#IM DOING WHAT THE INSTRUCTIONS SAID LEAVE ME THE FUCKING HELL ALONE DUDE

[nyaskitten]

Girl u goin straight to hell 😘 😘 😘 😘 😘 😘

[deaf-solitude]

In The Shadow of the Valley Pt. 3 (Squire!Thaddeus x Knight!Reader)

Pairing: Thaddeus x Knight!Reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings/Tags: future graphic violence, no use of y/n, placeholder knight name for the reader, mostly gender-neutral but reader is called “sir” at some points, the reader is called “my lord” sometimes too, gun use?, not a whole lot going on in this one

Summary: You’re a knight sworn to the Brotherhood of Steel, and you’ve just lost your asshole squire to a yao guai. Maybe it’s for the better, as you prefer to work alone anyway. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood thinks otherwise and quickly sends you a replacement. Turns out that the replacement is someone you never wished to meet again, but thankfully, he didn’t know it was you! Not yet, at least.

TDLR; What if Thaddeus was your squire instead of Maximus’?

((A/N)) SO sorry for how long this took, I was so stumped the second half of this all week, so I just split it in half for now ToT. A bit shorter than I wanted it to be, but I figured I’d get something posted. Also shout out to wiki how for teaching me how to teach someone how to shoot a handgun lmao. If it’s inaccurate im sorry, I’ve never handled a gun in my life

That night went well, as far as you were concerned. Once it got late, Thaddeus insisted on taking the first watch, and while you were hesitant, you eventually relented after he started going on a spiel about having to prove himself to you. You slept buried in your sleeping bag and with your face covering on, and were happy to see it was still there when you woke up to take over the watch. Hopefully, he hadn’t gotten curious while you were sleeping.

What you weren’t too happy to find, however, was that you woke up on your own. After a bit of investigation, you found Thaddeus fast asleep on the outskirts of the camp, having slumped over when he drifted off. You didn't know how long he’d been asleep, and you debated waking the man up and scolding him, but you’d rather do that in the morning when he was more or less coherent. So instead, you settled down next to him and kept watch for the rest of the night and early morning.

When he finally awoke as the sun was rising, he almost didn’t realize where he was. It wasn't until he sat up, groggily rubbed his face, and then caught you staring at him out of the corner of his eye did it finally register in his sleep-fogged mind.

He nearly shrieked as he did, stumbling back and nearly falling over again. “Jesus, what the fuck! What are you doing?” Thaddeus exclaimed, putting a hand over his chest to calm his beating heart. You continued to stare at him, and a quirk of your brow finally got the gears turning his head as he deeply frowned.

“Don’t tell me I fell asleep.”

“You fell asleep,” you echoed, crossing your arms as an amused look shone through in your eyes. It was your turn to be the one jumping back when Thaddeus suddenly lurched forward, getting on his hands and knees to bow to you.

“I-I’m so sorry, Knight Mire! It-it won’t happen again, I-I swear!” He cried, squeezing his eyes shut as he expected some sort of scolding or punishment. All you did was grimace, scooting away from him a bit.

“God, dude, don't do that,” you groaned, not sure how to feel about Thaddeus begging for your forgiveness at your feet, “get up, it’s fine. Just… don’t do it again.”

Thaddeus’ head snapped up at your uncharacteristic reassurance, his eyes wide and unsure. “Wh-what?”

You sighed, pushing yourself up from where you were sitting and dusting yourself off. “I said get up. We have shit to do,” you instructed, refusing to repeat what little kindness had peeked through in your words. You stalked off to gather your stuff before Thaddeus could question you further, leaving your flabbergasted squire in your wake. He was frozen in place for a moment, the rocks on the ground still biting painfully into his knees as he watched you start to pack up camp.

You hadn’t punished him. Hell, you’d hardly even raised your voice at him. Thaddeus couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his face, and although he was still a little confused at your behaviour, he jumped to his feet once he realized he should probably be helping you.

The two of you ate quickly and packed up camp easily enough, but you stopped Thaddeus before he lugged that pack back onto his shoulder.

“You need this,” you mused, holding up a spare pipe pistol for Thaddeus since it seemed like he had misplaced his other gun in the fight with the dogs yesterday. You saw the rejection on his face before he had even opened his mouth with how he was nervously wringing his hands out.

“Uh, I… I don’t want it,” Thaddeus mumbled, refusing to meet your eye.

Your gaze hardened. “You need a gun, Thaddeus. It’s not a suggestion.”

Thaddeus seemed to get more nervous—or flustered if the pink tint of his cheeks was any indicator—by the minute. “Yeah, well it won't do me much good. I’m a terrible shot…” He mumbled, his brows furrowing. He hadn’t been so averse to using a gun yesterday, so you could only assume he was nervous he would completely miss again in front of you, his knight. You huffed an amused breath out of your nose at the thought.

“You better get practicing, then,” you chirped, shoving the pistol into Thaddeus’ unwilling hands. You were already stepping into your power armour by the time he decided to open his mouth to protest again. He instinctively shrunk back from your seven-foot metal frame as it powered up, his jaw clicking shut as his desire to argue swiftly left him.

You tilted your head at him, a bit surprised at the sudden change in demeanour. Was the armour really that intimidating? You supposed you wouldn’t know since you were usually the one wearing it. He was turning away to grab the pack before you had a chance to tease him about it.

Once the two of you had gathered everything, you were on your way again. You kept your eye on Thaddeus, making sure he could still carry the pack with his injured arm. He seemed to be doing alright as far as you could tell, as chatty as ever, but a quick check-in wouldn’t hurt.

“How’s that arm feeling?”

Thaddeus perked up at your sudden question, a confused expression falling across his face.

“Huh?”

You nodded at his bandaged arm, and he had to look down at it before he even seemed to remember what had happened to it.

“Oh! Pshh, yeah, it doesn’t even hurt anymore,” he waved you off, acting as if the injury never bothered him to begin with. You skeptically nodded, trying to pick out any irregularities in his behaviour. It was difficult to discern what was normal for him now since he had been acting so differently compared to when the two of you were younger. After a few minutes, you gave up on figuring out if his arm was still bothering him as he continued to talk your ear off.

Suddenly, Thaddeus hesitated for a moment, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he debated what he was going to say next. Eventually, he spit it out, nervously stumbling over his words.

“So… um- where are we going?”

He seemed reluctant to bring it up again, seeing as the last time he did, you had basically threatened his life over it. You bit the inside of your cheek, debating if it was worth telling him.

…Fuck, you might as well.

You explained that the Brotherhood had sent you to scout some raider group rumoured to be using post-war tech for… less than moral reasons. The Brotherhood wasn’t exactly sure what they were up to, so that's where the two of you came in.

Thaddeus’ face screwed up in confusion: this is the information you’d withheld from him? “It’s just a scouting mission?”

“You make it sound simple. We have no idea what we’re going up against,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes at Thaddeus’ underestimation of your task. “We don’t know how many of them there are, and we don’t know the extent of their tech supply or their knowledge of it…”

Thaddeus seemed to be getting more nervous the more you talked.

“So there’s a chance this could end up being a… a suicide mission?”

You glanced at Thaddeus, furrowing your brows at his immediate thought of death.

“Well the plan is to make it out alive with useful information, so I hope not,” you snorted, “all we have to do is get close enough to scope out exactly what we’re up against, and then we’re out of there. In and out, quiet as hell, that’s it. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

Your words seemed to soothe Thaddeus’ nerves, but they had the opposite effect on your own: it would be a problem with Thaddeus bumbling around like a newborn brahmin. You spared another glance at him, watching as he fiddled around with the spare pipe pistol you’d given him. The weapon looked alien in his hands, and he handled it as such, his grip on the gun unsure and stiff. He claimed he was a terrible shot—you’d seen him yesterday with the hounds, you didn't doubt his claim—and it had your stomach churning with worry.

You stopped abruptly in place, Thaddeus immediately on alert as his head swivelled to try and spot danger. “What? What is it? Are there more mutts?” He cried, instinctively backing up so that he was closer to you.

You furrowed your brows, looking down at Thaddeus’ panicked face. “What? No,” you promptly answered, opening up your power armour again to step out. You made sure your face covering was still in place as you stood before Thaddeus, who looked at you with a puzzled expression.

“You said you were a terrible shot, right?” You questioned bluntly, causing Thaddeus’ face to flush.

“U-uh, yeah…”

You nodded, brushing past Thaddeus and unholstering the gun from his belt in the process. Your eyes searched for an easy target out in the barren wasteland, where there happened to be a convenient road sign a little ways back.

“Have you ever even been taught to use a gun properly?” You prodded, turning back around to stare at Thaddeus. He shrunk back under your gaze, a bead of sweat welling up on his temple.

“Of course! I just… um- didn’t pay attention all that much…” Thaddeus practically mumbled the last bit, clearing his throat to try and cover up his confession, but you’d heard it loud and clear. You rolled your eyes; of course, that was one of the lessons he skipped out on in favour of bullying Maximus.

“Great. Today’s your lucky day then,” you muttered, stepping back over to Thaddeus and putting the gun back in his hand. “We’re only spending one bullet on this.”

Thaddeus quickly nodded, still feeling a bit embarrassed that they even had to do this right now. He shrugged the pack off and let it drop to the floor with a thud, stretching his shoulder as it and his back were relieved from the strain of the weight.

You suddenly came up behind Thaddeus, and once he realized what you were doing, he nearly jumped out of his skin. He couldn’t stop his trembling as you took his hands in yours, your chest pressed against his back as you brought his hands up in front of him.

”Relax,” you huffed, but the close proximity of your voice to his ear had the exact opposite effect on Thaddeus. His arms were stiff, his breathing was shallow, and he was trying to keep his face from burning red. You chalked it up to embarrassment, paying Thaddeus no mind as you fiddled with his hands around the gun.

“Make sure your fingers aren’t near the slide,” you chided, moving his fingers down the grip a bit so they wouldn’t get nipped by the slide going back, “and don’t hold on so tight.” You sighed, noting how Thaddeus’ knuckles were practically turning white as the gun shook in his hands.

“S-sorry,” he breathed quietly, audibly swallowing as he loosened his hold a bit and tried to stop his quivering. Aside from the slight shake, he was holding the gun pretty well. That was a good start.

A glance down had you frowning again: his stance was totally off, and you wouldn’t be surprised if he were to fall to his ass from the gun’s recoil. You were quick to knock Thaddeus’ legs further apart with your knee, causing the man’s breath to hitch. You paid him no mind, nudging his non-dominant foot forward a bit too. Thaddeus nearly lost all composure when you slid your hands down his arms, a shiver running down his spine as you adjusted them to give him proper support. This was all seeming far too intimate for him, and much too annoying for you.

“I assume you know how to aim?” You quipped, pulling a scoff from Thaddeus’ lips.

“Of course I do!” He snapped, but you could only chuckle as you watched his ears turn red. Thaddeus proceeded to look down his sights with a determined expression, which was quickly undermined by your hand nudging his up just a touch higher. He glanced back at you with a glare that you were incapable of taking to heart when you saw how red his face was.

Despite this, you were quick to take your hands off of him, backing up with them halfheartedly thrown in the air. “Sorry, sorry,” you mumbled out, an amused smile hidden by your face cover. You crossed your arms as you watched Thaddeus relax a bit now that you weren’t pressed up against his back.

“Remember to breathe,” you reminded him, “and follow through when you fire.”

“What does that even mean?” Thaddeus whined, attempting to slow his breathing now that he had some space.

You rolled your eyes again. “Keep holding the trigger back after you shoot and don’t move your arms an inch. Gives you a more accurate shot.”

“Okay, okay, geez,” Thaddeus muttered, trying to keep all of your tips in order.

“I thought you wanted my help?” You mused, entertained by how frustrated Thaddeus was getting at your nitpicking.

He sucked in a shaky breath, ignoring your remark, before calling out, “C-can I shoot now?”

“Yeah, whenever you’re ready,” you shrugged, sidestepping so that you weren’t behind Thaddeus anymore and could see the street sign. A few tense seconds ticked by before Thaddeus pulled the trigger, a loud bang emanating out and echoing in the wide-open wasteland. Thaddeus’ shoulders jumped at the sound, slightly throwing off his shot, but the quick pinging sound that followed had both of you blinking in surprise.

He hit it.

Just the edge of it, but he hit it.

Thaddeus turned back to you with a grin so wide it genuinely warmed your heart.

“I did it! I actually did it!” He cheered, throwing his hands in the air and obnoxiously whooping in excitement. A display that would’ve originally had you agitated now brought a smile to your covered face, laughing at Thaddeus’ elation.

“You sure did, bud,” you quipped, crossing your arms as a sense of pride welled up in your chest, “really showed that sign who’s boss.” Thaddeus stuck his tongue out at you, blowing a raspberry at your remark and pulling another warm laugh from your throat.

“Alright, alright,” you chuckled, waving Thaddeus off and turning to get back in your power armour, “let’s get a move on. We’ve still got quite a bit of ground to cover.”

Thaddeus holstered his gun once he saw you getting back in your armour, his smile stuck to his face as he watched you. He was trying hard to ignore the butterflies in his stomach that were caused by your laugh; a sound he’d scarcely heard but had already grown attached to. He cursed at himself, his eyes darting away from you as his face flushed softly again. He couldn’t be thinking of you like that, not when he was your squire.

Your garbled voice pulled him out of his stupor, “You coming?”

Thaddeus’ head snapped up like that of a puppy’s, the reddening of his face obvious as he fumbled to get the pack back onto his shoulder.

“Y-yeah, obviously,” he scoffed sarcastically, pulling another chuckle from you. This time he simply couldn’t ignore the fluttering in his chest or the way a smile threatened to break out into his face just from the sound.

You tilted your head as if motioning him to follow you. “Hurry up then, slowpoke.”

[teenyweenynightghost]

Haii!! I absolutely adore your writing and was wondering if you would be up to write something comforting with Ethan where reader is having the period from hell? Thank you ❤

Oh ho ho this should be fun

Y/n was sleeping over at Ethan’s for the first time. She had feelings for him for god knows how long, and the night he asked her out was probably the happiest she had ever been.

Their date had been unbelievable. Y/n felt as if time stopped and she was the only person on Earth along with Ethan, as cheesy as that may sound

When it started raining, they both hurried to his car and drove quickly to his place.

“God, I didn’t think the night would end like this.” Y/n chuckled, draining her hair in Ethan’s bathtub, while he was brushing his teeth next to her.

“You can sleep in one of my shirts.” Ethan mumbled, almost choking on the tooth paste

“What?”

“I said” he spit out all the paste and rinsed his mouth “you can sleep in one of my shirts.”

Y/n’s heart skipped a bit and she blushed a bit at his suggestion, before nodding sheepishly and putting her hair in a bun.

Ethan chuckled and muttered a few words Y/n didn’t quite catch, before leaving the room.

In a few moments, he came back with a large t-shirt. It was burgundy and had a logo in the middle. Ethan gave it to Y/n and left her alone to change

That night she had fallen asleep in his warm embrace, listening to the rain drops hit the windows

She felt as if it was a dream come true, and the only thought on her mind was Ethan

Luckily for her, Ethan felt the exact same way

He held her close all night, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck, and dreamed of her

Ethan woke up to a slap. He opened his eyes grumpily and looked for the source of pain, only to see Y/n turned away from him, in that position all girls sleep in; the one where they have a leg up and they’re on their stomach

That’s when he saw that Y/n had started her period

There was a large, red stain seeping through her underwear and another few spots on the bedding

Damn, he shouldn’t have put on white ones

Stretching a bit and getting out of bed, he started to think about what he could do.

He didn’t know how much Y/n trusted him or how she would react to this, so the two smartest choices that he had were to either wake her up and tell her what happened, or prepare everything for when se would wake up

Eventually, he decided going for the latter.

Heading to the living room and grabbing his keys , he got in the car and drove to the nearest pharmacy around.

The man was walking down the unbearably white aisles of the pharmacy, looking for some ibuprofen and tampons

He really didn’t know what type Y/n used, and he wasn’t about to be like that dude on TikTok who asked his girlfriend what size pussy she was, so he took 4 types

Maybe different colors would mean something…or maybe scent?

He made a mental reminder to ask Y/n if they had any flavors

After searching forever, he ended up having a kilogram of pads, three types of sheet masks and a new lotion, but no pain medication

They must have been hidden

Eventually giving up, he went to the cashier and placed all the products on the register

“Tough times with the lady?” The woman asked, sending him an all-too knowing smirk

“I hope not. Speaking of which, do you happen to have any pain medication?”

Ethan left the store smirking, having received a 20% discount for being “so cute”, and he also got a small chapstick as a gift

His next stop was the grocery shop

He already knew what he needed, so the trip would be easy; Twix, KitKat, Puffy Cheetos, Aloe Drink, and A LOT of Chocolate milk

It didn’t take long for him to find everything, so he wondered around the shop for a little longer, picking up a few more things

Y/n was startled awake by some people screaming outside

She jumped out of bed and hurried to the window, only to see that they were a group of friends who were just pranking one another

She groaned and pressed a hand to her stomach, feeling a painful hotness around the area

Looking back at the bed, her heart stopped in her chest as she saw that there was a trail of blood behind her

Oh gods, her period came in the worst moment possible. Did Ethan see? Did he run away out of disgust?

She paced around the room nervously, thinking of what to do, yet ignoring the sound of running water coming from the bathroom

She shrieked when she heard a knock on the door and tried to hide the bloodied sheets as well as she could.

“Cara mia, are you awake?” Ethan’s soft voice was muffled by the door, which only made Y/n feel worse.

“No?”

She heard Ethan chuckle before seeing him enter the room. He seemed to have a reassuring look on his face, but Y/n could tell there was some pity in there too.

“Wanna come with me?” He asked her softly, taking her silky hand in his and leading her to the bathroom before she could answer

Y/n watched as he opened the door to the bathroom and led her inside. The shower was running and there were some clothes on the counter

“Get in the shower. I’ll take care of everything else.” He said, looking at Y/n so softly that her heart exploded and she burst into a fit of tears

His armed were around her in a second, comforting her as best as he could, but he truly did not know the reason why she was crying

“Baby, is everything all right? Why are you crying?” He asked her, worry written all over his face.

“Im sorry…I’m just” she sniffled a bit, shedding a few more tears, “no one ever took care of me when I was on my period and you’re being so fucking sweet and I ruined your sheets and everything is wrong and my stomach hurts and FUCK why did It have to come now we could have-“

“Woah, woah, woah, take a deep breath, dolcezza. Like that, just relax.” He interrupted her ramblings, wiping the tears off her face.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about the sheets. I’ll clean them later. We can just stay in bed all day and relax. How does that sound?”

Y/n nodded slightly against his shoulder, pulling herself away and wiping her face.

“Okay.” Her voice was still raspy, and she looked at the shower. At that moment, washing her entire body felt like an unbelievably long and exhausting process. She slumped her shoulders at the thought of it and puffed.

“Let me wash you. It’ll go by quicker.”

Y/n nodded and started taking her clothes off, too exhausted to care about Ethan’s red face. Even though he had offered, he couldn’t help but think about other circumstances in which he would get in a shower with Y/n.

Regardless, it was not the time for such things.

Once she was inside, he grabbed the shampoo and squirted some in his hand, thinking of a way to lather it on Y/n without getting wet.

“Now how are you gonna do that without ending up in the shower too, Mr Edgar?” Y/n teased, letting her head fall back as the warm water glided down her body.

While trying to find a solution, Ethan’s gaze fell on the floor, which was now filled with blood.

“Y/n are you alright?” His tone instantly changed, now being extremely worried about how much blood came out of her.

“Yeah. Why?” She followed his gaze to the ground, seeing what he was staring at. She let out a low laugh before grabbing the bottle from Ethan.

“It’s creepy, I know. You don’t have to wash me.”

“No. I said I would help and I want to. Do you mind if I join in?” He asked sheepishly, concerned about crossing any boundaries with the girl.

“Whatever floats your boat.”

The man nodded, getting out and taking his clothes off. He placed them neatly next to Y/n’s, then got back in the shower.

Y/n was facing the wall, so Ethan pressed a soft kiss to her neck from behind her.

“I bought some goodies too.”

Y/n just hummed in response, leaning against Ethan. His hands instinctively went to her shoulders and started massaging them, earning a few whimpers from Y/n

“I can give you a massage later…”

“Absolutely.”

They both chuckled a bit, before Ethan got to actually cleaning Y/n. He softly lathered the soap all over her body, letting the water wash away the bubbles.

“Okay…I’m gonna leave you alone now, considering that I don’t know how to put on a tampon.”

“Alright.” Y/n responded, blushing slightly from all the contact. She heard Ethan take a towel and dry himself off, before getting dressed and leaving.

Ethan was in the kitchen, his phone in front of him as he sat prompted against the counter

Now close your eyes, and with a deep breath, release all the pent up frustration inside of you

“Um, Ethan? You said you had food?”

The brunette jumped up and hurried to close his phone, blushing furiously as he turned towards Y/n.

“Yes, right it’s over th-“

“Were you meditating?”

“Maybe.”

“You were.” (The bitch was so horny he had to reset his mind)

“You said you wanted food.” He finally managed to switch the topic, as Y/n’s eyes lit up.

“Gimmie.” She stretched out her arms and closed her hands repetitively, beckoning for Ethan to give her the snacks.

“Alright, alright. I’ll grab a few more things and come. Just go in the bathroom and get in bed.”

Y/n pouted, but eventually followed Ethan’s instructions. She was surprised to see that he had changed the sheets and lit up a few candles. She smiled to herself before cuddling up under the blankets.

Soon enough, Ethan entered the room with some snacks and drinks, a hot pouch and some medication.

“Here is some ibuprofen, if you have cramps, and a hot pouch.”

Y/n could have moaned in pleasure when she placed the hot object on her stomach, relieving a lot of the pain.

She gulped down the pills, cuddling into Ethan, who had an arm wrapped around her and another one massaging her butt.

He nuzzled into her neck, smiling a bit and breathing in her chocolatey scent.

“Squishy.” He joked, squeezing her butt, which made Y/n erupt in a mess of giggles.

She leaned over and grabbed a cereal bar, unwrapping it smoothly before shoving it down her throat.

“Thank you so much Ethan. I really don’t know how to tell you…no one has ever done this for me before.” She whispered, twirling a strand of his hair around her finger.

“I’ll always be here when you need me. Now you just need to sleep.”

“Okay…”

A/n: so i know this isn’t particularly a head canon, but the only way I can write is if my brain thinks im writing something short with bullet points, even though it would be a normal piece If I were to remove them😂

Taglist: @fuckim-so-gay @ginny-lily @messyhairday-me @cheese-toastie-11 @wannabemarlenabutiscoraline @simp-per-ethan @maneskinrollercoaster @juststalking @superchrystaldrug @immrbrightsideeee @shehaddreamstoo @tiaamberxx @victoriadeangeliswifey @bidet-and-legolas @makapaka11 @electra-phoebe

[blackrosesfanfic]

Chapter 183

Trey

"For you." Kevin says sitting a girl on my lap.

I look at her face. "What is this?"

"Everybody needs a bad bitch on their lap."

"Everybody needs these 2 ounce shots!"

I take the shot and turn it up. I forgot this guy’s name but he fills my glass back up talking about waiting for the group. I start coughing like all shit broke loose. This bitch wouldn't move off of my lap. I push her off me sitting up. Shit that liquor made my fucking cough worse.

"Damn, bitch breath. Get him some water."

"Trey can't take a shot of Goose. I started light."

I take a deep breath as I take the water bottle. My chest hurts like hell. That liquor lit my insides on fire. Shit. I sip on the water. It helps a bit. Enough for me to sit back. The girl attempts to sit back on my lap. I got 2 seconds worth of sense and stand her up straight.

"Vodka and bitches sitting on my lap. Nope." I say sitting up. "What the fuck you trying to do to me?"

"Help you enjoy life." Kevin says.

I shake my head. "Help me get a damn divorce."

"Your wife not here."

"What's your name again? You know my wife?"

He shrugs. "Know her personally? Naw."

I sip on the water bottle. "I wanted to make sure everybody understood. But I just got to tell you and you take my word for it. My wife is a bad ass bitch and a smart one. I know she watching me through one of her minions. To know my wife is to love her. And that mean my ass get snitched on."

"You know his wife?" The guy asks the girl that was sitting on my lap.

"I met her a few times." she shrugs.

I stand up. "Fucking trouble. Just like Khloe K. Fucking bestfriends with my wife best friend. Bitches slick."

I walk over to the room where nobody was. They had me in the zone for a little while. I wasn't thinking about shit. I really need to reconstruct my circle of friends. Separate the single/never been faithful from the faithful, know the meaning of friend and fun.

"Wise man."

"Motherfucking Jackie Long." I say dapping him up.

"You know I would have sung like a fucking bird. Guess what I just saw Kim."

I scrunch up my face. "My wife not belie... Cammie not believing shit that comes from Kim Kardashian mouth."

"Kimberly Michelle."

"Oh. Oh hell. K. Michelle. You bitch."

He nods. "But you smart."

"Look even one better. I'm about to tell her where Im at. Beat your ass to that."

"Hey, Tremaine."

I look around the room. Everybody stops talking. I forgot I put my phone on the TV. I look up at the screen. Cammie's face was on it. How the fuck did I do that shit? How the fuck do I turn it off?

"What are you doing?" I ask her looking at the screen.

"What are you looking at?"

I smile. "Your face."

She scrunches up her face. "You not looking at your phone. You looking pass it, Tremaine."

"Stop using physics. I am looking at you."

"What are you doing with music playing in your background?" she says dancing to it a bit.

I look down at my phone trying to figure out how to take it off. She stops dancing watching me. I raise my eyebrows.

"Where Caden?"

"Right here breastfeeding." she says looking down.

"Let me see."

She giggles. "You wanna see him feeding? No. Why?"

I glance at the TV then at my phone. "How you dancing with your nipple in his mouth?"

"You act like I'm doing a lot. Plus these things don't move when I move. They go in the opposite direction." she starts laughing. "Caden showing his gums smiling at me like I'm trying to entertain him. He about to be sucking on that pacifier."

"Want me to help you get that off?" the girl says grabbing my phone.

I considered hitting the bitch for a split second. Why the hell would you do that? She hands the phone back to me walking away. Cammie had turned the camera away from her. She was showing me Lane on the floor sleep. Thank you, God.

"Why the fuck he on the floor?"

"Your son is fucking annoying. So he waits good until I'm in the middle of breastfeeding and he comes to me talking about hold me. I'm like wait a few minutes. He starts telling me no that he don't got time. He gonna sleep by himself. I tell him to go ahead. Thinking he left out I look behind me. This boy on the floor lying on his pillow blanket pet thing. I tell him to come to me he says no. Then he tells me to feed my ugly baby."

I laugh. "He didn't."

"Yes, he did. I tell him that he is my ugly baby too. He didn't like that."

"So you left him on the floor?"

She shrugs. "What am I supposed to do? Stop and go rock him to sleep?"

I shake my head. "Got the baby sleeping on the floor."

"His choice. You want me to stop feeding a hungry child to go pick up a sleepy one because he demands to be picked up? His ass is two."

I shrug. I lost this fight. "I mean."

"Where are you Tremaine?"

"Kevin's."

"Bye."

I frown. "What?"

She hangs up the phone. I spin around looking behind me. So into my conversation I didn't realize someone was standing behind me. I mean the unclassified creature is literally just standing there. To what do I owe the pleasure of your fucking company? I stand up. I'm fucking gone and this may be the last fucking time I hang with Kevin on his terms. Fucking bitch.

"Get the fuck away from me." I say jumping at the girl.

"Trey."

She falls back dramatically like I hit her. I ain't about to take no shit for something I didn't do. It's best that me and Cammie continue down the path of trust we are on. I don't feel as though she doesn't trust me. I like it that way. More than I can say about any relationship I’ve been in. I chuckle. But I was cheating then so...

"Fuck you." I say.

"Who?" Jackie asks. His ass was standing between me and the girl.

I turn and call Cammie as I'm walking away. "Why you hang up?"

"Why you calling suddenly?"

"I'm walking." I say then change to video. "Walking."

Cammie rolls her eyes. "Hey, Jackie."

I glance at him. He smiles all hard. "Cammie."

"Where are you leaving from?"

"Kevin's."

She rolls her eyes again. "Let me change Caden. Look at the sky or hang up."

  Chris

"Chicago? You never told me you were going to Chicago?" I snap.

"What's the problem with me going to Chicago? I can't deal with you right now. I'll call you back. Fucking with my vibe." Amber says hanging up.

I drop the phone from my hand. It makes a loud noise. I suck my teeth. The shit might be broke. Who gives a fuck? I'm tired of having to chase Amber around. She leaves shit out on purpose so I won't know her location. I think she is returning to LA but she going further East. Bullshit.

"I came this close to saying I could have fucked. You can't even know if you were actually gonna hit."

"She good at keeping niggas friends. Hell I don't remember the last time I saw her. She might be afraid that friend shield won't hold up. I'm telling you I done felt all over those curves. Cammie just a tease."

I turn around paying attention to their conversation. Like I was hearing it but I wasn't registering shit until now. August shakes his head.

"If she was my wife I would be showing that perfection off. Look at my wife bitches."

"He doing right to keep her away from me." August says. "I'm telling you what my goal is when I get the opportunity."

I stand up. "We really having this conversation? What the fuck?"

August looks at me. "We really having it. You never said anything."

"And I wouldn't."

"I know what you think about Cammie." August says nodding. "Let's not go backwards though. That was before... I mean when no one knew. Cause it was never before. Trey wasn't always around."

I nod. "Trey was there from the beginning. First day she danced for my concert. But fuck that. Stop fucking talking about that man wife like she not married."

"I'll be the side dude for the chance to satisfy my curiosity."

"Now is your chance. Trey in LA. She in Georgia alone. Go to Georgia." I say then pick up my phone. "I need to find out where my nigga at. Fuck is my problem?"

Trey doesn't answer the phone. I text him asking if he still in LA. This nigga texts me straight back. Damn how long has it been since I was around this nigga. I let myself get busy.

Trey: Yes

Me: Where at? I'm coming thru in an hour.

Trey: I'll let you know in an hour.

He sends me a video. It's my little nigga Caden. He is big as fuck. Damn, he rolls over as Cammie coaches him to get his pacifier. He can follow instructions? Shit how old is he? He moving around and shit. I sigh. I didn't mean to fucking stay away.

Me: He too big. Moving and shit

Me: Why the fuck you can't talk?

Trey: Fuck yourself

I chuckle turning back to the conversation. They weren't talking about Cammie anymore but they were still talking about females. I wonder how Trey would feel about someone saying the things they were saying about his wife. I don't know if it should be a conversation that we have or what.

"Cammie." I say answering the phone.

"No don't talk to me. Talk to Daddy." Lane says.

I chuckle. "What's good, Lane?"

"No."

"What's up?" Trey says. "Lane, tell Chris the story."

Lane babbles about something unrecognizable. I hope this ain't the fucking story he supposed to tell me about. Cammie yells in the background, also unrecognizable.

"I gonna tell Chris the story. Chris?"

"Yeah."

He sighs like he had something deep on his mind. "The man was walking down the street. You drive your car into he car. He car blow up to smoke. And you dance in the road."

"Why this story about me?" I laugh. "The man died?"

"He car died. He cry. You sing you song."

"Tell him what song, Lane." Cammie says.

Lane giggles. "I know what you not gone get it. I do fine for winess."

I laugh harder than I laughed in a while. He sitting up here sanging Grass ain't greener. I can't stop the laughing. I move the phone away from my ear so could stop hearing him sing it. He was chopping the song up like shit. That song with his story is straight hilarious. He funny as shit at 2. He fucking two and he talks better than JJ who 3.

"Why you know that story?"

"When I sleep. I don't know. You hit that car."

I chuckle. "Then I start singing and dancing in the street. You your daddy Lane."

Trey laughs. "You should be honored he dreaming about you."

"No... No. I not. I Lane. No Temaine."

"Aight little dude. Trey, where you at?"

"LA." Lane says.

Trey laughs. "I'm in LA, Lane? Fucking genius."

"Tell them bye so you can get in the tub. No, tell them bye." Cammie says. "Tell your daddy bye, Boy."

"Bye, Daddy. Bye, Uncle Chris."

"Bye, Big man." Trey says.

The phone hangs up. Man I'm on fucking cloud 9. Those people just light up my day. I wasn't even fucking sad. Beautiful ass family. I'm fucking jealous as shit. I got to get the court involved to see my fucking beautiful ass short daughter. They just coexist. Make it smoother to not see my daughter like I want thinking about them. I call Amber.

"I'm sorry. You accept my apology?"

"I don't know, Curtis."

I fake a cry. "Please, Diane."

She sucks her teeth. "I'm on my way to the happy house. I lied."

"The fuck?"

"Okay, so you were all like spend time with me spend time with me and these bitches dancing in the studio and shit. Making me jealous with twin outfits and shit. I miss that. I want to be in that. So I lied. You been drama lately."

I sigh. "Well, I forgive you. I'm probably coming to Atlanta with Trey."

"Good. I got a song Imma get Cammie to sang so you can hear it."

"Get Cammie... I forgot she sings. Why her?"

"I need two people."

"Oh."

She blows. "Damn, I'm glad thats off my chest. Talk to you when you get here."

"Wait you in Atlanta already?"

"About an hour. I'm doing some Atlanta weather shopping."

I start to get mad but I think about Lane. "Get Lane to tell you the story about me. It's better when he tells it."

"I can't wait to get my hands on Caden. Oh my gosh my ovaries start fluttering and shit when I see the pictures Cammie sends me."

"About that. I want a baby I don't have to fight over. One I can make a family with."

"Tell my gotdamn body that, Christopher."

I stop walking realizing that I had walked outside of the studio. I look around. Fucking dumbass I am. Roaming around this side of town like I'm a normal shithead. I turn around walking back to the studio. Glad people ignoring me.

"I will be sure to tell your body."

"I'm going to go buy matching outfits for Lane and the crew."

"Lane and the diaper gang."

She giggles. "It's been a minute."

"Aye, I love you."

"What did you say?"

"I love you."

She goes silent for a few seconds. "Sorry a little fan. I love you too, I guess. Yeah, I will say that."

"You must be talking to your fan."

"You Christina."

I sit down then stand up. "What the hell was I doing?"

"Listening to a sample with August and Rod. Let me answer this call. I'll be right back."

"Call me back. I ain't waiting on hold."

She hangs the phone up.

[turtle-steverogers]

Departed Chap 4 Pt. 1

This is a long chapter so it’s going in two parts YEET

Ship: Slow burn Sprace

Warnings: None for this chapter yet?? But pt. 2 oof

It was 10:30 am by the time Spot was fully awake the next morning. Race was still asleep, his arm draped lazily across Spot’s stomach. For the moment, Spot decided to ignore the warm feeling that their closeness gave him, he’d deal with that later. As of right now, he had to get ready for the class he was instructing at the Tae Kwon Do studio at 11:15. He allowed himself two more minutes to lazily drink in the morning sunlight that shone across his bed, then carefully extracted himself from Race’s embrace and grabbed his uniform off of his desk chair.

Once he was dressed, he got to work cooking some scrambled eggs to eat before he left. A loud groan sounded from his bedroom and a few moments later, Race was dragging himself into the kitchen.

“Mornin’, Champ,” Spot greeted, smirking at Race’s obviously hungover state.

“I never wanna even see eggnog ever again,” Race grumbled, slinking over to the medicine cabinet and pulling out some Advil, “Ya got any orange juice?”

“Yeah, in the fridge,” Spot said, taking the eggs off of the heat and transferring half to a plate, “Ya want any eggs?”

Race nodded and Spot pulled out another plate for him, dumping the second half of the eggs onto it. Race poured two glasses of the orange juice and the two of them ate in peace.

Spot rinsed off the dishes while Race scrolled through his phone.

“How long you at work for today?” Race asked.

“Just ‘til two, itsa short day cuz of winter break.”

“Cool. Al was wonderin’ if we wanted to go ice skating later, should I tell him we’re in?”

“Yeah, I’m down.”

“Aight, everyone’s meetin’ at five.”

“Okay, I gotta head out.,” Spot said, grabbing his keys off of the hook, “I’ll see ya ‘round two ish. Ya know where ta find me.”

“‘Kay, bye.”

XXX

By the time the last class rolled around, Spot was at his wits end. Winter break having just started for the kids meant that they were exceptionally unfocused today, especially with the promise of snow that weekend.

“Aight, class, Charyut!” Spot called to the orange and green belts he was teaching at the moment, “We’re just goin’ ta go through your combinations real fast. When we move past the orange belt combos, all orange belts start back at the first one while the green belts do theirs, got it?”

A chorus of ‘yes, sirs’ rang from the group and Spot silently thanked the gods that this was one of his more mature classes.

“Good. Turn to your left with a loud yell, joon bi!” The class did so and Spot began to lead them through their combinations, only having to stop every so often to help a lost kid catch up. Twenty minutes later, he bowed out the class and went to get the mop from the back. He glanced at the clock, which read 1:30, and sighed.

‘Thirty minutes left,’ he thought to himself, pulling out his phone to listen to music, ‘then I’m off for two weeks.’ He grimaced and got to work cleaning the studio.

“Spot, man, I can clean,” Spot pulled out his headphones to see Elmer, his fellow instructor, crossing the mat to join him, “You’ve cleaned the past two times, it’s my turn, anyway.”

“Ya sure?” Spot asked.

“Positive,” Elmer said, already reaching out to take the mop from Spot, “Head home, man, Happy Holidays.”

“You’re a blessin’, Elmer, seriously,” Spot smiled, “Thank ya, Happy Holidays.”

“‘Course, I’ll see ya ‘round man.”

Spot signed out and waved to Elmer once more before leaving and walking to his car. He got back to the apartment at exactly 1:50 and found Race playing Fortnite in the living room. His eyes flickered away from the screen for a split second to look at Spot before returning his focus solely to the game.

“You’re back, early.” He said, his tone distracted.

“Yeah, Elmer offered ta clean,” Spot said, chuckling lightly as Race stuck his tongue between his teeth to concentrate, “I was wonderin’ when ya’d invade my X-Box.”

“Oh hush up, I’m doin’ better than you apparently have been.”

“Whatever, I’ma shower,” Spot said, already tugging off his black belt.

“Yeah, please do, you smell like feet- even from here.”

“Fuck you.”

“Only in ya dreams, Spottie-boy.”

By the time Spot got out of the shower, Race was in the kitchen hovering over the stove.

“Dude, ya don’t gotta cook anythin’,” Spot said, lazily towelling off his still damp hair, “We still have leftover lasagna and meatballs.”

“I know, but I saw this recipe for mac and cheese grilled cheese and ta hell if m’not trying it.”

Spot laughed, “Aight, just don’t make yourself sick.”

Race just shrugged as he pulled every kind of cheese that Spot owned out of the fridge, “Can’t make me any sicker than that goddamned eggnog from last night.” He said, squinting at the expiration date on some parmesan.

“Oh yeah, speakin’ of last night,” Spot said, tossing the towel over his shoulder and sitting at the kitchen counter, “How much d’you remember?”

Race stopped pulling out ingredients for a moment, furrowing his brows in thought, “Not much after I had summa Al’s weed. Why? Did I do somethin’ stupid?”

Spot hesitated, “You brought up Melissa.”

Race’s shoulders flinched slightly and he asked in a clipped tone, “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Spot bit his lip, trying to decide how to proceed through the conversation, “You, uh, told me about how she’d, uh, make you have sex-”

“Stop,” Race snapped, “Stop, I don’t wanna talk about this.”

“Race, you shouldn’t hafta handle this on your own. I-”

“Sean,” Race said, his voice dangerously low, “Stop talking.”

Spot nodded, “Alright, sorry.”

Race stood still for a moment before hastily shutting off the stove, “I’m not hungry anymore.” With that, he stalked out of the room. A second later, Spot could hear the bathroom fan turn on.

Spot sighed and got to work putting away all the ingredients and pots that Race had pulled out. It was obvious that Race wasn’t handling this whole ordeal as well as he had let on. He wanted to help him sort through it, but he couldn’t if Race refused to talk about it.

‘Oh well,’ He thought to himself, ‘I’ll let him come to me when he’s ready.’ He glanced at the clock. It was 2:30, which meant that they had about two hours before they had to head out to meet the others at the ice rink.

Race was evidently still camping in the bathroom, so Spot decided to go check on him.

He knocked lightly at the door, “Racer? You good?”

The door opened and Race pushed past Spot, his eyes obviously bloodshot.

“Yeah,” He called over his shoulder,“I’ma take a nap, wake me up when we gotta go.”

Spot felt worry itch at the back of his neck, but it was clear that Race wanted to be left alone, “Alright, I’m gonna do some grocery shopping, you want anything in particular?”

“No.”

Taking that as his cue to leave Race alone, Spot grabbed his keys off his hook and exited the apartment.

Although Race hadn’t asked for anything, Spot decided to pick him up a box of Honey Bunches of Oats. He figured he may as well get Race’s favorite if he was going to stay there for a while.

When he got back, he found Race fast asleep on his air mattress. It was still about an hour until they had to leave, so after putting away the groceries, Spot flipped on the TV and pulled up Netflix. He had just finished an episode of Breaking Bad whe Race stirred from across the room.

“What time’s it?” He mumbled, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“4:30, we should leave in fifteen minutes if we wanna get there by five.”

“Okay, I’ma jus’ change and freshen up real fast.”

Spot turned off the TV as Race made his way to the bathroom and pulled himself off the couch to grab a jacket and thicker socks to wear to the ice rink. When he got to his room, he found Race digging through his duffel with a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth.

Spot scoffed, “What’re ya doin’?”

Race looked up at Spot, a bit of toothpaste smudged on his chin. He reached up and plucked the toothbrush out of his mouth, “M’lookin’ for my hat and gloves, but I think I left it back at my-uh..other place.”

“Here, jus’ borrow some of mine,” Spot suggested, strolling over to his closet and picking a blue winter hat and matching gloves out of a bin. He crossed the room to Race and placed the hat on his head.

“There,” Spot smiled, “Looks cute on ya.”

Spot froze, realizing that he had just called Race cute, but Race just smiled around the toothbrush, which was back in his mouth, “Thanks.”

“Uh..no problem.” Spot said, watching as Race stood up and went to the bathroom to rinse. He shook his head lightly- what was getting into him? First they had cuddled through the night before and now he was calling Race cute? Did he even have a right to do that since Race and Melissa were technically still in a relationship? Though he wasn’t entirely sure it was a relationship anymore, but they had never explicitly broken up. Beyond that, since when did Spot think about Race that way? Since when did-

“Spottie-boy, ya good?” Race said, effectively breaking Spot out of his thoughts, “You have the same look on your face thatcha have when you’re tryna do math.”

Spot scrunched his nose, “M’good, ya ready to roll?”

Race nodded and the two of them put on their jackets, hats, and gloves before leaving the apartment and walking down to Spot’s car.

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