and the man's eyes jump right to his and he grins, like Bucky's some circus pet that just did a trick he didn't expect.

"I think we better start with 101," the man says. Generic accent. Where are they? "Name's Dean. I'm a hunter. Sorry for kidnapping you, but you were passed out in an alleyway and I wasn't sure the cops would know how to handle a guy from 1943 who's—uh, you." He scratches the corner of his jaw—hasn't shaved in a few days, apparently—and then shrugs, and nods at Bucky. "Your turn."

"James," Bucky says. He surprises himself and blinks at the man. Dean. "James Barnes. Probably AWOL from my unit at this point, depending on what time is." Another grin, but this one more natural, and Bucky decides he probably doesn't want to sock the guy one. He starts to sit up but his head—ah. Woozy, the world tilting some, and Dean reaches out quick and grabs his arm, helping pull him upright. It hurts but not like getting punched, or the one time a guy coshed him over the head in an alley fight and he woke up to Steve grimly holding his brains together. More like a hangover but he didn't even have that much to drink. When he's up, boots on the floor, Dean sits back and just looks at him again, all over, and Bucky looks down at himself too like maybe there'll be something interesting to see. It's just him, though, in his uniform a little worse for wear for eating dirt in the alley, but Dean keeps looking at him like…

Dean's spinning something in his hand—a metal rectangle with a shiny glass face. He sees Bucky looking and grimaces, and tucks it into his jacket pocket. "Sorry," he says, "not sure we're ready to do the whole Back to the Future II thing, here," and Bucky doesn't know what that means, either, but then Dean says, "Here's the thing: it's 2013," and Bucky blinks at him and says, "Bullshit."

Dean's eyebrows go high. "Wow," he says, under his breath, "okay, so it really wasn't like the newsreels." Bucky stares at him. "Um," Dean says, and then says, "Shit, Sammy doesn't know everything, hang on—" and he picks up something from the bedside table between them and points it, and then there's a flashbang of color and light and… a man, talking about the stock market, in brilliant color and as vivid as Dean sitting across from him. "Don’t tell your pals in the unit about Wolf Blitzer, I don't want to create a time paradox or something where someone doesn't get born," Dean's saying, but Bucky just sits and stares, frozen on the bed. It's like… a marvel, from that World Fair they went to, something that Stark genius would think up. He gets up, finally, and Dean's quiet, and he reaches out and touches the glass and it sparks against his fingers, static, against where there's a box that says February 15, 2013, 9:57 pm. "Yeah, it's an old one. A television. I can't remember if you have those yet or not."

"Who are you, pal?" Bucky says, not turning around. The light hurts his eyes, it's so bright.

Dean sighs, behind him. The sound from the television goes away and Bucky touches it again, shaking his head, and Dean says, "James Buchanan Barnes. You go by Bucky. You're from Brooklyn." Bucky looks over his shoulder and Dean's looking at him—looking older, looking tired. "You joined the service in 1943. You're in the 107th and, from what I can tell, you haven't shipped out to Europe yet, because you were in an alley in Georgia, instead, and you haven't—" He gestures vaguely to Bucky's side, eyes dipping, but Bucky doesn't know what he means, and he's got this vague panicky feeling stuttering up in his chest. Like being caught at something only this time he hasn't done anything wrong.

Dean stands up. They're the same height, same build. Dean's dressed like a farmer, in denim pants and a plaid shirt untucked, but he doesn't carry himself like one. A hunter, he said, and Bucky braces himself. Hunting what? The door's too far away for him to lunge and make it before Dean could get there.

"I'm not here to hurt you, man," Dean says. He laughs, lightly, shaking his head. "Like, that's the last thing I want to do. You're Bucky Barnes. I can't—tell you what that means, I guess, but… It means something. But you're not supposed to be here."

"Where's here?" Bucky says, tightly.

"Well, seventy years out of place, for one thing," Dean says. His mouth curls up on one side. "Though I gotta say, you're hot for an old guy."

Bucky takes a breath, while Dean grimaces. "I feel like I just hit on George Washington or something," he mutters, eyes dropping to his boots.

"Even if you add seventy, I'm not that old," Bucky says, after a second, and he can tell he's coloring up but he's not—men don't—he's never, even in alleyways and in dark rooms and in the one dance club he ever got brave enough to go to, one night when Steve was staying up with his mother and Bucky was so strained in the heart he thought he'd crack in half, he never—out loud, he never.

Dean looks up. Calculation. He's a looker. Even back in the unit among all the guys, Bucky could say that and not have anyone question it. Brownish hair, green eyes, freckles like a kid from a sodapop advertisement but he sure doesn't look like a kid. A man, carrying himself like one, his muscles obvious in the blue plaid, his hands square and sure. Bucky looks at them instead of into Dean's face. He's never sure but now he's very not and he doesn't want to—so there are Dean's hands, on his hips, and his knuckles, and his clean neat nails. Safer to focus on than the insanity of what Dean's telling him—the future, Bucky thinks, again, the world wheeling off its track, where somehow some man in some hotel in Georgia knows who he is, and says he's hot. Howard Stark's World of Tomorrow couldn't possibly.

He steps forward. Dean's hands lift, low, cautioning, and Bucky licks his lips and walks into them, lets Dean catch his hips. "Whoa, sailor," he says, and Bucky says, "I'm in the Army," and then he picks up his head and kisses Dean, square on the mouth, heart leaping into his throat.

Brief, hard. He grips Dean's shoulders and they're—oh, shocking, hot and firm and real in a way that he's turned over by, half-convinced that it's a dream, but all his dreams have been insubstantial as air, gossamer that slips away when he tries to hold it. There's a burst of air, Dean exhaling hard through his nose, but his lips are—soft, his chin scratching against Bucky's, and after a second of stupid clenched-eyed hope Dean's hand slides up his side and he readjusts his head, tilts, makes the kiss… softer, easier, and Bucky gasps in air he didn't realize he was holding onto and Dean's mouth follows his, closing over his bottom lip and sucking very softly, and Bucky thinks out of nowhere without his brain having any say-so Steve, and he pulls away then, jerking so hard that Dean says, "Whoa, whoa, buddy—" and Bucky almost hits him but turns away, puts his hands over his face, breathes out hard and quick and tries to ignore how his lips feel oversensitized, burning.

There's a strange metallic sound while Bucky's heart is trying to beat out of his throat. It cuts off mid-racket and Dean says, "Great timing, Sammy," full of sarcasm, and Bucky drags his hands down over his cheeks, covers his mouth. Turns around, to face his stupidity like a man. Dean's holding the metal thing to his ear, apparently listening, but his eyes are fixed to Bucky's. "Oh, just traumatizing a war hero," Dean says, and then his attention shifts and he rolls his eyes, holding the thing away from his ear with this expression so what are you gonna do?, like a guy from the deli taking a call from his henpecking wife, that Bucky snorts. Dean smiles at him, easy, and puts it back to his ear in time to respond, "Yeah," and then, "Got it, okay—look, text it to me, I left my pen in Kansas," and takes it away and holds it in front of himself—another whirling flash of color, a picture of some man, and then Dean pokes a red circle and it goes quiet.

"So," Dean says. "Sammy knows how we can send you back. Gotta do it by midnight but that's no big deal, I've got the stuff in the trunk. Scary adventure's gonna be over soon, soldier. You'll have to worry about the AWOL thing on your own."

He's poking at things on the rectangle again. His thumbs move very quickly. Bucky's watching his face, downturned, apparently casual, except that his ears are bright blushing red.

"War hero," Bucky says, finally.

Dean's cheek sucks in on one side and he looks up under his eyebrows. "Can we pretend I didn't say that?" he says. Bucky shakes his head and Dean bites the corner of his mouth. His mouth. Bucky looks into his eyes instead. "Yeah. Look, I can't—tell you this stuff. I don't know if they had sci-fi in the 40s but you just… can't tell people their future, okay? It's a bad idea. You might change something, or do something, and you'd screw up time, and then, I don't know, giant vampire robots might take over Manhattan as soon as I send you back."

"Vampire—?" Bucky says, bewildered, and Dean groans.

"Forget that, too," Dean says—fat chance, Bucky thinks—and Dean shakes his head, sighing. "Look, all this… time travel crap is new for me, too. Didn't even know it could really be a thing before a few years ago, and I didn't know regular people could just smear some stuff on a wall and speak some mumbo-jumbo and just make it happen. And so—we found this record that an unexplained event had happened, on this day in Georgia, and Sammy—that's who was just on the phone—he said, well, go check it out, and he's faking like he's not sick so I just let him send me out on the errand, and then it turned out to be you, and I'm… babbling, this is embarrassing, but you're you and I gotta say, whenever we were kids, Sammy was Superman and I was Batman but when we played Commandos he had to be Cap because I always wanted—"

Dean cuts off, and now the red's in his cheeks as well as his ears, even if Bucky doesn't know what goes there. "So. I'll send you back, but." He lifts a shoulder. "I wish I didn't have to."

He looks real sorry. Bucky leans back against the dresser, with the silent television flashing colors by his shoulder. He tries to imagine it. Boys in some hazy, magic-screen future, playing at being him, the way the kids in the neighborhood play being Flash Gordon. It's too big to fit into his head. He says, instead, "So… we win, then." Dean frowns. "The war. We win? If… me and the commandos and whoever the Captain is, we all get to be heroes. We must win."

Dean licks his lips, and looks… guilty, as all hell. "Yeah," he says, voice strange. "Yeah, you win."

Oppressive, to hear it. Not relief but responsibility. Bucky nods, takes a deep breath. "Well, all right, then," he says. He smiles at Dean, his very best. "Then I think the big hero deserves another kiss."

Dean startles, and laughs, and Bucky grins until Dean's head drops. He swallows. The future, settling onto his heart; the past, roaring up to meet it.

[trysomecats]

(Equation of a Lie anon) It was 1D and I'm pretty sure it was like Louis being a sub and failing a math test and then lying about it. Then his doms make him quit soccer?? Sorry if that's way vague it's been a while 😅😅 Also thank you for answering, you're super sweet!

Ah, yes, now I remember! I did remove that fic off of ao3 (for personal reasons) However, I have no problem with posting it on Tumblr, so here you go!:The Equation of a Lie

Summary: Louis’ grade in mathematics is slowly declining. If he doesn’t do something about it soon, his doms will make him quit the footie team. When he fails a major test, he keeps it from his doms, planning on retaking it behind their backs to save his grade. Unfortunately not everything goes to plan.

“Now, I have your tests to hand back. Most of you did very well, the class average was beyond exceptional. However, if you feel that you did poorly, you are more than welcome to talk to me and make arrangements to retake the test on Monday. After you all receive your tests, class is dismissed.”

Louis felt himself sigh internally with relief. Hopefully he counted as ‘most’ of the class. To be honest he hadn’t studied as much for this test as he should have. Maths was never his strong point, not to mention it was terribly boring. It also didn’t help that the professor, Mr. Winston, was a major ass.

Unfortunately when Louis received his test, his stomach dropped when he saw what his grade was.

One of the biggest expectations Harry and Nick had for him was to get good grades. School was important, they’d explained to him, especially university. This math class was the only class that he didn’t share with one or both of his doms. Naturally he’d slacked off a bit, knowing he wasn’t under their watchful eyes. His notes become shorter and careless, as did his studying.

Now, however, he was experiencing the consequences of his behavior. They would surely make him temporarily quit the footie team until he could bring up his grade, or worse make him stay off the team permanently as punishment. It was hard to tell, because Louis had only been their sub since June, four months ago. They were strict, but only when need be. Louis tried his best to behave for them, even if his new lifestyle was taking some getting used to. He hadn’t been planning on finding his soulmates so soon in life, but apparently fate decided differently.

Louis hid the test in the very back of his folder. He waited for most of the class to retreat before going up to his professor’s desk.

“Um, Mr. Winston?”

“Hmm?” The professor looked up. “Ah, Louis. I’m guessing you want to retake the test?”

“Yes please,” Louis nodded hurriedly, glancing at the clock. His doms would get here pretty quickly, and he didn’t want them to overhear the conversation. “You said I can retake it on Monday?”

“That’s right, you can just stay and take it after class. First we can go over any questions you have beforehand. You should look over your test this weekend though, and make notes of what you did incorrectly. Try to figure out the problems yourself.”

“Right,” Louis said quickly when he caught sight of his doms approaching the doorway. “Well, thank you Professor, have a good weekend!”

“Louis,” Professor Winston said sternly, halting the boy in his tracks. “Make sure you get that test signed by your doms as well, alright?”

“Y-Yes Professor,” Louis said, feeling like a rock had fallen into his stomach, and also getting a bit angry. Winston was always more unfair to subs than he was to doms. While it wasn’t considered uncommon for a professor to request a dom’s signature, it was still a rather dickish move.

Louis all but ran from the room, stopping at the sight of his doms. They had their hands entwined, looking at him with beaming smiles.

“Hi Love,” Harry kissed his cheek. “How was class?”

“Good!” Louis answered far too cheerfully. “Great, even.”

“I never thought I’d see the day where you answered so positively about a math class,” Nick said, taking his turn to kiss Louis’ cheek as well. “I take it that means you did well on the test?”

Louis swallowed, forcing a grin. “Yup! I guess all that studying paid off.”

“Just like we told you,” Harry said with a nod. “Hard work always pays off in the end. That’s why we’re so persistent, not because we’ve got sticks in our arses.”

The sub flushed, remembering a past argument with his doms in which they had withheld his phone until he’d finished his literature homework, prompting Louis to insult them in such a way as Harry had said. He’d lost his phone for a week and gone to bed with a sore bum that night.

“Well, it’s the weekend now anyway,” Louis reminded them. “We have two days to forget about school.”

“That’s right, was there anything special you wanted to do?”

“I was thinking,” Louis bit his lip as an idea came to mind. “Maybe I could see Niall? It’s been awhile since I’ve visited him.”

That wasn’t a lie at all; Niall wasn’t going to school right now, and Louis missed him dearly. He could visit his best friend, hang out for a bit, have him forge a signature for the test…it would be a good visit, really.

“That sounds like a lovely idea,” Nick smiled at him. “I’m sure Niall will be thrilled to see you.”

…

Niall ended up being very thrilled to see Louis, that is until he found out the real reason for his friend’s visit.

“I don’t get it, why can’t you just show it to them? If you’re allowed to make it up, they shouldn’t be too mad…unless you muck up the second attempt, that is.”

“Niall, you don’t know Harry and Nick like I do. They’re very insistent that I keep up my marks. Besides, they’ll find out that I’ve not been studying as much as I should be, and that alone will screw me over.”

“But why do I have to sign your test?”

“Because,” Louis said, shoving a pen into his friend’s hand. “Professor Fuckface knows my handwriting too well, and I’m shit at impersonating anyway.”

“Alright fine,” Niall consented, ”Give your test here then.”

Louis left Niall’s feeling quite content and confident that he could keep this whole math fiasco under the wraps. So long as he studied hard and did well on the retake, everything would work out just fine.

“I just hope everything goes well,” Niall muttered once the test was signed. “I don’t want my doms finding out. They wouldn’t really approve of something like this.”

“Niall,” Louis tsked. “Nobody will find out. Even if they did, I wouldn’t tell who signed my test. You’re completely safe in this whole thing.”

“Okay, I guess that makes me feel better,” Niall said, his smile returning. “Want to play fifa now?”

Louis grinned. “Let’s do it.”

…

It was three days after retaking the test, on Thursday evening, when the test had once again made an appearance into his life, despite him thinking it was all over with. Footie practice had been from three to five, and now Louis was on his way home.

Nick or Harry would often come to watch the end of his practice and escort him home, but today neither one showed up. Louis didn’t think too much of it though, and even felt proud that his doms trusted him enough to make it home by himself. He was always telling them that it was pointless for them to come, seeing as their flat was just a block from the university.

His stomach was definitely ready for food, and he hoped that Harry was making something good tonight for dinner. It was usually ready by the time he got home from practice, so his mouth was already watering at the possibilities.

To top off his already good mood, tomorrow was Friday which meant the weekend was practically here. This weekend Louis wanted to do something special with his doms. Perhaps they could go to the city’s amusement park, or have a picnic on the beach.

“I’m back!” Louis called, dropping his sports bag to the floor and kicking his cleats off. He grinned at the smell that had taken over the apartment, as it was obvious that a pot roast was in the crock pot. That meant garlic potatoes, crisp buttered bread, and a caesar salad were also in the works.

“Hazza? Nick?” He called out, as nobody had rushed out to greet him like normal. The sub meandered through the hall and to the kitchen, seeing his guess had been correct, as dinner looked almost done. There was no Harry in sight though.

“Come join us in the living room Louis!” Harry’s voice finally called out from the living room. Louis grinned, exiting the kitchen at a hurried speed so that he could see his doms.

“Hi guys,” Louis pecked Nick’s cheek and gave Harry’s arm a squeeze. “What are you doing out here? Dinner smells so good Haz, I’m starving! Coach had us run such hard drills today, but I did really well…”

The sub trailed off a bit, especially when he realized that neither boy was smiling. “Um, is everything okay?”

He hadn’t misbehaved today, had he? Louis wracked his mind for anything that could have happened today. He’d done all of his morning chores, behaved during his classes, answered each text his doms had sent to his phone…he’d been good.

“It sounds like you had fun at footie practice,” Harry finally said, though his voice didn’t contain any warmth. “Which is good, seeing as you won’t be going back anytime soon.”

Louis still wasn’t comprehending what was going on. “Huh?”

Nick cocked his head to the space in between he and Harry. “Sit down, Louis.”

The sub did as he was told, now feeling a bit cautious. What on earth had his doms in such a somber mood, and what was with the comment about footie? “Is everything okay?”

“Everything was okay,” Nick told him. “That is, up until about an hour ago, when we received a call from your math professor.”

Louis felt his face go white.

“He had some very interesting news,” Harry continued from where Nick had left off. “You see, he called to inform us that you failed the test that you took on Monday…re-took, actually. He suggested you be set up with a tutor immediately, seeing as you’re on the verge of failing the class entirely.”

Louis’ lips were parted slightly as he stared back at his doms. His brain was trying to process a dozen thoughts and emotions at once. He had been sure that this second time taking the test had gone well! This was not good, not good at all.

“It’s quite peculiar actually,” Nick said. “Professor Winston was under the impression that we knew about your struggles with the material, seeing as he has your old test, apparently signed by the both of us….”

“I think we both know that neither Nick or I signed that test,” Harry’s voice was low. “So now, Louis, the floor is yours. We demand an explanation immediately.”

The sub resisted a squeak, his mouth feeling way too dry. His mind was whirling, trying to come up with something reasonable to say. Evidently he was already quite screwed.

“I- I thought I had it under control,” He soon blurted out. “It was- I studied some more, and I thought I would do better. I didn’t want anything to get in the way with foot-”

“Well it’s a very good thing that you won’t have to worry about that silly sports team any longer,” Nick said. “You’re going to leave your phone down here and go upstairs to the guest bedroom.”

“Nick and I are going to eat the delicious meal that I’ve prepared,” Harry continued. “You, meanwhile, will get dressed in your pajamas and stand in the corner of the bedroom. Right now!”

“Y-Yes Sirs,” Louis’ felt his voice waver as he rushed to do as he was told.

The sub was unable to stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks as he changed into pajama shorts and a t-shirt before heading to the guest bedroom. Nobody ever went in here much, as they all occupied the main bedroom. This room was more or less only used for isolation punishments.

Once he was in the corner, nose pressed against the wall, Louis cried quietly. He felt very remorseful of his actions. If only he had just informed his doms straight away about the first test…they would have been a little upset, but nothing like this. There were a lot of behaviors that his doms disapproved of, but lying and deception were probably the worst.

His stomach grumbled, because he could still smell the delicious pot roast downstairs, but he would not be having any of it. This was not at all how Louis had expected his evening would be going. He’d been thinking more along the lines of a yummy dinner, hot shower, and lots of cuddles and kisses.

Now Louis’ stomach churned. He had never done something like this before, so he was unsure of what his punishment would be. A spanking, most likely, and obviously no more footie for awhile.

No more footie…

Louis let out a choked sob.

Missing dinner wasn’t that big of a deal. The sub knew he wouldn’t be able to stomach anything anyhow.

…

After dinner, as promised, Harry and Nick came upstairs.

“Harry and I have been talking, and your punishment has been decided. Now Louis, we’ve had many chats about your role and rules as a sub. You’ve broken some of the more serious ones with your recent actions. You’ve lied and deceived us, about school of all things. And you know very well how seriously we take your education.”

The sub could only stare at the floor, ashamed.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. Tonight your bum is going to feel the full force of what happens when you deceive your doms. Tomorrow the three of us are going to have a nice long chat with your math professor. Afterwards, we’re going straight to your football coach. You’re going to tell him that you won’t be on the team for the remainder of the season, because you’ve been a very bad boy.”

“Please!” Louis cried out as he sniffled. “I’ll do anything, just don’t make me quit footie. Please don’t!”

“Kneel!” Nick said sharply, causing the sub to instantly collapse to his knees. “Playing sports is a privilege, and subs who lie get their privileges revoked. From now on you’re going to be in tutoring four days a week after school. Then you’re going to come home and do homework. When you’ve finished your homework, you’re going to quietly study. Up until you have perfect marks for every course, if we hear a word of complaint from you, your bum will turn a nice shade of red.”

“Is that clear?” Harry asked asked a few seconds later, when Louis only continued to sob.

“Y-Yes,” Louis managed to say. “Y-Y-Yes Si-irs.”

“One more thing, before we get started. Who signed your test?”

Louis moaned lowly, refusing to look up.

“That’s not an answer,” Nick said. “Was it you, or someone else? Don’t even think of trying to lie to us again.”

“Niall!” Louis bawled. “Was N-Niall!”

Nick nodded. “I thought as much. Well Lou, now you’ve even gotten your friend into trouble. I hope you understand now that there are always consequences that come with actions.”

Louis was still too distraught to say anything, so he continued to weep at the feet of his doms, remorseful and guilty. Now Niall would be in trouble with his own doms, and it was all his fault.

…

Louis slept in the guest bedroom that night, lying on his stomach with a bottom that was on fire. Neither Nick nor Harry went easy on the physical part of his punishment. They didn’t use any objects of course, but thirty spanks on his bare bum from each of his doms was more than a little painful in itself, excluding the additional fifteen smacks on his sitting spots at the very tops of his thighs.

He didn’t get cuddles either. Usually his post-spanking treatment bordered on being spoiled, with cuddles and warm milk and soothing aloe on his rear. Instead he’d been sent straight to bed.

Nick and Harry were very firm this time, making it clear that he wouldn’t be getting any sort of comfort until after he explained to his coach that he was leaving the team.

That hurt a lot more than the spanking did.

…

The next day was no doubt the most humiliating thing that Louis had ever gone through. Neither of his doms said much of anything to him, though Harry did serve him a plate of pancakes. There were no cute whipped cream faces on them though.

At school Louis squirmed through all of his classes, his poor bottom still tender from the night before. When math (his last class of the day) had finished, it was time for his doms to meet with Professor Winston.

“Good afternoon Professor,” Nick reached out to shake Winston’s hand, and Harry followed suit. “We’re here for the meeting scheduled in concern of our sub.”

The professor greeted them professionally. “Yes of course, have a seat.”

It was embarrassing, having to listen to his doms and professor talk about him as if he were incompetent. The only good thing was that Louis didn’t have to speak much, although he was fuming at everything Winston was saying to his doms.

“Louis has been declining for weeks now,” Winston drawled on. “Always looking out the window and doodling in his notebook. I can’t recall him ever raising his hand, not once.”

These words appeared to irk his doms, much to Louis’ satisfaction.

“If it’s been bad for this long, why haven’t you contacted us sooner?” Harry demanded to know.

“W-Well,” The professor’s cheeks reddened, caught in his words.

Needless to say, the meeting didn’t last long after that. Unfortunately now came the even worst part of the day, which would be paying a visit to his football coach.

…

“Um, James?”

Coach Cordon looked up from his clipboard, his face instantly brightening. “Louis, hi! What can I do for you? I know you’re eager, but practice isn’t for another hour.”

“R-Right,” Louis swallowed, praying that he wouldn’t break down in front of his coach.

James then noticed Louis’ doms. He was already well acquainted with them, seeing as Harry and Nick attended all of Louis’ games and even sometimes practices.  “Hello boys. Excited for the big game coming up?”

Louis felt like he’d been punched in the gut. James and the rest of his team were counting on him for this game, which was coming up in just a few weeks. Him not playing would leave them all screwed.

Harry cleared his throat. “I’m sure the game will go well. But James, Louis has something he needs to tell you.”

Harry’s solemn expression clued James in on the fact that some bad news was about to be heard. Louis, meanwhile, was biting his lip so hard that it was in danger of bleeding. He felt humiliated, being marched over here by his doms, like he was incapable of doing it by himself.

But that was a main point of this punishment, humiliation.

“I’m sorry James,” Louis took a deep breath, looking down because he was unable to look his coach in the face. “I can’t be on the team anymore. I was- I was bad. I’m so sorry.”

“Oh,” James sounded so disappointed. “You…You’re sure about this?”

Louis was quiet, until he felt a nudge. “Yes Coach. I’m sure.”

“Thank you for understanding James,” Nick said, resting a hand on Louis’ shoulder. “We should get going now. We wish your team the best of luck for the remainder of the season.”

Louis’ shoulders shook, chest tight as he tried to contain his silent sobs of despair. While some people might view it as something of little value, football meant everything to him, and to lose it was to lose a tremendous part of his life. It also hurt, knowing that his team had been counting on him, and he would be letting them down.

“I know that was hard,” Harry murmured, wrapping his arms around the distraught sub. “You were a very good boy today.”

Any other time Louis would have immediately sought comfort from his doms. Right now, however, he was too crushed to accept any sort of comfort, so he stood rigidly without returning the hug.

Louis maintained his distance the rest of the way home, planning to head straight up to bed and hide under the covers for awhile.

Nick caught him by the shoulder once they were inside their home. “Lou…”

“You said I was good, can’t I just be alone right now? I’ve got homework to do.”

They let him go, and had Louis looked back, he would have noticed their pained expressions.

…

Three weeks.

For three weeks now, Louis had been nothing but the perfect, studious sub. Through all his classes, Louis’ eyes never left his professors as he took diligent notes. Monday through Thursday, he would head straight to the tutoring center after his classes, where he would spend two hours working on math equations with the on hand tutors.

Once his tutoring was done, one of Louis’ doms would come to get him. Then would come the time for any additional homework from his other classes. Dinner would happen somewhere during this time, and afterwards Louis would simply study for any upcoming quizzes or tests before going to bed.

Nick and Harry weren’t mad at him anymore. They hadn’t been, really, since after the night they had found out about the test. That didn’t mean the punishment still wasn’t in effect, but the doms acted like everything else was normal.

Louis knew he had done wrong, he really did. Despite this, the sub couldn’t help but feel peeved about the situation. He would never be outwardly rude to his doms, but he still found other ways to make sure his feelings were known, mainly by acting distant while still retaining the politeness that was required of him.

“Louis,” Harry’s voice drew Louis away from his english essay, which he was putting the final touches on despite it being due almost two weeks from now. “What’ll it be tonight love, pasta or fajitas?”

The sub gave a small smile. “Whatever you’d like, Sir.”

Harry’s hand rubbed at his shoulder. “You don’t have a preference?”

“No Sir,” He answered, looking back at his computer screen, where his essay was on display.

The dom peered at the screen as well. “Is that your subculture essay? That’s not due till the sixteenth.”

Louis continued to type. “Yeah, m’just getting it done early.”

“Well,” Harry seemed to struggle with something. “Why don’t you take a break and help me with dinner, okay? It’ll give your eyes a break.”

Louis did so, both to appease his dom and due to the fact that Harry had been right about his eyes needing a break from the computer. Besides, normally on nights when Louis didn’t have footie, he would hang out in the kitchen with Harry while dinner was being made.

Harry had probably been missing that, just like Louis had been.

…

Later that night, after a dinner of fajitas, both of his doms asked to speak to him in the master bedroom.

Nick touched his cheek. “Harry and I have been talking, mostly about your punishment.”

Louis stared back at them silently as an indicator to go on.

“Well, you’ve pretty much caught yourself up in all of your courses now. You’ve even gone beyond our standards. Therefore, we both agree that this speaks loudly at the fact that you’ve handled your punishment very well.”

Harry touched the sub’s cheek. “To be honest, we also miss seeing your lovely smile. Louis love, you know why we had to punish you, right?”

“I do,” Louis nodded solemnly. “I hid my test from you, and then went behind your backs and lied.”

“Right,” Harry said. “I’m glad you understand. You’re no longer on any restrictions, so long as you maintain steady grades.”

“We also understand that outdoor footie season is almost over,” Nick added. “But winter signups for indoor footie are next week, and you have permission to join if you want.”

There were a lot of different emotions circulating in Louis’ head. While he was still upset at the fact that he’d had to miss the biggest game of the season, he was also ashamed of the way he’d handled his math test. Perhaps the consequences would have been less severe had he been open and honest.

He was also feeling very remorseful about dragging Niall into the situation. His friend had warned him, but Louis hadn’t listened. He was so desperate about staying on the team, but in the end that desperation was what put him in this situation.

This was the hardest Harry and Nick had ever been on him. It was clear that neither of them liked punishing him in such a way. Yes, they had been very angry the day they found out, but that anger had vanished by the next day. These past few weeks they had been nothing but loving, and it was Louis who had resisted that love.

Being a matched sub was still such a new concept for Louis. Sometimes it left him disgruntled, while other times it left him feeling like the happiest person alive. No matter what, one thing was clear. His doms loved him very much.

“That sounds nice,” He smiled tentatively at them, getting two warm smiles in return. “And I really am sorry. I promise I won’t ever go behind your backs like that again.”

“Everyone makes mistakes Lou,” Harry told him. “You’re forgiven- have been forgiven, ever since you talked to your coach. We both know how hard that must have been. Footie means a lot to you.”

“Yes it does,” Louis agreed. “But you guys mean more to me than any sport ever could.”

He spoke the truth.(If anyone thinks of other fics I removed from my ao3, feel free to reach out and I’ll post them on tumblr!) 

[eeveedel]

Hi I'm sure your inbox is filled with prompts rn but if you have the chance do you think you could write something about a group of guys or just one guy visiting from a very liberal town and openly flirting with Louis at the grocery store (if he still works there) and then Alex comes in and is jealous but they're nasty towards him bc he served in the war? And then it's a fight of protectiveness and standing up for each other and other cute power couple shit. Thank you! Love your drabbles!

Two weeks later.....hey. This was a really interesting prompt, thank you for sending it. As an FYI, this deals with period typical homophobia and yes, I’m aware that most queer people couldn’t be out openly to people this easily, please allow me the smallest bit of suspense of disbelief. Also, the smut in this one is bottom Alex. This drabble is far more than just the smut scene but if that bothers you, the smut is easy to skip. (Also, this, like, took a lot of work despite being short so maybe don’t be a dick about it if it’s not your preference) 

Anyways, this is part four (!!) of my OG verse, as it has come to be known. You can find all the links to the other parts here. This is unbetaed and all mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy it! 

*

After Alex had been home for a week, Louis went back to work, and Alex went to look for a job.

Louis had taken a full week off from working at the store after Alex got home, probably by feigning health issues. But he couldn’t stay away forever, especially not when Alex’s final army pension would be coming in soon and then they’d be living off Louis’s income and whatever job Alex could scare up. Besides, Ms. Lawrence, God bless her soul, was six feet under and while her son had decided to keep Louis employed, he probably wasn’t nearly as forgiving as his mother if Louis took too much time off.

Alex had been looking for work for a few days now, but it still seemed like the town was dry out of jobs. Wilson from the pharmacy had told Alex he would hire him again if he could, but he could barely afford to pay the employees he had now. The same response came from the town bakery, the shoe repair shop, the bank. The best option for now seemed to be to sign up for one of the never-ending factory jobs a couple towns over, one he could easily travel to by train. But building the same guns he had once slung on his back seemed too much of a bitter irony to swallow for now.  

He tried to look again in one of the nearby towns, and this time, he wore his old uniform in the feeble attempt to make people pity him enough to give him work. A few told him to come back in a week this time. He considered it an improvement.

When Alex finally dragged himself back into town, it was late afternoon, almost five, and while it was still light out, but the sky was threatening to dim sooner rather than later. He could go home and change, still his uniform was hot and heavy, but it was also nearly the end of Louis’s shift, so he hurried his pace and headed straight for the grocery store.

He pushed the door open, and the bell sounded over his head. It was empty, too late in the day and also in the middle of the week, when barely anyone needed anything. But of course there was still one person there, and he looked up when Alex walked in. As soon as he met his gaze, Alex went over to the front counter, crossed his arms over the top, and then leaned over the surface.

“Hi,” he said, and Louis grinned.

“Hello,” Louis said, “How was your day?”

“Boring,” Alex said, “Fruitless. Typical,”

Louis’s mouth twitched and he shook his head.

“I’m sorry,”

“Doesn’t matter,” Alex shrugged, “I’ll figure something out,”

He tapped his fingers on the counter, making Louis glance down at his fingers before looking back up.

“I know I usually get off at five but I have to work an extra hour tonight,” Louis said, “I’m sorry,”

“You sure you can’t get off sonner?”

“Why, you gonna take me out?” Louis said.

He was joking, of course, but it still made Alex’s heart ache a bit, that going out wasn’t something he could even dream about doing for Louis.  

“No, just want you home for a bit,” he said, and Louis smiled again.

“You have me home every damn night,”

“Well maybe I want you a little more,” Alex sighed, “It’s been a long day, that’s all,”

“I’m sorry,” Louis murmured. If there were home, he would’ve reached out to stroke Alex’s cheek, at the very least, but instead they just looked at each other. Louis still managed to get a smile out of Alex, but before he could say anything else, the bell rang at the front of the store and Louis pushed at Alex’s chest.

“Make yourself scarce, I have to work,”

Alex laughed, and then jogged towards the back of the shop, ducking away so he was hidden by a few shelves. He still left enough of a gap between the shelves that he could see towards the front of the shop if he wanted to, and he glanced to the front now, if only to catch another glimpse at Louis.

Then he paused, not recognizing the people that had walked in. He knew nearly everyone in town, but there were two men at the front of the store he hadn’t seen before. Nice clothes, neat hair, easy smiles.

He stared for a few moments and then turned away, going back to pretending like he was paying attention to the shelf in front of him, and he just listened to Louis’s voice.

“Can I help you with anything?” Louis asked.

“Actually,” said one unfamiliar male voice, “We were wondering if there’s anything interesting to do around here. Only stopping in for a short while”

Right, definitely out of town. The man that was speaking had a higher accent, too. London, probably, somewhere further south.

“Don’t think you’re in the right place for that, mate,” Louis laughed, “We’re good for stopping by and not much else,”

“That’s a shame,” the same voice said, “Are you sure? How about somewhere I could take someone out for a good night?”

“We’ve got a couple pubs. Some of them have food, dancing,” Louis offered.

“Really,” the man voice was talking, and now his voice was pitched, intrigued, “You go a lot?”

“Uh,” Louis said, “Just when my flat mate wants to go,”

That’s me, Alex thought softly, a smile quirking over his lips, he’s talking about me.

“Hm. Well, anywhere you like to go then? When you’re not working here?” the man’s voice continued.

“Not really,” Louis said, “Maybe out for a walk,”

“Ah,” the man said, “Maybe we could take a walk together sometime,”

Alex paused, his fingers halting right over a newly emptied shelf of oatmeal.

That wasn’t something a stranger would offer.

“Uh,” Louis laughed weakly, “Not sure what you mean there, mate,”

“Just what I said,” the man continued on, “We could take a walk,”

“Well, I work. And I don’t exactly know you, either,” Louis said. His voice was careful, but also a bit cautious.

Honestly, Alex couldn’t quite figure out what this bloke was after, either.

“Right, I’m sorry. My name is James. Now we know each other,”

“No, we don’t,” Louis said flatly, and Alex almost laughed. Louis usually only used that voice for anyone in town that wasn’t Alex or a current customer. It was his annoyed voice.

Not that he blamed him. James – apparently – wasn’t exactly making Louis do his job.

“Well, maybe we could. You get off soon, don’t you, love?” James said, “We could go to dinner,”

Alex’s hand shuffled over the shelf, his fingertips trying and failing to grasp onto something.

He recognized those words from the lips of men asking girls to do something.

But this man…he was talking to Louis. In the open. He couldn’t be…

“Or if there’s nowhere you like to eat around here, I could cook you something. Don’t have a stove at my room, but I’m sure you have something at yours,” James said.

“Uh,” Louis said, “I’m still…not sure what you’re angling for,”

“Oh,” James chuckled, “Oh, I see,”

Alex finally glanced through the gaps in the shelves, getting a better look at the front of the store. James – or at least, he assumed he was James -- was tall, with dark hair, and he had both hands set on the counter and was leaning forward a bit, grinning, like Alex had been a few moments ago. His friend was hanging back but smiling almost knowingly at them. Louis had backed up, had his arms crossed and his brow creased.

“You’re very lovely,” James smiled, and Alex could feel something lurching in his chest for multiple reasons.

“He saw you through the window,” James’ friend piped up, “He wouldn’t go on until we stopped in to say hello to you,”

Louis’s forehead creased forward and he glanced between the two, his frown deepening.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said quickly, and James laughed.

“You don’t have to pretend with me, love,” the man smiled, “I won’t hurt you. I’m like you,”

Louis’s eyes widened a bit at that, and he glanced between the two of them and then the door.

Alex could have sworn he almost looked at the back shelves that were hiding Alex, but he couldn’t be too sure.

“You’re trying to pull, then,” Louis said flatly, and James smiled, making Louis rush on, “I already have somebody, anyways, even if – even if I’m whatever you think I am,”

Me, me, me, he’s talking about me, Alex thought, but his own voice was weaker in his head this time

“Oh, I see,” James said, but now he was laughing, like it was a damn joke, “You have a girl, then?”

“Yeah,” Louis said, “Yeah, I have a girl,”

That wasn’t even close to true. The girls around here mostly pretended like Louis didn’t exist, even though Alex couldn’t find a damn reason anyone would want to write him off.

“Darling,” James said, and no, that was wrong, this man was not only talking to Louis like this in the open but he was calling him things only Alex could call him, “Darling, it’s alright. I know,”

“What the bloody hell do you think you know?” Louis snapped. His back was now fully pressed against the wall, and he was nearly shouting. Alex really hoped Mr. Lawrence wasn’t upstairs in the apartment that had once belonged to Louis.

“Don’t scare him, Christ,” James’s companion laughed. Christ, they were still laughing.  

“You’re right, I’m so sorry,” James said, “Listen, I’ve gotten used to reading people. Particularly other men. I’ve learned to understand their…preferences before they even speak,”

“I don’t – “ Louis started again, but this time James cut him off.

“I’m not a cop, Christ, darling, I won’t report you,” he said, “I just saw you and thought, what a pity, such a pretty thing in this little town, probably got no one to give you want you need,”

He has me, Alex thought. He was gripping the shelf so hard he might break it or get splinters, whatever would come first. He has me and I would give him the entire world if he asked for it. Some day  I hold him in my arms and  I think that if I could, I would take my own worthless heart out of my chest so he could have one that beat properly.

Louis was still closed off, looking rather put off, but then. Then. James reached out, over the counter put a hand on his elbow.

“Come on,” James said, “I’ll be gone soon anyways, just give me one night,”

No, no, he couldn’t, Alex thought desperately. Well. Louis could do what he wanted. He could always do what he pleased and he would anyways.

But he couldn’t say yes to this. Alex would volunteer to go back to the mole before he had to stand here and hear Louis agree to that.

Alex came out from behind the shelves, then, a bit quickly, and immediately, three faces snapped to him. James dropped his hand off Louis’s elbow and smoothly stepped back, while Louis just stared at him, eyes wide.

“Private,” James said, folding his arms over his chest, “Passing through?”

“No, actually” Alex said, not looking away from Louis, “I’m home,”

James clearly noticed because he cleared his throat.

“Listen, if you saw – “

“He’s a friend,” Louis cut in, and then closed his eyes, “He’s a friend, it’s fine,”

“Ah,” James said, and then lifted his hand, gripping his chin as he glanced over Alex, “Why are you home so soon? Injury?”

“Discharge,” Alex said.

“What’d you do, then?”

“Nothing,” Alex sighed, “Evacuation during a mission and they apparently didn’t have a good place for me anymore,”

“Where was your last mission?”

For fuck’s sake.

“Dunkirk,” Alex finally said, and the man nodded, his lip smirking upwards.

“Heard about that. You’re one of them, aren’t you? The ones who had to go and almost made us lose the war?”

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration there, don’t you think, mate?” Louis snapped, “Were you two ever out there?”

James didn’t even flinch, but glanced over at Louis and smiled.

“Yes, actually,” he said, and then waved at where his friend was still lingering in the corner, “Henry and I were trained for the RAF, but we were dropped after a few months on honorary discharge. We were still in fire, though,”

“That sounds like shit,” Louis snorted.

James’ head turned back towards Alex and he frowned.

“Pardon me?”

“The fact that being in fire is something you just want to bring up with a damn smile on your face tells me you didn’t do shit,” Louis sighed.

James frowned even more, then glanced between Louis and Alex and then settled his gaze back on Louis.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “How do you two know each other?”

“Small town,” Louis said, but Alex spoke at the same moment, and louder, probably too loud.

“We live together,” Alex said, “I – I take care of him,”

“You live together,” James repeated, and then pressed a hand to his lips, glancing between the two of them again.

“Oh,” he said, “Oh, I understand,”

He motioned between the two of them, lifting his brows, and then kept a finger on Alex.

“Is this your girl then, love?” he smiled, still so sweetly, “She’s a lot rough around the edges, isn’t she?”

“Watch your damn mouth,” Alex snapped, and he heard Louis breath sharply behind him.

“Alex,” Louis said softly, “Just go home, okay? I can handle this,”

But James apparently wasn’t finished, and he plowed straight ahead.

“You’ve got poor options here, don’t you darling?” he said, “You know, if you don’t like me, I have so many friends who would love a pretty face like yours. Can have anyone you’d like in London,”

“Actually, I like him just fine,” Louis said coolly, “Don’t need to meet your friends to know even speaking one word to them would be a waste of my time,”

James looked at him again, his eyes wide and his face unreadable, and Louis sighed.

“You know, it’s shop policy that if you have no intention of buying anything, you should get out,”

James’s mouth hung open for a moment, but then he firmly closed his lips.

“Alright,” he finally relented and took a step back, “Henry, I believe we’ve been dismissed,”

Both of them started walking away, back towards the door, neither of them looking interested in even saying goodbye.

“Wait,” Alex called out, and James stopped, looked back and gave him a look.

“Just – “ Alex gulped, “While you’re here, you can’t talk about us. You can’t, please, if anyone here knew – “

“Oh,” James sighed, his expression loosening a bit, “You may not like me, but I’m not heartless,”

He turned away again, and Alex watched them through the glass of the shop’s front window as they retreated outside. He tried to calm himself before he turned back to Louis, but then he realized that was nearly impossible. His breathing was thick, his shoulders were tense, and his mind was never going to settle, not when there was a man here fucking flirting with Louis in the open.

So eventually, he turned back to Louis, frayed nerves and racing mind and all.

“I’m sorry, I just – “ he started to say, but Louis cut him off.

“Alex,” Louis sighed, “Just go home, okay? I’ll get our groceries before I leave,”

“But – “

“Please, Alex, go home,” Louis said a bit too sharply, and then he stepped from the counter, closer to the wall, “Please,”

Alex wanted to open his mouth. He wanted to apologize. He wanted to burst out of the store and chase down James and his fucking friend and ask them who they thought they were, coming here and making his life more complicated for no reason. Most of all, he wanted to drag Louis onto the floor by his shirt front and kiss him and tell him he loved him, adored him, wanted him to occupy every day Alex had left his in life.

Instead he caught the way Louis was looking at him evenly and he walked out of the store and found his way back home.

*

Louis arrived home by the time it was dark, immediately went to set a bag of groceries on the kitchen counter, and then promptly went over to the couch and leaned over to kiss Alex full on the mouth, cupping his cheek in one hand as he did so.

“I love you,” he murmured when he pulled away, and Alex lifted his chin and chased his lips, trying to get him to come back, and finally, Louis leaned back in and pressed his lips more firmly back to Alex’s own.

Louis finally pull back completely and straightened up, and he sighed and shook his head.

“I just…I needed to tell you that,”

“Thank you,” Alex murmured, and then reached out and caught Louis by the hips, pulling him closer. He reached up and unclipped the edge of his brace, making it fall loose, “Got too many damn clothes on you, doll,”

Louis snorted and set his hand on the top of Alex’s head, stroking his hair.

“Come help me make supper,” he murmured as Alex unsnapped his other brace. Louis laughed and brought a hand around his thin waist, grabbing at where his trousers were already dangerously loose on his hips, “I’m serious, love. I bet you didn’t eat your lunch today,”

“I had a little,”

Louis sighed and brought himself forward, and he leaned down and kissed the crown on his head, dragging his fingers through his curls.

“Everyone thinks I would drop dead without you, you know,” he huffed, “It’s the other way around,”

“Right,” Alex sighed, “You’re right, you’re always right,”

He pulled on the small of Louis’s back, drawing him even closer to him, and he lifted his chin, pressing his nose to the fabric of his shirt and breathing in the scent of washing soap.

“You’re wearing my shirt,” Alex mumbled.

“Uh huh,” Louis agreed, and Alex squeezed his side.

“Looks better on you,”

“Feel like you’d like it off better,” Louis said, and Alex grinned and nipped at his belly, making Louis shriek and pull away.

“Stop that,” he mumbled, and then tilted his head down, examining Alex closely before reaching out a hand and fiddling with the collar of Alex’s uniform shirt that he was still wearing.

“Take this off, please,” Louis said, and Alex managed to smile a bit.  

“You asked me to fuck you in this uniform when I first got it, you know,”

Louis didn’t even smile, though, just shook his head.

“Yeah, not now,” Louis huffed, “I just – you look so sad with it on,”

Alex’s smile immediately dropped, and he opened his mouth, but Louis pressed a finger against his lips.

“Don’t you dare apologize to me for that, I know that look,” Louis said, and then let his finger drop, “Just – Christ, get up so we can both get undressed and then make dinner,”

Alex nodded and then stood, reaching out for Louis first. His already loose trousers were easy to slip off his hips and legs, and Louis toed off his shoes on his own while Alex undid his shirt buttons. He didn’t really need to, but Alex also reached for his hips and pulled his drawers down, exposing pale skin, coarse, dark hair, and Louis’s soft cock. Louis just gave him a look and sighed.

“You damn well know what’s coming to you, then,” he huffed. But then his face stilled, his mouth hardening, and slowly, he reached out for Alex’s shirt.

He undid the buttons carefully, then gently pushed the fabric away to reveal his chest and stomach. Then he untucked his shirt, pushed it away from Alex’s shoulders along with his overcoat. Alex knelt down to loosen his bootlaces and once he was straightened back up, Louis unbuckled his belt, again, carefully, and then slipped his trousers and drawers off. Alex pulled his feet out of the puddle of fabric and took a careful step towards Louis, leaving the uniform behind. Louis just glanced up a bit, blinked, and then grabbed Alex by the chin and brought him down a bit closer to his own level.

“There,” he breathed against his lips, “There’s my handsome boy,”

Louis lifted his mouth and pressed a kiss to Alex’s lips, and then pulled away, releasing him.

“Help me cook dinner,” he said, and then dragged a hand over Alex’s chest, “Alright?”

Alex couldn’t come up with a decent answer so he just nodded.

As it turned out, dinner was simple, sandwiches and a hot soup that Louis made all the time because it had only three ingredients and it kept well. It was probably for the best that dinner was so easy because Alex could barely focus, between Louis standing so close to him, so bare and lovely, and the thoughts of what had happened earlier that they still hadn’t sorted through.

Louis had seemed angry earlier, and he was quiet now, and he had also given Alex a kiss in lieu of a real greeting and had undressed him carefully and Christ, Alex had just let him, hadn’t even brought it up.

Louis stayed quiet even when they ate dinner at the table, bodies still completely bare, and they left the dishes dirty in the kitchen and went to the bedroom. Louis went to take a bath while Alex laid in bed, wondering what to do next, because he kind of never wanted to think about the way Louis’s way had looked that afternoon, so unsure and angry and scared, but he also had more questions than he could probably try to sort through in one night.

Eventually, Louis came out of their bathroom with a thread-bare towel wrapped around his shoulders, and he smiled and padded carefully over to the bed, giving Alex a quick peck on the mouth before dropping the towel and climbing over to his usual side of the bed. Alex reached out and smoothed a hand over his hip and Louis’s mouth twitched, and he moved forward to kiss him again, but Alex spoke before he could.

“Baby,” Alex murmured, “Can we talk about this afternoon?”

He felt Louis’s entire body go coiled and tense under his touch, and he cursed himself for a moment before Louis relaxed a bit and looked up at him with wide, wide eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said immediately, and Alex shook his head.

“I – it’s okay, I know you were mad at early, but that was my fault, I probably could’ve handled that a little better, but – “

“No, no,” Louis said, and he drew back far enough that Alex’s fingertips uselessly fell away from the dip of his waist.

“It’s not you, I mean,” Louis continued, his fingers curling tightly into their over starched sheets, “He flirted with me,”

“Yeah, I saw,” Alex said drily, and then immediately swallowed when he saw something flash over Louis’s face, “Baby, I didn’t – “  

“Are you angry with me?” Louis asked all the same, his voice shaking dangerously, and Harry tried again to touch him, only gaining a bit of purchase on his skin before his fingers fell away again.

“Baby, no. No, no, no,” he whispered, and Louis ducked his head at that, forcing Alex only to look at the crown of his head.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Louis said, “No one – a man fucking flirted with me in public, what was I supposed to do? I thought he was undercover, that he was trying to hunt us down and turn us in, and then you came in and I thought we’d be fucked for sure – “

“Shit,” Alex immediately mumbled, and this time gained a bit more purchase on Louis’s hip, drawing him closer, “I didn’t even – Christ, you’re right, I’m so sorry,”

“I don’t think they will,” Louis said, “ I mean, if they were really there to put us away they could’ve done it right then and there. But – “

Louis swallowed, and then his eyes went wet and he ducked his face into his hands, a weak gasp escaping his throat.

Alex’s heart lurched and he immediately gripped Louis by the waist and pulled him close to his chest, cradling the back of his hair, pressing weakly aimed kisses to his forehead.

“Baby,” Alex mumbled, “Baby, baby, baby,”

“Stop it,” Louis huffed weakly, curling a hand over Alex’s chest, “I think I get the bloody point,”

“Do you, though?” Alex asked, and Louis shook his head, his fringe rubbing over the base of Alex’s throat.

He was quiet, nearly too quiet, and then when he spoke his voice was raspy, thick with swallowed-down tears.

“He didn’t even hesitate. Just fucking talked to me like a bird would try to talk to you,” Louis said, and then slapped his chest weakly when Alex opened his mouth, “Do not. You know they’d be going after you,”

Louis inhaled again, and then his voice was softer.

“Just made me think that maybe there’s somewhere…that we could go and meet other people like us. Be more honest than we can be here here,”

“Maybe,” Alex said softly.

Maybe Louis could at the very least. Maybe one of them could get away from here.

Alex’s face must have gone tense, because Louis frowned and reached up, pulling his fingers over Alex’s temple.

“I hope,” he said, then paused, swallowed, kept going, “I hope you don’t think I would ever give him a glance. Or anyone like him,”

Alex blinked, and Louis smiled, pushing forward.

“Fancy posh boys with their RAF discharges,” he scoffed, rubbing a hand along Alex’s chest, “Probably got small pricks,”

Alex snorted but then laid still, and Louis sighed and lifted himself up to press a kiss to the side of Alex’s mouth.

“What’re you thinking?”

“How they probably wouldn’t have to hide you away like I do,” he finally said.

There were a thousand reasons what had happened in the shop was lingering over him. But the he realized now that what he had been lingering on most was the fact that there were men in the world, like him, like Louis, that seemed about as carefree as they could be in their situation. Meanwhile they were in a shitty flat they could hardly afford, and it was the only place in the world that was safe for them.

Louis just blinked at him, and he grabbed Alex’s face in both hands, gripping so tight his blunt nails dug into his cheeks.

“Ow,” Alex protested weakly, but Louis was looking at him with eyes made of blue fire, and then he was speaking again.

“Darling,” Louis said softly, but firmly, urgently, “My darling, darling, boy, you are the only person I ever loved who loved me back. You know that? Not my family, not anyone in this shit town. Just you,”

As he said it, his grip out tighter on Alex’s cheeks and jaws, and he probably could tell Louis to stop but goddamn it he wasn’t going to.

“Love,” Louis continued “You’re a pretty boy with a uni degree, and you stay here in this shit hole just so you can feed me medicine and keep me company. I would think you’d have to love me an awful damn lot for all that. That and you tell me every damn day of my life,”

Louis sighed, finally letting go of Alex’s face enough to run his palms over the sides of his face.

“And you know that I love you,” Louis said, “Right?”

Alex didn’t say anything, and Louis’s eyes flared a bit, his lip trembling as he kept speaking.

“I wake up every single day and my worthless heart feels too weak, like it can’t last another day, but I get up and I try to get it to understand that I need it to work, I need to keep fucking living because there’s this boy, this stupid, ridiculous boy that I thought I was going to lose but that came back to me, and goddamn it if I’m not going to do everything I can to see that boy’s hair go grey,” Louis’s voice was rushed and his words nearly tripped over each other and his cheeks had gone pink, but he kept going, “I am so in love with you, and I will love you here or anywhere else you want us to go but I don’t need anything else,”

He took a breath, nearly panting, and Alex could just stare at him and listen to the rhythm of his breath.

When Louis finally stopping panting, he looked at Alex with firm eyes.

“You better have gotten the damn point after that, I don’t have anything else in me,” he said weakly, and Alex laughed.

“I get it,” he said, “I – fuck, I’m never going to understand why you want someone like me, but I’m going to believe you for now,”

“Good,” Louis nodded, “Good, good,”

He leaned in and kissed Alex firmly, and even though he had done it so many times before that night, Alex still breathed softly in his mouth, felt his body relax as Louis wrapped an arm around his waist, felt himself warm from the inside out.

“You know,” Louis said when he pulled away, and then lifted a hand up to brush Alex’s fringe out of his eyes, “I haven’t had you in a while. You want that?”

“Fuck,” Alex breathed out, and then nodded, “Yeah, fuck, please,”

“Alright,” Louis smiled and then reached behind him to his bed stand, where they had left the Vaseline the other night. When he turned back he reached out and pulled on Alex’s hip, getting him to roll over onto his belly. Louis leaned over, kissing his temple, and then he dipped a finger into the pot of jelly and reached back, slicking over Alex’s hole before prodding at it more firmly, trying to open him up. Alex closed his eyes and tried not to push back into the touch too much, because fuck, it hurt a little bit and it was going to hurt more if he did that, but he couldn’t remember the last time Louis’s fingers had been back there.

Too damn long, apparently, because he could’ve sworn it took a good ten minutes before Louis slipped another fingertip in.

“You’re alright,” Louis said softly, and then kissed Alex’s temple again, “Not gonna hurt you, love,”

Alex nodded and blinked, becoming aware of the extra wetness that had built up at the corners of his eyes.

“I know,” he murmured, “I know, God, I know,”

Louis smiled and then pressed into more firmly, making Alex whine. Louis leaned in again and this time kept his lips pressed firmly to his temple as he pushed his fingers in and out until they were sliding easily, and Alex finally reached back and grabbed at Louis’s wrist.

“Enough,” he mumbled, “Baby, enough, please,”

“Serves you right,” Louis laughed as he finally pulled his fingers out, “You take a damn hour to make sure I’m ready, it drives me up the damn wall,”

“I’m sorry,” Alex said as he rolled over, and Louis rolled his eyes and grabbed for the Vaseline again, this time to take his cock in his hand and put sure he was properly slick.

“You’re forgiven,” Louis said and he put onto his knees and kept his cock anchored in his hand as he moved closer, “Do I have to tell you to breath deep?”

Alex barely had time to answer before he felt Louis pressing into him, and he quickly took a deep, shuddering breath and reached up and grabbed for Louis’s waist.

“Gentle,” he mumbled, and Louis smiled and nodded.

“It hurt?”

“I just don’t want to work yourself up too bad,”

“How noble,” Louis sighed, and then shifted his hips forward, making Alex gasp, “Shouldn’t even have to work too hard, you’ve been half hard since you took off my drawers,”

Heat flushed through Alex’s face, and Louis laughed and bent down to kiss him as he snapped his hips.

“Now see, why would I want anyone else when I have a boy who fusses over me even when he’s getting fucked?” Louis murmured, and Alex closed his eyes and whined again. Louis wasn’t even going faster, just moving his hips steadily, but it was enough, Christ, it was enough.

And then Louis grabbed him cock and started rubbing it base to tip, and his eyes snapped up and he looked up at where Louis was watching him, his face a bit slick with heat and slick, and he smiled softly as he kept moving his hips and his wrist in equal time.

“Yeah,” Louis said, “Love you here, love you in London, love you wherever,”

“Baby,” Alex gasped out, and Louis smiled.

“I know. I’m your baby, you tell me that a lot. And you know what? You’re my baby, too,”

Louis reached up and brushed Alex’s fringe away from his eyes, and he snapped his hips again, making Alex whine high in his throat.

He tried to open his mouth, tried to say something else, but Louis pressed his finger to his lips.

“Shh, baby, it’s alright,” he said, “Whatever you want to tell me you’ve told me a thousand times before and I’ll hear a thousand more times tomorrow. Just breath,”

Alex blinked, and he couldn’t even think of fucking James and the corner store right now if he tried. He only ever wanted to think about Louis and his smile and his eyes and the ring Alex wanted to buy for him one day, whether or not it would mean anything on paper or not, whether or not they could ever go outside together, really together, or not.

When he came he shouted, and Louis had to press a hand over his mouth so no one would hear, no one would know.

But then Louis kissed him carefully and picked his bath towel off the floor to clean Alex up, and as Alex watched him, he figured it was enough to keep this just for the two of them.