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pboogerswbb · 2 months ago

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SO IT GOES - chapter 1

Paige Bueckers x oc Warnings: language, drinking Wordcount: 5.4K A/C: another pregame treat!! need my girls to deliver tonight!! anyways, here is chapter one, this one is about to start a little slower and i'm sorry about that but i promise it'll pick up and get more interesting, i got big plans for this one y'all!! anyway please leave feedback/thoughts/reviews whatever for me, i love them :)

Before London

The Dallas roads are busy, stretching out for miles out into the horizon as I stare out the window. My lungs craved fresh air, itching to open it. But I knew the air outside would bring no such relief, the humidity of this time of year already bringing me one step closer to packing my bags and making my way back to Connecticut. Everyone told me to turn the AC on, but I was much too stubborn and stuck in my ways. My dad would have come over himself and turn it off if he knew I was considering turning it on in April - much too early for his liking.

I had been here for a week now, seven long days. Each one making me more homesick. I missed my girls. I missed my team. I missed the normal weather and the East Coast. It was so bad I was on the phone with my dad every night, complaining. I knew as much as he loved me, he was getting sick of it.

“Paige, let’s figure this out,” Britt’s voice comes through the speaker phone, five garment bags sent by her laid out on the bed, ready to be opened.

“What do you even wear to this sorta thing?” I ask, speaking into the phone. My hands are opening one bag after another.

“Baby I dunno, you just gotta pick something. What kinda vibe do you wanna give off?” Brittany asks sweetly as I place my phone on the bed in front of me, pulling my shirt off over my head.

“I can’t think, it’s too hot,” I complain, rubbing my face. “I hate it here, wanna come back.”

“Paige, you gotta push through this. Try and look at it differently, at least you like your teammates!”

I whine and lie down, my back hitting the soft cotton of the sheets. “Do you think they’d let me take my sixth year?”

“Oh my gosh girl you gotta pull yourself together,” Brittany laughs, which in turn makes me laugh too. I knew I was being dramatic, my team was great, the coaching staff seemed amazing. But it was my first time living alone, I didn’t know what to do with myself and all this energy I had. I felt like I was two days away from jumping off the walls.

Lou and Arike had both taken me under their wing, and the few joint practices we’d had with the team the past week seemed promising. Not good, but like there might be potential for something with hard work. I was well taken care of and grateful for it, but the thing is at Uconn I was spoiled. I got to live with my best friends. To spend every moment with them, get on their nerves and not worry because in the end they were my sisters.

“Where are you going?” Britt asks.

“Some sorta steakhouse,” I answer, rubbing my eyes.

“Boujee or like… Texas?”

I snort, grabbing the phone from beside me.

“It’s a nice place I heard. But Rike been here for so long she mighta forgot what nice is,” I joke sitting back up.

“Then go with the blue bag.”

Unzipping it, I find a pair of black shorts, and an oversized dark green crewneck sweatshirt.

“Ion know about this Britt it’s a lil… boring,” I mumble looking over the outfit. When did I last wear dark green anyway.

“That’s why you dress it up girl! Wear a collared shirt under it, put on some chains, some nice shoes, trust it’ll fit the vibe, you don’t wanna be doing too much. Have I ever let you down?”

I sigh. I could see the vision the moment she started talking. “No you have not,” I reply. “I gotta start getting ready. Thanks again.”

“Anytime Paige,” she answers and we hang up. I know silence can’t echo, but it’s so overwhelming it almost feels like that’s exactly what it’s doing. Storrs was always loud, lively. Now I had it so bad I was even missing KK’s neverending rambling.

Quickly putting on a playlist to get rid of the aching pressure on my chest, I begin to get ready, rapping along to a Drake song loudly - but who cares I live alone now. I sleek back my hair, pinning it into a bun - the one hairstyle I knew how to do. I put on some diamond studs, and take my time picking accessories, choosing just the right silver rings to match the chain on my neck, a cross hanging from it. Of course, Brittany had been right. The outfit was great, not too much for a nice restaurant but still totally me.

“Shit,” I mumble to myself when I check the time, realising Lou must be waiting on me downstairs. Grabbing a white cross-body bag I run out the door, quickly making my way down where, just like I thought, the brunette was waiting, tapping on the steering wheel impatiently.

“Sorry I’m late,” I yelp climbing into the passenger seat. Since I barely knew Dallas, Lou had decided it was best if she drove both of us.

Shaking her head, the girl driving merges onto the road swiftly. “Not gonna be making a good impression if we bring our rookie to the party late,” Lou complains.

I scoff, leaning back against the seat and tapping on the back of my phone, feeling butterflies grow in my abdomen. I knew I made good first impressions, that people seemed to like me. I wasn’t called the ultimate rizzler for nothing. But it was still daunting, I was about to meet all the people who worked behind the team, behind me just so we could do what we do.

The past week had been so strange.The change in dynamic was drastic. I had become so used to being the older one, the one to call the shots, to have so much wisdom to give. Almost naively so. All of a sudden I was back to being the baby - the one who didn’t know anything, who had to depend on others. I thought I was prepared. But the transition was hard to navigate. I didn’t quite know how to act, if I was honest.

“Yo chill, I’m not even that late,” I chuckle lightheartedly, looking out the car window, my eyes trying to find something worth changing my mind about Dallas for.

“Ten minutes is too much, we gotta pick up Rike too,” Lou complains, hands on the wheel. It was only April but the humidity made it feel like summer. “Were you late talking to that girl?”

“What girl?” I ask.

“That girl from last night!” Lou laughs, elbowing me.

I shrug, like I had no clue what she was talking about. A complete lie. I hadn’t been thinking straight ever since I saw her.

“Ohh you mean that girl downstairs!” I say sarcastically. The brunette next to me sees right through it though.

“Never heard your voice get so quiet and shaky I swear,” Lou says, a blush setting on the apples of my cheeks thinking back to last evening. “You were fully stuttering.”

“No way bro!” I groan, biting my lower lip so as to not laugh. Though I knew better. I was definitely stuttering.

I hadn’t seen much of the girl, just her face poking through the door into the hallway. But something about her took my breath away, I couldn’t look anywhere else. It was Lou finally elbowing me that made me realise I had been staring at the dark haired girl. She was so beautiful it physically pained me to look away, but with a struggle, I had done so.

But then she spoke. And if I wasn’t trembling before, the lilt of her voice had me weak in the knees immediately. It was deep, yet simultaneously sweet. Nevermind the accent that hadn’t left my head all night. Lou made fun of me relentlessly all night because apparently, my voice was shaking when I talked to her. I think she was full of shit.

“You were, I don’t blame you,” the brunette murmurs. “She was hot.”

I kiss my teeth, looking out the window. “Don’t matter, she could be Zendaya and I still wouldn’t get into all that.”

Lou looks bewildered, eyes flickering between me and the road.

I grin at her, shaking my head. “Nah I’m staying celibate. Scout’s honor. Got me that Natty last season.”

It was true. For the first time last season I had not been involved with any girl - and it worked out pretty well in the end. It got me the ring. Adapting to a new team, new city, new life was already hard enough without fucking around. Girls had a way of making everything complicated.

“You? Celibate?” Lou asks, her tone skeptical. I suppose she remembers a different Paige from when we were both Huskies. I had changed a lot though, grown up.

“Trust,” I nod as we park in front of a nice apartment building, Arike making her way out and into the car.

“Yo,” she greets us, and I nod into the rearview mirror, meeting her gaze.

“Sup my rookie!” Arike grins and squeezes my shoulder. “You ready for tonight?”

“Aren’t we just gonna eat and go home?” I ask but Lou and Rike are quick to shake their heads.

“Nah these things don’t end till late, we know how to party here you know what I’m sayin?” The girl in the back grins.

“Don’t blame you, nothing else to do here,” I complain half-jokingly.

“Yooo not too much. You’ll grow to like it,” Arike laughs, grabbing her phone. “Just don’t drink everything people offer you today, got it?”

“Yeah, everyone’s gonna be trying to get you drunk,” Lou chuckles. “My rookie year they had me almost blacked out.”

“Almost? You were blacked out. We had to carry you to bed.”

I laugh and sigh, rubbing my jaw, my nerves stirring within my abdomen. “Great.”

The restaurant is buzzing with people, an entire second floor reserved just for the Dallas Wings employees. Arike, Lou and I show up fashionably late, but to my pleasant surprise everyone’s too busy huddling around the bar, lining up for drinks. I smooth over my green sweatshirt, already feeling the heat get to me. How the hell was I supposed to dress for weather like this? It wasn’t even summer yet.

I walk over to Satou, who’s grinning widely at me.

“Look at you, our baby rookie. Let’s get you a drink!” She smiles convincingly. I glance at Arike and Lou behind me, snickering amongst themselves already. So it begins.

“Feels wrong to drink at a team event like this,” I tell the taller girl, guiding me towards the bar. I was more used to sneaking drinks into hotel rooms, doing our best to hide them from the coaching staff. Guess this is what growing up feels like.

“Nah, don’t worry. Everyone’s chill here,” Satou laughs and orders us two beers before I have the opportunity to interrupt and ask for a Shirley. Reluctantly I grab the beer, cheering with the girl next to me.

“To the saviour of the Wings!!” She jokes and I roll my eyes, shaking my head.

“Sorry, but could you check if they are Manzanilla olives?”

The accent. I immediately turn my back on Satou, my body working before my mind can as my eyes scan the room. And then I see her. The girl from the apartment underneath mine.

She’s standing at the other end of the bar, holding a black clutch in her hand as she talks with the bartender. Her dark hair is down, in perfect waves, not one strand out of order. The dress she’s wearing isn’t red, but more maroon, shade matching the red of her lipstick to the hilt. The one-shoulder dress leaves her left one completely bare, and the golden jewelry sitting against her light brown skin makes her sparkle in the moody lighting. No words would do justice, I know that much. My knees nearly buckle at the sight of her. This strange girl whose name I didn’t even know, yet kept haunting my existence here in Dallas.

“Oh they’re not? Then nevermind the martini, could I just get a glass of Chardonnay please?”

If I had been nervous before, then it was nothing compared to the way my stomach was stirring now. Which is insane considering I didn’t even know this girl’s name. Hell, I better just avoid her tonight. I’m not on my a game. I should just keep my distance.

“Paige! That’s the girl!” Lou is half whispering, half screaming over the crowd, incredibly obviously pointing at the dark haired girl. To my relief she doesn’t notice, too busy swirling the wine in her glass around and sniffing it.

“Shut up,” I mouth to Lou as she walks up to me, Arike on her tail.

“What girl?” Arike whispers, already eyeing every woman over my shoulder.

I give Lou a look, widening my eyes and telling her to keep her mouth shut. But of course, it fails. I had no power here.

“We ran into this hot girl in Paige’s building yesterday and Paigey here got all shy and nervous.”

Arike bursts out laughing, and I’m pretty sure my face was going completely pink at this point. So I sip half of my beer quickly, letting the girls get over their laughing fit.

“You done?” I ask in annoyed, eyeing the girls.

Gasping for air, Arike nods and grins at me. “Well go get her.”

“She can’t, she’s celibate,” Lou answers. The shorter girl standing next to her scoffs, clearly finding amusement in that.

“Yeah, good luck with that. You’re the new hooper in town, gon’ be drowning in pussy. I was,” she says, sipping her beer. “The rookie year is crazy.”

“Oh trust, she was drowning in it at Uconn too-”

“Okay okay, chill guys,” I interrupt the conversation, Satou standing next to us quietly and chuckling to herself.

“So which one is it?” Arike asks. Glancing over my shoulder I see the girl from downstairs talking to some guy around the same age as her. Just as I’m about to point her out, Satou and Arike are waving that exact guy over.

“Yo Trey!! My guy!!”

All of a sudden he’s walking over with her. I feel my face going red, my breathing growing ragged, my eyes quickly flicking to the floor. She was like the sun, as much as I wanted to I couldn’t look directly at her - it might blind me.

“What’s up, my favourite girls!” The guy - Trey, apparently - says brightly and dabs all of them up.

“Ahh and the prodigy!” He grins, turning to me. I lick my lower lip and smile back, offering my hand. “I’m the guy with the camera, you’ll see me around. Trey.”

I dab him up, ignoring the tingling on the left side of my body where the dark haired girl is standing, evidently feeling as awkward as I was. Except she was better at hiding it, looking around the room with an air of confidence.

“Well I’m the one with the basketball, you’ll know where to find me. I’m Paige,” I flash him my most charming smile. Everyone laughs at my joke, except the girl beside me. I quickly decide that perhaps getting drunk wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

“Oh this is Zari, she’s new from England, Linda finally hired someone to work on the social media shit,” Trey explains, pointing to the girl between me and him. I blink stupidly when I look at her. Somehow she was more beautiful up close which made my throat feel tighter. I quickly sip my beer again, looking to the ceiling. Fuck, pull yourself together. I wasn’t this superficial - feeling like this just because someone was hot. Who knows, she might be the worst person you’ve ever met.

“That would be me, hi!” She says when I realise I was barely listening to Trey before, completely not making note of her name. She shakes everyone’s hand, smiling kindly. Fuck, are my hands sweaty? Better wipe them on my shorts first. I gotta make eye contact - I’m sure a couple seconds will be enough. It might be all I can bear.

The girl turns to me, her right hand extended. I glance at it, gripping it gently. Her hand shake is surprisingly firm, but I barely notice, feeling as if my skin is on fire. The moment our eyes meet I look away, knowing that everyone and their mothers could tell I was blushing right now.

“I forgot your name,” is all that comes out of my mouth, so clumsily I wanna hide behind the bar and never come out when I realise how rude it sounded.

To my shock she’s not taken aback at all by my bluntness, instead holding herself with an almost regal air. I wasn’t sure if I was intimated or turned on - either way I was overcome with a desperate need to make her like me. Surely I was off to a horrible start.

Our eyes meet again. Hers are dark green, deep and rich like the pine trees back home. I can feel myself wanting to sink in deeper, to bask in their familiarity. To feel the sting of cold air and smell the snow falling from the sky and to bask in the scent of pine all over me. Before I know it I notice her glossed lips move, but my ears barely pick anything up. An I? And I think there was an A at the end? You gotta be kidding me.

“I- Ivanna?” I stutter. She chuckles softly, as the others around us snicker amongst themselves. Bitches.

“No, darling, let’s try again,” she smiles, her tone so sweet it’s bordering on condescending. I fucking swoon at it. “Izara.”

I nod, not sure if the heat on my face is from how hot and humid it was inside the restaurant, or from the public humiliation in front of this gorgeous girl. I chuckle mostly to myself, rubbing my jaw and looking around to break eye contact finally. Far too distracting.

“Izara,” I repeat, noticing Satou, Arike, Lou and some of the others laughing at my clumsy behaviour. I was just begging Izara didn’t make note of why I was acting a fool.

“Zari is better,” the brunette says, a slight teasing tone to her voice. I breathe heavily out my nose, trying to get the blush to settle from my cheeks.

“Zari, got it.”

“Took you long enough,” Arike teases, making everyone laugh, except Zari who just smiles at me.

“Guys, not all of us are used to the Texas heat. It messes with your head,” she says with enough authority in her voice to make everyone around us stop laughing and give me sympathetic looks.

“Uhh yeah, it’s hot,” I answer bluntly, my voice shaking a little as I rub my neck. On top of the mess I was, I could feel myself sweating. I have to get home as fast as possible. Or not home. But back to the apartment I was staying in for now, until the moment I could go back home to the East Coast.

“Shit, I’m Paige by the way,” I say, realising I never introduced myself to Zari. She scoffs, waving me off.

“Paige, it’s my job to know who you are,” she points out. It’s funny, and I want to laugh. But nothing comes out of my mouth, I’m simply unable to, her proximity leaving me completely discombobulated. So I just sip my beer.

“Right.”

Paige Bueckers hates me. The moment she met me I could tell. Maybe she was offended by the fact I didn’t recognise her last night. Figures, a star like her would have a huge ego. Still, I had one job tonight. To make her like me. And I had done the exact opposite. I could tell by the way she avoided my gaze, the way she barely wanted to shake my hand, abruptly pulling it away from my grip. She barely talked to me, wrapped up in a conversation with everyone besides me. I couldn’t afford to disappoint my boss, if I did it would be bye bye Dallas and hello London.

I’m sitting between Trey and another colleague, Ava, both caught up in a lively conversation as I cut a piece of my steak, wrapping my lips around the fork and chewing on it. Glancing up from my plate, I see Paige throwing her head back as she laughs with her teammates, her entire demeanor so much more lively now that I wasn’t close to her. A slight irritation was growing in me, watching the carefree way she’s joking around with the people around her part of the long table. Who was she to make up her mind on whether she liked me so fast. I was the kind of person you grew to love. I’m sure she would as well.

“Okay everybody!” Curt Miller stands up clinking his glass with the cutlery. Suddenly everyone goes quiet, including the blonde. For a second our eyes meet, sending a strange jolt around my body. Blinking, I shift my gaze to the man, clearly ready to give a speech.

“Alright alright,” he laughs, “I just wanna thank everyone for coming here tonight. I was never good at these so let me keep it short. This is gonna be a big, exciting year and I’m so grateful to the Wings for giving me this opportunity. I know I’m a new face to some of you, but I’m in great company,” he grins and points to Paige. “And Linda here mentioned something about a new media employee too!”

Like on cue Linda stands up a few chairs to the right of me, nodding. “Yes Curt, we’ve got some young blood to help this year all the way from England. Izara here, should help us grow our social media reach.”

I smile, trying to focus on appearing together and poised, some people glancing towards me.

“Awesome news!” Curt grins as Linda sits back down. “With two young talents I’m sure we’re gonna have a hell of a year,” he says, glancing at both me and Paige. I see Arike rub Paige’s shoulder, clearly excited and happy about how the lottery turned out for the Wings this year.

“Now since I’m boring everyone out of their minds why don’t you two say a few words.”

Pause. I feel a panic rise from somewhere deep in my abdomen. Don’t get me wrong, I had no issue with public speaking, no issue with performing. What I did have an issue with was improvising. I was the girl who planned, who made lists, who used to finish her essays the day before a deadline. With a plan I was golden, but to expect me to say anything, planless, was causing jitters. I was just hoping it didn’t show on my face.

Mine and Paige’s eyes meet, and I immediately know that I wasn’t as composed as I wanted to be. That she knew I was panicking. Bet this is just gonna make her hate me more.

Instead, to my surprise, she clears her throat and begins speaking with an easy confidence.

“Uh well, way to throw us under the bus Curt,” she jokes, immediately making everyone chuckle, including me. “Guess I know what kinda season this is about to be.” Another round of laughs around the table giving her time to scratch the back of her neck as she thinks. With a slight smirk on her face she continues.

“This is a big moment for me. I grew up with the sport, already knew I had a chance to go pro when I was eight. I’ve been waiting for a while to get to the league and to finally be here… It’s surreal. I feel really blessed, really grateful,” she says looking at her plate and then letting out a sly, quiet laugh. “Crazy that I’m drinking with the coaching staff right there, I’m so used to having to hide it.”

I chuckle with the rest of the group. There’s something about her, a smoothness, a charm that makes it impossible not to like her. Even improvising like this she seems completely in control, like she knows she’s got everyone wrapped around her finger. It’s impressive. I can’t look away.

“Geno didn’t let you drink?” Curt asks lightheartedly, making Paige’s blue eyes widen.

“He would’ve put belt to ass, lemme just say that.”

More laughter. Paige looks around meeting my gaze.

“Zari, I know you got that cold right? So maybe I should just speak for you so you have a voice tomorrow?”

Huh? I furrow my brows looking at her confused, but her eyes won’t budge, boring into mine. And then I realise. She’s trying to let me off the hook.

“Yes please,” I smile back, looking down to my lap. Something about the way she did that all for me, picked up on my nerves, found a way to get me out of it, was making my insides flip. You wouldn’t do that for someone you hate I suppose.

“I gotchu,” Paige grins, looking back to everyone around the table. “I think we’re both just really grateful for the opportunity and really excited for the season. Anyway, thanks guys.”

Everyone claps and I do too, my heart warming at the way Paige Bueckers had just saved me.

“Wait, you're sick?” Trey whispers.

“Uh, a little.”

“Hope you feel better Zari!” Ava says as I wave bye, walking towards the exit.

“Thanks guys, I’m sure I will,” I say, knowing I felt just fine. Great even, after a few glasses of wine. As I step out into the evening, I hold my fur coat in my hands, too hot to put it on. To my surprise I see Paige standing right outside the restaurant, scrolling on her phone. Interrupted by the tapping of my heels, she lifts her gaze, the intensity of her blue eyes surprising.

“Hey,” she smiles, avoiding looking at my face again. She was really giving me mixed signals.

“Hi there,” I say, walking closer. “Thanks for rescuing me earlier.”

She looks at the parking lot, a sly smirk spreading across her face.

“Nah, you’re good,” the blonde grins, diamond studs in her ears sparkling. “Not a fan of speeches?”

I shrug, taking that as an invite for conversation. “No I can certainly be… If you give me approximately two weeks to prepare. Minimum.”

Paige chuckles, nodding to herself. “You’re that kinda girl huh?”

“Desperately so.”

She shifts on her feet, looking for something to say.

“That’s a good trait to have, I try to plan too but usually doesn’t last for longer than a week or two,” she explains. I nod knowingly.

“My brother’s a bit like that,” I sigh. I was already missing him.

Paige turns to me, looking for my gaze.

“You got a brother?”

I nod, “Yeah, he’s younger. Your age.”

She’s taken aback. “Hollup how old are you?”

“Turned 25 last month.”

“Damn,” she says before thinking. I scoff, my eyes widening, though finding amusement in her reaction

”Are you calling me old?” I ask with a serious tone, her face immediately going bright red.

”No, no no, not at all. You look… great. Amazing, and like. That’s not even old, I'm just trippin’. I just assumed you were my age but like a year is nothin-” she rambles, tripping over her words.

”Paige I’m taking the piss,” I laugh. She stops, looking at me confused.

”You’re what?”

Oh right, Americans. ”I’m joking around.”

She laughs. ”Taking the piss?”

I laugh too, the air immediately easing between us.

”I’mma start using that,” Paige chuckles, glancing at me.

”You’re welcome,” I grin.

She scoffs. ”I didn’t say thank you.”

”You should,” I demand, more seriously, meeting her blue eyes. She immediately folds, blinking her long lashes.

”Thank you.”

I suddenly feel hot, warmth rising to my cheeks. I quickly look back to the ground, the intensity of her gaze too much right now.

”Hey, uh… I think we live in the same building,” she murmurs, watching the sky. Shit, she had recognised me, of course.

”Yeah… I’m sorry I didn’t recognise you. I really should have,” I quickly explain, feeling a little abashed but trying not to let it show.

”No, I just meant, I ordered an Uber. You need a ride?”

Oh. So she wasn’t mad. She was offering me a ride.

”I’d love one. Are you sure?”

”Totally,” Paige answers, smiling at me softly. She fans her own face, trying to find any relief for the heat.

”Shit it’s hot,” the blonde groans. ”Do you mind if I take this off? I got a shirt underneath.”

”Oh, no go ahead darling,” I tell her.

With a sigh, Paige’s hands grip the back of her green sweatshirt, pulling it over her head. As she does my eyes can’t help it, flickering over her lower abdomen where both shirts have hiked up, showing a sliver of pale skin and black boxers peeking out of her shorts. Something about it makes my throat go dry. I’m not exactly sure what. The feeling almost unfamiliar to me.

”That’s so much better,” Paige groans with relief, fixing the white oversized button up, chains resting against her chest. I feel my ears growing hot, quickly averting her gaze.

She’s not horrible, on top of being gorgeous she’s fucking great - funny, sweet, charismatic. Would be so much easier if Zari was an asshole like I had hoped earlier. I could feel butterflies in my stomach every time she looked at me. That familiar warmth that I knew too well.

We walk to the Uber together, and I make sure I open the door for her - I didn’t know her that well, but I could tell she was classy. On a whole different level than me.

I climb in after her, unbuttoning more of my shirt for some airflow. For a second I think I catch her staring, but I knew it was unlikely. She was definitely giving me straight girl vibes. Of course my stupid ass was ogling after a straight girl - nothing new to me. My eyes immediately land on her thighs, her legs crossed and pressing together as she sits next to me. Okay, get a grip Paige.

”So… How you liking Dallas?” I ask, unable to take the silence in the car.

”I haven’t seen much of it, just moved the other day,” she answers, her voice low but smooth, I could’ve listened to her talk all night. ”It’s very humid.”

”Damn that jetlag gotta be hitting hard huh?” I ask, looking at her.

”I look tired?” She asks, offended. An immediate panic takes over, my hands gripping the sweater in my hands. Shit.

”No you look fucking great. I would’ve never th-”

”Paige. I’m joking.”

Oh. I let out a sigh of relief, chuckling awkwardly. I look out the window, shaking my head at myself. I really needed to chill.

”Taking the piss?”

She lets out a loud, bright laugh, grabbing my forearm. The gold rings on her digits sparkle as her long, manicured nails dig into the white shirt. Immediate goosebumps rising underneath on my skin tell me I’m completely fucked.

“Exactly!” She gleams, her smile wide. “You did so good.”

That. I need to hear her say that again. I clear my throat to interrupt the bad thoughts, feeling Zari’s hand move off me, skin tingling as the weight of her touch lifts.

We pull up to our apartment building, both of us climbing out.

“I can transfer you some money for the ride,” Zari suggests as I let her into the building, eyes falling on her ass just for a second. Okay, no. Look away.

“No, Ion need you to,” I tell her sternly as we begin to climb up the flights of steps, her heels tapping against the tile of the floor. The sound echoes off the walls until we stop by her front door, silence draping over us, making me painfully aware of the way my heart was pounding in my chest.

“Well,” Zari smiles, turning to me, her green eyes even more prominent with the dark makeup surrounding them. Only then I notice how catlike they are, sharp and alert. Challenging almost.

I wanna say something smart, something witty. Something to make her laugh, or blush. I’m rummaging through my brain for anything coherent at least.

“I’ll see you at work,” she says, opening her door. I was running out of time.

“You’ll know where to find me,” I stupidly let out. Zari turns to look at me one more time and nods.

“Don’t stomp too loud please.”

With that she gets in, leaving me there with nothing to do but blink at the closed door and notice the flutters around my stomach. Rubbing my jaw, I slowly climb up one more flight of stairs, mind spinning around the girl. Completely, utterly out of my league. It only made me want her more.

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lee-laurent · 8 months ago

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Done Trying - Luke Hughes

Summary: In which Luke falls for a girl who always seems to be hanging around the Devils, the issue she has a toddler with one of his teammates

There will be more parts!! Next part is the backstory of John and Tori! Part after that is a continuation of this part! Hope you guys enjoy!

content: unplanned pregnancy, fluff, angst, children (is that a warning??), past relationships, self confidence and body image issues, money struggles, oc x ex!john marino (this is throughout the story, but this is a luke fic!! she ends up with luke!!)

WC: 4.8k

notes: this idea came to me the other night while i was watching tiktoks lol, but i thought it would a fun fic to write. the poll i put out showed a pretty clear leader the whole time, but if you guys are interested in me doing any of the other pairings in the poll just let me know!! before writing this i have a feeling it's gonna be a long fic so enjoy!!

Luke Hughes was walking down the street to the cafe that Jack had recommended. He still didn't know many places in Newark, seeing as it was his rookie season, but his brother had been a huge help... for the most part. Jack had told him about his coffee shop that was usually pretty quiet, so he wouldn't have to worry about fans coming up to him. And it had become his safe haven over the last two weeks.

Victoria Wilson was also walking down the street in the direction of the cafe, but she wasn't alone. Her newly turned two-year-old was toddling besides her, having refused to get in his stroller when they were leaving their apartment. "No" was his favourite word at the moment and Tori thought it might drive her crazy. She was dropping him off at his dad's in a couple hours, so she decided that grabbing him a bagel and some juice for breakfast sounded like a great way to get out of the house.

"Riley! Stop!" she screeched, watching as her son started to run down the sidewalk in the direction of a tall boy, looking at his phone. She didn't reach him in time though, the little boy wrapping his arms around the man's legs.

"What the hell?" Luke muttered, staring down at the toddler gripping his leg.

"I am so sorry! He's really big into hugging right now. We're working on learning who we shouldn't hug," Tori rambled, attempting to pull Riley off the man.

"It's fine. Really. No worries. Come on, little dude. Go back with your sister," Luke smiled, making the girl blush.

"I- I'm his mom, but I'll take that as a compliment," she smiled, finally prying Riley away and picking him up. He squirmed her arms, screaming "no" like it was mantra.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed," Luke rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's all good. Let me buy you a coffee. Again, I'm so sorry. Terrible twos," she sighed, reaching into her purse for a pacifier. "Here bubba. Let's go get breakfast."

Riley finally calmed down, happily putting the pacifier in his mouth. Tori had been trying her best to ween him off his "binky" but his dad wasn't, so it wasn't really working all that well.

"You don't have to do that. He's just a kid."

"Please, I'd really like to," she smiled. Luke nodded, opening the door for the woman and her son.

Tori ordered a coffee for herself and Luke, as well as a bagel and apple juice for Riley. They sat at a small table, Riley on her lap and Luke across from her.

"I'm Tori, by the way. And this little devil is Riley."

"It's nice to meet you," Luke grinned, "I'm Luke."

"So, how long have you lived in Jersey?" she smiled, breaking off a bit of bagel for Riley. He had a habit of trying to shove things in his mouth and gagging every time. So Tori always broke his food up into little pieces.

"A month now. I, um, just moved here for my new job."

"That's exciting," she grinned, handing Riley more food.

"What about you?"

"We moved here two years ago. Riley's dad moves a lot for work and I like to be in the same city as him so they can spend time together."

Luke nodded. So she was single. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't admiring her. She was stunning. Pale skin covered in freckles, ginger hair that she'd curled into waves, and the prettiest blue eyes he'd ever seen. She giggled as Riley dropped bagel all over his shirt, attempting to wipe it away as best as a toddler could.

"You said Riley's two?"

"Yes! He just turned two in August!"

"My mom always said that's the hardest age," Luke tried his best to relate to the girl in front of him.

"Ha! She's right. He really likes saying 'no' right now. It's impossible to get him to do anything except play mini sticks."

Luke choked on his coffee, "As in hockey?"

"Oh, yeah. He, uh, we're big hockey fans in my house."

"Devils?"

"No. No offence if you're a Devils fan. But we're proud Penguins fans. Right, Riley?"

"Pen-guin," he giggled, clapping his cream cheese covered hands together.

"That's cool," he nodded, checking his phone. Jack had texted asking if he'd died on the way to get coffee. "I, um, it was really nice meeting you, but my brother's getting worried about me. I should go."

"No worries! It was lovely meeting you too. Say 'bye-bye', Riley."

"Bye-bye!"

"Bye, Riley. Um, I was wondering if I could get your number. We could do this again some time? It's totally fine if not. I just-"

"Of course, Luke. Here," she chuckled, taking his phone from him. Luke walked out of the coffee shop with a smile.

It was the first Family Skate of the season and Luke was happily yapping away with Jack and Nico, seeing as they were all single. Luke had been texting nonstop with Tori for the last two weeks, she was really busy taking care of Riley so they hadn't met up again yet. He had found out she was 24, from Pittsburgh, and had a degree in journalism. He hadn't told her what he did for a living, just saying athletics which she assumed meant personal training. He was laughing at a joke that his brother had made when a flash of red hair caught his eye.

He did a double take. Standing at the bench was Tori, holding an extremely excited looking Riley on her hip, tiny skates on his feet. They were both dressed in Devils jerseys. Tori pointed at someone on the ice and Riley clapped happily. John Marino skated over, grabbing Tori's hand to guide her onto the ice. Maybe she wasn't single like he assumed.

"What're you looking at, Rusty?" Jack knocked his shoulder.

"Huh? Nothing."

"Come on, let's go see Curtis."

Luke followed his brother, keeping an eye on John and the girl now holding his hand. It hurt a little, he really thought they were connecting. And she hadn't mentioned a boyfriend at all.

Tori had yet to notice Luke, smiling widely watching her son and his father interact. Even if she and John had broken up, they still held a mutual respect for each other, maybe even still loved one another.

"Do you like his jersey?" she asked, showing John the '6 Marino' on the back of their son's shirt.

"Wow! You look just like Daddy, bubba!"

"'Ike Dada!" Riley smiled.

"My mom got it for him for his birthday. He was really excited to show you."

"Well, I think it's awesome. Tell your mom 'thank you.'"

"Of course. I-" she stopped. Her eyes locked with a familiar pair across the ice. Luke? She furrowed her brow, handing the toddler over to his dad. "Here. Practice skating with him. I, uh, need to talk to someone."

"Oh, sure! Everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just fine," she mustered a smile as he pressed a kiss to her temple, skating off with Riley.

"Luke?" she approached him, a confused look on her face. Jack and Nico looked at each other before skating off to see John and Riley.

"Hi, Tori. I, uh, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah. Me neither. You play for the Devils?"

"Um... yeah? It's my rookie season. I just- I didn't want you to like only want to talk to me cause I play in the NHL."

"I gave you those vibes?" she sassed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, no. That's not- You don't. I, uh, what're you doing here? I thought you were... single."

"I am. I would've stopped talking to you if I wasn't. Riley's dad also plays for the Devils."

Then it all fell into place for Luke. Moving from Pittsburgh, being Penguins fans, Riley's dad moving around for work, her being here.

"Johnny?"

"Yes. John invited us. I thought it would be fun for Riley."

"I'm sorry. I- I should've told you. Are- is this too weird now?"

"'This?' There isn't really a 'this' yet, Luke. We just met and I have a kid. But if you're asking if I'm going to stop talking to you. Then no. This isn't weird for me."

"Do you- d'you think John will be upset?"

"John? No. He just wants whatever is best for Riley. We broke up over a year ago."

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to pry. I-"

"Luke, it's fine. It was nice seeing you, but I should get back to my family."

"Right. See ya, Tori," Luke smiled, ignoring the pain in his chest at her words. John was her family. How was he supposed to beat that?

"You know Luke?" John asked as his ex-girlfriend skated up next to him.

"You remember that guy I met that Riley hugged?"

"The one from the coffee shop? Yeah, you said- oh my god! Was it Luke?"

"Yep," she popped the 'p' at the end of the word, "He didn't tell me he played hockey."

"Are you gonna cut things off?"

"There isn't really a 'thing' to cut off. We just text."

"Right. Well, don't let it stress you out."

"I won't. Don't worry. Anyway, how's Riley doing at skating?"

"Like a newborn deer. But he loves it, so..."

"Are you gonna be just like Dada?" she cooed, kissing her son's chubby cheek.

"'Ike Dada!"

"Yes! Just like Dada!"

Riley joined John in the locker room after, seeing as he was spending the night at his instead of going home with his mom. He sat in John's stall, kicking his feet back and forth. John had changed him into some tennis shoes instead of his skates.

"Hey, Riley!" Nico smiled, raising his hand over a high five.

"Cap!"

"Yes sir! That's gonna be you some day, huh?"

"Cap!"

Nico ruffled the boy's dark curls, walking back over to his stall. Jack also came over to see the little boy, but turned his attention to John after.

"Did ya know that Tori and Luke know each other?" he frowned.

"Huh? No, Tori told me today. Why?"

"Luke had been talking about this girl he met a couple weeks ago, had no idea it was Tori. I would've told him to back off."

"Back off? Tori and I aren't getting back together. That ship has long sailed."

"Really? I thought you still... loved her?"

"Of course I do. She's the mother of my child and for that I'll always love her. But she's made it very clear that we didn't work as more than friends. If she wants to see other people, I'm not going to stop her."

"Even if it's your own teammate?"

"Luke is the only guy on this team I'd let date my ex. Trust me."

"Damn. Maybe I was gonna shoot my shot."

"She'd reject you before you could even say hi," John smirked.

"Hungy! Hungy!" Riley chanted, pulling at John's sleeve.

"Okay, bud. One second, Jack," John reached into his backpack, pulling out a pouch and opening it for Riley. "There you go, bud. Eat slowly."

"O-tay."

"Anyway, Tori wouldn't be interested in you. She only likes guys with curly hair."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. We were together for four years. I know what her type is," he rolled his eyes. "Are we done here? I'd like to take my baby home."

Jack nodded, sulking back over to his stall.

"So... how're things with that Luke boy going?" Tori's best friend, Allison, asked. The two girls were sat on the sofa, an almost empty bottle of red wine in front of them, some horrible reality tv show on in the background.

"About that..."

"Oh no! Did he end up being a dick?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. He, um, he's teammates with John."

"He's what?! You're kidding me!"

"Nope. Saw him at family skate today."

"I thought you said he was an athletic trainer."

"He told me he did athletics. I just assumed he did like training for something. But nope, he's a rookie for the Devils."

"That's insane! Are you cutting him off? I thought you'd sworn off hockey players."

"I-"

"Victoria Jane Wilson! Do NOT tell me you're thinking about getting with this guy!"

"I... I'm not sure. He's really cute, Ally. Like the cutest guy I've seen in a while."

"Cuter than John?"

"Not sure anyone is cuter than John. My son is his carbon copy and he's the cutest ever."

"Speaking of Riley, do you think this Luke kid is ready to deal with a child in addition to you? He's how old? 20?"

"I know... I love Riley, but he's definitely made my dating pool smaller."

"Well, you'll have no way of knowing until you ask him on a date."

"You were just saying no more hockey boys! Make up your mind, Ally!"

"I know... but you haven't been on a date in like what..."

"Seven months."

"Seven months?! Text him right now!"

"Right now?"

"Right now!"

Maybe it was the copious amounts of wine that she'd consumed or the fact that she hadn't been on a date in seven months, but she reached for her phone and typed out a message.

I was wondering if you'd like to go on a proper date some time? Without any children with us

"Done!"

"Yay!!! This calls for more wine!"

The girls clinked their glasses together, giggling as they drank more.

Hey, Tori. I'd love that! Is Riley with John tomorrow? I'm free after 5.

"Oh my God! He said yes!!!"

"I knew he would, girl! You're stunning."

"I-"

"Don't give me that shit about your 'Mummy Tummy.' You carried a baby for 9 months of course you aren't going to look exactly the same as you did before. But trust me, you look fucking stunning. Now text him back!"

Ally was over for the second night in a row, except this time it wasn't girls' night. She was helping Tori get ready for her first date in almost a year.

"You have to wear something lowcut! Show off the goods," Ally smiled, pretending to squeeze some boobs in the air.

"They're not that impressive," Tori rolled her eyes, flicking through her shirts.

"Girl! Be confident! If I had tits like yours, I'd walk around in nothing but a bra!"

"Ally! Don't be crass!"

"What? Just telling the truth! We both know that Riley exists cause John loved your curves a little too much."

"Allison!" Tori gasped, although it was a tad bit dirty, she couldn't help but giggle. She pulled a white, flowy tank top out of her closet, holding it up to her body. "Thoughts?"

"That's the one! You'll look irresistible. Now! Let me do your makeup!" Ally clapped.

Tori did a once over in the mirror, smiling brightly. She wasn't usually very confident in her body, and that only got worse after having Riley. A ring filled the apartment as someone pressed her buzzer in the lobby. She pressed on the intercom button, "Come up!"

"I'll be here the whole time. Call if you need rescuing and I want all the details when you get back!" Ally smiled, plopping down on Tori's bed.

Luke rasied his fist, knocking on the wooden door. Tori wiped her hands on her jeans one last time, opening the door to reveal the boy. He was wearing a polo shirt that showed off his arms in the best way and a pair of khaki pants. It looked like he had attempted to tame his curls, but they just looked like they always did but wet.

"Wow, you... you look so pretty, Tori," he stuttered.

"Thank you. You also look really cute," she blushed. "Let me just grab my purse and then we can go. Come in."

Luke entered the apartment, taking in the decor. There was a small table in the corner covered in art supplies and a basket of toys next to it. On the sofa was a stuffed Winnie the Pooh and lots of plastic farm animals. Hanging on the wall was a colourful scribble with Riley's name printed at the bottom. It was clear to him that Riley was the most important thing in her life.

"Sorry, it's a bit messy. I usually clean when he's at John's, but I was... kinda nervous about tonight and forgot."

"You've got no reason to be nervous. I promise," Luke smiled.

God, his smile was cute. It was crooked, almost like a smirk and she wanted to see it every second of every day for the rest of her life.

"Shall we?"

"We shall."

The walk to the restaurant was full of jokes and laughs. Conversation between the two flowed so easily.

"You're joking! There's no way!"

"I'm not! He ripped Quinn's braces out!"

"That's insane!"

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No, no, I don't. Only child."

"How's that?"

"It was a bit lonely when I was a kid. But now I've got Riley so it's impossible to feel lonely."

They sat at a table, deciding to share a very large plate of seafood pasta.

"This is kind of a personal question, so you don't have to answer. But did you always want to be a mom?"

"That's not too personal, in my opinion. But yeah. When I found out I was pregnant though, I was really unsure. I was 22 and wanted to do so much more in my life first. But I can do most of those things even with Riley. And if I can't, John is there to watch him for me."

"That's a good way of looking at things. I, uh, I've never dated anyone with a kid."

Tori giggled, "I'm not surprised, Luke. But I'm not asking you to stay around if you don't want to."

They quickly moved on from talking about Riley, talking about their childhoods, favourite movies, and favourite foods.

"Secretariat? The horse movie?" she laughed.

"Don't laugh! It's a good movie!"

"I've never seen it."

"Well, I know what our next date is going to be," Luke's eyes widened as his brain caught up with his mouth, "If- If you want to go on another date. I, uh, I get if you don't want to. No pressure."

"Luke, I'd love to watch Secretariat with you," she smiled, reaching across the table to hold his hand. She ran her thumb over his knuckles, giving him a reassuring smile.

"I, uh, I'm free tomorrow. If that's not too soon."

"That should work. I just have to pick up Riley at 5, so it'll have to be in the afternoon."

"I'll make sure I'm up then."

"It's okay. I also sleep in on days Riley is with John."

Luke walked Tori up to her apartment, not wanting their night to end. They stood awkwardly in the doorway, looking at each other.

"I had a really good night," she smiled, looking down at her shoes.

"M- Me too. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Mhm."

"Can... Can I kiss you?"

"I don't normally kiss on the first date," she smirked.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"I'll make an exception for you."

Tori pushed herself up on her tip-toes, leaning in until their noses brushed. She let Luke take the final step, softly pressing their lips together. His were a bit chapped, but she didn't mind. Maybe her lip balm would rub off and help him out. They smiled, breaking the kiss.

"See you tomorrow," she waved goodbye, closing the door as he walked down the hall to the elevator.

"How was it?!" Ally screeched. Tori jumped, holding her hand to her chest.

"Holy shit! I forgot you were here!"

"Okay? How was it?!"

"So good! He's coming over tomorrow. Oh Lord, I have to clean!"

"He's coming over?! You're getting laid?!"

"No, God. Ally, it's our second date. I'm not sleeping with him."

"Why not?! When was the last time you had sex?"

"Um..."

"When did you and John sleep together?"

"Two months ago."

"I still can't believe you did that."

"He looked really hot playing with Riley. And we both hadn't slept with anyone in months. It was just... a mutual release."

Ally shook her head, "Whatever. Two months. You need some dick. And not your ex's."

"Why not? John's-"

"I don't want to hear about John's dick, Victoria."

"Your favourite person ever wouldn't exist without it," she shrugged.

"Riley's the only good thing that came from John. Anywho..."

"We're not sleeping together tomorrow. We're watching his favourite movie."

"Aww! That's so sweet! Look at you!! Finally moving on from Johnny Boy."

"I've been moved on for a while. I'm not sure the same can be said for him."

"He'll figure it out when he sees how happy you are with Luke!"

Tori giggled, "Time to clean up."

"I'll help... if we open a bottle of wine."

"Deal."

Tori was so nervous that she'd refolded the blanket on the back of the sofa at least six times now. She didn't really have company over except Ally and John. She wanted her apartment to look the best it ever had. All of Riley's toys were back in his toy bin and his room, she'd even cleaned the kitchen counter in case Luke went in there for something.

The intercom buzzed and Luke's voice broke through, "It's Luke. Hughes. Luke Hughes. Except I don't think you're expecting another Luke. But, I'm here."

Tori laughed, pressing the button to let him up. Less than a minute later there was a knock at her door. She took a deep breath, swining it open and smiling widely. Luke was in a Devils hoodie and some track pants. Luckily, she was dressed similarly.

"Welcome! I set up the living room for us."

"Perfect," Luke entered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Tori sat on the sofa, Luke boldly sitting right next to her. Their thighs were touching and he had his arm stretched over the back of the leather sofa.

She couldn't help but admire his thighs. That was one thing she loved about hockey boys. Their thighs. It was probably her favourite feature when looking for a guy.

She clicked on Disney+, the app immediately playing Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

"Shit, sorry. Guess that's the last thing we were watching on here."

Luke just laughed, scooting closer to her (if that was possible). She relaxed, cuddling into his side. The movie started and Luke smiled down at her, pressing a kiss to her nose. She blushed, leaning up and connecting their lips in an actual kiss.

"No more kissing. You're going to distract me from the movie," Tori sassed, playfully pushing his face as he went in for another one.

"Fine," he pouted, turning his attention to the movie.

By the time the movie had ended, Tori was practically wrapped around Luke. A loud yawn escaped her.

"Was it that boring? That's my favourite movie we're talking about, Victoria," he feigned anger.

"It was sad. But I liked it. I need a nap though."

"Oh, I can go."

"No, come on. Your comfy," she grabbed his hand, leading him to her bedroom. Luke lay down next to her, allowing her to cuddle into his side, an arm thrown over his chest. She fell asleep almost immediately. He wasn't surprised though. He understood that Riley had been having a sleep regression and it was exhausting for John and Tori. He turned to look at the picture on her bedside table. It was her, Riley, and John at a beach. It looked recent, like it had just been taken over the off season. Tori was holding on of Riley's hands and John was holding the other. They looked like a happy, functional family. And it made Luke's brain run a mile a minute. How come her relationship with John hadn't worked out? Maybe she didn't commitment. Maybe she didn't want something serious. Maybe- A snore cut off his thoughts and he looked down at the sleeping figure in his arms. Why was he worried? She seemed happy. He just needed to not overthink it. Easier said than done.

Luke woke her up at 4:30, shaking her shoulder slightly. She slowly sat up, patting down her messy hair.

"What's up?" she mumbled.

"It's 4:30. I should probably go before John and Riley get here. I don't want to confuse anyone."

"Oh... okay. I, uh, sorry I fell asleep. I haven't had a full night of sleep in what feels like ages."

"You're fine, Tori. You coming to the game on Tuesday?"

"Yeah. I try to bring Riley to most home games. We just never stay long. He gets restless."

"See you then," he kissed her one last time.

"Mama!" Riley ran into Tori's arms.

"Hi, baby! Did you have fun at Dada's?"

"Yes! We 'ockey!"

"You played hockey! That's so fun! Let's get you some dinner!"

"Hungy!"

Tori smiled, standing up to talk to John.

"How was he?"

"You weren't kidding about the sleep. Couldn't get him down until 11 last night. And he was up at 3 and 5."

"Yeah, it's Hell. Did he stay in his cot?"

"Last night he slept in my bed. Night before he slept in his cot until 4."

"Did you use a pacifier?"

"I'm working on not. I know you said you want him to give it up. He used it last night because I could not calm him."

"That's fine. We're coming to the game Tuesday. Can't promise we'll stay after the first period though."

"All good. You wanna stay for dinner?"

"Nah, I'm going to Jack's. See you at the game."

"See you at the game."

John pressed a kiss to her hair, "Come say goodbye to Dada, Riley!"

"Buh-bye, Dada! 'Uv 'oo!"

"I love you too!"

Once the door was closed and locked for the night, Tori put Riley in his booster seat.

"How about mac and cheese?"

"Eese!"

"Let's do it! We're going to go see Dada play hockey in two days! Are you excited?"

"I 'uv 'ockey!"

"I know you do, baby! Mac and cheese time!"

Tori was exhausted Tuesday night as she entered the arena. Riley hadn't slept the last time night for more than 4 hours and was throwing tantrums all day because he was tired. He cried and cried for his dad. Tori eventually had to call John and have him come calm down Riley while she showered. She was on the brink of crying all day Tuesday and the stress of being at the game wasn't helping. But she'd promised John that Riley would be there at least for a little bit. She was chasing him around the family suite, trying to tire the little boy out. He'd started playing with some of the other kids and she finally had a moment to herself.

"Girl, you need a vacation," Reanne sighed, rubbing her friend's back.

"You're telling me. He's been so poorly behaved recently. I just... I'm considering have John move in until he gets over his sleep regression."

"Really?" Nicole gasped, "Are you sure?"

"I'm not sure what my other options are. Call my mom to come. But she hates flying. I'd ask John's parents, but they don't love me since the break up."

"Luke?"

"We've been on two dates! And he's a rookie. He needs his sleep."

"A nanny?"

"I have no money, girl. Child support is a saving grace at the moment."

"I'm sure John would-"

"I'm not asking my ex for money."

"Are you still working for that online newspaper?"

"Yeah, but the pay isn't the best ever. It works for us, but I can't afford a nanny."

"Well, if you need moral support when you talk to John about it, we're all here," one of the other wives smiled kindly.

After the game, John came over for a bit. Tori had texted him and asked for him to come so they could talk. So, now they were tensely sitting at the kitchen table.

"What's up, Tori?"

"I- I need to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"I, um, I need you to move back in for a bit. This... this isn't me asking to get back together. Please don't take it that way. I- I'm seeing Luke now. But Riley has been a lot to handle on my own right now. And I really need help."

"I- I could pay for a nanny. Or-"

"John. I'm asking you as his father not as my ex-boyfriend."

"Right. Um, yeah. I can do that. For how long?"

"Until he's over this sleep regression. We need to tag team it right now. It's too much for one person."

"Let me go to my place and grab some stuff. I'll be back in an hour. Can you set up the sofa for me?"

"Why? You can sleep in my room. It's closer to Riley's."

"Because we're not together?"

"John, I'm not uncomfortable if you aren't. Your the father of my child. It's not weird for me."

"Then it's fine with me. See you in an hour."

God, she hoped this didn't backfire.

#john marino #nhl imagine #nhl fic #hockey imagine #hockey fic #luke hughes #njd imagine

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hannieehaee · 9 months ago

Note

sorry to hear you’ve been feeling unwell, I hope you’re starting to feel much better and congrats on the milestone!!

I’d love to request a fic where both junhui and oc are on separate work trips, missing eachother not being able to talk much, arrive home separately on the same day and have the most super intense and passionate fucking EVER bc they missed each other ever so much :’))))

thank you thank you for your beautiful writing!!

18+ / mdi

content: bf!jun, softdom!jun, afab reader, smut, reunion sex, penetrative sex, dry humping, etc.

wc: 1734

a/n: thank u so much for ur concern im feeling way better now c: and thanks for requesting!! i hope u enjoy<3

masterlist

"okay, so you're getting home at 5, right? please tell me there's been no change of plans, fuck, i'll go crazy if-"

"jun! yes! i'm getting home at 5. nothing has changed. i'll see you today at 5, okay, babe? stop overthinking it," you reassured your boyfriend before he could go on yet another rant about how badly he missed you.

throughout the past three weeks, you and your boyfriend had had a bit of trouble aligning your schedules. he had left on a work trip about twenty days ago all while you left on your own trip two weeks after that. having returned home a few days ago, he was bummed to realize that he'd be coming back to an empty home as you finished up your own work.

finally, after far too many days away from one another, your schedules aligned. after three grueling weeks in separation, your return was set for today, with a ride already booked to bring you home at around five in the afternoon. jun had only been home alone for two days, but he had been itching to see you for far too long already.

it was uncommon for the two of you to spend so much time away from each other. work trips were not usual for either of your work schedules, so such a sudden and prolonged separation had thrown you completely off guard.

jun had taken the brunt of it, constantly spamming you with texts and calls detailing how much he missed you – and which parts of you he missed the most.

your boyfriend was not shy to express his desire for you even through the distance. although he missed the softer and less explicit parts of your presence, he was a little extra vocal about the carnal ways in which he yearned for you these past few weeks. calling you for phone sex became a common occurrence only a few days into your separation, as jun would call you every other day with his dick already in hand.

every single one of these calls would be accompanied by hints at all the things he would do to you the moment you were back together, leading you to becoming just as pent up as jun clearly was.

unsure, yet excited for what was to come when you finally arrived home, you prepared yourself the best you could to finally be dicked down by your boyfriend. you were practically vibrating with anticipation by now.

"okay, fuck, sorry," he apologized, "i'm just so excited to see you."

"i know, baby. me too," you reassured.

"don't even knock when you get here. i'll leave the door open. just run to the bedroom. i don't think i'll be able to waste even one second without touching you," he rambled on, completely serious too.

you chuckled, "okay, junnie. i'll be ready for you to tackle me with your dick."

"you think it's a joke, but i will!"

"baby? are you in the room? i'm hom- hmph!"

despite the lighthearted discussion you'd had about your return, you assumed jun had been exaggerating a bit. you expected a soft welcome accompanied by a hug and maybe a kiss before being ultimately led to bed to get the dick you'd been thirsting after for weeks. jun had different plans, though.

the moment you walked in, jun jumped you, running out of the room and meeting you as you'd barely crossed the door to your apartment. interrupting your inquiries for his location, he locked your lips in a kiss, forcing your bag off your shoulder with rushed hands and walking back into your room as he held onto your hips for guidance.

there were no thoughts in your head as you followed along, kissing him back just as passionately as he did you, putting everything in the kiss; everything you'd been holding back these past weeks. in a similar fashion, jun moaned and groaned into your lips, gaining pleasure from the mere contact with you.

clearly pent up and with a heightened sense of need for you, he continued to whimper and moan as he felt you up, hands liberal in their touches of your ass and tits.

"missed you so much, fuck. feel so soft ... so pretty and good for me," he breathed out as his lips trailed down your neck.

his hands went straight to your clothing, attempting to rip it off after a mere five minutes of kissing, quickly becoming frustrated by the lack of skin to skin contact.

"need to get this shit off you. been thinking about your body for weeks," he huffed, throwing off your shirt and clipping off your bra, "seeing it through a screen isnt enough."

he was a mess as he took off your clothes, but eventually got the job done, pushing you lightly onto the bee before doing quick work of his own clothes as he stared down at your bare body with a look in his eyes that could only be described as immense desire.

"junnie, hurry the fuck up!", you rushed him despite how accelerated he already was. you couldnt help yourself when he looked so good as he stripped down for you. his eyes only gave you indication of how good you were about to be fucked – how could you resist in riling him up a bit more?

huffing again, he basically toppled you over, making you lay flat against the bed as he climbed over you. immediately reconnecting your lips, he began to aggressively make out with you once more, hands groping at every inch they could reach. both your hips were uncontrollable, messily humping into each other in search of some sort of friction.

"baby, need you so fucking bad," he breathed against your lips, "gonna fuck you so good. been thinking about it every night," he mumbled into your skin as his lips trailed down your neck, leaving a trail of red marks and saliva behind.

"then fuck me already," you whined with grabby hands digging into his back, pulling his hips against your own by your legs.

with a rush, he reached into the bedside table, hands bumping into the table a few times before finally making it to the drawer and pulling out a long line of condoms.

"oh? you have a big night planned?", you snickered at the sight.

"shut up," he rolled his eyes with a laugh, getting up to rip off the condom and put it on.

in the meantime, you flipped yourself over, getting on all fours and arching your back for him with the knowledge of how pent up and desperate he was. the sight was usually able to flip a switch in his mind, making him lose all composure and fuck you senseless. today was no different.

upon realizing your change in position, he groaned deep in his chest, rushing to press himself up against you and grabbing harshly onto your hips to push them up into his cock. with no further warning, he eased his way into you, slow in his entrance but accelerating the moment you nodded back at him to give him the green light to begin moving.

with an inhuman speed, jun fucked into you almost animalistically, completely losing sight of himself and babbling nonsensical praise to your cunt while embedding himself into the pleasure. his fingers dug deep into your hips, surely leaving marks that he'd have to kiss later.

forcing your back into an even deeper arch, jun began dragging your hips back and forth into his cock, coordinating the rhythm of his own rocking of his hips. despite the mindless way in which he harshly fucked into you, he let out the most pathetic whimpers at the feeling of your cunt wrapping around him. faring no better than him, your own cries accompanied his own in filling up the otherwise silent room.

"missed this cunt so badly ... you have no idea how much," he grunted breathlessly, "t-tell me you've missed me too," he practically pleaded afterwards.

"missed you, junhui, so much ..."

"tell me how much," he demanded, hips never ceased in slapping against your ass.

"s-so much. missed you so fucking much, junhui," you cried out when his hips accelerated even more, making your eyes roll back at the aggressive yet finessed manner he fucked into you.

"missed you more," he let out in a huff, "gonna show you all night. gonna make you cum again and again til you're begging me to stop," he reassured in slurred words, clearly almost at the point of losing himself to his high.

"'m gonna cum, junie, please ... cum with me," you begged, needing to make him delirious with pleasure in the same way he did you.

with tears in your eyes, your orgasm reached you, making you hiccup moans and cries of jun's name while he continued to fuck into you.

"so fucking good for me, shit. got so t-tight, oh fuck- g-gonna cum, shit."

his orgasm was not far from yours, catching him off guard due to the pulsing of your cunt during your own high. somehow he managed to become even more desperate in the canting of his hips, making you cry out in sensitivity but prevail throughout it as the impact was too pleasurable for you to actually want to push him away.

almost falling against you, he leaned into you as he caught his breath. meanwhile, you were a shell of your former self, completely spent under him and attempting to regain your own breath.

in just a few moments, jun began silently kissing up and down your back before pulling out and ridding himself of the condom, immediately going back to loving on you with his lips and massaging at your hips tenderly with his hands.

wordlessly, he helped you lay down on your stomach as he wrapped around you, continuing to kiss and rub at your sore form before finally speaking up.

"i really missed you," he began with a murmur, "was that too much?"

"no, junnie. i missed you too much to not let you fuck me like an animal," you chuckled after recovering your ability to speak.

"good, cause i'm planning on using that whole pack of condoms," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

your body might not make it til the next day, but reuniting with your boyfriend and his endless stamina made it worth it.

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aakeysmash · 1 year ago

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Roommate or boss?

part 2, part 3, part 4

Pairing: f!reader x Katsuki Bakugou.

Warnings: none, really. AND THEY WERE POSSIBLE ROOMMATES, MAYBE?

Context: 3k words. Reader is a barista and she only meets Bakugo at the end of this </3. He’s her boss but she doesn’t know. I don’t delve into this tho, just so you know. They’re both 22.

A/N: never thought I’d write a slow burn but I HATE not giving context. This is just me yapping with zero grammar context whatsoever. The reader is super oc in this one, but all the girl names I thought about were UGLY. Let me know what you think about it!

“No.”

“Come onnnn it’s gonna be just this one time” pleads your best friend from the other end of the phone.

“Ochaco, you know I hate when you pull this shit” you reply, while putting your jacket on.

“I knowww, but listen, me and the cute guy have had NO time for ourselves lately and-“

“And you’re leaving me doing this assignment with who knows who? We’re always partners for physics, you know I can’t do it all alone and you can’t phrase your deductions to save your life. We complete each other. You’re my soulmate. Why are you leaving me for a guy?” you whine, while closing the door of your apartment and walking towards your car.

“It’s gonna be just this one time, I promise! It’s not like we’re gonna fail. I think. I hope…” she mumbles.

You sigh. “If we do fail, you’re getting your ass beaten, I am so for real” you concede after thinking about it. You start your car and put your phone on speaker.

“BABEEE I love youuuu! You know you’re the only one for me! I promise to finally tell you all the details on Saturday” she squeals.

You wince. “Nah, I can’t this Saturday. I have to work, manager is on vacay. Maybe Sunday?” you said, knowing she will start rambling.

“Y/N just leave that place, they don’t even value you as a person, let alone as a worker. Plus, your manager is a bitch” Ochaco says sternly. “I still haven’t got over the fact she makes you work double shifts just because she wants to be in Bali with her new stupid tomboy. Who, by the way, cheats on her. You said so yourself, and I heard him and your colleague going at it that one time I came to visit you last week -not Momo, bless her heart, how is she by the way?- oh and he steals her money. And-“

“I need the money, and I do love to make coffees for the nice old ladies that tip me” you interrupt your more-than-protective best friend, knowing that she could go on complaining for hours if you didn’t stop her. “Also, I just got to the cafe and I’m already running late. I’ll text you when I get off, okay? Love you”.

“Yeah yeah. Don’t overwork yourself too much, love you” and you hang up.

You and Ochaco have been friends since you were babies. Your parents were neighbours back in your hometown, and your moms coincidentally got pregnant in a span of 2 months apart from each other. You have been attached to the hip all of your school years, and fortunately you have been accepted at the same campus at university. You moved to different apartments because you wanted to be independent, but you are still living pretty near each other. You are enrolled in literature, while Ochaco has a passion for astronomy; you had chosen physics as a bonus class for some extra credits since Ochaco said it would be easy and you trusted her, but she didn’t take into consideration that you failed math throughout all of high school, and she had to save your ass multiple times in the past. You’ll never forget her face when she got an 86% on one of the graded tests she did for you: she was so disappointed she made you ask the professor to redo the test, which you barely knew the basics of. She got 100%, and the professor congratulated you (her) for being such an overachiever. You never felt more ashamed of yourself and proud of your best friend at the same time. On the other hand, she made you do her English essays on a monthly basis, so she really wasn’t in the place to complain about doing all the dirty work for you.

You had partnered up with her since she was a genius, but she met this “cute guy” a month ago and was head over heels for him. She still hasn’t said his name to you, all you know is that he is a part of the physics course and he apparently just stole your assignment partner.

You sigh inwardly. Sometimes you wished love could come to you as easily as it comes to Ochaco. She is a lover girl at heart, nicer than anybody could ever hope to be, but she sure could bite if she had to. She has been there for some of the worst moments of your life, and you have done the same for her. You really didn’t know what you would do without her. Maybe you should get her an apology pastry from the cafe’s leftovers to make up for the last two missed Saturdays (“they’re for the girls!” she said, and you meticulously met up every week up until you had gotten a job).

You’re a bit distracted by thinking about her when you get into the place you work at. It’s a cute cafe, a little bit too orange for your taste, but it’s cozy enough to make work pleasurable. Plus, it’s 5 minutes from your apartment (15 if you walk, but you are lazy). They pay on time, the coffee is good and the clientele isn’t too bad. If it wasn’t for-

“You’re 32 seconds late. You’re getting a formal complaint this time” says your manager, waiting for you with her arms crossed.

“Put that on the note that says I worked 8 extra hours a week for the last 5 months. Hello to you too, weren’t you supposed to be in the Philippines or whatever by now?” you say sickening sweet, with the fakest smile you can muster, while you pass next to her to get to the room behind the register.

“Shut your smart mouth up before I get you fired!” she almost screams. Some of the people at the table near her look at her like she’s crazy before going back to their cappuccino.

“My oh my miss Utsushimi, it’s not nice to use that tone before the rush hour” you reply, giving an apologetic look at your regulars next to her.

“Mpfh, whatever. Close up this place when you’re done, the boss will probably be in to ask you for the keys at the end of your shift. I’ll be MIA for the next two weeks, bye” she says to you. Then she turns around and smiles sweetly at the clients who previously looked at her with distaste and lies “pregnancy hormones I hope, me and my man are trying for a baby, I’m sorry for scaring you!”. You know damn well she had an IUD appointment last week, because she made you work instead of working herself. Fake bitch.

Without saying anything else, she leaves the place.

“I hate her ass so much”, says someone next to you.

You snicker. “Who doesn’t, Momo?” you face her with a genuine smile.

“Never leave me alone with her ever again, you know I can’t survive this place without you, work wifey” she kisses your cheek fast, before going back to making coffee for a client at the register.

“Ochaco will be hearing about this and she’ll slap you” you laugh heartily.

“I love her too, she’s my work wifey’s wifey, so she’s basically my wifey” she winks at you.

After a few more laughs here and there, you both go back to work like usual.

A couple of hours pass and it’s closing time. Momo waves you goodbye, clocking out. “I’m so tired I could sleep on the floor right now” she whines.

“Yeah, how about no. Let’s go, babe. We don’t want to drag Y/N’s time” says her boyfriend, Shoto, who shoots you a nod of acknowledgement before placing a hand on her lower back and escorting her out of the cafe. “I remember suffering at closing times, let’s leave her be and go home” he nudges your colleague, smiling down at her. He has been inside the cafe a lot in the years you’ve worked here, sometimes picking Momo up. Momo says he was one of the best bartenders the cafe ever had, but he found a job that payed him more and he decided to leave. You couldn’t blame him.

“See you soon, you two lovebirds!” you reply, waving a hand of your own.

Now all alone since even the waiters have gone home, you clean up the counter before packing up the pastry for Ochaco.

“Damn, I have to wait for the boss to give him the keys” you remember, rubbing your face.

You wait 45 minutes before a redhead makes his way into the cafe. He seems busy on the phone with someone.

“I’m here, let me just get- fuck no I don’t wanna talk to Camie about it, Baku- no, wait- fire? Are you going to take her place and finally come down here like the boss you are? Yes, I know- what? And where would we- what do I have to do with all of this? No, I’m going home- fuck, he hung up” the man sighs, before turning his body towards you.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, not really manly from me” he smiles, looking sorry.

“Oh don’t worry about it!” your smile was really stretched, and you think he notices, because he says “sorry” again. “The manager said to give you the keys. So you’re the boss?” you say politely, stretching your hand with the keys towards him.

You’ve seen him multiple times, he’s a regular. He always gets the same order (one black coffee and one hot chocolate with extra cinnamon), and he always tips you and Momo well. Today he seems distressed.

“I wouldn’t wish to be the boss, to be fair. You could say I’m his right hand. Where’s Camie? Boss needs to talk to her in private before next week comes” he sighs.

“She said she’ll be gone for two weeks” you reply, confused.

“And who said she could do that?” Kirishima, you think that’s his name since you’ve written it on his order just yesterday, looks at you in disbelief. You shrug. “I don’t ask. The less I know about her, the better I feel about working here”. You start to pack your things up, before going towards the door with the man following behind you closely.

“This is nuts. I hate doing job interviews” he mumbles fast, turning the key in the lock. You raise an eyebrow, what is he even talking about?

“Do you live near? If not, I could give you a ride. I’d hate losing the only barista who makes boss man’s drink good enough to not make him pissy” he says, while pointing to his car.

You laugh. “It’s just a hot chocolate. Tell him he should try it with a few drops of hot sauce in it. Sounds disgusting but it’s actually pretty good. Also don’t worry, I live just down the street”. He nods and you wave each other goodbye.

“It does sound horrible. Thanks again for waiting, see you tomorrow for the same exact order I always make” he grins, then gets in his car and drives away, not after seeing you get in your car as well.

Once at home you call Ochaco, who’s “been worried sick, you never get home this late”.

“Y/N you seriously need a roommate. Did you even eat?” she reprimands.

You sigh. “I have to meet someone tomorrow. But you know, girls tend to look at you weirdly when you say you need them to know how to cook. They feel like you’re looking for a maid. Like, I can’t eat sandwiches every day like I did with the last roommate I had” you explain while opening your fridge. Sausages and smashed potatoes from yesterday will do the job for today.

“The psycho who thought vegetables made her look weak? Freak” you hear your best friend snicker. “At what time are they coming over?”

You groan and say “8 am. It’s a guy this time. Who wakes up before 8 am at uni? He’s already lost 2 points for this” while gulping down your food.

Ochaco’s snicker is now a full laugh. “People who have their lives together, maybe? But pay attention, males scare me” she replies quieting down.

“Yeah yeah. I’m gonna sleep now, text me the deets for Sunday, okay?” you clean your plate and go to the bathroom to wash your teeth.

“Will doooo. Good night, babe” she smooches on the mic before hanging up.

After making sure you locked your apartment door, you go to your bed, where you manage to fall asleep in thirty seconds.

The next morning you’re brutally awakened by the sound of your doorbell. You look at your phone screen: 7:42 am.

“Who the fuck is it now?” you grumble, before going down the stairs and looking through your peephole.

“Shitty hair I swear if this takes me more than 10 minutes… she hasn’t even opened the door. Yeah, she said 8 am, who cares if I’m early? I AM NOT the only one awake on a Saturday morning. Y’all are just lazy fucks” a blonde rudely says into his phone. You can hear him talking loudly from behind the door. You widen your eyes, before screaming “coming! Give me 5 minutes!” and rushing towards your bathroom to make yourself presentable. “Fuck, I forgot about the roommate appointment” you whine, while putting on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. At least they are clean.

You open the door to find a broad man staring at you menacingly. He’s kinda tall, kinda (really) fit, kinda underdressed for the winter. Kinda hot, too.

“Hi, how can I help you?” you offer him the nicest smile your still sleepy mind can muster.

He looks you up and down, before focusing on your face and levelling you with an indifferent look.

“You must be Y/N. I’m Katsuki Bakugo, we had to meet at 8 am for the spare room offer. I've been here for 15 minutes” he gruffly declares.

You add “rude” to your list of “kinda”. You don’t like his tone. -1 point.

“Yeah, and it’s 7:48” you bite back, your smile faltering while shaking his outstretched hand. He’s definitely going to the gym with the callouses he has.

“Come in, I’ll let you see what you’re getting yourself into”, you say, opening your door more.

You live in a nice apartment, you think. There’s a nice kitchen with a nice island that also serves as a table in front of it, a blueish couch in front of the tv, and a couple of steps that bring you to a corridor with three doors: your room, the spare one and the bathroom.

You describe everything while he stays in absolute silence next to you. It makes you feel uneasy. -1 point.

You just finished showing him the bathroom and are ready to tell him you don’t think he’s a good suitor when he finally speaks up.

“And how much do you pay for this shit?” he asks. Nice voice, you think. Gravelly and rough enough to not sound annoyingly forced. +1 point.

“500 a month” you reply, while returning to the kitchen.

“Your shower needs some work done, it leaks. Also, mold is starting to show on the bathroom ceiling, might wanna check on that. Your oven looks unusable in the condition it’s in. Small tv. At least you’re clean from what I've seen” he begins to say.

You frown and turn to look at him. Did this bitch talk for the first time in 15 minutes only to complain?

“Do you even know how to cook with said oven?” you say, ignoring everything else he just said, and giving him a nasty look.

He tsks. “Yes. Is this your way of asking me to cook you fucking breakfast? I don’t eat with lazy people who get out of bed at 11 am” he makes sure to say.

You scoff. Men really do find the audacity to say stuff like this nowadays? It seems like you've been out of the loop for too much.

“You showed up early. It’s a sign of disrespect, you know? Also no, I know how to fix myself something. I just don’t want you to burn my kitchen down to a crisp and smell takeout whenever I get home” you say in the rudest way you find possible.

He smirks before saying “might wanna check on that fucking attitude of yours too before I poison your food”, tapping your shoulder to get you out of the way and take out some pans. You showed him where to find them earlier on.

“What the fuck are you doing?” you say in disbelief. “This is still my kitchen. Get out”.

He rolls his eyes. “I’m making you fucking breakfast to say sorry for interrupting your princess sleep. Just make coffee while I come up with something. If you know how to make it, that is” he doesn’t even look at you while getting eggs, milk and bread out of the fridge.

You’re baffled. He’s making himself at home when you didn’t even say he was accepted.

“Wait, you’re still not-“

“I'll give you the money at the start of every month. I’ll paint the walls of the room, I hate that fucking green, but painters are scammers so I’m doing it myself. I’m clean, I’ll just need a spare key in a matter of days to take my shit here. I’ll keep myself in my room if you keep yourself in yours. Any further requests?” he interrupts you, assembling his french toasts on the pan.

You’re even more stunned. But you’ve always been quick with your thoughts, so you come up with something.

“I’ll say yes if those french toasts are good. If they’re not, your ass is out” you say, still not looking at him, while making coffee.

“Might say yes if you know how to make a hot chocolate from scratch instead of the poor coffee that machine will make” he watches you from the corner of his eye. You scoff, you’re a barista nonetheless: who does he think he’s talking to? Meanwhile, he could swear he knew you from somewhere.

“Deal”.

Neither to say, the french toasts were “not that bad” and your hot chocolate was “barely fucking acceptable”.

#bakugo katuski #bakugou katsuki #bnha #barista au #bakugo fluff #i guess #how do you tag #bakugou x you #bakugo x reader #katsuki bakugo x reader #and they were roommates #bakugo knows how to cook in this one

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mint-yooxgi · 1 year ago

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Fight or Flight Mini Masterlist

Fae!AU & Yandere!AU - Part of the CoDN Thrill of the Hunt Collab

Genre: Fantasy, Mature, Horror, Angst, Fluff, Smut

Pairing: Mingi X Reader

Words: 57,852 (Yes, you read that right, almost 57.9k words)

Rating: Mature - 18+ MDNI

Warnings and links found below the cut

Warnings: Please read the warnings carefully, as this is a very heavy story dealing with many dark topics. 8 ft tall Mingi. Slow burn. Violence: depiction of a massacre, a deer being slaughtered, as well as physical, verbal, sexual, and emotional, both alluded to and not. Blood and gore. Abuse: physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual, both alluded to and implied. Assault: physical, and sexual, both alluded to, implied, and attempted. OC has a really rough past, really this isn't for the faint of heart. Whipping, both alluded to, and done. Mentions of branding. Heavy themes of possession and ownership. Deception. Arson. Really, there's a lot of dark subject matter. Mingi falls hard and fast, thus, he simps a lot for the OC, but it's not a story written by me if Mingi doesn't simp for the OC. The reader is mentioned to be both tall and chubby, but it is not mentioned often, so it shouldn't disrupt the flow of the story when ready if you are not tall and/or chubby. I think that's everything, but if I missed something, please let me know! Smut: Biting/marking, outdoor sex, fingering (fem. rec), oral (fem. rec), hand job (male rec), come eating, overstimulation, Mingi has a dig bick, sex in a spring, really, it's very soft in comparison to the subject matter. This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

P.S. If there are any spelling or grammatical errors, please ignore them. I did my best through many rounds of editing, but some are liable to still slip through.

A/n: I am SO sorry this took me LITERALLY forever to complete. I meant to have this out so much earlier, and actually posted on time, but it turned out much, much longer than I ever anticipated it being. I'm really proud of how this story turned out, and I didn't want to split it into multiple parts because I felt it would take away from the story as a whole. I'm super excited for you all to read this one, as I had a tremendous amount of fun writing it, and I really hope you all love Mingi's and OC's journey as much as I do. Huge shoutout and thanks to @anyamaris and @kwanisms for listening to me ramble and rave about this story both before and during the writing process, and for always encouraging me while writing! Also, huge thank you to @sanjoongie for being so patient and understanding with me as I write this all out in full. I hope you all enjoy! As always feedback is greatly appreciated! Enjoy!~

Summary: Out of one horrible situation and into another, the cycle of abuse never stops. You've lived with monsters your whole life. So, what's one more?

P.P.S. Please don't let this flop guys. If you enjoyed it, please reblog!!!

→ Part One

→ Part Two

→ Part Three

→ Part Four

→ Part Five

→ Part Six {M}

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fandom-imperials · 1 month ago

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Ego Iustus Volo Te (Part I)

Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII

Alexandra Veronica Aurelia only wanted what was best for her husband, Geta, and his brother. Her arranged marriage never changed the feelings that she felt for Caracalla but his obsession only grew stronger over the years. Now those feelings have come to a head as everything that built is crumbling around them. Following the betrayal of her aunt Lucilla and the emergence of a new threat to her emperors Alexandra must now play the ultimate game of survival.

Pairing: Emperor Caracalla x OC x Emperor Geta

SPOILER ALERT

(Alternative ending starting from the night following Acacius's execution)

Content warnings: violence, suggestive language, general Ancient Roman quirks

(Please let me know if I missed anything in this part)

WC: 2843

---

Alexandra’s head was swimming as the raucous chorus outside the walls became almost overwhelming. She knew that something needed to be done to preserve her family after the betrayal of Lucilla and the execution of the public hero that was General Acacius. Ever since Macrinus wriggled his way into the palace, Alexandra could never shake the feeling that he didn’t care what happened to the emperors as long as he could gain as much power as possible. He was cunning and formidable and she remembered the stories her father, Commodus, would tell her and Lucius of emperors past and the betrayals they experienced.

Her thoughts snapped back to the present as Caracalla began rambling about what would happen to them. The air in the room was tense as they all tried to figure out what to do. Caracalla was always more prone to rapid changes in severe emotion unlike his brother, but Alexandra could see that her husband’s composure was rapidly deteriorating with all of the noise of his brother’s voice, the chaos outside, and Dondus screaming. She walked over to lay her hand on Geta’s shoulder attempting to soothe him and recenter his mind, but she couldn’t help but never take part of her gaze off of Macrinus who looked like a viper in wait to attack.

Eventually, Geta snapped and yelled at his brother swinging his cup so that the liquid inside flew across Caracalla’s face. Alexandra gasped as she quickly snapped back quickly looking between the brothers. She had come between them before in times of conflict but none had been as severe as now. Her gaze fell on Caracalla as she waited for him to lash back but he simply stood and began walking out of the room. Alexandra heard movement and her gaze snapped to Macrinus who tried to follow, but she quickly got between him and Caracalla as she followed him out of the room. Although she didn’t want to leave either of the emperors alone with Macrinus she felt that Geta would fare better. He might still be manipulated, but he didn’t share the illness that made Caracalla more susceptible to rash actions.

As she entered the room she glanced behind to make sure that Macrinus hadn’t made any effort to follow behind. She sighed as looked into the room, seeing Caracalla curled up with Dondus under the table.

Carefully she approached and sat down next to the table smiling softly and saying, ”I see you, my emperor.”

Caracalla cautiously looked at her. His cheeks were flushed with a mixture of alcohol and embarrassment. You weren’t supposed to see me like this, he thought.

However there was no use arguing with the empress. He slowly emerged from under the table but stood so that the table was still between them. He clutched tightly onto Dondus.

Alexandra understood that an emperor is never to show weakness, but she knew that she needed to ensure that he also understood that she was loyal to him and didn’t mean to take advantage like others in the Roman government and high society. She slowly stood up, not wavering from her side of the table.

“If you wish for me to leave you I will. All I want is to ensure your comfort and safety.”

This is pathetic. Caracalla silently scolded himself for acting this pitiful and allowing someone to see him this way. Especially the wife of his brother who he yearned for since they were introduced. But he knew that she was well intentioned. After all, she had helped him alongside Geta in containing his emotional outbursts and navigating his growing illness. As pathetic as it was, he didn't want to be alone.

“No. Stay here,” he mumbled the words softly. Even though Alexandra had never turned him down when he was in this state he was still afraid that she would run back to support Geta.

“Then I’ll stay,” Alexandra smiled encouragingly. She knew how Caracalla felt about her and Geta and his fears that he didn’t have as much of a claim on her. Not wanting to accidentally provoke him by making the wrong move she asked, ”How best can I support you?”

Caracalla moved to sit down on a couch positioned against the wall and cautiously patted the cushion next to him. He looked earnestly at Alexandra as he gestured for her to join him before petting Dondus on his head in an attempt to calm both of them. Dondus still clung to Caracalla’s curls, chittering.

“Distract me, please,” he said looking back at her.

Nodding, Alexandra walked over and sat next to Caracalla. Still unsure of what he needed in that moment she placed her hands in her lap. She knew that physical contact usually helped him in the past but she was unsure if that was the case this time after all that had happened just hours ago.

“How do you wish for me to distract you? Simple conversation or something more physical?”

Caracalla silently studied her features. He noticed how cautious she was being with him, almost as if walking on eggshells. He knew her expressions well enough as his illness progressed, but she was the only one he would allow to question him this way. If one of the servants had been in her place he simply would have commanded them to do his bidding. Taking a shaky breath Caracalla slowly reached over to place his hand on her lap, giving it a light squeeze.

He was unsure if he was asking too much of her after all that she had been through, but all he wanted was her touch. “Touch me, please.”

Alexandra looked down at his hand on her lap and took a deep breath before looking back into his eyes. Her world had been turned upside down just days before when it was revealed that her own aunt, Lucilla, had aimed to overthrow the emperors. Alexandra had children with Geta and Lucilla knew that she supported her husband and his brother yet still risked endangering them as far as Alexandra was concerned. The aftermath of Acacius’s execution only made everything worse in rattling her usual calm demeanor.

She gently placed her hand on Caracalla’s, “How do you want me to touch you, my emperor?”

Caracalla slowly rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand, staring at their conjoined hands. He was nervous to ask too much of her, but he trusted Alexandra.

“Can you,” he paused. “Can you sit on my lap, please?”

Alexandra sensed his uncertainty and nodded a couple times, “Of course.”

She moved to sit on his lap, not letting go of his hand. She knew that when Caracalla was like this he would never let their physical contact end until he initiated it. Wrapping her free arm behind his neck for support she sat down on his lap analyzing his expression to try to read what he might be thinking.

Dondus hopped down onto the seat where Alexandra had been, curling up and chittering softly. Caracalla moved his free hand to Alexandra’s waist and held her close to him. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her chest. The soft beat of heart and the feeling of her chest rising and falling with her breathing was already enough to soothe him. This is what he needed, a distraction.

“You shouldn’t have to see me like this,” he mumbled.

Alexandra tightened her grip a little on Caracalla finding that his touch was helping to calm her as well. “Even if I shouldn't, I am. It’s better for me to see this as Empress of Rome and your biggest support aside from your brother than an enemy who seeks to take advantage of you.”

She couldn’t help but think about Macrinus and growing mistrust of him over the past months.

Caracalla tightened his grip on Alexandra, pressing his cheek further into her chest. The empress’s presence had a soothing effect on him that nobody else had on him. Not even his favorite concubines. She was the calm after the tempest for him. He let out a shaky sigh, trying to hide his emotions. No matter what position Alexandra held he was still a Roman emperor and this was something that a Roman emperor should never show.

“You promise you won’t tell a soul of this?”

Alexandra took her hand and cupped Caracalla’s cheek gently making him look her in the eye. “I promise I won’t tell anyone about your vulnerability. Just so long as you promise to give me your undying trust.”

Caracalla looked up and gazed into her deep brown eyes. He slowly lifted his head from her chest but was reluctant to remove himself entirely from her.

“You expect a lot from me, empress,” he spoke weakly, placing his hand over hers. He slowly removed her hand from his cheek and interlocked their fingers. “However, I trust you with my life.”

Alexandra exhaled. “You don’t know much that relieves me.” She paused pondering whether now would be the time to confess her anxieties about Macrinus before sighing and whispering, "I have concerns about the enemies I mentioned before. But if there are any other ways you want me to distract you or places you want to go I will do as you ask first and foremost.”

Caracalla released her hand and gently moved a silky strand of her brown hair behind her ear. He then slowly caressed her cheek with his thumb. “What enemies do you speak of?” he asked, Alexandra could see the familiar glint in his eye that she only saw when he was exceptionally intrigued by a match in the arena.

Alexandra nervously looked towards the entryway to the room ensuring that nobody was spying or going to disturb them before leaning forwards so that her lips were next to Caracalla’s ear. She simply whispered,”Macrinus.”

Caracalla tensed as he felt his heart slowly sink to the pit of his stomach. The air in his lungs was suddenly taken away, almost winded. He held his breath and slowly pulled back, staring into her intent gaze. “You don’t trust Macrinus?” he whispered, still not believing what he had just heard.

Knowing she had to tread carefully now with her next words Alexandra slowly shook her head, quickly glancing towards the entryway again wondering what Macrinus was doing with Geta alone just outside. She quickly turned back to Caracalla and justified, ”He is a man who strives to climb the ladder of Rome. I’ve heard he has spies everywhere trying to manipulate the senate and people of Rome like puppets. I fear he will try to use your sickness against you and try to topple Rome from the top down starting with us and Geta so he can be emperor himself.” Alexandra began to feel a growing sense of panic, hoping that Caracalla would believe her.

Caracalla immediately went quiet, his mind now plagued by her words. Macrinus, who he thought was a friend, someone he had trust in, was a traitor? He felt betrayed and could feel the demon that fueled his anger rising as he tightened his grip on Alexandra even more. He slowly glanced at the entryway. A mixture of rage and anxiety consuming him from the inside. He tried to push it down for Alexandra’s sake, but it was slowly getting too hard to suppress.

Alexandra felt Caracalla tense around her and she saw the familiar look of hurt rage flash across his face. She knew that he needed to be strong if they were to confront Macrinus, but if he acted rash that would give more evidence in support of Macrinus’s rise of power. Unsure of what to do next she simply nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck as her thoughts raced. She remembered the sight of her father dying in the Colosseum as Maximus’s body was carried out with full gladiatorial honors. She remembered clutching onto his armor as her mother wept and looked to Lucilla for support. Lucilla had rushed Lucius out before returning to help, but Alexandra couldn’t bear the thought of witnessing a similar fate happening to Geta and Caracalla.

Caracalla closed his eyes as he felt Alexandra bury her face into the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to distract himself from his emotions with the feeling of her body against his. However, it was nearly impossible. His mind was clouded and his anger was about to overflow. Was everything fake? Were all the interactions I’ve had with Macrinus a lie? His grip around Alexandra’s waist involuntarily got tighter.

Alexandra tried to calm her mind, focusing on Caracalla’s touch and making some sort of plan to resolve their situation. She carefully and quietly said, ”Whatever we do now, we can’t act rashly. We need to have a strategy and ensure that Geta knows what’s happening. If we don’t do this together I risk losing him as a husband and you risk losing him as a brother.”

Caracalla’s shoulders slumped, almost feeling defeated. She was right. Acting rashly could only lead them into trouble and he knew that he was the biggest risk factor. They needed to act with caution and he needed to contain himself as much as possible.

He nodded in agreement. “You’re right. We’ll need to talk to Geta. Do you want me to do it? Or should we do it together?”

Alexandra had a feeling that Macrinus would find it suspicious that Caracalla went in simply to talk to his brother without her. She also feared that he would take advantage if there weren’t any other distractions to lead him away from the brothers while Caracalla tried to convince Geta of what was happening. “We should go together. One of us should tell Geta and the other should focus on Macrinus and ensure that he still believes that we’re all oblivious to his plan.

Caracalla nodded. He sighed, reluctant to untangle himself from Alexandra. “Then that means we have to get up, don’t we?” he said jokingly, attempting to light the mood.

Alexandra softly laughed and leaned back so she could look Caracalla in his eyes again. “That would be true unless there’s anything else you want to do,” Her eyes darkened a little as she gave him a mischievous smirk.

Caracalla chuckled. The empress had a cheeky side to her that he found endearing, especially since she only showed him and Geta. In response he returned her smirk with one of his own while placing his hand on her thing. “Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, empress?”

“I believe so. But there’s only one way to find out. You’re Emperor of Rome so I shall follow any of your commands.” She leaned into his touch awaiting his response.

He leaned forward and whispered into her ear, “I’m sure I can think of a few commands I can give.” His hand slowly glided further up her thigh, giving it a light squeeze.

“What commands do you have? I am but your humble and devoted empress whose purpose is to serve as her emperors see fit.”

His smirk grew wider and he leaned forwards once again, this time gently nipping her earlobe. “My first command,” he whispered into her ear. “Be quiet so we aren’t heard.”

Alexandra flushed feeling the heat rise in her body and her heart rate quickened. She had forgotten just how much sway her husband’s twin had over her. Obeying his first command she simply nodded looking into his eyes innocently as she softly bit her lip in anticipation.

Caracalla watched her bite her lip, almost mesmerized by the sight. His eyes darkened further, the anger from only a few moments ago already forgotten. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, feeling a rush of power at the sight of such a response from her because of him.

“My second command is to stay still.”

Alexandra noticed his eyes darken as she submitted to his commands. In a way this was distracting her from the chaos outside and allowing Caracalla to get out any rash aggression before their encounter with Macrinus but it also reminded her of just how much power her lover held. She may be empress of Rome but the emperors were practically Gods.

He slowly pushed his hand further up her thigh, gently rubbing the sensitive skin that was just barely concealed by the fabric of her stola. He looked up at her, his eyes never leaving hers.

“My third command: close your eyes.”

She glanced at his hand before slowly looking back into Caracalla’s eyes. She softly sighed as she closed her eyes like he commanded.

Caracalla’s smirk grew into a grin as he watched her close her eyes. He slowly slid his hand off her thigh and brought it up to the back of her neck, tugging at the loose strands of hair near its nape. “My fourth and final command: don’t make a sound, no matter what.”

#gladiator 2 #gladiator movie #gladiator ii #emperor caracalla #emperor geta #geta and caracalla #gladiator caracalla #geta

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xmalereader · 1 year ago

Text

Miguel O’Hara x Bunny! Male Reader

|| Masterlist ||

Authors note: I’ve had this idea in my head for a very long time now and couldn’t stop thinking about it! This is technically an OC of mine but tried my best not to make there characteristics too detailed or anything that gives away too much OC. This is also an inspiration from MLB, I don’t care if it’s a kid show I have a love and hate relationship towards it and had some things changed for the character, either way hope you enjoy!

Summary: Miguel was the protector of multi universes, what happens when he meets someone who isn’t a spider and is able to do the same, protecting the timeline and making sure that it doesn’t get destroyed, changing the future and clashing within Miguel’s line of work.

Warnings: Angst, reader is a hybrid, time traveling, semi crossover, not mucha of Miguel honestly, language, slight lore, betrayal, hurt no comfort, mentions of genocide, slight depression, enemies to friends but not lovers, slight magic use, miguel is a bit OOC, bunny ears and tail, slight fluff, coping mechanism, readers hero name is Bunnix.

Word count: 5.4k

—

In his universe hybrids and humans co existed. In his universe he was a rabbit hybrid born in a large family with many siblings, in his universe he was seen as a monster due to the things he was able to do as a hybrid. His sense of smell was stronger, his hearing better than others and faster that a normal human being. He had the features of a rabbit, long ears and a tail big enough that reached his lower back, who he tends to have issues with whenever it came towards buying clothes for himself since most stores didn’t have much clothes for hybrids that he worked for hours making a hole big enough for his tail and to make sure that it didn’t pinch each time he slipped them on.

He was a normal hybrid trying to survive in a world where he is hated and possibly taken advantage of whenever rabbits fall into heat. He worked at a normal job and had a normal family until at the age of twenty he received a gift, heirloom to be exact from his great grand father who he watched him grow an eventually passed away when he was only a teenage. Y/n would visit his grandfather as a kid, listening to him ramble on about his past life and the things he saw and did.

Due to Y/n being a kid he would believe his stories while his own parents, even his siblings wouldn’t believe their grandfather as he spoke about time traveling and seeing their futures. Everyone disregarded his stories as plain fairytales or crazy due to how old he was getting and growing delusional that no one listened to him, but Y/n.

After his grandfathers death he left his will to the rest of his family, providing his parents and siblings small things. He never received anything that day and thought that his own grandfather hated him and that the idea of leaving something behind to the only child who listened to him was ridiculous. Only to be proven wrong when his grandfathers lawyer approached him that day and told him that his grandfather did leave him something, but was not ready to receive until he got older.

After years he finally got that gift.

When the package arrived he was quick to claim the box into his hands and dart towards his bedroom, closing and locking the door. He knew his family should be around to see what he received from his late grandfather, but something inside him was telling him to do it in private. When getting the package opened he’s met with a letter folded on top of a small box that he picks up to read, noticing his grandfathers handwriting.

My dear child,

I hope this gift got to you at the proper age that I assigned.

And hope for you to take very good care of it.

All those years you were the only one who listened to my stories of my time as a time travel and wish to gift you my most prized possession.

A watch.

This item will show you everything you need to see. It was once my duty to take care of the future and to make sure that no interruptions were made and to decide the right path that our world must face. I know this duty will be hard for you, but I trust that you will know how to use it. I only advice that you do not let this power blind you and don’t let others tell you what is right and wrong of your duty.

If you accept this gift then you will be in charge of our future.

Y/n had opened the small box that held a silver pocket watch, picking it up in his hands as he examined the outside before popping it open. Instead of seeing a regular watch on the inside a bright blue light quickly surrounds him, seeping into his body as his grandfathers life flashes before his eyes, witnessing the pain and suffering he went through, the glee of saving a future, the hesitation of having to choose the wrong path in order to save another. He saw his grandfather at a much younger state and the power that he held in the palm of his hand.

Everything went by fast that when he opens his eyes he’s still in his bedroom, panting heavily knowing that his life changed forever that night.

He figured that he watch helped for this moment only to realize that the pocket watch worked as a safe for his power that was deep inside of him, feeling it coursing through his veins. He kept the gift from his grandfather a secret from his family, knowing that they wouldn’t believe him. If they didn’t believe his grandfather than why believe him?

The hybrid would spend every night trying to practice his ability, which grew difficult since his grandfather never really left instructions on how it worked. He didn’t figure out how to open a portal until three weeks later when he was playing around with a ball and bouncing it against the wall of his apartment, bored out of his mind that when the ball bounced off the wall and towards his open palm, all of a sudden white portal opens, startling the poor rabbit with wide eyes as the ball disappears into the portal.

When first seeing the portal he grows cautious, primal instincts triggering him as his ears fall flat against his head while he nervous reached inside the portal, his hand disappearing and when pulling away he is surprised to see his hand still intact. It took him a few minutes to finally gain the courage and step through the portal where he finds himself in a white abyss full of different portals that showed him the timeline of his universe, witnessing future events before his eyes and being able to see the various outcomes of a future event. He’s able to jump from one timeline to another, visiting different areas and seeing their world before he was even born. The amount of power he had was dangerous and now realized what his grandfather meant by how hard the job would be. Having to keep everything organized, making sure that everything is intact.

Y/n first started off small, seeing his friends future and fixing their life events, picking paths that worked best for them. He sometimes felt guilty for picking a path that didn’t work out for them, but didn't;t have a choice but to decide a bad path in order to get a better one with time. He had the control of the future in the palm of his hand.

It wasn’t until three years that he made his biggest mistake.

His world was going through a war with hybrids and humans and the human government had seen the hybrids as a threat, claiming that they didn’t feel safe living, eating, or working with someone who was different to them. Someone who could do things that no human could and were coming up with ways to exterminate everyone who they saw as a threat. Y/n was only twenty three when he witness the genocide of his people, watching as his family and siblings were separated from him, being taken away. He climbed inside his burrow that night, checking the different outcomes of his worlds future hoping to find a positive end to this situation only to find nothing.

His people were meant to die and he couldn’t save them.

That day, Y/n stayed in his burrow, watching his world kill his own people until none were left but him.

Leaving him on his own without his family or friends, without the comfort of someone like him. Y/n had mourned for days, feeling so alone as he watched his universe future thrive without hybrids, watching as humans celebrated the extinction. The image alone hurt and wanted nothing to do with his own world that with time in the burrows he figures out a way to travel through different universe, alternate ones where his family is alive and safe, ones where he and his family never existed.

Even though he was suppose to keeping things small and protect the future of his own universe he decided to expand his work and protect the future of all universe, traveling from one place to another, hopping from dimension to dimension. The hybrid spent six years learning new things and setting his own rules of balancing out the future.

Each time he visited a dimension he made sure to keep his identity hidden, wearing a black and blue neon stealth suit with a hoodie over that allowed his ears to pop out from the holes he created along with a domino mask over his eyes along with a hole in his suit for his tail as he worked faster in the suit whenever he needed to escape a universe before being noticed.

The hybrid would also spend his time in universes, either trying to coexist or to stay in for awhile since he couldn’t stay in his burrow forever. He mainly stayed hidden on top of large buildings or found ways inside empty apartments in order to get away from the harsh weather conditions. He didn’t think much of his disturbance when hopping from universe to universe until one night he met a flash of red and blue.

He was visiting a earth-4837, noticing an error in the timeline that he’d been trying to fix only for his ears to perk up at the sound of fast movements, catching him off guard as he’s suddenly pinned against the ground, gasping for air at how hard and sudden the push was and regain his breathing only to come face to face with a larger build that stood before him.

“Finally caught you.”

Y/n can only stare with wide eyes under his mask, ears falling back against his head in both worry and fear as he stares at the mask stranger before him. It takes a few seconds for his brain to respond back to him as he tilts his head to he side with furrow brows. “What, what do you mean caught?” He asks, clearly confused.

He can feel the other man’s grip tighten around his stealth suit, pulling him closer as his eyes narrow down at the hybrid. “I have been chasing you through universe and you are always escaping me. You keep disturbing the universes.” He clarified. “Now I have to take you back to your proper universe.”

At the mention of being returned back to his own universe caused a switch to go off in him, reacting quickly as he grips the others mans wrist, using his own strength to kick his feet up and kick him in the chest, sending him falling back with a grunt. The hybrid watched as the masked man coughs under his mask and groan, placing a hand against his chest as he slowly sits up. “Shit, that was a really strong kick.”

Y/n finds satisfaction in the mans words only to gasp when he comes charging at him, making him move quickly and ducking away from his grip, reacting quickly as his instincts as a rabbit take over.

“I am not going back there.” He hissed out, ears pinned back and tail puffing up in anger while the other turns around to face him, taking notice of the movement of his ears and tail. “Those things are real? I thought they were some weirds thing that went along with the suit you wear.”

“I could say the same about those.” Y/n nods towards the strangers hands, noticing the talons from his finger tips. “Thought they were fake, but I guess they aren’t if you have a good grip on that building.”

His words cause the stranger to look over at his hand, talons deep into the wall that he had struck after coming after the hybrid and letting out a small laugh as he detached himself from the wall. “Now you listen—“ When turning back he finds the rabbit gone, earning a disappointed groan.

“Lyla.” He speaks up as the artificial intelligences appears on his shoulder. “Yep?”

“Find me the rabbit.”

From then on, Y/n’s grew careful of his work now that someone as after him. Spending more time in his burrow and less time in other universe and whenever he was in one he would make sure to stay in alert while buying himself to eat and keeping his features hidden from the public, trying to blend in with everyone else.

He figured that he wouldn’t see that same masked stranger again until a week later. He didn’t know how he got involved, but one minute he’s working on keeping a stable future and the next he’s being tossed around by a man dressed in a rhino suit.

“You okay? Whoa—never seen you before.”

That’s how he met the cities hero known as Spiderman.

His suit was similar to the guy who was hunting him down for some unknown reason, but this one was far nicer than the other. The hybrid got a good feeling about the kid and was quick to jump in and help him out as the two take down the rhino, Spider-Man using his webs to keep him from running off while Y/n worked on getting rid of the suit in breaking it apart.

“We make a good team.”

Y/n can only give a small smile. “Guess we did.”

The kid can only tilt his head in questioning and asks. “What do I call you?”

Y/n hesitates, not wanting to give away his own name and doesn’t know how to respond. The hero takes notice of his hesitation and is quick to step in. “I guess you don’t have a hero name?”

“I’m not a hero.” He is quick to cut in, his work wasn’t seen as a heroic thing.

“No worries,” The hero holds his hands up as he suddenly blurts out. “Bunnix.”

“What?”

“Bunnix, can I call you that?”

Y/n thinks about the name and can’t help but feel comfortable with it, finding it fitting. “Sure.”

That day he was given a new name by the cities hero who he later befriends. Y/n doesn’t tell this universe Spider-Man why he was there and what he did, only following him whenever he needed help and fighting off the villains in the city while Bunnix did his work on the side. There’s moments where he’s given the opportunity to save a future while working alongside with Spider-Man, fixing them without notice and when checking his work he left in shock by how much he is able to do.

Things were working well while staying in that universe and once again he let his guard down this time he’s met with the same stranger after helping Spider-Man fight off electro. His body was already sore from all the fighting and tired and all he wanted to do was get back to his place where he could lie down and relax only to be picked off the ground which shocks him.

Eyes wide as he frantically squirmed and looked up to see the familiar red and blue. “You!” He points at him with a deep glare, yelping when he nearly slips from his grasp, the rabbit holds back a cry as he climbs the mans body, keeping his legs and arms wrapped around him. “Hey! I can’t see!”

“Put me down!”

“How can I do that when you are blocking my vision?!”

The two banter with each other while the spider swings through the city, unable to see where he is going as he pries the hybrids hands away from his eyes only to see a building up ahead. The two scream and prepare for impact, but Bunnix is quick to act, opening a portal as they fall through it and opening another at a building where they fall on top of.

The same stranger groans as he lands on his back with the hybrid on his chest.

“How—?”

Bunnix scrambled off his chest, stepping away from him. “You could have killed us!”

“Kill you? You were the one blocking my sight!”

“You picked me up out of nowhere! Rabbit don’t do heights!” He shouted back at the man who slowly stood and rolled his shoulders, easing the pain from the hard fall. “Okay, I’m sorry, but also not because I am still here to take you back.”

“I already told you I am not going back to my universe.” Bunnix groans out, shaking his head while rubbing his temples. “I can’t have you roaming around universe, your disturbing them and I am fixing up your mess.”

Bunnix ears perk up at this. “Wait…what do you mean by fixing them?”

“Look, I don’t know what it is that you are doing but each time that you end up at a universe you cause a disturbance that can destroy timelines, let alone canons so I have to fix them—“ Before he can go on, the rabbit cuts him off. “You can fix them too?”

The others raises a brow. “What do you mean, too?”

Bunnix doesn’t know what to think, the fact that someone else is able to do the same as him leaves him in surprise. The hybrid allows himself to take small steps towards the man as he explains himself. “I can travel through universes without issue, my job is to fix the future and to make sure that no disturbance is caused whether good or bad its my job to protect it. I can’t go back to my universe because…” He hesitates before finding the courage. “My universe co existed with hybrids and humans and a genocide occurred with my people, I tried to fix it to find a better outcome of our future but found nothing and had no choice but to watch as the people I love die. I escaped and continued on with my duty and if I go back they will kill me.” His voice is full of sorrow and pain, not being able to read the others reaction towards his past.

He hears the other sigh softly, hand on his hip as he thinks. “That explains everything, all this time I thought you were an anomaly but your not your—your something else.” He finally says, understanding that the disturbances are the outcomes that Bunnix choose in order to improve the universe, at first Miguel thought that he was only making a bigger mess and whenever he checked on a canon expecting some mess he had to fix, instead he saw the canon already fixed for him.

Which only raised questions to the older man, giving him another reason to come after the hybrid.

As the two stand apart from each other it’s Miguel who speaks up.

“I’m not taking out back.” He finally says. “But I would be interested in seeing your work, perhaps you can help me.”

Bunnix raises a brow. “Help how?”

“You fix futures and I fix canons, together we can protect the universe from being destroyed.” His words intrigue the hybrid as he stares at the man before him, eyeing him up an down before sighing to himself and agreeing to his offer to protect the universe. “Good.” The rabbit flinched in surprise when the man’s masked is removed, dissolving away to reveal his own face. “I’m Miguel.”

Bunnix swallows nervously, but gains the courage to speak up as he reached up to remove his own mask. “Y/n.”

Y/n ends up working with Miguel in his universe for two years, being the only hybrid in base while everyone else was a spider felt off to him. Everyone knew him as Miguels second hand since he was their from the very beginning. Everyone thought that Jessica was Miguel’s best spider only to find out that its Bunnix. A simple hybrid that didn’t belong in any universe, but powerful enough to change anyone’s future and seeing that they couldn't.

His time working with Miguel made him realize how much the other spiders feared their leader due to his short temperament and the fact that he too had a beast inside of him. He once caught Miguel taking a serum that helped control the beast within him. At first the hybrid didn’t think anything of it until he decided to test a few things out, noticing how Miguel was sensitive to the bight lights and often kept his own lab under dim lighting, the noticeable fangs whenever he talked and now he used them in order to paralyze the anomalies that struggled the most. He already knew about the talons on the base of his finger tips, curious about them that he once approached Miguel and without asking he takes the mans hand into his hand and checks out the talons.

Miguel stares with a raised brow as the rabbit only hums to himself before dropping his hand back down and jumping off the platform while he continued on with his discoveries. Technically Miguel was a hybrid himself, but refused to say anything about it, Miguels own animalistic features bring some light comfort to the rabbit, feeling like he wasn’t alone anymore.

From their time together the two have grown comfortable around each others presence that Bunnix didn’t fear Miguels temper and whenever he grew upset about something going wrong during a mission he would usually come to Bunnix and rant to him, letting his anger out while the rabbit sat back and listened, watching the bigger man pace around the lab as he grumbled on about one of the spiders not listening to him.

Other times Miguel had grown to admire the rabbits tail, noticing how it flicked and twitched with each movement he made that without even asking his large hand reached down to touch the tail, fingers finding the soft fur while the hybrid tensed up. He’s caught by surprise and should yell at miguel to not touch him without asking, but the feeling of having someone touch his tail after so many years only brings back old memories of his family. He expected Miguel to be rough with his tail only to realize that the man was gentle, stroking the fur while he also concentrated on his own work.

It became a habit for Miguel to randomly touch Bunnix’s tail whenever he felt stress, feeling better after playing with the soft fur.

Their routine together grew and their trust for each other deepened.

Y/n only stepped into the whole canon issue whenever a screw up occurred, stepping into his burrow and meeting with Miguel two days before the moment happens, providing him instructions on how to handle the issue and what to do to fix it. Miguel had grown used to such moments happening, where the rabbit is hopping from past and future to present again.

The two worked well together and treated each other with respect.

As the spider society began to grow, Y/n started to see how alike everyone was and how their canons aligned with each other. He never questions Miguel as to why the canon events must remain intact or what would happen if one were to be broke. He kept those questions to himself while he watched Miguel command different spiders into different universe and getting the job done while also keeping the canons together.

It wasn’t until Miles came into the picture, he noticed a slight change in Miguel as their time together grew. The taller man used to be so blunt with him until he started hesitating that the hybrid started to notice. It felt like Ike he was hiding something from him and didn’t want him to know, as irritating as it was, Y/n would sometimes feel the itch to check his burrow, in hopes of finding his answer his questions, but promised himself that he wouldn’t due such thing. He could never look at his own future or know what to expect.

Bunnix had been working in the lab when Miles and Gwen show up alongside with Hobie, glancing at the teenagers while he works on a few of Miguel’s new gadgets.

“Oh! This is Bunnix, Miguels most trusted hero.” Said Gwen while giving Bunnix a soft smile while the hybrid nods in return before his gaze shifts towards Miles, noticing how the kids eyes widen a bit in surprise as he noticed his state. “I can tell from your staring you’ve never seen a hybrid before?” Said Bunnix with a raised brow.

Miles stutters out a nervous laugh. “I’ve seen weirder things.” The kids admits, avoiding his eyes while Bunnix chuckled and got back to his own work and allows them to approach Miguel. Y/n looks over his shoulder and watched as the platform lowers, rolling his eyes at how dramatic the man can be when trying to show intimidation.

The hybrid sets his work aside and turns around it make his way over to Miguel as the platform lowers only to gasp when a trash bin is thrown towards the teens way, causing the hybrid to react quickly as he grabs Miles by the arm and pulls him to the side, away from the hit.

Miles stares up at the hybrid who glared over to Miguel. “Miguel what the hell?!” Bunnix shouts, letting go of Miles once he checks him over and then turns his attention back to Miguel who ignored him and continued with his own rant. Y/n has never seen Miguel react in such way before, yes he had a temper, but it was never this bad.

The rabbit walks over to Miguel and jumps onto the platform. “What is going on with you?” He whispers low enough for Miguel to hear only to get a side eye from the bigger man a sense of irritation in his eyes before turning back to the teens. His actions only worry Bunnix even more, knowing that something wasn’t right as he takes a small step back.

His instincts were kicking in, telling him to run to hide, but from what?

While Miguel is distracted talking to Gwen and Miles, he takes the opportunity to step out of the lab, getting away from the others as he opens a portal and steps through, stepping inside his burrow and closing the portal behind him.

He’s surrounded by various timelines and universe, swallowing nervously as he approached one of them and placed his palm over it. Watching the scene before him as Miguel explains to Miles about the canons, fast forwarding Miles finding out about his father needing out die in order to keep the canon from breaking, from Miles escaping and Miguel chasing down the kid.

“No, no, what is happening.” He whispers as he steps away from the timeline and approached another with Miguel and Miles, watching as he chased the kid through the city. He can see the anger in Miguel’s body language, talons digging into the buildings and it sets an alarm off in the rabbit. He fast forwards to see the outcome, only for an additional timeline to show up, raising his ears in surprise as he moves over to check the two outcomes.

His looks into both outcomes, noticing how a third timeline appears. He’s never seen something like this before and it interests him as he checks everything figuring out the good and bad the right and wrong of his own choices that he is to make. When he connects all outcome together to create a new future he takes a step back, knowing that his next step could possibly ruin the trust he had with Miguel, but knew that it was the right thing to do.

It was his duty to protect the future.

The hybrid lets out a deep breath, extending out the palm of his hand as he opens a portal, jumping through and quickly holding onto the rail of the train that everyone clung onto. He can see as Miguel held Miles down, pinning him down as he shouted to the kid about how much of a mistake he was and how he wasn’t suppose to be a hero.

He can see the hurt in Miles eyes when hearing Miguels words only for it to grow worse when he finds out that his own friends knew the truth the entire time and never told him.

Bunnix holds on tight to the railing his movement getting Miguels attention, noticing the opened portal above them and hardening his stare. “I can’t let you go back.” Said Miguel, looking back to Miles as his grip on his shoulders tightened. “Bunnix, take him back to the lab.” His voice is full of demand, expecting the hybrid to listen and to take the kid back only to see no movement.

Miguel looks up to Y/n with a hint of confusion in his eyes. “Bunnix.” He hissed out towards the hybrid who can only frown.

Holding onto the rial he used his back leg to push himself up, eyes full of guilt. “I’m sorry.” He says, using the strength of his legs to push himself forward. “I have to protect the timeline.”

Miguels eyes widen when he finally realizes what he means, reacting too late as the hybrid uses his legs to kick Miguel off of Miles, sending him flying back. Y/n is quick to grab Miles, not letting the kid speak before giving Miguel one last look and jumping through his portal and disappearing from sight.

Both Y/n and Miles roll through the burrow together. “What—“ Miles starts as he stands from where he lies, only for his eye to widen. “What is this place?”

Bunnix grunts, getting up and rushing over to the kid, covering his eyes. “don’t look.” His voice is low and dangerous. He couldn’t allow anyone to see what he sees, not even Míguel had the privilege to look into his burrow.

“Hold on!” Miles starts again, reaching out to try and pry Y/n’s hands off his eyes, but Y/n tightens his hold. “You can’t see this, if you do it will alter the future and I can’t have that. happening, not now.” He is guiding Miles around his burrow, checking the different timelines while the kid began to ask.

“Why did you save me?”

The hybrids ears raise at his question before they fall back, forgetting to explain to him. “I know what Miguel is only trying to do his job into keeping the canons from breaking, but…I also have a job of my own which is to keep the future safe. I saw the outcome of Miguel’s doing and I had to fix it.” His voice is soft while leading the kid around, keeping his hands over his eyes still until he finds what he is looking for.

“Wait, so you can see the future?” Miles looks over his shoulder while Bunnix sighs, knowing his next questions as he opens the portal to where he is to take Miles, stepping through and into the rain. The sound gets the kids attention and his eyes are uncovered, looking around in confusion and then turning back to Bunnix who stood before him.

“I know you want to know if you make it to your dad on time.” Said Bunnix. “I know what happens, Miles and it’s something I cannot reveal. I decided that this path works best, whether its good or bad its the right one.” Miles is staring at Bunnix with a look of determination and desperation wanting to know if his own father make sit out of the situation alive and if he’s able to save him before its too late.

As Miles opens his mouth to speak again he is cut off by Bunnix holding his hand up, stopping him.

Y/n gives the kid a sad smile already knowing that Miguel possibly hates him for what he’s done. “Your path goes on, mine ends here.” At this point their is nothing he can do for him, knowing that Miguel will be searching for him and the only way to stay hidden without getting caught would be in his burrow until everything is complete.

#male reader #miguel o’hara x reader #miguel o'hara #miguel spiderverse #Spider-Man #spider man into the spider verse #smitsv #one shot #AU #OC #oscar issac characters #Spotify #bunny male reader #Bunnix male reader #slight crossover #Bunnix series

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heartsforseo · 11 months ago

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Strawhats with a member who likes Sanrio

A/n: I LOVE Sanrio sm and used to have a Keroppi mirror and Hello Kitty plush (now I have more >:)). The Skincare fic did better than I thought tbh. And I ws brainstorming what fic to write since I ws bored. So pls request :(( also maybe a bit oc??

⭑Luffy wouldn't understand why you like Sanrio and what's the hype about it.

⭑Yeah, he heard about it from Makino and got a shirt that's Kitty, but that's that.

⭑When you ramble about Sanrio to him, he'd just laugh about it and say, "You really know so much about this, Y/n!"

⭑Especially about your fav character(s), he'd just listen to you, smiling and looking right at you. Though he might doze off from time to time.

⭑And if he ever remembers, he'd tell you about the Hello Kitty shirt he got from Makino.

⭑And if he ever figures out that he had that merch before you, he'd boost about it and talk about it until dinner arrives.

⭑But now whenever you guys stop on a new island, he'd race you on the Sanrio merchandise and steal buy one for you and him.

⭑Zoro, the best man, would stare at you like you just escaped from the mental asylum.

⭑He really doesn't know anything about Sanrio. He thought that it was some booze at first based on how much you'd talk about it.

⭑But when you finally explained what it was to him he was like://

⭑He noticed your gloomy expression and he suddenly started panicking.

⭑Would try to tell you what he heard from your rambling, but all you could hear were some loud stutterings.

⭑It was honestly laughable how hard he tried. So extra credit for him.

⭑You told him how he acts like Badzt and he was like, "Is he cool?"

⭑But now whenever you guys would stop by a new island, he'd somehow reach the Sanrio stall first.

⭑Nami would gasp, someone actually knows Sanrio???

⭑When Nami was young, she'd see it on one of the newspaper pages. She'd always look forward to the new chapters to be released.

⭑She'd also hear some of it from Bellemere and would get hand-me-downs from Nojiko.

⭑So when she overhears you ramble about Sanrio to someone she'd butt in and share her opinion.

⭑After the conversation, she'd start noticing how many references and merch you have of your favorite character.

⭑Now, whenever you guys stop on a new island, she'd happen to buy you clothes for your favorite character.

⭑Say your thanks and she might buy you more. (But don't abuse it or make her angry, she'll pull up the bills.)

⭑Sanji also knows a lot about Sanrio.

⭑Working at Baratie as a server and cook, he'd seen a lot of girls wearing Sanrio bracelets or necklaces.

⭑He'd even gift Sanrio cut flowers with a letter (the dedication of this man goes crazy).

⭑So when he finds out you like Sanrio, he immediately shows you his pile of plushies, posters, cards, stickers, etc.. you name it.

⭑Every day, you gotta expect a gift from him.

⭑And it doesn't help that he gets more creative--day by day. For example, he'd first give you small gifts then start getting bolder and bolder.

⭑He’d also make you a sanrio-themed food/dessert/drink.

⭑Whenever you guys would go to a new island, he'd add a "gift for Y/n" to the list.

⭑And when you all would set sail, the cycle returns.

⭑Ussopp is also one of the people who knows a lot about Sanrio.

⭑He was just skimming the newspaper and saw Sanrio, now he looks forward to the stories and maybe even gets some inspiration for his stories.

⭑When you told him that you love Sanrio, he told you about his stories and that he met the creator of Sanrio. Even meeting KeroKeroppi.

⭑But fr though, he probably made a weapon inspired by Sanrio.

⭑Ooh, speaking of weapons. He has an inspired Sanrio attack and name.

⭑Now whenever you guys boarded off, he'd look for gunpowder and get some ideas and critiques from you.

⭑Chopper has heard of Sanrio from the townsfolk and Dr. Hiriluk.

⭑When you told him you like Sanrio he was happy.

⭑He starts talking about things from the past that link with Sanrio.

⭑When you told him that his animal form is like Deery-Lou, he'd whine and say, "I'm a reindeer, not a deer!"

⭑All jokes aside, he likes getting praised and being told by strangers that he looks like a Sanrio character.

⭑He likes sweets so when he saw a Sanrio-themed lollipop he'd start squealing and run over to buy one.

⭑Now whenever you have to go to a new island, you'll see Chopper with 2-3 Sanrio-themed lollipops.

⭑Robin would also know what Sanrio is

⭑Looking at other children having those kinds of stuff, I'm sure she must have dreamt of having at least one merch before.

⭑But when she was still Ms. All Sunday, I'm sure she kept track of the storyline in the newspapers.

⭑When you tell her about your love for Sanrio she'll say, "Is that so? I have some fair share about it."

⭑She collects the little kinds of stuff. For example, she has a keychain of kuromi and Aggressive Retsuko (it reminds her of Chopper).

⭑Now whenever you guys get off to a new island, she'll maybe buy you a keychain and match with her (if she has time, especially since she's looking for poneyglyphs).

⭑Franky has heard of Sanrio before.

⭑Especially from Tom-san.

⭑He honestly likes Sanrio. He even tried to make one before, when he was young.

⭑When you told him 'bout your love for Sanrio, he immediately thought of building you one.

⭑AND HE ACTUALLY DIDD!!! It was a life-size Pochacco statue!

⭑If you didn't like the character or have other commissions, Franky would happily do them!

⭑Now, whenever you guys settle to a new island, you don't have to worry about getting the limited's since Franky could make them.

⭑Hands down, Brook probably knows the owner☠︎︎

⭑This guy is so old he may even helped with the soundtrack.

⭑All jokes aside tho, I'll say that Sanrio wasn't really known when he was still alive. And considering he has been wandering on his own for 50 years, he had definitely missed much of it.

⭑You'll have to tell him what the latest chapter is and what he missed (He's in the corner, crying cuz he missed so much).

⭑He'd probably play a soundtrack he remembers when he first watched it 50 years ago.

⭑But once you fill him in on the latest news, he'll also be fangirling with you!! (Yoohoo new buddy!!)

⭑Now, whenever you guys would settle on a new island, you both would hang out and discuss the latest episode.

⭑Jimbei I'd say would know the basics

⭑I mean, he has been a fighter so I'd say he hasn't gotten some time for relaxation.

⭑he reminds me of Hangyodon sm :(((

⭑I mean, he's a nice guy who likes the best for others.

⭑When you told him about your love for Sanrio, he'd be like, "Oh I know some of that." but he'd prefer to listen to you.

⭑When you tell him about his similarities to Hangyodon, he'll probably try to learn more about him.

⭑Hangyodon would probably be one of his favorites. Especially since he's the first one he knows a lot about.

⭑Now whenever you guys would leave for the next island, you'd give him some small stickers and ties.

A/n: Okokokokok so ofc I don't know MUCH about Jimbei yet. And I just got into the backstory of the sun pirates. I'm at like 536. But anyway, I finally finished this fic after 23 hours. Ofc I was bored again so I wrote. My next fic would be the Gaming one unless someone sent a request. ALSO MAYBE OOC

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minarisplaything · 2 years ago

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The Producer: Second Audition ft. Huh Yunjin

A/N: you can consider this a one-shot to the main series or perhaps a glimpse into the future of what's to come. either way i wanted to post it because It honestly might be one of my favorite things i've written in a minute and i'm not sure when the next chapter installment will be. enjoy!

pairing: huh yunjin x m!reader/oc summary: After first evaluations don’t go as planned, PD-nim gets an unexpected visitor at his office. rating: Explicit

An unexpected knock at your door pulled you from the pile of documents on your table.

“Come in!” you called.

The past 48 hours had been a crash course in learning that while your uncle may have invested in modern facilities, he had not invested in modern record keeping. You and Jessica had already discussed hiring someone to help with converting everything to digital but for now the task was left up to you to sort through the records. A task that was proving tiresome at best. So when Yunjin poked her head through your door it was a welcome relief.

“Yunjin, what can I do for you?”

You didn’t feel as though you had a chance to truly get to know any of the girls as of yet. And with evaluations ongoing it made any attempts at breaking the ice even more tense. Except for Hyejoo who seemed unphased by anything, least of all your presence.

“PD-nim,” Yunjin greeted, her voice sounding surprisingly strained. “Do you have time to talk?”

“Of course. What’s on your mind?”

From what Jessica had told you of Yunjin she was quite the extrovert. And you had noticed it when seeing the girls interact with each other. But as she stood before you now she seemed almost nervous, apprehensive even; but there was a quiet determination in her eyes. Curious, you reclined back into your chair and eyed her. She fidgeted with her hands for a moment before putting them behind her back.

“I wanted to talk about my evaluation.”

“Ah…”

“I was nervous and trying to impress you. I didn’t perform anywhere near my best,” she began to ramble. “And I know Lily and Chaehyun still have their evaluations coming up and I know they both have fucking amazing voices...”

You nearly choked on air the way she swore openly.

“Sorry,” she quickly amended before continuing, “I just don’t want you to think that this is the best I can do. I will do anything to debut. I need this and I want you to have the best impression of me.”

Fuck. This was the part of the job you were going to feel guilty about. Even the person who was usually cool, calm and collected was pouring her heart out in hopes that she wouldn’t be cut from the debut group. Is this why your uncle gave you this job? The old man was insane but he had a good heart. He wouldn’t have been able to stomach this but…then again you were barely stomaching this as it was.

When you snapped out of your thoughts you realized Yunjin had made her way from the front of your desk around to your chair. Swallowing thickly you couldn’t help but notice that the nervousness had seemingly left her body as she looked at you with lidded eyes. Every logical cell in your body was saying to do something, anything, and yet all you did was find your eyes drawn to her lips.

“Yunjin…”

“PD-nim” she interrupted you. She grabbed the arm of your chair, turning it so you could face her. “You know the girls keep talking about how handsome you are.”

“I don’t think…”

Before you could finish your sentence, Yunjin was sliding her body into your lap, straddling your legs. She straightened, pressing her lithe form against yours for a moment before sitting back onto your thighs so she could look at you. Here you had thought you were going to hear the plea of a desperate girl, now you were looking at a woman who was in complete control of what she was doing.

“Between you and me, who is your favorite?” her fingers danced along your chest, slowly unbuttoning your shirt, “You call tell me, I promise I won’t say. Is it Jimin-unnie? Or Chaewon-unnie?” She leaned close, her breath hot against your ear as she whispered you a secret, “I think you could fuck both of them if you wanted to.”

Your cock gave a guilty twitch at those words.

“Yunjin” you finally got out, finding your tongue, “This isn’t appropriate. And this isn’t how to secure your spot in the group.”

In response to you trying to put your foot down, Yunjin rolled her eyes. You opened your mouth to further chastise her only to fall short when she pulled the hem of her shirt over her head and tossed it to the ground. Her bare breasts were on display for you, puffy nipples staring you in the face as Yunjin looked down from her perch atop your lap, a smirk growing at your sudden silence.

She leaned forward, placing her arms lazily around your neck. She was so close that you could smell the perfume she wore. Did she wear that just for you? To further add to the intoxication? If you had any last words of resistance they were swallowed as Yunjin pressed her lips to yours. She took the lead, arching her body into yours as she kissed you. Her tongue ran along your bottom lip before slipping past your lips to explore your mouth. How had you ever fooled yourself into thinking this girl seemed timid when she entered your office?!

Head spinning, you tried to grasp some hold of the situation. Your hands found their way to her hips, telling yourself that you were intent on shoving her off of you. Yet somehow shoving her off turned into gripping her tighter. Yunjin moaned into your mouth approvingly, grinding her hips atop your growing erection. For a long moment that was all that existed. Slowly losing yourself in her aggressive kiss while she continued to rock her hips against yours. There was soon no denying your physical arousal, and by the way you were gripping her hips it was clear you had mentally given over to it as well.

It was Yunjin who ultimately broke the kiss, her nose brushing against yours. “PD-nim, you’re wearing too much clothes.”

As if to emphasize her point her hands moved towards your belt buckle, undoing it with deft hands before unbuttoning your pants.

“Yunjin, you know this won’t guarantee your spot right?”

Yunjin scoffed, giving you a wry look, “PD-nim you really know how to talk to a lady you know that?” her fingers fished your cock out of your boxers, giving the girthy meat a squeeze that caused you to grip her tight she might bruise. “And you really shouldn’t say things you don’t mean.”

Her cockiness might’ve been infuriating in any other circumstance. In this case, however, when she was holding the evidence of her ability in her hand there was little point in maintaining a stern facade. Seeing the resignation on your face a devilish smile spread across Yunjin’s features. She slowly stroked your cock, pre-cum already dripping from the tip. You should’ve been more ashamed than you were. In truth you wanted more.

It seemed so did Yunjin, she sat up slightly, beginning to move herself atop your length when there was a sudden knock at your door.

“Are you busy?”

“That’s Jessica,” you blurted out in a hushed whisper.

It only lasted a second but you could have sworn you saw a look of panic on Yunjin’s face. A moment of chaos ensued ultimately ending up with Yunjin being stuffed topless under your desk with your hard cock still out but hidden from view.

“Kind of,” you called back. “What did you need?”

“Can I come in? It’s easier to talk about it in person.”

You glanced down under the desk to see Yunjin who had already taken to sucking on your cock like a lollipop despite the situation you were currently in. This girl. And where was her shirt?! You briefly looked around, spotting it and tried to drag it out of site with your foot.

“Uh, sure. Y-yeah, come in.”

Jessica entered, dressed in a form fitting pant suit. She never failed to dress to kill, though for the first time your attention was far from focused on your co-worker.

“What’s –” you paused, clearing your throat when you felt Yunjin start to fondle your balls, “What’s up?”

“I was just thinking about the evaluations earlier…”

Oh fuck. She wants to talk about something serious? Now of all times?! Admittedly, Jessica didn’t know you were currently getting a blowjob under your desk but her timing couldn’t be worse. It also didn’t help that Yunjin was still technically one of the trainees being evaluated. Maybe you could talk your way out of it before you lost it entirely.

“Oh? I thought they went well” you feigned.

Jessica fixed you with a look that might’ve been the most judgemental look you had received in your life. And honestly, given what was going on you probably deserved it. “That’s only because you don’t know the girls. A lot of them don’t usually perform that poorly. I think we may have rushed the evaluations a little too soon.”

“Are you sure you’re not,” you swallowed a swear and a moan, “...just too close to the situation?”

“No, I’m not –” she paused to gain her composure. “They are good enough to make it into the group. Yunjin especially is talented.”

As if on cue, Yunjin began to deep-throat your cock. She took it all the way, your cock poking her throat as she pressed her face into your groin. On what hand you wondered why she was being so risky. On the other hand – good god.

“Oh, I’m sure she is,” you breathed out. “So what…what are you suggesting we do?”

Maintaining eye contact with Jessica was getting harder and harder, so you were almost grateful when she started pacing back and forth.

“I don’t know. Maybe push evaluations back a bit? Give the girls some time to get comfortable with the new situation? It’d also give you more time to settle in.”

Yunjin’s tongue ran along the thick vein on the underside of your cock as she slowly pulled it out of her mouth. Careful to make as little noise as possible while utterly torturing you to the utmost extent. She began to swirl her tongue around it, from the sensitive tip all the way down the base. You knew you had to get Jessica out of there immediately if she kept this up.

“Y-yeah that sounds good. Let’s do that” you stuttered.

“Really?”

“Yes! I trust your judgment.”

Jessica, usually so cool and professional, cracked a rare smile. “Great! I’ll go let the girls know.”.

Fortunately, she seemed too pleased to comment on your distressed expression, instead hurrying out the door. Almost simultaneous with the sound of the door closing, Yunjin began to vulgarly suck your cock. She was intent on draining every drop from you as she massaged your balls, coaxing your release to shoot out. You were completely at her mercy as you gripped your desk, trying not to cry out as you looked down at her. When she looked up at you with a wide-eyed stare, her mouth firmly secured around your cock, it was over for you.

“Fuck!”

You grunted as your peak hit. Rope after rope of cum filled her mouth yet she didn’t pull off once. In fact, Yunjin didn’t spill a single drop. When she did finally pull her mouth off your cock, she made sure to suck it clean before finally swallowing and looking up at you with a smirk.

“PD-nim, I think my vocals will be a lot better next time now.”

Fuck. What had you just gotten yourself into.

#kpop smut #male reader #le sserafim smut #le sserafim x male reader #yunjin smut #huh yunjin smut #yunjin x male reader #huh yunjin x male reader #lsfm smut

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nephalem-da · 6 months ago

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Morbid Musings

(Bill Cipher x OC)

Synopsis: Bill Cipher shares his dark and quirky thoughts with his wife, Maeloraelis, during a quiet moment together.

The Nightmare Realm was as chaotic as ever, a swirl of colors and energies that defied logic and reason. Yet amidst the cacophony, a small pocket of calm existed—a quiet moment between two beings who had long since made this world their own.

Bill Cipher was in one of his chatty moods. His triangular form bobbed with excitement as he rambled on, his single eye wide and animated, with his lid curving upward in an upside-down U, mimicking a smile. He gestured wildly with his free hand, while his other hand was firmly clasped in Maeloraelis’s, their fingers intertwined. Despite his chaotic nature, there was a certain rhythm to his ramblings, a cadence that hinted at the intelligence lurking beneath his manic exterior.

“You know, Mae, did you ever hear about the human who tried to invent an indestructible material?” Bill began, his eye widening with a mischievous glint. “Poor guy didn’t account for human greed—his invention got locked away in some vault because, get this, it was too perfect! Can’t have something that lasts forever, right? Where’s the profit in that?”

Maeloraelis’s eye softened, her eye half-lidded in a look of pure adoration. She’d heard this story before—probably more than once—but she never tired of hearing it in Bill’s unique style. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, encouraging him to continue.

“And get this,” Bill continued, his eye narrowing slightly, the corners of his lid curling downward in a playful smirk, “Did you know that there’s a species of jellyfish that’s basically immortal? Like, when it’s done with life, it just reverts to its younger self and starts over. Crazy, right? Imagine if we could do that! We’d never have to worry about wrinkles or gray hairs—oh wait, we don’t have hair!” His lid curved into a wide arc, mimicking a grin as he cackled, his laughter echoing through the void.

Mae’s expression brightened, her eye gleaming with affection. “Sounds like they’ve got the ultimate do-over, huh? Must be nice to hit the reset button whenever you feel like it.”

“Exactly! But here’s the thing—” Bill’s eye narrowed into a sly squint, the corners of his lid forming a knowing smile. “They can’t remember their past lives. It’s like starting with a blank slate every time. No memories, no regrets, just endless loops of the same old thing. Makes you wonder, though... what’s the point of living forever if you can’t remember any of it?”

Mae tilted her head thoughtfully, her eye’s lid arching slightly as she considered his words. “Maybe it’s about the journey rather than the memories. Each life a new adventure, even if it’s the same.”

Bill paused, his lid relaxing into a thoughtful expression. After a moment, he shrugged, his eye brightening again. “Yeah, but where’s the fun in that? I’d rather keep all the memories, even the messy ones. They’re what make us... well, us!” His lid curled into a softer U-shape as he looked at her, the chaotic energy in his eye softening. “Like us, Mae. I remember everything from the day we met, even though we were just little shapes in a big, scary world. And look at us now—ruling the Nightmare Realm together! How’s that for memories?”

Mae’s soft pink hue seemed to glow brighter at his words, her eye locking with his. “Every moment with you, Bill, is a memory worth keeping. Even your random facts and... unusual observations.” Her eye’s lid curved into a warm, loving smile, her affection for him clear in the way she held his hand and listened to every word he said.

Bill’s expression softened, his eye narrowing slightly in a tender gaze—a rare look for the chaotic being. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a murmur. “You’re the best part of this crazy existence, Mae. I don’t need immortality or do-overs as long as I have you by my side.”

Mae’s heart swelled at his words, and she lifted their intertwined hands, brushing the back of his hand with her lid in a gesture akin to a kiss. “And I’ll be here, always, to listen to every story, every fact, and every wild idea you come up with.”

Bill chuckled softly, leaning his triangular head against hers, their auras mingling in a soft, shimmering display. “Good, because I’ve got plenty more where that came from. Now, did you know about the island where bones just—”

Mae smiled, settling in for another one of Bill’s endless rants, her love for him unwavering. The Nightmare Realm may have been chaotic, but in this moment, everything felt perfectly right.

#bill cipher x reader #bill cipher x oc #gravity falls #self insert #gravity falls oc #the book of bill

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writingsoftarnishedsilver · 1 month ago

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Home | Sebastian Sallow x OC #66

(LAST CHAPTER)

Wow. What a ride this has been.

More than 400,000 words later, we’ve reached the end of What Happened After.

What started as a simple idea of mine turned into months of writing this twisting, turning, and painfully slow burn story. It’s been a labor of love, and I still can’t quite believe it's finished.

To everyone who’s read, commented, shared, or even just quietly supported this story—thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Knowing you’ve spent your precious time reading my work means more to me than I can put into words.

I hope the payoff has been worth the incredibly long wait for these two idiots to finally get their act together. I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey as much as I’ve loved writing it. I hope it made you feel something, gave you an escape, or maybe just a little joy when you needed it most. This story has been such a big part of my life, and knowing it’s meant something to you is the best reward I could ask for.

Thank you for coming along on this wild, emotional, magical ride.

P.S. This might be the end of What Happened After, but it’s definitely not the end of Evie and Sebastian. One-shots, AU ramblings, and whatever else their chaotic love story inspires are still very much on the table. So don’t be surprised if these two show up again...

Words: ~10,500

Tags: Explicit Smut, Fluff, and Happy Endings :)

Timeline: Early October

Start from the beginning?

Read on AO3

The first thing Evangeline became aware of was the scent—earthy and familiar, mixed with the hint of freshly laundered quilts. Her mind moved slowly, the thick fog of sleep lifting in pieces as sensations filtered in one by one: the weight of blankets cocooning her, the steady ticking of a clock somewhere nearby, the soft creak of wood beneath shifting footsteps.

She stirred slightly, her limbs feeling leaden, but the ache that accompanied the movement wasn’t sharp. It was dull, like the lingering echo of exhaustion, and with it came the realization that she was no longer in the chaos of the High Season Ball. There were no curses flying past her, no shattered marble, no blood.

Her eyes fluttered open, the light in the room muted but still enough to make her blink against it. It took her a moment to place the room, though everything about it felt like an extension of the man she knew better than anyone.

Bookshelves crowded into one corner were crammed with books, their spines leaning haphazardly against each other alongside stacks of parchment scrawled with his untidy handwriting. A battered broomstick rested against the wall, its handle scratched and worn, next to one of her old Gryffindor scarves, faded but lovingly kept.

On the dresser across from her, framed photographs lined the surface, their occupants alive with movement, and beside them, the pensieve she had gifted him years ago, surrounded by delicate glass vials—her memories, offered freely and kept close.

On the nightstand, next to a glass of water, rested his compass, its needle enchanted to point him home, to her, and beside it, the remains of a companion candle, burned down to the very bottom.

Sebastian's room. She was in Feldcroft.

The thought lingered as she pushed herself upright, the effort slow and deliberate as her body protested the movement with a dull ache. The hazy fragments of her memories came rushing back—the ball, the blinding surge of her magic, the fight. Her heart quickened as her mind replayed flashes of Sebastian slumped on the floor, pale and unmoving.

Her breath caught, panic threatening to rise until a soft murmur of voices reached her ears, distant but distinct. They were calm, unhurried—a warm hum of conversation that trickled down the hallway.

Anne’s light, melodic voice was unmistakable, weaving through the steadier cadence of Ominis. Beneath them was the deeper, rumbling timbre of her uncles, the sound grounding her like nothing else could. But there was one voice missing—Sebastian’s.

Her heart leapt and sank in tandem, her chest tightening with the need to see him. Was he okay? Had he—

“Evie?”

The voice startled her, soft but so achingly familiar that it sent her spinning toward the doorway. There he was, leaning against the frame, his broad shoulders filling the space as though he belonged there more than the walls themselves. His dark hair was tousled, his shirt wrinkled as usual, and his eyes—those deep brown eyes—were fixed on her with a mixture of disbelief and cautious joy.

“You’re awake,” he said, his voice thick with relief.

Her lips parted, but for a moment, no words came. All she could do was stare, taking in the sight of him standing there, whole and alive, until her voice found her. “Sebastian.”

In two strides, he was at her side, crouching in front of her, his hands hovering uncertainly as though he didn’t know whether to touch her or not. “You—you've had us all worried sick,” he murmured, his voice trembling slightly. “How are you feeling?”

Evangeline didn’t hesitate. She reached for him, her hands finding his cheeks and tugging his lips to hers.

“How are you feeling?” she countered, her voice rough as she spoke against his mouth.

Sebastian let out a breathless laugh, his hands coming up to cradle hers as he pulled back just enough to meet her eyes. “I’m fine, Evie,” he murmured, his voice low but steady. “I’m more worried about you.”

Her brow furrowed, her hands still resting against his cheeks as she searched his face for any sign of pain or lingering injury. “Fine?” she repeated, her voice thick with doubt. “Sebastian, I saw—”

“I’m fine," he interrupted gently, his hands coming to rest over hers. "Better than fine now that you're awake.”

Her thumbs brushed against his cheekbones as though she needed to feel the warmth of his skin to believe it. “But you weren’t fine,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “You—Sebastian, you were—”

“I know,” he interrupted gently, his hands coming to rest over hers. “They told me. But you saved me.”

“Merlin, you scared me,” she admitted, her voice a hoarse whisper.

Sebastian leaned into her touch, his thumb brushing against the back of her hand. “You think you scared me any less?” he said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “None of us knew how long it would take you to wake up.”

“I’m okay,” she reassured him. “I'm just... I'm glad you're here.”

“Of course I’m here,” he replied, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “And if you’d like, I can summon the others—they’ll be thrilled you’re awake.”

Her eyes flickered to the doorway, where the faint murmur of voices continued, underscored by a rich, familiar laugh that she knew belonged to one of her uncles. The sound grounded her, but her focus remained on Sebastian.

“In a minute,” she said, her voice softer now. “Just... stay with me for a little longer.”

Sebastian’s smile deepened, the lines of worry softening around his eyes. “As long as you need

.”

He shifted from his crouched position to sit beside her on the bed, their shoulders brushing. His hand found hers, threading their fingers together.

For a moment, they sat in silence, the muted sounds of life down the hallway serving as a quiet reminder that they weren’t alone. But in this room, in this moment, it felt like they were the only two people in the world.

Evangeline's gaze flicked to their joined hands, the calluses on his fingers rough against her smoother skin.

“What… what happened after the ball?” she asked hesitantly.

Sebastian exhaled slowly. “Quite a lot,” he said, his tone soft but measured. “You’ve been out for over a week, Evie.”

Her head snapped up, her eyes widening in disbelief. “A week?”

“It’s October now,” he said gently, a faint smile tugging at the incredulity on her face. “We’re well into the month, actually."

Evangeline blinked, struggling to process the sheer amount of time she’d missed. “October,” she repeated, shaking her head. ��I can’t believe it”

Sebastian hummed, his thumb brushing over the back of her hand in a soothing gesture. “You needed the rest. Your uncles… they said your magic took a toll on you. Anne and had her Healer friends gave second opinion as well; said it was exhaustion."

“It's so odd. That whole night feels… hazy," she murmured, her gaze dropping to their intertwined hands. “Like grasping at smoke. I didn’t know my magic could do that—I didn’t know I could do that. All I really remember is you."

Sebastian tilted his head, studying her with those steady brown eyes. “Well it saved us. You saved us,” he said. "Ominis keeps saying he's never seen anything like it, that you brought every Gaunt to their knees single handedly."

Evangeline's fingers tightened around his as she shook her head, her voice trembling. “I didn’t even know what I was doing, Sebastian. It was just—everything was falling apart, and you—” She stopped, swallowing hard as the sole memory of his blood pooling on the floor resurfaced.

Sebastian squeezed her hand, pulling her attention back to him. “—you put it all back together,” he said softly. “You did what none of us could.”

They sat in silence for a moment, the weight of everything pressing down on Evangeline's chest. She took a deep breath, tilting her head to look up at him. “...Then what happened?” she asked quietly, needing to fill in the gaps.

“After you… after you stopped them, the Ministry showed up," Sebastian explained. "Law enforcement, Healers. They took everyone into custody—Noctivus, Marvolo, Valeria. The Muldoon imposter. It’s been nonstop since then, interrogations, statements, evidence gathering. They’re building the case for trial.”

Evangeline's brows furrowed, her mind racing. “And the Prophet? What have they been saying?”

Sebastian’s lips quirked into a wry smile. “Oh, they’ve had a field day with it. Every detail of the ball has been front-page news. They’re calling it the downfall of the Gaunts, besides Ominis of course. And us…” He hesitated, his expression softening. “Well, they’ve certainly changed their tune.”

Her brow arched, a flicker of disbelief crossing her face. “Changed their tune?”

He nodded. “Apparently, we’re the the story of the year. ‘The Love That Defied Bloodlines,’” he said with a faint laugh. “The Prophet’s suddenly very interested in painting us as heroes.”

She groaned, pressing a hand to her face. “Merlin help me.”

Sebastian chuckled, leaning back slightly as he watched her reaction with amusement. “At least they’re not tearing us apart anymore.”

“Small mercies,” she muttered, though the corner of her mouth twitched in a reluctant smile.

“And,” he added, his voice softening. “Anne and Ominis are planning their engagement party. They’re talking about inviting everyone—Our Hogwarts friends, colleagues. They’ve been waiting for you to wake up so they could tell you.”

Evangeline’s heart warmed at the thought, her smile softening. “That sounds perfect.”

“It will be,” Sebastian said, his thumb still brushing over her hand. “Anne’s been fussing over every detail, and Ominis is pretending not to care, but you know he’s secretly just as invested.”

Her laugh was soft, genuine, and it made his own smile widen. “That sounds about right.”

“They’ve missed you,” he said, his voice lowering slightly. “We all have.”

Evangeline leaned into Sebastian, her cheek resting against his shoulder as she closed her eyes and breathed in his familiar scent.

The memories of the ball still felt fractured. like pieces of shattered glass, but Evangeline realized it didn't really matter. They had won. She had Sebastian, and Anne, and Ominis. And her family. And finally, finally, everything in the world had righted itself.

She leaned back, meeting his gaze with a small, steady smile. “I think I’m ready.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching into a teasing smirk. “To see everyone? Are you sure? I know Anne’s been dying to fuss over you, and Ominis… well, you know how he is.”

Evangeline rolled her eyes, but the warmth in her chest deepened. “I think I can handle them.”

He squeezed her hand, his smirk softening into something tender. “Alright. Let’s not keep them waiting.”

Sebastian stood first, extending his hand to help her up. She took it, her legs trembling slightly as she rose, but his steady grip anchored her. Once she was on her feet, he kept her close, his arm slipping around her waist as they made their way to the door.

The hallway was bathed in the golden light of late afternoon, the voices from the kitchen growing clearer with each step. Anne’s laughter floated through the air, followed by Ominis’s low, amused reply. The deeper rumble of Cassian’s voice interjected, eliciting a sharp bark of laughter from Percival.

Evangeline paused just outside the doorway, her heart swelling as she listened to the harmony of voices—familiar, comforting, and hers. These were her people, her family.

Sebastian nudged her gently. “Go on,” he said softly.

Taking a deep breath, Evangeline stepped into the room. All conversation ceased as every pair of eyes turned toward her. For a moment, the silence was deafening, and then Anne let out a delighted squeal, practically launching herself across the room to wrap Evangeline in a fierce hug.

“You’re awake!” Anne exclaimed, her voice bubbling with relief and joy. “Finally!”

Evangeline laughed softly, returning the embrace as Anne squeezed her tightly.

Ominis was next, his pale eyes lighting up as he crossed the room. “You gave us quite the scare,” he said, his voice steady but warm as he embraced her. “But I should have known better. Nothing can keep you down for long.”

Before Evangeline could respond, her uncles and aunts approached, their expressions a mix of concern and joy. Cassian clasped her shoulder, his grip firm but gentle. “You look better than I expected,” he said with a faint smile.

Benedict and Percival flanked him, their smiles broad and genuine as they added their greetings, each of them pulling her into quick, affectionate hugs, followed by their wives and Annalise.

The room felt full—of warmth, of laughter, of love—and as Evangeline settled into a seat between Anne and Sebastian, she let herself be swept up in the conversation. They talked about everything: Anne and Ominis’s engagement party plans, the latest Daily Prophet articles, and even how they'd received letters informing them of Cressida Bloom and Garreth Weasley's engagement.

At one point, Anne recounted some of the more absurd rumors that had surfaced in the Daily Prophet about the ball—one involving a duel with a Hungarian Horntail, which Ominis dryly corrected as “purely fabricated nonsense.”

“You know how the Prophet loves its embellishments,” he added, leaning back with a faint smirk. “Apparently, they’ve dubbed you ‘The Star of the Summer’, Evangeline. Quite dramatic, really.”

Evangeline groaned, dropping her head into her hands. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“I’m certainly not,” Ominis replied, though the faint amusement in his voice betrayed him. “You should see the artwork they’ve commissioned. You look very noble. Very… glowing.”

Anne burst into laughter, clutching her side. “I’m pretty sure they’ve decided you’re a goddess now, Evie.”

Sebastian leaned in closer, his lips twitching as he suppressed a grin. “I’ll be sure to get a framed copy for the mantle.”

Evangeline shot him a glare, though the corners of her mouth betrayed her amusement. “Don’t you dare.”

Before the conversation could descend further into chaos, Cassian cleared his throat, drawing the room’s attention. “Speaking of the ball,” he began, his tone measured, “we’ve had some time to think about what happened—specifically, your magic, Evangeline.”

The room quieted, the earlier levity replaced by curiosity. Evangeline straightened in her chair, her gaze flicking to her uncles. “What about it?”

Cassian leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “Your display… Even in the context of ancient magic, what you did was extraordinary. We’ve been digging through the family archives, trying to understand how it could manifest so powerfully.”

Benedict nodded, his expression thoughtful. “From what we’ve gathered, it seems to stem from a ritual our ancestors practiced, though we’re still working to translate the runic texts.”

Evangeline frowned, her brow furrowing. “That makes sense,” she said slowly. “Months ago… almost a year ago now, I had this dream. Or vision, maybe. There was this place, like a ritual site. There were these hooded figures, and… a woman. She looked like me, like… like us. She said something about boundless power, about it being mine if I chose to accept it.”

Her uncles exchanged a glance, their expressions brightening with recognition.

“Your vision perfectly matches recorded accounts of the Ritual of Resonance,” Percival confirmed. “It’s said to be a rite that connects the caster to their ancient magic completely, forging an unbreakable bond.”

Evangeline blinked, the weight of his words settling over her. “But I didn’t perform any ritual. It just… I remembered the dream in the moment and then… it just happened.”

“Perhaps it didn’t need to be formalized,” Cassian offered. “You were in a moment of extreme need. The magic must have responded instinctively.”

Anne, who had been quiet, leaned forward with a curious tilt of her head. “So what does that mean? Is Evie… stronger now?”

“In a way. It's more that her magical connection is... unparalleled,” Benedict said firmly. “But this kind of power isn’t without consequence. It comes at a cost… which is, presumably, why you were unconscious for eight days.”

Evangeline let the words sink in, her fingers tightening around her teacup. “I’ll learn how to control it, I’ll… I’ll figure it out,” she said quietly.

“You will,” Cassian said with conviction, his eyes softening as they met hers. “You’re a Muldoon. And we’ll be here to help you every step of the way.”

Benedict leaned back, his arms crossing over his chest as he added, “But take it slow. No experimenting until you’ve fully recovered. I mean it, Evangeline.”

Evangeline smiled faintly, appreciating the protective tone. “I’ll take it slow,” she promised.

Sebastian shifted beside her, his arm brushing hers as he leaned in. “Good. Because I’d rather not wake up to violet fireballs crashing through the walls.”

Anne chuckled, interrupting with a sly grin. “She can save them for Joseph Carling’s return. Did Sebastian mention what’s been going on with him?”

Evangeline raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. “No, what happened?”

Anne chucking mischievously. “Lady Greengrass told the Prophet all about the hissy fit he had in front of you and Sebastian at the ball, and they’ve done quite the hatchet job on his reputation.” Anne smirked, clearly relishing the gossip. “The Prophet called it ‘a most unseemly display unbefitting a gentleman of his station.’ His mother is mortified.”

Sebastian let out a low chuckle, leaning back in his chair with a smug grin. “Serves him right. Carling’s been insufferable all season.”

Evangeline couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head. “Indeed. I can’t say I’m sorry to hear it.”

“No matter. He’s off to New Zealand now,” Anne said with an exaggerated wave of her hand.

“Licking his wounds, no doubt,” Ominis added dryly, “Though he seemed rather pleased to leave. I think he realized he was no match for you—or Sebastian.”

Sebastian chuckled, shaking his head. “Good riddance.”

Evangeline laughed softly, her shoulders relaxing as the conversation drifted back into more mundane and lighthearted territory. For the next hour, they regaled the Muldoons with stories about Hogwarts, teasing one another over past exploits, and in turn learning more about Durmstrang’s true nature.

Cassian leaned back in his chair, his expression curious as he listened. “Hogwarts sounds like utter chaos. At Durmstrang, the professors would have thrown us out for half of what you’re describing.”

Benedict, though usually stoic, smirked faintly. “Durmstrang had its own peculiarities, but nothing as… lively as your tales. The rumors in Britain paint it as a den of dark magic, but the reality was far more controlled.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “So no shadowy corners where students practiced forbidden spells?”

Cassian chuckled. “Nothing of the sort. Yes, we studied the Dark Arts more openly than Hogwarts, but it was always academic—never indulgent.”

“Still sounds a bit grim,” Evangeline said thoughtfully. “I think I’d miss the bedlam. Hogwarts could be chaotic, but it has a special kind of charm.”

“‘Charm’ isn’t quite how I’d describe it,” Ominis interjected dryly. “With you two, it was more like barely controlled anarchy.”

“That’s an understatement,” Evangeline replied, grinning. “Sebastian made it his personal mission to break every rule in the book.”

Sebastian smirked, leaning back. “Oh, come now. I wasn’t the only one causing trouble, Evangeline.”

Evangeline flushed. “Alright, alright. I might not have been the best behaved student.”

The conversation paused as Anne’s smile faltered slightly. “I wish I’d been there to see it,” she said quietly. “I hated leaving after fourth year.”

Her voice trailed off, and the room grew momentarily somber.

Cassian leaned forward, his expression softening. “Anne, have you looked into any other treatments? Beyond St. Mungo’s?”

Evangeline stiffened, exchanging a glance with Sebastian as the buried memories of fifth year resurfaced—the desperate, dangerous lengths Sebastian had gone to in search of a cure. But Anne simply nodded, her tone calm but tinged with resignation.

“Well, I’ve been part of a clinical trial for pain management. It’s helped—but it’s not perfect. The pain is always there, just… quieter, most of the time. On bad days, though…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “Well, I manage.”

Sebastian’s jaw tightened, his hand curling into a fist against the arm of his chair. Evangeline, noticing his tension, reached out subtly and brushed her fingers against his. He didn’t meet her gaze, but his hand relaxed under her touch.

Cassian exchanged a thoughtful glance with Benedict and Percival before speaking again, his tone measured. “Anne, the Muldoon archives are vast, spanning centuries of magical research. If there are effective alternative methods for managing your curse, we’ll find them.

Anne blinked, startled. “...You’d do that?”

“Of course,” Percival said firmly. “A friend of Evangeline’s is a friend of ours, and it’s clear you’ve endured more than anyone should.”

Benedict leaned forward, his tone calm but serious. “We may already have a head start. Our ancestors had ties to a witch called Isidora Morganach, who wielded ancient magic to relieve pain.”

Evangeline stiffened, her eyes narrowing slightly. “I-Isidora?”

“You know of her?” Cassian asked, curiosity flickering across his face.

Evangeline nodded slowly, her voice careful. “I do. She… like you said, she removed people’s pain, but it ended in tragedy. Surely you’re not suggesting that I—”

Cassian held up a hand, his tone reassuring. “No, no. Certainly not, Evangeline. At least, not in the way Isidora practiced it.“

“We are well aware of the dangers," Benedict added, his expression grave. "But Isidora's theories about the connection between pain, magic, and the human spirit may not be entirely without merit.”

Evangeline’s brows furrowed, worry and skepticism etched into her features. “But her work was destructive. Her methods are not something anyone should ever attempt again. I would never—”

“And we agree,” Percival said firmly. “What we’re suggesting isn’t to replicate Isidora’s methods, but to study her insights. Our ancestors corresponded with her before her fall—not to follow her path, but to understand it... refine and temper it. If we can separate the wisdom from her recklessness, perhaps there’s a chance we could use ancient magic to truly heal without harmful consequences.”

Anne, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke, her voice tentative. “But… is that even possible?”

Cassian’s gaze softened as he looked at her. “We don’t know for certain. But if there’s a way, we’ll find it.”

Anne hesitated, twisting her fingers together. “I don’t know… it sounds risky. And… I’ve made peace with the pain, mostly. And… I don’t want to get my hopes up,” she admitted softly. “What if it leads nowhere? Or worse, what if it backfires?”

Percival spoke with quiet conviction. “We will proceed cautiously. Nothing will be attempted unless we are certain it’s safe. And if we uncover nothing, you’ll lose nothing—except perhaps a bit of our time spent searching.”

Sebastian, who had remained tense and silent throughout the conversation, finally spoke, his voice rough but steady. “Anne, you’ve spent years living with this curse. You’ve carried it longer than anyone should have to. If there’s even a chance—no matter how slim—perhaps it’s worth trying?”

Anne’s eyes softened, the barest flicker of hope creeping into her expression. “I… I’ll think about it,” she said after a long pause, fixing her gaze on the Muldoons brothers. “If you do find something—and if it’s safe—I’d like to know more.”

“We wouldn’t do it any other way,” Cassian assured her. “We’ll look into it thoroughly and share anything we discover. The choice will always be yours. And Evangeline’s of course, since she would be the practitioner.”

Evangeline reached out and squeezed Anne’s hand. “You don’t have to make any decisions now. Just knowing there’s a chance… that’s a start.”

Anne smiled faintly, her fingers relaxing in Evangeline’s grip. “Thank you. Really.”

The conversation lingered for a moment, a delicate thread of cautious optimism settling in the air. Then Sebastian cleared his throat, his voice breaking the silence.

“Since we’re on the topic of Isidora,” he began, glancing at Evangeline before turning to the Muldoons, “there’s something else you might be able to help with. It’s about her repository under Hogwarts.”

Evangeline stiffened slightly, her fingers tightening around Anne’s for a moment before she released her hand. “Sebastian, you don’t—”

“I think it’s worth mentioning,” he said gently but firmly. Turning back to the Muldoons, he continued, “We all know Evangeline was the one who stopped Ranrok from harnessing the power of the repository. But what she endured down there... She's suffered recurring nightmares because of it—of Ranrok, of what that power could do.”

Evangeline’s expression faltered for a moment before she composed herself. “It’s not something I like to dwell on,” she admitted quietly. “But...it is true. The magic down there… it’s not meant to be wielded by anyone.”

Cassian’s brows knit together in concern. “And it’s still there? Beneath Hogwarts?”

“Yes,” Sebastian said. “The Headmaster agreed to seal it off with wards after everything that happened, but we’ve been trying to figure out ways to enhance the protections even further—for Evangeline’s peace of mind. Unfortunately, with the social season and everything else that’s been happening, it’s been hard to make much progress.”

Percival leaned forward, his expression thoughtful. “Our library has an extensive section on protective wards and enchantments.”

Benedict nodded. “If there are ways to strengthen the existing wards—or add more to ensure that power can never be accessed again—we will certainly be able to do so.”

Evangeline hesitated, her hazel eyes flickering between the Muldoons and Sebastian. “I don’t want to drag you all into this. It’s… it’s dangerous. The magic down there is volatile, and even with the wards, I can feel it sometimes. It’s like it’s… sentient.”

“That’s all the more reason to act,” Cassian said firmly. “If the repository poses a threat—not just to you, but to Hogwarts and anyone who might seek its power—it must be secured. We’ll prioritize this. You’ve already done more than enough to protect it. Let us take up the task now.”

Evangeline exhaled slowly, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly. “Alright,” she said finally. “If there’s a way to make sure that magic stays sealed forever… I’d like that.”

Sebastian leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Evangeline and I have already compiled a significant amount of research... we’ve been able to map out the repository’s magical framework and identify some of its vulnerabilities. I can provide all of that to you.”

Cassian nodded, approval lacing his tone. “Brilliant. That will give us a head start.”

Benedict’s faint smirk returned. “Once we have your work, I’ll start cross-referencing it with our texts immediately and share anything we find.“

Evangeline’s fingers toyed with the hem of her sleeve, her hazel eyes distant for a moment before she met his gaze. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “All of you.”

Cassian’s expression softened further. “You don’t need to thank us. We’re family.”

The word lingered in the air, carrying a weight that Evangeline wasn’t sure how to respond to. But the Muldoons didn’t press her, and Sebastian reached over, his hand brushing hers in a quiet gesture of support.

“We’ll make sure the repository is sealed for good,” He murmured.

After a moment, Percival spoke, his tone lighter. “Well, it seems we have much to investigate. But before we lose ourselves in research, I believe there was talk of a Dragon incident? Sebastian?”

Sebastian’s grin widened. “Oh, you’ll love this one. Imagine this: the three of us wandering around the highlands, trying to retrieve a dragon egg from a poacher’s camp—”

Evangeline groaned, interrupting him. “You’re making it sound like we had any idea what we were doing. We didn’t.”

“And we nearly got scorched alive,” Ominis added, his tone dry. “But please, Sebastian, continue exaggerating.”

The Muldoons leaned forward, intrigued and thoroughly entertained, as Sebastian recounted their misadventure. Laughter filled the room, lightening the mood as they shared tales of near-misses and chaotic victories. Evangeline and Ominis took turns correcting Sebastian’s embellishments, much to the Muldoons’ amusement.

By the time dinner was announced, a meal lovingly prepared by Astrid and Anja, the group transitioned to the dining room, where the lavish spread awaited. Conversation flowed easily over the meal, shifting between playful teasing and more serious discussions from Hogwarts to ancient magic to Evangeline's many fifth-year escapades.

As the evening wound down, the Muldoons began to take their leave, each pulling Evangeline into a tight hug. Cassian was the last to Disapparate, pausing briefly to clasp Evangeline’s shoulder. “We’ll be in touch soon, dear niece.”

“Thank you,” Evangeline said quietly. “For everything.”

With a nod, her uncle vanished with a crack, leaving the room quieter but still filled with the warmth of the evening.

Anne stretched, looking toward Ominis fondly. “We should probably head out too.”

“To which apartment?” Sebastian asked with a laugh. “When you think about it, doesn’t it seem like we’ve got it all backwards?”

Anne raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Sebastian began, glancing at Ominis before turning to Evangeline and Anne, “you two share an apartment, and Ominis and I share one. But considering how much time we spend at each other’s flats anyway…”

Evangeline caught on quickly, her hazel eyes narrowing. “Are you suggesting we swap roommates?”

“It makes sense,” Sebastian said with a shrug. “I mean for Merlin’s sake, Anne and Ominis are engaged!”

Anne tilted her head, considering. “You’ve got a point. It’s been feeling a bit silly lately, with Ominis and me constantly running back and forth.”

Ominis nodded, his expression thoughtful. “It's such an obvious solution, I’m almost annoyed we didn’t think of it sooner.”

Evangeline nodded slowly. “All right… but who’s swapping?”

Sebastian leaned forward, his grin widening. “Personally, I quite like your place, Evie, so I’m happy to swap with Anne—if she doesn’t mind the increased rent at mine.”

Anne waved a dismissive hand. “I don’t mind at all. Besides, your place is closer to St. Mungo’s and that’s a win for me.”

“Perfect,” Sebastian said, looking pleased. “Sorted.”

Anne laughed, shaking her head. “Well, that was easy. Let’s just hope the packing goes as smoothly.”

“Somehow, I doubt that,” Ominis said dryly, his lips quirking into a smile.

The four exchanged goodbyes, but not before Anne enveloped Evangeline in a tight hug, her smile warm and full of relief. “I’m so glad you’re awake and feeling better,” Anne said, pulling back just enough to look Evangeline in the eye. “You scared us, you know.”

Evangeline returned the hug, her cheeks flushing slightly. “I’m sorry for worrying you all. It wasn’t exactly part of the plan.”

“Well, you’re not getting away with scaring me again,” Anne teased, giving her a playful nudge. “And now that you’re on the mend, you won’t be able to avoid me roping you into helping with my engagement party planning. Consider yourself warned.”

Evangeline laughed softly. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Ominis stepped forward next, his expression uncharacteristically tender. “It’s good to see you up and about again,” he said, his voice sincere. “You’ve been through so much. We’ve all been worried, but Anne’s right—it’s a relief to have you back.”

Before Evangeline could respond, Ominis surprised her by pulling her into a brief, gentle hug. “Take care of yourself, Evangeline,” he added, stepping back and offering her a small, rare smile.

“I will,” she promised, touched by his kindness.

With that, Anne and Ominis Disapparated, leaving the front room quiet except for the soft crackling of the hearth. Evangeline lingered in the stillness, her gaze shifting to Sebastian, who stood nearby with a faint, thoughtful smile playing on his lips.

Her hazel eyes met his, and after a brief pause, she reached out, gently tugging his hand. The touch seemed to pull him from his reverie, his grin faltering just slightly as he stepped closer. Evangeline’s expression was shy, her fingers curling lightly around his

“So,” she began, tilting her head to meet his gaze, “…are you sure you want to move in together?”

His brow furrowed, a flicker of hesitation crossing his face. “I mean, we don’t have to,” he said quickly, backpedaling. “If you’re not ready… I wasn’t trying to decide for you or anything. It’s just—I thought it made sense, but I don’t want to—”

“Sebastian.” She shook her head, cutting him off softly. Her cheeks flushed, and she glanced down for a moment before meeting his eyes again. “Of course I want to. It’s just… we’ve hardly been courting for more than a few weeks, and I—” She hesitated, her voice dropping. “I just want you to be sure.”

Sebastian blinked at her then scoffed, though his voice was warm. “Evie, come on,” he said, rolling his eyes, “we’ve been each other’s for years. We were just too bloody stubborn to admit it. And let’s be honest—how is this any different from what we’ve already been doing? We practically live at each other’s flats when we aren’t at our own, and half our stuff is in each other’s bedrooms. Not to mention we’ve spent every holiday together. And I mean, think of all the time you’ve stayed over in Feldcroft. This? Moving in together? It’s really not new—it’s just official.”

Evangeline opened her mouth to respond but faltered, the weight of his words sinking in. She couldn’t argue with him. He was right. Their lives had already been so intertwined for so long. But before she could form a proper response, Sebastian’s grin turned softer, more thoughtful, as if a new thought had struck him.

“You know… maybe we’re overthinking this whole London flat situation.”

She tilted her head, confused. “What do you mean?”

“…Do we really need one?” Sebastian asked. “Think about it. What’s keeping us in London? Anne and Ominis? They’re just a Floo away. And Feldcroft…” He paused, his gaze steady as it met hers. “Feldcroft is home. For both of us. You said it yourself, last year.”

Evangeline’s breath hitched, his words tugging at memories she hadn’t let herself dwell on in what felt like forever. But she could see it now, that quiet evening in the summer before their final year at Hogwarts, when she’d sat across from him at the table behind the cottage and finally admitted what this place meant to her.

It’s like coming home.

She hadn’t thought much about what those words had meant to him at the time, but now, staring into his eyes, she understood.

In them, she saw everything: the laughter that had filled the quiet corners of the Undercroft, the heated arguments that had tested their bond, the whispered conversations that had soothed old wounds. Every moment they’d shared seemed etched into those warm brown depths. She saw the boy who had been her fiercest ally through triumphs and tragedies alike, and the man who stood before her now, steady and unyielding, reminding her with his every word and look that wherever he was, she’d always have a place to belong.

There was no hesitation in his gaze, no room for doubt. Just him, looking at her like she was the answer to a question he’d carried his whole life—like she was it.

The realization unraveled something deep inside her, loosening the tightly held threads of uncertainty. Slowly, unbidden, she began to picture it—them.

Quiet mornings in Feldcroft, sunlight filtering through the curtains as they shared lazy cups of tea. Afternoons by the fire, his laughter filling the small cottage as he beat her, for the thousandth time, in chess. The simple joy of tending the garden together, their hands brushing as they worked side by side, exchanging smiles over blooming flowers and stubborn weeds.

She pictured their lives woven into the fabric of the cottage. Books stacked haphazardly in the sitting room, her favorite blanket draped over the worn armchair by the fire, his broom propped up in the corner next to hers. She imagined the way their days would unfold—Flooing to work together in the mornings, walking through the fields hand in hand in the evenings, their laughter carrying on the breeze. Christmases spent in Feldcroft, snow dusting the roof, the scent of pine and baking filling the air as they decorated a tree together.

And then, unbidden, the image grew.

One day, she would carry his children. She saw it so clearly—Sebastian fretting over her, trying to mask his nerves with playful teasing as he spoiled her endlessly. Their home magically expanding to accommodate their growing family, the familiar walls reshaping to welcome a new chapter of their lives.

She saw tiny boots lined up beside the door, a wooden toy broomstick leaning haphazardly against the wall. She imagined the sound of laughter—higher, lighter—filling the cottage, the pitter-patter of small feet running through the rooms.

She pictured children with his unruly dark hair and her hazel eyes, their voices calling out in excitement, the warmth of Sebastian’s grin as he lifted their little ones into his arms. She imagined them all them curled up together on the sofa in the glow of the fire, the kind of happiness that felt almost too big to contain.

Her heart ached with the beauty of it, the weight of the life she could see so clearly in her mind. A life that wasn’t just a dream—it was possible. All of it: the mornings, the evenings, the quiet joy of just being together. The shared laughter, the whispered promises, the future they could together.

Sebastian seemed to sense her shift in thought, his thumb brushing gently over her cheek. “What do you think?”

Evangeline blinked, her eyes meeting his. Her heart was pounding, but there was no hesitation in her voice as she finally answered. “I think it sounds perfect.”

Sebastian’s smile softened, his thumb brushing over her skin with a tenderness that made her heart ache. Slowly, he leaned in, his forehead resting against hers. “Perfect,” he murmured. “Just like you.”

Evangeline’s breath caught, and before she could respond, he kissed her. The warmth of it was immediate, soft but insistent.

She melted into him, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt as she rose onto her toes to meet him. The world around them seemed to dissolve, leaving only the heat between them, the way his hands slipped down to her waist, pulling her closer.

Before she realized what was happening, Sebastian lifted her effortlessly, his arms strong and sure as he carried her toward the couch. Evangeline let out a soft laugh against his lips, her arms looping around his neck. “What are you doing?” she murmured, though her smile betrayed her amusement.

“Getting comfortable,” he replied, his grin returning as he gently set her down on the couch and settled over her. His lips found hers again, moving slower this time, savoring the moment as Evangeline’s fingers slipped into his hair. She tugged lightly, drawing a soft, almost desperate sound from him that sent a thrill through her, her mind spinning with thoughts of everything and nothing all at once.

But then Sebastian froze, his lips pausing against hers as his gaze flicked over her shoulder.

“What is it?” she whispered, her voice still breathless from the kiss.

He didn’t answer immediately, his eyes fixed on something behind her. Finally, he leaned back slightly, one hand still resting on her hip, and nodded toward the mantle.

“Your hourglass,” he said softly.

Evangeline turned, her gaze following his, and there it was: the sapphire hourglass he had won for her at the charity auction. The enchanted sand inside, which usually flowed steadily, had frozen in place, its shimmering grains suspended mid-descent.

Her breath caught. “It froze.”

They sat there for a moment, the weight of what it meant settling over them. It felt like the universe itself had paused to acknowledge the moment, to affirm the choice they’d made.

Evangeline turned back to him, her voice soft but steady. “I guess that settles it, then. I better write a letter to my landlord and cancel my lease.”

Sebastian’s grin widened, his eyes sparkling as he pulled her closer, his lips brushing against hers. “Yeah,” he murmured. “You better.”

His lips were gentle at first, but the kiss quickly grew more insistent, more desperate. Evangeline sighed into him, her hands slipping up his chest, feeling the hard planes of muscle beneath her palms.

His body responded to her touch, a low groan rumbling in his chest as she pressed closer. His hands roamed over her back, steady and firm, as though anchoring her to him. The heat between them was palpable, igniting with every kiss, every touch.

As her fingers traveled to his shoulders and then down to the defined lines of his stomach, Sebastian broke the kiss long enough to mutter, "You know... I think it's about time I cashed in all those rewards I earned breaking into your family’s manor."

Evangeline pulled back just enough to meet his gaze, her hazel eyes narrowed in mock irritation. "Sebastian," she said, her breath catching as he grinned against her neck, "Shut up."

He laughed softly, the sound muffled as his lips returned to hers. "Just saying," he mumbled before capturing her mouth again.

Evangeline’s response was immediate, her hands roamed lower, exploring his body with a hunger she could no longer hide. The tension between them mounted, their longing bubbling over as their movements grew frantic.

She pressed closer, and that's when she felt it—him. The unmistakable hardness of him pressing against her thigh, sending a jolt of heat through her own body.

Sebastian hissed as she shifted, her hips brushing against him, her own arousal becoming impossible to ignore. His hands tightened on her waist, pulling her flush against him as his lips trailed down her jaw to her neck. "Shit," he groaned, his voice hoarse with need.

Sebastian’s lips returned to hers, their kisses deepening as their movements became more frenzied, driven by increasing desperation.

His hands slipped under her shirt, the rough pads of his fingers pressing against the soft skin of her waist. His touch was hot and deliberate, sending a heat down her spine as he slid the fabric upward.

Evangeline helped him tug her shirt off, and he tossed it aside without a second thought, his hands immediately returning to her body, roaming over her sides and waist.

“God, Evie,” he murmured against her lips, his voice rough. His hands explored every curve, pressing into the soft flesh, savoring the feel of her beneath him. When his hands moved upward, cupping her breasts over her bra, he stilled for a moment, as though struck by just how much of her there was to touch.

Her breasts spilled past his hands, full and heavy in his grip, and the sight alone made his breath hitch. He groaned softly against her lips as he kneaded her, his arousal pressing harder against her through his trousers.

“You’re—” he broke the kiss for a moment, his forehead pressed against hers as he tried to catch his breath. His hands squeezed her gently, spreading over the expanse of her. “Fuck. You’re perfect.”

Her cheeks burned as his lips found hers again, hungry and desperate, his hands never ceasing their exploration, every touch making her heart race faster.

Evangeline’s own hands slid down to the hem of his shirt, and she tugged at it impatiently, her fingers brushing against his toned stomach as she pulled it over his head. The moment it was gone, she wasted no time in running her hands over him, her touch as greedy and desperate as his had been.

Sebastian groaned and shifted his hips against her, pressing his length against her stomach and drawing a soft, breathless moan from her lips that sent his pulse racing.

He leaned down to kiss her neck, his hands returning to her body, holding her in place. She arched into him, her head tipping back to give him better access as his lips traveled lower, nipping and sucking at her skin. The ache between her legs was becoming unbearable, and the heat pooling there made her breath catch with every press of his hips against hers. Her body moved instinctively, tilting her pelvis up to meet him, drawing a low, guttural sound from Sebastian that vibrated against her throat.

His lips continued their descent, trailing kisses down her collarbone, his hands kneading her soft skin as though trying to memorize every curve. When his mouth finally found her breast, he paused, his lips brushing against her skin as his gaze flicked up to meet hers.

He reached behind her back, fingers deftly unhooking the clasp of her bra. The straps fell loose, sliding down her shoulders, and he tugged it away gently, tossing it aside. His hands returned to her immediately, pressing into the soft flesh of her hips as his lips descended, his mouth closing over one of her nipples. His tongue flicked across her sensitive skin, and she gasped, her fingers digging into his shoulders.

“Sebastian,” she whimpered, her voice trembling as her nails scraped lightly down his back, urging him on.

He groaned softly, his lips releasing her nipple to trail kisses across her chest. “What is it, love?”

She hesitated, her breath catching as her gaze darted away, the words catching in her throat. “I… I want you,” she finally whispered, her cheeks burning as she felt the weight of her own confession. “I know we’re not… we’re not married, and I know we’re not supposed to—”

Sebastian froze, his hands tightening on her hips as his gaze darkened. For a moment, the only sound in the room was their heavy breathing, the weight of her words hanging in the air. Slowly, he leaned back just enough to look her in the eye, his voice dropping even lower. “Say it again,” he rasped. “Tell me exactly what you want.”

Her lips parted, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. She tried to look away again, but his hands moved to cradle her face, gently forcing her gaze back to his.

“I want you to take me, Sebastian,” she whispered, her voice quaking but sure. “To make me yours. Completely.”

Sebastian let out a low moan, his head falling forward until his forehead rested against hers. “Fuck,” he murmured, his hands flexing on her hips. “Evangeline, I don’t give a damn if we’re not married. I want you. For the rest of my life. I’d marry you tomorrow—hell, I’d marry you right now if you’d let me.”

Her breath hitched at the sincerity in his voice, her eyes searching his as he continued.

“I want to take you,” he said, his tone rough with need. “Make you mine, and only mine. Forever.” His hand slid up to cradle her face, his thumb brushing against her swollen lips. “I want to watch you fall apart with me inside you, knowing no one else will ever have you”

Evangeline clung to him, her nails digging into his skin as her own restraint began to crumble. “Sebastian…”

“Say yes,” he murmured, his voice a husky plea. “Say you’re mine, Evangeline. And I’ll take you right now.”

“Yes,” Evangeline whispered, her voice trembling but full of certainty. “I’m yours.”

She barely finished the sentence before Sebastian moved, his arms slipping beneath her to lift her from the couch. His lips were on hers in an instant, urgent and desperate as he carried her toward the bedroom.

Moving down the hallway, Sebastian shouldered the door open without breaking away, his grip on her tightening as he crossed the threshold. He set her down on the bed, his body following hers as he moved over her, the weight of him pressing her into the mattress.

“My god, Evie,” he murmured between kisses, his hands roaming her body with a reverence that made her heart race. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you.”

“I think,” she murmured against his lips with a smile. “I do.”

A groan rumbled in his chest, his hands slipping lower and working to ease her pants down her hips. Evangeline’s body flushed with heat, her skin sensitive to every brush of his fingers.

Sebastian shifted above her, his hands slowing their movements as he eased the fabric down her legs, discarding them swiftly. His lips trailed back up her thigh, pausing to press a tender kiss to her hip before his darkened gaze flicked up to meet hers.

"Evie," he murmured softly, his voice thick with emotion, "if anything doesn't feel right—if this feels like too much—just tell me. We'll stop."

"I will," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly but steady. "I promise."

Sebastian's lips curved into a faint, reassuring smile as he leaned forward to kiss her again, slow and deliberate.

She felt the heat of his hands everywhere, igniting her nerves and leaving her breathless. The weight of him above her, the way the hard edges of his body pressed against the soft curves of hers, overwhelmed her senses. Somewhere in the back of her mind, her insecurities flickered—about her size and her plushness. But the way Sebastian touched her, his hands gliding over her as though she were a masterpiece, made those thoughts seem distant and unimportant.

Her own hands, trembling but eager, moved to the waistband of Sebastian’s trousers. Taking a steadying breath, she worked the fabric down, her fingers brushing against the firm, heated skin of his hips. He lifted himself slightly to help her, his hands covering hers briefly as she slid the fabric past his thighs.

The soft rustle of his pants hitting the floor seemed deafening in the quiet room, and for a moment, all she could do was stare.

Sebastian straddled her, his body broad and powerful, his bare, freckled skin kissed by the dim light. He was left in nothing but his underwear, the thin fabric doing little to hide the hard, unmistakable evidence of his arousal.

Evangeline’s mind whirled. They had never crossed this line before, this last remaining barrier of his decency, and now here he was, so vulnerable, so real, and she was about to see him, all of him.

And, fuck, the size of him...

The obvious strain of his length against the fabric, the way it pressed and promised how much there was of him, sent a shock of heat coursing through her, her thoughts scattering like leaves in the wind.

Above her, Sebastian’s dark eyes burned with want, his hands twitching as though resisting the urge to touch her again.

"Evie," he murmured, his voice thick and hoarse. "You don't have to look so nervous. It's just me."

“I know, it’s just I’ve… I’ve never seen you like this before,” she stammered, her voice trembling as her hands fidgeted against the sheets.

Sebastian’s expression softened, a small, reassuring smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “I know,” he murmured, his voice low and steady. “And that’s okay. It’s just me. Just us.”

Evangeline swallowed hard, willing her body to relax beneath him, her hands finding their way to his chest.

Sebastian leaned against her touch, his forehead pressing gently against hers as he let out a soft, shuddering breath. “We’ll take this as slow as you need,” he murmured, his voice breaking slightly with emotion. “I’ll take care of you, I promise.”

Evangeline nodded, murmuring an “okay” as her hands slid lower, her trembling fingers brushing against the waistband of his underwear. The weight of the moment pressed down on her, but this was Sebastian—her Sebastian—and she wanted this, wanted him.

With a deep breath, she tugged at the fabric, her cheeks flushing as he helped her ease it down his hips. When the garment joined the rest of their discarded clothes on the floor, leaving him bare before her, Evangeline’s breath caught in her throat.

He was... impressive. More than she’d imagined, even in her darkest fantasies.

The smooth, flushed skin of his cock contrasted against the dark trail of hair leading down from his abdomen. His length, thick and substantial, stood and proud against the hard lines of his stomach, the flushed head glistening faintly in the dim light of the room and betraying the depth of his own want.

She couldn't stop herself from staring, her mind momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer reality of it. Her thoughts tumbled over one another, both nervous and awestruck. How is this going to fit?

Above her, Sebastian shifted slightly, his hand brushing against her cheek and gently drawing her gaze back up to his face.

“You okay?” He asked, the desire in dark eyes briefly tempered by concern.

Evangeline flushed deeply, heat rushing to her cheeks as she let out a shaky laugh, her hand coming up to cover her face. "I'm fine," she murmured, her voice muffled behind her fingers. "Just... overwhelmed."

Sebastian stilled, his dark eyes searching her face intently. For all his usual confidence, there was a flicker of hesitation in his expression, as though her response had cracked through his composure.

"…Good overwhelmed?" he asked softly.

Evangeline froze, blinking up at him in disbelief before letting out a breathless, incredulous laugh. Her hand dropped from her face as she stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Sebastian," she said, her tone somewhere between exasperated and amused, "have you seen yourself? Of course it’s good. It’s better than good.”

The corners of his lips twitched, and then he barked out a laugh, the tension in the air breaking momentarily. “Well, yes, I’ve seen my own cock,” he murmured, his grin returning, though a faint blush dusted his cheekbones. “But you were staring like I’d grown a second head, so I had to ask.”

“I mean, you do have a second head.” Evangeline countered, purposely flicking her gaze back toward his arousal, the flush on her cheeks deepening but unable to resist the playful retort. "And frankly, it's kind of intimidating."

Sebastian groaned, running a hand down his face, though his grin widened despite himself. "If I survive this night with my sanity intact, it'll be a miracle," he murmured, his voice warm.

Evangeline smiled despite the nervous flutter in her chest, her fingers brushing lightly over his chest. "I thought you liked me driving you mad," she quipped, her voice soft but steady.

Sebastian's lips trailed down her jaw, soft and deliberate, before he murmured against her skin, "I absolutely do.”

Evangeline gasped softly as his hands slid lower, his fingers brushing against her thighs. He shifted slightly, his touch firm but careful, guiding her legs apart to make room for him. The weight of his body settled between her thighs, warm and solid.

Sebastian's hand trailed lower still, fingertips gentle against the soft skin of her inner thigh before they moved to her center. His touch was almost tentative, and when his fingers swiped over her slick folds, he froze for a moment, a low, strangled sigh escaping his lips.

"Fuck," he murmured, his voice rough, "you're so wet for me."

Evangeline flushed deeply, bashfulness mingling with the overwhelming heat coursing through her as her body arched instinctively into his long fingers.

Spurred on by her reaction, Sebastian positioned himself above her, his dark eyes locking onto hers. “This... it might hurt," he said softly. “If it’s too much, tell me. We'll stop, okay?"

Evangeline nodded, her hands sliding up his arms to grip his shoulders. "Okay.”

His breath shuddered, and he leaned down to kiss her, soft but insistent. "I love you," he murmured against her lips, as his hand, slick with her arousal, guided himself to her entrance.

"I love you too," she whispered back.

Inhaling deeply, Sebastian pressed forward slowly. The initial stretch as he pushed inside made Evangeline gasp, her nails digging crescent moons into his shoulders as her body adjusted to the sensation.

He froze immediately, his gaze dropping to hers as he whispered, "Are you okay? Do you need me to stop?"

Evangeline shook her head quickly, her breath shallow but steady. "No," she said softly, her voice breaking slightly. "Just... slow."

Sebastian let out a shaky breath, his body taut with restraint. “Slow," he repeated, his voice both a promise and a reassurance.

His hands moved to cradle her waist, his fingers brushing gently over her skin as if to soothe her, even as his muscles trembled with the effort of holding back as he eased himself inside her.

Evangeline eyes fluttering closed. The feeling of him was overwhelming, a sharp, unfamiliar pressure that made her heart race. But the way he filled her, the heat of his body pressed so intimately against hers—it was heady and delicious, her toes curling with pleasure.

“Keep going," she whispered, her voice trembling as her hands slid from his shoulders to the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

Sebastian groaned softly at her words, his restraint slipping just enough to let him shift his hips slightly, easing forward another inch.

“You feel... fuck, Evie," he rasped, his voice low and hoarse as he continued to move with slow, deliberate care. "You're perfect. You feel so fucking perfect."

Evangeline's breath hitched, the sheer fullness of him stealing the air from her lungs. Each slow push brought a new wave of sensation, her body adjusting to him with every careful movement and filling her with a growing heat that made her thighs tremble.

"Sebastian," she breathed, her voice catching on a soft moan as he sank deeper. "Oh my god, you feel so good."

Sebastian’s breath shuddered again, and his control faltering, his hips pressing forward fully. He froze there, his chest heaving as he buried himself inside her.

"Evie, you're so tight," he ground out, his voice hoarse and uneven, air escaping in sharp bursts. "I—I don't want to hurt you."

"You're not," she breathed unsteadily, her nails scraping lightly down his back as her legs wrapped around his hips to hold him in place. "You feel so good Sebastian, please, don't stop."

Her plea unraveled him, and he began to move again, his lips brushing against her neck as his hips experimentally rolled against hers, the movement fueled by a growing desperation he couldn’t entirely suppress.

Evangeline’s breath came in shallow gasps, her body responding instinctively to his movements, her hips lifting to meet his as her fingers tangled in his hair, soft moans escaping her lips. “Sebastian,” she breathed, his name a plea and a prayer all at once.

He cursed under his breath, the sound vibrating against her skin as his lips found her collarbone. His hands gripped her thighs, guiding her to meet him, finding a rhythm that sent sparks of pleasure shooting through them both.

“God, you feel incredible,” he murmured against her skin, his voice breaking with each thrust. “So perfect. So mine.”

Evangeline's breath hitched, her nails dragging lightly down his back as her legs tightened around his waist. "All yours," she whispered.

The tension in Evangeline’s core coiled tighter, the sensation of him moving within her building to an unbearable heat. Her breath came in short gasps, and before she could think twice, she whispered.

“Faster, Sebastian, please—”

He groaned against her neck, his hips snapping forward with more urgency as he obeyed her plea.

"Evie," he rasped, his voice breaking as his lips found hers again. The kiss was wild, messy, filled with the same desperation that coursed through his movements. His hands roamed her body, consuming every curve, every shiver, as his hips snapped insistently against hers.

Evangeline's head tipped back against the pillows, her moans growing louder as the intensity built. The friction, the heat—it was overwhelming, consuming, and yet she never wanted it to stop. “Fuck,” she gasped as the tension continued to build. "Don't stop, Oh my god. Please, don't stop."

Sebastian maintained pace despite his movements growing less fluid, his restraint slipping further with each thrust. His breaths came in ragged bursts, hot against her neck, as he felt her tightening around him.

Evangeline's breath caught, the tension in her core reaching its breaking point. "Sebastian," she gasped, her voice cracking as her body arched into his. "Oh, I'm—"

The words dissolved into a cry as the coil inside her snapped, pleasure crashing through her in waves so powerful it left her trembling and jerking beneath him. Her thighs quivered against his hips, her nails raking down his back as she clung to him, her body shuddering with the force of her orgasm.

Sebastian stilled for a heartbeat, his hands gripping her hips as he groaned, the sight and feel of her falling apart beneath him sending him dangerously close to the edge. "Evie," he rasped as he chased his own release. "Where... where do you want me?"

Her eyes fluttered open, dazed and heavy-lidded as she pulled him closer, her voice a breathless whisper. "Inside," she murmured, her voice trembling. "I want you inside."

Sebastian groaned, the last vestiges of his restraint slipping away.

With a shuddering gasp, he drove into her one final time, burying himself to the hilt as his orgasm crashed over him and spilled into her in hot, steady waves.

"Fuck," he gasped, his voice hoarse and thick. "Evie, you— God, you feel—" The words broke off as his hand, instinctively, moved to rest against her soft stomach.

His fingers splayed over the curve of her, pressing insistently as his body trembled, a moan tearing from his throat as he felt the fullness of himself within her.

"You're mine," he rasped between desperate thrusts. "I've made you mine, Evie. Completely. Do you feel that? No one else, no one, will ever have you like this."

Evangeline couldn't even summon the words to reply, her breath coming in shallow, uneven gasps as her body hummed with the aftershocks of her high. Her mind was hazy, overwhelmed and awestruck, but she managed a small, trembling nod, her hand coming up weakly to cover his.

Sebastian hummed with satisfaction, the sound low and deep in his chest as he hovered above her, his body trembling from the intensity of his climax. His breaths were ragged, and every muscle ached with exhaustion, but he couldn't bring himself to pull away just yet. He stayed there, savoring the feel of her, the warmth of her body, the way she fit so perfectly against him, as though he could freeze this moment in time.

But as much as he wanted to stay like this forever, the strain on his trembling arms grew unbearable. With a deep, shuddering breath, he reluctantly pulled out, the motion drawing a soft gasp from her lips.

The loss of him left her feeling suddenly, achingly empty, and he groaned quietly, his own dissatisfaction with the separation evident.

Still, he didn't move far. He collapsed onto the bed beside her, his hand remaining firmly in place on her stomach, his fingers pressing into the plush curve as though he couldn't bear to let go.

For a long while, neither of them spoke, the room filled only with the sound of their mingled breaths as they lay together, their bodies slick with sweat and trembling.

Evangeline shifted slightly, turning her head to look at him, her hazel eyes heavy-lidded but soft with affection. Sebastian met her gaze, his own eyes filled with a quiet intensity.

Her hand slid over his to rest against her stomach. "I think you've made your point," she murmured softly, her voice hoarse but teasing.

Sebastian's lips curved into a smirk, his fingers tightening briefly against her skin.

“I don't think I have," he murmured, his fingers flexing gently against her stomach, a deliberate reminder of everything they had just shared. "I don't think I'll ever be done making it."

Evangeline’s cheeks deepened in color, and she let out a soft huff, her hand squeezing his. "You really don't let up, do you?"

"Not when it comes to you, no,” he said, his tone shifting to something more serious, a depth in his voice that she couldn’t ignore. His thumb brushed slow, lazy circles against her skin, grounding her even as her heart began to race. "I need you to know, Evie. To feel it. There's no one else for me. There never has been."

Evangeline stilled, the air between them thick with the weight of his words. Her breath hitched, caught somewhere between her chest and her lips as his confession sank in. Her mind raced, spiraling through a thousand memories—years of stolen glances that lingered too long, of hands brushing but never quite holding, of arguments born of jealousy and words left unsaid. Every moment of waiting, every ache of longing and uncertainty, had brought them here.

Here, in this quiet, shared space that wasn’t just his cottage anymore. It was something more—it was their home. Theirs.

The realization settled over her like a warm, unshakable weight, steadying her even as it threatened to overwhelm her. She looked at him, really looked at him, and saw not just the friend who had once made her laugh in the Undercroft or stood by her side through their darkest days. He wasn’t just the boy who had been her partner in crime, her fiercest defender, her most maddening rival.

He was the man who had held her when she was too broken to hold herself together, the one who saw through her walls and stubbornness to the heart of her. The man who had carried the weight of his own burdens yet never hesitated to shoulder hers. The man who knew her better than anyone—better, at times, than she knew herself.

He was the constant in her life, the one who challenged her to be better, who made her feel braver, stronger, and more whole simply by being near. He was her safe place, her sanctuary, her compass when the world tilted off balance. The man who had waited patiently for her to realize what had been true all along—that she didn’t just fit into his life. She was it for him. Inseparable, inevitable, undeniable.

“You were serious,” she murmured, her hazel eyes locking onto his. It wasn’t a question, but a statement. An unshakable truth. “You would marry me. Tomorrow.”

Sebastian nodded, his dark eyes searching hers. “Yes,” he said simply, his voice steady and filled with quiet conviction. “I would.”

Her breath hitched, her heart thundering in her chest. She searched his face, studying every familiar line, every freckle scattered across his skin, as though she were memorizing him all over again. After so much time—so much waiting, so many near misses—he was hers. Completely, unreservedly hers. And she was his.

The weight of it settled over her, not as a burden, but as a kind of profound peace. For the first time, the world didn’t feel uncertain. It felt solid, secure. Him. Always him.

For a long moment, she said nothing, her thoughts swirling in a quiet storm of emotion. Then, finally, she took a deep, steadying breath. “Can we?” she asked, her tone soft but resolute, her voice trembling with both hope and certainty.

Sebastian stilled, his body tensing slightly against hers. He pulled back just enough to fully see her face, his hand moving to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing tenderly against the flush of her skin.

“Evangeline…” he murmured, his voice hoarse and raw, as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I mean it,” she insisted, her words quiet but firm, her gaze unwavering. “I don’t need anything else. I don’t need a big ceremony or fancy promises. I just need you. I don’t want to wait anymore, Sebastian. Haven’t we waited long enough?”

Her words seemed to break something in him. His breath left him in a shaky exhale, his face softening as an unguarded, almost disbelieving smile spread across his lips. “We can,” he said, his voice trembling with emotion. “Evangeline, I’d marry you this second. I’d vow myself to you with nothing but the stars as our witnesses, if it meant you’d be mine forever.”

She laughed softly, her tears spilling over as his words wrapped around her like a warm embrace. “I’ve been yours forever,” she whispered.

He held her gaze, then slowly lifted his hand, offering her his pinky with a crooked grin. “Then it’s done,” he said, his voice soft and playful now, as though sealing a sacred promise. "We'll marry tomorrow."

A watery laugh bubbled up from her chest as she slipped her smaller pinky around his, giving it a gentle squeeze as she leaned in, pressing her lips to his. The kiss was slow and deep, filled with every promise and every hope between them. It wasn’t rushed, wasn’t hurried—it was infinite, timeless, filled with the weight of every shared memory and every dream for their future.

There was no weight of the past to drag them down—no lingering regrets, no unanswered questions, no second-guessing, no hesitation, no "what ifs" gnawing at the edges of their happiness. The doubts and fears that had once kept them apart had dissolved, leaving behind only the clarity of what they both wanted, of what they both knew to be true.

Their future wasn’t something they needed to chase—it was theirs, utterly, completely, and irrevocably. It wasn’t a distant dream, forever just out of reach, nor a fragile hope teetering under the weight of uncertainty. It was here, now, as real and undeniable as the feeling of his finger curled securely around hers, as steady and sure as the press of his lips against hers. In that moment, there was no doubt, no hesitation—only the quiet, unshakable certainty of a love that had always been destined to find its way home.

The end.

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