#Like Ok they can do everything together except date… i don’t buy it | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

therealvinelle · 3 years ago

Note

Ok I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I'm just now copying your Norwegian Bella AU into a text translator, and if you don't already have 50 people in your inbox demanding a translation then shame on ALL OF US because this is glorious! And while Google Translate does have a certain charm (it translated "piper hun ut" as "she beeps") I'm curious to see how you'd put it in English.

Troquantary is referring to this post. In which Bella doesn't speak English.

Fun fact, you're the only one who's gone into my inbox to request this. I was so sad, had the translation half-written and everything, but I was too proud to beg. So thank you, Troquantary, for popping this ask.

As for the dictionary fuckups, sounds about right. I made a few typos, too, that made Google Translate suffer even more. (Such as managing to mix up "henne" (her) and "hendene" (hands), resulting in Aro patting Bella instead of clapping his hands. Poor Google.)

Also, there are a few cultural references and language things that would be lost in the translation, in an attempt to keep them I included notes clarifying things.

Some things, like Aro and Carlisle's very old man way of speaking, are easier said than done to translate, you'll have to bear with me there.

Additional notes are that I added a few things to this version, many of them because translating is hard, but a few because while translating I thought "oh you know what would be much funnier-" and then wrote that.

Alright, without further ado:

When Renée left Charlie she did not go to Florida, she went to Oslo. And she went all in to make her daughter a true Norwegian, hiring Norwegian nannies and making sure never to speak English around the child. Since transatlantic flights are expensive, little Bella Swan rarely got to visit her father, and as such she never did learn what should have been her native language.

She quickly forgot what English she did have in favor of Norwegian, with the exception of words like “Yes”, “No”, and “I’m Bella”.

The few trips she took to visit her father were all the more awkward than in canon since she couldn’t play with the Black kids. Let not the blame fall upon Charlie: he took Norwegian classes and speaks conversational Norwegian. He can’t speak to Renée, because her Norwenglish is incomprehensible even to Norwegians, but he can communicate with Bella.

Not that he’s had a lot of chances to do so.

Bella makes it to seventeen years old, she’s in second grade at Handels* and is a major outsider among the preps there, and then Renée marries a handsome skier**. Together they shall travel the continent all winter to participate in as many skiing races as they can, and in the summer they’ll take gigs at Hurtigruta to see the coast.

*“Handels” is the nickname for an Oslo high school infamous for its pupils being rich and beautiful blonds who are going to be CEOs when they grow up.

**Skiing as a sport is huge in Norway

***Hurtigruta is a famous ferry that travels across the Norwegian West coast

Bella, who sucks at skiing and is too young to work at Hurtigruten, takes the hint.

With dread in her stomach and dictionary in hand she goes to her father in America.

Where she doesn’t speak the language.

Faen.

Charlie gives her a car, and I wish this meta was set in the present because I could have joked about electric cars and the automat only driver’s license*, but Twilight is set in 2005 so I can’t. The car part proceeds without drama.

*An increasing number of Norwegian youth take the driver’s license for automatic cars only, and we’re the country in the world with the highest percentage of electric car purchases.

School is worse than in canon, because she is now a thousand times more sensational than if she was merely the new student. She is from another country! All of Forks keels over with excitement.

To make matters even worse, our girl doesn’t understand a word of what people are saying.

She is too awkward to let them know she doesn’t know English. It’d become a thing, and they might think she’s dumb. To be fair, it’s not good that she’s been through primary, secondary, and now a year and a half of high school and still sucks at English.

So she nods, smiles, mumbles “Hi, I’m Bella” to the new faces, and blushes heavily when anybody says anything.

People assume she’s shy. That’s a bit boring, but oh well.

She has her biology class with the redhead hottie she noticed during lunch. She watched him and his family, they were fascinatingly pretty, but she doesn’t know anything more about them. Sure would have been great if she could have asked the tiny girl (was it Jess?) about them.

Biology proceeds as in canon - Edward badly wants to eat the delicious girl, but fortunately doesn’t.

She runs into him in the office when he tries to switch to another biology lesson, but she has no idea what he’s saying so she only has the suspicion that this somehow concerns her. Which is still uncomfortable, but Bella is probably the problem here. The hottie surely can’t be.

He’s missing from school for a week, Bella finds that weird.

He returns, and to her great horror he starts talking to her.

“Hello”, he says.

Bella dies inside. He’s too handsome!

"I'm Edward Cullen," he continues, and ok, she got that. The hottie is called Edward, that’s good to know. She’s not sure she caught that last name, though, Köln?

He says something else, it’s gibberish to Bella even though she’s concentrating, and at the end there he says “Bella Swan”.

She gulps.

"I'm Bella Swan," she confirms and nods. That should be correct. God, she hopes it’s correct.

He smiles a crooked, boyish smile. She’s awed. She didn’t think it was possible to be so beautiful.

He says something else.

Bella didn’t catch it.

She blushes even harder, she hasn’t been more embarrassed in her life. Here he is, the most handsome guy in all the world, and she has nothing to say to him. Literally, they don’t speak the same language.

She should tell him.

It’s one thing to chicken out of telling the town she doesn’t speak English, but there’s something different about Edward Cullen. He deserves the truth.

But...

He’s the most beautiful person she has seen in her life. He is American, too, so the odds of him knowing Norwegian are microscopical. If he finds out she doesn’t understand a word he says he’ll stop talking to her, and selfish as she is she doesn’t want that.

So with a slightly guilty conscience (but not enough to fess up) she contributes to the conversation with enough words and smiles to pull through. "Yes", "No", "Thank you", and "That's nice".

He is surprised by several of these answers, but instead of giving her odd looks and losing interest he grows more invested in the conversation.

Class ends.

The next day the near accident happens, and he saves her. She is stunned - dear god, did he just pick up a whole car? After teleporting across the parking lot..?

Soon she’s in the ER, and more than a little bit stressed about that fact since she knows the Americans have a terrible healthcare system.

She hopes Charlie has an insurance.

An insanely beautiful man walks into the ER, and Bella is shocked. He is just as handsome as Edward and Edward’s lunch friends!

He introduces himself as Carlisle Cullen, and Bella can only assume this is someone’s older brother. Possibly related to the blonde girl.

He smiles at her, says something, and she answers, "I'm Bella Swan."

He frowns.

That must have been the wrong answer, then.

His hands return to investigating her scalp, and to her great surprise he switches to perfect Norwegian, "kjenner De* noe ubehag når jeg holder her?" Do you feel any discomfort when I touch here?

*De is the Norwegian polite pronoun for “you”. Du = thou = the French tu, and De = you = the French vous. These polite pronouns went out of use in the 1980’s, save for when addressing royal persons, and would be considered antiquated in 2005.

He hurries to add, "Norsk lærte jeg i... fjor sommer. Det var et nettkurs." I learned Norwegian… last year. Online class.

"Hvilket da?" Which one? Bella asks, because Charlie needs to hear about this. The doctor has beautiful, if slightly outdated, pronunciation.

The doctor’s smile turns uncertain. She gets the feeling there’s something he doesn’t want to say. "Husker ikke," I don’t remember, sier han etter en litt vel lang pause.

That’s a shame. And weird.

"De hadde hellet med Dem i dag, som ikke ble truffet av den bilen." You were lucky today, not getting hit by that car. he then says, noticeably changing the subject.

"Det var ikke hell, det var Edward," It wasn’t luck, it was Edward, she replies sharply.

The doctor definitely looks uncomfortable.

She continues, "Han krysset skolegården på et blunk, og plukket opp hele bilen. Jeg så det," He crossed the schoolyard in a moment, and picked up the whole car. I saw it,

The doctor laughs. "Om han kunne det hadde nok gymkarakteren hans vært meget bedre. Nei, frøken Swan*, jeg beklager å si at det høres ut som at De er litt omtåket. Det er helt normalt ved hjernerystelse." If he could do that, his PE grade would be a lot better. No, Miss Swan, I’m sorry to say you seem confused. That’s normal with concussions.

*Addressing a young woman as “frøken” is even more outdated than using polite pronouns.

Why does Bella get the feeling he’s lying?

She’s discharged.

We’ll jump ahead to her trip to La Push - that trip uneventful, since Jacob knows she doesn’t speak English. They stick their hands in their pockets and stare at the sea.

The next day she’s shanghaied to Port Angeles, because apparently she said “Yes” at the wrong time when talking to Jessica (Turns out Jess’s name was Jessica!) and accidentally said yes to a day trip to Port Angeles.

Like in canon she wanders away from the others, and as in canon she is nearly gang raped. And again as in canon she is saved at the last moment by Edward.

He buys her dinner, and she can’t believe her own luck- and misfortune. A date with the most handsome guy on the planet (hence the luck) and she can’t say a word to him (hence the misfortune)!

He says things to her, lends her his jacket, and really this is it for Bella, she’s peaked, life can’t get better than this.

(That’s a lie, it would be better if she spoke English.)

He’s so amazing.

She’s gotten pretty good at navigating conversations with him, so she nods and aha’s her way through.

In his car on the way home the tone takes a more serious turn.

He asks her about something, and it’s a serious question, that much she’s gathered. She answers in the confirmative.

He is silent.

Did she say anything wrong?

(Edward, on his end, just asked if she knows what he is. She said yes, so calmly, not even a trace of fear in her.)

A few days later he takes her out on a walk in the woods.

He shows her a meadow in the woods, and when he steps into it he lights up in the sunlight.

Bella is in shock.

She knew there was something different about him, but- holy cow. This guy isn’t human.

Is she dating a god?

She stumbles into the clearing after him, and they spend a day together where he says things, and she can barely hear any of it (nevermind understand it) because she’s so distracted by how pretty he is.

The next day he takes her to a house in the middle of nowhere. She doesn’t want to guess that this can be where he lives. Surely gods don’t live in houses?

He shows her inside the house, and introduces her for Dr. Cullen and a lady with a name she doesn’t catch.

Bit weird that these two are acting like a couple of parents, they’re far too young and divine for that.

Edward shows her around in an old-fashioned office, and she doesn’t know what to make of i when she sees a painting of Carlisle. Edward launches into a long story when he sees her watching it, unfortunately she doesn’t catch any dates or artist names. At one point she heard the word “suicide”, though, and that’s not good.

She doesn’t get much out of the story.

The baseball game doesn’t happen because Bella didn’t pick up on what Edward wanted and didn’t realize she was being invited to a thing. They spend the afternoon watching a movie instead.

The relationship continues, impeded slightly by communication problems, but she’s mostly able to cover those up.

Until her birthday comes around.

She gets a papercut.

Jasper lunges at her. Edward throws her into a glass table, and then everyone is leaving.

Carlisle is kind enough to switch to Norwegian when he’s stitching up her arm, perhaps remembering the last time she was his patient. "Jasper har ikke vært på dietten vår så veldig lenge." Jasper hasn’t been on our diet for very long.

"Diett?"she asks. She’s never seen Edward eat anything. She wasn’t clear on what the Cullens ate, honestly she thought they were above such things. She was thinking maybe photosynthesis. The knowledge that they apparently eat food astounds her, but diets?

"Dyreblod istedenfor menneskeblod," Animal blood in stead of human blood, Carlisle clarifies.

Whachasay?

Carlisle gives a slight smile. “Jaspers liv som vampyr fikk en brutal start." Jasper’s life as a vampire got off to a brutal start.

...

Vampire?!

Bella’s missed something here.

Oh dear lord, oh fy faen, she has missed something.

“Åja”, uh huh, is all she can say, and suddenly she’s very aware of the fact that she’s sitting there with a bleeding arm.

And Carlisle.

Who is a vampire.

Over the course of the following conversation Bella makes a host of discoveries.

Edward has been a vampire this whole time, and he’s a telepathic vampire. Whether Bella should be a vampire too or not has been a matter of hot debate, but due to religious reasons Edward doesn’t want that.

Carlisle also brings up how Edward died of the Spanish flu.

"Jeg var under den oppfatning at Edward fortalte deg bakhistorien min?" I was under the impression Edward told you my back story? Carlisle asks at one point, and Bella just has to ask very nicely if he’d be so kind as to repeat it.

Turns out the guy is nearly four hundred years old.

Jaha.

Jahahaha jaa ha.

That’s… a lot.

She wanders out of the house in shock, and hardly notices Edward’s strange behavior over the next couple of days.

One day he picks her up at school, and takes her behind the house.

That works out.

He’s a vampire, but he never hurt her. He is endlessly beautiful, perhaps easier to love now that she knows he’s not a god. He’s her Edward, and that’s suddenly easier now that she knows.

They can still be together.

But now that she knows this about him, it’s about time he knows something about her as well.

It’s time to finally be honest with him.

So when he opens his mouth, she opens her mouth as well, but she doesn’t get any further than to “Edward-” before he launches into a monologue.

She’ll have to wait until he’s done before saying her piece. It’s a bit embarrassing, but it doesn’t seem like he intends to stop talking anyway.

And what he’s saying seems to be serious, so it’s probably best to let him finish.

Edward concludes his monologue by kissing her forehead. Then he disappears.

Where did he go?

A big unsure, Bella goes back to the house. She’ll just have to wait until he gets back.

She doesn’t know what to think when Charlie returns from work and tells her the Cullens have all left.

Oh, god.

Edward must have found out she doesn’t speak English.

She made a mockery of him.

He has every right to leave.

Knowing this doesn’t make it any easier to live with.

Bella sinks into a depression.

The hallucinations begin, as in canon, though Hallusinward speaks Norwegian. Thank god for small mercies.

The friendship with Jacob (dictionary in hand) blooms, as someone has to help her see those hallucinations.

The cliff diving happens, and Alice shows up. Bella’s not sure what this is about, but she has gotten good enough at English to know that something bad happened, and Alice wants them to do something.

She’s a bit surprised to find herself on a plane to Italy, though.

Alice tells her to “Run to Edward” and ok, she got that, actually.

So she saves Edward.

After that she’s taken into the sewer, which turns out to house dozens of vampires.

Bella, Edward, and Alice are received in some kind of hall, where an unusual vampire has quite a bit to say. She understands some of what he’s saying, at least the part about “la tua cantante”. She knows a bit about Italian, see, so she knows that he’s talking about a song now.

She wishes she knew the context.

At one point he takes her hand, and appears fascinated by it. She wonders if he’s a palmreader. Not very vampirey, but what does she know.

He asks her a question.

"Yes," she says.

Saying yes has gotten her this far, after all.

But when he lights up and claps his hands together, and Edward and Alice stare at her in shock and betrayal, she knows she must have said the wrong thing.

The two are dismissed from the room before Bella can do or say anything, she’s just listening to Edward make a racket outside in the hallway.

Not good.

The unusual vampire brings her further down in his sewer palace to a basement, and she is given comfortable clothes to wear.

This is getting terrifying.

The vampire leans towards her - and she chickens out.

"Jeg snakker ikke engelsk!" she squeaks. "Non habla ingles!" I don’t speak English.

Han stanser, og ser forvirret ut. "Que- Hva behager*?" I beg your pardon? spør han etter et øyeblikk.

*A very formal, and slightly outdated (you can use it, but people will think you’re putting on airs. And they will be right) way of saying “excuse me?”

Sobbing, Bella tells him the whole story, from how she didn’t want to be the weird kid in school to how she’s now somehow in Italy without knowing why nor what she just agreed to.

When she’s done the vampire starts laughing.

"Dette forklarer jo en hel del," This explains quite a bit, ler han. "Men, kjære Bella, jeg er redd det ikke endrer noe." But, my dear Bella, I’m afraid it changes nothing.

He tells her that she has agreed to serve him and his army of undead warriors into eternity.

Well fuck.

"Du skal få slippe det, når du ikke visste hva du samtykket til - men skjebnen din forblir den samme. Loven er loven." You’re released from that promise, as you didn’t know what you agreed to - but your fate remains the same. The law is the law.

After a moment of silence, during which she looks terrified, he hurries to add, "Vi har en lov. Du må bli en av oss." We have a law. You must become one of us.

A law that Bella Swan has to become a vampire?

People are finally speaking Norwegian, and Bella is still lost. And it’s too embarrassing to keep pestering this poor, polite man with questions.

So she nods.

He gives her a glittering smile, and bites her.

When she wakes, Aro offers her an English course. A language course that, naturally, leads to her staying in Volterra. Why not learn a few more languages while we’re at it, dearest Bella?

Some time later Edward breaks into Volterra to save his Rapunzel, only to barely recognize her now that she’s a vampire who says things. Lots of things, she talks all the time now. WHAT DID ARO DO TO HER.

Too mortified to admit that she never spoke English, Bella claims she’s been brainwashed.

Aro is having too much fun to correct her, and the whole sad affair sets off a regrettable flood of rumors.

#troquantary #norwegian things #bella swan #twilight #twilight meta #twilight renaissance #evighetens kyss #evighetens kyss meta #evighetens kyss renessanse

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imonthatgayshit · 3 years ago

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ScatterPatter's Incorrect Quote Generator. Snackin edition

Remus: Would you stab your best friend in the leg for 10 million gold? Severus: You stab me, and then when my leg gets better, we buy a big-ass house. Sirius: You can stab me too, then we'll have 20 million. Severus: Good thinking.

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Remus: Severus, what do IDK, LY, and TTYL mean? Severus: I don’t know, love you, talk to you later Remus: Ok, I love you too, I’ll just ask Sirius.

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*Remus and Sirius sitting in jail together* Remus: So who should we call? Sirius: I’d call Snape, but I feel safer in jail

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Remus: Dandelions symbolize everything I want to be in life Severus: Fluffy and dead with a gust of wind? Remus: Unapologetic. Hard to kill. Feral, filled with sunlight, bright, beautiful in a way that the conventional and controlling hate but cannot ever fully destroy. Stubborn. Happy. Bastardous. Friends with bees. Highly disapproving of lawns. Full of wishes that will be carried far after I die. Sirius: edible

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Remus: If Sirius and I were drowning, who would you save? Severus: You two can’t swim? Sirius: It’s a hypothetical question, Snape! who would you save? Severus: my time and effort.

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Remus: HELP! I TOLD SIRIUS I’D COOK DINNER TONIGHT BUT I CAN’T COOK! Severus, pouring milk directly into the cereal bag: And you thought I could help?

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Remus, trying to ask Severus out: Would you like to stay for dinner? Sirius: WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY FOREVER?

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Remus: I know you snuck out last night, Sirius. Severus: Play dumb. Sirius: Who's Sirius? Severus: NOT THAT DUMB!!!

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Drunk Severus: I love you guys, you're the best thing that's happened to me. Remus: We're the best thing that's ever happened to you? Severus: Yes! Sirius: I'm starting to feel a little sorry for you.

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Sirius: Severus and I were crossing the street, and this dude drove by and honked at us Remus: *Sighing* What did Severus do? Sirius: He chased him to the next red light, then reached into his window and... Severus: Who wants a steering wheel?

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Remus: In your opinion, what’s the height of stupidity? Severus: *turning to Sirius* How tall are you?

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Store Worker: Would a Mr. Remus please come to the front desk? Remus, arriving at the desk: Hello, is there a problem? Store Worker: points to Severus and Sirius Store Worker: I believe they belong to you? Severus and Sirius, simultaneously: We got lost :( Remus: I didn’t even bring you guys here with me-

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Remus: I trust Severus. Sirius: You think he knows what he's doing? Remus: I wouldn't go that far.

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Sirius: Remus, can I talk to you for a second? Remus: Yeah, what’s up? Lemme guess. You and Severus are having problems and you want me to teach you how to kiss? Sirius: What? No, stop that. I know how to kiss. I’ve read books.

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Remus: Do you ever want to talk about your emotions, Severus? Severus: … No. Sirius: I do! Remus: I know, Sirius. Sirius: I’m sad! Remus: I know, Sirius.

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Remus: Hey, Sirius? Can I get some dating advice? Sirius: Just because I’m with Snape doesn’t mean I know how I did it.

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I'll do Marauders x Snape next! (except peter cuz I'm scared to experiment with that ship rn)

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patt-writes-stuff · 3 years ago

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Beach Days with The Genshin Characters!

Wc: 1.7k+

Type: Headcanons

CW: umm nothing except mentions of alcohol and maybe people being creeps? (None of the chars or you tho it’s very brief)

A/N: HI IM BACK FROM THE DEAD! These were supposed to be a lot shorter but I got too excited. If you by any chance wanna see some for your fav character lmk! I know it says request are closed in my bio but since it’s just hcs it’s a lot less (and I really enjoyed writing these so ajdhdhdk)

🔥Diluc:

This man cannot swim. Tell me otherwise, I dare you.

Kaeya tried to jokingly push him off a lil diving cliff area when they were kids.

He almost drowned. Kaeya was in a lot of trouble.

So, good luck getting this man to actually get in the water. The most he’ll do is sit on the shore where it’s very shallow.

He usually prefers to just stay under an umbrella on the sand and keep an eye on you.

Calls you every two hours in advance and helps you reapply sunscreen.

He’s very pale so I feel like he burns pretty easily, meaning he needs to reapply super frequently otherwise he will become a tomato. He brings like three bottles of the good shit. Tch, rich boy.

If you ask him to build a sandcastle, he will pretend to be annoyed but do it anyways. Ends up finding it kind of enjoyable.

He has the maids prepare a nice picnic basket for the two of you!! It’s got all your favorite foods plus grape juice cuz y’know.

If any creepy peeps approach you, don’t worry. He brought his vision and his claymore.

Of course, he won’t have to resort to such violent lengths. Everyone in Mondstadt knows who Diluc is and they probably know you’re his s/o, so they’re usually smart enough to mind their own business.

If they don’t, don’t worry. Diluc’s glare is more than enough to scare them away.

All in all I definitely recommend a beach day with him! I’ll give it a solid 8/10 (-2 for not wearing floaties and getting in the water with you or letting you teach him how to swim.

🖌Albedo:

You guys definitely 100% take Klee out with you on a beach day.

You guys bring snacks, beach toys like buckets and shovels for optimal sandcastle building, a picnic blanket, etc.

Jean definitely packs a lot more stuff for you guys to take with you than you actually need.

It’s only cuz she’s worried for Klee and is nervous about not being able to go with you guys though! It’s very sweet really.

Klee tries to bomb the fish and cause havoc at the beach 😭

I think Albedo is a good swimmer and gets in with you and Klee so that he can help her (which is very cute omfg)

He’s set total workaholic, as we know, so it took a lot of convincing to get him to put down his experiments and accompany you to the beach (however, he’s particularly weak to yours and klee’s puppy dog eyes so he caved eventually)

Though, looking at you and Klee happily building sandcastles and decorating them with pretty seashells of all shapes and colors, he can’t really find it in himself to complain.

He, of course, takes this opportunity to take out his sketchbook and draw the waves, seagulls, you… Of course he won’t let you see the sketch book no sir. He’s a bit embarrassed to be honest, but an artist such as himself recognizes beauty when he sees it so he simply had to draw you. (God I love him so much)

If a creepy person approaches you,- well don’t worry. The sight of a small arsonist child blowing up fish is enough to scare them away 🥰

At the end of the day, all three of you are all ticketed out. Albedo has to carry Klee back to Mondstadt because the poor baby fell asleep the moment you started drying her hair with the beach towel. You’re, of course, carrying back Dodoco and your bags. (You also manage to sneak a peak at Albedo’s sketchbook and find some very pretty drawings of you and Klee with your sandcastle)

At the end of the day, you guys tuck Klee in and read her a bedtime story (she woke up and insisted). Afterwards Albedo takes you back home and thanks you for coming with you and Klee (which you ofc say wasn’t a problem because how could you not???)

All in all? I’ll give it a solid 10/10. You’ve got tasty food, fun times, your boyfriend and his cute kid adoptive sister (yes I am very biased idc)

🦋Xiao:

I think it would take a lot of convincing to get Xiao to go out on a beach date with you.

He’ll probably see it as a distraction getting in the way of his slaying of monsters and demons.

However, he also worships the grounds you walk on (hehe, simp XD), so I don’t think it’ll take that much convincing on your part (especially because it’s is self appointed duty to keep you safe so if you insist on going with or without him, he supposes he’ll have to go)

Is definitely a bit tense at first. He doesn’t know how to let loose and chill so while you’re sun tanning on a beach chair he’s like 🧍‍♂️ahdgshjsjd

Eventually calms down a bit though! You get him to relax and eat some almond tofu you brought along with you. It definitely gets him to perk up.

I don’t think he would mind getting into the water but I do think he’d rather walk along the shore and collect pretty seashells and sea glass.

He later gives the ones he deems pretties to you (he hands them over to you with a blush on his face and pretends it’s not a big deal and he definitely gets all pouty and grouchy when you coo at how adorable he is)

As for creeps, Xiao is both intimidating and well known in Liyue. No one is brave enough (or, let’s be honest, dumb enough) to approach you with any bad intentions.

Sure, Xiao has sworn never to harm a human/citizen of Liyue but that doesn’t mean he can’t scare the absolute shit out of them.

I think Xiao would definitely enjoy a beach day 🥺🥺. He’d find it very relaxing to go out with you and just hear the sound of waves and feel the sand under his feet.

He’d definitely hint at wanting to do it again later. Of course, he won’t tell you. No, that’s a foolish mortal activity and he has much better things to do.

Wait no, don't turn around, yes he will go with you next month.

All in all, I give Xiao a 9/10. It’s a very relaxing day (which he deserves 😤). And you get to see a whole new side of him.

💎Ningguang:

OK SO ORIGINALLY I WASN'T GONNA WRITE ONE FOR HER (at least not in this post) BUT THEN I THOUGHT OF LADY NINGGUANG TAKING YOU TO A WHOLE ASS PRIVATE BEACH

She knows you don’t care about how exclusive the beach you go to is (in fact, the fact that you don’t care about where you are or what you do is one of the things that make her fall more and more madly in love with you) but you deserve the best so she’s gonna go all out.

She’s a busy lady so days like this where the two of you get to go somewhere and be together are few and far between.

She knows it’s hard to be in a relationship with someone who is busy 24/7, so she appreciates how you remain by her side despite all hardships. (Y’all are a whole ass power couple istg)

The two of you spend your day relaxing. Sun bathing, drinking piña coladas, maybe taking a dip in the ocean. It’s all very pleasant!

Ningguang doesn’t quite feel like the type of person who would sit in the sand and make sandcastle, however you’re more than welcome to make some yourself. She finds it endearing <3

If you insist on her helping, she’ll eventually comply. She loves you too much to say no. I feel like she’ll either be terrible at it or like a total architect.

Sand is technically like tiny rocks right? So maybe she can use her vision to help her? If that’s the case, she’s making a replica of the Jade chamber out of sand.

If any creepy person comes up to you don’t worry. Ningguang will buy the whole beach and then use her right of admission as owner to permanently ban them from the beach you’re at.

The only downside to a day at the beach with Ningguang might be that there’s a big chance she’ll be called to tend urgent matters, seeing as she is the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing and all.

If that does happen, she’ll be sure to make it up to you somehow, whether it be rescheduling or taking care of the matter as soon as possible so that the two of you can get back to your day of relaxation and fun.

All in all?? Lady Ningguang will treat you like total royalty and the two of you will have an amazing time! I give her an 11/10 (she would literally buy a whole beach for you to be comfortable I mean c’mon)

🍃Venti:

BEACH DAYS WITH HIM ARE SO FUN!!

Swimming? Yeah, he’d love to! Sunbathing? Sure! He’ll ever conjure up a light breeze for the two of you. Sandcastle building? WELL OF COURSE WHY DO YOU THING HE BROUGHT ALL THESE BUCKETS AND SHOVELS?

No but seriously, he might be the best person out of everyone here to go to the beach with. He’s fun, free spirited, and he’s a traveling bard who’s been alive long enough to know where all the best beaches in Teyvat are. (He also knows a guy- er, well, dragon I suppose- who is willing to fly them to any place).

He’ll play some soft tunes while you doze under the sun.

HE PICKS PRETTY SHELLS AND GIFTS THEM TO YOU!!!

He will bring booze. I’m pretty sure this is a necessity. If you’re a little upset about it, he’ll probably “eheh~” his way out of it. That slick bastard.

If you really insist on him not drinking, he won’t consume much alcohol.

If some creepy person approaches you and tries to ruin you your day of beach time fun, all of their stuff will suddenly be blown away, causing them to scramble back to their spot and (almost embarrassingly) flail around trying to catch everything. What a shame…

At the end of the day, he’d be a little sad to leave. Definitely makes plans about tbe two of you going back soon.

I gotta give him a 10/10 he’s just so fun omg.

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artzee-bee · 4 years ago

Text

Best friend’s ex | Benny Weir x reader

Fandom: My babysitter’s a vampire

Request: “ Um if you don’t mind can you write for mbav? Something along the lines of the reader and Ethan try a fake relationship thing cause Ethan asked her to? Like to get to Sarah/ or get her attention. And everyone is shocked cause they thought Benny and the reader would date instead cause all 3 of them are childhood friends”

Genre:Fluff mostly but I guess a little angst torwards the end

Warnings: some arguing and also it’s LONG, don’t say I didn’t warn you

A/N: This has a little Ethan x reader too but over all it’s Benny with a guest apperence from jelous!Benny torwards the end (or at least that’s what I was going for)

~~~

“Wait, you’re dating?! Like for real dating?!”

You clinged tighter to Ethan’s arm “Yeah, we are” but you weren’t. You didn’t want to lie to your friends and it was honestly making you kinda uncomfy but you were doing it for E.

“Ok so how long has this been going on for?” asked Benny. You and your entire friend group were gathered around his locker and you decided to break the news to them about your and Ethan’s “relationship”, which was all bullcrap. He had asked you a couple nights before to pretend. He was hoping it would get him closer to Sarah.

“Um, no more than a month” E said, trying to sound as confident as possible and doing a fairly good job at it. Of course you saw right through him but everyone else seemed to buy his act.

“Well that’s...interesting news” Sarah laughed awkwardly

“You think so? Why?”

The group went silent for a moment

“Well, just cause” Sarah started, nervousness laced into her tone “I mean I would have guessed that Benny and Y/N were going to get together eventually.” Rory and Erika just nodded in agreement while Benny tried to suppress a nervous laughter.

“I mean, come on guys” he said “ I’ve known Y/N for just as long as Ethan.”

“Yeah, but you two just always seemed, I don’t know, closer?”

“Well” Ethan interrupted “ seems like you were wrong on that one.”

Suddenly aware of how rude she sounded, Sarah babbled some lame excuse and left quickly, face red from embarrassment. Rory and Erika left as well, each in their own direction, but not before congratulating the couple once more. Benny was the only one left.

“You good Benny?” E asked

“Yeah, I guess it’s just interesting seeing you like this”

“I hope you’re not mad or anything I mean we…” you were quickly cut off by Benny

“No, no, absolutely, not! I’m really happy for you guys! My two best friends are in love, that’s really cool!” A pink tint made its way onto your cheeks hearing Benny say “in love”, even though you knew it wasn’t true. E smiled at you and hid his face in your hair. You wrapped your arms around his neck and he placed his hands on your hips, swaying you two back and forth for a moment

“Alright, well I gotta go. Chem starts in a few” you told your boys and headed to class, not before hugging both of them and leaving Ethan with a quick peck on the cheek

As soon as you got to class however, you texted your “boyfriend”

“Think that went pretty well”

“I think so too. Everyone seemed to buy it!”

“I know!” you said and the conversation ended like that.

You switched your attention back to your teacher, who was discussing your next assignment but even though your eyes were on her, your mind was replaying Sarah’s comment on repeat. You and Benny, huh? You couldn’t say you disliked the idea or that you’ve never thought about it. You’ve always felt different when hanging out with him compared to all your other friends.You felt more free and comfortable. You couldn’t stop the smile on your face from the fuzzy feeling you got just thinking about Bens and you together.

“So how long are we gonna be doing this for?” you texted Ethan. Now that you thought about it, you could never date Benny after this. The sudden realisation made your stomach twist in knots. He would never even go on a date with you if he thought you to be Ethan’s ex! Bro code or whatever but you couldn’t blame them!

“I don’t know for sure, I don’t see why it should last more than a couple months.”

“Ok” you didn’t mind helping E. He was a great guy and one day, some amazing girl is gonna see that and be all over him, even if it’s not Sarah! And he’s going to fall in love and have a beautiful wife and a happy family and this thing you are doing right now is just gonna be a silly high school memory to look back at. You tried not to overthink everything like you usually do and go with the flow, have fun.

It was surprisingly easy to do. Holding hands and occasional cheek kisses didn’t mean much and you never had a “proper kiss”, telling everyone you were simply not fans of PDA. It didn’t feel much like you were a couple, just closer friends. Touchier.

About 4 months down the line, you and Ethan go on your last “date”, which really just meant pizza night at Morgan’s.

“Thanks for all this Y/N, I know you didn’t have to and it might have been awkward at times but it means a lot that you went with it all this time” Ethan says sincerely while pouring you a glass of soda

“Don’t be silly E! You are one of my best friends. I would do anything for you.”

“Yeah but, now you and Benny won’t be…” he didn’t finish his sentence, as if he wasn’t sure if bringing this up was even a good idea or if it was gonna make you mad. You told E about your crush on your best friend not long after your first day as a “couple”. You couldn’t lie to him and quite honestly, you needed someone to vent to. The more you thought about Benny, the more it hurt and while you weren’t mad at Ethan for bringing it up now (you knew he had the best of intentions), it was putting you off

“Let’s not talk about that tonight” you said softly

“Right, yes, of course! Sorry” you giggle and reached out for your glass of soda, raising it up

“A toast!” you declared dramatically, making E laugh “To our breakup!” Ethan raised his own glass and clicked it with yours

“To our breakup!” he said before you both took a sip of your drinks

You laid down on the couch, getting ready to watch Scare Finder. Your head was resting on one of Ms. Morgan’s decorative pillows and you placed your feet on E’s lap. He rolled his eyes at you and you giggled

“I love you!”

“I love you too babe” he joked before laying down next to you and wrapping you in a hug. The couch was a bit too small for the both of you to lay down side by side and you felt the left side of your body hanging off the edge but E’s arms were around your waist, holding you and you felt safe

“Can we..” Ethan whispered nervously “can we keep cuddling during shows even if we aren’t boyfriend- girlfriend anymore?”

“Yes of course” you giggled

“Good, cause this is really comfortable” he whispered in your neck

“I know, I love it too”

~~~

Your breakup was a much bigger deal than you anticipated.Your friends seemed not only shocked, but heartbroken too. You didn’t tell them anything about why you ended your relationship, saying it was too early and you didn’t feel like talking about it but that you were still close friends and nothing was going to change

Things went back to normal afterwards, except now you were single and so was Benny and you couldn't help the invisible pull, dragging you closer and closer to him. Everyone of his silly jokes made you crack up and you couldn’t even be mad at him when his failed spells ended up in a big mess that you and the friend group needed to solve. You hadn’t realised how much you missed him until you broke up with E. Whether or not that relationship was real, it felt like a real reason to stay away from Benny. It felt like you were taken because everyone else belived you to be. You couldn’t make a move on him because everyone knew you to have a boyfriend but now you didn’t and you couldn’t help yourself from looking at B in a different light.

You were over at his house, helping him pack some herbs he had to organise for his grandma, as punishment for wasting all her old ones on some spell. You were stuffing dried leaves in tiny jars, while Benny was busying himself attaching little tags to them, with the name of each plant.

“Thanks again for coming to help me, you didn’t have to”

“Anytime Bens, you know I’m always here for you” you looked at him and smiled sweetly. He looked into your eyes and said

“I know, Thank you” you nodded and switched your focus back on the plants, hoping he wouldn’t notice the blush on your face. Lucky for you, he started telling a story that happened in his geography class and things slowly fell into their usual, casual place, at least up until you had to leave.

You placed the last little jar in its respective spot on the shelf

“I think this is it, right?” Benny asked

“It should be”

“Perfect, I’m in dire need of a snack. You want chips? I have some upstairs”

“No, it’s late, I should head home”

“Um, ok yeah. No problem” but none of you moved after that, you just looked at one other for a little bit, until the awkwardness got too much and you took your backpack and headed to the door

“Thanks again” Benny said right when you reached the door

“No problem” and then time froze again. You got lost in his pretty eyes and barely noticed his chest rising and falling faster with every second that passed until, you both found yourselves in each other's arms, kissing deeply and desperately, as if you’ve waited all your life for this. Your hands tangled in his hair, pulling at loose strands, his hands running up and down your back, bringing you as close to him as possible. All your senses were intoxicated with him and finally, the little pit in your chest disappeared. Your lips fit together like puzzle pieces but than, all of a sudden, Benny pushed you away aggressively

“No, I can’t do that!” his back turned to you, but you saw the red in his face and his hands went to his head, massaging the back of his neck just like you had been doing

“Benny…”

“No, no, you are Ethan’s ex and we can’t do that! I can’t do that!”

“B, listen to me!” you tried to step towards him but at your slightest movement, he jumped back, finally turning to face you

“Y/N, that was a mistake and I’m sorry! We shouldn’t have done that! It was a mistake” your eyes stung from the tears threatening to spill down your cheeks

“Don’t say that…” you could barely hear your own voice and were genuinely surprised when B replied

“Of course it was! As much as I wanted to do it and as right as it may have felt, it’s barely been a few weeks since your last relationship with MY BEST FRIEND and your best friend too and we can’t, I CAN’T do this to him! You, you guys dated and…”

“But we didn’t!” you said

“Of course you did, are you out of your mind?” Benny looked at you, teary eyed and desperate “I saw you, we saw you! Holding hands and cheek kisses! He had his arm around your back every moment of every goddamn school day and every time I wished it was me! He had all of you and he could hold you during movie nights and spend all his free time with you and kiss you and run his hands through your hair and everytime he did it I imagined that I was in his spot, hoping you would look at me with the same love and admiration that you looked with at him but now it’s too late! It doesn’t matter that he didn’t cherish you better while he had you because I still can not take you! I can’t do that to him!”

“Benny it wasn’t real!”

“What does that even mean Y/N?” he was yelling now, but you knew he wasn’t angry, just hurt. You saw the tears in his eyes and how hard he tried to stop them from running down his face.

“We weren’t ever dating! We just pretended!” the madness in his eyes turned to a question, an invitation for you to continue “It was all a show Bens. He wanted to impress Sarah. He asked me to fake a relationship with him.”

Benny leaned over the table, resting his body on his arms. He seemed to be thinking for a while, until he said “That’s a stupid idea”

You laughed “I thought so too when he told me” Benny seemed to think some more before saying

“Such an Ethan idea to have” which only made you laugh more

“So it was never real?” he asks you finally

“No! It was just an act” but even now, Benny couldn’t say anything. He was looking at his hands nervously. You took a deep breath and said the one thing you could think of

“He knows if that’s what you are wondering” the boy looked at you with questioning eyes again “Ethan I mean”

“Ethan knows what?”

“That I like you” Benny straightened and looked at you with soft eyes once more, you felt your cheeks heat up and turned to walk away but Benny quickly grabbed your wrist and pulled you into him, holding you in a tight hug.

“So, does that mean I can kiss you again?” a small smile tugged at your lips

“Please do”

#mbav x reader #mbav #benny weir #benny weir x reader #benny weir imagine #benny weir fluff #benny weir angst #ethan morgan x reader #ethan morgan imagine

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jikookiekosmos · 4 years ago

Text

Make Me || pjm

➥Pairing: dom!jimin/sub!reader, ceo!jimin, boss!jimin/employee!reader

➥Summary: After a bad breakup, you decide to go out one night and drink your sorrows away - that is, until you see your now ex-boyfriend there with someone clinging to his arm. To get your mind off of things, you go back to your job after hours; what you don’t expect is for your boss and CEO of the company, Park Jimin, to show up and offer you help in ways you didn’t know you needed.

➥Genre: smut, fluff, slight angst, mutual pining

➥Rating: 18+

➥Words: ~15.3k

➥Content Warnings: mentions of cheating, making out, marking/biting, dirty talk, cursing, sub!reader, dom!jimin, some bdsm elements (reader’s hands are bound during parts of it), slight exhibitionism, hair pulling, safe word (jimin has a consent kink, we love to see it), oral (f. receiving), fingering, slight spanking, jimin has a sir kink, jimin calls the reader princess a lot, body worship (jimin really likes the reader’s thighs), multiple orgasms, slight handjob, slight oral (m. receiving), reader fawns over jimin’s tattoo (we all know the one), unprotected sex (reader is on the pill), rough sex, possessive!jimin, cumming inside, praise, aftercare, jimin is soft for the reader, they also banter and it’s cute, also let’s all have a moment of silence for jimin’s desk

A/N: ok so I had a little bit of a hard time finishing this one because I felt like I might be getting repetitive or boring, etc. and I was unhappy with how it was turning out for a while and thought I may not actually be able to complete it. BUT I finally finished it and I hope anyone who reads it enjoys it! Please let me know what you think, if you’d like~

As always, special thank you to @dntaewithluv for always supporting me and offering encouragement (being my biggest hype-person particularly for this work), and for also basically being my beta reader for everything. Especially helping me catch my typos, you are truly a blessing and I’m very grateful for you. ❤

➥Masterlist

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

It was Thursday night. You typically didn’t go out except during the weekends, but you thought fuck it, you were heartbroken and needed some fun.

You had decided to go to the bar near where you worked, only a 10 minute or so drive away. Your old friend from college met you there, since you wanted to catch up with her.

Both of you were chatting and having a good time, and had been for about half an hour, before it happened. Across the room, you spotted the last person you wanted to see: your ex, as of very recently. And he wasn’t by himself; he had someone clinging to his arm, laughing obnoxiously loud at whatever he’d just said.

As he grinned down at the obviously drunken girl that was attached to him, you felt a dull pain in your chest. The two of you hadn’t even been broken up properly for a week and he was already off dating someone else. It didn’t surprise you, really, considering you broke up because he cheated on you in the first place, but still seeing it in person like this hurt.

You wasted almost a year of your life with this person only for him to go and betray you for more than half of your time together. He’d been mentally checked out of the relationship long before you ended it, and even though you saw it, you didn’t want to acknowledge it. You didn’t want to let go because you thought maybe he could change, maybe deep down he did love you like he said he did.

One person had tried to convince you otherwise, but you didn’t listen. Of all the people it could be, it was your boss who tried to talk some common sense into you.

Park Jimin, CEO of the Park & Jeon law firm. This man was your boss of 2 years now, and also the man you’d had the biggest crush on since you first laid eyes on him. It was, of course, an unrequited crush, and even if the feelings were mutual, dating someone you worked with – especially if that person is your boss – has always been a taboo sort of topic. So you never acted on it, you just kept it to yourself and swallowed down any feelings of hope whenever something might happen.

You briefly recalled something that had happened a few weeks ago at the office, one night when you decided to stay late after a fight with your – then – boyfriend.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

Jimin was about to leave to head home when he noticed you were still typing away at your desk, working your way through the mountain of files he had stacked there earlier in the afternoon. It was already 20 minutes past when you were supposed to leave, but the way you were situated at your desk gave him the impression you weren’t planning on going anywhere soon.

“Y/N,” he called to you, immediately making you wipe your eyes with the back of your hand. You didn’t want him to know you’d been crying earlier.

But, of course, as with most things, Park Jimin could always tell.

You heard rather than saw him walk over to your desk, aware of his presence beside you when he stopped. When you didn’t answer him he sighed and gently swiveled your chair around so you would look at him.

��Why haven’t you gone home yet,” he asked, his tone level. His eyebrows were somewhat furrowed as he took in your countenance now that he was closer and could see you had definitely been crying earlier.

You sniffled. “I really need to get these files done.”

Jimin’s face told you he wasn’t buying it. He looked at the giant mass of paper on your desk. “These files? All of them?”

You nodded. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Y/N, what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean, everything’s fine-”

“Don’t bullshit me,” Jimin cut you off. His sudden firmness caught you off guard so you didn’t say more and just waited for him to continue.

“Did something happen? Between you and him?”

You nodded again, although this time a bit more hesitantly. Jimin sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Honestly, Y/N, I don’t see why you put up with this guy. He’s not- look, you’re sad more often than not and it’s usually because of him.”

“But my work performance hasn’t suffered,” you said it quietly, almost expecting him to not hear it. But he did.

He leaned closer and rested both hands on the armrests of your chair, almost like he was caging you in.

“Do you actually think I only care about how well you perform at work,” he asked you, a frown very prominent on his face.

You weren’t sure how to respond so you didn’t. Jimin stared you down as you sat there waiting for him to say something else.

“I care about you as a person, Y/N. You’re more than just an employee, you’re- look, I may be your boss but I’m still a human being. I don’t only see you as a machine that churns out work when I ask you to. Of course, I value all the hard work you do, but I also value you.”

Your eyes welled up with fresh tears as you listened to every word he said. It was something you’d needed to hear in some capacity and hadn’t for a while. Not from anyone, and certainly not from the person you needed it from the most, the person who was the cause of your current emotional state.

Before you could realize what you were doing, you hugged Jimin. Your sudden movement startled him and it took a few seconds for him to return the hug, even though it was just a light pat on the back.

“Thank you,” you wiped away your tears as you settled back into your chair, watching as Jimin moved back and straightened his posture. “It’s nice to hear I’m valued in some way.” You offered him a small smile, but he didn’t return it.

“Do you not…does he not tell you that he cares for you?” Jimin’s tone had dropped into a tone you didn’t recognize.

You shook your head. “It’s not that he doesn’t it’s just…well he says he loves me so I guess it’s implied, right?”

Jimin’s frown deepened. “Y/N-”

“It’s ok, we just had a little fight, I’m fine, I promise.” You tried to give him a bigger smile in hopes he’d take it as genuine.

You knew better than anyone else, though, that Jimin could see through you as if you were a delicate piece of glass.

Jimin searched your eyes for a moment more before sighing again and turning to the side, placing his hands in his pockets.

“I know it’s not really my place,” he said as he looked out the window behind your desk, “but you deserve better. Much better.”

His words made your heart start thumping faster, a feeling you hadn’t experienced in a long time.

“Go home. You can finish these tomorrow.” Without sparing you another glance, Jimin turned and walked back into his office that was connected to yours.

That night, as you drove home, all the feelings for Jimin that you’d worked so hard to bury started resurfacing. You made up with your boyfriend that night, thinking that maybe bringing your feelings for him to the forefront of your mind might fix that.

It didn’t.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

So, here you were now: back at work after hours, trying to get your mind off of everything in your life that was confusing the fuck out of you. Your recent break-up and your feelings for your boss who was way too attractive for his own good marked the top of that list.

You had excused yourself, telling your friend that you remembered you had really important work you needed to finish and that the two of you would have to take a raincheck for another time. She looked concerned but didn’t press the issue, and for that you were grateful.

Luckily for you, there was an important case that was due the end of the following week, and you’d been too distracted to make any real progress on it. You decided to try and knock as much of it out as you could tonight.

Which, unfortunately for you, proved to be more difficult than you thought, since you couldn’t find the files you needed. You searched every corner of your office, and even Jimin’s office, but to no avail. The files were nowhere to be seen.

You’d been back at the office for maybe 2 hours before you finally caved and called Jimin. You’d never called him outside of normal working hours, so you weren’t sure how this would go.

To your surprise, he picked up after the first ring.

“Y/N?” Jimin’s tone sounded surprised, something you didn’t hear often at all. You couldn’t blame him; you were calling him at 8:42 P.M. on a Thursday so he had to be wondering what you could possibly want.

“Hi yeah it’s me, sorry to bother you, sir,” you threw in the last bit without thinking as you shuffled through the papers on your desk a second time.

“What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

His genuine concern made you pause for a second, grip on your phone tightening. You were way too emotional for this right now, but you cleared your throat and composed yourself.

“Yes I’m fine, I just had a work related question.”

You could almost picture him nodding on the other side of the phone, his face turning to stone again. “Ok, what is it?”

“You know that really important case due the end of next week?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Where are the rest of the case files? I don’t think you left them on my desk-“

“Hang on, where are you right now?”

You groaned with frustration because you didn’t really have the time – nor the want – to play 20 questions with Jimin right now. You were in a shitty enough mood as it was after seeing your ex with that bitch on his arm.

“Jimin, please just tell me-”

“Answer me.”

The authority in his tone made a shiver run down your spine unconsciously. You had no choice but to obey.

“I’m at work.”

A few seconds of silence. “Why are you at work this late?”

You sighed. “I came in to try and get some more work done on the case.”

“But it’s late, you really don’t need to be at the office. We’ve talked about you working after hours-”

“I know but just-” you broke off to let out another frustrated sigh ��Look I just really need to be here right now, ok?”

You usually never challenged his authority, so as you waited for him to respond, you imagined he was probably tonguing his cheek, like you’ve seen him do countless times before.

“Fine. The case files are in the safe in my office.” Without another word he hung up.

Happy to finally know where the stupid files were, you walked through Jimin’s office again and made your way over to his safe.

As you crouched down in front of it to enter the code, it dawned on you that this was a new safe. One that you’d never seen before.

In other words, you didn’t know the code.

You slumped down onto the floor in front of the safe and wrapped your arms around your knees. You felt like crying because there’s no way in hell you were calling Jimin back, but you were determined to not leave this office unless you’d done something you needed to do.

So you just sat there, hugging yourself as you tried to figure out all the possible solutions for this mess you were in. And not just your current situation, but your life situation too. With your ex, with everything.

You’d probably been sitting in Jimin’s office for 10 minutes before you heard a noise outside. You shot up quickly, not sure if it was just the wind outside or if someone was in the building. You grabbed onto the edge of Jimin’s desk when you heard footsteps approaching.

The sound of a key turning the lock to the office door is what finally brought you to your senses. Jimin opened the door and there he stood, still in his work attire just minus his suit jacket, with his sleeves now rolled up and his tie somewhat loosened around his neck.

He pushed a hand through his silver strands of hair when he saw you. Oh god.

Jimin sighed. “Y/N, why are you here?”

You blinked, not even thinking about what you were wearing until now, when you were looking down at the floor. Oh god (again).

You answered him. “Um...I’m looking for the files?”

You swear you saw him roll his eyes, even in the dim light of the office. He strolled over to his desk and turned on the lamp there, now just a few feet away from you.

“No, I mean why are you here. At work. Alone, at night.”

You couldn’t think of a convincing enough lie, and you didn’t want to lie to him anyway, so you told him the first thing you could think of.

“I just had to get away for a bit. Bury myself in my work. You know how I get.” You were still looking at the ground, very aware of how much of your legs were showing thanks to the skirt you’d chosen to wear.

“Hm,” he hummed, crossing his arms as he looked you up and down. You felt a small blush rise on your cheeks.

“Why did you need to get away?”

“That’s personal, first of all, secondly, why are you here?” You crossed your arms and took a step toward him then so now you were in front of the middle of the desk.

Jimin didn’t back down from your challenge. “Since when do you care about me knowing personal details about you?”

“I uh-,” well shit, he had you there. Up until now, Jimin had known pretty much everything about your personal life that you’re not even willing to share with most people.

Jimin strolled over to where he was standing in front of you, his arms still crossed. You gulped as you watched the clearly defined muscles in his forearms move as he repositioned his arms.

“What are you hiding from me,” he said it more as a statement than a question, in a low tone.

“N-Nothing,” you stammered, definitely giving away that there was something you were hiding. He arched an eyebrow as he looked you up and down again. You felt hot under his gaze.

“Hm, I don’t think I believe you,” he responded as he inched closer to you.

“Well, you also never told me why you were here,” you challenged. “Don’t you think it’s fair to answer at least one of my questions?”

He chuckled then, giving you a sly smirk. Your heart skipped a beat.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. I knew you didn’t have the password for the new safe, so I came to help you.”

Wait. Pause. Huh? Jimin came to help you? The thought surprised you, and it wasn’t like he was heartless or anything, but him coming to work after hours to help you with something not super important was...what?

“Why did you do that,” your voice was quiet as you were more-so asking yourself than him, but he heard it anyway.

“You’d be here all hours of the night if I didn’t. So you’re right, I do know how you get.” His eyes were staring into yours and suddenly you felt very small.

Just how much did he really pay attention to...?

“So,” he uncrossed his arms, now placing his hands into his pockets. If you reached out just barely you could touch his chest – that’s how close he was. “Let’s get to work then, yeah?”

You blinked, taken aback. Was he serious about helping?

Apparently so because he turned on his heel and walked over to the safe, crouching down to unlock it. He came back holding some files and dropped them onto his desk.

“I’ll give you the code some other time but for now,” he pulled out a chair for you to sit beside him, “let’s get what we can done tonight.

You nodded and both got to work.

You’d been working for maybe 10 minutes before anyone spoke again.

“So, why the, uh, choice of attire?” You glanced over to see Jimin scanning you with his eyes, letting them linger on your legs that were currently crossed.

Fuck, you forgot you’d changed into something definitely not work appropriate. You were wearing a tight tank top and a miniskirt that just barely covered your ass.

“Well,” you started to say, turning away to hide the blush that you knew had to be there, “I was going to the bar with my friend, but then I-” you paused then, catching yourself before you told him what really happened.

Jimin’s eyebrow raised. “Y/N? You what?”

“I, um, remembered that I needed to work on this so I left.” You gave him what you hoped was a convincing smile.

He hummed and started flipping through the papers in front of you again so you had no way of knowing if he believed you or not.

“Did you only go with your friend?” He wasn’t looking at you, instead it looked like he was intensely concentrating on the task at hand.

“Y-yeah. It was just gonna be a girl’s night thing. Why do you ask?”

Jimin shuffled the papers, lining them up on the desk. “No reason, just curious. Thought maybe your boyfriend might go with you.”

You flinched and luckily (you hoped) Jimin didn’t catch it.

You hadn’t told Jimin about the break up yet, considering you’d been wallowing in your own sorrow about it too much. And you knew already how much Jimin...disliked your ex, for lack of a better word. So you didn’t feel it was important to mention, at least not yet, anyway.

And deep down some part of you thought maybe he wouldn’t care anyway, so why bother?

“Yeah, no, it was just her and me.”

“Hm, well then,” he stacked the papers and turned toward you ever so slightly. “Since you had to leave the bar, why don’t we drink some here?”

You stared at him, dumbfounded. “Sir, what-”

“I keep alcohol in a stash under my desk. I work late nights sometimes too, you know,” there was a tiny hint of a smile but it disappeared before you could really appreciate it. Damn.

“And I’m the owner so I can do whatever I want, which includes drinking at work if I’m off the clock.” He pulled out a glass of something, you weren’t sure what (rum? whiskey? you didn’t know but you wanted it) and two glasses, placing them on the desk.

“Wait...I’m allowed to drink, too?”

Jimin chuckled and you loved the sound. You never got to hear this man as anything other than professional so you were enjoying this a lot.

“Of course you can. You’re off the clock too, and you’re putting in overtime, I think you deserve a drink.”

Well what were you gonna do, say no?

“Thank you, sir,” you politely accepted the glass he handed you. You tasted the drink and it was rum, but it was one you liked. You knew you’d need to be careful though, because the last thing you want is to get drunk at work with your insanely hot boss.

...ok maybe you wanted it a little, but you know.

You both continued working, drinking and casually chatting while you did. The atmosphere overall was just really nice, and you got the work done a lot faster than you thought considering you originally figured it would just be you working alone.

When you were done, you walked to the front of Jimin’s desk and stacked the papers neatly on top, almost in the middle of it.

You turned and gave him a big smile, proud of the work you had done. Your brain was swimming with excitement from completing your task but also from being a little tipsy and also being in the presence of Jimin all at once.

To your surprise, he smiled back, but only for a moment.

“Now that we’ve finished what you came here for,” he raised his glass, “let’s get to the next important matter at hand, shall we?”

He was still raising his glass so you clinked yours with his, casually leaning on the desk, almost sitting on it but not quite.

Yeah you were definitely feeling the alcohol now, which meant you’d be more confident and daring which could potentially be bad but right now Tipsy You doesn’t give a shit.

“And what would that important matter be, Mr. Park?” You sipped from your glass after your impromptu toast. He did the same, watching you the whole time. When he brought his arm back down, there was a bit of a smirk adorning his features.

Hm. Well. That was new.

“The matter, Ms. Y/L/N,” he stated as he sat the empty glass on the edge of his desk, also stepping closer to you in the process, “is that you still haven’t told me what you’re hiding.”

You sat your glass down next to his and crossed your arms. “With all due respect, I still don’t really think that’s any of your business.”

There was silence again, before Jimin let out a wry chuckle, still smirking. Apparently alcohol helped him loosen up as well.

“Tell me what it is you’re hiding from me.” The tone was authoritative and it almost made you give in.

Almost.

You held your ground and gave him a sly smile of your own, which seemed to confuse him if his face was anything to go by. You opened your mouth and let the two words fall out as if it was nothing.

“Make me.”

In the dim light you saw something flash in Jimin’s eyes as they widened, and you suddenly felt a little scared. But the scared feeling was outweighed by the excitement you felt throughout your whole body.

“You wanna run that by me again?” His tone had changed into a register you’d never heard from him before and you realized that you may be veering into dangerous territory now and should probably stop-

“You heard me, sir,” you responded, clearly dragging out the word at the end. “If you want to know what I’m ‘hiding’ you’ll have to make me tell you.”

He stepped forward once more, to where you were basically chest to chest now. He stared down at you and you suddenly no longer felt the urge to talk back.

“Oh trust me, I can make you. I have my ways,” he let his gaze trail down to look at your lips then back up to your eyes. He ran his thumb along your bottom lip, the movement so quick you almost didn’t catch it.

One thing to know about you: you never back down from a challenge.

“Why don’t you stop talking big and just show me already? What are you gonna do, Mr. Park?” You could almost feel the heat radiating off of him now as you continued, “Tie me up?”

You heard what might’ve been a low growl come from him and then he was wrapping his arms around you before you could process it. Unlike what you thought, though, he wasn’t doing it to hold you. You heard as some papers shuffled behind you before he moved away and back into his original position.

“W-what are you doing,” you asked, looking at him now and his eyes were intense. You’d never seen a stare like that come from him and you’d seen a lot in your time of working here.

“Just making some room,” was his blunt answer.

“Making room for wha-”

You barely got the words out before you were being lifted off the ground, his hands holding you up by your thighs, just underneath your ass. You gasped and wound your arms around his neck, out of surprise but also because of instinct since you thought you might fall.

He sat you down on the desk then, now in a clean area where no papers were placed. He removed your arms from around his neck and put a hand on either side of you, watching you closely as you were starting to breathe more rapidly.

Oh you were so fucked.

“You see,” Jimin said as he stood in front of you, moving your legs apart so he could get closer. “I own this desk you’re sitting on right now.”

As if to emphasize his point, he slapped one of his hands against the surface of the desk, right beside your thigh. You gulped.

“By extension, I also own everything on it.” Jimin was staring at you through half lidded eyes. He got even closer still, close enough now where if you barely moved your lips you’d be kissing him.

What a dangerous thought that was.

“And right now, princess,” his voice had dropped into a more sultry tone and you were drinking him in more and more with each passing second. “That includes you.”

Before you could even react, he pushed you back to where you were laying on the desk, with your legs still hanging off as he was standing in between them. Your skirt had hiked up around your thighs during the interaction, and you didn’t notice it until you felt him brush his fingers across one.

“You know,” Jimin went on as he loomed over you now, the long end of his tie landing on your chest. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”

“Am I?” You deliberately questioned him, even though you were at his mercy already. You had already pushed this far, so why not push further. You were tingling all over, from the alcohol you were sure, but also from the overwhelming presence that is Park Jimin.

You hadn’t felt this way in a long time, and you were determined to chase that feeling as long as you could.

You had been absentmindedly playing with the end of his tie that you could reach, but you opted instead to now try to wrap your legs around him to pull him closer, your body basically acting on its own accord. But it was if he knew what you might try and do, because he suddenly had a vise grip on both of your thighs, pulling them apart more.

You let out a small whine, feeling so exposed under him despite still being covered.

“Let me explain something to you because I don’t think you understand,” Jimin spoke again, leaning over you even more now, his grip on your thighs tightening. “You’re not in control here. You gave up that control the second you questioned my authority.”

You gulped as he raised one of his hands to caress your cheek, the soft action briefly making you forget the position you were in - caged on top of your boss’ desk with him in between your thighs.

You didn’t forget for long though because that same hand travelled up further, burying itself into your hair and giving it a gentle tug, the surprise making you jolt forward.

You felt Jimin’s lips ghosting over your throat then, but you couldn’t look down at him due to the hold he had on your hair.

“I have you completely at my mercy.” He said, his voice low. He placed a single, soft kiss to your throat and you whined again.

“And I have to say,” he practically growled out, his grip in your hair tightening, “you look quite lovely like this, submitting all control to me.”

You were already so wet and could feel yourself getting hotter everywhere and you knew this now had the potential to turn into something it probably shouldn’t. But also you were literally pinned underneath your hot boss on his desk under his control so like...what’s a person to do, yeah?

“Nothing to say, princess? You sure were eager to talk earlier.” He nosed along your jawline now, and all you wanted to do was reach out and touch him somewhere, it didn’t really matter where. And god the pet name, you felt like you could just die, but like in the best way possible.

You didn’t really have the chance to contemplate reaching out to touch him, though, because Jimin stood back up and captured both your wrists in one hand, placing them over your head.

“I’ve been thinking,” he started, his other hand going to his tie, “and I actually would like to tie you up.”

You gasped as his grip on your wrists tightened experimentally, him looking over your face as he tried to gauge your reaction.

“Of course I won’t do anything without your consent,” he used his thumb to rub along the underside of one of your wrists he was holding, “so I need you to tell me.”

Your heart fluttered at the fact that despite him being in control and clearly being the dominant one in the situation, he still wouldn’t cross any boundary you weren’t comfortable with.

Were you comfortable with being tied up? You fucking bet.

“Do it,” you breathed out. His hand around his tie froze.

He started tsk, tsk, tsking at you. “Oh, Y/N. It seems you still don’t understand.”

His grip tightened again around your wrists, making you yelp more out of surprise than anything else. He leaned down to where his lips were just hovering above yours.

“If you want something,” Jimin said, his tone low, “then I need to hear you beg me for it.”

You understood then entirely what this dynamic was and had to think about if you actually were comfortable with this. It was unlike anything you’d ever dealt with before, so it was new and exciting.

And as it was with anything else, Tipsy You craved excitement.

“Please,” you said barely above a whisper. And that was all Jimin needed.

He leaned up and you watched as he swiftly took off his tie with only one hand as he looked down at you, the tie now hanging loosely from his palm.

“When I let go of your wrists, don’t move,” he commanded. Maybe on another day you’d challenge it to see what he’d do, but for now you did exactly as you were told.

He wound the tie around your wrists, giving it a firm tug when he was done, checking to make sure that you couldn’t get out but that it wasn’t too tight either.

He leaned back to admire his handiwork, his eyes scanning over every inch of your body as you were now stretched out and bound at the wrists. You imagined you probably were a sight: hair splayed out, cheeks flushed, chest rapidly rising and falling with your excited breathing.

“You look so perfect like this,” he said, almost too quiet for you to hear. He stroked his fingers along the inside of your thigh. You shuddered at his touch.

“Perfect princess, all laid out for me.” His fingers kept traveling upwards, inching closer and closer to where you wanted them, playing with the hem of your skirt.

“Now, what should I do with you, hm?” Jimin switched gears then, his hands began traveling along your sides, his fingers dancing around your ribcage as they travelled upwards.

“Should I play with you like this?” He started rubbing his hands up and down your arms, trying to go over every place he could touch. Well, every place except places you wanted him to touch.

He looked up then, almost like he was trying to find something. An evil grin covered his features.

He placed an arm around you, his palm under your back as he lifted you up so you were sitting again. Your arms were now in front of you, still bound.

“Up,” he commanded, tugging on your binds. You got up, your legs a little wobbly. He walked you over to his window that overlooked the city, the blinds drawn as they usually were.

He wrapped an arm around your waist as he opened the blinds with his unoccupied hand. The city looked beautiful from up here, and as you were looking out at everything, you didn’t feel him move away.

You didn’t know until you felt him pressing against your back.

“Arms up,” he told you, and you obeyed without hesitation. You were now pressed up against the window, your arms above your head, wrists tied, and Jimin behind you.

Oh fuck.

“Imagine if people below could see you right now. See you all pretty on display like this.” His chin was moving on your shoulder as he spoke, one hand curled around your waist.

You didn’t know where his other hand was until he snaked it into your hair again, pulling tighter than he ever had. Your head fell backwards, exposing your neck to him.

“I’ve never told you,” he started as he placed a kiss on the side of your neck, “but I love when you wear your hair up. I can see your neck and it’s always so inviting, just asking to be marked.”

“But now,” he continued as he travelled lower, “I love that you have your hair down, because I can use it however I want.” He pulled again as if for emphasis, and you let out a quiet moan.

Jimin paused. You held your breath, not sure what to expect next.

He turned you around then, having your back pinned against the window now.

His hands were holding you against the window by your waist, grip tightening when you looked into his eyes. They held a look you’d never seen on anyone before, one that you couldn’t quite decipher. But if it did anything, it made you want to submit.

He moved one hand up to your hair again and pulled, eliciting another moan from you. At this point you didn’t bother holding back.

He groaned. “Fuck, you sound so pretty for me.”

He started kissing down your neck again then, still pressing you against the window by your waist, the glass cold on your shoulders.

“Jimin,” you pleaded. He paused and looked up at you.

“Hm? You want something?” His tone was normal, almost as if he was giving you a briefing on a case or something.

You nodded as best you could given your current position. “The window - it’s cold, please-”

You barely got the words out before he was pulling you into his chest and wrapping his arms around you. Your bound hands ended up right in front of his crotch and-

Fuck, he was hard. And knowing that made you even more aroused.

You didn’t have time to react before he pulled away again to look at you. His gaze scanned over your face, and he looked like he was contemplating what to do to you next.

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you look right now,” he rubbed one of his thumbs underneath your eye and along your cheek. “Makeup smeared, breathing stuttered, tied up and completely pliant, just waiting for me to do what I want to you. So fucked out and I’ve barely touched you yet.”

“When you look like this, Y/N,” he paused so he could lean in closer to where he was right by your ear.

He gently bit down on your earlobe before finishing his sentence in a hushed tone.

“It makes me want to ruin you”.

That sentence alone suddenly made you even more wet (and you’d been doing your damnedest to hold back but you were only so strong) and you wanted to kiss him with everything you had. You wanted to do something, it was driving you crazy. Your wrists squirmed as you tried to touch him.

Jimin noticed you struggling against your binds and moved away with a chuckle.

“Oh, princess,” he sounded, his tone almost scolding, “that’s not allowed.”

“Wha-” you broke off, not realizing how out of breath you were from just all of this, “what’s not allowed-”

He pulled one of your legs up to wrap it around him as best he could in the position you two were in, then moving that hand to hold onto you so you wouldn’t fall.

Without a warning, he used his other hand to push past your skirt since it was hiked up now, lightly brushing up against your inner thigh.

His touch was delicate, soft, but also intense and you wanted more. So, so much more.

“You’re not allowed to touch me,” Jimin finally answered, his fingers climbing higher until they were brushing lightly over your panties, against your core. You let out a small sound, something like a whimper, because holy fuck you were sensitive.

“Fuck, Jimin, please,” you threw your head back, no longer able to contain yourself and he’d barely done anything yet. You were truly at his mercy, just like he said.

He groaned again, his fingers now applying more pressure. “I love hearing you fucking beg for me.”

Since your leg was wrapped securely around him now, he used that hand that was holding you to pull you closer, cradling the back of your head. When you were barely an inch away, he finally closed the distance, allowing you what you wanted.

His lips felt unlike anything you could have ever imagined. The kiss was rough but held all the gentleness you never would’ve associated with someone who had a presence as strong as Jimin. His hold around you tightened, and you felt like you could just melt then and there.

He bit down lightly, asking for access that you gladly gave him. The kiss lasted a while but not nearly long enough for your liking, because when he went to pull away you whined again.

When you opened your eyes, he was giving you that same cocky smirk from before. He brushed his thumb across your bottom lip again, pressing his forehead against yours while you both tried to control your breathing.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” he said. The words made you feel hot but also fluttery again like before.

“What else have you wanted to do with me,” you asked, simply because you were fucking curious and you were also still confident since not all the alcohol was out of your system yet. You were definitely sober enough to know what was happening, though, and to know that you absolutely wanted it to.

Jimin laughed, the sound so nice and so attractive at the same time. “Ah, that’s a dangerous question. Are you sure you want to know?”

You nodded as vigorously as possible. Jimin hummed at your enthusiasm.

“Well, for starters,” he said as he hovered over your lips again, “I’ve wanted to kiss you until you couldn’t breathe.”

He kissed you again, kissed you hard, but it was short-lived since he was pulling away to speak more.

“I’ve wanted to see you, all pretty and marked up for me,” he started trailing down your neck again, this time leaving a hickey on your shoulder.

“Fuck, Jimin,” you breathed out, your wrists squirming again in their binds.

He continued, tugging on your binds, making you stop your movements.

“I’ve wanted to see you tied up, at my mercy,” he pulled again on the binds and your leg fell from around him as you wobbled forward. He steadied you then, not missing the opportunity to bury his hand in your hair once more when you were standing upright.

“I’ve wanted you to submit to me since I first laid my eyes on you,” he looked at you again through those half-lidded eyes and you felt like if you didn’t get some part of this man either in your mouth or inside of you then you were going to lose it.

“But then,” he added more softly, “You showed me how much of an independent and strong woman you are.” He kissed you and continued.

“You demonstrated how willing you are to work for what you want and how considerate you are in caring for others, even more than you care for yourself.” Jimin started backing you up, and you weren’t sure where you were going but you were along for the ride. Plus he had his hands around your waist as he guided you, so you trusted that you wouldn’t fall.

Jimin wouldn’t let you fall. Jimin wouldn’t hurt you.

These were things that if someone asked you about them an hour ago you wouldn’t know the answer, but now? With the way he was handling you, there was no way he’d ever willingly put you in danger and you knew it.

When the back of your knees hit something solid, Jimin paused and looked you in the eyes. You felt like there was a sudden shift in his behavior and it confused you.

“Jimin? What’s wrong?”

He closed his eyes and sighed before he started speaking again. “Sorry, it’s just- I can’t get over the fact that you somehow ended up with someone who doesn’t deserve you. Thinking about how he has you all to himself and doesn’t appreciate you,” his grip on your waist tightened and he was looking down at the floor.

“It drives me insane.” He brought his eyes back up to look into yours once more. You were sobering up and you realized he might be too, and it almost looked like he might be regretting what was happening.

You felt his grip loosen around your waist, and you panicked thinking he may move away. It clicked then: he thought you were still dating your ex, which was your own fault since you hadn’t told him about the breakup yet.

You didn’t want to let this moment go over a misunderstanding. Not when the man you’d been pining over for years now finally had you in his hold.

With your hands that were still bound, you desperately reached out to grab his shirt.

“Jimin, wait.”

Jimin froze but he had removed his hands from your waist. You knew you needed to act fast.

“We broke up,” you blurted out. The sudden flash in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed by you, that intense stare from before slowly coming back to life in his eyes.

“What? When?” His stare made you feel small but you needed to go through with this. You needed him to know that you wanted to be his and only his, no one else’s.

“Last week. I broke it off because…he cheated on me, but I also knew the relationship wouldn’t work. If I’d listened to you sooner, I could’ve been a lot happier.” A sad smile painted your face, one that made the expression on his soften.

“He cheated on you? What a fucking idiot,” Jimin scoffed, making you giggle. “I knew he was stupid but I mean for fuck’s sake, he had you,” Jimin wrapped his hands around yours still grasping his shirt, “and he was too fucking stupid to appreciate you the way you should be.”

Jimin removed your hands from his shirt and repositioned his own around your waist again, pushing you against the desk more. He leaned down to where his lips were a mere inch away from yours, causing yours to automatically part the faintest bit.

“I’ll make sure you never go unappreciated again,” he said against your lips before kissing you with so much passion that it nearly made you fall over. You wanted to wrap your arms around him, but since that was impossible, you settled for moving your body closer to his.

“Please,” you breathed out when he pulled away, resting his forehead against yours. “Make me yours.”

That was all he needed to hear. You saw him smirk when he backed up, shifting back into that more dominant persona that had you tingling all over with arousal.

With no more hesitation, Jimin turned you around and you were facing the desk again. He bent you over, and your still-bound hands were almost reaching the opposite edge of the desk.

His hands were still gripping your waist as your felt him settle in behind you. You could feel him pressing against your ass and you instinctively moved back against him.

Suddenly you felt a slap on your ass that jerked you forward.

“What did I say earlier, princess?” He rubbed over the spot he’d just hit, trying to soothe what little pain it had caused. “You’re not allowed to touch me, it’s against the rules.”

“But Jimin,” you whined, earning another slap. You cried out because the pain felt nice and you weren’t exactly sure if you wanted him to stop.

“If you behave,” Jimin said in that low tone you were slowly getting used to, “I might let you have your way, how does that sound, hm?”

You nodded and that seemed to please him.

“Good,” you heard him say as something started shuffling behind you. You felt him lift your skirt up and soon your ass was exposed, still covered by your panties but not much else.

“Y/N,” came Jimin’s voice, and you suddenly could feel how close he was to you. Your felt like there was a fire slowly igniting inside you with each passing second of anticipation.

“Y-yes?”

“A safe word. We need one.” His tone was gentle as he started running his hands up and down your thighs, making you squirm on top of the desk.

“Um...don’t people use a color system or something?”

“We can if that’s what you want. Red for stop immediately, yellow for slow down, green means you’re good to go. That work for you?” He was trailing his fingers up again and suddenly playing with the hem of your panties.

You nodded, your cheek pressed against the desk. “Yes, anything, just please do something, please-”

Jimin chuckled. “What’s your color?”

“Green, pleas-”

You barely got the words out before he shoved the panties to the side and you felt him plunge two fingers inside you. With how wet you were, there was little resistance. You gripped the edge of the desk as best you could with your hands as they were still tied, letting out a loud moan that you couldn’t even be bothered to be ashamed of.

“That’s it, be loud for me,” he sped up, holding you down on the desk with his unoccupied arm so you’d stop moving as much.

You kept letting out sounds that were somewhere between a mixture of moans and his name, panting every time he would speed up.

“This is also something I’ve wanted to do to you for a long time,” Jimin’s tone was sultry again, but he seemed like he was having a bit of a harder time composing it. Suddenly it seemed like he was crouching down, but you couldn’t see.

“I wanted to watch you come undone underneath me. Whether it be from my fingers-” he broke away to pull out and you whined at the loss of contact.

“-or on my tongue,” he continued as he flattened his tongue out and ran it over your clit. You moaned and gripped the desk harder, now laying your head down face first because it was too intense.

You’d never been eaten out from behind before but you guessed there’s a time for everything, right?

Jimin was moving his tongue in ways that you could only describe as ‘expertly,’ making sure to lap over every part of you that he could reach. His hands were gripping your thighs, pulling you apart so he had better access. You were shaking in his hold, and with how fast he was going you knew you would not last long at all at this rate.

You heard him moan around you, the vibrations from his mouth causing a new type of pleasure to wash over you, each one stimulating your clit more and more. He started fucking you with his tongue and you moaned even louder.

“Jimin, oh my god- fuck,” you called out, which made him groan in return.

“You taste so good,” he said as he added in a finger alongside his tongue, alternating between the two, one going in while the other was coming out. You wanted to scream but no sound would come out, you could barely think.

He pulled away briefly to attach his lips to a spot on your thigh as he gripped the other one harder.

“It always drives me crazy when you wear short dresses and I can see your thighs, just begging to be marked.”

You felt him start to suck then, marking your flesh and making you gasp. He continued his assault on your clit with his thumb before his tongue was on you once more, the pleasure almost overwhelming. As much as you were enjoying this, you wanted to turn over so you could see him.

“Please,” you begged, still squirming against your will. He let up but only slightly, replacing his tongue with his fingers again.

“Yes, princess?” He sounded slightly breathless and his voice was making you even more wet.

“I want to see you. Please,” you pleaded again. His fingers slowed down to a more gentle, rhythmic pace, as if he was contemplating your plea and needed to slow down in order to focus.

You didn’t have to wait long before he was pulling you up from the desk, bringing your back flush up against his chest.

“Since you’re being such a good girl for me, I think I can give you what you want,” he said in that same low tone that was driving you insane, mouthing at your neck as he did so.

He turned you around and pulled you to him by tugging on your binds to give you a quick kiss, but despite its quickness it still took your breath away. You could taste yourself on his tongue and it was a new feeling but you didn’t mind it right now.

You didn’t mind anything right now. All you could think about was Jimin. Head empty, no thoughts, only Jimin.

He made you lay back again, this time where you were facing forward and if you craned your neck just right you could see him.

You looked at him as he kneeled down in between your legs, pushing your skirt up again so he’d have access. This time, however, he pulled your panties down to your ankles instead of just moving them to the side.

There was just something about still being clothed while all this was happening that drove you crazy with arousal.

He stared up at you through those half-lidded eyes, his mouth hovering over you and you almost came then, that’s the power this man holds.

“Y/N,” Jimin breathed. “Color?”

It took you a second to realize what he was talking about before you nodded and said “Still green.”

He stuck out his tongue and licked a slow stripe up from your entrance to your clit, the motion making you moan and lay your head back on the desk.

You had barely just laid your head down before there was a quick slap to your thigh, making you jolt.

You looked up again at Jimin, who now had a hold on your thighs again to keep them spread apart.

“Eyes on me, princess.” He lapped again at your clit, slowly, making sure to take his time. Looking at him made every feeling more intense and you didn’t know how long you’d hold out.

But still, you looked. Because he told you to. Because you had to obey.

Because he was Park Jimin and had a power over you that no one else had before.

“You’re gonna watch as I ravage you,” he said in between movements of his tongue, applying more pressure to your clit as he went down again.

You had to fight closing your eyes because the pleasure was too much but he wanted you to watch and you’d watch until you couldn’t.

“I’ve waited so long to make you mine, and I’m going to take my time,” he continued, and despite what his words suggested, he started going faster instead.

Your moans were increasing in pitch the more he sped up, his attention going from your clit to inside of you as he inserted two fingers again. You could feel your orgasm approaching and all you could do was lay there and take it.

Your wrists were moving on their own, trying to get out of your binds. It was no use, however, and you were stuck with nothing to hold on to as Jimin ate you like you were his last meal.

“Jimin, fuck, oh my god, please-” you kept saying the same things over and over but your brain couldn’t conjure up much more. He flicked his tongue faster against your clit and every part of your body felt like it was on fire.

“Can you do something for me,” he asked from between your legs. You nodded with no hesitation, despite not knowing what the fuck you were agreeing to.

“Call me sir,” was his simple command, and before you could respond he resumed his mission and you let out what sounded like a strangled whine.

“Yes sir, please, ruin me,” you just started saying things and apparently it was working because he was gripping your thighs hard enough now you thought they might be bruised tomorrow.

“Fuck, I love it when you call me that,” he groaned as he broke away to breathe, his fingers now picking up the pace where his tongue left off. You had looked away for a few moments to try and ground yourself a bit but as you looked at him now, you knew it’d be all over soon.

He was such a sight to behold. He was resting his cheek against one of your thighs as he caught his breath, lips so pretty and parted, eyes half-lidded with arousal. His damp, silver hair had started to fall into his eyes, so he pushed it back as he continued panting against your skin.

When he saw you staring, he smirked, and you clenched around him, making him laugh.

“Oh, I see. So that’s what gets you going, huh?” His fingers went faster, and he added his thumb now to rub your clit at the same time.

“You like seeing me enjoying myself as I taste you?” Knowing you were still staring, he removed his fingers and wrapped his lips around your clit, closing his eyes as he let out a moan that had you clenching around nothing. That was it, you couldn’t take it anymore.

You laid back and held your arms above your head so you could grip onto the edge of the desk behind you. You were crying out something that sounded a lot like his name but you weren’t sure at this point.

“Sir, please, I’m so close, please-” you begged again, not sure if he’d stop or keep going like you wanted him to, since again, he was in control.

To your very pleasant surprise, he kept going, this time only with his tongue and you were so close.

“Mr. Park,” you breathed out this time without thinking. You felt the vibrations against your clit as he let out a loud, guttural grunt, pulling your thighs even more apart and giving him better access.

“Can never get enough of you saying my name,” he said now, but it was muffled. What he said next, however, was not.

“Fuck,” he said and it startled you at first. You then felt the loss of his tongue and you couldn’t help but whine.

“No, sir, please, don’t stop, please-”

“Shh, no it’s ok,” he soothed you as he stood up, pulling you up to where you were sitting on the desk. He brought you forward some so you were hanging off it just enough for him to insert his fingers back where you needed them most.

He wrapped an arm around your back to pull you into his chest, looking down at you.

“I needed to be closer to you,” he said in a hushed tone, his voice now raspy. “Needed to feel all of you as you cum for me.”

“Fuck,” you clenched around him again and your head fell forward to rest on his shoulder.

He leaned down and started kissing your neck again, all the way back up to your ear, his fingers moving at exactly the right pace and you were already trembling. When he added another to tease your clit it took all of your willpower not to fall off of the desk.

“I want to wreck you in every way possible,” he said right by your ear, the words spurring you closer to your undoing. “I’ve wanted to fuck you on this desk for so long, wanted to have my way with you until it breaks.”

Well, there it went.

“Jimin, sir, I’m- I’m-”

“I know, I can feel you, cum for me princess, be a good girl for me.” He sped up again and everything washed over you at once, your orgasm hitting you so violently that you almost did fall off of the desk, had Jimin not been there to catch you.

You could feel yourself still clenching around him as he slowed down, letting you ride out your orgasm on his fingers.

When you finally stopped spasming, you were breathing hard. Jimin carefully took his fingers out, and whether or not he cleaned off his hand you weren’t sure because your eyes were still closed as you tried to feel human again.

You felt a gentle pair of lips on top of yours then and began moving in sync with them. Jimin caressed your cheek to bring you in closer. The moment was so intimate, so sweet...

And you knew then that you were so very fucked.

When Jimin finally broke the kiss, you opened your eyes. He looked so beautiful, giving you a small, satisfied smile. He untied the tie from around your wrists now, placing it on the desk before rubbing your wrists to make sure they were ok.

“That was...” you started to say but you were still breathless. Jimin chuckled.

“Yeah. I agree.” He smiled again and you looked down-

He was still very hard.

“Um, sir?” You got his attention while he was still rubbing small circles on your wrists.

“Hm? What is it?” He brought his eyes back up to look into yours and you swear you’d never seen them look so soft.

“You’re-” you nodded to where you’d been looking, his eyes following yours before he let out another chuckle.

“Yeah, I guess I am. Although I’d hardly expect I wouldn’t be turned on by that.”

It was your turn to giggle now, your chest swelling with pride knowing that you’d managed to (inadvertently) turn him on so much.

You pulled him in for a kiss this time now that you had the use of your hands again. You felt him smile into the kiss, his arms wrapping around you.

“Will you let me take care of you now?” You whispered it against his lips and watched as his eyes opened, the surprised look on his face almost making you want to laugh.

“Y/N, I- are you sure? That wasn’t too much?” His concern made your heart constrict.

“I’m sure,” you nodded, trailing your hand downward so you could cup him over his pants. He let out a soft groan.

“I told you I wanted you to ruin me, Mr. Park,” you said right by his ear, applying more pressure as you cupped him. He let out such a beautiful sounding moan and you were dying to hear more. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly parted. You took advantage of this moment of distraction to turn him around so he was now in front of the desk as you dropped to your knees in front of him.

He opened his eyes and looked down at you, groaning at the sight. “Fuck, Y/N.”

Your hands worked to remove his slacks and he helped you, both of you eager. When you finally pulled his boxers down and his cock sprang free, you immediately wrapped your hand around it, and you were rewarded with another delicious sound from the man above you.

He looked like a dream; head tilted back, eyes screwed shut, small pants slipping past his pretty, plump lips. You watched as he swallowed before letting out a groan when you started pumping your hand faster.

“I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve thought about sucking you off underneath your desk,” you confessed as you moved your hand faster and applied more pressure, making him hiss.

“Just wanted you to sit back and relax while I did all the work. Maybe even fuck my mouth during one of your important business meetings.” You licked a stripe up the underside of his length then to accentuate your words.

Jimin sucked in a breath as he took in the sight of you, tilting his head back once more when he finally felt your mouth on him. You watched as his head lolled to the side, his neck muscles moving with the action. The view made you want to mark the pretty skin there.

But right now, you had other matters to attend to.

You opened your mouth wider, wrapping your lips around his tip before sucking gently, teasing him.

“Fuck-” you saw him bite his lip as he stared down at you with half-lidded eyes. He was holding onto the edge of the desk with both hands, fingers flexing as his hands opened and closed around the wood. You worked your hand faster, feeling him twitch in your grasp. You wanted to take all of him in, and you were determined to do just that.

Before you could continue, though, he pulled you off of him and up from your knees, capturing your lips in a heated kiss.

“As much as I would love for you to choke on my cock, I need you over this desk. Now,” he growled in between kisses before he pulled away, moving his hands to the hem of your shirt.

“May I,” he asked, and you knew he wasn’t teasing because he had that same concerned look in his eyes. His need to make sure you were comfortable with everything, while still also maintaining that sense of control was one of the hottest things you’d ever seen.

“If you don’t then I’ll be mad,” was your response as you jutted out your lower lip, playfully pouting. Jimin smirked and captured it with his own, biting gently as he started lifting your shirt up.

When your shirt was off you immediately unclasped your bra to let it fall to the floor, making Jimin smile this time.

“That’s my girl,” he whispered against your neck as he started fondling you, his touches soft but still intense.

He turned you around this time, guiding you so that you were sitting on the desk once more.

His desk had been through so much already, the poor thing.

“Jimin,” you whined as he loomed over you. He had one hand cradling your thigh, drawing smooth patterns over your skin.

“Hm,” came his response. He was looking down at you and into your eyes, making you briefly lose your train of thought.

“It’s not fair that I’m basically naked and you still have some of your clothes on.”

Jimin chuckled. “That’s wrong; you’re still wearing your skirt. And I also took off my tie earlier.”

You groaned and he laughed, the delightful sound echoing off the walls of the empty room.

“So eager, I love that,” Jimin said as he started taking off his shirt. As he shrugged out of it, also stepping out of his slacks and boxers, you gasped as you noticed the inked letters spanning across his ribcage.

He must’ve noticed your staring, since he tilted your chin up to look at him. “Princess? Mind telling me what’s got you so occupied?”

You gulped. “You- you have a tattoo.”

Jimin ran a hand through his hair and grinned, almost as if your interest in his body art increased his confidence.

“I have more than one. Maybe one day you can find them all.”

The thought excited you way more than you’d care to admit, and if Jimin wasn’t standing in between your legs, you might’ve even rubbed your thighs together.

He leaned down to rest an elbow on the desk, his other arm occupied since he was caressing your cheek. He bent down fully to give you another kiss, this one slow and full of unspoken words.

He pulled away to look you in the eyes once more, his stare serious. “Are you sure you want this, Y/N?”

You nodded so fast that you were afraid he might laugh at you. “Jimin, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anyone more.”

His small smile was enough to make your heart leap. That is, it was until he frowned.

“Shit,” he let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong?” You knitted your brows in confusion as you watched him drag a hand down his face.

“I don’t have any condoms on me. And I don’t keep any here, for obvious reasons. Fuck,” he ran a hand through his hair again, but this time you were sure it was from exasperation.

You reached out when he moved back. “Jimin, wait.”

He looked at you and his brows were knitted together in frustration.

“I haven’t been with anyone in a long time, and I’m clean. So, if you want…” you trailed off, your voice sounding small. You started thinking that maybe it was a stupid thing to imply, until you saw his eyes widen.

“But you- you were in a long-term relationship,” he cocked his head to the side, trying to make sense of it. He was trying to make sense of the thing you had been trying to piece together yourself for the last year.

You shrugged. “Yeah, well, when I figured he might be cheating I put an end to that.”

Jimin stepped closer until he was in front of you once again, his hands finding purchase on your hips. “Why didn’t you end everything back then?”

You sighed. “Because I didn’t know how. But,” you pulled him closer as you wrapped your arms around him, “it’s over now and I’m here with you. That’s what matters right?”

Jimin nodded slowly. “Right,” he sounded distracted, though, so you cupped his face.

“Jimin? Do you want this?” You needed to make sure before anything went further, and if he said no and put an end to it, you wouldn’t fight the decision no matter how bad you wanted it.

You both were looking out for each other’s comfort first and foremost above anything else.

“Of course I do, it just- it fucking frustrates me to no end that you were staying in such an awful relationship. It makes me angry,” he paused to look at you again, and you could see the fire in his eyes. “Not angry at you, of course, but angry at him for treating you any less than what you deserved.”

His grip on your waist tightened. You rolled your eyes before kissing him hard, a surprised sound leaving him upon the impact.

“Jimin. Are you clean?”

Your question took him off guard, if the confused look on his face was anything to go by. “Yes, but-“

“Then instead of using your energy being frustrated, why don’t you use it for something better,” you reached down to wrap your hand around his length again as best you could from your current angle, and he let out a hiss at the pressure.

Within an instant, he had you caged against the desk again, moving your thighs apart so he could get closer to you.

He started kissing down your neck as you wrapped your arms around his back, feeling the muscles flex beneath your fingers.

“Did you have an idea in mind, princess?” You could feel him speaking the words against your skin, and when he travelled back up to a spot right underneath your ear, you turned your head.

“Why don’t you fuck me on this desk like you’ve been wanting to,” you said this time by his ear, trailing your hands down his back all the way to his ass. “Let’s see if we can break it.”

He groaned at the same moment you pushed him closer. He placed one last kiss on your neck before leaning up. You were rewarded with the sight of him standing before you, defined muscles on display. The dark-lettered NEVERMIND tattoo sprawled across his ribs was a stark contrast to the rest of his skin, and it was so beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful.

And you still couldn’t quite believe you were here, finally, with him.

You watched as he started stroking himself leisurely as he looked at you. The sight made you more wet immediately, and you reached for him.

He smirked, that cocky smirk that drove you mad some days. “Patience, princess.”

He stepped closer and grabbed your hips, pulling you to where you were just hanging off of the edge of the desk slightly. He pushed his hands between the desk and your thighs just underneath your ass, confusing you. Before you could ask why, Jimin informed you of his plan.

He leaned closer, tugging your earlobe between his teeth, making you melt instantly. “You gonna let me fuck you the way I’ve been dreaming about, princess?”

The words mixed with his sultry tone had you gushing and you nodded vigorously, feeling him chuckle against your neck.

“Yes sir, please, have me however you want me,” you reassured him. When he pulled back to look at you, his eyes were filled with lust but also the ever-present concern.

“Are you sure?”

You almost groaned. “Jimin, yes, please do something.”

You barely got the sentence out before he picked you up and flipped you around, making you lean over the desk as he settled in behind you. He tugged your skirt down to around your ankles where your panties still were, and he removed them both. Your arms were laying by your sides; you were planning to grab onto the desk but Jimin had another idea in mind.

He grabbed your wrists and pulled your arms behind your back, placing one wrist over the other. The motion didn’t hurt and it wasn’t uncomfortable. He was restraining you again, but he also gave you enough room to move if you needed to.

“What’s your color,” he asked as he rubbed your back with the hand that wasn’t holding your wrists.

“Green, please-” you looked over your shoulder at him, hoping he would heed your plea. He pushed a finger into you, making you gasp.

Jimin chuckled. “Just making sure you’re ready. You’re so wet for me. Even after cumming for me once already.” He was shaking his head and you knew he was messing with you but it was working. You squirmed in his hold, moving your ass against him to try and entice him.

“Jimin, I swear, if you don’t fuck me soon-“

Your words were cut off as Jimin entered you in one thrust, making you breathless. He quickly set a steady pace, one hand on your hip, the other holding your wrists in place, smirking down at you as it took everything in you to not to stop looking at him over your shoulder.

“Nothing else to say, Y/N? What’s the matter, can’t talk when you’re getting fucked this good?” He increased his pace and your mouth was just hanging open in a silent scream.

“Jimin, fuck, please,” you closed your eyes and let your head fall forward, clenching and unclenching your fists as each thrust rocked you forward.

“What was that,” Jimin asked you as he slowed down, his fingers pressing harder into your hip.

“Sir, please, don’t stop-“ you moaned and heard him curse under his breath above you. His grip around your wrists tightened, making you whine at the feeling.

He loosened it then, and you realized he may have mistaken your sound to be one of pain. You looked back at him as best you could, watching him as he studied you, his lips pulled between his teeth. You could feel him twitch inside you when your eyes met.

“It feels so good,” you told him in between your moans, your breaths coming out shallow as he continued to pound into you.

As good as you were feeling, you still couldn’t help the question that popped into your head.

“Sir,” you called out to Jimin. He slowed his movements inside of you, but didn’t still completely.

“What is it, princess?” He sounded somewhat breathless and for a moment you forgot what you wanted to ask.

“Isn’t there - shit - some kind of policy against this sort of thing?”

Your question took him completely off guard and the look on his face made you giggle.

“Are you asking if there’s a rule against fucking my employees?” He smirked at you as he picked up his pace again, making your eyes roll back.

“Well not just that,” you broke off to let out another whine when he repositioned his hand around your wrists, “but against workplace dating in general.”

“Hm, well, now that you mention it,” he pondered, pausing to let out a grunt when he pushed into you deeper, “there isn’t anything against that.”

You smiled at that, resting your cheek against the desk as you closed your eyes.

“Perfect, so if I wanted to date the cute guy who works in accounting-”

You couldn’t finish your sentence because Jimin rocked you so hard it actually did knock the breath out of you. He pulled you up by the hold on your wrists until your back was flush against his chest, letting go of your arms then. He wrapped one arm around your midsection while his other hand cupped around your jaw.

He moved your face to the side so you could look into his eyes that held a fiery expression.

“You’re mine and no one else’s,” he growled before pulling you into a kiss that was searing with so much passion. He continued to pound into you, now moving the desk forward along with you.

“You got that, princess?” He kissed you again, all teeth and tongue as he explored the expanse of your mouth. He reached up to tweak one of your nipples, making you cry out into the kiss, him swallowing all the sounds you were making.

You knew his possessiveness he was exhibiting now was due to the more dominant persona he had adopted during all this, and you really didn’t mind it at all. You knew he valued you as your own individual person, and he’d never want to have actual possession of you or your body. So things like this, that happened in the moment, you were comfortable with. You wanted to be his, and had wanted that for so long.

He continued ramming into you faster and when you still hadn’t answered him, he snaked a hand into your hair and tugged hard. Again, not hard enough to really hurt, but hard enough to bring your attention back to him.

“Yes, sir, I’m yours and only yours,” you answered breathlessly. Your answer seemed to please him as he groaned and mouthed at your neck.

“Fuck, my good girl, taking me so well like this,” he released his grip on your hair to now hold onto your waist with both hands. Your head fell back against his shoulder, your eyes closed and mouth open as all sorts of sounds were tumbling out.

“Color?”

“Green. But, Jimin,” you whined.

“What is it, baby? Tell me what you need,” he spoke the words against your temple as he placed a kiss there. His pace had slowed somewhat, more sensual now than anything else, but the force of his movements were still enough to send you reeling forward, had he not had a tight hold on you.

“I wanna see you. Please,” you repeated a plea from earlier that night. You loved what was happening right now, but you loved watching him come undone above you even more.

“Of course, princess. I can’t deny you when you beg so sweetly for me.” His words made your heart constrict, a somewhat strange feeling when you were already overflowing with arousal.

He turned you around and laid you back, only pulling out for a second to do so. He entered you again and resumed his pace he had been keeping up before. He gripped your thighs to pull them apart more, now hitting a different angle inside of you from this position. The change in angle had you both moaning, your sounds mingling together.

He sped up once you were positioned high enough on the desk so that he knew you wouldn’t fall. He removed his hands from your thighs, only to capture your hands in his own a moment later. He intertwined your fingers, giving you something else to brace yourself against as he pinned you there.

His pace was relentless, and with every movement that rocked you forward, you felt him hit that spot inside of you that had you begging for another release. You knew you wouldn’t be able to last very long, especially after reaching your high earlier, and certainly not with the way Jimin was sounding above you.

Every noise he let out was music to your ears, and with the way he was moaning now, you wondered if he was nearing his high, too. The idea of watching Jimin come completely undone as he pounded into you had you clenching around him, causing him to let out a strangled groan.

“Shit, you got me so worked up earlier that I don’t know how long I’ll be able to last now. Especially when you do tha- fuck.” Jimin cut himself off with another grunt as your walls clenched around him once more.

Both of you were so wrapped up in the moment of passion that you didn’t notice the lamp that was teetering dangerously on the edge of the desk, threatening to topple over any second. Jimin thrusted harshly then, making you scream out, the noise almost masking the sound of the lamp falling onto the ground.

“F-fuck,” you stammered, tilting your head to the side to try and find the source of the noise. Jimin wasn’t having it though, as he turned your face to look back at him.

“Focus on me, princess,” he said in a low tone, eyes nearly closed from his own pleasure. He squeezed your hand with the one that wasn’t currently cupping your face. When his eyes met yours, he let out a groan.

“Always so good for me. I wanna see that pretty face when I make you cum for me again. Wanna see you completely lose it when I’m deep inside you.”

His words sent another wave of arousal crashing through you and you started clenching harder around him now, making him twitch inside you in return.

“Please, sir,” you whined, not even sure what you were begging for at this rate.

“Please, what,” Jimin emphasized the last word as he squeezed your hand again, letting you know he wanted an answer from you. So you blurted out the first thing you could think of.

“Please let me cum again, sir. Please make me.”

Jimin moaned and you could see him smirking above you. “You want me to make you cum again? Well, princess,” he leaned down and brushed his lips against yours, “I think I can grant that wish.”

Without a warning he let go of your face he’d been cupping so gently, reaching in between the two of you to rub your clit as he started moving inside you harder. The combined pleasure of everything drove you to your climax much faster, and you started crying out his name and other incomprehensible words.

Since Jimin wasn’t holding one of your hands down anymore, you started reaching out blindly with that one for something to hold onto.

“Jimin, I’m so close, please-“

He noticed your struggle and pulled you up to where you were just barely seated on the desk now, wrapping your legs around him. This new angle caused both of you to moan loudly, and you knew that at any second you’d be ready to burst.

“I’m right here, Y/N, I’ve got you,” Jimin said against your mouth as he tried to kiss you, failing only because his ministrations were moving you so rapidly that you couldn’t stay still. You grabbed onto his back, leaving scratches whenever a particularly hard thrust would shake you to the core.

You rested your forehead against Jimin’s shoulder, and he placed an uncoordinated kiss on your neck. His thrusts were becoming sloppier now.

You could hear him let out breathy moans by your ear, and if that didn’t spur you onward to your release, his next words definitely did.

“Cum for me, princess. I wanna feel you cum all over my cock,” he said softly beside your ear. His words triggered your release before you could call out a warning, so all you could do was scream out and hold onto his back for dear life.

"Fuck, fuck,” Jimin breathed out, and the way you were clenching around him had him reaching his own high not too long after you did. You saw his abs flexing with his release, and you could feel him painting the inside of your walls as he let out a muffled groan against your shoulder.

He slowed his thrusts to a stop and the both of you were breathing heavily. You sat there for a little bit, both trying to catch your breath with you rubbing his back and him placing small kisses on your shoulder and neck.

Before Jimin pulled out of you, he reached behind you and grabbed some tissues from the opposite end of the desk. He gently pulled out and cleaned up whatever mess he could from the current position you both were in, and when he thought he did a sufficient enough job, he tossed them into the waste bin beside the desk.

You didn’t have a chance to ask what would happen next before Jimin was picking you up and walking over to his desk chair. He sat down and situated you so you were comfortable in his lap. It felt so nice and you let yourself enjoy the feeling, hoping to bask in it as long as you could.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a small heap of something on the floor that you knew wasn’t there before. It dawned on you then what it was, which also made sense as to why it was darker in the room now.

“We didn’t manage to break the desk, but that lamp has seen better days,” you noticed as you took in the sight of the lamp that had fallen to the ground. The light bulb didn’t shatter, thankfully, but the lamp had separated itself into 2 different parts upon its impact of hitting the floor.

Jimin observed the lamp as well before he shrugged, saying “It’ll be an easy fix, and that’s a problem for another time.”

You hummed your agreement as you made yourself more comfortable in his lap. A few moments of comfortable silence passed before anyone spoke again.

“I don’t have anything here for aftercare, seeing as I never expected it would be needed-” Jimin sounded worried, so you were quick to reassure him.

“Being here with you is enough. Plus getting to sit all cozy in your lap is a bonus.” You wrapped your arms tighter around Jimin and he chuckled.

“Even still, we did a lot tonight and I want to take care of you properly. So,” he broke off, waiting for you to look up at him. When you did, he continued.

“Stay with me for the night,” Jimin offered. “Let me take care of you.”

“I’d like that,” you answered with zero hesitation. You could feel Jimin’s smile against your forehead as he placed a kiss there.

An idea dawned on you then, making you frown.

“Wait, but I drove here, so my car-“

“Can stay here until the morning. Or whenever we decide to come back. Maybe we’ll take the day off tomorrow, who knows.” Jimin patted your head as he kissed your temple. You let out a soft sound of content, closing your eyes as you rested your head on his shoulder.

“Then take me home. I’m all yours.”

He chuckled and you could feel the vibrations coming from his chest. “God, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that.”

You looked up at him then, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. “And you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to say it to you.”

“We really are just some clueless idiots, aren’t we?

You laughed, laying your head back on his shoulder. “It would appear so.”

You could feel Jimin’s steady breathing from where you sat, the warmth of his skin pressed against yours soothing you.

“You know,” you started to say, your mind still hazy, “if I’d have known there was any interest, we probably could have made this happen much sooner.”

Jimin pulled away then and nudged you with his nose so you’d look up at him.

“Y/N,” he said, a small frown covering his beautiful face. “You do realize that up until last week, you were in a relationship, right?”

You groaned and laid your forehead on his shoulder. “Trust me, no one knows that better than I do. But it was a miserable relationship.”

“Then, why did you stay?”

You knew he was genuinely curious, and you pondered about it for a second, wondering how to answer it in the best way.

In the end, you decided to just be straight up honest with him, since transparency and honesty are always important in any kind of relationship, intimate or otherwise.

“Truthfully? It was the only way I could get my mind off of you.”

You felt him stiffen beneath you then, and you reached up to place a soft kiss on his lips. It took him a second to kiss you back, his arms pulling your closer.

“Fuck, if I’d known that- I swear I would’ve never stood idly by while you continued to stay in a relationship you were miserable in, you know that-”

“I do, don’t worry. I know you wouldn’t do that. But it also wasn’t up to you, either. Everything was up to me. And I finally had the courage to end things, and we’re here together now. That’s what matters, yeah?”

Jimin didn’t seem completely convinced, so you caressed his cheek, making him bring his soft eyes down to look at you.

“I want to be with you, and you want to be with me. We can figure out the rest some other time, but isn’t that enough for right now?” You felt his smooth skin underneath your fingertips, the corners of his lips tugging upward as he finally sighed and nodded.

“I think I can deal with that,” Jimin hummed, brushing some of your hair back out of your face. Your head found its place on his shoulder once more, relishing the comfort of his arms.

You yawned before you continued talking. “I’m tired so we may wanna get a move on, unless you plan to carry me all the way to your car.”

“Hmm, sounds like you’re doubting my ability to carry you.”

You snuggled closer, running your fingers along the lines of his beautifully drawn tattoo. “Not doubting, just thinking out loud.”

“Well,” you felt Jimin wrap his arms more securely around you, “let’s test that theory.”

He pulled the both of you up out of the chair with little effort, and instead of letting you down so you were on your feet again, he carried you over to the desk and set you down on it.

Before you could ask what he was doing, he handed you your discarded clothes so you could redress.

“It’s cold out, so clothes might be helpful,” he teased you as he redressed himself. You didn’t have the energy to tease him back, so you shrugged your clothes back on and waited on him to finish gathering his things in the office, swinging your legs back and forth.

When Jimin was done, he walked back over to you with his arms outstretched. He was offering to carry you again, and you felt your heart skip a beat.

Instead of taking him up on his offer, you got to your feet. “As much as I’d love to have you carry me the whole way, this way is faster.”

Jimin smiled and opted for putting an arm around you instead as the two of you left the office once you’d grabbed your things. “So eager to get home?”

Something about him calling his place ‘home’ made you feel warm all over, but you pushed it down for now. You had so much time to sort your feelings out later, and you wanted to enjoy these moments now without any overhanging thoughts.

“Yeah, eager to get in the bed.” You stretched and yawned again, making him smile as he called the elevator down.

“So eager to sleep, huh?”

“Is that all we’re gonna do in your bed,” you pretended to be sad and he caught on immediately. He patted your head teasingly.

“Yes, tonight we sleep. But tomorrow,” he stepped into the elevator, pulling you in with him and hugging you against his chest, “who knows.”

You felt your face heat up at his proximity, which you found to be ironic considering everything you’d just been through. The remainder of the elevator ride was silent, as was the walk to the parking lot. You didn’t feel like any words needed to be exchanged when the feeling of his hand wrapped around yours was saying enough.

The car ride was also comfortably silent, and despite your best efforts, you couldn’t keep your eyes open. The next thing you knew, Jimin was softly shaking you awake as he helped you get out of the car. He helped you walk into the house and guided you to the bedroom since you were still half-asleep.

The two of you shared a nice shower, stealing kisses from each other underneath the comfort of the warm water. After you were both clean, Jimin made sure you had everything you needed to be comfortable, and he settled into bed behind you, pulling you close as he wrapped an arm around you.

“Hey, Jimin,” you said sleepily.

“Hm?”

“Next time, maybe we should use my desk since it’s smaller.”

He let out a laugh and wound his arm around you tighter, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

“Maybe so,” he murmured against your skin, making you smile. It didn’t take long for you to start drifting off to sleep once more.

The last thing you remember hearing before you fell asleep was Jimin’s soft voice saying “Pleasant dreams, princess.”

And for the first time in a long time, you were able to sleep peacefully.

#bts #bts smut #jimin smut #jimin au #jimin x reader #jimin scenarios

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sashi-ya · 3 years ago

Note

Hiya ! If requests are still open for this week could I ask for Marco with a tiny fem!s/o with a size kink ??? Thank you so much and hope you’re having a great day 💕💕💕

Hi darling!! Of course! I hope you like it ♥ Thank u for your request and all of the support! Have a great weekend ♥ ~

NSFW ~ Marco x F! Tiny! Reader ~ You Are So Tight For Me ~

TW: NSFW. Size kink. Best friends to lovers. Sex at a party. Unprotected sex. Kind of rough sex.

WC: 1.7K

Tag list: @undercoverweeeb @mistyroselove

Marco and you have always been good friends, really good friends. You love him as much as he loves you, yet, you too never ever had any romantic or sexual interaction before. You are so close, people usually think you two are a couple, yet you aren’t. Still…

You > Oiiii pineapple birb, are you up for tonight’s party at Izo’s? Pineapple Birb > Oi Tontatta, yeah. Be ready at 8.

“Tontatta? What does he mean with “Tontatta”??... OH…” you say while throwing the phone to the bed and realizing he was mocking you by your short height. “You fucking giant pineapple…” you grunt as you enter the shower.

-----

The sound of Marco’s pick up horn announces he is already waiting for you outside. You take your bag and keys and head out.

“G’Night” you say, struggling to enter the vehicle. “Why the hell did he buy such a big car?” you think while stretching your arm to close the door. Of course, you fail in the first attempt so the doctor bends over you and closes the door. Marco is not huge but compared to you it’s pretty big. He pats your lap, strongly, laughing. “Why the hell are you so tiny?” he says. And you can’t help but squirm a little on the seat thinking about his huge hand over your thigh in a friendly way that you wish was with other intentions.

Rolling your eyes you tell him to stop making fun of you and start driving. “Fineee” he says and hits the gas. Music blasting suddenly makes you forget about the touch of his hand over your thigh and you two sing -shout- “Good 4 U” by Olivia Rodrigo.

Marco parks over Izo’s house. He descends the pick-up and helps you. “Jump to pappa” he says, laughing. You frown and burn holes into his eyes. “Shut up” you say as he snatches you from under your shoulders and puts you down on the street. You are surprised, he has never helped you like this. Still, you act annoyed, “Who does he think he is to treat me like this?” you think.

Walking towards the door, you can see from the window the shadow of a boy wearing a straw hat running around. “Luffy” Marco and you say, laughing.

The night goes by with alcohol and food, so much food. Sanji cooked the equivalent of three full restaurants just for you -specially Luffy-. Everybody is a little tipsy, and so do you. Kiku, Izo’s sister, comes up with the idea of watching a horror movie. Everybody, except Chopper and Usopp agreed. Law and Robin decided the title, and oh boy, that was gore…

The boys set up the projector, and everybody takes his place. Sanji and Zoro begin fighting because apparently, they were “too close to each other” on the couch. Everybody look at them thinking the same, “why the fuck do you sit together if you don’t want to be close?” but then all of you remember they haven’t still figured out how much they love each other. So, for the sake of the group’s peace, Marco suggests that you could sit over his lap, and so they will have more room.

You agree instantly and sit over Marco’s legs. Your back laying over his chest. You are so used to him that this doesn’t represent a problem for you. But then, Marco snakes his arms around your waist and presses you tight against his lap. “What is this boy playing tonight?” you think.

Somehow, the idea of feeling so tiny, so squeezed against his body is making your core feel a little… fancy.

The movie starts, and so far, you haven’t gotten scared until the murderer appears out of nowhere and stabs the victim from his back. You jump over Marco’s lap, so suddenly that he also gets scared. “Shh” he whispers in your ear. A shiver runs through your spine, as you feel Marco’s warm breath on your neck. “Sorry…” you excuse yourself. “It’s ok” he says, and rests his chin over your shoulder, squeezing your waist even tighter. You gasp and fidget your ass over his groin. “Fuck it, he wants me” you think. And indeed, you feel how a hard -huge- bulge grows under your bottom… All of a sudden, a different movie plays on your head, the idea of him fucking you with his huge member makes you wet, so wet.

You start to act scared with every little scene, and with that, a little hump over him that makes his member grow harder and harder. No one will notice, everything is dark, they are all into the movie. And with the last little jump, Marco has had enough “Stop doing that or I’ll have to fuck you right here in front of our friends” he whispers. You swallow, you wanted to turn him on, but you’ve never expected he would be so straightforward to you.

You slowly turn around your face, his nose touching your cheek. “Then fuck me if you dare” you tell him. A sexy side smirk draws on his lips, and his hands pressed your lower belly so your sex could feel perfectly how hard he is. You realize you are probably gonna have a big time when taking him all inside, and that fans the fire inside you. “I’m gonna go to the restroom” you tell him, with an inviting grin. He lets go of you, and you walk upstairs.

A few minutes later, the bathroom opens and Marco looks at you up and down, scanning you with lustful eyes. You sexily take your jacket off and let it fall to the ground. He closes the door behind him and walks steadily towards you.

His right hand squeezes your throat. His left leg in between your legs, lifting you up as your back is pressed against the cold tiles of the bathroom. “Come on, hump over my leg now” Marco says. You try to gasp for air and do as he tells you to. You rub your sex against his thigh, your legs hang at each side. He is so big compared to you…

He then grabs you by your waist and sits you over the bathroom counter. You spread your legs, so he can come closer. His mouth invades yours, lustfully, feral. This felt way better than the times you’ve dreamt of it.

When he is satisfied with the taste of your mouth, he lifts you up. You cross your legs around his waist and Marco carries you to the next room. Who knows whose room it is? but you don’t care… He throws you to bed, you lay on your back while he unbuttons his white shirt. You enjoy the show of the big man in front of you, your body begs to be destroyed, to be fucked.

“Marco…” you mumble. “Hm?” he asks. “Fuck me, rough” you tell him. “You sure? I’m afraid I’ll destroy your insides” he says while leaning over you, already taking off your pants. “That’s exactly what I want” you say and bite your lip. “You little whore” he says laughing and pounces into you.

He bites your neck; you carve your nails on his back. His huge hands take off your shirt, exposing your perfect body to him. “God, why are you so tiny? I’m gonna rip you” he says, with one of your nipples on his mouth. You moan as his tongue wets your breasts.

He then traces a path of wet smooches from your tits towards your sex. He licks and kisses your hot skin, and you squirm. Yet, you are anxious to see his member, you’ve been wanting to see that huge dick in front and inside you for so long…

A finger enters your sex. “Oh, even my finger feels tight inside you… I wonder how I am gonna fuck your little cunt?” he asks, and that turns you so fucking much, he has no idea. Then, the second finger in. Slowly, but surely you dilate enough -or so that’s what you thought- to receive his shaft.

“I think I can manage to fuck you like this” Marco says while lowers the zipper of his jeans. You swallow, you want it inside now. He finally flashes his eight inches dick to you. You widen your eyes and he notices it. “Are you sure?” he asks. “Fucking destroy me, Marco” you tell him, delighted by the huge member in front of your eyes.

“Sure, my dear” he says, and aligns the tip of his dick with your entrance. You are so wet that it slides perfectly and even if Marco tries to hold back not to hurt you, he can’t take it any longer. Soon, he is balls deep inside you. You whine, loud enough for the whole house to hear you. “Shhh, little whore” he shushes you and covers your mouth with his hand.

You feel your walls stretch, they burn, but you love it. A bulge forms in your lower stomach whenever he is deep inside you, you watch it and the image makes both of you extremely aroused. He is indeed destroying your tiny body, and you are enjoying every single moment of it.

And after intense thrusts, your insides clenches around him as you are ready to fall into an intense orgasm. “Mhh babe… you are so tight. Even after fucking you so much” Marco whines. You moan as the last deep plunges send you to climax heaven. You squirt on the base of his dick, so hard, relieving the pressure, biting Marco’s shoulder.

He does the same a few seconds after, and he does not back off until your insides get filled fully with his warm seed…

“So, are we dating now?” he finally speaks, while resting after an amazing fuck. “Well, yeah, finally” you tell him and laugh soundly. Everybody knew that, except you two…

“We should come back, don’t you think?” you say. “I hope they didn’t hear us…” Marco tells you kissing your forehead… ♥ ~

#marco the phoenix #marco one piece #marco x you #marco x reader #marco the pineapple #one piece x reader #one piece x y/n #one piece x you #one piece x oc #one piece x marco #marco imagine #sashi ya

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talesofstyles · 4 years ago

Text

Reconcile II

Ok so I know that I wrote the first part with reader insert, but after many, many attempts to keep it that way, it just didn’t work with this one. So I’d like for you to meet Emma. This is my first time writing with OC and wow game changer. I love her and I hope you do too!

Also, I honestly can’t thank my beta queens enough @oh-honey-styles @for-fucks-sake-h 🥺💛 thanks for allll the comments and suggestions and nice words!!! ily both xx

Read part I here

Harry

“So… are we okay now?”

We’re sitting here on the sofa, finally having that very much needed father-daughter date. Granted, a movie night in was not what I had in mind. I wasn’t too thrilled when she said she wanted to just go back home after we dropped George at his classmate’s house for a birthday sleepover. I thought she would hole up in her room instead and ignore me. But she didn’t. I got us pizza for tea, and we’ve got Shrek 2 on the telly. Her animosity towards me disappeared just like that after she asked for a puppy the other day. Of course, I’m glad to have my happy-go-lucky daughter back, but deep down I know that we need to have a proper chat. The change in her behaviour is so abrupt that I know there’s a chance that my daughter is still bitter with me deep down. And that won’t do. I can take a lot of things, but my daughter’s resentment is not one of them.

“Yeah, we’re okay,” she nods as she takes a bite of her pizza. “You’re still getting me a puppy right?”

“I still need to talk to your mum about it, poppet,” I tell her. “Puppies need a lot of attention. It’s going to be hard work and that puppy is going to be a permanent member of our family. We’ve really got to think about it before we decide.”

I expect a little excitement knowing that her mum and I are really considering getting a puppy. But what I get is quite the opposite. My little girl’s gaze drops, her face slackening. Her voice cracks a little when she mumbles, “except… we’re not a family.”

I wince, realising how serious the effect our split has on my daughter. Despite Emma and I putting on a friendly, united front for our children, Minnie is still sad that her parents are not together.

“Of course we’re still a family,” I assure her, pulling her to me for a comforting side hug. “I’m still your dad, mummy is still your mum, and you and George are still the lights of our lives.”

“But you and mummy aren’t together anymore,” she points out bitterly. “And you live so far away from us now. I miss having you at home.”

“I know, my love,” I murmur gently, and turn sideways so she can see my face. “It’s killing me too. But you never know what the future holds, right?”

“I guess,” she says glumly.

I wish I can tell her that I’m trying to win her mum back so we can be together again, but I know I can’t do that. This is far too early. I don’t want to get her hopes up in case I’m not successful in convincing my wife to give me another shot. That’ll only break her heart all over again.

Thinking back, I realised that this is the first time we have a proper chat about our split. I fled to LA the next morning after my wife asked me to leave our marital home back in London, leaving her to sit down with our children to tell them that I was not going to live there anymore. I was shocked and angry because I had no idea what I’d done. I thought we were fine. There were no fights leading up to that. I still remember exactly what I told her. ‘You’re the one who wanted to end it, you tell them.’ And then I left.

Just like that. Without a fight.

I swear to God, it’s something that I would never be able to forgive myself.

“How’s your mum?”

“She’s sad,” Minnie sighs. “She cries a lot. She thinks we can’t hear her in the shower, but we can.”

Knowing I caused that physically hurts. I rub at the throb of pain behind my breastbone and I think about all those private tears I shed through it. The ones you hope are hidden and silent.

“Can I ask you something, daddy?”

“Anything, poppet.”

“Do you still get sad too?”

I’m not sure how much to divulge here. Does my daughter need to hear that I stopped eating? That I once cried in the loo at Cafe Habana, and once had to be fished out of a bath by Jeff after I turned into a human prune? I was sad. I still wear that hat.

“I do. It’s the end of something, that’s always sad.”

“I think mum is dating someone,” she says and my eyes widen. “She told us Luke is her friend, but I think he’s her boyfriend. They’re on a date now, aren’t they?”

I can try and deny it, but I know my daughter is smart and won’t buy anything I tell her.

“What do you know about boyfriends?” I tease, my attempt to lighten up the mood.

“I’ve just turned nine, I’m not stupid,” Minnie rolls her eyes. “‘Sides I’m thinking about getting one of those boyfriend thingies.”

I sit there slack-jawed, and my daughter roars with laughter.

“Minnie Alexandra, you’re going to drive me to an early grave, you know that?”

“Hey, what are you middle naming me for? I was joking!” She says, still laughing as she picks a piece of pepperoni off her pizza.

“How do you feel about your mum dating again?” I ask her.

She pauses. “I don’t know yet. As long as he’s nice and doesn’t put me under the stairs…”

“I’m sure he won’t. In the attic maybe,” I joke.

She laughs again. I’m thinking about keeping that bloke in the attic so my wife won’t date him anymore. Or even better, six feet under my patio. That’ll do.

“It’s gonna be okay, right, dad?”

Honestly, I’m not sure. But I don’t have the heart to tell her that.

“Yeah, Min. It’s gonna be okay.”

***

I see the headlight shining into the front windows as I walk down the stairs from tucking my daughter into her bed. That must be Emma and her date. I pull back the curtain a little to peek outside, and I’m right as I see that bollockface’s car in front of the house.

You know that saying; curiosity killed the cat? Well, in my case, curiosity fucked me with a chainsaw.

I’m a bloody idiot. I should have just closed the curtain back as soon as I recognised the car. I mean… it’s the end of a date. What did I expect to see? A high five? I knew I was so sure when they left that he would not be getting anything more than a friendly kiss, but that date must have gone really well, because right now, my eyes may as well fall out of their sockets as I see that bastard’s tongue down my wife’s throat.

I’m frozen. I’m gripping the curtain so tight that my knuckles are turning white. I stand there—stunned. Watching. I’m not even sure for how long. It does feel like forever. Like an eternity.

In hell.

And then Emma pulls back, and everything seems like a blur. I have to remind myself that my daughter is sleeping upstairs so I won’t go apeshit and knock that wanker square on his arse.

I’m still glued to the floor by the door. I’m too shocked to move. I hear the sound of keys rattling before the door swings open, and she looks surprised when she sees me.

And all hell breaks loose.

“What the fuck, Emma?!” She jolts at hearing me shout. I rarely did it. In fact, I’m not even sure if I’d ever yell at my wife before throughout our marriage. “You told me last night you’d never even kissed him. You told me you weren’t ready.”

“I- I don’t know. He caught me off guard. That was-”

“I told you I wanted to make this work,” I remind her, trying to lower my voice so I won’t wake my daughter up. She doesn’t need to see this. “Us. Our marriage. I told you I wanted to fight for you. But I can’t do that with someone shoving their tongue down my wife’s throat, can I?”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I see her tear up and I immediately feel regret. That was harsh. But before I can apologise, I can see her lip curls up and I know she’s about to get nasty. It’s a rarity with her when we’ve fought in the past, but I feel it coming.

“You’re unbelievable, you know that?” She sneers. “You think that if you put a toy down, it’ll still be sitting there when you want to play with it again.”

“That’s-”

“You have no right to be upset at me. We’ve split up for nearly a year now. What I do and what I don’t do on my dates is none of your business.”

“I want us to give our marriage another shot,” I say in exasperation. “I want to try to win you back, but fuck’s sake you’re not even giving me the time of day.”

“Oh, look how the tables turned,” she taunts. “Sucks, innit? Being the one struggling to find the time when it seems like the other doesn’t give a crap?”

“Cheap shot, Ems,” I retort.

“Truth hurts, doesn’t it, H?”

Emma averts her eyes, her lower lip quivering. I can’t tell if she regrets her harsh words or not, but she doesn’t look back my way, and she seems to have said her piece.

I knew sooner or later this was bound to happen. We never had our big fight, not even that night when she decided that enough was enough.

“I cannot possibly go through that again. It physically hurts,” she says softly. “I know I was the one who ended it, but when you just left like that the next morning without so much of a fight as if ten years means nothing to you… that really did hurt. You left me alone to talk to the kids about what happened. And sure, you did call every day. But it took you nearly nine months to finally come and see your children?”

“I needed some time. Some space,” I tell her. “Do you think it’s easy for me being there? Away from my wife and kids?”

“You chose to be there.”

“You know I couldn’t stay in London,” I murmur. “It’s too hard. At least in LA sometimes I can just pretend that everything’s okay. That we’re okay. That my wife and kids will be there waiting for me when I get home. I can’t do that in London.”

“That’s a shit excuse and you know it,” she mutters.

“I still love you, Em,” I say with a sigh. I know trying to defend myself further for what I did will get me nowhere. “We can fix this. We can be a family again.”

“Harry, it’s too late.”

“Is it him?” I can’t help but go there, because that’s a possibility. “Do you love him already?”

“Luke is a fresh start for me, H. I may not love him now but at least it doesn’t hurt looking at him. It took me months to be able to get back up again, to get to where I am right now. To finally find a little bit of peace.”

Emma’s head hangs low, and she rubs at her temple with her fingers. I want nothing more than to pull her into my arms. But by how stiff her spine is, I can tell she wouldn’t come willingly.

“I’m sorry, Emma,” I whisper, resigned. Tears well up in our eyes. There’s nothing I can say that will change her mind because we’re not seeing eye to eye. She’s still focused on the past, not that I blame her because I did hurt her badly, but I know that there is no way we can go anywhere if she can’t see past the harms I’ve caused in the past. “I hope one day you’ll be able to forgive me.”

“I’ve forgiven you a long time ago,” she says, her expression softens. Her thumb runs at a part of her finger where a ring used to be. “Now, I just want us to try and make this separation work. Focus on the kids. Let’s do the right thing by them.”

I nod.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.”

“When did it all start?” I ask, my voice cracks a little. “When did you start feeling like you’re invisible to me?”

“I’m not sure I can point down to one exact moment,” she takes a shaky breath and pauses. “The change was gradual that by the time I realised it, I didn’t even recognise us anymore. I spent days and nights wondering what happened to us. That wasn’t us.”

I wipe that one tear running halfway down her cheek, and as soon as my thumb touches her skin, I lose it. I can’t help it by this point. Tears flow as much as I try to hold them back. She’s crying too. This is painful.

“And it’d be too easy to say that I felt invisible,” she continues. “Because the truth is, I felt painfully visible. You ignored me on purpose. I wasn’t even sure what I was to you anymore, because the only chance for me to get your attention was by getting you in bed. And that was wrong. It hurts, because it felt like you only needed me to warm your bed.”

I want to deny that statement. I want to yell it’s not true. That I never intended to take her for granted. That she still makes my heart skip a beat like a bloody teenager seeing his first crush.

But I don’t.

Because she’s right. I’m not sure what happened either, but we’d changed. Maybe it’s our jobs, maybe it’s the endless responsibilities. Domesticity, children, they wore us down. Kisses became perfunctory. Hugs became less frequent. Hell, I couldn’t even remember the last time I took my wife for a date night other than for social obligations.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her again. I’ll spend the rest of my life apologising to her if I have to, she deserves it. “I hurt you badly. I really am sorry, Emma.”

“It wasn’t all you though,” she mumbles. “I never called you out on it.”

“You didn’t,” I reply. “I never worked out why?”

“I swept it under the carpet because it was embarrassing. It felt silly having to ask for your attention. And I don’t know… pride, maybe? And the kids. I didn’t want them to know something was wrong. So I played along and carried on like nothing was happening.”

“When really…”

“It was like a punch to the guts each time. You were an excellent father. You still are, the kids adore you. This may sound insane and it’s embarrassing and painful for me to admit this, but there were times when I saw you with the kids and I couldn’t help but feel jealous. When you couldn’t even be bothered to look at me… it felt like you took a dump over all my love for you.”

“Emma…”

“I wish I could get past that. I wish I could just forget what happened and trust you again.”

I bring her in for a hug and say nothing. She needs to get this all out. This is part of the process, and I’m here to listen.

But where do we go from there?

Reconciling a broken marriage is tricky. I am not a violent person but I have never wanted to strangle people as much as I want to strangle those who wrote articles with countless advice regarding this subject, making it seem like it’s easy. Talk it out, get your point across, and you’re out of the dog house. Well, you know what, bollockface? It turns out that listening is not enough. Sod you and your dumb articles.

All I know is that I can’t rush this. She’s not ready, and that’s okay. Right now, we both have things to work on. She needs to learn to let go of her resentment, and I have to learn not to take anything and anyone for granted ever again. This is killing me, but there is no one to blame but myself. I take solace in knowing the fact that I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. Maybe one day we’ll be back together. Maybe we won’t.

“Thank you for telling me all that,” I mumble against her hair.

“Thank you for listening,” she looks up and gives me a sad smile.

***

Emma comes from a big family.

There’s Jamie, her eldest brother and the only guy. I think the fact that he grew up surrounded by sisters was what made us the closest in the first place. He hates wine, even though he makes a career out of managing his own vineyard. I know, the irony. The next is Suze, sister number one who lives in Sheffield with her husband and three girls. Suze and her husband are both orthopaedic surgeons. Then my wife, the middle child. Then Meg, sister number two who just had a baby. It’s another girl so my George is still the only grandson in the family. And then Lucy, the youngest of the clan who’s still in university.

They all live nearby, and I knew that all my in-laws hated me a tiny bit for taking their daughter and sister away. They were a hard outfit to infiltrate. You don’t enter into a relationship with one of them, you get a whole gaggle of them. It was hard to get in, but once you’re in, you’re in for life.

After we’d split, I called my parents-in-law the next morning just before my flight to LA. I wasn’t sure whether or not Emma had told them about what happened, but I felt like it was the right thing to do. After all, they’d become my parents too for a decade. So I explained and apologised. Of course, I didn’t tell them the details because I knew they were between Emma and me, and they respected us enough not to ask. They were upset, but they also understood that these things happen in life. All they wanted was just for their grandbabies to come out of this unscathed.

Now here I am, walking behind Emma and our children as we step over the threshold into her parents’ home for their monthly roast. Her parents invited me and I accepted. I don’t want to turn down any extra time I have with my kids as I’ve decided to leave today and head back to London. I was prepared to stay longer, take some time off work and fight for my marriage, but since it all has gone to pot, I figured I should leave. The world doesn’t stop even when you’re struggling with marital woes. I’ve got work to do, and I also know that it is best to give Emma space.

I hear voices as we walk inside.

“If littl’uns are going in highchairs then what’s that extra space for?” I hear Meg’s husband say.

Meg tells him. “Count again, addition was never your strong point.”

“Oh.”

The house is suddenly quiet when they see me. This is my first time seeing the whole family again after we split, and even though my parents-in-law and I are on good terms, and Jamie too, I know the sisters would be a different story. All four of them are beyond close and they’re now looking at me as if they should’ve chucked me in the oven instead of the chicken.

You don’t do that to our sister. You hurt one, you hurt all of us.

“Uncle Harry!” Freya shouts in excitement. She is one of Suze’s daughters. She and her twin sister Tessa are only a few months older than my George.

Suze, who is sitting on the sofa, looks a bit sullen, not knowing what the right call is to make. Meg and her husband freeze.

“Alright there, mate?” Jamie greets me, trying to ease the tension. Suze glares at him.

“Are you here to do magic then, Uncle Harry?” Tessa asks.

I bend down to her level. “Not sure I know any magic, Tessie.”

“Yeah you do!” Freya pipes up. “Because when we were driving here, daddy said you did a disappearing act on Aunty Ems. Show us what you did!”

“FREYA!” Her dad barks.

Meg can barely contain her giggles.

“But we like magic. You’re rubbish at magic,” she says to her dad. He widens his eyes.

The sisters are now all smiling smugly, knowing a couple of six-year-olds just shamed me on their behalf. Extra roast potatoes for those two.

Lucy, the littlest sister, suddenly enters. That’s definitely not a happy face. “Oh, it’s you. Is that why everyone went so quiet? What are you doing here?”

“Luce,” Emma mutters.

“Because I invited him,” says a voice emerging from the kitchen. My father-in-law. “Harry, glad you could make it.”

“Of course,” I reply. “Thanks for the invitation.”

Lucy stares daggers at her dad, knowing she can’t unleash her trademark rapier wit as she’s surrounded by her little nieces and nephews. That one may be the youngest but she’s the scariest out of all the sisters, my wife included.

“Look, if it’s weird, I can just leave?” I offer.

“Nonsense, you must stay for supper,” Emma’s mum replies.

“Yeah, Harry, stay,” says Emma’s dad, staring at his daughters. “I want you lot to be nice. Otherwise, I’m putting you on the kids table. You hear me?”

The three of them nod in unison.

“You two look well,” I say, my attempt to make small talk.

“You know, dad’s been singing this morning,” Emma’s mum chirps, tilting her head towards her husband. “He joined a male choir. They think they’re Westlife.”

We all can’t help but laugh. This is classic mum. The tension seems to ease away.

Let’s just hope it stays that way.

***

There’s a strange feeling of déjà vu as I take a seat on the steps in front of the cottage.

I’m all packed up and ready to go. My weekender bag is in the boot of my car. Nothing left to do but say goodbye to my wife and kids, but I don’t go straight inside.

Not yet. I need a moment.

These steps witnessed a lot of our marriage even though we’d never stayed here for longer than a couple of weeks at a time. We loved to sit out here in the summer. I remember when I first brought my stuff here shortly after we got married, we sat out here with beers, sleeves rolled up, boxes stacked into Jenga-style columns.

I also remember sitting here last year on Christmas morning. Emma and I were both in our pyjamas and slippers, sipping coffees out of our matching Christmas mugs. We watched the kids ride their new scooters up and down the street. Everything was perfect. I had no idea that my marriage would end in just two months after that.

“Harry?”

I look over my shoulder and I urge her to sit beside me. She comes over and does just that. There is silence. We don’t say a word to each other. A quiet hum of traffic in the distance, puffs of breath cloud the air making me think we should both be wearing coats. Christmas is nearly here again. My heart aches at the thought of this being our first Christmas since everything fell apart.

“I’m sorry,” she says softly.

“I should be the one apologising, Em.”

“I know you wanted to work things out,” I hear the sadness in her voice. “I really loved you, you know that, right?”

“I do,” I nod. “Our marriage, all those years… it wasn’t all bad, though, right?”

“Of course,” she quickly replies. “We had our moments. We have Minnie and George.”

We pause, letting that sink in. In all this mess, those two were and remain everything, some symbol of our marriage not being a complete disaster.

“There were also times when you were a good husband,” she adds.

“Why do I feel like you’re going to pat me on the head?”

Emma laughs under her breath.

“Your new bloke seemed a nice sort,” I tell her, because it’s true. I may hate the guy with a burning passion, but that’s only because he’s dating my wife.

“He is.”

“That got legs?” I ask her.

“Possibly.”

“I want you to be happy, Ems,” I tell her. “With or without me.”

“Harry…”

“But I also want you to know that I’ll be waiting for you. No rush, no timeline. I’ll wait for as long as it takes. Because for me, it’s either you or no one else.”

The front door opens and two little faces pop out from behind it.

“What are you doing out here? It’s freezing!” Shouts Minnie.

“Well then come here and give me cuddles to warm me up,” I tell her.

Emma and I take a kid each. She takes George and lets him entangle his legs in hers, cradling himself into the hook of his mummy’s arm. Minnie uses me like a climbing frame. I bop her on the nose as I’ve done since she was a baby, and I like that it never stops being hilarious to her. The sky starts to dim, trees casting shadows onto the pavement. A house down the road has some festive lights that switch on and flicker on and off in strange syncopated patterns.

“This is nice,” Minnie mumbles. “I miss the awesome foursome.”

“The awesome foursome, huh?” I ask.

“That’s what you used to call us,” I hear the sadness in her voice and my heart aches. I know she feels this all a lot more than her little brother. “I still remember.”

“Do you really have to go again, daddy?” George looks at me with sad puppy dog eyes.

“Yeah, do you?” Minnie asks. “I love having you here.”

“I do, my loves,” I reply sadly. “Be good for mummy, alright? I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

“I don’t like seeing you go,” George mumbles.

The emotion is a little unbearable and I see a tear trail down my wife’s cheek. George looks petrified seeing his mum cry.

“Don’t be sad, mummy.”

“I’m not sad,” she shakes her head, quickly wiping the tear off her cheek. “I’m just sorry daddy and I couldn’t make it work.”

“Did we do something wrong?” George asks, looking at his mum and then me.

“Oh, mate,” I reach out to cup his face, Emma pulls him into a hug. “Of course not. You didn’t do anything wrong. You two are perfect, you hear me?”

“Do you still love each other?” Minnie asks.

Emma looks at me in the eye as she answers our daughter. “I’ll always love your dad, because he gave me both of you.”

“And I’ll always love your mum,” I say, my eyes pinned on my wife. “No matter what.”

Emma

“So… tell me, he a good lay? He looks the sort to have some girth.”

I probably should have warned you beforehand about this sister of mine.

Lucy is my entertainer sister who has done every job going alongside studying. She went to dance school, spent six months on a cruise ship, has been an extra and once did a two-month stint in Les Misérables. On weekends she dresses up as Disney characters and does kids’ parties which means she owns a lot of wigs and always has glitter in her bra. She’s the fun one. I keep her close because as much as I love my other siblings, this one has been a good entertainment through my separation. Mum suggested for her to live with me for a couple of weeks when I first moved back to the Peak, and I’m so glad she did. It was around the time I lost a stone and would spend most of the time napping, crying and staring at the wall, surviving on cups of tea and Rich Tea fingers. She couldn’t cook or clean and she used all my shampoo but she brought some light into the house when grey clouds threatened to consume it. She was also a great distraction because I could live vicariously through her tales of going to gigs and clubs and hear how she’s not slept and got her boobs out for reasons of fun and frivolity.

However, when you talk to her, she always goes there. She’s brash and has no conversational limit. She thinks her purpose is to not only feed me but also revive a pretty dead sex life too. Actually, it’s not just her. After my husband and I split, my sisters think it’s their job to pique my interest in men again. Luke happened after a boozy Chinese takeaway about two months ago when I joked that a spring roll was the most phallic thing I’d had in my mouth for over half a year. I remember a dumpling rolled out of Meg’s mouth in shock, so Suze decided to play the matchmaker and introduced me to Luke who worked at the same hospital with her.

Tonight, we’re having another takeaway night since my parents have all the grandchildren for the weekend. Bless them for entertaining that crew of children we seem to have acquired over the past nine years. We have seven between Suze, myself and Meg, and I just hope that my parents are well stocked with wine. They will need it.

We all sit around my dining room table with the remnants of a KFC bargain bucket, a selection of Thai food, a giant bag of chips and some battered sausages. I’d admit that we were already a little drunk to buy food sanely. Luke is also here, I thought it’d be nice to give my sisters the chance to get to know him. And it doesn’t take Lucy more than thirty seconds after Luke gets up to take a phone call before asking such questions.

“I don’t know? I haven’t slept with him yet.”

Lucy looks at me in confusion. “But you’ve been on dates and stuff?”

“We did have a cheeky snog last week but we’re taking it slow.”

“What are you waiting for? Just go shag him. Erase the memory of that wanker?”

“Hey, he’s your niece and nephew’s father,” I chastise her for calling Harry names. “Don’t call him that.”

“Why don’t you want to sleep with Luke?” Meg, my other sister asks me. “Lucy is right though. He’s really tall, I bet he’s VWE.”

“What’s that?” I ask.

“Very well-endowed.”

I chuckle. “Honestly, I wouldn’t know what to do with it.”

Meg giggles and places her head on my shoulder.

“Last time I had sex was on Valentine’s Day, girls. Do your maths. The next day, my marriage collapsed.”

Both of them huddle into me like penguins.

“Which is why you just need to get over yourself,” Lucy remarks. “You need to remember what sex is like. It’ll be fun and make you feel good. If you don’t want to do it with Luke, you can have some taster session? I’ve got a uni mate who’d shag you.”

“Lovely. No.”

Lucy huffs. “You’re so boring.”

“Honestly, Em, Luke is fit. Seems like a nice fella, and he genuinely likes you. I’d have a go on him if I weren’t married. You should just do it,” says Meg.

“Yeah, you could shag him tonight,” Lucy adds. “Meg and I can piss off out and then…”

Then she does a strange rave-style dance as she thinks of her plan coming together. Luke returns from his phone call and Lucy jiggles in her seat. Don’t you bloody dare.

“Luke, we need more wine,” says Lucy. “There is not enough and we thought you could walk down to the shop and get some?”

Meg and I look at each other for a second, wondering what our sister is up to.

“Sure, yeah, I could get wine,” Luke replies. “Any other requests?”

If she tells him to get condoms in then I will skewer her with a chopstick.

“Anything you might fancy or need?”

She’s walking an incredibly thin, thin line.

Luke gets up to retrieve his coat and grazes my hand as he does. This move doesn’t go unnoticed by Meg and she gives me a sly wink. I hand him my keys and he heads for the front door. Meg stares Lucy out.

“Seriously?” She says.

“We need to prepare you if you’re going to sleep with him.”

“Like mentally?” I ask.

“Like have you had a tidy? This will be your first time. You’ll need to at least tidy up the flaps and do a bit of topiary.”

“LUCY!” I gasp and laugh at the same time, holding my hand to my face. Who is this woman? How can you raise five children in the same house and come up with such a random entity?

She stands up and heads for my kitchen drawers, rifling around until she pulls out a pair of scissors.

“Show me your bush,” she orders.

“Lucy! I prepare food with those scissors.”

“And we’ll wash them?”

Meg is in hysterics as she sees this scene unfolding in front of us.

“I’m not getting my bush out in my kitchen.”

“You’re so dull,” Lucy complains. “I’m trying to help here. What are your pits like? Shame there’s no time to tackle your upper lip.”

I put my hand over it instinctively. “I’ve got a moustache?”

“Well, you’re not Tom Selleck but it could do with a bleach.”

“You’re being cruel now, Luce,” Meg giggles. “But I think we do need the comedy of seeing Lucy trimming your bush in the kitchen.”

I stand up reluctantly and unbutton my jeans.

“Ha!” Exclaims Lucy. “You’re wearing nice knickers, you knew this was going to happen. Just peel them back a little and let me have a look.”

“Be quick for fuck’s sake. This is something that no one needs to see.”

“Do you want a shape?”

“What?”

“Yeah, like a heart? It’d be cute.”

“No!”

Meg roars with laughter.

“I’ll just trim the length then,” says Lucy. “Meg, put your hand out.”

“Do I have to?”

“Don’t you love your sister enough to at least hold her pubes?”

I’m not even sure what’s happening here. One sister is very close to my private regions with a sharp object and I hear the creak of metal as she shears away. The other collects the trimmings in a napkin in her palm. This feels like an opportune moment to ring Suze, our other sister, and start a FaceTime chat. That time we all took one for the team so Emma could reclaim her sex life.

“Thanks, Luce.”

“You don’t say this enough I feel.”

“We really don’t,” says Meg.

“Want me to look at yours, Meg?”

“I’m good.”

“What if he’s into weird stuff?” I ask.

“Like?”

“I don’t know… maybe like choking? Stuff like that.”

“Well, no one breaks out all the moves on their first time,” says Meg but Lucy gives us a look like she begs to differ.

“And I’m not on anything. I stopped the pills months ago. What if I get pregnant?”

“That’s what condoms are for?”

They both give me a look that says I am not fourteen and that I should have an inkling about how reproduction works and the preventative measures that I can put in place to stop myself from getting pregnant.

“How do I initiate it?”

“Maybe you could dance for him?” says Luce mockingly. “You’ve both had a drink, let it just happen. Planned sex is the worst kind of sex.”

“I planned nothing. You’re the one who’s got the kitchen scissors.”

“I’m done, anyway. Not my finest work but then at least he’ll be able to find it?”

Meg laughs again as she goes to the bin with her napkin of pubes. I do my jeans up and sit at the table, downing what’s left in my glass. What if he can’t get it up? Or worse, what if he doesn’t like my boobs? I have modest boobs. They wouldn’t win any competitions. What if he wants better boobs?

“You’re overthinking,” says Meg.

“I haven’t got any condoms.”

Lucy reaches inside her handbag, pulls out two packets of johnnies and hands them to me. How far ahead has she planned this?

“Any other excuse?” Lucy asks.

“Look, tonight, just get naked with the fella, have some bloody fun. Enjoy yourself.”

I hear the key go in the latch of the front door. That was quick. Crap. Luke enters the kitchen with two bottles of red that I immediately feel guilty about as I’ve got a rack of it in the utility room. He also carries a few packs of crisps and takes the kitchen scissors that were on my table.

“No!” I stop him. “Those need to be washed.”

He looks at me in confusion and I love that he puts them in the sink without any further questions asked. He rips opens the packet of crisps with his hands instead.

“Crisps?”

Lucy grabs a handful of crisps before she grabs her phone, pretending to read some texts. “Bollocks! Meg, we forgot about the party.”

Meg quickly plays along. “Oh yeah, crap. It’s that birthday party, innit?”

I feel awful. I’m sending the sisters back out into the cold so Luke and I can have the house to ourselves. They both keep winking at me which is more down to the fact that they’ve had at least a bottle of wine each for themselves tonight. Luke stands at the kitchen door while I wave everyone off. This feels weird.

“Have fun, kids!” Chants Lucy as she shepherds Meg away from the house. I shut the door.

And then there were two. I turn around and Luke is no longer at the doorway. I tiptoe into the kitchen to find him stacking plates.

“Shall we tidy up now?” He asks.

“It can wait.”

My phone on the table lights up with an incoming text. It’s Lucy. Don’t forget to adjust your tits. Make sure they’re facing forwards. Show a bit of bra.

Does this mean my boobs are not always facing forward? Where are they looking? This isn’t helping at all. I ignore it.

“Alright,” Luke says with a smile that makes me feel relaxed but also on the faint side of nauseated. It’s probably first time nerves. Is it weird that I’m thinking about the cleanliness of my bedroom? Did I pick up yesterday’s bra from the corner of my room? Do I remember how to go down on a man? What if he doesn’t fancy me?

Sometimes I can’t help but wonder whether my marriage ended with Harry because I was terrible in bed. Maybe I wasn’t attractive enough. I’ve had kids, parts of me are stretched and doughy. Maybe I didn’t provide what he needed.

In the last year of our marriage, I think it’s safe to say that I was mainly the one to initiate things between us and my success rate wasn’t 100%. There’s this nagging thought in my head that maybe even on those nights I succeeded, those were just pity shags.

You know what, sod it.

I grab him by the collar and kiss him. He stumbles a little but then lets his body fold into mine. I can do this. Crap. He’s lifting me up. He sits me on the counter and I’d like to say the moment overtakes but there’s red wine inches from my arse so I move the glass with my hand whilst still kissing him. We’re kissing. This is weird. It’s different. It’s not my husband’s lips. Why am I thinking about my husband’s lips?

I shake my head, banishing that image. Harry doesn’t belong in this room with me right now.

I feel his hands in the small of my back and then he lifts my jumper over my head. I’m in my bra. Don’t overthink it. Oh, the bra is off. My nipples are out in the kitchen. I run my fingers through his hair as he trails kisses down my neck. Is it weird that right now, at this very moment, all I can think about is that his blond, floppy hair looks like a golden retriever?

I gasp and push him away involuntarily when his mouth wraps on my nipple. This is wrong. This feels wrong. I thought it was just first time jitters but now I think this is deeper than that.

“Are you alright?” He asks, looking concerned.

I grab my jumper and quickly put it back on. “I… I’m sorry, Luke. I can’t. I have to go.”

“Emma, I’m sorry,” his face reads panic. “Did I read the signals wrong? I thought you wanted this. I feel terrible. I’m so sorry.”

“No, please don’t apologise,” I say hastily. “You didn’t. I did want this. Or so I thought. It’s just… I’m not ready. I don’t think I’ll be ready any time soon. Or ever.”

“What do you mean? Are you breaking up with me?”

I have to be straight with him. I take a deep breath. “I want to give you the opportunity to walk away. You’re a good guy, Luke. I just don’t think it’s fair for me to string you along if we can never progress.”

“Is it your ex-husband?”

He’s still my husband. But I don’t say this out loud.

“He told me that he wanted to give our marriage another shot about two weeks ago when he was here,” I tell him. “I did say no right away. I didn’t think it was a good idea. But…”

“Is it really?” He asks. “You two have a lot of history. Two kids. Why wouldn’t you give him a chance?”

“I’m worried.”

“And what are you worried about?”

“My heart?” I say quietly. “I don’t want to go through that again.”

Luke smiles at me through sympathetic eyes. “Listen to me, Emma. I’m not a cardiologist, but I know that the hearts are the strongest organs in the human body. They can go through anything.”

What happens next feels like a blur. All I know is that by midnight, I’m already halfway down the M1, on my way to London.

Harry

It was a knock on the door that woke me up.

When I first open my eyes, I’m disoriented. I don’t know what time it is, or how long I’ve been asleep. Then I realise I’m on the sofa, and it’s still dark outside. It’s also raining. I walk towards the door and open it, just in time to catch a figure going down the steps, which doesn’t take me more than a second to recognise. I am in complete shock. Is this real? Is that really my wife, standing in front of my door in the middle of the night? Or are my eyes deceiving me?

“Emma?”

She stops on the pavement and slowly turns to face me. She’s spooked through—her jeans moulded to the curves of her legs, the sleeves of her jumper dripping, her hair flat, lips slightly tinged with blue.

“I don’t know why I’m here,” she says. “Don’t know what I was thinking.”

I open the door wider, and my voice is drowsy and deep when I say, “Come on, let’s talk inside.”

She takes a step back instead.

“I just… I wasn’t thinking. I’m here. I don’t know why,” she sounds genuinely bewildered—even a little panicked.

“Are the kids in the car?” I ask her and she shakes her head. The wind blows, spraying ice-cold drops across my bare skin where my shirt hangs open. “You’re shivering, honey, come inside.”

She stares at me, so many emotions swirling in her expression. She’s like a skittish kitten who can’t decide if she should let the stranger pat her head or haul up the nearest tree. It breaks my heart.

“I don’t think I can.”

So I go to her.

The rain is cold and hard, soaking my shirt. Her eyes dart from the pavement, to my chest, up to my eyes and back again, like she’s ready to bolt—but her feet stay glued.

I lean in so she can hear me through the rain. “Do you remember the first time we went to Paris together? When we were young and crazy enough to only rent one electric scooter for both of us, and we rode around the city at night?”

The corners of her mouth tug up a little. “I remember.”

“But then I was going way too fast and we hit a rock, and both of us went flying. I didn’t want to ride anymore the next day, because I was afraid you’d get hurt. Do you remember what you told me?”

“I said…” she begins, her eyes meet mine. “I said we had to keep riding. Because it’s the only thing that made falling worth it.”

I nod tenderly and hold out my hand. “I’m not going to let us fall this time, Emma.”

Her eyes are back on the pavement. “I’m not sure-”

I know she still doesn’t trust me. I know that sadness on her face and how it penetrates so deeply. I know she’s probably better off without me, the bastard who crushed her heart and soul and took her for granted for years.

We shy away from the things that hurt us. But that’s what scars are for. They protect the wounds. They cover them with thick, numb tissue so we’ll never have to feel that same pain again. The scars that my wife has inside? They’re tough.

I beg when she continues to stare at my hand, “Please, just come inside.”

Slowly, tentatively, her hand slides into mine.

And we go in out of the rain.

I take her upstairs to the bedroom that used to be ours. Her teeth chatter as she sits on the edge of the bed. I throw a blanket over her shoulders, rubbing her arms, sliding down to cup her hands.

“Shit, you’re freezing. How long were you out there?”

“A while. I was walking… thinking.”

“Just some friendly advice. Next time you go a-wandering, stop and buy an umbrella.”

Emma shivers as she laughs. I pull the blanket closer around her and rub her back.

“So… you gonna tell me what’s this midnight adventure about?”

Her voice comes out soft and wavering in the dark room. “I was with Luke.”

“Did he do something to you? I’ve watched enough crime documentaries to pull a perfect murder.”

She shakes her head and chuckles. “We were having a takeaway night. Meg and Lucy were there too, but then they left and there were just the two of us and-”

“Please spare me the details,” I beg.

“Nothing happened. I just… I couldn’t get through it. Your face kept popping out in my head and I knew that if I went all the way through, we’d lose our chance. And I didn’t want us to lose our chance. I know this is completely the opposite of what I said to you two weeks ago but it’s true. I wasn’t ready then and maybe I’m still not ready now, but I don’t know about the future and you said you’d wait for me and…”

Her words trail off and my chest clenches with that sublime mix of excitement and trepidation. Of wanting something so much it’s like every cell in your body is stretching, reaching for it, yet there’s a grey shadow of worry that you might never get to touch it.

“Oh, Ems…”

I cup my hands around hers and blow into them. Another shiver vibrates through her.

For a moment we sit there in silence. Memories of us in this bed come flooding back. Of the kids piling in here bright and early, and us having cuddles and catch ups over the week just gone. Of the two of us and that sacred half an hour we had together before we go to sleep. Where we could have a proper chat without little voices interrupting us every few seconds. Sometimes we’d read together too, and other times when we just couldn’t be arsed, we’d simply spend that half an hour scrolling through memes and having a laugh together.

“You’ve got to get out of these wet clothes,” I say gently, with absolutely no teasing suggestion. We’re right on the precipice. I can feel it. And I have to tread so carefully, because one wrong move could send her away, truly lost to me.

I peel my soaked shirt off and let it drop to the floor. Her eyes move, trailing over my shoulders. I stand and slowly unbutton my jeans, leaving me in black boxer briefs.

Her eyes follow my every move, looking at me.

I push the blanket off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor. I grasp her jumper at the bottom and lift slowly. I wait for her to push me away but she doesn’t. She raises her arms instead. I pull the jumper over her head and it lands with a plop on the floor. I remind myself not to enjoy the view. I’m trying hard not to look.

My chest rises and falls as rapidly as hers. I sink to my knees in front of her and reach out for the button of her jeans. She lifts her hips and my fingertips graze her skin as I slide them down her thighs, leaving the white lace knickers in place.

“Get under the sheets,” I whisper and she does just that.

She scoots to her side of the bed, and I slide beside her. Without a word, she snuggles into my side. The cool feel of her flesh is a shock at first, but in just a few moments, my heat chases away her chill. Except for her feet. I practically jump when she runs one up my calf.

“Yer a bloody ice cube!”

She laughs kind of evilly.

We face each other, almost nose to nose. Her hair still drips at the ends and a drop trickles over her collarbone, down her chest, and I’ve got to take a deep breath—because I want to lick it off her so badly.

“Talk to me,” she says softly.

“I’m taking time off work.”

“But you never take time off work?”

“I’ve got a lot to make up to the kids,” I tell her. “So I told Jeff to bugger off for at least until after New Year.”

I see her smile in the dim light.

“I’m gonna stay up with my mum,” I add. “I’ll only be an hour away from you lot.”

This is something that I’ve been mulling about. If I really do want a chance with Emma, I need to move up there because absence does not make the heart grow fonder. That may be true in secondary school when you went away for the summer. But in marriage, especially in a broken marriage, absence separates people. It creates distance. That’s the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve. You want the closeness back.

My wife’s palm runs over my bicep—tentatively at first—then with a surer touch. “They’d love that.”

“Also, you remember my old mate Stu?” She nods. “We got in touch just earlier today. He’s got a litter of puppies and he offered one for us. I told him I need to talk to you first. So what do you think?”

“A puppy, huh?”

“A puppy.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” she says. “But I’ve never had a dog though.”

“I can train it first at my mum’s?” I offer. “I’ll get it all settled. Then when it starts sleeping through the night, I’ll bring it over.”

“Does it make me a terrible mum for wishing we had that kind of service when the kids were newborns?”

“We had that service. It’s called sending them to the grandparents.”

We both laugh, and when the laughter dies down, we’re silent for a few minutes. The thrum of my heartbeat jacks up as her hand continues to stroke my arm.

“Harry?” Her voice is the barest whisper, like she’s checking to see if I’m asleep.

“Hmm?”

“I… I’ve missed you. So much.”

And I’m done.

The need to kiss her, to touch her, has been pulling at me like a raging current ever since I saw her on the front step, and with those few words, I let the current take me.

***

Numerous studies have shown that having sex extends the human life span. At this rate, Emma and I are going to live forever. We probably slept twenty minutes max throughout the night and I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve done it. I’m pretty sure the last time we did something like that was ten years ago on our honeymoon.

We’re sitting at the breakfast nook. Her hair mussy and she’s wearing one of my T-shirts. She looks freshly fucked, which I know to be true, and I reckon she’d be ready to crawl back into bed with me if I just crook my finger. But I don’t do that. Because this, us, sitting here in the morning sunlight, playing footsies under the table while we talk over coffee is all I’ve been dreaming about every morning.

“What are you thinking about?” She asks when she catches me looking.

“You,” I smile. “You look perfect.”

“No, no more,” she shakes her head frantically. “I won’t be able to walk.”

“You dirty lass, I was trying to be romantic and all that,” I can’t help but snort in laughter. “And you always do that… rebuff any type of compliment I try to give you.”

It’s true. If I tell her she looks beautiful, she waves a dismissive hand at me. If I compliment her mind, she blushes. Even an appreciative look from me has her turning shy like a schoolgirl.

When she doesn’t respond to me, I continue to poke at her. “Why is that? Why does it embarrass you when I tell you that you’re smokin’ hot?”

She wrinkles her nose at me. “Because it’s weird. I feel like you just have to say that.”

She pretends to go through one of her old magazines from when she still lived here. I reach across the table and bat at it, causing one side to pull out of her hands and reveal her entire face to me. Now she’s glaring. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”

And I grin when I see red stain her cheeks.

“And you’ve got the most gorgeous body. I take one look at you naked and I can’t help but get rock hard.”

“Stop it,” she blusters, now blushing all the way down her neck.

I change tactics, but I know this will embarrass her just as much. “You are the most amazing woman. Kindest, genuine and grounded. Funniest too. And you’re the best mother for our babies.”

“Okay,” she snaps at me as she closes the magazine and slams it down onto the table. “You’ve made your point.”

Chuckling, I stretch back in my chair and nudge her foot with mine under the table. “You’re adorable.”

She rolls her eyes, which I find to be beyond adorable.

Standing up from my chair, I walk around the table and hold my hand out to her. She willingly takes it and stands when I give her a tug. It’s a natural move for her, to walk straight into my embrace and press herself against me. I tilt my head and kiss her on her jaw. “It’s something you need to get used to… compliments from me. It’s never going to stop.”

She moans softly in my ear.

“Want to know what else you’re going to have to get used to?” I whisper as I kiss my way down her neck.

Her fingers come up, tangle in my hair, and fist tightly. “What’s that?”

“My face between your legs.”

***

Some people might not put Quaglino’s into the romantic restaurant bracket, but they’d be wrong, very wrong. In actual fact, it’s quite hard to top. The interior has this 1930’s romance charm with candlelit tables, dark-panelled walls and an adjoining room for dancing to the soft tunes of the piano man singing bluesy versions of classic songs.

Tonight, I managed to convince Emma to go out to dinner with me before she goes back to our babies. I insist on driving her since I don’t want her to drive alone at night again, which she initially refused but finally agreed.

We finish our dinner and split a slice of cheesecake for dessert. Probably not my brightest idea since I keep having to readjust myself because seeing her slowly swallow a mouthful of white, creamy concoction is a pure kind of torture. But I try to kick those dirty thoughts out of my mind and focus.

Since last night, we’ve successfully managed to avoid the talk. It feels like we’re in a bubble where everything is perfect and we’re just scared to burst it, but I know this can’t go on. Emma and I need to have a proper chat if we want this to work.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

“You and I need to talk, don’t you think?” I begin.

“You’re right,” she nods. “So…”

“What is this?” I gesture between us. “Are you ready to give us another shot?”

“I think so,” she nods. “But I want us to take it slow.”

“You set the pace,” I assure her. “I want this to work more than I want anything else in my life. So I’ll do whatever you want me to.”

“We’ll see this as a new dalliance,” she adds.

I know this is supposed to be serious so I try hard not to break into laughter. “Okay. I will court you but I won’t ask you to move to an estate in the country. Not right away at least.”

“I’m serious.”

“You sound like Austen.”

She rolls her eyes. “And we can’t tell anyone either.”

“I agree,” I tell her. “And from now on, we talk to each other, alright? I’ll try to make you happy the best way I know how. But if it’s not enough for you, then you need to tell me.”

She nods, but then her graze drops before she asks. “You really do want this right?”

“I told you I want this to work more than anything else in my life.”

“It’s just… when you first told me you wanted to fight for our marriage, I was overwhelmed because it was all so sudden. You told me everything I wanted to hear. Even at that moment, everything in me screamed for us to just fall back into it all the way. But there was also a part of me that thought you were just lonely, and maybe you thought that us getting back together was the answer to it.”

“Not true-”

Emma holds up her hand. “Maybe not true, but it’s my fear. That’s why I kissed Luke that night, because I was desperate. I wanted to push things with him because I knew I’d never love him the way I love you. I knew that if things went to pot, I wouldn’t be half as devastated. But with you? I don’t think I can survive that type of heartbreak again, H. You don’t know how much it killed me to end our marriage. I can’t afford to fall back into something that’s not going to last.”

“Emma,” I reach across the table to take her hand. “I can’t even imagine how hard it was for you. I know for sure it was not a decision you made lightly, nor on a whim. I wish I had fought you on it then… had fought for you then. There was a time when I thought our marriage was over, and I was going to let you go. But I’m not going to do that now. If it takes you weeks, months, hell, Emma… if it takes you years to fully trust my devotion to you, I’m in this for however long it takes.”

Emma nods, biting into her lower lip. I can see her eyes starting to water because every bit of this is overwhelming. She turns her head towards the music floating in from the other room. It’s a Van Morrison cover, Crazy Love.

“Wanna dance?”

The request takes me by surprise since this isn’t like her. But I toss my napkin on the table and move to stand next to her, holding out my hand. The simple delight on her face when her hand slides into mine is everything.

We step out onto the edge of the dance floor. I wrap my arm around her lower back, holding her tight and flush against me. One of her hands rests on my shoulder, playing with the hair at the nape of my neck. The other is clasped in mine just over my heart. We sway, eyes pinned at each other for a few moments.

“Thought you hate dancing?” I smirk.

“Still hate it,” she answers. “I’m just using it as an excuse to be closer to you.”

She sighs, practically sinks into my arms. Emma’s head fits against my chest like she was made to be there. My chin rests against her hair.

“Emma?”

She lifts her head from my chest. “Yeah?”

“You don’t need an excuse.”

She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love…

***

“What the-”

“Oi!” I yell, quickly pulling the duvet over my wife and I. “Heard of knocking?”

“Heard of a bedroom lock?” Lucy challenges.

Last night, we drove up the M1 straight from the restaurant. We took breaks in deserted services with shiny floors and bad lighting where we had coffees and wandered around WHSmith bulk buying sweets even though it’s really not that far. But you can never have too many travel sweets, can you?

And now, here we are, back at the cottage. The kids are still at their grandparents until this afternoon so Emma and I are enjoying the benefit of having the house all to ourselves by having a morning shag. That is until one of her sisters walks in on us. I’m very aware that I’m still inside Emma.

I pull out, roll over to lay down next to my wife, and we both stare at Lucy who is dressed from head to toe like Princess Jasmine from Aladdin.

“Party?” Emma asks her sister. We both try not to giggle as she sashays in to look at herself in the mirror then perches on the bed in her harem pants. Today, she’s gone heavy on the winged eyeliner and shows off a flat midriff. I quite like the pointy silver shoes though.

“No, Tesco,” she says dryly. “Obviously a party.”

“What are you doing here?” I ask her.

Lucy glares at me. “What are you doing here? Besides rearranging my sister’s guts, of course.”

I don’t even flinch. I’ve been married to Emma for ten years, I’m used to this sister of hers.

“I’m trying to win your sister back,” I say earnestly. I know that Emma and I talked about keeping this a secret, but she literally walked on us shagging. There’s no point in denying it. It’s best that she knows my true intention rather than thinking we’re divorced with benefits.

“Eh, about time,” she replies nonchalantly.

“Luce, please keep this to yourself for now,” Emma begs her. “This is still new.”

“I will,” she nods. “Just a friendly reminder, though, Styles. If you hurt my sister again, I won’t even think twice before starting a business selling voodoo dolls of you. Bet I could make a fortune of that.”

In their girl gang, Lucy is the wildcard, the likeliest to carry a shank. I don’t even laugh because she could be serious.

“Duly noted.”

“What are you doing here this early?” Emma asks her sister.

“I wanted to ask if I can borrow that giant tiger in George’s room?”

“Feel free to borrow the rug in the front room as well,” I cackle.

“Ooh yeah,” Emma chirps. “Are you going to find a whole new world?”

“Have you got your Aladdin?”

She pulls a face at our mocking. “My mate who’s supposed to be Aladdin is sick so I asked Jamie to fill in and he agreed because he owed me a big favour. But this lot changed their mind and wanted a genie so now I have to go to Jamie’s and convince him to let me do a full blue body paint on him.”

Emma and I roar with laughter. “Please, please, please, take some piccies.”

***

A month later…

I can only imagine the joy on my children’s faces when they open the door. I’ll be standing there with the pup in hand, but I know I’m practically vibrating with excitement myself. I glance over at the little dog crate that we’d prepared to transport him in. It’s a sweet, nine-week-old Bernese mountain dog. He’s pretty chill, curled into a round ball, but he’s not sleeping. His eyes are open and alert, as if he’s just waiting to find out what’s around the next corner.

The back of my Range Rover is loaded with two boxes of food, dog toys, bowls, a leash, and appropriate treats. Since I’m still crashing at my mum’s, that will go to her place for when the kids and this puppy come to stay. Emma has an identical list at her home, already purchased and hiding until we hand the puppy off to the kids.

I’ve got a feeling that today is going to be a good day. All morning, Emma and I texted back and forth. Some of it was practical, like making sure we agreed on all the dog rules we’d lay down with the kids tonight. Some of it was lighthearted teasing. Some of it was dirty.

I can’t remember the last time I texted my wife throughout the day just for the hell of it. I had fun with it, and I know without a doubt she had fun with it too. Which made me realise what a twat I’d been for never doing something as simple as letting her know she was on my mind in just such a way.

Pulling into the drive, I cut my headlights so the kids wouldn’t see me approach. I shut the engine off, quietly get out of my side, and press the door closed quietly. On the other side, I open the passenger door, then spring the latch on the dog crate, and this tiny little puppy totters straight at me with tail wagging.

I lift him in my arms. I shut the door and then move over to the patch of grass. I put the puppy down so he will go potty before I bring him in. When I was a kid, we had a dog called Max, but I sort of grew up with him so I didn’t remember when he was a puppy. And Emma never had a dog before, so we’re sort of winging it with this puppy training thing. But I don’t fret about it. I mean, we’ve had babies, they’re harder than this, surely?

I patiently wait for this little fella to do his business, which includes a few minutes where he attacks my shoelaces and tugs. Shite, he’s cute.

Eventually, he sniffs around, tail high and then abruptly squats to pee. I thought boy dogs lift their legs when they pee but maybe not at this age. I immediately bend and give him praise with an upbeat, positive tone that makes him excited. Who’s daddy’s clever little fella? You are! Yes, you are! You did well, mate. That was brilliant! He puts his paws up on my shin, accepting my stretches with tail wagging and tongue lolling out the side of his head. My kids are going to fall in love with this little guy.

I scoop him up in my arms when he’s done and make my way inside. But instead of entering from the front door, I circle the house so I can enter from the back, knowing they must be all in the kitchen as this is usually the time when the kids would do their homework for next week. Walking past the window, I see that I’m right. Emma is at the kitchen island with George next to her and Minnie on the opposite side. My heart starts beating faster at the thought of spending the day with my family—and apparently our new third child in my arms—and I find it almost shameful I have such excitement over it. Shouldn’t I have always been this excited? Or is it normal for things to just settle, and we take them for granted?

I shake that thought off of my mind. I had this important talk with my wife a couple of weeks ago about how we shouldn’t focus on the past. We’re both committed to repairing our marriage, and for it to work, we both know we must commit to living in the present. Because at the end of the day, the present is all we have.

I knock on the door and as planned, Emma will tell the kids to answer it.

In moments, it’s swinging open. I get a flash of Emma walking up behind our kids, but my eyes are pinned on them. They’re both in complete shock, eyes wide open staring at the puppy squirming in my arms.

Both stare at me mutely, frozen, as if they can’t believe that this is real.

Finally, I say, “surprise!”

Minnie’s gaze rises up to meet mine. “Is that ours?”

“This is ours,” I nod, laughing. But still, neither of them move forwards, so I goad them. “Come and get him?”

That’s all it takes for Minnie to scoop this little fella into her arms, pressing her nose into his head and murmuring little endearments. George scratches him and he reacts to their greetings by wiggling frantically and trying to lick both of my kids’ faces. They both laugh in a delighted way I’ve never quite heard before.

I look at my wife and see her tender smile as she watches our littles. I can tell she’s as charmed by it as I am.

I walk inside because it’s colder than a witch’s tit outside and shut the door. “He just peed outside, but we need to keep a close eye on him. If he starts sniffing around or circling, that probably means he needs a wee. Scoop him up and take him out to the back. After he’s done with his thing, give him lots of praise and affirmation.”

“Got it,” Minnie says as she plops down on the living room floor with the pup. The puppy jumps around, and all three of them start to play.

“Now, what should we name him?” Emma asks.

“Droolius Caesar?” I joke.

Emma laughs. “Jimmy Chew?”

“Sarah Jessica Barker?” I continue. “Wait, no, it’s a boy. Franz Fur-dinand?”

“Sir Barks-a-Lot?”

“Deputy Dawg?”

“Bark Twain?”

We both laugh. We’re shite at this. The kids are too busy with the puppy to comment on our suggestions.

SpongeBob SquarePants is on the telly playing in the background. None of them are watching, but I see SpongeBob scratching his snail pet under the chin before he picks up said pet and says, “I love you Gary. Gary, Gary, Gary, Gary…”

“Gary,” I say. The kids look at me and I point at the telly.

“That’s a ridiculous name for a dog,” Emma cackles. “But I like it.”

“That’s a human name?” Minnie’s brows knit slightly.

“I like it!” George exclaims, then proceeds to baby talk the pup who’s chewing on the end of Minnie’s braid. “I love you Gary. Gary, Gary, Gary, Gary…”

We laugh.

“H,” Emma calls, and my gaze moves to her. She jerks her chin to the kitchen. “Help me set up the table? I’ve got a cold beer for you.”

Minnie and George still completely ignore us as we move into the kitchen.

It would be natural for me to sit at the kitchen island while Emma gets the beer and checks on the supper, but the kids can see me from where they sit in the living room. So I follow my wife behind the island instead.

Before she can make it two steps, I move right into the back of her. Hands at her hips, I push her all the way forward until the counter catches her hips, then I dip to put my lips to her neck.

Emma’s head falls back and she utters the tiniest of sighs, one arm looping back to go around the side of my head so she can thread her fingers in my hair. It’s an intimate embrace, but not one to provoke lust. Just a message that I missed her even though I saw her two days ago, and I love touching her in this gentle, loving way.

“The kids,” she murmurs. “They might see us.”

“Oh, the tragedy,” I whisper dryly. “Our children seeing their parents hugging.”

Emma snickers and pulls away, glancing over her shoulder. “It would be shocking to them. And until we know for sure what we are and where we’re going, we need to keep them in the dark, remember? I don’t want them to get their hopes up.”

“You’re right,” I mumble in a low voice before moving to the island. I glance back at the living room and see the puppy on George’s back, trying to climb up. “No touching around the kids.”

She smiles and hands me a beer. She’s got one in her hand, and we tap bottles. She then moves to the oven, where she bends to take a peek through the window. Obviously, I stare at her arse as she does.

“It’s done,” she announces, opening the oven to pull the pan of shepherd’s pie.

“Need help with that?’ I ask, noting it looks like it probably weighs fifty pounds.

Twisting, she grins. “Sure. I made a double batch to send you home with some leftovers.”

That gets me. Not only she made one of my favourite meals, but she’s also sending me home with leftovers. I pop off the stool, round the island and take the two potholders she’s holding out to me.

After I carefully lift the pan from the oven, she shuts the oven door. I set it down on the two trivets she’s placed on the counter.

Bending over, I inhale the scent deeply. “Smells fantastic.”

Emma bumps her hip against me. “Well… you’ve been pretty amazing these last few weeks, so…”

I bump her hip back before sliding my hand around her waist. Bending my head, I murmur. “Admit it… it’s for the orgasms I gave you after the school run the other day.”

She chuckles with a sly smile. “Possibly.”

Leaning in closer, I touch my temple on the top of her head, lowering to a complete whisper. “You do know that I can give you that any day you want, right, Em? All you’ve got to do is ask.”

“Oh, I will,” she teases.

“What’s going on here?” Minnie says from behind us.

Emma and I jump apart as if we’d been electrocuted by each other. We spin to see Minnie standing there, with George next to her holding Gary in his arms. These two must have worn that pup out as he is still, watching us curiously.

Minnie’s expression, on the other hand, is condemning and suspicious.

“Nothing’s going on, poppet,” Emma says, her voice a little squeaky in panic. It’s adorable.

“Your mum and I were just talking,” I calmly explain.

“With your arm around her waist and whispering,” Minnie challenges. “Looks more like flirting to me.”

“Are you upset about it?” I challenge back. I knew she was upset when we separated and she struggled with it for a long time.

Her brows knit together. “I’m just confused.”

Emma’s expression indicates she has no clue what to say. I can’t say I’m any more well equipped, but I’m going to take this one. I give my wife a subtle chin tilt, silently telling her I’ll handle this and relief evident in her eyes.

“Come on, you lot. Help me sort Gary’s stuff,” I say, herding them towards the garage.

All three of them follow me into the garage, Gary still cosy in George’s arms.

I immediately spot the stack of supplies, which includes a dog crate similar to mine, as well as bowls, a soft dog bed, food and toys. I pick up the soft bed towards the door that leads back into the house. Minnie turns to precede me, but I stop her. “Hang on there a second, poppet.”

When she pivots to face me her expression is guarded. “You asked about your mum and me. What do you want to know?”

“Were you two flirting with each other just now?” She demands. Crap. She’s nine. She’s not supposed to know that stuff.

I can’t believe I get a little warm in the face at such a question, but I nod. I know it’s probably too soon to tell them but there’s no point in denying this. Both of my children are smart, and they deserve to know what’s going on.

Her eyes narrow. “So are you… what… getting back together?”

“Does it mean you’re gonna live with us again, daddy?” George chirps.

“Not yet, nuggets. It’s not that simple.”

“It kind of is,” she replies. “You left for months. You didn’t even come during the summer. Then once she started dating Luke-”

“What’s dating?” George turns to his sister.

“It’s when you like someone and they like you back and you become boyfriend and girlfriend then you go out to eat together and do other stuff,” Minnie explains, then she continues. “Then once she started dating Luke, you’re suddenly coming around more often. And then she told me that Luke wouldn’t come over anymore and now you two are making googly eyes at each other.”

We lapse into silence for a moment. I need to think carefully about what to say next. George beats me. “I think I’m dating someone.”

“You what?” My eyes widen.

“Yeah. I asked Poppy in the playground to be my girlfriend the other day and she said yes. Then after we were done playing on the slides we got hungry so she shared her raisins with me. I also let her take a sip of my Ribena.”

I try hard not to break into laughter but Minnie doesn’t even crack a smile.

“Okay… so here’s the thing. I was very upset. I know that was wrong of me to just leave without saying goodbye, and it was wrong of me for not visiting sooner. I needed time to let it go, and to accept what your mum wanted. But not once during that time did I not want to come back home. I’ve always wanted my family back.”

“Then what changed?” Minnie asks.

“Your mum and I spent some time apart because we both thought that was the best decision. But we were wrong. Because we realised that we didn’t want to be without each other. So now I’m trying to prove that I’ve changed. That I’m a better man, and I’m ready to be a better husband. The one your mum deserves.”

“See,” Minnie murmurs, her expression filled with confusion. George dips his head and rubs his cheek against Gary’s head, who seems to be on the verge of falling asleep. “I don’t get it. You and mum always seemed to get along great. You never argued. I never understood why you left.”

I move in close to my daughter and brush a lock of hair behind her ear. “A lot of that stuff is private between your mum and I, poppet.”

George asks. “But why can’t you just move in now, daddy?”

“It takes time, mate. Your mum and I need more time to sort ourselves out. But I promise you two that we’re trying our hardest here, okay? We need you both to be patient. Can you do that for us?”

They both nod in unison. Gary blinks twice.

“I can’t wait for us to be family again,” says Minnie.

Grinning, I bend to kiss her head. “Me too, poppet…”

***

Emma

“Gary! This way, Gary!”

Harry and I look at each other across this rather windy hilltop. The kids and Gary are exploring the neighbouring bushes and pathways as we perch ourselves on a rock nearby. We take in the view, the breeze biting at my cheeks.

My husband turns to me. “Tea? I put some whisky in it.”

“Hell, why not.”

Harry pours the tea out and we clink mugs. He brushes his thumb across my nose for no absolute reason. I was born and raised here, but this is something I’ll never tire of: these swooping hills and valleys, infinite skies and bracing breezes. As much as I loved London, I’m glad we’ve traded that life with this simpler one. There is no taxi nor Tube in sight but our kids are somehow a little bouncier and carefree. They’re happy here, and that’s all that matters.

“Ey up,” greets Harry at a group of people walking past us. They are obviously tourists as they have no way to respond and one of them is wearing bog standard Reebok Classics.

We hear the kids squeal in the distance and we both smile at each other. Getting that pup was probably one of our best decisions.

“Do you remember when we first dated?” Asks my husband. “You brought me up here.”

I nod. “I do.”

“The view was decent,” he grins.

“I know you’re not thinking about the view.”

“I was thinking about what happened when we got to the top of the meadow…”

“That was some decent shag,” I chuckle. “Nowadays, I’d worry about getting ticks on my unmentionables.”

We laugh.

I stare over at my husband taking in the view and sipping tea noisily. He always pauses for a moment on any walk to drink it all in. He rustles in his bag and gets a packet of biscuit out, opening the packaging awkwardly and offering it to me.

“Did you know that you’re supposed to call it ‘niece’ and not ‘nice’? Apparently, they’re named after the French town.”

“That’s proper pub quiz trivia knowledge right there, Styles,” I tease.

We stay up here for a little while, but since it’ll get dark soon, we start our walk back to the car. The one thing you forget about taking kids up mountains (small hills) is that for all that experience of green space and fresh air, eventually, you will have to bring them down. Despite having an entire packet of biscuit (with a whole lot of why did you bring this one? This is rubbish. You could’ve brought hobnobs), we failed to remember to pack enough snacks and a fine drizzle is now scratching at our faces. It takes George much persuading to keep walking and by the time we return to the car, the sun is dipping behind the clouds and the twilight sits in the air.

Harry decided it was fine to park in a deserted car park in the middle of nowhere to escape the throngs of regular walkers and tourists but strangely enough, when we get back there, we are one of six parked up.

“Come on, mate. Literally, just to the car. Like twenty more steps,” Harry begs our son to keep on walking.

“You lied!” He complains. “You said that twenty steps ago.”

“I’ve got Haribo in the car.”

He progresses to a light canter.

“Where did all these cars come from?” Harry asks as he approaches our motor cautiously.

“Maybe you’re not the only smart one here and people are following your lead.”

A car flashes us.

I look around at all the cars. People are sat in them. What are they waiting for? You see this sometimes when waiting for the rain to pass or when people decide to eat their lunch in the car.

Suddenly, I hear a car door open and a gentleman approaches us. His footsteps are low.

I know him. It’s Patrick. He’s our postman, so, yes, we have our very own Postman Pat. It was the first thing that tickled Harry when he found out years ago. And even better, the joke is not lost on Pat. His wife even got him a stuffed black and white cat for his cherry-red van window. I smile at recognising him, as do all of the occupants in our car.

“Emma, Harry, kids. Fancy seeing you here, of all places.”

“We’ve got a new dog and we were just taking him for a walk,” I inform him.

“Oh, lovely. What’s his name?”

“Gary,” the kids say in unison.

“Have you got a dog, Pat?” George asks him.

“No, my wife’s a cat lady. But funny you should mention dogs. This place here, people like to come here for that reason.”

“Gary seemed to like it,” pipes in Harry. “I think it’ll be his favourite.”

“That it is. People come here all the time for walking and with their dogs and other such endeavours.” His face looks slightly ashen at this point, his eyes darting towards the other cars. “And the other sense of the word… I just thought I would mention it as you have the littl’uns and it’s getting darker. I think someone just flashed his lights to warn you.”

Harry and I realise what he means exactly at the same time. “OH!” we say at the same gobsmacked volume.

“Dogg…ing…” Harry mumbles. “We should-”

“Leave, like definitely leave, like now,” I say finishing his sentence.

The kids appear confused. I look around and shield my eyes. I should shield the children’s eyes. Pat’s wife waves from the passenger seat.

“Give our regards to June,” I say.

“Will do.”

He salutes us and returns to his car. The kids have all the questions. “People come here to look at dogs?” George asks. “Where are the dogs?”

“Get. In. The. Car.” Harry mouths very deliberately.

I slink into the passenger seat. Our eyes dart in different directions trying to divert focus from any of the cars ahead. We’ll be good if Harry doesn’t drive us off a cliff face. He turns on the wipers, the engine roars to a start and he pulls away slowly.

“We could have stayed and seen the dogs,” says George, a little despondently. “Gary would’ve loved to see his mates. Wouldn’t you, Gary?”

I throw a packet of Haribo at him. Harry and I are silent. We’ve just strolled our children and our very young dog into an outdoor sex hotspot. We are terrible parents.

“Who fancies chips?” Harry says as he changes gear. He finds our littles in the rear-view mirror and studies their faces. “There’s a decent chippy down road.”

There’s a chorus of approval from the back seat. My husband smiles. He then moves his hand over from the gearstick to find mine, fingers interlocked, the sky glowing a thousand different colours.

***

“Are you calling my turkey dry?”

I look over at my older sister Suze in the corner of our family kitchen wondering where on earth she had the courage to come out with a comment like that. Even her husband stops washing up to absorb what his wife just said to our mother. I mean, you think it, but you just douse it in gravy and make do. Such is the joy of white chalky meat like turkey. Why do this now? Now she’ll harp on about the bacon she puts on the breasts and all the goose fat. But it’s Suze. She likes the challenge. I secretly think the only way she believes she can have a relationship with our mother is to spar with her regularly so they at least have one line of communication.

“It was a lovely dinner, Mum. Did you make the mince pies?” Suze winks at me.

I shake my head at her and bring the plate of mince pies through to the living room. Amidst my mother’s wreaths and tinsel wrapped around the lampshades, it’s a familiar tableau: Pop, my grandfather, asleep in the armchair in the corner, a holy green paper hat covering his eyes. Small children crawl on the floor and make angel shapes with their bodies amidst remnants of old glittery wrapping paper. I hope Mum’s made a trifle. My other sister Meg and her husband snooze on a neighbouring sofa, catching on much needed sleep since they just had a baby four months ago and I still remember four months sleep regression is hell. I like this part of Christmas where bits of old crackers litter the floor and twilight takes over.

I take a mince pie and escape to the last vacant spot on the sofa. George rests his head on my knees. “What are you eating, mummy?” I look down at his bright green eyes and wonder how he can still be hungry as he must be ninety per cent roast potato at this point.

“A mince pie.”

“With cow mince?”

“No, like fruity bits,” I pick out said fruity bits and drop them into his mouth like a baby bird. He pulls a face, tasting it, and then walks away.

Harry smiles at me from the bottom of the Christmas tree. He’s laying down on the floor with one of my nieces. He’s always been great with kids, long even before we have our own. My niece has her palm out, and Harry runs circles in it as he sings, “round and round the garden, like a teddy bear…”

She smiles and laughs, poising her fingers, ready to bounce.

“One step, two-step, tickle me under there,” he pretends to collapse into giggles and my niece’s little face broadens into laughter before she rolls over and walks away to play with her cousins.

Finishing my last bite of the tiny pie, I roll under the tree to join my husband. He looks at me as I cosy up next to him, the lights reflect off his eyes.

My mother likes a real tree for Christmas. It’s the smell, you can’t beat the smell. I like to think you can get that real pine smell from a good supermarket brand toilet cleaner but I don’t say that out loud for fear of incurring her festive wrath. And so there’s always a real tree and like we endured when my siblings and I were teens, there’s still a daily rota of vacuuming up the needles as we watch that bastard go crusty and brown as it’s shoved up against the radiator.

We lay there in silence, looking up at the branches and my mother’s multicoloured lights twinkling in some erratic fashion that my eyes can’t quite handle. I’ve been to raves that were less of an assault on the senses. It’s an overwhelming memory of our childhood, lying in silence wigging out on mum’s trippy disco lights, absorbing the magic of the season.

“You’re drunk aren’t you, tipsy-tits?”

“You were the one who poured double shots of Baileys in our coffees this morning,” I cackle.

“That’s called Christmas milk.”

“What are you doing here?” Minnie asks, her head nestling into my shoulder. I rake pine needles from her head.

“Nothing…” Harry replies. “Where’s yer brother?”

“Here,” George suddenly appears, rolling under the tree next to his dad to join us.

“Looks like the awesome foursome is back, huh?” Harry grins.

Minnie and George hum in agreement. I can see my babies smiling.

It’s time.

“Harry?”

“Yeah?”

I take a deep breath. “Will you come back home with us?”

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invisibleanonymousmonsters · 4 years ago

Text

All Men Have Limits - VII

Character: Dick Grayson x Reader x Bruce Wayne

Summary: A certain bat believes that Y/N is in way over her head, that she’s too naive to act in her best interest. So, whether she wants it or not, the vigilante family is going to help and protect her before she gets herself killed.

Word Count: 3,500+

Warning: Mention of domestic violence

Previously on…

“The Court is holding session two weeks from now,” Y/N announced to the group.

“How do we know they’re going through with it after all the recent attention?” Damian challenged.

“They haven’t missed one in over over 20 years.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Dick asked.

Y/N took in a deep breath, “We need a diversion.”

“Diversion?” Jason asked.

She nodded. “The Court has two kinds of protection: the Talons and then the protection they either buy or blackmail. The Talons are at every meeting, making sure nothing goes down and protecting The Court.”

Y/N eyed all of them before continuing – except for Bruce. The two of them hadn’t spoken since their argument, and Y/N hadn’t so much as acknowledged him.

“We need to do something to drag the Talons away from The Court – something big,” Y/N clarified.

“Like what?” Tim asked.

She didn’t say anything. Instead she just awkwardly shifted her weight.

“No,” Dick shut down, being the first to put it together.

“It’s the only way,” she countered.

By now the rest of them had figured out that Y/N wished to put herself in danger once again.

“They almost killed you,” Dick started to get heated.

“Yeah, and they’re even more anxious to kill me after the trouble we caused them. We all know it. The quickest way to get the Talons out of hiding is to dangle me in right front of their faces. Make it so easy that they can’t say no.”

They all went quiet.

“It’s a good idea,” Jason broke the silence.

Jason wasn’t one to beat around the bush. He was brutally honest. Also, he wasn’t scared of a risk.

Dick glared at him.

But to his surprise, so did Bruce.

“We don’t use our own as bait,” Bruce finally spoke for the first time.

But he wasn’t even looking in Y/N’s vicinity.

That didn’t stop Y/N from rolling her eyes at ‘our own,’ as if she were actually treated the same as everyone in this family.

“Fine,” she snapped. “So what’s your genius plan for getting the Talons away from The Court and where we want them?”

Bruce was quiet, but clearly because he was thinking.

“B, we only have two weeks to get this together,” Dick tried to reason.

Y/N just continued, “While we’re distracting the Talons, the FBI and Gotham PD can raid The Court’s meeting. Security will be at an all-time low and they won’t be able to fight their way out with the distraction of a Talon defense.”

“We can think of another way,” Bruce said. Then he addressed all boys, “We’re heading out for patrol in 15.”

Dick stood up to join them.

To everyone’s shock Y/N and Bruce simultaneously said, “You’re staying here.”

Dick’s brow furrowed. “I’m fine.”

“You’re still injured,” Y/N argued. “You’re stitches aren’t even out yet.”

“You’re staying here with Y/N,” Bruce added on.

Tim, Damian, and Jason all looked at each other in amusement from seeing Bruce and Y/N gain up on Dick.

Bruce muttered out radiuses at the other three boys for patrolling.

“Just to be clear, I’m going back to being a lone wolf when this Court of Owls bullshit is over with,” Jason announced. “But I have to admit, the drama is entertaining.”

“Aww! Come on, J! You know you love the quality family time,” Tim teased.

“I personally can’t wait for him to go away,” Damian mumbled.

“Do you know what a swirly is?” Jason asked the youngest boy.

“No.”

“Do you want to find out?”

Damian looked at Tim for some kind of hint. But Tim just aggressively shook his head in warning.

“Enough,” Bruce warned, but he wasn’t all that annoyed.

When they all left for patrol, Y/N walked to her computers.

“What are you doing?” Dick questioned.

She gave him a look, “Uhhh…doing my job?”

“You did your job,” he countered. “Give yourself a break.”

Y/N knew he was technically right. She already had everything they needed to show the FBI and Gotham PD in order to take down The Court of Owls. Now they just had to wait – even if Bruce wasn’t on board with Y/N’s plan on playing bait.

“Plus,” Dick smirked. “I need someone to entertain me.”

She playfully glared at him. “Oh, I see. So this isn’t about me needing a break. It’s about you needing attention.”

He had no shame. “Maybe.”

Y/N shook her head at his ridiculous, but couldn’t hide her smirk.

“How about I teach you some self defense?” Dick offered.

“Dick! What part of ‘you’re recovering’ is so hard for you to understand?”

He had the audacity to laugh at her reaction. “Fine. Fine. But you should learn a few things at some point.”

Then Dick started walking to the training area, specifically where all the gymnastics equipment was.

Y/N hadn’t seen anyone using it while she was down there, but she assumed it was mostly for Dick.

Without warning, Dick did a press handstand mount on the balance beam, and then he held the handstand.

“Dick! Stop!” Y/N said in a panic.

And she did exactly what he wanted, leaving her computer and walking down to where he was on the balance beam.

“What?” He shrugged as he now stood on the balance beam. “It’s just a handstand. Relax.”

“I swear to god, Dick Grayson, if you do a fucking flip on that thing…”

“You’ll what?” He challenged with a smirk. “Come up here and stop me.”

Y/N crossed her arms and glared at him. “Fine. I will.”

Dick was beaming from his success.

Y/N might not be a gymnast or a vigilante the same way as all of them, but she wasn’t completely hopeless when it came to athletics. She managed to lift herself up enough to sit on the balance beam.

However, standing up was an entirely different thing.

“Fuck,” Y/N muttered under her breath.

“You got it,” Dick encouraged.

But he was still walking across towards her as if the thing was a runway.

“Have these things always been this fucking narrow? I thought it was like width of bleacher seats.”

Dick chuckled as he offered her a hand.

“I got you. Come on,” he urged her softly.

Y/N slowly stood on the balance beam, but gripped Dick’s hands tightly.

“I have some newfound respect,” she laughed lightly as she looked down at their feet.

“Harder than it looks,” Dick agreed.

“Do you think you could’ve gone to the Olympics?” Y/N genuinely asked.

He shrugged, “Who knows. Probably not.”

But Y/N knew he was most likely being modest.

Then Dick let go of her hands to grip her waist, “Try walking.”

“I feel like we’re in Dirty Dancing. You know, like the scene where they’re working on lifts and walking across the log in the woods.”

He smiled.

Y/N lost her balance a little bit and panicked.

But Dick’s grip on her waist was strong. “You’re OK. I got you.”

It was hard to focus on balancing and walking when his gentle voice said things like that to her, making her stomach drop and her heartbeat quicken.

And it all proved to be too much when Y/N really lost her balance and there was no stopping her from falling. She shoved into Dick too hard, making him lose his grip as well.

But as they fell, Dick quickly maneuvered their bodies so he took the fall and caged her body protectively.

Y/N instantly sat up in hysterics.

“Oh my god! Oh my god! Are you OK?” Y/N cried out as her eyes went down to where he still had stitches, half expecting blood to be on his t-shirt from the wound reopening.

But Dick was laughing his ass off.

“It’s not funny!” She slapped his chest.

“I’m not made of glass, Y/N.”

She couldn’t keep her own amusement in check much longer and started laughing along with him.

But then Dick’s phone lit up and vibrated beside them. It must’ve fallen out of his pocket when they fell.

Y/N didn’t mean to look. She really didn’t. But her eyes couldn’t stop from reading the name ‘Barbara Gordon’ on the screen.

Her smile dropped for some reason.

But Dick didn’t see the problem.

He casually reached over and looked at the message.

Y/N moved off of Dick. “Texting your ex?”

Dick narrowed his eyes at the framing of her question. “Do you know every woman I’ve ever dated?”

She smirked at that. “Maybe.”

“Yes, I am. She’s a friend.” He tilted his head. “Don’t you stay in touch with any of your exes?”

Y/N shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t really have any ex-boyfriends. Just…” she hesitated, “people I’ve hooked up with or whatever.”

Dick nodded slowly.

“Why hasn’t she been around?” Y/N changed the subject quickly.

“She’s been working her own case – had to go undercover for awhile.”

She nodded. But wasn’t looking at him as they talked now.

“You know…just because that’s what’s happened in the past doesn’t mean that it always has to be that way,” he told her quietly.

“Easy for you to say.”

Dick winced a bit. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Her gaze finally moved up from the floor to his. “You’re a serial monogamist. Being in relationships is easy for you.”

“That’s what you think of me?” Dick couldn’t hide the hurt in his voice. “You think I don’t know how to be alone?”

“I didn’t say that,” she quickly defended.

“But that’s what you were implying.”

Y/N got up from the mats and started to leave.

“No. Don’t do that,” Dick caught her arm.

“Do what?” She challenged as she pulled her arm away from him.

“Don’t make up problems that don’t exist, Y/N.”

She huffed at that.

“Yeah, I’ve been in serious relationships for most of my life. Not because I didn’t know how to be alone, but because I loved them.” He shook his head. “I know men have treated you like shit, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do the same.”

“What are we even talking about, Dick?” She shot back.

How did they get from messing around on a balance beam to discussing their non-existent relationship?

“Don’t play dumb, Y/N. You’re one of the smartest people I know. Act like it.”

It wasn’t until now that Dick saw how Bruce and Y/N were similar. He’d never met anyone else that could push people away like they did. But it was clear they both thought it was easier and less complicated to isolate themselves.

Maybe that’s why they gravitated toward each other. Like if the faced it together than they were cheating their way out of their own rules.

Except Dick couldn’t help but wonder what Y/N’s life could look like with someone who really loved her, who showed her that she didn’t have to face the world alone. Obviously he wanted to be that person for her. But his ego wasn’t too proud to allow someone else to do that for her. Even if it hurt like hell.

“Dick, I can’t–”

But he didn’t let her say another word, and his lips crashed against hers.

She tried to be stubborn and pull away, but he wasn’t letting her get away.

Dick deepened the kiss. This wasn’t like the night of the gala. It wasn’t innocent and soft. No, this was filled with fire and infatuation.

Dick wasn’t being polite anymore. His hands slipped under her t-shirt to grasp her waist, needing to feel her and refusing to allow fabric between his touch and her skin.

Maybe he was trying to prove something to Y/N now.

But just when Y/N was about to push it further, Dick pulled away.

Their lips were both swollen.

And he kept close to her, tempting her with another kiss – but not giving in.

“You don’t want to talk about it? Fine.” His voice was raspy.

Eventually he’d push her to talk about them. For now, he’d let her figure things out.

“But don’t convince yourself that I’m no one to you.”

———————

Y/N couldn’t sleep.

Her mind was restless.

She knew Dick had been right: she was trying to point out issues that didn’t exist, picking unnecessary fights.

Getting Dick frustrated was a great way to stop herself from actually reflecting on how she was starting to feel about him.

Instead of tossing and turning in bed, Y/N decided to go to the library. She hadn’t spent much time there – too busy practically living in cave. But it had intrigued her since she arrived. It was so beautiful, and even large enough to hide in.

She was a hour or so into a book she grabbed from the shelves when someone cleared their throat.

Y/N jumped in fright and looked up to see Bruce leaning against one of the book shelves.

His hair was wet and he was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. Clearly he’d just taken a shower.

“You’re back early,” she noted.

It wasn’t even 4AM yet.

“Quiet night. The boys had patrolling handled.”

She just nodded and went back to her book.

But Bruce’s presence made it impossible for her to even focus enough on the words to keep reading. So, she faked it.

“I owe you an apology.”

Her stare snapped up.

“I should not have spoken to you the way I did.”

Y/N was silent.

“It was unfair, and I was mistaken. I apologize.”

Y/N watched him for a moment before saying, “Apology accepted.”

She expected him to leave after that. He’d checked his little box. Now they could both move on.

“I was scared,” Bruce confessed. “That I was going to find you dead. And then I was scared Dick would lose it and…” His words died out.

“Well… you hid that very easily.”

“I have to.”

“I know. But you don’t realize how frustrating that can be for other people.”

Bruce sighed and frowned. “I understand.”

Y/N finally put her book down and got up from the love seat to slowly walk to where Bruce was standing.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you,” she apologized softly. “And I’m sorry for scaring you. I was only doing what I thought was right.”

Bruce didn’t even realize what he doing until he pulled Y/N into his arms and felt her bury her face into his chest and hug him back. He tightened his hold around her, breathing in her hair.

Y/N was surprised by his hug, but she was grateful for it.

She closed her eyes and breathed him in. It was either his body wash or his cologne, but Bruce always smelled like musk and wood. Y/N was rarely close enough to smell it this well. But when she did, it instantly soothed her.

“Why are you up so late?” Bruce asked when they finally pulled away.

Y/N let out a long sigh, “Just couldn’t sleep.”

“Come on. I’ll make you some tea.”

“You do not know how to make tea,” she answered while trying not to laugh.

“I am not as hopeless in the kitchen as you’d imagine,” he told her with a smirk.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” she replied, as she followed him downstairs.

True to his word, Bruce made Y/N lavender tea, making it just as Alfred had taught him as a child.

He gave her a smug smirk when he handed her one of the mugs and saw how surprised she was by him.

Y/N never expected he would linger.

But an hour later, they were still sitting on the barstools at the island.

The conversation was slow, but light.

Now that Y/N had spent so much time with the family, she mostly talked about the boys with Bruce, asked him questions about each of them.

It was easier for him to talk about them than himself – or them.

Little did Bruce know, Y/N was learning so much more about him from the way he talked about all of them.

Bruce was subtle, but Y/N could tell how proud he was of all of them – even Jason, who he had a tumultuous relationship with. He loved them with all his heart, even though he was terrible at showing it.

“Damian’s the only one who still lives here. Tim has a penthouse in the city. And Dick is constantly jumping around place to place. But it’s been...nice having them around so much recently,” Bruce admitted with hesitation.

“And what about Jason?” She asked. “He never seems to stay here.”

Bruce hid his sadness and disappointment well, but Y/N could still see it.

“I’m lucky Jason even speaks to me,” he answered darkly. “He tends to like his space and prefers to…keep to himself.”

She nodded, not forcing the subject more.

But then her eyes got a glimpse of the clock. And she looked inside her now empty mug. How long ago did she finish it?

“I should probably attempt to get at least a couple hours of sleep,” she murmured as she got up from the stool.

Bruce nodded, and did that thing where men stand up as soon as a woman does.

No matter how many times he did it, Y/N was always caught off guard by it.

“Thank you for the tea,” her voice was so quiet, but sincere. She smiled, “I’m sorry for ever doubting your skills.”

He grinned and watched her leave.

But when Y/N reached the edge of the kitchen she turned around. “If I asked you a question, would you answer truthfully? And I mean really answer.”

Bruce observed her for a few seconds.

He knew she deserved his honesty.

They constantly answered each other’s questions with questions. It was like a dance – or a fight – which one probably just depended on the day.

He nodded.

“It’s okay if I am. Really, it is.” She took a short inhale. “But was I just another one of Bruce Wayne’s conquests?”

The desperation for honesty was so clear in her face and voice. If he said ‘yes,’ it would hurt her, but she would get over it. After all, that’s what she’d been assuming all this time.

Bruce did not have the words. Furthermore, he saw this for what it was: the two of them approaching dangerous territory.

But he owed her this.

Bruce didn’t break her stare as he carefully shook his head.

“Goodnight, Bruce.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

——————

LATER THAT NIGHT/EARLY MORNING…

Bruce knew Dick would be in the gym in the manor.

Everyone trained in the cave, so Dick knew no one would find him there. And he could workout in peace without being reprimanded about resting and being cautious about his injuries.

Dick had been sprinting on the treadmill when Bruce walked in.

When he spotted his entrance in the mirror, Dick stopped the machine.

He was dripping in sweat, proving that he’d been training hard – too hard for his condition.

Wonder where he learned that from…

“What’s up?” Dick asked as he wiped his face with a towel.

“I had a feeling you weren’t resting,” Bruce said as he crossed his arms.

“I’m fine,” Dick shot back.

But he did a double take when he realized how deep in thought Bruce seemed to me. He was staring off, an extremely unusual thing for him.

“Bruce?” Dick asked with concern.

“Y/N’s parents abused her,” Bruce told him firmly all of the sudden. “Her father was an alcoholic – beat her and his wife. Her mother emotionally and mentally terrorized her. After running away countless times, Y/N was finally able to emancipate herself at 16.”

Dick’s entire body froze. “How do you know that?”

“She told me.”

Bruce didn’t mean to sound smug.

But Dick still took it that way.

“For obvious reasons, she didn’t go into great detail. But I filled in the blanks with research – though she’s hid her past well, as you can imagine. She was homeless after that. Broke in where she could. Tried to stay off the streets. Even dressed like a boy for safety.”

Dick felt sick as he listened. Stories like this were all too familiar to their family.

“One day, she saw someone coding on their computer at a coffee shop. She had always overachieved at computer science in school, and it intrigued her. As you and I both know, she caught on rather quickly.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because she’s not going to,” Bruce replied as if it’s obvious.

Dick scowled, still not putting together the deeper meaning. They had never shared a conversation like this before. And it was confusing him.

Was Bruce trying to shove his past with Y/N in Dick’s face?

“I was the first person she ever shared her past with,” Bruce said slowly. “And it took me far too long to realize that I mishandled her trust. I did not deserve it.”

Dick could see the regret on Bruce’s face as he spoke.

But Dick finally understood what Bruce was actually trying to tell him: ‘If she does you the same honor, don’t you dare make the same mistake I did.’

“I understand,” was all Dick responded with.

Bruce gave a curt nod.

“Need I remind you that the cave has cameras?”

Bruce saw them kiss. But little did he know, it wasn’t their first.

Dick only quirked an eyebrow as if it say, ‘So? What of it?’

-----------

Part 8

Guys, I was 30 minutes early. You’re welcome.

I want to point out that Y/N’s dark past was always part of the story. But I avoided actually including it because I am not a fan of fanfic writers often romanticizing abuse or mental health issues or other serious matters. I just want everyone to know that I take things like this seriously and I’m not just using them as a plot point.

So here is a resource if you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence.

#all men have limits #all men have limits part 7 #bruce wayne x reader #Bruce Wayne x reader x dick Grayson #dick grayson x reader #dick Grayson x reader x Bruce Wayne #dick grayson reader insert #bruce wayne reader insert #batboys #batfam #batman x reader #nightwing x reader

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