#THEM! I read this one moment and was absolutely smitten with them since. been waiting to draw this for ages and NOW I HAVE!

[nutcasewithaknife]

Fuck, he can't fly!

[fourmoony]

hi, I just wanted to let you know that reading your writing brings me so much comfort and joy. Today, I found out that the person I’ve liked for the longest time has a girlfriend, and it’s been hard to say the least. It also didn’t help that I read an unrequited love blurb featuring remus as soon as I got home 😭 I was just wondering if you’d be willing to write something where the reader assumes that remus doesn’t like her because he seems aloof, but is actually just nervous because he likes her so much. I am so appreciative of you and your beautiful work, as always 🤍

this made me tear up. your words are so kind, and are the push i needed this week to keep writing <3 never in a million years did i think anyone would think this about my writing. thank you.

i'm sorry to hear about your crush; unrequited love is a tricky and heavy feeling. i have no doubt you'll find your person, though. as someone who's had my fair share of heartache, i promise, it won't hurt forever. my friends think i'm crazy because my advice is always to just let it hurt. but one day you'll wake up and you'll have run out of hurt. and you won't even remember what you saw in them, anymore. sending love.

P.S. i suck at writing shy remus so this is more like silent, unreadable remus. idk i'm tired. hope this is okay!

---

remus lupin x f!reader - masterlist 1.2k words

cw - implied self esteem issues, smoking, drinking

Remus' thumping steps carry up the staircase only seconds after you call on him. You're facing the mirror when he arrives in the doorway, hair clasped to the side in one hand, and the other reaching aimlessly for the zip half way down the back of your dress. His eyes find yours over your shoulder in the reflection, a fond smile passing over his features when he steps through the threshold into your room.

"You look lovely." He comments, voice warm and smooth in the way that it always is.

Warm Remus, smooth Remus, so fond and kind, feels like home and everything familiar. His fingers are warm as he tugs gently at the zip, one hand placed on your shoulder for leverage. His touch is gentle, like he's afraid he might break you, and it lingers for only a moment when he's done. You swallow around the lump of want in your throat, the want for it to have lasted longer, the want for him to touch you and have it mean something. It doesn't do any good to want. Because you can't have, and you've had to deal with becoming okay with that fact.

"Thanks, Rem."

He nods, lips curled in on themselves like he wants to say something, a look in his eyes you've never been able to read. He says nothing, and he retreats with the promise to wait on you with the others in the living room. Remus does that a lot - refrains from the things he wants to say, stops himself short. You wish he wouldn't.

You're always wishing, wishing, wishing.

He keeps true to his word. Remus is waiting in the living room with Sirius, James, and a rather flustered looking Frank when you descend the staircase. It's only now you realise how lovely Remus looks in his suit. Partly because of how Sirius is wearing his - like he had a fight with it and lost. Remus stands when you appear, as if on instinct, and takes a step forwards. You smile, eyes catching on Frank who's looking at the clock like it's stealing time from before his very eyes. You suppose, in a way, it is.

"You okay?" You feel the need to ask, hint of a smile playing on your lips.

Frank looks alarmed by your question, a grimace on his face, "She's going to be there, isn't she? She's not going to, like, do a runner? Have you spoke to her today?"

James huffs a laugh, pats Frank on the shoulder rather heavily. The whiskey in his crystal tumbler splashes over the side and onto the rug. "Last I heard, Mary and Marlene had her pinned down in the make up chair, she tried, but they wouldn't let her."

Sirius barks a laugh. Frank scowls. He knows you're kidding. Alice Fortescue has been absolutely smitten for Frank Longbottom since she was thirteen. There's absolutely nothing that could stop her from walking down that aisle, today. Frank knows that as well as you do.

"Not helping." James decides, passes Frank a cigarette.

He mumbles something about not wanting to smoke inside and makes for the door. Remus gives James and Remus a pointed look, "Better make sure he doesn't do a runner, yeah?"

They're quick out the door like they actually believe Frank would ever do something like that. The only place he'd ever run to is Alice. And she'd have his balls for seeing her in her wedding dress before the ceremony. Remus gives you a familiar smile, a knowing smile, a smile he saves for you and you only. It feels like he's in on something you aren't when he smiles like that. Heat crawls up your neck, flowers wrap their way around you rib cage.

"You scrub up well, you know." Is all you manage to say, rather breathless.

Remus rolls his eyes, "I try."

A minute of amused silence, Remus passes you the glass of wine in his hand. The glass is warm from being in his clutch, but you drink from it anyway.

"I thought after the catering disaster this wedding wasn't going to happen." Remus admits, looking out of the living room window at where Frank paces the length of the front path, working his way through his second cigarette. Alice will have your head for allowing such a thing.

You hum a disagreement, eyes roaming Remus' face, it's so soft, so beautifully shaped. You've no idea why he hates his scars so much. They only outline his best qualities. The one over the bridge of his perfectly sloped nose, the one under his beautiful amber eyes, the one along his sharp cheekbones, and your favourite one: the one across his cupids bow, defining his soft, pink lips. It's a shame, really, that Remus Lupin thinks so little of himself. You'd give him the world should he only ask.

"I think nothing can stop a love like that," You murmur, soft and quiet, voice thick with something, "Not even a shoddy caterer."

Remus' eyes leave the front garden, meet with yours in a way that always makes heat explode in your chest. He's too much to look at, sometimes. It physically hurts.

"You always have such a positive outlook on life."

You laugh, shoulders shrugging, "Suppose it's habit."

"From?"

"Keeping you miserable lot from giving up all together?" You offer, smiling over the rim of your wine glass.

Remus laughs, genuine and unashamed. "Tell you what, at our wedding, I promise to be the one keeping everything together, how about that?"

He seems to flinch after that, like he's physically pained by the words coming out of his mouth. You flinch, too. The flowers around your rib cage wilt and pull tighter all in one go, a frown pulling at your lips.

"I wasn't aware we were getting married."

Remus smiles like he's in pain, "Yeah, well, step one would actually be asking you on a date, but I'm a right twat who's mucked all that up."

There's something self deprecating about him. You don't like it. Remus Lupin deserves the world. You'll give him the world. You didn't think he wanted that from you, though. But you smile, gentle and sweet in a way you hope he'll like. It feels like something shifts. Maybe the stars begin to write a story about you both. Maybe the sun stops it's rotation just for a second to watch you both.

The wedding car pulls up outside and Remus, seemingly eager to back away from the situation he's created, slams his own drink down on the table and makes for the door.

"Remus," You call after him, he turns, "I'd marry you."

You offer him a lopsided smile. His eyes search your face for any sign of a joke. He finds none. You hope he understands what you mean.

"How about a date first?" He asks.

You release a breath, a laugh, a smile. It feels like you're floating.

"Sure, yeah. That first."

The front door swings open and Sirius barges his way past Remus, panicked and disheveled, "I've lost the fucking rings!"

Remus sighs, hand in his pocket, hands Sirius the red velvet box, "Here."

You're laughing all the way down the path, shoulder brushing Remus', the start of something new.

[daisynik7]

Can I request All for you by Janet Jackson for Aki Hayakawa - fluff

All For You

Tell me I’m the only one. Soon we’ll be having fun.

Pairing: Aki Hayakawa x f!reader

Word Count: ~1.3k

cw: fluff, grumpy/sunshine trope, alcohol consumption (everyone is of age)

Summary: Aki Hayakawa has been training you for the past two months, helping you acclimate into your new role as a Public Safety Devil Hunter. From the start, you were smitten, unable to contain your cheery attitude whenever you’re with him. He’s closed off, strictly business, and never cracks a smile, but in his own subtle ways, he shows you that he cares. One day, after a successful mission, you test your luck to see if your love is truly unrequited, or if Aki just needs that extra push to admit his true feelings for you. A little bit of liquid courage might also come in handy. 

Author’s Notes: Ahhh, my first Aki fic! Thanks for the request anon, I LOVE Janet Jackson, and this is the perfect song for the y2k karaoke party! I hope you like this! It’s short, sweet, and very fluffy, so it’s been a nice break from the shameless smut I’ve been writing LOL. Likes, reblogs, and/or comments are always appreciated! Thank you for reading! Banner created by @/saradika.

It’s been two months since you started working for Public Safety. Two months of grueling training, both physical and mental, and two months of being stuck with the notoriously grumpy Aki Hayakawa. But you’re not complaining, considering how absolutely head over heels you are for him. 

In this case, it’s true what they say: opposites attract. While you’re the type of person to always have a happy expression on your face, Aki is the opposite. You have yet to see him crack a smile, even the tiniest hint of one. No matter how hard you try to bombard him with your joyous affections and shameless flirting, he remains unfazed by it. Though, you’re certain he doesn’t hate it. If he did, you would have already been chucked off to someone else to have to deal with you. That’s why you continue your efforts; because deep down, you know he likes it. Likes you. 

He doesn’t say it in words, but he doesn’t have to. His actions display them perfectly. Subtle glances during moments he thinks you’re not looking, though you always are. Small gestures to show he cares about your safety and well-being, like always switching spots with you when you’re walking on a sidewalk, making sure he’s on the side of the street. Putting out his cigarette whenever you arrive because he knows you don’t like the smell. Holding the door open for you, sharing his umbrella on rainy days, always volunteering to be your partner during group missions because he doesn’t trust anyone else to be with you. Sure, maybe he’s just that nice of a guy, a true gentleman, a man who proves chivalry is not dead. Or, maybe he really likes you as much as you do him. Is it wishful thinking? Probably. You’re growing impatient waiting for validation, so tonight, you decide to take matters into your own hands. 

The Public Safety Department is out to celebrate a successful mission. It’s the first time you’ve all been together in a while, so many of you are ready to let loose.  Your team sits together in one corner of the restaurant, a round of beers already being passed down as soon as you take your seat by the wall, directly across from Aki. Kishibe, the most senior Devil Hunter, takes a spot next to you, while Kobeni, your dear friend and main confidant on the team, sits by Aki. As usual, he’s quiet, sipping on his drink without so much as a peep. His eyes flit towards you as you grab the handle and take several heavy gulps of beer. You’re going to need some liquid courage in you for what you’re about to do. 

Kishibe doesn’t say much either, downing his liquor silently, leaving you and Kobeni to fill the void with random small talk until appetizers are served, and she stuffs her mouth with gyozas and chicken yakitori. When you’re almost done with your beer, Aki’s shoves the plate of dumplings to you. “You should eat,” he mutters, staring at your empty glass. 

You grin at him. “I will, if you feed me.” You open your mouth, sticking your tongue out playfully.

He rolls his eyes at you, a small blush surrounding his cheeks. “Stop acting like a child.”

Feeling particularly wicked, you turn to face your neighbor. “Kishibe, can you feed me?”

The older man chuckles, already finished with three pints. “Alright.” He pinches a gyoza between his fingers, dips it in the sauce, and guides into your mouth whole. From your peripheral, you notice Aki scowl, grabbing at the pitcher at the center of the table to refill his cup to the brim. 

You giggle, chewing it into smaller pieces to swallow, batting your eyelashes with your hand covering your mouth. “Thank you, Master.” 

Kishibe laughs again, clearly amused by this, glancing at Aki across the table. “Is this what you have to deal with?”

“You have no idea,” Aki grunts, chugging his beer halfway. 

For the next hour, you continue to focus all your attention on Kishibe, and none on Aki, who sits still with his shoulders tense and a permanent frown on his face. It helps that your senior is playing into it, not questioning your brazen behavior, fully aware of your crush on Aki because you have admitted it to him plenty of times before. Aki’s had several pints now, a red glow surrounding his cheeks, sweat beading on his forehead. He hasn’t said a word as you blatantly flirt with Kishibe in front of him. You’re feeling a buzz now, more reckless with your emotions. Suddenly, you’re annoyed with yourself and with him; you stand up, wobbling slightly, murmuring something about going outside for some air. 

You’re slumped on the steps in front of the restaurant, breathing in the fresh night air, cool against your hot skin, feeling defeated. Your dumb plan to make him jealous backfired, leaving you just as confused as before. Maybe it’s time to throw in the towel and just accept that Aki will never reciprocate your feelings.  

You’re alone for a few minutes until the door swings open and you see Aki walking towards you. a glass of water in one hand, the other tucked in his pocket. He passes it to you, saying, “Drink this.”

Pouting, you take it, sipping it slowly. “Thanks, I guess.” You add the last part spitefully.

He sits next to you, sighing. “Why are you doing this?” His voice isn’t his typical monotone; there’s actual concern behind it now. 

“Doing what?” You set the water beside you, crossing your arms. 

“You know what.”

You shrug, leaning back on your hands, staring up at the sky, blinking at the moon. “I don’t know what you’re talking about it.”

He turns to face you, swallowing loudly. “Why are you being like this? Are you in love with him?” 

This catches you off guard. “Huh?”

“Kishibe. Are you in love with Kishibe?” His brows are tight, eyes imploring you for the truth. And it’s in this moment that you realize your plan actually worked. And now you feel guilty. 

Before this gets out of hand, you decide to stop the games and be honest with him. “No Aki. It’s you. It’s always been you. You’re the only one.” You look at your shoes, avoiding his gaze, embarrassed by your confession, nervous for his reaction. 

“Then why were you – ”

“I was trying to make you jealous,” you interrupt him, explaining yourself. “I’m sorry. It was childish and immature and just plain dumb and I’m sorry. I understand if you’re upset. You can hand me off to someone else if you want. You don’t have to deal with me anymore.”

He copies your posture, leaning on his wrists, hands so close to touching yours. He doesn’t say anything for a minute, choosing his words carefully. “I’m not upset,” he says softly. 

You look at him, surprised at his response. “You’re not?”

And finally, after two months of yearning for it, he smiles at you. “Not at all.”

You can’t help perking up at this, scooting even closer to him. “Does that mean…?”

“Yeah. It does.” He places his hand on top of yours, squeezing it gently. 

“You have to say it,” you demand, flipping your palm over to interlock your fingers with his. 

“Do I have to?” he groans, still grinning. 

Your heart pounds in your chest, belly fluttering, grin wide and eyes bright. “Use your words, Aki. Or else I’ll get confused again.”

He shifts forward, nuzzling his nose to yours. “I like you. Happy now?”

You close the gap, kissing him on the lips, smiling. “Very happy.”

[agaypanic]

Poor Choice of Words (Malcolm Wilkerson X Reader)

Masterlist

Request Something!

Summary: Excited about your new relationship with Malcolm, you two decide to tell your friends about it. Your wording, however, is just a bit off.

A/N: the ask was really really long (no offense to the anon who wrote it <3) so i decided to just screenshot the request part that i wanted to use. anon gave a few story ideas and this was the one i liked the most. this is meant to be a part two to She Doesn’t Get It, but i think it can also be read on its own. also sorry it’s pretty short lol

***

A few weeks had gone by since you and Malcolm first started dating. After many months of dancing around feelings and miscommunicating, you didn’t want to jinx the relationship by immediately telling people about it. Malcolm, being absolutely smitten with you, agreed wholeheartedly.

But eventually, the two of you agreed that you were ready to tell your friends. Friends first, mainly because Malcolm didn’t know how Lois would react to him dating someone who behaved similarly to Reese. 

“Should you tell them, or should I?” You asked Malcolm as you walked to a lunch table. Cynthia and Stevie were already there, eating and conversing.

“Maybe you should do it. With how much I’ve talked about you to them, they might tune me out.”

“Aw, you talk to our friends about me?” You cooed, leaning into Malcolm a bit. He didn’t answer, but you noticed his bright red cheeks as you reached the table. “Hey guys!”

“Hey!” Cynthia waved at you enthusiastically as you sat down. “I feel like we haven’t seen you guys in a while.”

It was true. You and Malcolm started spending your lunch breaks together, usually under the bleachers at the football field. You were able to do couple things without people seeing. One of the people you had in mind was Reese, who liked snitching on Malcolm or using information against him.

“Yeah, I’ve been helping Y/n study.”

That wasn’t a total lie. Malcolm helped you with your classes a lot. But recently, you’ve been doing other things like making out.

“So what’s… new… with you guys?” Stevie asked, eyes darting between you and Malcolm. You looked to Malcolm, silently asking if he still wanted you to tell them the news. He nodded.

“Okay, it’s a good thing we’re all sitting down, because this might shock you.” Cynthia and Stevie immediately perked up, waiting for you to tell them the shocking news. “Malcolm and I…” You played with your fingers, excited but a bit nervous to finally say it. “We’re not friends anymore.”

Everyone looked at you confused, including Malcolm. You wondered why.

“That’s not what I was expecting…” Cynthia murmured, tilting her head in confusion and concern. “What happened?”

“Did he do… something… stupid?” Stevie asked. Malcolm looked offended.

“No, of course not! Why would you say that?” You were becoming as confused as everyone else.

“Y/n, that might be one of the worst ways to tell them we’re dating,” Malcolm informed you softly. You thought about it for a moment, quickly realizing how that could be taken the wrong way.

“Ohhh.”

“You’re dating?!” Cynthia gasped, leaning forward in her seat. “Since when?”

“It’s been a few weeks.”

“Why didn’t… you tell us?”

“We wanted some time for ourselves.”

“Who confessed first?”

“I did.” You answered with a smile. Cynthia and Stevie looked at you and Malcolm, as if deep in thought.

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Hey!” Malcolm again looked a bit offended.

“What do you want us to say, Malcolm?” Cynthia laughed. “You spent so much time dropping hints, we thought you would’ve given up on telling her.”

“What hints?” You asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” Malcolm said, patting your thigh before looking at Cynthia. “If it means anything, I was gonna tell her, but she beat me to it.”

“It doesn’t,” Stevie said, shaking his head.

“Well, I’m happy for you guys.” Cynthia smiled at the two of you. Stevie agreed, and the two lightly interrogated you and Malcolm about your relationship. You ended up learning new things, mainly that you were terrible at taking hints.

***

Malcolm in the Middle Taglist: @rattilol

[nifftydeary]

Idea of dear @lmn23op tysm 💕 Hope you like it 😊

Maybe having a professor be smitten by Larissa but said professor isn't good with words. So she'll appear as if she's not interested. So confessions will be made by action or lingering touches.

✨ ̲W̲a̲̲y̲ ̲t̲̲o̲ ̲s̲̲h̲̲y̲ ̲f̲̲o̲̲r̲ ̲t̲̲h̲a̲̲t̲ ✨

Obsessed, yes we'll that was definitely the word to describe your feeling for Larissa Weems because let's be honest, saying you were in love with her was just not enough.

Everytime you were in her presence or just close to her, you looses yourself completely and started freaking out when she addresses you. It was literally like if god wanted you to look like a fool in front of the only person you cared about.

Her voice was so soft, so perfect and you just was getting lost in her deep blue eyes that makes you think about the deep ocean each time. Larissa Weems was just to perfect and you couldn't muster the strength to tell her how you felt.

It wasn't like you haven't tried before, that you did. Perhaps tree or four time already. Yet all of them ended up with you babbling incoherently in front of the women, and your face blushing like a tomato. What a shame really. After all, you were one of Nevermore teacher and normally being able to talk like a grown up human was a qualification needed to be one. Yet it seems like every time you wanted to talk to the blonde it ended up unsuccessful.

That's why at some point you changed your tactic, hoping it would be more successful than the other.

This time, you tried to show her in actions instead of just trying to tell her your feelings with words. After all you always were a tactile person and touch was something you were comfortable with.

So you tried more and more to sit asside of her in meetings and sometimes brush your body with hers or delicately touch her hand like it was a mistake in some occasions. You still was quite shy and overwhelm by her closeness but honestly it was going pretty well compared to the talking...

The most surprising part thought, was the discovery of Larissa not minding them at all. In fact, she quite looked like she liked this new side of your relationship and you were delighted to see her smiled at you more and even sometime instigate the touch. Those occasions were making your stomach flip and butterfly start a waltz in you.

After a little while of executing your plans in the moments you could find yourself in the blonde compagnie. You start finding them not enough, so you started to write short anonym love message that you attached to flowed you bought for her. Then you asked the flower delivery guy to ship them in her office.

It was cliche yes but since writing was much easier that talking in your case, you found it a good alternative. The only sad part about this stratagem, was the fact you wouldn't be able to see her face when she received the flower of read the message.

It made you sad to be fair, after all you were convinced that the principal would have been a sight and you could only imagine the surprise and the happiness on her face.

You'll have to wait until and hope she talks about it you supposed.

Yet, you didn't.

Because the next morning, you received a email on your laptop asking you to meet her in her office. You felt your heart hammering in your chest and you stopped breathing for a moment.

Did the flower guy turn you over ? I mean she couldn't be summoning you for fun could she...

Anyhow, even if you were absolutely terrified and expecting the worst you found the courage in you to walk to her office in time and knock on the door. The other side of it, you heard Larissa's perfect voice asking you to come in and you didn't wait for a second demand to do so.

You then entered and walked to her desk stopping yourself in front of it, your head falling to the ground and your fingers played with nervously.

That's when Larissa's eyes fell on you and she smiled delicately.

Not that you saw anyway since you were way to concerned about it all to look in her eyes.

The tall blonde after over a minute of observing you, stood up from behind her desk and took the poem you had written in between her fingers. Then, with her cheeks becoming a little bit pink, Larissa walked around her desk and ended up just asside of you, taking your chin with her free hands delicately.

Darling look at me please.

A shaky breath left your lips at her command before you raised your eyes to hers obediently.

The women you loved so much in front of you smiled at that, before delicately caressing your face with her fingers.

I received a letter this morning that was accompanied with my favorite flowers.

The beautiful poem wasn't signed sadly. I've been thinking about who this mysterious sender could be all morning and honestly at first I wasn't sure. But then, I looked at the hand writing and found that it looked quite alike one of my favorite teacher...

That was it, you were screwed she knew you were the one that wrote it and you couldn't help thinking that you might get fired for that. Then, there was a part of her word that flashed back in your thoughts.

Favorite teacher...

After reading that, I allowed myself to have some hope...that maybe my feelings could be reciprocated... y/n. Did you send it to me...

You were completely stunned, you had no words and you didn't know what to do. Did she just say reciprocate feelings... was she implying that she had feelings for you. No it couldn't be real right? But... at the same time she was quite clear about her words.

Your lips were half open and you stood dumbfounded in front of the poor Larissa that seemed to start worrying she might have been wrong about the person that wrote the poem.

You wanted to answer her, you really did but when you found the courage to do so and confess, the only thing that came out of your mouth was...

I euuuu I'm...humm I mhh... and then you started blushing in pure shame, hiding your face with your hands.

Larissa at first looked at you with surprise, then when she realised how dumb you were in her presence she just giggle and bit her bottom lip. Her eyes were still on you and she couldn't help but feel special to be able to make you fell like that.

Awn darling, it's ok don't be shy I'm not mad I promesse. I actually think it's quite...adorable.

You heard her words and her little giggle and then let your hands fall down a little just to allow your eyes to look at her for an instant. Then, when you saw how full of love her look was when observing you, they fell down completely and you blush even more.

You didn't wished to speak again after that, not feeling like making yourself look like a fool again. So you went with what you knew best and brought yourself closer to the blonde. Then, you took her hand in yours and kissed the top lovingly while looking Larissa directly in the eyes. Then you continued up her wrist and arms before you layed a last kiss to her cheek.

This time it was the tall blonde's time to blush and she sent a loving smiled your way, making your heart tighten in your chest.

So it really was you sweetheart...

You nod at her statement with a loving smile on your lips tightening your hand on hers.

Happiness flood on the tall women's face when she realised her feeling were reciprocated and she lowered herself at your level a smirk on her lips. She waited for you to do the next step and you did, crashing your lips on hers without a second thought.

You moaned in the kiss, your hand tangling in her hair that was loose today.

Larissa on end, sight happily before picking you up in her arm and hugging you to her. She layed multitude of kisses to your face, making you giggle and wrap your arms around her neck happily.

I love you Larissa sayed to you with a last kiss to your cheek before you whispered it back to her with a timid voice.

I love you to.

Finally.

You said it.

Without stuttering! Well, now that you had made the move that was so hard to do maybe things would be different when you tell her next time. Because their was no way this kiss was the last.

[softrozene]

New Relationship with a Male S/O

Anon asked: Just read what you have written so far and it's pretty awesome! May I get some headcanons for our dear Abigail or Sadie and how they would be in a new relationship with a male s/o? i love those gals and would love to see your take on it but of course it's up to you 😄

rdr2 masterlist

Since I briefly mention a bad state of mind and bad relationships I think I should remind everyone that you are so very loved. Take care of yourself and remind yourself that you are amazing. You deserve happiness and remind your loved ones the same thing.

Originally published on April 2, 2020

Abigail, Sadie x Male Reader

Warnings: Abigail realizes that she and John were low-key toxic lol, Briefly mentions of Sadie’s past suicidal mental state, besides that fluff and healthy relationships.

-

 Abigail Roberts-

Starting a new relationship with you, makes this girl think like crazy

She and John have been in a relationship for so long that she truly thought that they were “Married”

It’s only after she breaks things off with him and leaves the gang for the sake of Jack does she realize how unhealthy this is

Sure they had their sweet love-filled tender moments but in general, their relationship wasn’t healthy

The way she constantly yelled or berated him and the way he would push her away, try to cheat on her, and yell back

It definitely wasn’t healthy especially for Jack since John neglected and practically denied the kid’s existence

Then you step in the picture and make her realize this even more

Someone who genuinely wishes to know her and love her? She is shocked

Even more so when you genuinely want to get to know Jack and play with him like he’s your own son

Not only does she need this but Jack does. He needs this healthy relationship with a father-like figure, something he never got from John

If she thought she was smitten before she is ready to tie the knot know, especially if Jack starts calling you papa

You and her work hard to get the ranch of your dreams and all is pretty good

She does have her moments where she feels like you’ll end up like John but she never mentions them

Her newfound trust and love in you is what keeps her sane and able to ignore the moments she wants to think about John

You constantly wish to know her dreams and if she needs anything. You do the same for Jack and encourage him to be himself and not like some outlaw like the gang tried to do

Arthur would approve of you and that thought makes her all the more confident in this relationship

I imagine the one moment where she does end up not believing in you is if she were to get pregnant

The moment she realizes she is pregnant she holds back on telling you. She fights with herself until the logical side wins and with faith that you won’t leave her, she tells you

After your beautiful child is born and you go into town to get supplies this is the moment she will fall apart

The second she believes you take too long she will be a crying inconsolable mess

She will be believing that you left her and her children like John had done when Jack was born

The moment you step through the door she will both yell and throw things at you before being filled with relief or she will just hug you in a deafening silence

You will sit her down and wait until she opens up about her past relationship and she will because her confidence in you only grew after you came back

After sharing all her past concerns she will be grateful that someone like you exists to show her and Jack (and the newborn) a healthy relationship

 Sadie Adler-

Sadie thought she was going to die alone

She had no idea or plans to ever fall in love again after her husband Jake was murdered

The thought of falling in love or even giving someone else the time of day made her absolutely sick to her stomach

After the Van Der Linde Gang fell apart and making sure the Marston family got away she continued on her quest of taking dangerous jobs for the risk of something happening

No, she wasn’t suicidal anymore (She just turned into an adrenaline junkie) and certainly wouldn’t care of something did happen to her on a job

She just never wanted to feel weak ever again and that wasn’t ever going to happen

Well until you came along, you made her weak in a sense she couldn’t identify

You had to be the first man who didn’t care if she was a woman taking on bounty jobs like this

You barely even glanced at her while all other men would snicker or ogle her (then probably get shot by her)

You simply knew when a job was too big and asked for her help after hearing she was one of the best

You placing confidence in her was probably the start of it, especially after complimenting her without any suggestive hints or derogatory words

I imagine you two would end up being job partners and that is how she realizes she likes you in a similar way she loved Jake

You had potential and something no other man beside Jake can make her feel

Though being partners you would definitely mention her reckless behavior resembling a lot of suicidal missions

She won’t deny it but instead tell you her past story if you want to know

Once she tells it, her behavior makes sense

She’s a shell of a woman she despises for letting everything get taken away from her and honestly, you admire her strength and will to keep going on

You would work hard with her to help her stop being reckless so that she is more cautious on missions

Stating you care for her and don’t want anything bad happening to her, well it does something to her

She would fight down to her bones to reject these feelings until you show genuine concern and the need to know what’s wrong

It’ll take a while for her to accept her feelings but once she does she’ll admit them without any shame

To which you would be happy to know the feeling was mutual

Thus starting the new relationship- Sadie would be awkward but also confident at the same time

She of course lets you know that she will not go back to that person she once was, the “lady” and she grows happy when you say you don’t want her to

So the two of you share a long journey of bounty hunting until she avenges Arthur

After that, you or she will have to suggest on settling down (of course no kids, maybe Sadie once upon a time wanted some but she doesn’t anymore)

She would either want to settle down in an entirely new place or somewhere close to the Marston’s so she could be close with Abigail

Either way, you and she split the chores as she did with Jake (She will let you hear her play the harmonica)

And no one will ever tear you apart, she won’t ever let that happen and you knowing that is her number 1 fear with you now refuses to let that happen either

[alienaiver]

Hii Nohr! Happy new year! What's been the worst and the best experiences of 2023 for you? I know 2024 will have so much in store for such a kind soul as you, you're always shining like the sun on my dash. Thank you for another year! (Im shy but I love your blog hihi)

hi hey hewwo!! :3 <3 happy new year my friend, i hope its going to be the evening you imagined and wanted!! <3 im personally just home with snøfle, and its very nice and cozy !! :')

and hjhhhh thats a tough question!!! 2023 has given me SO MUCH in like, every direction i think its in my top 3 of most eventful years honestly !!! :0

i think the worst is the fact that i lost both my parents within six months. they havent physically passed away, but ive had to go no-contact with them both due to their abusive ways, which none of them has taken to kindly, only making the experience that much more awful. theyve never been good parents growing up truth be told, but like many abusive parents ive had some amazing glimpses and momens with them, especially in my adult years, so its been a rollercoaster of thinking i have gained parents only to lose them, ykno? LUCKILY THO, my found family has basically adopted me and the parents are calling me their bonus child, taking care of me in so many ways it always makes me emotional!!!!! :')

THE BEST EXPERIENCE FR THO was definitely going to japan !!! like a hundred percent no doubt ! walking thru asakusa, CLIMBING FUSHIMI INARI (even with my disabilty !!!), meeting godzilla and eva unit 01, watching the one piece live show in universal studios and just. all the moments i experienced with my friend, all the times we looked at each other like "WOAH!" they shine thru EVERYTHING. we had struggles on the trip (primarily me tbh LMAO) but it was SO worth it, my brain has been permanently altered ever since we came back and not a day goes by where i dont think about it tbh !! my friend even MADE like HOMEMADE me a big green(love) frame so i can get some of the pictures from the trip (estimated we have 3k JHDAJK) together with small tickets and other stuff and hang it on my wall!! i cant wait until i sort thru them and decide !! honestly i could talk abt my japan trip until the end of my days. especially arashiyama. that place STOLE my heart, i could grow old there fr fr,,, im also still absolutely smitten with the aforementioned one piece live show, THEY HAD BARTOLOMEO TOO, my MOST sacred and beloved op chara!!!!!!!!!!

and thank you so much for the kind words omg i am smiling like a buffoon, re-reading ur words again and again, grateful to receive such a kind message on such an evening !!! ur making me cry in the best way ily !!! what about you, what moments made you smile the biggest or shed the greatest tears??? happy new year again my beloved !!! <3

[dreamwritesimagines]

OMG OMG DARLIIIING! ❤️ I started giggling all excited as soon as I saw this, I CAN'T WAIT AAAAAA ILYSM! ❤️

Sameee, same! 😂 I normally cannot keep a plant alive, including cacti but I'm learning so much about flowers with this fic 😂

Awww you check out the meaning of the flower?! ❤️ This makes me so happy! 🥰

I think that, since Anthony is the head of the family, it was just him and Uncle Howard 😁But yes, Benedict probably went to the gentleman's club because he was so nervous about it, just drinking and trying to focus on something else 😁 And he probably had a huge talk with Anthony beforehand so that he would accept every demand from Uncle Howard ❤️

behind all of Clover’s bravado and aloof manner, she is really just a frightened young woman who is trying to hide her heart to stop anyone from further breaking it.  Oooh this is so true! Yes, I think her aunt and her uncle both know it, and they're trying their hardest to make sure Clover is happy ❤️ Even if her aunt would looove to talk about her engagement because she's so so excited about it, she still respects Clover's wishes 😂

If there is ONE (1) things Clover and Anthony could agree on, it would be that Lottie deserves the best 😂 They are both extremely loyal to her even if they are the complete opposites of her ❤️

Anthony calling her Charlotte😍

The Bridgertons are so clueless when it comes to Anthony and Charlotte! 😂 They were so focused on Charlotte and Benedict ending up together someday that it totally escaped their notice how Anthony is so soft and sweet with her ❤️

I ADORE THIS BLURB OH MY GOD!? Darling you are so talented, it is AMAZIIIING! 😍 I started rereading it as soon as I finished reading it, I love it! 😍❤️

Benedict: I found out that – and this may shock you my love – but I found out that Anthony and Charlie –

Clover: Are in love with one another.

Benedict: Are in love with one another! … Wait how did you know?

Benedict thinking it would shock Clover meanwhile Clover is all deadpan LOLLL this is hilarious!😂

He generally resembles a goat with constipation when he smiles, but not with Lottie.

I can't stop laughing omg 😂

Clover: You really didn’t know?

Benedict: You know I’ve been much too smitten by you to notice anyone else.

I CAN ALMOST HEAR AND SEE THIS SCENE!?😍 I'm a fan of your writing already! 🥰

Clover growing peonies for Charlotte and her using them in her bridal bouquet YOU ARE A GENIUS!😍 Omg that needs to happen, it will be such a cute fluffy scene and I'm already smiling at this oneeee🥰

I came across that tuberoses info on coincidence! 😂 Like, I was actually looking up another flower and then I read that whole thing and it was just too good to not use it in the story 😂

He doesn’t patronise or belittle her nor does he insult her intelligence or capabilities.  He thinks of her as his equal and she must be such a breath of fresh air to him. THIS IS SUCH A GOOD POINT! 😍

Like, if it were anyone else at all they would still follow as the ton commanded and would try to keep Clover sheltered because that was the norm of the era! But he doesn't try to convince her it's 'dangerous' or even imply that she should let it go. He definitely sees her as his equal and that's why their marriage will be very different than other marriages of the ton 🥰

Yessss, you're absolutely right! ❤️ Like, I don't think Benedict would fall in love with the "perfect and ideal lady" of the time😏 And the moment he met Clover, he was so so surprised and fell in love with her so fast 😍

Benedict softens her, exactly! 🥰 Even if she denies it, she doesn't have the same bitterness with him as she does with the rest of the ton 😁 Even if she is in denial, she is happier around him 😍 She laughs more with him than she does with anyone else 🥰

His priority is her happiness, yesss! 🥰 And once they get married, it'll be even more obvious to everyone around them ❤️

In fact Benedict is probably having to stop himself from showing just how in love with Clover he is.  He doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable or for people to think he is overcompensating so has to tone it down. This is so true! ❤️He is such a romantic, but he knows Clover isn't ready for it yet 🥰

Clover has so many trust issues and Benedict will be reminded of it even with such small gestures ❤️

I feel like maybe he had the flowers engraved on it for her😍 It is not a typical gift at all and if anyone heard -from his family or hers- they would be so shocked 😁

Oh he will not be forgetting that sight anytime soon 😏😈 For the whole night he probably couldn't focus on anything 😏

When the old knife was resting on the bench I imagine Benedict’s fingers were twitching to just touch it, to feel the lingering warmth of Clover’s skin on it. OMG OMG YESSSS! 😍 The yearning! ❤️

Darling I love this so so so much! ❤️ You've made my whole day with this, thank you so much! 😍❤️ YOU'RE AMAZING! 😍😍😍

Garden of Secrets [11] - Tuberoses

A.N: Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and support my loves, it made my whole week, you’re amazing!❤ I hope you’ll like this chapter as well, and please don’t forget to tell me what you think, thank you! ❤

Thanks so much to @theskytraveler​ for helping me with the chapter!

Summary: A gift always has a meaning.

Warnings: Regency era society and social rules, some gender specific language and terms.

Word Count: 4100

Series Masterlist

After a sleepless night, as you watched the first rays of sunlight spill into your room, you were sure of one thing;

Tonight was going to be absolute chaos.

You hadn’t liked attending balls even before all this but now that you and your betrothed had to pretend to be in love for the whole ton to see at the first ball you would attend?

You were more than ready to pretend to faint again just to avoid it.

Keep reading

[murdockparker]

Foolish Endeavor - Part 6

Benedict Bridgerton x Reader

Summary: Summer in Kent, a beautiful time indeed. With his new courtship with the earl’s daughter flourishing with the weather, it was hard to get any semblance of alone time with her--he’d have to get creative.  

Word Count: 6.2k

Warnings: fluff, mentions of non-sexual nudity, Benedict takes a bath, things get messy

A/N: sorry for the wait, lovelies! work has been kicking my booty, but rest assured that I haven’t forgotten about these two lovebirds!

first part - previous part - next part 

__

For once in his life, Benedict Bridgerton was completely and utterly happy. His studies were going well—the academy had become a second home of sorts to him of late—his family was growing to be more enjoyable to be around with each passing day, and, last but certainly not least, he had begun courting the ever enchanting Lady (Y/N) (Y/L/N). Ever since the eve of the Kent Ball, their relationship had spun wildly on its axis, flipping from a very content friendship into a burning courtship all in the span of twelve hours, all thanks to the one singular kiss that had meant everything.

Well, two kisses that meant everything. 

Benedict was true to his word and called upon Lady (Y/N) first thing in the morning, bringing her favorite flowers upon her request, sharing his intentions to court her with her mother present. The earl found his way into the drawing room to consent to their courtship somewhere between the ecstatic screams from his wife and the laughter of his daughter. The Earl of Kent was more than pleased at the arrangement, noting Benedict only in the highest regard. He was Edmund’s son, after all, and Theodore (Y/L/N) cared deeply for his late mate from school, adored each of his eight children. Naturally, the match made perfect sense in his eyes. 

It wasn’t long for the two to be with each other nearly every day of the week, whether it be promenading around the park, enjoying a quiet afternoon tea with Lady Bridgerton or simply a quiet chat together before the couple went about their days. Benedict was smitten, to say the least, he knew that a courtship with her would be easy, but he never imagined exactly how easy it could be. The only downside to their public courtship was the new factor in which they had absolutely no time alone, always were they in company with a chaperone. Before their courtship, everyone practically looked the other way when Benedict and (Y/N) were to spend time together—they had only been friends, after all—but now that they were romantically inclined, it was but a rare moment for the two to be only in the presence of the other. 

This, above all else, vexed Benedict. 

He had wanted her, wanted Lady (Y/N) since the Kent Ball—probably before that, too, if he was to be honest with himself. Every stolen glance, every brush of their hands, every hitched breath made it all the harder to keep his desires in check. He had never known how badly he could want someone, desire someone in such a way that his body had physically hurt. It wasn’t that she was just physically attractive—he would be mad if he wasn’t physically attracted to her, if the tightness in his trousers had anything to say about that, he most certainly was—but that he was intellectually attracted to her as well. 

(Y/N) was a smart lady, well educated and well read, had a sharp tongue and she rarely let anyone else have the last say, hardly let anyone prove her wrong in any capacity. If she was to be wrong, she’d never allow them the satisfaction of the situation, nor give them the reaction or light of day they truly were expecting. It was one of many aspects of her character that truly had Benedict in a bind.

He longed to get her alone, to kiss her again. They hadn’t been nearly that close since the ball, of course, everyone in their life was hell-bent on keeping them a respectable distance apart, suspecting or knowing how even an inch more of freedom could sway the couple in an unsavory direction. They’d be right, to their credit, but it still stung nonetheless. It seemed as soon as Benedict finally had everything going to plan, the entire ton was on his back and watching every move he made. 

Benedict Bridgerton didn’t want to rush his proposal for his rather intimate desires, he wanted to give his beloved the courtship she so well deserved, the promenades in the square, the picnics in the park and the two socially acceptable dances at any given ball. It would prove challenging to do any of the sort, however, considering that as much as he tried to convince himself that a longer courtship was what he wanted—nay, what they needed—with every passing day, it was harder to keep to his convictions. 

And when the (Y/L/N)s arrived at Aubrey Hall for the week? The ring in his pocket burned with every passing moment in her presence. Benedict knew this week was to impress the Sharmas, for Anthony to finally woo the lovely Edwina and convince her elder sister to give the viscount her blessing on the match, so to upstage his brother with an engagement of his own was just uncouth. He could wait, Benedict knew, at least until Anthony bucked up and made up his mind about Edwina. Once the two were engaged, the second eldest Bridgerton could finally make a move and proceed with his beloved. It had been Anthony’s idea to invite the earl and his family that week, after all, as it would be a nice week in the country and high time for the families to spend time together—knowing full well that Benedict would be a fool to not propose to (Y/N) in a timely manner. 

The earl had a prior engagement for the week—something about a hunting trip—so only Lady Kent escorted (Y/N) to the estate in Kent. Aubrey Hall was only a hop and a skip away from their estate in Tunbridge, it was highly convenient for Lady Kent in that regard, for she could escape to her favorite home in a blink of an eye should the week with the Bridgertons go awry—not that it would, but it was always key to have a backup plan indeed. 

“I haven’t been here in a spell,” (Y/N) said as she practically floated down the main corridor. Lady Bridgerton nodded along, Lady Kent by her side. “Everything looks the same.”

“Yes, it has been quite a time since you and the countess have blessed our presence here,” Lady Bridgerton sighed. “Shame Lord Kent couldn’t have joined, I do know he rather enjoyed Aubrey Hall.”

“Theodore sends his regards,” Lady Kent said quickly, “he had promised to accompany Lord Kemper for the week, it had been too long since his last hunt.” The countess sighed deeply and picked at her glove. “He was in need of it, I suppose.”

“Perhaps he will bring a trophy home for the mantle?” Lady Bridgerton tried, her voice airy and light. “I hear foxes are quite a catch.”

“Oh Theodore isn’t one for trophies,” Lady Kent said. “He was before we married, but I refuse to have any semblance of death in my home—any of my homes.”

Lady Bridgerton laughed. “Ah, so I see.”

“Though I wouldn’t say no to a new fur…”

(Y/N) began to tune the ladies out, slowing her pace from the group. She could and would find her room later—it had to be near the west wing of the building, that was where the guest rooms had always been. Knowing of Lady Bridgerton’s consistency, the countess and her daughter would likely have the same two rooms as their previous visits many summers ago, the floral paper on the walls surely not have changed. If the corridor leading to the guest wing was to prove that, the colors were just as she had remembered, the paintings all nearly the same, the horrid landscape of a ship sinking just where she had recalled it being, that one had always made her uneasy, even as a young girl. 

But, she didn’t stop to admire the paintings—no—she truly didn’t know why she stopped altogether. Perhaps it was the unconscious need to step away from her mother? The carriage ride to Kent had been rather taxing, the countess asked far too many questions about her courtship with Benedict for her liking, a small headache was drilling at the base of her skull in result. 

Benedict. 

Yes, maybe that’s why she stopped. It had been nearly a week since she had seen him last, he had been kept up at the academy for quite some time, so something in her mind was just screaming at her to look for him. He had to be somewhere around the estate, the entire Bridgerton brood was here, after all. Where he could be was anyone’s guess. Part of her was disappointed that he didn’t seek her out at her arrival, wait for her carriage to turn down the road and greet her with that charming lopsided smile of his, perhaps place a small kiss on the back of her hand?

Whatever the case may have been, she knew he was here now and desperately wanted to seek him out. Something deep in her gut was telling her to find him, to be with him. A loud crash followed by some unsavory words came from the room to the right of her—it sounded much like Benedict’s voice, but there was only one way to find out. 

“Benedict?” (Y/N) said cautiously, knocking on the large wooden door. Her hand turned the knob, cracking an opening for her to enter the chambers. It had to have been his chambers here at Aubrey Hall, she had never been in his space here, even as children. Benedict usually kept to himself back then, hardly going out of his way to spend one-on-one time with (Y/N), which, she now realized, must’ve been because he had held a small crush on her. Thank goodness the feeling was mutual, eventually. 

“(Y/N)?” Benedict’s eyes peeked out from the bottom of his easel, his entire body clamored on the ground. It was hard to see him from across the room.

“Are you alright?” she asked, taking a few steps closer, trying to make heads or tails of the situation she just walked in on. 

“Yes, I’m—I didn’t know you had arrived,” Benedict began to scramble to his feet, steadying himself with the easel in front of him. “Had I known I would’ve—well, I should’ve been there to greet you.”

“I can’t say I wasn’t a bit crestfallen to not see you,” (Y/N) sighed playfully, “but I’m seeing you now—mostly.” Her hand raised to point at the large easel in front of him, covering his torso and arms. He was holding onto the painting with dear life, almost afraid to move. “You never answered my question, Benedict, are you alright? I heard a loud crash and—” 

“Yes, yes,” Benedict waved off, not moving from his spot, “I’m completely fine, nothing to worry about.”

“Says the man hiding behind an easel.”

Benedict paused, held his breath. Slowly, he stepped away from the painting, just two steps to the side, revealing a rainbow of colors dancing across his body—he had spilled paint on himself, quite a lot of it, too. “I got startled and…” he sighed, hanging his head, “I fell off my stool.”

(Y/N) stifled a laugh. “Fell off your stool?”

Benedict only nodded. His face shone with the brilliance of roses, clearly embarrassed that the woman he was courting had caught him in such a situation. The paint was nearly all over his—what used to be white—shirt, blues and greens practically dripping onto the floor, the fabric clearly wet from whatever water he had sitting beside him at his workstation. His trousers were no better, a purple splotch covered his knee, red on his pocket and yellow on his groin—not that she was focusing on his groin, of course.  (Y/N) took it upon herself to step closer, averting her eyes quickly to his gaze.

She reached out to touch Benedict’s face, fingers brushing the dripping hair from his forehead. The jar of paint water that had drenched his white shirt must’ve also splashed on his head, too, as he looked fresh out of the bath. “You look a mess,” she giggled, lovingly and light.

Benedict cracked a smile, leaning his head into her touch. “I suppose I do.”

“Whatever could have startled you so?” (Y/N) asked, reveling in  how Benedict practically melted into her hand. 

“The dog.”

“The dog?” she questioned, her brow raised slightly. “But you don’t have a—”

As if on cue, a loud series of barks rang throughout the home—seemingly from the floor below. Benedict jumped ever-so-slightly at the noise, clearly still shaken by his unsavory time in the paint.

“We don’t,” he tried to compose himself, “but Miss Sharma does.”

Her vision flashed to the rather round dog she had seen when she first arrived—a corgi, if the recalled correctly. He couldn’t have been taller than a knee high, surely not the foreboding or terrifying type. “You’re not… afraid of him, are you?”

“What?!” Benedict nearly yelped. “No! Of course not. How foolish it would be for me to be afraid of such a small thing.”

“It would be alright if you were—”

“No,” Benedict assured her quickly, “it is just the incessant barking that rings throughout the estate—almost earth shattering, honestly. I should’ve known that it would make me jump…”

“And now here you are,” (Y/N) stifled a giggle, “covered in paint, all at the evil ruse of a small and rather sweet looking corgi.”

“Had I known you would tease me for such a thing, I would not have allowed you to enter my chambers,” Benedict’s gaze narrowed, trying hard to act serious. He knew it wasn’t working.

“You didn’t allow me in here,” (Y/N) said pointedly, “I simply entered on my own volition.”

“Entering a man’s bedchambers without permission,” Benedict all but gasped, “or a chaperone…why, Lady (Y/N), that is a terribly improper thing to do.”

“Well,” she clicked, “when one hears a man—whom they adore—in peril, one should check upon them, should they not?”

“You adore me?”

“That is all you took from my ramblings?”

“You adore me,” Benedict repeated, if not for himself to hear it again. 

“For some reason,” (Y/N) sighed, wiping a streak of blue paint off of Benedict’s nose, rubbing the pigment between her fingers, “I do, yes.”

“Then, my dear, would do be so kind as to help the man—whom you yourself said you adore—clean up his perilous mess?”

“Couldn’t you ask the staff to assist? I’m sure they would do much better than I in cleaning your floors.”

“The floors, yes, the staff could handle. Though, I fear I’m not quite comfortable enough with our staff to assist in my bath.”

(Y/N) nearly choked on air. 

“Your bath?”

“Yes, that’s what I said.”

She felt like she couldn’t breathe. He surely wasn’t so bold, so daring, in asking her to assist him in bathing, could he be? No, that would be too much to ask of her, they weren’t even engaged. If (Y/N) was not even allowed to be left alone with Benedict—and she had been for quite a moment—she surely couldn’t be allowed to help him bathe.

It wasn’t until Benedict laughed that (Y/N) took another breath. 

“I was just teasing, my love,” Benedict said, trying to rub the paint gently off of her fingers. “Of course you do not have to—”

“Okay.”

He froze. 

He didn’t think he’d get an agreement from her. As much as Lady (Y/N) swore up and down she wasn’t as green as she was made out to be, to agree to assist in helping the man who was courting her bathe? An offer made entirely—well, not so entirely—in jest?

“I—(Y/N), you don’t have to—”

“Then why did you offer?” she crossed her arms firmly. “Do not joke about the things you do not mean in earnest.”

“You do realize what assisting with my bath entails, do you not?”

He watched the dark flush creep from her neck up to her cheeks. It was endearing, sweet, almost. 

“I do not see a problem in the matter,” she tried to nonchalantly shrug off, “so long as you add enough soap to the water, it would be near impossible to see anything scandalous anyhow.”

“And how do you suggest I enter and exit the bath without your gaze on me?”

“Well, I suppose you should start with one foot in,” (Y/N) smirked. “Add the second once you’ve got your bearings. I assume you can repeat those steps in reverse order as far as exiting is concerned.”

“(Y/N), you very well know what—”

“So you’re allowed to tease but I am not?” A beat of tight silence. “Obviously I will remove myself from the washroom when it is necessary.”

“And if we are caught?”

“Benedict,” (Y/N) said quietly, “we both know very well what is to happen if we are caught.”

“And that is worth the risk?”

She didn’t have to think even a moment longer.

“I’d like to think so.”

—

If anyone were to tell Benedict Bridgerton that he’d be sitting in a basin waiting upon a lady to assist him in the bath, he would’ve said they were mad. He truly thought that she would’ve laughed off his jest, push him playfully or throw him a wet rag to clean his face—yes, that is where he thought the offer would go—not awaiting her entrance into the washroom with bated breath. A few quiet knocks on the door rang out.

“Ah, yes,” Benedict cleared his throat. “I’m in the tub.”

No answer came from behind the door. Perhaps she too had grown cold feet and began to regret their current situation. 

Suddenly, the door cracked open, just an inch. 

“Are you alright?” (Y/N)’s voice was quiet, unwavering. 

“Yes, I think I’ve added enough soap to keep some sort of decency,” Benedict managed to choke out, the heat of the bath surely getting to his head already. 

“I would think a man such as yourself wouldn’t care about your decency,” (Y/N) hummed, practically floating into the washroom. The door clicked shut softly, making almost no noise at all. 

“Oh no, rest assured it is for your decency and not mine,” Benedict chuckled, his fingers tapping anxiously against the brim of the copper tub. His eyes were fixed pointedly at the foot of the tub, almost afraid to meet (Y/N)’s eyes as she would surely come into his view soon enough. 

“Because I’m a lady?”

“Because I care about your reputation,” Benedict corrected. 

“I find that hard to believe, Mr. Bridgerton,” (Y/N) cautiously took a step to the side of the tub, now noting Benedict’s face in its full rosy brilliance—the heat of the water surely the cause. “Because if you truly cared about my reputation, you would not have invited me to help you bathe.”

“Perhaps—”

“And what, pray tell, could you need my assistance with anyway?” (Y/N) cut him off, her hands decidedly at her hips. “You are grown, surely you know how to sponge yourself just fine.”

“Some of the paint,” Benedict lifted a hand out of the water, pointing it to his crown, “I believe it dried in my hair. I would most appreciate the help in getting it out.”

(Y/N) paused, watching the water drip and roll down his arm—lean and structured, splotches of color practically melting into the tub below. The pinks swirled with the yellows, the coloring akin to an early sunrise atop the bubbles and water. She allowed herself to get close, close enough to drag a finger through his locks, droplets and splotches of paint coating her skin just enough to snap her back to the task at hand. 

“It does look rather cumbersome��” she moved her hand back to her side—carefully, as to not get any of the pigment on her new dress. “I’ll help you.”

Her gaze traveled to the cart set up neatly beside the copper basin, stocked with various different oils and liquids—each more tempting than the last. Though, with all of the ornate bottles and smudged labels, it was hard for (Y/N) to find which of the vials contained the washing soap for his hair, none of the containers looked like the kind her family stocked at their estate.

“It’s the blue one,” Benedict pointed gingerly, hand peaking back out of the water. “Mother insists on using homemade hair soap, it’s a recipe she got from her family, her mother, I think. It’s how we keep our hair so immaculate and proper, you know.”

(Y/N) nearly burst into laughter. “Immaculate?”

“Well, yes,” Benedict said exasperatedly. “Bridgertons, we have some of the best hair in the ton.”

(Y/N) hummed quietly, pressing her lips in a tight line. Her fingers made quick work on the stopper, pulling it firmly out of the vial—the smell was that of lavender, she noted—and poured just a bit in her hand.

“You seem to think otherwise,” Benedict quirked his brow, turning his head just a bit to the left. “Do you… (Y/N), do you not agree?”

A deep breath was needed, she was sure of it. Whether it be for the act she was about to commit—washing her courter’s hair—or to manage her true feelings about his recent boasting, she wasn’t so convinced which it was for. 

“I feel as if you’re ignoring me, even though you’re right behind—”

The pitcher of water was poured directly on his head, probably a bit more forceful than she had anticipated, but she had to wet his hair somehow. Soap wasn’t known to lather well in dry hair—even if it was dripping in paint. She couldn’t have possibly trusted Benedict to dip under the surface himself, so she took the liberty of aiding the process along.

“I’m not ignoring you,” (Y/N) chuckled, watching Benedict’s frenzy to wipe his eyes clean of the sudden water and dribbles of paint that followed down his forehead. “I’m simply trying to focus on washing your immaculate hair.”

“I’m not liking how you said immaculate, it’s rather teasing.”

“Oh I would never tease you, Benedict.”

“You have and you would.”

“I have to keep things interesting,” (Y/N) shrugged helplessly, psyching herself up to touch his scalp. It was still a daunting feat, so she tried to fill her time. “If I can’t do that, how does that make me any better than the other girls of the ton?”

“Trust that you are unlike any of the ladies back in London,” Benedict said, finally clearing the watered down pigment from his face. “You hardly have to try to stand out.”

“I reckon it has something to do with my bright dressings Mother insists I wear,” (Y/N) chided, laughing lightly. “You remember the Cowper Ball.”

“I can hardly forget it,” he hummed. 

“It was terribly bright, I still cannot believe that not a single other lady said a thing to me about it that night and—”

“(Y/N).”

Her attention turned back to the task at hand—the man in the tub a mere foot away from her. “Uh. Yes?”

“You’re stalling.”

She sighed. “Can you blame me?”

“Every moment you try to avoid the very thing you promised me you could do, the more likely it is that my hair will succumb to the fate of the pigment,” Benedict swooned playfully, accidentally rubbing more pink paint across his face. “So, please, do hurry up.”

“I—fine,” she huffed, finally placing her hand atop of his head. It was a rather sudden thing, really, the force was a bit stronger than she intended. In fact, the sound that rang from the contact echoed throughout the washroom—it nearly sounded painful. Benedict only winced, just slightly, before she quickly began to rub the hair soap around his head.

“See? Was that so hard?”

“I hate you,” she mumbled.

“You don’t”

She didn’t.

“Your hair is lovely,” (Y/N) hesitantly admitted, her fingers circling gently against his curls, the suds growing with every motion. “But my goodness it’s thick, how do manage to do this every time you wash yourself? I feel as if I need a respite for just doing this for a moment.”

The corner of his lips curled. “I’m personally not this thorough with the washing,” he quirked his head to look at her, “so I appreciate the effort, truly.”

“You were right,” she said, allowing her fingernails to scrape ever-so-slightly against his scalp, “about the pigment, it truly is going to be a devil to get out.”

“The staff can hardly ever get it out of my clothes,” Benedict said, facing forward yet again. “So I had little faith they could get it out of my hair.”

“Do not blame the staff for the impossible task of removing this…” her hands rose from his head, “mess. Clothing, hair and, I am very well sure, your floor are all in disarray because of your hobbies and passions.”

“I do apologize for having such a colorful passion, m’lady,” Benedict nearly laughed. He had never called her that—not once, not ever—something about the heat from the water was surely getting to his head. 

“We could always shear it off,” (Y/N) suggested, pointedly ignoring his tease. “I reckon you could manage that style.”

He all but gasped. “That is practically sacrilege to the Bridgerton name and you know it,” he tried turning around again, only to be thwarted by (Y/N)’s hands keeping his head in place.

“I would miss it,” she said. “Your hair. The curls, they suit you.”

“Think about my hair often, do you?”

“No more often than I think of you,” she replied honestly.

“How endearing that is to hear, why I simply—”

A rapid rap against the door rang through the room almost as if it were a gunshot—startling and unexpected. (Y/N)’s hands immediately shot up and off of Benedict’s head, her palms colorful in admission.

“Hide,” he said quickly, quietly.

“Where do you suppose I am to do that?” (Y/N) hissed, pointedly keeping her hands away from just about anything, afraid to touch even her own skin.

“Benedict?” A voice from the other side of the door spoke up, clearly it belonged to whoever knocked so urgently. “Benedict, I must have a word with you—now.”

“Anthony,” Benedict said plainly, the color draining from his face. “You caught me at a bad time,” he coughed, voice louder, “I happen to be washing up.”

“This cannot wait,” Anthony spoke up, the doorknob twisting slowly. (Y/N)—ever the quick thinker—jumped behind the opening door, praying and hoping that Anthony had the decency to allow his brother some sort of privacy, hoping that he wouldn’t push the door open any farther than necessary. 

Benedict watched as she slithered behind the door, terribly impressed at her timing, momentarily forgetting the audacity of his brother for barging into the washroom with little to no notice. “Anthony, you cannot just enter my washroom like this,” he began, voice nearly dripping with venom, “I’m very clearly naked.”

“Yes, yes, nothing I haven’t seen before,” Anthony waved, mind elsewhere. “I need your opinion on a rather… pressing matter.”

“And it cannot wait until I am cleaned?” 

“No,” Anthony said simply. 

“I highly doubt that,” Benedict’s attention was momentarily held by the sight of (Y/N), her hands pressed up against the lavish wood of the door, barely moving a muscle. Anthony couldn’t have noticed her, not yet, anyway. “What, pray tell is so important that you have to interrupt my bath?”

“It’s about the Sharmas.”

“I could have figured as much,” Benedict groaned, his hand pinching the bridge of his nose, “you have been nearly wearing out the floor with your pacing on the matter.”

“It’s imperative that I get the blessing from Kate, she is the only thing standing in my way of a suitable marriage with Edwina.”

“Suitable for who? You?”

“Yes,” Anthony said plainly, “Edwina would also benefit from a marriage between us. She’s not entirely loathsome, can carry a pleasant enough conversation, easy on the eyes—will make for an adequate mother for my children—”

“Is… is that all you care for in a wife?” Benedict was beside himself. Truly he knew of his brothers opinions and outlook on marriage, but never did he rationalize that they’d be so… bleak.

“What else is there to care about?”

Benedict momentarily forgot his place, the water surrounding him had gone lukewarm—(Y/N) all but forgotten behind the door. “Brother, there is much more to care about than just those superficial sorts of things. You hardly know Edwina, know of her favorite music, her favorite color, whether she prefers the rain or the sun—tell me, how does she take her tea?”

“I—” 

“Take this time to get to know her,” Benedict said, nodding lightly, “actually know her. Do not waste your breath on winning over her sister—one can only assume if you are to know Edwina more personally, Kate would have little to hold against you in the potential marriage.”

“And I suppose you’re insinuating that you know Lady (Y/N) in such a way?”

“I’ve known Lady (Y/N) for many years,” Benedict hummed quietly, his back touching the edge of the tub, “it is not hard for me to recall anything about her.”

“So, her tea, then?”

“She prefers it with two scoops of sugar—three if it’s herbal, milk if the occasion calls for it.” Anthony looked stunned, almost unbelieving of his brother’s ability to recall a simple tea order. “Her favorite color changes like the wind,” Benedict continued, his eyes hesitantly meeting (Y/N)’s worried ones from behind the door—she was growing restless. “She is never one to scoff at a rainy day but would rather bask in the sunlight of a pleasant afternoon.”

“And her favorite music?” Anthony crossed his arms—now it was his turn to be annoyed by his brother.

“Anthony, I think I very well made the point you wished of me to make,” Benedict sighed, “you should understand that answers like that—knowing her like that—comes from a great friendship, not a courtship. I knew all of what I know about Lady (Y/N) before I began courting her, anything after the fact has been a pleasant adventure.”

“You truly sicken me with your love,” Anthony groaned lightly, “you do know that, surely?”

Benedict stiffened at the mention of love, for he knew how he felt about his beloved, but never had he mentioned any word of the sort to her—he wanted to tell her in the right place, at the right time, not with her body pressed up against the bathroom door and him naked as the day he was born. “Will you please allow me to finish my bath? We can revisit this conversation after dinner tonight, over whisky perhaps, can we not?”

Anthony’s eyes scanned the room, as if to bide time in his answer. “Fine.”

“Excellent,” Benedict waved him off, “now, if you don’t mind.”

(Y/N) allowed herself to sigh in relief, knowing in just a few short moments Anthony would be gone and out of their hair, the door moved just a fraction of an inch—nearly unnoticed. The sound, however, was not lost on the eldest Bridgerton’s ears, his attention growing exponentially to the space behind the door. “Did you—Benedict, did you have anything else to say?”

“Ah,” Benedict could feel his facade breaking—the ruse unraveling, “yes, actually. Do you think you could convince the chef to make a pie for this evening? Lady (Y/N) does enjoy the occasional sweet.”

Anthony blinked once, unbelieving to his brother’s request. “Of course. Benedict,” he pointed to his own nose, “you have a little…”

“You can imagine that is why I’m in the tub, Brother,” Benedict smiled sweetly.

“Alright… well, do wash up well, I don’t need you to be covered in paint and make a fool of our family this evening.”

And with that, he was gone, shutting the door politely as he left. 

Benedict held his finger up to the air, making eye contact with a one (Y/N) (Y/L/N)—her entire body seemingly on edge. She took the hint, taking feather-light steps back over to the basin—afraid Anthony could be right behind the door waiting to storm in again. But with the soft sound of the bedchamber doors shutting, the couple assumed that they were in the clear. 

“Do you think…?”

“No,” he shook his head, “Anthony is many things, but there is absolutely no way that he would have gathered enough information to figure out what was truly happening.”

“And the water trail?” 

Benedict leaned over the edge of the tub, following (Y/N)’s finger—pointing politely to the dribbles of water and diluted paint that must’ve fallen from her hands as she made her escape. It wasn’t noticeable, no, but if one was looking hard enough…

“I’m sure he didn’t notice,” he replied sheepishly—even he didn’t believe himself, “even if he did, I highly doubt that he’d mention anything.”

“Didn’t he duel Simon for Daphne’s honor when he found them in a compromising situation?”

“Ah,” Benedict clicked, “but I am not my brother’s sister and hardly any honor has been defiled—”

“I suppose one should be grateful I have no brothers,” (Y/N) smirked, “perhaps you would’ve found yourself on the other end of a gun barrel, no?”

“Are you… do you wish to have me duel for your honor?”

“I think the thought is nice,” she hummed softly, “but I would be rather forlorn if you were to lose.”

“I’m somewhat glad to hear it,” he smiled sweetly, rather amused at where their conversation had led, “but if he were to have caught us… the most he would and could ask of us is for us to be wed, to save the Bridgerton name of any scandal.”

“To be wed,” she parroted quietly, “I suppose the punishment fits the crime.”

Benedict pressed a hand to his chest. “Are you insinuating that marriage is a punishment?”

“No, of course not,” she shook her head lightly, “but to be wed to you, on the other hand… that would be just, well—”

“You should thank your stars that I’m indecent and cannot retaliate in the way I wish to,” Benedict snarled playfully, his fingers clawing the edge of the tub. 

“I only jest.”

“Though,” Benedict began thoughtfully, “we should finish up quickly—I’m sure your mother is quite worried about your disappearance.”

“Even if she were, she would assume I went to find you anyhow.”

“Would she?”

(Y/N) placed her hands back on Benedict’s head, the lather not fully gone from his locks. “She would—lean your head back,” he did as he was asked, her fingers moving back in small circles against his scalp. “The paint is almost gone, anyhow.”

“Shame.”

Later that evening, dinner was, for lack of a better word, uneventful in comparison to the early afternoon. (Y/N) had sat beside Lady Kent for the entirety of the three course meal—ending with a pleasant berry pie, much to the surprise of the earl’s daughter. She had tried to maintain any sort of decency with her interactions with Benedict, leaving their conversations and quips short and sweet, as if to throw Anthony off any possible scent he may have tried to track.

“I’m sorry to hear you had a headache this afternoon, (Y/N),” Lady Bridgerton said quietly, the small voice carrying to the other end of the dining room with ease—everyone much too preoccupied with their fresh pie, “I trust it has subsided?”

“O-oh,” she stumbled, gripping her fork just a bit tighter, “yes, thank you Lady Bridgerton, traveling can give me quite the ache, I do feel much better after a bit of respite and a nap—your beds here are very comfortable.”

“I wish you had told me where you went, dearest,” Lady Kent turned to look at her daughter, “I could have asked Lucinda to fetch some of my tonic from the carriage—”

“There was no need,” (Y/N) smiled politely, effectively stopping her mother from worrying, “I remembered where the guests quarters were and took it upon myself to nap.”

“I’m amazed you found your way around the place with ease, Lady (Y/N),” Anthony mused, his fork effortlessly cutting into another bite of the pie, “even I get turned around in these halls from time to time.”

“Oh, it was easy, really,” (Y/N) said airily, her fingers moving to brush a stray clump of hair out of her face, “I have a rather good memory.”

“(Y/N),” Lady Kent gasped, “what is that on your dress?”

As if on cue, the entirety of the dinner table—Bridgertons, Sharmas and effectively both (Y/N) and her mother’s eyes were glued onto her forearm, the one she had lifted to move her hair, the lilac satin seemingly stained with a bright red splotch no bigger than an acorn. She had to think of something quickly—not stumble on her wording or her composure.

“I don’t have the faintest idea,” it was all she could come up with, turning the fabric towards herself—almost trying to hide it. “Perhaps some of the berry filling from the pie?” 

“That was a new dress, too,” Lady Kent sighed helplessly, “I suppose we could have the modiste rework the sleeves…”

“The pie isn’t that bright, it’s more of a plum color,” Eloise noted, finally prying herself from the decadent dessert, “why, the stain, it almost looks like—”

“I’m sure the modiste will do fine work on the sleeves,” Benedict felt the need to chime in, effectively shutting Eloise’s train of thought down, “though, any dress you wear would look excellent—regardless of the sleeves.”

“Oh Benedict, what a charming thing to say,” Lady Kent nearly swooned. 

“Yes,” Anthony’s eyes narrowed, catching the worried gaze of both Benedict and (Y/N), the gears turning in his head were practically visible, “how charming, indeed.”

Shit.

__ TAGLIST

@nikkisilassheep, @cavghtbythewind, @chaotic-onigiri, @440mxs-wife , @mymyma , @perdynerd , @wotcherboo , @iwantmyredvelvetcupcake , @babyhoneystvles

[anzynai]

Hii! Could you do a lee!chongyun and ler!xingqiu fic/drabble? If you prefer elaborated prompts(sry if that came off as rude, I've just seen lots of fic writers ask for elaboration so they aren't left with a complete blank slate) maybe something pre-canon where Xingqiu hears Chongyun's laugh and realizes he's in love after noticing that the way he compliments it is just like characters from a romance novel? Tyy in advance(either way for opening up rqs in the first place) and have a nice day 💖

Golden Smiles and Silky Laughter

Xingqiu and Chongyun (Genshin Impact)

a/n: god if you think i did not absolutely go crazy while i was writing this, you’re wrong. i’m. man i love these two so much and they’re so canon and so ticklish LOL but no i enjoyed writing this sm you don’t even understand so thank you for requesting this and i hope you enjoy. also, i made this like super extremely romantic so uh. yeah.

summary: xingqiu can’t stop falling more and more in love with chongyun. that’s it. that’s the story.

warnings: tickles, kissing, possibly cheesy LOL

word count: 1.4k

——

“Is he gone?” Chongyun whispers, looking around the corner. Xingqiu quickly puts a finger to his lips. After a moment, Xingqiu looks around the corner as well. He takes his finger away and looks at Chongyun, finally noticing just how close he was to his friend. Too close! He had to resist the urge to look down at the other’s lips as he coughed. Luckily, it didn’t seem like Chongyun had noticed the other’s close proximity or his internal panic.

“Ahem— it seems he’s gone. I suppose we can come out of hiding now.” Xingqiu casually coughs into his hand. They had been hiding from Xu, who was trying to find the young master before he snuck away.

“It was close this time.” Chongyun comments as the two step away from the building they were hiding behind.

“Yes, but we weren’t caught. So let’s go now!” Xingqiu smiles, tugging Chongyun’s sleeve. The other, as always, smiles back as he follows along with the reader’s antics.

He only stops when he finds a pavilion the two would often spend time at. It was sort of a secret spot between them since the pavilion was a bit far so people stopped visiting it.

“Here we are.” Xingqiu sighed, contently. They walk over to the table. “Oh, wait until you hear what happened in this novel I read!” Xingqiu rambling about the stories he read to Chongyun was nothing uncommon. Chongyun sat down, nodding.

“What book is it this time?”

“Young and Hopelessly Smitten! It was sweet and wholesome yet inspiring and courageous, I would say.”

“That’s an interesting title. What is it about?” Chongyun asked, happy to indulge Xingqiu in his hobby.

“Well…” Xingqiu starts, beginning his rant and unconsciously loving how Chongyun was one of the only people who could see this side of him and feel accepted for it.

——

“What?! No way that happens!” Chongyun giggles like a schoolgirl at a certain comedic part in the novel. Xingqiu pauses for a moment, staring at Chongyun and he bathes in the sound of his laughter. It feels golden, yet soft like silk. Xingqiu loves it. Which is only natural because he loves everything about Chongyun.

He also doesn’t realize he said that out loud until he catches the look on his friend’s face. A rosy red blush adorned on Chongyun’s face causes one to form on his own. He covers his face with his hand, realizing what exactly he said and how it eerily sounds like one of the lines that the love interest said in the same exact novel he was talking about with Chongyun. He cursed himself. How could he say such cheesy things!

“Xingqiu.” Chongyun’s voice came out breathy and shaky, as he brings his hand to grab Xingqiu’s own to take a look at his face. “Are you.. blushing?”

Xingqiu has experienced very many difficult situations. Times where he had to improvise and adapt to the new turn of events. And he was good at it. Yet, why is it now could he not find even one word to say?

“I- yes- I mean no! Uh- Don’t ask!” He sputtered, embarrassingly. He shoved his hands to Chongyun’s mouth before he could comment on the fact that yes, Xingqiu was very much blushing. Instead, Chongyun merely grabbed his wrists. Quite easily, in fact.

“I can’t believe it.. You, Xingqiu, are blushing?!” Chongyun gasped. It wasn’t even as if he was trying to tease him. He was just that surprised that the normally calm young master was redder than a Jueyun Chili.

“You don’t have to look so smug!” Xingqiu grumbled, pouncing on Chongyun to shut him up in the only way he knew how. Tickling.

“W-wahahait! Quihihit ihihit!” Chongyun burst into immediate giggles, finding himself weakened by the sensitive touches. Xingqiu kneaded at Chongyun’s sides, cooing at him as he heard the laughter he adored so much.

“Aren’t you cruel to me, Chongyun?” Xingqiu tutted, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

“Nohohoho- w-why?!” The light haired male cried, kicking his legs out. They barely missed Xingqiu so the reader took the opportunity to straddle Chongyun on the seat.

Xingqiu chuckled, relishing in every one of the exorcist’s giggles, chuckles, and laughter. He pinched at the belly fat Chongyun had as he bucked his hips. A new wave of laughter escaping his lips, before Xingqiu changed places.

“Xihihihingqiu! Plehehehease!” He pleaded, his hands moving to grab at the boy in question. Xingqiu’s hands didn’t falter as he scribbled at Chongyun’s sensitive tummy.

“My, my~ I feel as though you get more ticklish every time!” Xingqiu teased, watching the pinkness on the other’s face transition into a deep red. That was another thing he loved about Chongyun. How easily he could fluster the boy, make him blush.

“Y-youhuhuhu! Xingqi-UHUHIHUHU WHAHAHAT?!” Chongyun’s giggles rose an octave, reaching full belly laughter when Xingqiu went for the spot that he knew was certain to always drive the exorcist absolutely crazy. It was a discovery he made not too long ago, but was grateful to even know about it at all.

Chongyun’s. Hips. Were. Deathly. Ticklish. And Xingqiu was the only one who knew and he was not afraid to exploit the other’s sensitivity.

“NOHOHOHO MOHOHOHORE!!” Chongyun shrieked and squealed or did whatever you could describe the noises coming from his mouth as. Tears pricked his eyes as his laughter slowly became quieter and quieter until they were completely silent.

Taking this as a sign, Xingqiu stopped. He didn’t want to overwhelm Chongyun who was quickly catching his breath.

“Xingqiu.. why..?” The exorcist panted out, splaying his arms out as he closed his eyes.

“How could I not when your laugh is so adorable?” Xingqiu teased, poking Chongyun in the side one last time. Chongyun yelped and swatted his hand away as the reader only giggled in response.

“Mean…” Chongyun pouted, pursing his lips. Xingqiu couldn’t help but wonder how soft the exorcist’s lips would be if he were to.. Wait! No. He was definitely not about to fantasize about kissing his best friend. Not at all. “Xingqiu?”

A pause before he turned to look at Chongyun. “What is it, dear Chongyun?” Xingqiu purred, casually.

“Um, did you.. mean everything you said earlier?” He mumbled, hesitantly, scratching the back of his head.

“What ever do you mean~?” Xingqiu replied, knowing exactly what Chongyun was referring to. Chongyun stilled, thinking, hoping he could have gotten a more straight forward response.

“I- I mean, um.. nevermind.” He slumped down, defeated. Xingqiu, immediately feeling bad, sighed.

“I meant every word of it.” Xingqiu admitted, quietly. He looked at Chongyun, who seemed to be urging him to go on as Xingqiu gained some newfound courage. He exhaled, slowly, feeling his heart thrumming wildly in his chest. “I’m in love with you.”

And there it was. Something that had always been buried so deep in his heart let out in the open just like that. Xingqiu waited as the silence grew longer, awaiting what Chongyun’s response would be. But it didn’t come.

Xingqiu closed his eyes, willing the tears that threatened to fall from them to go away. He shouldn’t have done this. Now Chongyun was disgusted with him and he’s going to leave him forever and it’s going to be all his fault because he couldn’t keep his stupid feelings to himself and-

“Xingqiu..?” Chongyun’s voice muttered, slowly and for a moment, it was all he could hear as the other’s voice echoed in his mind. He slowly lifted his head up, turning to the exorcist but not quite looking him in the eyes. “I’m not good with.. words or, um.. feelings for that matter but I- I..” Chongyun’s face was beet red but Xingqiu wasn’t sure he was one to talk. “I feel the same..?”

Xingqiu’s eyes widened. He was relieved, happy. The one he had longed for for years loved him back! “Y-you silly.. why did you wait so long to reply!” Xingqiu laughed, before Chongyun chuckled.

“Well, dear Chongyun.. since it seems like our feelings are mutual, would it be okay if I kissed you?” Xingqiu asked, feeling confident once again. Chongyun only nodded, meekly. The reader cupped the exorcist’s face before meeting his lips with his own. Before he knew it, they were kissing.

It was better than anything than Xingqiu had ever imagined. Confessing to Chongyun, let alone kissing him felt like a pipedream by itself and Xingqiu could not be any happier. When they pulled away, Chongyun laughed. And again, Xingqiu was reminded of just how much he loved Chongyun’s laugh as he pulled him in again.

[donutloverxo]

Soooo there are many fics where reader makes steve jealous and it ends in rogh possesive fcking.. but what if steve tries to make reader jealous and it totally backfires and she becomes extremely insecure?? But please with a fluffy ending because my poor heart can’t handle anything less 🥺🥺

Hey. Thanks for the request and I hope this fits. *gif is not mine* Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Please note that my stories are not to be stolen or reposted on any other site. Reblogs and welcome and much appreciated. This blog and this story is 18+. Do not read, follow or interact if you are not 18+. Please🙏🙏

"Um... yes?" You asked as you brought down the hand which was holding out a twenty dollar bill - since you thought it was the pizza you've been waiting for, for like the past half an hour, and not a blond, six feet and some inches,tall super soldier.

"Hi... doll," he smiled.

"My name's Y/N," you corrected him as you frowned, so fed up of men undermining you by calling you such 'sweet' nicknames. You knew Captain Rogers wasn't like that, but still you couldn't have him getting any ideas.

"Right," he cleared his throat as he repeated your name. "Sorry," he said with a toothy grin, which almost made your heart melt.

"How did you get my address, Captain?"

"Tony gave it to me. I would've asked you at work... but I wanted to do this the right way."

"Do what?" you quirked a brow.

"Um, I maybe people aren't as formal nowadays," he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "But I can't really change who I am... not so late in life anyway," he cringed as he realised he was pretty rambling then, taking a deep breath he gathered enough courage, "I wanted to ask you to come with me, as my date, to the valentines party this Sunday."

You hummed at that, considering it because damn if Rogers wasn't convincing. Even when he wasn't as authoritative and dominating as he is when he puts on the suit.

It would be nice to be courted and treated nicely, and to not have to put up with the shit most men try to pull with you, you were sure Rogers would show you the time of your life. Besides, only an idiot would say no to him.

"No." You said with a finality that left no room for debate. "Is that all?"

"Uh... I... yes..." he stammered, not exactly prepared to be turned down so bluntly. "Can I ask why?"

"I don't shit where I eat."

"What?" his eyebrows cutely scrunching up.

You just knew you must've touched a nerve with your crass language. Tony, your boss, had told you about Cap and his 'language' incident.

"I don't date people at work... it can get complicated," you explained as he nodded.

It wasn't a complete lie. You didn't want to be known as the 'easy' girl or have others gossip about you. But that would be a sacrifice you'd willing make for someone like Steve. Who'd dare make fun of the Captains girl anyway?

You had been smitten with him from the moment you saw him, learning about his bravery and sacrifice as a kid you looked upto him and respected him, but when you met him in real life... you were a complete goner. Your stomach did somersaults every time he touched you, or hell even looked your way.

You tried your best to flirt, which was basically you stuttering and trying to make small talk whenever you had a chance to talk to him. Since he was born almost a century ago he would probably be offended if you were the one to make the first move.

You continued your back and forth for weeks before he told you about her. That he'll be visiting her over the weekend. You simply nodded, having a vague idea of who Peggy Carter was but not of what she went to Steve.

After some research you found out that she was an old flame of his, someone he couldn't marry and build a life with because he was frozen for decades. Upon seeing her many qualifications, and just how freaking brilliant she was, you knew one thing.

You may not be as smart as her, but you knew that you could never measure upto a woman that incredible. Someone Steve still visits after all these years. You were already afraid that he was out of your league but now you were sure of it.

"Did I do something wrong?" he wanted to know.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," he shoved his hands in his pockets, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout, "It's just that you used to talk to me all the time... and now it seems as if you're ignoring me. Is it because of something I did? Whatever it is I never meant to hurt you," he swore.

You sighed. "It's nothing you did, really. I just realized how incompatible we are. I hope you find the one you're looking for, someone who'll make you happy and give you the world. It just won't be me."

You didn't let him say anything closing your door instantly as you kept your tears at bay.

At the valentines party

"Cap," Tony said, slapping a hand on Steve's shoulder, "I thought you'd have her on your arm tonight. What happened?"

Referring to his assistant. He wanted to play cupid this once, since it was the season of love, he wanted to see his idiot friends happy. He was sure you both would be disgustingly smooching and all cute at the party. But not only had you both shown up separately, you seemed to be actively ignoring Steve.

"She uh... rejected me," he said, looking down into his glass of whiskey. It didn't do much for him but it helped him blend in.

"Ouch," Tony winced, "I was sure she would go for you. But I guess I have been wrong before," he shrugged.

"Really?"

"Yeah. She goes all heart eyes whenever you're around. But I guess that's nothing unique since that's just how most women act around you," he scoffed. "You should read all the love letters you got today. I was going through them, you have quite a passionate fanbase of people who want to... what was it..." he pretended to think hard about it. "Yes, 'ride your bicep', I don't understand the physics of how on earth that would work, but I am intrigued."

"Tony," Steve rolled his eyes as he always does when he's around the billionaire. "I don't really care about all of them... they don't know me. I only care about her and I don't know why she said no, but there's nothing I can do about it."

"Whoa, you're accepting defeat so soon? Where's that I-can-do-this-all-day attitude?"

"This isn't a war, Tony. If she doesn't see me that way... then there isn't much I could do."

"Maybe she's just playing hard to get. There's absolutely no way to really know what goes on in womens heads, Rogers. They're so smart and sneaky... it's kinda scary actually."

"I don't think she'd play games..."

Tony had gotten distracted pretty quickly and left Steve alone to pout and only appreciate your beauty from afar. You had worn a pink dress with red hearts on it, and for some reason, you got more beautiful every time he looked at you.

"Hello."

He jerked when he heard the foreign voice, looking at the blonde woman next to him, with her hand out, he shook it just to be polite.

"I'm Crystal," she smiled, flashing her sparkly white teeth.

"I'm Steve."

"Of course I know who you are!" she laughed, "You're Captain America, everyone knows you," she playfully hot his bicep before squeezing it, "Oh my... you must work out a lot."

"Uh... yeah..." he nodded. He could never get used to how people perceived him so differently.

"There is something I need to know really bad," Crystal blinked as she looked up at him, "Do you wear underwear in those suits? They seem really tight, wouldn't it be uncomfortable?"

"Oh, um... we just sort of..."

You had never looked at yourself as a jealous person. Maybe things were different when it came to Steve... he was a pretty special guy.

When you looked at him, talking to some girl, dancing with her, laughing and having fun with her, it was as if you were on fire from simmering rage, at the same time you could feel your heart breaking in a million pieces.

You knew it was wrong. You had no claim to him, he can do whatever he wants. If you said no to him then it makes perfect sense that he seeked out someone else.

You just had to get away for some fresh air, so you wouldn't abandon all class and pull the girls hair and drag her away from your Steve.

You yelped when you heard him call out your name.

Looking over your shoulder you saw him staring at you, his brows scrunched up, he looked so worried. But why?

"What're you doing here? You'll catch a cold, doll," he takes off his blazer, putting it over your shoulders and then groaning when he realised his slip up.

"Right, sorry, old habits die hard. I won't call you that again, I promise," he said, crossing his finger over his heart.

"No... I think it's kinda sweet. No ones ever had such an endearing petname for me. I do like it."

"Oh," he frowned, "it's just that you said you didn't."

Tony, of all the people in the whole universe, was right. There was no understanding women.

"I guess I lied..."

"Why?"

"Um..." You were at a loss of words and nervous. Steve wouldn't tolerate lies, and you didn't want him to hate you. "It was easier to do that then tell you the truth."

"What's the truth?"

"I do like you... a lot. But I don't want to live in someone else's shadow. And I just think the whole thing would end in a disaster..."

"What're you talking about, Y/N?"

"Peggy. Your first and only love. I can't measure upto her, not in my wildest dreams, there's no use trying."

"Why would you have to measure upto Peggy?"

You opened your mouth to answer, but couldn't really come up with an answer. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I did have feelings for her, but that was a long time ago. I'm happy she lived her life, it just wasn't meant to be."

"So, you're not still in love with her?"

"No," he shook his head, "I wouldn't have asked you out if I was."

"Well, what about Crystal? You were practically glued to her the entire evening!" you huffed as you stomped your foot. Mad at your own stupidity. You could've simply told him the truth and asked for a straight answer. "I have to warn you, she had was pretty crazy in the last season."

"Last season?"

"Mm-hm, the last season of her reality show, I've seen all eight seasons. Maybe they just amp up the drama, maybe she isn't actually crazy, I wouldn't know," you shrugged.

"Doll," he smirked, circling a hand around your waist and pulling you into him, "are you jealous?"

"I am not!" you gasped, looking away from his eyes as you felt your cheeks heat up.

"I don't want anyone but you. Why would I? You're goddamn perfect. And... I want you to be my girl."

"I guess I don't really have a reason to say no now..." you murmured, your face still flustered as you played with the buttons on his shirt before he tilted your chin up to make you look at him, placing his lips over yours in the most tender of kisses.

"Got the job done, Tones... I'm pretty sure I saw him go after her, I have to say though, you look at Captain America, and you really don't expect him to be that awkward..." Crystal said as she sipped on her gin and tonic. "You owe me."

Tony only hummed, not too happy about being indebted to someone, but you both needed a necessary push in the right direction.

[callsignspark]

February 25th is now National Tease Bradley Day, everyone please mark your calendars. it was so fun to write from his pov now that we know exactly how they feel about each other, full on yearning and lusting!! Mary seeing Bradley's baby pictures before she even met him - siri, play invisible string by Taylor Swift. ohhhh when they finally say those three little words it's going to be soooo good!!!

slut (affectionate) but like the fact that he’s so enchanted by her that he’s literally SWEATING is so funny to me?? like he’s GONE and they haven’t even kissed each other yet!?! also like yes he does like smart girls because he gets to be a little afraid of them, a little in awe of them - he's actually such a whore (affectionate). man had one (1) horny thought after seeing her skirt and he was toast. he loves how smart Mary is, he has no idea what's she's talking about sometimes but he could listen to her talk all day.

AHHHHH I just know she looks so cute and polished in her outfit!! the heels are definitely killing him - wait i have the prettiest mary coded dress to send you later! but like her in her element and in those clothes? i get why he’s being the cutest nerd and sweating - she is SO cute and polished and professional in her little pantsuit that's not exactly a pantsuit!! Bradley "am I into this because of the those or because it's Mary?" Bradshaw is all heart eyes over her!

eeeeeeeep they were gonna kiss there!!! damn old mr hadcock!! dude learn how to walk! you’re ruining their first kiss over a year in the making! - poor Fred, he's downstairs breaking his hip, not knowing what kind of chaos he's causing for other people

in another life man that would’ve been me (northrup grumman tho 🤮) - LMAO in another life Bradley would have definitely gone for her (it actually pains me to have to read the wikipedia page for the super hornet lmao)

GAGGED HIM PLS it’s embarrass bradley day - HER LITTLE SMIRK AS SHE SAYS IT???? she has no idea but that was the moment Slider decided he would do anything to help them get/stay together.

oh sweet boy! also now they’ve gotta recreate it with their kids, get a full circle moment - INVISIBLE STRING!!! INVISIBLE STRING!!! the teddy bear is still kicking around somewhere, I'm sure it comes out of storage when the twins are born. or maybe Uncle Slider buys a replica teddy bear for each of the kids, with their names embroidered on the foot.

he loves her he loves her he loves her. he hasn’t kissed her but he loooooooooves her ☺️ he’s so adorable this chapter, i can’t get over it. also slider’s “shovel talk” was really good, tbh they BOTH could get a shovel talk from him if you think about it. it wasn’t demeaning to mary or bradley and was just wanting the best for both of them? plus bradley loooooooooves her - he looovves her!!! Slider has a "shovel talk" with Mary later on, after they get together and it's similar to the one Bradley gets - take care of each other, talk about things, etc. he's honestly their biggest cheerleader

i can picture her face lighting up - absolutely! her Bradley just came into her office, so sweetly bringing her food on a busy day and interrupting the idiot on the phone, she's smitten with him!

this is hot - Bradley agrees, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing fueled by her jealousy but it ended up working out so well!

THEY KISSED THEY REALLY KISSED EEEEEP LOOK AT THEM!?!!!! wait wait this is similar to the first time they almost kissed? her on his lap, her surging forward? warm and solid ☺️ no rush no urgency comfortable and loving ☺️ and a lil slutty since they’re at work - it does!!! they mirror each other and themselves all the time (which I only mean to do like a third of them time lol) and it's a bit scandalous of them isn't it?? it's the sluttiest they ever get at work but it's still pretty hot!

SCREAMING!? GO MARE!!! - SHE'S HOT Y'ALL. also garter belt for reference.

it would not! smart aleck sends hers to bradley in his christmas stocking package - I thought of them when I wrote that line!! he doesn't have a bottle this time, but he definitely gets one in the future!!

oh honey no! he wouldn’t! but i can see that she’d be a little nervous about that so i’m glad she said something, she’ll feel better - they're growing! they're sharing! it's so sweet, and it'll make the time apart easier now that she's got his reassurance that he doesn't want anyone else but her

this is such a soft thought and i love all the layers you give it? especially the part about sarah sending him packages but forgetting and then getting the charity ones? oh sweet boy she is gonna sore on you forever and you’re gonna be the one everyone is jealous of on that carrier. he deserves it and it’s such a mary thing - sending care packages - that’s it’s so perfect for them? i also don’t think it’s something mentioned enough in fics? like not to bring her up againnn but smart aleck sends them to bradley and like…it’s just such a sweet gesture? i know he’s gonna be BLUSHING when he gets it - it was one of those things where Bradley wasn't talking to them but they still wanted to be talking to him. and you can't really return a package if you receive it in the middle of the ocean, so for the first 3-4 years he always gets something from the Kazanskys and Pete. then Ice gets sick and it stops. he'd never say anything but he was sad that he never got another one, it was like getting a little bit of a home he no longer had. but now he has Mary, and he (and the Daggers) will be the envy of an entire aircraft carrier, at least until he transitions to a shore based position.

EEEEEEP GOD IM GONNA LOSE IT WHEN HE SAYS IT TO HER - I AN'T WAIT FOR EVERYONE TO READ WHEN THEY SAY I LOVE YOU!!! (it's coming sooner than you might expect!)

i can’t believe her managed to hear her!?!! like AHHHHHHH i’m losing it!! she didn’t say it say it, but like he Knows she was gonna!? oh god i’m so excited to see how that pans out over the next couple chapters - the last few chapters are gonna be !!!!!! AHHHH

Mar[r]y Me - part eight

pairing: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x Mariella “M&M” Vertucci (fem!OC)

summary: A love story told through friendship, laughter, and food.

series warnings: 18+ minors DNI, discussion of insecurities, difficult family relationships, discussions of food and alcohol use, discussions of body image, conversations on what it’s like to be a fat woman trying to date in today’s society, extreme fluff, warnings to be added as needed

word count: 5.1k

previous part | series masterlist | main masterlist

note: happy Friday! I’m super excited for this chapter! I know I say this every time but this is my favorite chapter so far and I can’t wait to hear what you all think!! have a great weekend!

part eight - peanut butter bites

It’s February 25th, and Bradley has sweat dripping down his back. He’s painfully aware that he’s the only one; the cold air blasting from the vents has everyone else reaching for sweaters, but he feels like he’s on fire. So hot he’s afraid he might melt through the old, cracked vinyl flooring of the VTC room. His neck is the worst of it; the skin is scorching from thirteen sets of eyes burning into him. Steadfastly ignoring all of them, he tries to focus all of his attention on the presentation happening up front.

“And as you can see here, since the implementation of the pilot program, the FA-18 return to service cadence has improved by ten days. The proposed plan to expand this training pipeline to Pensacola has been approved, and Dave will be working with Admiral Kerner and his team to spin this up over the next two quarters. The schedule that’s been laid out in Artemis, has the ECD for initial implementation on September 24th, one week before the start of FY22. Next slide, please.”

Bradley barely understands what Mary is talking about, but his fidgeting gets so bad as she gives an overview of the new program going into Florida that Jake nudges his side, looking genuinely concerned.

Bradley has always liked smart girls. Tessa Richardson, his first kiss, was valedictorian and went to Harvard on a pre-law track. The last he heard, she was moving up the ranks as a judge. But it’s a whole new level of attraction, watching Mary talk so competently and confidently about the inner workings of the multi-million-dollar planes he flies every day.

How is she so sexy talking about something so boring?

It’s a thought he’s had multiple times since program review began on Monday. He almost had to excuse himself yesterday when she had an entire page’s worth of suggestions for hardware and software improvements. Today has been exponentially worse, because Mary has deviated from her typical attire of simple but professional clothes. Today, she’s paired a black pencil skirt with three-inch stilettos. The heels accentuate the curves of her legs while the skirt hugs her hips in the most delicious way. And he was actually doing pretty well until thirty minutes into the PowerPoint when she slipped her blazer off to reveal a white button-up shirt that’s been perfectly tailored to show off her waist. Since then, he’s spent most of the time staring at her and then scolding himself for staring.

It’s like she’s trying to kill me.

He quietly takes a deep breath, hoping a sip of water will help him settle down. There are no hops scheduled for today, so the Dagger Squad is wearing their khaki uniforms, the least forgiving material, and the last thing he needs is to get hard while listening to his girl spout corporate buzzwords to satisfy the brass from Washington.

Unfortunately, Mary says the words “stick handling” while making direct eye contact with him and he chokes, spluttering and dripping water down his shirt as he coughs. Half the heads in the room swing in his direction, and he genuienly might burst into flames when he makes eye contact with his uncles; one looking concerned, the other highly amused.

Bradley knows he’s pathetic, getting all riled up over watching a woman excel at her job, and the boring part at that, but he really can’t help it. They haven’t had any alone time since Sunday, the week filled with back-to-back meetings, professional development, and deployment preparation for both of them.

“Of course. Happy Birthday, dolcezza.”

Bradley can feel her breath against his lips, her hand gripping his curls as their cupid bows brush.

“Bradley?” Someone is pounding on his door, the muffled yelling startling them apart. “Are you home? Fred fell! I can’t get him up! Bradley?!”

“Fuck!” He mournfully pulls away, racing to the front door. He carefully swings the door open, conscious of Mary being right behind him, her plate clattering on the table seconds after he stood up. “Mrs. Hadcock? What’s wrong?”

“Fred! He fell, and I can’t get him up! I think he broke his hip!” Bradley freezes when the older woman at his front door bursts into tears; he’s not equipped to deal with this, and he’s worried she might hyperventilate as she gasps around her words.

“Mrs. Hadcock, we need you to take a deep breath. Okay?” Mary quickly takes control as she slips her shoes on and tries to focus the panicking woman, nudging Bradley to do the same. “Is he bleeding? Did you call 911?”

“He’s not bleeding, but he’s in a lot of pain. I couldn’t call; I don’t know where my phone is.”

“Okay, let’s go to your apartment, and we’ll call once we’re there. C’mon.”

She wraps her arm around Mrs. Hadcock’s shoulders and leads her toward the stairs, asking more questions in a calm voice. Bradley grabs his phone, wallet, and Mary’s purse before locking the door behind him, anticipating this becoming a multi-hour thing.

It did become a thing, the doctors confirming the broken hip a few hours later, and it was almost 2 AM by the time he was driving the two women back to the complex. He walked Mary to her car, leaving with only a promise to let him know when she got home, before escorting Mrs. Hadcock back to her apartment.

Bradley was glad that his neighbor’s partner would be okay after surgery and a few months of physical rehab, but the interruption meant that he still hadn’t kissed Mary. He didn’t know what she tasted like. What sounds she would make. How long her perfume would linger on his skin. He's more on edge now than any mission he’s flown.

All week, he’s been itching for an opportunity to get her alone so he could finally press his lips to hers, as long as that’s what she still wants. He’s pretty sure she does. He’s caught her staring at his mouth several times, her chocolate eyes shyly meeting his when she realizes she’s been made.

He’s never been so grateful to hear Cyclone’s grumpy voice replace Mary’s sweet tone, the admiral thanking everyone and reminding the North Island team of the final prep meeting before ending the program review. As the crowd disburses, Bradley makes his way toward the front, heading directly for Mary to ask her to eat lunch with him.

In her office.

Alone.

With the door locked.

Halfway there, his path is abruptly blocked by Melissa Ludden, one of the visiting Boeing representatives. A new program manager, she’s visiting Coronado for the first time to get an understanding of what’s needed for the next generation of fighters, and she’s had target lock on Bradley since the kickoff meeting. Ten years ago, he would have reciprocated - hell, he probably would have had her in his bed after the first happy hour mixer - but now he couldn’t be less interested if he tried. He can admit that she’s very pretty and she seems smart, but the perky twenty-four-year-old can’t hold a match to his Mary.

“Lieutenant Bradshaw!” She also can’t get his rank correct, which irks Bradley, and tallies yet another point against her. “Boeing is hosting some of the attendees to lunch at Clark Square Grill; we would love for you to join us!”

“Thank you for the invitation, ma’am, but I can’t. I have deployment prep meetings this afternoon, so I’m needed on base.” He politely turns her down, secretly reveling in the little bit of twisted pleasure sparked by how her face drops.

Thankfully, he’s saved from her trying to plead her case and convince him by Slider calling him over, an order he swiftly – and happily – follows.

“Dave, this is Lieutenant Commander Bradley Bradshaw. Rooster, this is Dave Rhoads, the West Coast service director from Lemoore.” The name is familiar, sparking something in his brain as his uncle introduces him to an older gentleman.

“Nice to meet you, sir.”

“Oh, please, call me Dave!” The thin but jolly man insists with a firm handshake. “I was just telling these three how much I appreciated your feedback on the training pipeline.”

That’s how I know that name. “I’m glad it helped; we weren’t sure if anything we were sending up to you would be useful.”

“No, it was great! Getting perspective from pilots really helped us grease the wheels in some places where we were stuck. You should be very proud of your squad, Mav.”

“I’m glad their complaining finally was do something besides give me a headache.” Mav jokes before pulling Dave into a different conversation, leaving Bradley with Slider and Mary.

“Mary, you probably already know him, but if you don’t, this is Bradley.”

“Yes, Ron. I know Lieutenant Commander Bradshaw quite well.”

Bradley feels himself go hot, heat racing up his neck at hearing his full rank come from her mouth. He ignores his uncle, refusing to look at him, already knowing a shit-eating grin is spreading across his dumb face.

“Oh, really, M&M?” He could punch his uncle for the way he laughs through his question. “Exactly how well do you know my nephew?”

“Your nephew?”

“How do you know each other?!” He can’t help how he blurts it out; his confusion overclouding the manners his mother drilled into him.

“Slider was my mentor when I worked in Pensacola. We spent many hours together working on the flight school repair schedule and trying to get me to fully understand the ranks. He’s the one that gave me the flight school sweatshirt with my call sign on it - I think you’ve seen me wear that, right?” Mary’s eyes twinkle, letting him know she’s laughing at how his jaw drops.

“I’m the one that convinced her to go up on a flight!”

“Tricked!” Mary jokingly snaps, smacking his arm with her notebook, comfortable joking around now that the room has cleared.

“Tomato, potato.” His uncle turns to him, his grin even bigger. “She always loved that photo I have of you on my bookshelf. The one where you’re laying on the changing table clutching your little teddy bear.”

“That’s you?! That’s such a cute photo!”

“How do you have that photo? I thought I destroyed all copies of that!” Bradley groans, not sure if he’s more embarrassed that it’s been on his uncle’s desk for years or that Mary has seen what is arguably his worst baby photo. The one where he’s red in the face from crying and screaming, clutching a teddy bear with an atrociously full diaper.

“Nope! And you’ll never get rid of it now because I’ve made a digital copy and distributed it to everyone!”

“Oh my god…” Bradley looks at the ceiling, cursing who is listening for making his parents' generation technologically savvy.

“A group of us are going over to Victory Café for lunch; you guys want to join? My treat.”

“I can’t; I have a meeting in a few minutes and then more this afternoon. But you can buy me a drink at the Hard Deck tonight.”

“Yeah, fine, M&M. One vodka cran on me.” Slider laughs as Mary starts to walk away.

“Oh!” She turns back. “When you have some time this afternoon, could you stop by my office, Bradley?”

“Uh- sure! I can stop by after your meeting and before the briefing?”

“That works, see you then.” Mary gives a quick wave, and the two men watch her walk away, grabbing her phone from the lockers outside the VTC room.

“I’m not going to give you a shovel talk because I can tell how much you care about her. Though, had I known that she was the one you were acting like such an idiot about a few weeks ago, I would have flown out here early just to kick your ass. But I will tell you how much I love that girl; she’s like another kid to me, just like you are. So be careful, communicate, and do your best not to hurt each other.”

“I won’t; I’m just lucky she forgave me because I love her. I mean- I- uh-” Bradley stutters, shocked that those words just came flowing out of his mouth without permission.

“God, you’re just like Goose.” Ron smiles at his nephew and pulls him into a hug, a bittersweet feeling washing over him, realizing how much the boy acts like his father, despite barely remembering him. “They would both be so proud of you.”

Bradley gets a little choked up, feeling like a little kid again when his uncle runs a gentle hand over his head, stroking his hair just like he used to when he was small. “Thanks, Uncle Ron.”

“So…” He can’t hold it back; he has to embarrass him just a little bit more. For his own enjoyment. “Why do ya think she wants you to stop by her office?”

“Please stop.”

“Ohhh! Look at how red you are, baby goose! Are you hoping it’s something dirty?”

“I’m walking away.”

“Your call sign should have been tomato!” Laughter follows Bradley out the door and down the hall to the canteen, where he grabs two sandwich and chips combos.

“You okay, Bradley?” Halo quietly asks when he silently joins the squad, used to the boisterous nature of her teammate.

“I’m good. Thanks, Callie. Just thinking about the rest of the shit I gotta do before Saturday.”

He chuckles as she groans and launches into a rant about everything she’s procrastinated. Bradley listens intently as she vents, giving suggestions when he can, with Bob adding an occasional comment from across the table.

“And thankfully Aliyah’s friend was willing to watch Rupert and water my plants while I’m gon, since she backed out on me!” Callie exclaims. “Like, I’m happy she’s finally getting to go on this trip, but now I'm gonna owe Kelly like six hundred favors when I get back.”

“I’m glad you found someone in time and didn’t have to put him in a kennel until Aliyah gets back from Europe!” Bob says, knowing how much she hates putting her dog in the kennel for long stretches.

Bradley is just about to ask more about the woman who’s going to be watching Callie’s chocolate lab when the mechanics who work for Mary get in line for food.

“I’ll see you guys at the briefing; I’m gonna go take care of a few things.” He dumps his trash, ignoring the table full of protests as he turns toward Mary’s office.

It doesn’t take him long to reach the fifth floor of the admin wing. As the newest addition to the team, Mary had been relegated to an office on the mostly empty top floor. The lack of neighbors was a bonus when bored pilots visited, but the end-of-the-hall corner office was as far away from her shop as she could get.

He slows down as he gets closer, not wanting to interrupt whoever she’s talking to with her “I’m calm, but just barely” voice. It’s one she usually reserves for condescending admirals before tossing them to Cyclone so he can tear them apart on her behalf. Pausing in the doorway, he finds her staring at the ceiling, dissociating as the person on the other end yells loud enough that Bradley can hear it. He lightly coughs to grab her attention, smiling when she perks up and mashes the mute button.

“Beau wasn’t in his office, so I’m getting to listen to Cain’s bitching about my presentation on the manned flight stats as if I get to choose the content of the slides.” She looks down at the phone. “We’re going on thirteen minutes.”

“I brought you a turkey sandwich and kettle chips, if that helps?”

“Oh, Bradley, you’re so sweet! What would I do without you?”

“You’d probably be a lot hungrier in the afternoons. You want this now or in the fridge?”

“Fridge, please.” Mary hums before returning to her call. “Yes, sir. I hear you, but like I said earlier-”

As he’s storing the food in her mini fridge, her nails start to tap against the desk, frustration levels high after being cut off again. Bradley grimaces at her in sympathy. Everyone at NAS North Island is aware of Chester Cain’s personal vendetta against Maverick and how it’s begun to leak to anyone on base involved with manned flights.

He settles into one of her chairs, stealing a mint from the bowl on her desk and looking out the window. He loves Mary’s office, even though it technically sucks. She’s alone at this end of the hall, it’s a trek down to the repair shop, the elevator seems like it’s out of order more than it works, and in the hot summer months the air conditioning struggles to cool the westward-facing room. But he feels like the good parts make up for the bad. Like the privacy it provides and how huge the space is; big enough for her desk, two chairs, a conference table, all of her file cabinets, and a loveseat that has seen more than a few naps from the Dagger Squad. Bradley’s favorite part is the large windows that give a perfect view of the airfield, from the tower all the way to the end of the runway and the ocean.

He’s watching waves form and crash on the breakers when Mary moves around her desk, the phone cord stretching as she closes and locks the door, her stockinged feet silent on the tile. She surprises him when she continues her loop, perching on his leg with Admiral Cain still chattering in her ear. For a moment, he’s frozen, completely taken off guard by this development and the nervous look on her face, but it doesn’t take him long to get on board.

Bradley sits up straighter, wrapping one arm around her waist to pull her onto his lap while the other grips her thigh to tug her legs over his other thigh. Mary’s free hand wraps around his shoulder, immediately playing with the short hair at the back of his neck, sending goosebumps across his skin.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, sir. I have to go; I have someone in my office I need to speak with about final deployment preparations. But I will make sure Admiral Simpson is aware of your feelings.” Bradley listens as he natters on for another minute, unsure how Mary keeps her cool.

“Yes, Admiral, I understand. Goodbye.” She slams the phone down. “You stupid fucking dickhead.”

“Wow, tell me how you really feel, honey.” His hand slips under the hem of her skirt when she leans back into his chest, her hands slipping around his shoulders as she crosses one leg over the other.

“That was me being nice. He’s lucky I actually care about keeping this job.”

Bradley doesn’t get a chance to respond because Mary is pressing their lips together. He instantly responds, tilting his head to meet her and sliding his hand up to cup her neck. She’s so warm and solid on his lap; he loves the weight of her pressing against him.

Time feels syrupy, slow and sweet, matching their pace. It’s taken them ages to get here, their first kiss, but there’s no rush, no urgency. It’s comfortable - loving - like they’ve been doing this for years. He’s in awe of how perfectly they fit together, their bodies instinctively reacting to each other. It starts to heat up when their tongues meet, the two of them pressing closer, closer, closer to taste each other.

Minty. She must've had a mint before I showed up, he thinks as his left hand slips further under her skirt. Bradley feels his brain break when he meets lace halfway up her thigh.

“Are you wearing thigh highs?” He asks, voice edging on desperate.

Mary nods, panting and looking gorgeous with her flushed cheeks. “I hate pantyhose, and it’s so much easier to just wear the garter belt.”

“Garter be-” He groans loudly, thankful no contractors are occupying the neighboring offices. “Fuck, Mary. Jesus Christ, you’re so goddamn sexy.”

Bradley presses a bruising kiss to her lips before making his easy down her neck, leaving teasing kisses up and down the sensitive skin. He undoes her top two buttons and tugs the collar aside to nip at her collarbone, perfume invading his senses.

Would it be weird to get a travel bottle of her perfume?

He knows he’s not thinking entirely straight, but he doesn’t think it would. He could spritz his pillow and fall asleep every night to the same sweet citrus and floral notes he’s smelling now. It’s that thought that has his hand wandering to her buttons again, his goal to get her shirt off and then maybe spread her out on her desk or bend her over the table or get her in his lap on the couch…

“Bradley, wait, we- shit!” Mary pulls him back to her face, chest heaving. “We still have meetings.”

“Shit. Right.” He abandons the buttons, instead choosing to play with the hem of her skirt while he closes his eyes and tries to calm down. Mary rests her head on his shoulder as she catches her breath. They sit there for a few minutes, enjoying each other’s company, just reveling in the way their bodies move in unison as their breathing starts to sync up.

“So, uh… not that I’m complaining, but where did that come from?”

“Don’t kiss anyone while you’re gone.”

“I wasn’t planning on it, honey.” Bradley nudges her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Why would I when I’ve got you waiting for me at home?”

“I just- I saw Melissa flirting with you and…” Mary trails off, and he understands.

“She can try to flirt all she wants, but she can’t compare to you, Mary. You’re so much better than her. She can’t even get my rank right, never mind the fact that she’s twelve years younger than me. Besides, I don’t like blondes, you know that.” He winks at her, making her laugh, which was his goal.

“Is that why you and Jake are always fighting?” She innocently blinks at him, teasing him for the pseudo-feud he has with his wingman.

“You think you’re funny, huh?”

“I know I am, actually.” Mary brushes their lips together. “Can do this whenever I want now.”

“Been wanting to do this for a while?” He asks between kisses.

She hums and nods slightly, more focused on slipping her tongue into his mouth again. “Ever since that first night at the Hard Deck.”

“You’ve wanted to kiss me since we met?

“M&M?” A knock on the door startles them apart, Mary almost falling off his lap, catching herself on the desk and rattling her knick knacks and picture frames. “You good, Vertucci?”

“Yeah! Yeah! I’m fine. What’s up?”

She springs off his lap, her cheeks redder than he’s ever seen, and he knows his match. It’s a good thing his uncle can’t see them through the frosted glass; they look guilty as hell, like two teenagers who got caught making out in the backseat.

“Well, I want to get set up for the meeting early, but I don’t know how the controls work in the VTC room. I was hoping you could show me since you have to be there anyway.”

Both of them relax, thankful he’s unaware of what he interrupted. Mary moves to open the door. “Sure, I can do that! I just-” She stutters to a stop after catching sight of her reflection in the mirror above her couch. It’s very obvious what they’d been doing.

“I just have a few things to take care of, and I’ll be down in a couple minutes!” She croaks, trying to rebutton her shirt and fix her hair at the same time.

“Sounds good. I’ll meet you there.” Bradley watches his silhouette turn away; his sigh of relief is premature when his uncle comes back after a few steps. “Oh, I almost forgot! Bradley? Mav is looking for you; go meet him in the hangar.”

All the blood drains from his face, and Mary turns in horror, their eyes meeting in terror. He clears his throat. “Yes, sir.”

“Good boy. Take a few minutes if you need to!” This time, the silhouette walks all the way down the hall, laughing and whistling to himself the entire way.

“Oh my god. Oh my god! I can never speak to him again!” Mary moans, dropping onto the loveseat and burying her face in her hands.

“If it makes you feel better, he’s caught me doing worse.”

“Really?” He smiles at the way she peeks at him between her fingers.

“Unfortunately. I was bad about locking my door, and he was bad about knocking.” Her nose scrunches, obviously trying not to laugh at him. “It’s okay, you can laugh. You would think one of us would have learned after the first time it happened. Or the second. Or the third.”

He smiles as she snorts, pressing a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound and sinking into the couch. Her laughter dies down as they stare at each other. Bradley doesn’t think he’s been happier than this moment, Mary smiling at him with her partially unbuttoned shirt and mussed hair.

“We should probably go.” She sighs and nods in agreement.

He watches as she fixes her shirt and smooths her hair in the mirror, inspecting her makeup before padding over to the corner.

“These are for you.” She holds out a container from the shelf above her mini fridge.

He looks through the clear plastic. “What are these?”

“I made you those peanut butter bites you liked so much. They’re not the most exciting thing, but they don’t have to be refrigerated, so you can take them on the carrier. And you should be getting a box about halfway through deployment, so make sure you send me anything you want so I can put it in for you.”

Bradley takes a shaky breath, unable to swallow the lump in his throat. No one had ever made him a treat to take with him, and it’s been years since he’s gotten a care package that wasn’t from a volunteer group. Despite the fact that he wasn’t speaking to Ice, Sarah had sent him packages during his first few deployments. But that stopped when Ice got sick the first time, and it didn’t start again when the cancer went into remission.

It sucked being the only one being passed a charity box full of things he didn’t like or need, but he understood. Their life was different at that point. New health rules to follow, more appointments, their kids were starting to have kids. There was no spare time for unnecessary things, like sending a box of goodies to a kid who was refusing to speak to them.

“Bradley?” His name is said quietly, and he looks up to find Mary looking anxious, her brow creased in worry.

He drops the Tupperware on her desk with a clang and pulls her into his arms, pressing a hard kiss to her mouth and hoping it conveys everything he’s feeling that he can’t quite say.

Thank you for thinking about me. Thank you for caring about me. I love you.

She reciprocates, matching him, knowing this is one of the last times they’ll see each other alone before he’s gone for two months.

“Thank you.” He whispers when they break apart, Mary smiling at him and pressing one more gentle kiss to his lips before pulling away to put her heels back on.

Bradley walks her to the conference room, his hand brushing hers, but neither of them bold enough to hold hands when anyone could catch them. He spends the time watching her, savoring the quiet moments they get to spend together. A quick glance into the conference rooms reveals his uncle fighting with the display screen behind the podium, so he pulls her to the side of the doors and, after thoroughly checking the hall, kisses her.

The first time of many that he’ll dare to kiss her in an empty hallway of NAS North Island throughout their lives.

“I’ll see you at the Hard Deck.” He murmurs against her lips before opening the door and waving at Slider.

“Finally! Mary, what the hell does “extend the display” mean?” Ron rolls his eyes when he sees his nephew staring at his mentee like a lovesick puppy. “Bradshaw! Get your ass to the hangar, now!”

Bradley snaps to attention, giving a sarcastic salute that he only gets away with is because there’s no one else around, and the admiral glaring at him also witnessed his many potty-training failures. He gives his uncle a genuine grin as he turns to leave, getting instructions to prop the door open and an overexaggerated wink in return.

He does as told and hesitates for a minute before stepping to the side of the doorway, hoping he understood the non-verbal hint correctly.

“So… you and Bradley? That’s something you didn’t mention the last time we talked, Mary.”

“It’s new, very new. Could you not say anything to anyone – not even Mav – for now, please?”

“You got it, kiddo. Just try not to hurt him.”

“I won’t, Ron. I lo-” She cuts herself off, and the silence of the hall is deafening. Bradley can hardly hear her continue above his racing heart. “I care about him too much to hurt him.”

His phone is continuously buzzing in his pocket, but he doesn’t bother to answer it; he knows it’s Mav or one of the Daggers looking for him. In a daze of excitement and nerves, he makes his way to the hangar, wishing more than anything that he wasn’t walking into the final deployment briefing. He wants to turn around, throw Mary over his shoulder, and drive them up the coast until they find a little mountain town with no cell service and stay there for two months instead.

“There you are! Rooster, what took you so long?” He should feel lucky that it’s just an exasperated Maverick he has to deal with and not Cyclone.

“Sorry, Mav, had to drop something off to Admiral Kerner.” It’s probably the wrong excuse to give, his uncles are definitely going to gossip, and he’s going to get so much shit tonight for it. But he can’t bring himself to care as he slips into his chair, smiling so big at Hangman that half the squad worriedly looks at him.

She loves me.

Mary loves me.

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[wandaromanova]

Little Sister

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Warnings: one cuss word, minor BW spoilers

A/N: hello! i’d like to note that this takes place sometime before the events in the Black Widow movie! if you haven’t seen the movie yet, please skip over this story and come back later if you’d like! happy reading <3

anon requested: hiii i have a fluff request after seeing bw haha: could you do nat x fem reader where they're laying in bed snuggling, and r asks her about her family and nat tells her and r notices how cute she looks when she's talking about yelena and it's so soft and ahhhh

Summary: Natasha tells her girlfriend about a piece of her past that she never talks about; her sister.

Word Count: 2K

| masterlist | request rules/guidelines | wips |

please do not repost or try and take ownership of my work. reblogs, likes, and comments are always welcome. <3

Natasha Romanoff has lived a lot of lives. She has been through more than most.

Nat had been taken as an infant by an organization that trained little girls to become lethal assassins.

She was psychologically conditioned to become a killer, having taken more lives than she could count.

Eventually, Natasha had managed to break free from the cage she was forced into and was recruited as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent; it was a new start for her, an opportunity to compensate for the red in her ledger.

So, Natasha took her job seriously, saving as many people as she could, even more so when she became an Avenger; one of earth’s mightiest heroes.

Natasha found something in the team that she never really had before; a family. She found a home within the dysfunctional team she had been recruited into.

Not only did Natasha find a family within the Avengers; she also found the love of her life.

Natasha hadn’t even considered the possibility of ever finding love.

For starters, the Red Room had instilled the concept that love was nothing but a distraction; a liability.

She had been taught that love was for children and it was nothing but a weakness that needed to be avoided at all costs.

She was quite literally programmed to be emotionally closed off and to always have her guard up. Letting someone into her heart was a risk she didn’t want to take.

When Natasha gained her independence from the organization, she had to do a lot of self-discovering. She had never been able to be her own person, but now that she could, she quickly learned that she didn’t even know herself.

However, it was Natasha’s insecurities that truly turned her off from the entire idea of love.

How could any ever possibly love her? She thought she was a monster for the things she’d done. She has done the unspeakable since ever she was a child.

What if she wasn’t enough? What if her baggage was too much for someone else to carry? She didn’t want to be a burden. She didn’t want to have to protect someone, just to fail them like she had failed so many others.

Natasha was positive that no one would ever be crazy enough to love her.

Little did she know, she would end up finding someone crazy enough to do so; you.

•❅──────────────── ‎⧗ ────────────────❅•

When the Avengers were formed, you were extremely nervous about it.

All of the files that you’ve read on your new teammates were unbelievable; they were all phenomenal in their own rights. A super-soldier, a god, a genius, a trained-spy.

You were a spy yourself, so you knew exactly who Natasha Romanoff was. She was a S.H.I.E.L.D legend, the best of the best.

You were more nervous about meeting her than anyone else. What if she judged you? What if she didn’t think you were good enough to be an agent, let alone an Avenger?

Not only was she your superior, but she was also your crush. Yeah, you’d never even met the woman before, but you were crushing on her hard.

She was drop-dead gorgeous, but also quite literally a deadly force. Natasha could easily take down anyone she wanted to, and honestly, you wanted to be one of those lucky people.

When you met Natasha for the first time, you were a flustered mess. The redhead found it amusing, how your cheeks turned a bright shade of red and you stumbled over your words as you praised her work.

Natasha never told you this, but she was immediately smitten the moment she laid eyes on you.

There was a kindness and positivity that just radiated off of you and it was extremely contagious.

You were this beaming ball of light that lit up the darkest parts of her soul.

•❅──────────────── ‎⧗ ────────────────❅•

You got to know Natasha extremely well while being on the team. From observing her closely and paying very close attention to her actions, you had managed to pick up on little things.

She didn’t put any creamer or sugar in her sugar; opting for strong, black coffee.

She was kind of a clean freak. If she saw something out of place, she would be quick to put it in the correct place or position.

When she was happy, she would let a small smirk cross her features. When she was annoyed, she would raise her eyebrows.

When she was stressed out or angry, three little creases would appear on her forehead as her eyebrows would knit together tightly; a subtle frown on her face.

Of course, when you began dating the redhead, you didn’t really have to survey her so closely anymore because she’d tell you things herself.

No matter the circumstances, Natasha would always come to you and rant about it. Whether it was about how shitty a mission went or how she beat Clint’s ass during training; you were the only person she wanted to tell.

Natasha had opened up to you, something she never did with anyone. She told you all about her past.

•❅──────────────── ‎⧗ ────────────────❅•

You had some knowledge of Natasha’s previous life, considering it was in her files, but you didn’t realize just how horrible her childhood truly was.

The Red Room, the heavy weight of guilt that rests on her shoulders, the nightmares that forced her to relive the murders she committed, her time as a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, and becoming an Avenger.

She’d go on and on about her road to redemption or ‘clearing the red out of her ledger.’

Natasha was terrified when she told you about her demons. She figured you were going to leave her the second she finished talking, waiting for you to get up and walk out the door, but you didn’t.

So, you completely caught her off guard when you pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, placing a soft kiss onto her temple, the redhead relaxing in your embrace.

“You’re the strongest person I know. It’s not your fault, you were forced and conditioned to do the things you did.”

Natasha focused on the sound of your voice and took in your words as you softly caressed her red locks with one hand.

“Baby, the amount of respect I have for you is immeasurable. I applaud you for turning your life around for the better. I’m so fucking proud of you.”

Your words had brought tears to Natasha’s eyes, which was a rare occurrence.

She was expecting you to run for the hills, but you chose to pull her closer instead.

In that moment, Natasha knew she never had to be afraid of love again.

You were the most understanding and accepting person she’d ever met.

You would never judge her for her worst mistakes; Natasha had found the one for her and she wasn’t ever going to let go.

•❅──────────────── ‎⧗ ────────────────❅•

Now, a few months later and a year into your relationship with the Russian, you were both lying in bed and cuddling.

You were both watching a movie when a particular scene came on. It was of a family gathering around a Christmas tree, children excitedly opening up presents with gleeful smiles across their faces.

“You know, my sister and I got to take pictures with a Christmas tree once.” Natasha spoke, her eyes fixated on the screen.

You looked up at her in shock. You didn’t know that Natasha had a sister. She told you that she didn’t even so much as know her parent’s names.

Natasha looked down and noticed your confused expression. She reached for the remote on the bedside table and paused the movie before returning her gaze to you.

“There was a mission I was assigned to in Ohio, as a kid. I was assigned to play the daughter of two other Russian spies, Alexei and Melina. It wasn’t just me though, there was a little girl who was assigned as my younger sister. Her name is Yelena.”

Natasha had a reminiscent, happy smile on her face as she recalled the brief period time of her childhood. She looked absolutely adorable as she rambled on about this part of her childhood.

“We took photoshoots of various holidays to make our family look more realistic. My favorite one was Christmas. Even though I knew they were just empty boxes, I wanted to rip open every single one.”

Natasha let out a small giggle at the thought. Even though she had a smile on her face, you could feel and hear the underlying tone of sadness in her voice.

“Yelena and I would spend hours outside, just playing together. Swinging on the swing-sets, looking up at the stars, bending over backward, and getting into a ridiculous competition to see who could hold the position the longest… I always let her win.”

You could see the fondness in her eyes, the longing. It warmed your heart that there was a small glimmer of light in Natasha’s past. There was at least a sliver of hope that she clung tightly onto throughout her time in the Red Room.

“After 3 years, the mission ended. Yelena and I were sent back to the Red Room and were torn apart from one another.

Natasha’s breathing grew heavier as she recalled the unfaithful day. The sight of her sister being taken, and not being able to do anything to help her; still haunted the redhead to this day.

“There were so many men with guns and armor, they literally ripped us away from each other. I was eleven and she was only six.”

Your heart sunk at your girlfriend’s words as her smile dropped. She tore her eyes away from yours as she blinked rapidly, fighting back tears, but failed. You reached your hand up to her cheek and wiped away the fallen droplets.

“I haven’t seen her since. I’d like to think that she found a way out and got a life of her own; a nice, happy life.”

Natasha placed her hand on top of yours before looking down at you once more. You sent her a soft smile when she let out a shaky breath.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I knew that the it was all fake, but it was still the best part of my childhood. It was real to me.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

You nodded your head at her words. She took a brief pause, trying to regain her composure, before continuing.

“Even if we have no true relation to one another, and even if I haven’t seen her in years, she is still my little sister.”

Natasha finished off with a big gasp as sobs wracked her body. You sat up from her embrace and pulled her into your arms, just like you had many times before.

You rubbed her back soothingly as she cried into your shoulder, her tears hitting the exposed skin.

“She sounds amazing, baby. I’m really happy that you had some sort of happiness back then and I hope one day you get to see her again.”

You whispered and Natasha pulled away from the hug, still in your arms as her emerald eyes surrounded by a sea of red, a result of her crying.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I doubt she’d even want to see me. I didn’t even try to find her. I’m a horrible sister! I-“

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

You immediately pressed your lips against hers, effectively getting the Russian to calm down. You broke the kiss when her breathing slowed.

“Honey, of course, she’d want to see you again. Like you said, you guys are sisters. I’m positive that it was just as real to her as it was to you.”

You reassured your girlfriend, her eyes a pool of worry and guilt. You rubbed your thumb against her waist, the material of your her hoodie beneath your touch.

“From what you’ve told me about the Red Room, it would’ve been impossible to find her. Stop beating yourself up over it. You’re the best, and I’m totally not biased or anything.”

Natasha let out a small chuckle at that and you smiled at her, wiping away the last of her tears. She collapsed into your hold further, shoving her face into the crook of your neck.

“Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you so much.”

Natasha’s words came out muffled as her face pressed further into your skin.

“You never need to thank me for anything. I’ll always be here for you, Natty.”

You hugged her as tight as you possibly could, her cold skin meeting your warmth. Natasha let out a small sigh at the feeling.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wherever you go, I go.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

───────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──────────

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[bluefirewrites]

‘Back to The Beginning’ Canon!Juke Time Travel Drabble

All this because I saw ‘The Adam Project’ and I thought it’d be fun if Julie had somehow time travelled and ran into a younger version of Luke, thinking how smitten he’d be with her before he even knew her. 

Also if you want to read the most iconic JATP Juke time travel fic, you should read ‘We Found Wonderland’ if you haven’t already. Written by the wonderful @pink-flame​.

Enjoy!

Julie didn't know what a 'void' would do, but she wasn't expecting actual time travel.

She figured they had stumbled on the infamous 'Dark Room', the boys had been trapped in, but after walking the threshold, she suddenly found herself on the streets of L.A, alone. In 1991.

There was no sign of Alex, Luke, or Reggie anywhere.

Julie was absolutely lost. There was no way to return the way she came and her ghost friends weren't there to guide her through the '90s.

Her first instinct was to go home, but the house was sure to belong to someone else at this point. Her parents hadn't even met yet.

Locating the Hollywood Ghost Club would be her best bet, but she couldn't recall directions. The boys would usually poof her there. 

She sought shelter at a diner- one that she didn’t recognize. Most likely had gone out of business by the time she was born. The bell rang as she pushed through the door. She took a seat at the counter, figuring out her next move.

"What can I get for you today?" A waitress asked her, and Julie was momentarily stunned being acknowledged by someone in this time period.

Hoping the dollar bill hadn't changed much since the '90s, Julie ordered a strawberry milkshake. She could use one right now.

"You got it, sweetie. Just give me a second to work these shakes and I'll have yours right out."

The woman placed some shakes on a tray and walked them over to a table.

"Here ya go, boys. The usual."

"Thanks, Marge. You're the best!" A small voice piped up, laced with a certain energy that probed at Julie’s memory. 

Her gaze wandered over and she did a double-take, a familiarity and coincidence hitting her with the force of a freight train.

It was Alex, Luke, and Reggie.

But not her Alex, Luke, and Reggie.

Right. It's 1991, she remembered.

They must be around middle school or about to start high school right now.

Julie shouldn’t stare, but it was so fascinating. 

Not only was she looking at a living, breathing version of the boys, but also it was because they clearly hadn't grown into themselves yet.

Alex's wardrobe lacked any color. He was  engulfed in his hoodie, not wanting to be perceived (what a mood). 

Laughing at a joke, Reggie showcased his braces. Every now and then he would fiddle with his hair, zhuzhing it up every time a girl passed their table.

Luke was pretty much the same though.

His arms were out, albeit smaller and he was still vibrating with energy. There was an air of confidence surrounding him, but not yet robust. It could shatter at any moment. He was still a kid after all.

"I'm telling you," Luke buzzed after sipping his shake, "Like it would be so rad, right?"

Alex nodded excitedly, "I just started drum lessons but yeah. Let's do it!"

"Wait, what do I play?" Reggie asked, "Are you or Bobby playing guitar?"

"We're both doing it," Luke answered, "You can play keys though. You're already good at it."

"But keys don't get girls!" Reggie argued, "Maybe I can pick up bass? Like McKagan! From Guns & Roses!"

"That works too, bro. When Bobby gets back from vacation, let's totally get this band going!" Luke raised his glass, “Legends?”

Alex and Reggie clinked their glasses to his, “Legends!” 

Oh my god, Julie thought. Was she witnessing the start of Sunset Curve?

The waitress bringing over her milkshake forced her to look away, but she kept her ears pealed.

Julie attended to her shake, listening to the boys go on about school and music and whether or not they should hit up Reggie's afterwards to watch Beavis & Butthead.

It broke her heart in a way to hear them talk about regular kid stuff, knowing that in a few short years these guys would die tragically.

"Let's get some fries for the road."

Julie nearly jumped out of her skin when a backpack was dumped unceremoniously on the seat next to her. Alex's.

The three of them had left their table and were crowding the counter, squinting at the menu.

Out of the corner of her eye, Luke scrounged for change in his pockets.

"Only got 50 cents," he muttered, annoyed "Can you spot me the rest, Reg?"

"I'm out."

Alex shook his head, "Me too."

"Hey!"

The boys turned to look at Julie, and that was when she realized the interjection left her mouth (and that it had been completely unwarranted given they were literally a foot away).

They stared, wide-eyed, and for a second Julie thought they might have recognized her somehow.

Before that could be explored, Julie pulled out some dollar bills and handed them to Luke, "Uh, here. For the fries."

Luke didn't move. His line of sight lingered on Julie and his mouth kept opening and closing, unable to speak.

Then, Julie noticed an unmistakable reddening of his cheeks. He was blushing.

"Wow," He finally uttered, breaking the eye contact in an almost desperate attempt to return to normal, "T-Thanks."

Julie couldn't help it and giggled. Even at 13, he was staring at her with that same awestruck expression. It was adorable.

Alex took charge in grabbing the money from Luke, seeing as though the boy was still unable to function.

"You didn't have to give us this much," he tried to return two dollars, "The fries are like only 1.50."

Only that much??

"Right," Julie waved it off, "Keep the rest. Get another plate of fries if you want."

"That's really cool of you. Are you sure?"

"Of course she's sure!" Reggie went ahead and ordered two from Marge the waitress. He pulled Alex aside, seemingly to scold him, "A pretty high school girl wants to buy us fries. Take the win."

"Right," Alex deadpanned, "What a win."

Julie stifled a laugh.

"Shit. Did she hear that?"

Alex slapped Reggie upside the head, "You weren't exactly quiet."

Luke shut his eyes, putting some distance between him and his friends. It looked like he wanted to die, "Sorry. Ignore them. They're... crazy."

"Hey!" Reggie yelped, rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"It's ok. We're all a little crazy," Julie rattled off the phrase easily. 

Luke nodded rapidly, “Right!” Garnering some more courage to look at her again, he sported a small smile. 

He was still blushing.

Marge approached them with the to-go bags of fries.

"I guess, uh, we gotta-" Luke chuckled nervously, backtracking to the door, "Thanks again."

"Anytime."

Julie meant that. Much more than this Luke could possibly know.

The boys waved at her and booked it for the exit and she could hear fragments of their frantic whispers on their way out.

"I spazzed!" Luke hissed.

"Geez, Luke. Did your brain stop working?" Alex teased.

"I-I dunno! She just smiled at me and I just, I just-"

Reggie poked at Luke, "Oh, Lukey's got a crush!"

The boy responded by shoving Reggie through the door, "Shut up!"

Julie kept an eye on them until they were out of view from the windows and were down the street. 

What... did she just do? 

Rules of time travel and whatnot- was she not supposed to have done that? Interact with the boys' past selves? 

Too late. She did. What if there were butterfly effects all because she bought fries and a milkshake?

Nah. 

At least... she hoped there won’t be...

Tagging: @blush-and-books​ @lydias--stiles​ @smolfangirl​ @echocharm17618​ @thedeathdeelers​ @lukepattersun​ @ourstarscollided​ @missjoolee​ @story-courty​​ @heademptynothoughts​​

[lo-frequency]

Hi I love your blogand your writinh so much it's so good!

Could I request a shoto/denki and toga x chubby reader (if you're not comfortable writing with toga you can just to denki and shoto) thanks!

Fortunately for you, anon, I did them all! (and it's kinda long, so my bad lol) Also, there's mention of insecurity in Toga's, but it quickly turns to fluff. As always, please enjoy!

Denki

-Believe it or not, Denki was nervous to confess to you because he was afraid of being rejected. You’re so cute and cool and that he was sure there’s no way you actually returned his feelings. It was worth a shot, tho. So imagine his joy when you said you felt the same way :)

-Rants about you all the time to his friends, to the point where they feel like they know you personally before you’ve even met. They also get to hear all the tmi stories about what the two of you do alone, because he can’t help himself (if they don’t walk away first, lol).

-He knew you looked squishy before, but couldn’t believe how soft your skin was when he finally got to hold you. It was almost unfair. He often finds himself caressing your skin mindlessly whenever you’re close together, hand always ghosting across your arm or hand (or your thigh ;) ).

-Lays back on you to play video games, his head cushioned by your pillowy chest and the rest of his body situated between your legs as you watch him play. Play in his hair or rub his arms and he will fall asleep. The tingly feeling he gets when cuddling with you is his favorite kind of electricity.

-Zaps your butt “by accident”

-Easily flustered, but he tries to play it off with his cool act. Just kiss his cheek or tell him he’s handsome and watch him ramble about knowing he’s “irresistible” until he flushes red up to his ears.

-Denki can be pretty corny at times but he does have his serious moments, mostly when you two are alone together. He shows you what’s beneath his goofy facade, a boy with dreams and aspirations just like everyone else. After seeing this side of him, it’s a little irritating to hear people reduce him to an idiot (although he does have his moments 💀)

-Them thighs tho 😏 “Dang babe, you been working out?” “Not really, Kaminari” He clucks his tongue. “Sheesh, imagine being that thicc...naturally” he says, shaking his head as if it were a shame.

-Truly believes he has the best s/o in the whole school. Does not take offense to being called a simp 🤷🏾‍♀️.

-Wasn’t aware of it at first, but became super attracted to people with your same body type. His eyes always lingered on them in public, and he couldn’t help but think they were kinda hot (sorry, y/n)

-Very affectionate, but loves to receive as much as give, so please give this man plenty of kithes and hugs, he gets the shakes if he doesn’t get his daily dose of Y/n love.

-Y’all are so silly together, always cracking jokes or giggling about something. You eventually develop a similar sense of humor, and have so many inside jokes people can’t decipher your conversation. If anybody has anything negative to say about y’all: Denki puts his hand over his earpiece and says to you (from right next to him) “Pikachu to Big Sexy, I’m picking up some negative vibes on the radar, do you copy?” And you, holding your hand up to your own ear, say “Affirmative, doing a diagnostic scan...it’s a hater, confirmed.” Cue the obnoxious laughter, lmaoo

-Never forgets the anniversaries or relationship milestones. He even remembers the date of yall’s first kiss, and thinks about it every time the date passes (although he wouldn’t tell you that tho, that would be too sappy, even for him).

Shoto

-The way you and Shoto became acquainted was a little unorthodox. You fell on him during a training session one day, and the feeling of your soft body pressed against his was a new experience for him, to put it mildly. Shoto stood up from it a changed man. Call it an awakening, if you will.

-You were a little put off by all his staring since that incident, thinking he didn’t like you despite all your profuse apologies. But after Izuku dropped hints that it was probably fascination rather than contempt, your relationship progressed smoothly from there (thanks mostly to your efforts, since Shoto had no clue how to approach you).

-Shoto still had a staring problem once y’all became official, too. Whenever you asked him what he was looking at, he was not ashamed to tell you exactly why: you are too fine not to stare (ok, maybe he didn’t say it exactly like that)

-Not overly affectionate in public, but has a tendency to always stand or sit close to you whenever he can. Just sharing the same space is intimate to him.

-Sharing a bowl of soba noodles 💕

-Buys you expensive gifts all the time, and loves to see you using them. Especially if it’s clothes, it’s like a piece of him is always with you even when you’re not together (plus, it shows you’re all his ;) ).

-Now, I’m gonna tell y’all a little secret. It’s pretty shocking, so be warned: Shoto sometimes pretends to be oblivious when you hint at wanting affection, just to make you beg for it. Maybe you brush your hand against his, and he moves it. Or maybe he saw you lean for a kiss and he casually turns the other way just to hear you complain. He likes it, makes him feel wanted.

-Devious, I know, but just get even 😏

-When y’all are alone, he loves when you hold him close and just sit there, peacefully enjoying each other’s presence. He also likes to lay on your lap while reading a book or watching tv with you, slowly nodding off as you comb your fingers through his hair.

-Obsessed with you, but not in an unhealthy way, it’s just that you’ve become such a big part of his life that he kinda...thinks about you all the time. Shoto is canonically not very talkative, but I think that with you, he’d open up more about his true thoughts and feelings. So when he shoots you that blank stare when his classmates are up to some bull, you know exactly what it means.

-Also revels in knowing you that well, too. He’d flex how much he knows about you to the other people and sometimes unintentionally embarrasses you in the process

-For example: “Here Y/n, a cherry popsicle just for you!” Shoto immediately hands you some napkins before adding “Y/n doesn’t usually eat cherry popsicles, they always drop the red juice on their clothes.” Like gee, good looking out Shoto...thanks for telling the whole class I can’t eat without messing up my clothes 💀. He’s sweet tho, he has good intentions.

Toga

-She made it very clear from the beginning that she liked you, and with how smitten she was, who were you to refuse her (aggressive) advances?

- She thought your plump figure was just so cute, one of the cutest things she’d ever seen, and she quickly developed an unhealthy obsession with squeezing your chub.

-When you two are together, Toga is always attached to you in some way, whether she’s hanging off your arm or has her arms looped around your shoulders.

-Starts to eat the same foods you eat, borrow your clothes all the time, listen to your favorite artists, whatever way she could become closer to you

-Writes you love letters or sends you cute text messages all the time, you’re always on her mind, even when she’s on missions. “My Y/n is wayy cuter than you! Let’s get this over quick so I go back to them, ok? 🥰 🔪🔪”

-I know y’all were waiting for this...she most definitely uses her quirk on you. Toga loves you so much, she wants to become you. So one day, you finally allow her to give it a try.

-She tells you to close your eyes, and when she gives you permission to open them, you find yourself staring...yourself in the face. And you do not like it 🤢. There’s something so strange about seeing yourself in 3rd person, in all dimensions. Is this how you look to her, all the time? You quickly lose interest in this little charade, looking everywhere but at yourself as Toga prances around doing sexy poses in your body and giggling. However, when she sees your reaction, she stops.

- “Hm? What’s wrong, Y/n?” she asks with a tilt of (your) her head. You glance at yourself, then look away again. “This is so weird. I don’t like looking at myself” you say, grimacing at the slight bounce and jiggle of your body when she walks toward you.

-In Toga’s eyes, you were absolutely adorable. In fact, she was getting a little hot and bothered just taking peeks at herself (you) in the mirror. She’s used to feeling you up for sure, but being you was a whole other experience. Though, she can understand your insecurity. After all, it’s hard to live in a world that constantly tells you your true self is abnormal. She knows from experience.

-So, she comes up to you with a flirty grin on her face...and starts showering you with kisses, in your body! You start to protest, weirded out by the feeling of your own lips on your cheeks but she would not relent. Toga was determined to show you what being loved (by you) felt like from her perspective, with your irresistible “imperfections” and all 💕

Thanks for tuning in! :)

[flareish]

Rival

akaashi x reader

summary: you and akaashi are fighting for that #1 class rank. however there is not just a scholarship at stake here but some deeply hidden feelings too

genre: rivals to lovers

word count: 2.1k

warnings: kissing, there is a kinda sexual joke

a/n: ahhh! my first request thank you so much! I haven’t written for akaashi yet but he is so great so I hope this does him justice. Love our pretty setters. 

Rage consumes you. You want to throw Akaashi out of the wall of windows right now. It’s only one test you tell yourself. One test that he managed to scrape in one point higher than you. You got 99% and somehow this idiot gets 100%. Quickly putting your stuff away you try and slip out of class before you he finds out. You would like to avoid his snarky remarks. 

“Oh, that’s a pretty good score.” Too late. Akaashi has appeared from behind you, smugness ran through his sarcastic comment. You compose yourself and bounce right back.

“Thought I’d give you a little something since I’ve been crushing your scores lately.” You fire back. He’s not the only one who can play at this game.

“Careful you might just give the spot away at this point.” That spot being #1 in class rank as well as the hefty academic scholarship that goes with it. The spot you’ve occupied for the past two years and suddenly this guy comes out of nowhere and tries to take it from you, right before it really matters. 

“Haha. Well some of us actually have stuff to do. Have fun playing with your balls.” You walk straight past him and out the class. He held a smug grin the whole time. No matter what you did it never left his face. The amount of insults you’ve thrown at each other and every time it’s you who always gets bested. 

Anger fueling your walk to the point onlookers might think you were exercising, not walking home from school. You make it home in record time. As soon as you’re in your room you immediately start studying. You’ve never had to study this hard before in your life. You don’t mean to sound conceded but academics just kinda came easy to you. Sure, you had your rough patches but you just seemed to absorb information. You didn’t really have many other passions either but your parents always said that could come later right now isn’t for fun and games it is for learning. So learn you did. 

The next day, your teacher had started a new project and decided to assign partners. 

“Akaashi and Y/N. You two will be working together.” What did you do to deserve this? You remain in your seat waiting for him to come over but he never does. You look over and see him still sat there, reclined back in his seat talking with Bokuto who sat behind him. That’s when you realize he is waiting for you to move over there. Cocky bastard. Taking a deep breath, you swallow your pride and move over there.

“Please don’t rush, I would hate for you to strain yourself.” You snap sitting down. “That’s so great you got the hint, I wasn’t planning on getting up. Thank you for being so obedient.” Still wearing that grin. Oh, what you would do to slap it off of his face. You ignore him and start working on the project. He simply resumes his conversation with Bokuto, who never does the projects anyway. Seems like you will be doing this all by yourself. Half of you is tempted to purposefully fail but then it would just hurt your grade too. Although it would be pretty funny to see his face. He ignored you for the rest of the class. Once again you part ways.

When you go home and open your computer to continue working on the project to find that it has been already done. Did he seriously not lift a finger in class just to do a rush job right before his volleyball practice. You roll your eyes before reading through his work. You realize it hadn’t been a rush job at all but was perfect. Now you weren’t sure to be happy he actually did it or pissed that it was better than what you could have done. 

After you’ve cooled down a bit you take a moment to think. Maybe he isn’t as bad as you think. You’ve never taken the time to think about why he is doing this. You just immediately jumped on that he was out to get you. That’s pretty childish now you think about it. Maybe he really needs this academic scholarship so he can go to college. There is no way you can be nice to him but perhaps you could be tolerant. You weren’t giving him that scholarship though. No matter how much he needed it, you did too. 

The next day in class you are determined to stick by your discovery. With it including being nicer to Akaashi. You were talking to your friend when he came into the classroom.

“You’re so loud Y/N I swear I could hear you from across the school.” You don’t say anything just look at him and smile. You almost see his grin falter, you’re not sure if he is surprised or scared at your smile.

“Wow have I finally broken you.” You keep ignoring him. This annoys him and he pokes you. You swat at him and he chuckles before walking off. Your friend laughs at the two of you. The teacher came into the room and everyone quickly settled down and class began. You could feel Akaashi’s stare from across the room but you didn’t dare look at him.

When class ended you are your friend took your time and ended up being the last people in the classroom.

“So is ignoring him your next idea?” Your friend asks amused by the earlier interaction, “Can’t beat him then just will him out of existence.”

“No, I’m trying to be a nicer person and embrace competition.” Your friend bursts out laughing.

“That’s not going to last long. Before you know it you will be at his throat again.”

“I don’t know. Think why does he want to be #1 so badly? The scholarship. He probably needs it for college.” You say seriously.

“Ha! As if.” Your friend laughs as if she knows something you don’t.

“Why is he secretly loaded of something?” You ask kinda curious as you pack up your stuff.

“I don’t know about that but I do know he already has multiple athletic scholarships lined up.” You pause at that.

“What?” You are in complete and utter disbelief. If he didn’t need this scholarship what was the point in stealing it from you. Did he seriously hate you that much? You were beyond angry now. You throw your stuff in your bag messily and march out of the class room heading straight for the gyms. If he wanted this scholarship so badly from you, you were going to get an answer. 

As you near the gyms however you hear something that stops you in your tracks.

“Are you seriously going to study for all those classes tonight?” One of his teammates asked in shock.

“He’s got to if he wants to keep up with Y/N.” Another teases. You make sure you are out of sight and continue listening in. 

“Wait why do you compete with Y/N. I thought you were a jock, not a nerd.” You hear laughter and something being thrown at someone. 

“Can’t you see? Our Akaashi is smitten!” You recognize Bokuto’s voice.

“Shut up you dumb owl.” Akaashi didn’t deny it though.

“He’s so crazy for them that he decided to bring his class ranking up so they would notice him,” Bokuto breaks into laughter “But now they just hate him. We got a real  player here, am I right.”

You hear Akaashi yell at him and then you hear some hitting and decide to leave before you got caught. However, not once did you hear Akaashi deny it. He was just silent and then would yell at them for outing him. For telling the truth.

Akaashi likes you.

What an idiot. Who decides the way about trying to get to know someone is by threatening their biggest goal?! You can’t deny though he’s not the only smitten one. Although lately, you have absolutely hated him, before all this you actually had a crush on him. You never acted on it because you were so busy with academics. Is now a second chance? You decided to wait for him after practice. 

By some miracle he is the last one left in the gym, meaning you can confront him without an audience.

“What are you waiting to jump me? I’ll warn you I’m not afraid to fight back.” He snapped at you but you kept quiet. This silence was driving him crazy. At least when you were arguing back with him you were acknowledging him but now. It was like he didn’t exist all over again. He was about to lose it when you spoke up. 

“You know there are better ways to gain someone affection than trying to take the scholarship that they have been working towards for the past three years away from them.” It was your turn to shoot him a smug look. He looks like a deer caught in headlights. For once you’ve caught him off guard, good and proper.

“Wha-Who said I wanted your affections.” He tried to play it off but it was written all over his face. He truly did like you.

“You know I would have said yes.” You say nonchalantly as you begin to walk away. He snaps out of his confused stupor and grabs your arm, turning you around.

“What did you just say.” No longer is he embarrassed or caught off guard but intense and desperate. Like he had misheard what you just said. Like it was a dream.

“That maybe if you had just asked me, I would have said yes.” You try to be as confident as you were a moment ago but that was hard with a blush spreading across your cheeks.

“And what about right now?” He asked, almost pleaded. This was no longer the Akaashi you had known the past year. This was something different. Something raw and intense. 

“What?” You were shocked. Was he seriously about to ask you out? Like this?

“All I ever wanted was you to talk to me. I thought that if I got my rank up that you would respect me, that I’d be smart enough to hold a conversation with you. But no matter how high my rank went, it never felt good enough so I decided that #2 would be the greatest spot I could reach. Then instead of getting you admiration and praise, you thought I was trying to steal your spot. Maybe I should have just explained then that I wasn’t but you were actually talking to me. What if after I explained it we just went back to the way it was before. Suddenly we had some common ground, so I just kept going. When you stopped talking to me today, I hated it so much. So please I know our relationship is in a weird place and we’re not even friends but-” He trailed off. He didn’t even know what he was begging for. 

It was so strange to see him like this. Normally, even with his friends, he was guarded, quick-witted, confident. Now he was so vulnerable. It sparked something in you. At first, it was just a quick thought in your brain but before you knew it your body was moving. Acting on it.

You pulled your arm out of his grasp and with it his face dropped, thinking this was you rejecting him. You didn’t pay it any mind and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling his stupidy tall body down.

With that, you kissed him.

He was frozen for a moment before jumping back to life. His hands came up to your face and he kissed you back as if he would never get the chance to again. He definitely wasn’t expecting this but he wasn’t going to waste this once in a lifetime opportunity. Eventually, you pulled away and his lips chased yours back. You caught his eyes and he relented. 

“Maybe we could work something out.” You say began a smug smile. You run your hand down his side and into his pocket, his eyes blew wide in surprise not really sure what you were doing. You pulled his phone out of the pocket and started putting your number in.

“Call me tonight.” When you handed him his phone back he matched your smug smile with one of his own. 

“You bet.” He said as he watched you walk off. Once your back was turned you couldn’t help but let out a giddy giggle.