#The first time I ran into him was actually the wildest moment

[olive-riggzey]

Today was the fourth day in a row that I have seen The Business Student With a Unicycle (despite literally never having seen him prior) and I’m starting to think that I unlocked some kind of quest and need to interact with this new NPC in order to proceed

[mountttmase]

Not Your Fault

Note - i hope you’re all excited to meet the final bubba 🩷 a few guesses for the name were right but no one guessed the exact spelling 😂 I hope you love them as much as I do though and hopefully I’ll be able to write about them a bit more as we learn about their personality 😌 hope you enjoy and feedback is always appreciated 😘

Pairing - Mason Mount × Reader

Word count - 6k

Warnings - fluff, smut, tiny bit of angst

Putting the kids to bed with Mason was never an easy task. Mason putting the kids to bed on his own was a recipe for disaster but right now there wasn't much the pair of you could do.

You could hear Mason trying to wrangle your two babies as you sat with your third in the nursery. Ollie trying his hardest to help Mason tame Tilly as she ran riot and you knew Mason was about to explode. You wondered if you should get up to help but Ryley was feeding peacefully in your arms and you didn’t want to disturb him.

‘Welcome to the mad house baby’ you whispered, stroking your finger along his perfect nose all the way down to the end before awkwardly reaching down to kiss his head. ‘You’ll get used to Tills, she’s just excited about you being here’

And she really was.

Never in your wildest dreams did you imagine you’d get pregnant so quickly after agreeing to try again and after your first two pregnancies you thought you knew your body well enough now to know when something had changed. Clearly that wasn’t the case though and it was actually Mason who figured it out first that were pregnant with a little help from Nala.

The kids were at school and Mason came home to find you cuddled up with Nala on the sofa. Her head and paws on your tummy as you scratched her head but as soon as he tried to cuddle you, Nala wasn’t having it. Growling at him when he tried to put his arms around you and pushing him away with her nose.

‘What’s crawled up her arse and died’ Mason laughed. Trying to snake his hands around your middle but Nala would fight him off every time until he gave up and grabbed your boob instead.

‘Mason? Do you mind’

‘Take it up with her, she’s hogging you’ he huffed but you just let it slide. You knew Mason needed to be holding something and if it was your boob then you’d just have to get on with it as he wouldn’t move off. You didn’t think anything of it though, you just knew Nala was protective and after you’d been cuddling for a while she was feeling territorial.

It was two days later that Mason caught you crying in the utility room. Half buried under all of the kids washing and the look of concern on his face just made you cry even harder. You’d been trying to get ontop of the cleaning all day and it the point you just felt overwhelmed.

‘Hey, what’s wrong sweetheart?’ He asked as he helped you up but you didn’t really have an answer for him. Trying to quieten your sobs but you could feel your bottom lip still wobbling as he looked at you softly.

‘Sorry Mase, I don’t even know why I’m crying’ you laughed as he wiped your eyes for you. ‘I’m just a bit emotional at the moment’ you told him and by the small sigh you knew he had something he wanted to say so you raised your eyebrow at him in hopes he’d speak.

‘Baby, you don’t think you might be…’

‘Drowning in washing?’ You laughed but the soft look on his face made you be quiet. He looked genuinely concerned but there was also something behind his eyes you couldn’t quite place.

‘No you wally… pregnant’

Pregnant? You didn’t think so at all. Apart from feeling more emotional than usual you didn’t have any other symptoms that you could think of and you wondered if Mason was just getting ahead of himself.

‘No I don’t think so Mase, I’d know if I was’ you told him but you watched his face soften as he cupped your jaw.

‘Well I know you too, and I think you are’ he teased. ‘You’re all emotional, you’re eating everything in sight and Nala suddenly won’t let me go near you’ he listed off and you blushed at the fact he’d clearly caught you snacking more than usual. ‘Maybe we should check? Just to rule it out’

‘I mean we can but it’ll just be a waste’ you laughed ‘We only started trying a month ago, Mase. I doubt it would have happened that quickly’

‘Don’t doubt my powers of fertility’ he laughed and even though you wanted to smile you were trying your hardest to keep a straight face.

‘You’re insane’ you huffed, grabbing his hand and taking him upstairs to your en-suite. You’d made sure to stock up on tests since you were now trying and you instructed him to wait on the bed while you took it.

‘There you go’ you smiled, walking out of the bathroom and handing him the capped test that was still loading. ‘What do you fancy for dinner? I’ll go get it started’ you told him as you made your way to the door but he grabbed your wrist to hold you in place, looking back at you like you’d lost your mind.

‘You’re not gonna wait?’

‘There's no point, it’ll be negative babe. Now what do you want?’ You told him, shrugging your shoulders as you really believe deep down that you had nothing to worry about as there was no way you were pregnant already.

‘You pick’ he told you quietly, and with a kiss to his forehead you made your way back downstairs and into the kitchen.

Mason was gone for a while, almost to the point where you were about to go and find him but he suddenly appeared in the doorway with his eyes full of tears and a soft smile on his face. You knew he would be upset that it was negative, knowing he wanted a third baby more than anything but you figured at least if he was smiling then he hadn’t taken it too hard.

You didn’t have a chance to say anything though, Mason coming straight over to you so he could cup your face and press gentle kisses over your cheeks which made you blush and your knees weak but you loved his gentle side and you let him shower with you affection.

Before you could reassure him everything would be fine and you had all the time in the world to try for baby number three, he pulled back to look at you and you were frozen in place as you knew what that look in his eye meant.

‘You’re pregnant baby’

‘What?’

‘You’re pregnant’ he laughed, kissing your cheeks again as you froze in his hold. Letting him continue to kiss your face and it’s like his words hadn’t hit you yet until he rested his forehead on top of yours.

‘You're lying’ you whispered, your bottom lip wobbling as your eyes started to burn but he just laughed at you. Reaching into his pocket to pull out the test so he could show you and there it was in black and white. The words pregnant staring you back in the face until you looked up into Masons happy ones. ‘We’re having a baby’

You burst into tears instantly as you fell into Mason's chest. Him holding you close to his body as he rocked you from side to side, letting you know it was okay and that he’d keep you safe, the both of you safe, and when you eventually pulled back he kissed your tears away.

‘I didn’t think it would be this quick, sorry it’s just a bit of a shock’ you laughed, trying to wrap your head around it as your stared back at the word pregnant.

‘It’s alright, baby. Are you feeling okay?’

‘I think so’ you laughed. Letting him grip the back of your thighs so he could place you on the counter and look him in the eye. ‘I just can’t believe it, like I don’t even know what to think’

‘Well It’s still early love, how about we keep it to ourselves for a little while and tell the kids when we’re certain everything’s okay’ he reassured you and you felt yourself relax at how calm and in control he was about everything. ‘We can tell the rest of the world after that when you’re ready but for now it’s just us yeah? You, me and Nala’ he joked before pulling you in for a well needed hug.

So you kept it to yourselves. Telling the kids after your 12 week scan and as soon as Tilly found out you were pregnant she’d barely left your side and was seemingly very quizzical about what was happening. You knew she wanted to come out and ask fully how it had happened but she kept it inside until one night when it was just the three of you.

Ollie was at a friend's house for dinner and after all of you had eaten, you were cuddled up on the sofa with Mason, Tilly nestled in between you. Her head on Mason's chest as you watched whatever was on the tv but soon enough Tilly was ready for a biology lesson.

‘Daddy, how did the baby get in mummy’s belly?’ she asked, her head tilting up to look at him but as soon as you looked up you could see the panic written all over his face.

‘Yeah, how did it happen, Mase?’ You teased wanting to know how he’d worm his way out of this one but you could see he was hating every second of this. Sending you a what the fuck face before looking back down at Tilly who was waiting patiently for him to explain.

‘Okay, so you know how you write a letter to Santa at Christmas?’ He started, Tilly nodding excitedly and you could see the cogs turning in his brain, wondering where the hell he was going with this but let him carry on. ‘Well, when two people who love each other very much want a baby, they write a letter to the stork and then you have to bury it in the garden so they can come and pick it up’

You could see Tilly wasn’t buying it, looking back at him in confusion and you yourself were waiting for what he had to say next.

‘But how?’

‘How what?’

‘His did they get into mummy’s belly’ he asked more firmly this time as Mason was quite clearly skirting around it but knowing Tilly she would ask and ask until she got her answer.

‘Well um… well then the stork, it comes back and uh… and it leaves a seed which is the baby… and uh, that goes in Mummy’s tummy’ he nodded, stuttering the whole way through as he was panicking but you were loving how flustered he was. Trying to hold in a laugh as you covered your mouth with your hand.

‘But how does the seed get in there?’ She persisted, watching Mason now try to hide a smile before his eyes flashed to yours and you knew he was about to say something he shouldn’t.

‘She swallows it’

‘Okay that’s enough for today’ you interrupted, pulling Tilly onto your lap ‘you need to go and pick Ollie up’ you told Mason with a slightly dissatisfied look on your face and he quickly kissed your forehead la with a smile before getting up. ‘Come on missy, let’s get you in the bath, yeah?’

‘Okay mummy,’ she smiled. Reaching over to give Mason a kiss on the cheek before making her way up the stairs and you promised her you’d be right up in a minute.

‘Right I won’t be long’ Mason laughed as he got up, reaching down to help pull you up with him but he must have caught the unimpressed look from you as he began to laugh at your expression. ‘What?’

‘You know what’ you laughed. ‘Maybe If I had swallowed we wouldn’t be in this state would we’

‘I love it when you talk dirty’ Mason laughed. Pulling you into him with his hand on your bum and he squeezed it as he kissed you heavily. ‘I’ll see you soon, maybe when the kids are in bed we can try-‘

‘Mason I swear to god’ you laughed, pulling away and tapping his chest before making a beeline for the stairs but the sound of his giggles as he made his way out the door made you giggle along too.

Things took a turn at the gender reveal though. The four of you not doing anything extravagant but you knew you wanted the kids involved so after you scan you gave your bestie Sid an envelope with the gender inside so she could organise a cake and the next day you were all sat around the kitchen island with wine glasses in hand ready to sink them into the cake and you couldn’t be more excited.

Mason and Ollie didn’t care what the gender was, as did you, but Tilly was gunning for a baby sister. Having already picked out some toys for her to have and she constantly referred to the baby as she. You knew there would be a meltdown if she didn’t get her way but you were trying to distract her as best you could.

‘Okay, are we ready?’ you laughed, popping your hand on Tilly’s glass to help her push down into the cake and after the count of three you shut your eyes and pushed down on both until you hit the board.

It was Tilly crying no that made you realise what had happened. Looking round to see everyone’s glass filled with the blue frosting from the inside of the cake but Tilly’s wails wouldn’t let you enjoy your time just yet.

Mason was trying his hardest to contain his laughter and when you pulled Tilly into a hug to console her, he wrapped his arms around the pair of you whilst Ollie just grabbed a fork and began to dig into his cake.

‘Tilly baby, it’s okay’ you tried to reassure her, holding your laughs in as best you could but she just cried harder.

‘I don’t like boys’ she sobbed into your neck as she held you tight and as much as Mason looked like he was about to lose it, he peeled Tilly away from you and began to talk to her quietly. Eventually taking her out into the garden where you could see him swaying her from side to side as he spoke into the side of her head and eventually she was nodding her head and wiping her eyes

You joined Ollie though, accepting the fork he passed you so you could dig in too while you spoke about the new baby boy on the way and Ollie was very quick to reassure you how excited he was and how much he wanted to help out.

‘Okay, I think we’re on board now’ Mason announced as he walked back in with Tilly on his hip. A smile on her face but her eyes were still red and watery so Mason sat her on the side so you could feed her some cake.

‘Tilly, my new book came today. Shall I read to you for a bit?’ Ollie asked, your heart melting at the way he wanted to cheer her up as Ollie reading to her was their thing. Whenever Tilly was on mad one or overwhelmed he’d often take her over to their little corner to calm down and your heart felt full as she toddled off with her hand in his.

‘So, another boy huh?’ Mason smiled as he came over to you. Resting his hands on your waist as you rested yours on his chest and you were thankful for a little bit of alone time with him.

‘Looks like it. And after two clones of you I’m hoping this one looks a little bit like me’ you told him before he kissed your forehead with a giggle.

‘Are you happy?’

‘Of course, as long as he's healthy I couldn’t care what they are,’ you told him softly and he nodded his head in agreement. ‘What did you say to Tilly?’

‘Told her it’s another boy to boss around. And that if she’s the only girl then she’ll always be my only princess’

‘What about me?’ you pouted, watching Mason roll his eyes but he was leaning down to kiss you just after.

You’d picked a few names out, but just like you’d done with Tilly you wanted to see him before you named him and once you had, the name Ryley seemed to fit him like a glove. Whilst you could tell he was Mason's boy you were constantly told how much he looked like you and it made your heart swell whenever you looked at him.

Tilly also came around as soon as she saw him. Almost bursting into tears at the way her little face softened at the sight of her new brother before she was looking up at you for permission to say hello to him and Ollie was just as perfect as ever with him.

A new baby meant a whole new routine though and lately it meant Ryleys feed came at bed time so Mason had to put the others to bed on his own. Usually he’d love this but clearly the novelty has worn off for Tilly and she was making it as difficult for him as possible.

Soon enough the noise died down. Mason telling Tilly that Ryley won’t want to stay with us if she’s too loud and she finally took the hint and got into bed. Letting Mason read her a very quick story before he went and said goodnight to Ollie with the house falling silent once more.

You felt Mason pop his head into the nursery soon after, his eyes and facial expression soft as he took you in but he couldn’t hide the deep blush on his cheeks. Eyes flicking down to your exposed chest as you fed Ryley and you could see he was debating whether or not he should come in but you nodded your head to motion for him to come over. Watching him carefully make his way over to the pair of you and when he was close enough you lifted your head in hopes he’d lean down and kiss you. Revealing in the feeling of his lips brushing against yours softly and you hummed in delight just before he pulled away.

‘You two alright in here?’ He asked quietly, crouching down so he could kiss Ryley’s head. Your heart fluttering at the adoring way he looked down at him before his gaze was locked on yours.

‘We’re okay. Are you okay?’ You laughed, referring to the nightmare he seemed to have just had with the others and you smiled as he rolled his eyes playfully.

‘Oh you heard that yeah?’ He laughed. ‘Unless you put Tilly to bed she’s a right pain in the arse’ he teased. ‘I love her but my god she’s a handful sometimes’

‘They don’t call her Tilly the tiny terror for nothing’ you winked. ‘You done good though sweet cheeks’

‘Thanks’ he laughed, rolling his eyes again. ‘I’m gonna go sort myself out but I’ll see you in our room in a bit, yeah? Take your time’

‘Okay’ you whispered and with one last heavy kiss to your lips he was making his way out.

You sat Ryley up not too long after so you could wind him. Knowing Mason hadn’t really got to see him all that much today and he’d be itching for a cuddle soon so you made your way back across the hall to your bedroom for some time for just the three of you.

You didn’t questione why the door to your bedroom was shut even though maybe you should have. He never usually shut it as it was harder for you to open with just one hand whilst carrying Ryley and you always kept it open just in case one of the kids needed you but you just shifted Ryley on your chest so he was over your left shoulder and pushed the door open.

You should have known there was a reason why he shut it. Walking around to be met with the sound of his loud breathing and when you rounded the corner and into his view you were shocked by the sight in front of you.

There he was laid on the bed, T-shirt riding high on his perfect body as his boxers had been shuffled down his thighs ever so slightly to free himself and even from the split second view you knew what he was doing as his hand moved up and down. A shocked gasp falling from your lips before you turned and you heard mason fumbling behind you.

‘Shit! Oh god, oh god no’

‘Mase, it’s okay’ you told him, slightly chuckling as you turned back around to face him but the look on his face made your heart drop.

His cheeks were redder than you’d ever seen them, a humiliated look plastered across his face no matter how much he tried to hide it and he looked on the brink of tears.

‘Masey, no don’t get upset it’s alright’

‘I need the bathroom-’

‘No wait’ you called, popping Ryley into his crib as quickly as you could before rushing over to him to stop him from hiding away in the en-suite for the rest of the night and thankfully you caught him before he was able to shut the door. ‘Come here baby, come and talk to me’

‘No I-‘

‘Mase, come on’ you interrupted, pulling him back to bed so you could sit on the edge with him in hopes he’d look at you. He was determined to keep looking down though so in the end you just held him tight and spoke into his hair. ‘It’s okay, you don’t need to be embarrassed or anything. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before’

‘I thought I had more time’ he told you. Holding you tighter but you hated how down he sounded.

‘Look at me’ you whispered, letting him take his own time to gather himself before looking up at you shyly. ‘You don’t need to be embarrassed, it’s perfectly normal’

‘I know I just… it’s still embarrassing’ he laughed. ‘I feel like a teenager who’s just been caught. I just thought you’d be a bit longer with the little man and I’d have time. I haven’t wanted to ask for… you know. I wanted to wait until you’re ready and-‘

‘Who said I’m not ready’ you smiled. ‘I gave birth 8 weeks ago now so that’s two weeks over’

‘I know’ he smiled. I’m just worried that’s all’

‘Worried about what?’

‘I don’t wanna hurt you’ he whispered and your heart broke at his sad face. ‘Remember what happened after Tilly?’ He asked and you nodded solemnly.

It had been six weeks since Tilly had been born and you knew Mason was chomping at the bit to have you. You were too big and uncomfortable towards the end of your pregnancy so it had been months since you’d last been intimate and it was almost as if Mason was counting down the days.

Your night didn’t go as planned though. Unbenounced to you, you still weren’t fully ready and even though Mason had been gentle with you and you’d tried to push through it, it hurt too much and you’d ended up bursting into tears.

Mason felt awful, almost in tears himself as he tried to comfort you but you knew he was blaming himself when he shouldn’t be. In the end you took his face in your hands so you could pepper his cheeks with kisses but your heart was breaking as he repeatedly told you how sorry he was.

‘Masey it’s not your fault’ you told him quietly, but he wasn’t having any of it. Hiding his head into your neck for the rest of the night until the pair of you eventually fell asleep.

He was quiet with you but extra soft for a few days until you could talk it out and let him know it wasn’t his fault. You just had to wait an extra few weeks and everything would go back to normal.

You could see it in his eyes now that he was frightened so you pulled him closer and cupped his jaw so you could look at each other properly.

‘Tilly had a massive head baby’ you laughed. ‘She was a right pain to get out but I don’t feel like I did with Tilly. Ryley was a breeze compared to her and I’m all healed up now. There’s nothing to be afraid of’

‘Yeah?’ He smiled. His body relaxing in your arms as you reassured him everything was okay and the small smile on his lips made you feel a lot better.

‘Yeah, of course. In fact… what do you say we pop Ryley in his nursery for a bit so we can have some time for just us’

‘Wait, what?’ He whispered, his face looking slightly shocked but in all honestly your been craving some alone time with Mason yourself. ‘Are you sure?’

‘100%, Just give me a sec and I’ll be back’ you told him. Slightly untangling yourself from him so you could pick up Ryley and take him over to his nursery. You never left him in here at night but he had his naps in here all the time so you made sure the baby cam was set up properly before dropping a kiss on his head. ‘I’ll be back for you soon, little one. Just keep sleeping for me’ you whispered. Taking one last look before making your way back to Mason.

He was sitting on the bed facing the door when you got back and a sudden wave of anxiety rolled over you as soon as you shut the door. Your body had changed so much since he’d last seen it and you knew you were covered in stretch marks and still sagging in certain places so when he pulled you in between his legs you tried not to look him in the eye.

‘Baby? Everything alright?’ He asked, fingers delicately tracing the backs of your thighs and you just nodded and you pulled him into a hug.

‘I’m okay, just nervous’ you laughed awkwardly. ‘It’s been a while’

‘I know, love. We can go as slowly as you want to though, yeah?’

‘I know’ you smiled, kissing his forehead gently but he could still read your mind and sense how apprehensive you were.

‘And I don’t care what you think your body looks like now. You know that don’t you? I love you and I just wanna make you feel good’

‘I know, Mase’ you smiled, eyes filling at his sweet words. He’d said the same after both your other babies had been born but the words still hit you deep. You didn’t look like you used you, three babies would have an effect on anyone but Mason never cared. He took you as you were and only cared about looking after you, telling you you’d given him everything he’d ever wanted and he’d make sure he looked after you in whatever way you needed.

His hands were trailing all over your bare legs, touching wherever he could as his lips pressed kisses to your chest and you couldn’t help but giggle as he finally got to touch all the places he’d missed for the last few months.

‘What’s so funny?’ He smiled, pinching your bum gently as you steadied yourself but his cheeky smile was melting you.

‘We’ve been together for so many years now, had three kids together and you’re still as horny as ever’ you chuckled, wanting him to know how ridiculous you found him but deep down you knew you were just as bad.

‘That’s what happens when you’ve got the most beautiful wife in the world’ he told you. ‘You know I’ll never not want you. Even when we’re grey and wrinkly I’ll still think you’re hot as fuck’

‘If you’re trying to get me in the mood, talking about old people probably won’t help’ you told him, kneeling onto the mattress and his light laugh made you smile.

‘Noted’ he winked, shuffling back and inviting you to lay with him and once you were next to him he laid you back gently and kissed you with as much passion as he could muster.

He kissed you until you felt dizzy, your hands gripping at him where you could and when when you moaned into his mouth he rolled ontop on you so he could look directly down at you.

‘What do you want baby? You want my fingers?’

‘Mhmmm’

‘Yeah? You don’t sound so sure’ he teased but before you could protest he was talking again. ‘I think I know what you really want’

‘What’s that?’

‘You want my mouth, don’t you?’ He whispered lowly into you ear. The sound making you shiver and a gasp to fall from your lip at the sound of his dirty words. ‘Thought so’ he chuckled and before you knew it he was kissing down your neck as he grabbed the hem of your shirt.

You knew it was just Mason and he loved you no matter what, so you let him remove all your clothes as he placed kisses to your exposed skin. Pushing any nervous thoughts out of your head so on you could enjoy the feel of him again.

As soon as his lips touched where they needed to you felt yourself melt. Feeling like you were floating on clouds as he reminded you what you’d been missing out on for months as you tried your hardest to keep your moans at bay and not wake anyone. He made it difficult though. Getting back into the rhythm of things like he’d never been away and soon enough your fingers were getting tangled in his hair as he pushed you over the finish line.

‘Stop biting your lip, I wanna do that’ he laughed, as he made his way back up to your face. Kissing you so you could taste yourself and you let out quiet moan as he gently sunk his teeth into your bottom lip.

‘I’m trying to be quiet’ you laughed, lips against his as you spoke before he stole another kiss from you. Knowing he was ready and raring to go.

‘What do you want now baby?’

‘I want you. All of you,’ you told him. Watching a slight nervousness flicker through him and you wanted to reassure him straight away. Gripping the back of his neck so you could tug him back down for a kiss and as he got into it you began to undress him until you were both naked and needy for each other.

You knew he was watching you the whole time as he pushed his way inside of you. Your face contorting in pleasure as he took his time before bending down to press gentle kisses over your face.

‘Is that okay?’ He whispered, moving his hips slowly so you could adjust to him but you were already seeing stars after not feeling him for so long and all you could muster was a nod. ‘Yeah?’ Breathed, a sense of relief laced through his voice and you nodded as you tried to reassure him further.

‘Yes masey, keep doing that’ you moaned, louder than you’d intended to but it all felt so intense and you knew mason was feeling it too.

‘Should I slow down?’

‘No, just like that’ you sighed. Reaching up to grab his shoulders so you had something to steady yourself but also because you wanted to feel his skin under yours.

‘You wonder why I still can’t keep my hands off of you?’ He moaned, pulling up so he could hold you at your waist and take a bit more control. ‘Fucking look at you, you’re unreal’

‘Mase-‘

‘I know gorgeous. I’m with you, just let go for me’ he told you and you did exactly as he said. Letting him coax you through it until you were spent and he was flopping down gently next to you.

Sometimes you felt like this was your favourite bit. Laying skin to skin with your man as he gently stroked your back and you couldn’t help but nuzzle into him more as you made every second count. You’d missed these moments with him and from the way he was holding you close you knew he’d missed it too.

‘You okay?’ He whispered after a while. Feeling your eyes growing heavier as he lulled you to sleep but you looked up at him with a soft smile as he kissed your nose.

‘I’m perfect’

‘I didn’t hurt you at all did I?’ He questioned quietly but you shook your head so he knew you were fine straight away.

‘I promise you, I’m absolutely fine’ you told him. Pecking his lips softly before sighing. ‘I’m so comfy but I need to go and get Ryley. I don’t like leaving him in there alone for too long’

‘Stay there, okay? I’ll go get little man’ he reassured you. Kissing your head gently before untangling himself from you so he could get dressed and grab your boy.

You got dressed too whilst he was gone and you were just pulling your top over your head as he walked back in with Ryley cuddled into his chest. Your heart thumping at the way they were together and no matter when or where, watching Mason with a tiny human always made your knees weak.

‘Come on boys, mumma needs a cuddle’ you laughed. Jumping up onto the bed and letting Mason pass you Ryley before he laid next to you. His head on your chest as Ryley laid on the other side and you couldn’t stop yourself from looking down at Mason and seeing how happy he was to have some time with Ryley. ‘You okay, Mase?’

‘I’m better than okay’ he smiled, reaching up to give you a quick peck before nuzzling back down into your neck. ‘Thank you for everything, I never thought I could be this happy’

You didn’t have the words for him. Your eyes filling with tears as you kissed his temple but inside you were agreeing with him wholeheartedly. You too never thought you could ever be this happy but as you thought about where you were right now and who you were with, you knew right now your life and your family were complete.

Thank you so much for reading 🩷 I really hoped you enjoyed it and I’d love if you could leave me some feedback if you fancy it 😘

[shinranposting]

Spoilers file 1121

ShinRan part summary/analysis (Long post!!):

At the beginning, it takes up Hakuba trying to discover that "Shinichi" was actually Kid, due to his bad deductions, but Kidichi manages to give a good answer (finally, after being wrong throughout the previous file xD), allowing Hakuba let him go for the moment.

But Hakuba is still suspicious, so, to test "Shinichi's" reaction, he flirts with Ran, but the one who reacts first is Conan (his face LOL his face must be one of his wildest jealous faces in the entire story? hahaha) and then Kidichi acts at the wrong time, which Hakuba clearly notices.

Then Conan/Shinichi (the real Shinichi through Kidichi), complains to Ran that she had been "stunned" by Hakuba's words and then tells her this:

"Shinichi: I didn't forget! Shinichi: When you kissed me on the cheek at Kiyomizu Temple! Shinichi: So don't forget that too!"

And then in the next panel, he openly admits that he gets jealous (Shinichi seems to have completely lost his shyness and tells Ran everything he thinks/feels lol).

By the way, the scene is extremely similar to this scene from the Kyoto arc. In Kyoto, after getting jealous of Okita, Shinichi reminds her her confession in London and now about the kiss on the cheek in Kyoto:

I don't believe in coincidences! (In fact, there are also another scene that refers to the aquarium case, case that was for the 20th anniversary 2014, when Megure asks them if they are on a date, now Megure asks them the same question, asking them if they are on a date like in that restaurant, referring to Desperate Revival).

But Ran doesn't look enthusiastic or excited with Shinichi´s words, even her blush is less like that of Kidichi and Sonoko, but rather confused. Could it be that she is discovering that this "Shinichi" is not her "Shinichi"? Even , as some here have said, it seems like she's seeing Conan instead of Shinichi (obviously, just speculation).

(Some say that she might have noticed since Kidichi holds the wrong cheek, or that from the hand gesture Ran can see the audiophone, but again, just speculation).

But the one we can be almost sure that he has already figured out everything is Hakuba, who has already seen the audiophone, and that Conan speaks to Kidichi through the bow tie.

The case's resolution is the next file, which is released next week. Same day that an announcement will be made about the 30th anniversary of the manga.

[persephones-journey]

You Are The Best Thing, That's Ever Been Mine

Another prompt for @emilyhufflepufftlk Em's 500 Follower Challenge. This one was Mine, the song by Taylor Swift. it's also my first Sihtric / OC story. So... enjoy.

Read here on A03. There is Smut, so you have been warned.

Tagging: @medievalfangirl @93xdiagonxalley @blah-blah-blah-bla @lauwrite1225 @morosemagick @solinarimoon @still-with-you

You Are The Best Thing, That's Ever Been Mine

Briar was determined to not meet anyone and fall in love.

She had moved across three states to her dream university, on a scholarship, she was going to focus on school and nothing more.

And then she walked into that bar.

And she saw him.

Sihtric Kjartanson.

Bad boy into his third year as an English major, covered in tattoos, and had a jawline that looked like it was cut out of marble, and eyes that were different colours; one blue, one brown, but both had the ability to stare into your very soul.

Briar was determined not to fall for him.

Three drinks in though, she noticed how he hovered near her at the bar and kept an eye on her. It was sweet. Annoying, but sweet.

“You don't have to watch me, you know,” she muttered to him.

He raised an eyebrow. “What if I like watching you?”

“I'd call you a pervert,” she answered.

He smirked. “You wouldn't be the first one and I doubt you would be the last. People say the wildest things when they are drunk.”

“I am not drunk.”

“Sure, you aren't, Briar Rose,” he answered.

She rolled her eyes. “You going to call me Sleeping Beauty too?” she snorted.

Sihtric smirked. “Maybe later when you actually fall asleep at the bar,” he said.

She shook her head but she felt the smile tugging on her lips. Later, he walked her back to her place and helped her get into her apartment and in bed. Shocking to her, he did not take advantage of her. He tucked her in and left.

And she found she wanted him to stay.

A few weeks went by, and Briar found herself going back to the bar over and over. She found herself talking to Sihtric and laughing with him. And he would always walk her home. One night, he held her hand. And she let him. After doing that a few times, Briar wanted more.

One night, he walked her home and she pulled him into her apartment. She shut the door and turned to look at him.

“Kiss me,” she said firmly.

Sihtric smiled. He leaned in and pressed her against the door. She looked into his mismatched eyes. “Just a kiss?” he asked softly, his breath hitting her lips.

“To start,” she reached up and pressed a hand to his cheek. “We will see if you are good enough of a kisser to get my clothing off.”

Sihtric growled. “Oh, I know I am.”

And he kissed her.

Briar had never believed in earth shattering, first love, when you know you know moments. But that first kiss with Sihtric, yeah, that made a believer out of her.

His lips pressed against hers and his arms wrapped around her body holding her tight between his body and the door. He sucked on her bottom lip and ran his tongue along it slowly. Briar whimpered and he deepened the kiss. She opened her lips slightly and his tongue slipped into her mouth and stroked her tongue. His hands grabbed her ass and pulled her pelvis closer to his. She could feel his hard cock against her.

“Do we move this to the bedroom or do you want me to take you right here?” he asked as he pulled away from the kiss. He pressed a softer one to her lips as his hands gripped her ass cheeks.

“Bedroom,” Briar managed to say.

Sihtric smirked. “Which way?”

“Through the french doors there,” she answered.

Sihtric nodded. He lifted her by her ass and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He carried her away from the door and towards her bedroom. She kissed him and he kissed her as he carried her there. She could not get enough of his lips pressed against hers.

He placed her on her feet by the bed and they began to shed their clothing. For Briar, it was weird to have someone be so in sync with her the first time in the bedroom. Sihtric's hands never got in the way of hers and vice versa.

In no time, their clothing was off and on the floor all around them. Sihtric wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply before she could think anything of being naked in front of him for the first time. She moaned as his skin pressed against hers. Sihtric's lips hovered against hers as he pulled away.

“You are beautiful, Briar Rose,” he whispered.

She smiled at the nickname he had given her. Her middle name was in fact Olivia, and normally she would be angry at being compared to the Disney movie but when Sihtric did it, it made her heart fluttered and she felt weak in the knees.

“And you are all muscle and tattoos,” she said as she went to pull away and ran her hands down his chest.

Sihtric shook his head. “Later, you can kiss my body and learn my tattoos later. Right now, I need to taste you and bury my cock inside of you.”

Briar felt herself get wetter at those words. Sihtric lifted her like she weighed nothing and placed her on the bed. He covered her body with his own. She barely had time to think as his hands and mouth went to work touching, stroking, licking, and kissing every inch of her it seemed. She raked her fingers through Sihtric's curls as she closed her eyes and let the pleasure over take her.

Sihtric's tongue made her come first followed by his fingers. Briar thought she could not come again or as hard but then Sihtric slid his cock deep inside of her and pulled her body close and hard against his. He thrusted into her over and over, pushing her closer and closer to falling over that edge. It was all Briar could do to hold on to Sihtric and bite his shoulder as she came again, for the third time, a first for her, moaning his name. Sihtric kept going though and continued to thrust deep and hard into her.

“Oh god,” she moaned as he pulled her up so she was straddling his lap. He pulled away and kissed her and she kissed him back loving the feel of having him pressed up against her completely with no barriers.

“The name is Sihtric,” he muttered as he kissed her again.

She laughed and raked her fingers down his back as she moved her hips against his. Sihtric gripped her hips tight and thrusted against her every roll making him plunge deeper into her every time.

She came again harder than the other times and clung to him. He held her so tight and so close as he lowered her to the bed.

“Stay,” she muttered as she felt him place soft feather like kisses to her neck and shoulder.

He smiled against her cheek. “I wasn't planning on going anywhere,” he muttered.

And from that night on, he didn't.

Briar cleaned out a couple of drawers for him at first, and he did the same for her at his place. But the time her first year was finished, they had decided to move in together and she had gotten a summer job at a bookstore.

Time seemed to fly by for Briar then. She blinked and suddenly Sihtric was graduating, taking a lesser paying job to stay close to her while she finished school, even though she urged him not to.

“You are where I want to be, Briar Rose. You are what is important, not how much money I make,” he answered as he kissed her deeply and pulled her into the bedroom.

It took Briar another year before she realized that the same was true for her as well. As she got closer to graduating, she began looking at her dream jobs, jobs that would take her away from the college town.

Away from Sihtric.

And she found she could not find it in her to apply to them. She wanted to stay close to him.

She wanted to be with him.

She never told Sihtric, but like always, he seemed to know. And when the day came, when she was getting ready to graduate, curling her hair and muttered about how she should have just pulled it back in a ponytail, he walked into the bathroom and leaned against the counter beside her and smiled.

“I got you a present,” he said softly.

She smiled. “You did?” she shut the curling iron off, finished with her hair, and turned to look at him. “I told you not to.”

“I know but this present,” he said as he moved closer, “it comes with a question attached,” he added.

She frowned. “What kind of question?”

Sihtric smiled at her, his mismatched eyes looking at her filled with love and desire. She watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. The diamond small and barely noticeable but Briar did not care. The ring was simple; like the love she had for Sihtric.

“Will you marry me?” he asked, his voice so soft and wavering slightly over the word marry.

Briar leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him deeply and pressed her forehead against his. She felt him hold her tight and close.

“Yes,” she breathed out.

“Yes, what?” he teased as he kissed her again.

She smacked his side. “Yes, I will marry you, Sihtric.”

He smiled and kissed her deeply. She laughed and pulled away from him. He took her left hand and slipped the ring on her ring finger; it was a perfect fit just like he was. She looked at her hand and laughed as tears ran down her cheeks. She looked at Sihtric as he wiped her tears away.

“I love you,” she told him.

He smiled. “Good, because I love you too.”

She barely made it to her graduation on time, but it did not matter.

A year and a half later, as she walked down the aisle in her white dress, watching as Sihtric cried seeing her for the first time, she knew she had found her person. Her home.

Her everything.

She stood across from him in front of the minister and in front of all their friends and family. She handed her bouquet to her maid of honour and reached out to wipe his tears away.

“You look beautiful,” he told her softly.

She smiled and felt tears come to her eyes. “You look very handsome as well.”

The minister started the ceremony. Briar blushed because Sihtric could not take his eyes from her. She held his hands tight in hers. Tears rolled down both of their cheeks.

“Sihtric and Briar have both decided to say their own vows,” the minister said. “Sihtric, would you like to start?”

Briar looked at Sihtric. He smiled and brought her hands to his lips. He kissed the back of each other them. He looked at her and sighed.

“Briar, you,” he took a deep breath, “I never thought I would find anyone like you. I never thought I would love the way I love you,” he said. “But there you were, rolling your eyes at me and my lame jokes,” everyone laughed. “It wasn't love at first sight, it was friendship that grew into something more, something lasting. Briar, you,” he took a slow breath and Briar could see the tears in his eyes. He let them fall down his cheeks, “Briar Rose, you are and always will be the best thing that has ever been mine,” he said. “I am so lucky you chose me. I am grateful to be the one you wish to spend your life with. And I cannot wait for our life together to begin.”

Briar felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She nodded. She barely heard the minister say it was her turn. She looked at Sihtric, the man she would spend the rest of her life with. She held his hands tight.

“You are also the best thing that has ever been mine,” she said. She saw only him in that moment. “I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life beside you with you as my partner. I love you so much, Sihtric. I want forever with you.”

She laughed as Sihtric pulled her close and kissed her. The minister sighed and everyone laughed. She kissed him back and held him close to her.

“Mine,” he whispered to her in between kisses.

“Mine and yours,” she whispered back.

[dreamsarebutterflies]

Stolas was so nervous and protected himself from being hurt by going at it all businesslike at first.

The music, the face he made when Blitz came in, how Blitz genuinely seemed so happy to spend time with him- It was so good but also heartbreaking. Stolas was in his own head the whole time, and it's true Blitz was living in a different reality until the very end, but he really took his sweet time to try and actually explain the situation and what he actually meant to say.

He shouldn't have been so closed off when Blitz played it off as a roleplay thing. He knows him, he knows he avoids intimacy and Blitz mentioned before how Stolas himself made it clear that he only wanted him for sex. He made several roundabouts attempts to turn their relationship into something else but he never defended himself on this specific and hurtful belief. So it was really infuriating that he got out of the room and basically ran away when Blitz misread the situation. I get he was hurt and he had all the rights to be but he should have tried to make it crystal clear that he was serious.

Blitz is right in the first part of his defensive argument. Stolas didn't give him one fucking minute to deal with FEELINGS. He understands this isn't a joke but never before in his life did someone believe in him the way Stolas does. This is fiction to Blitz! Royal blood giving him this kind of gift? For free? Not in his wildest dreams.

The gift ALONE was so confusing to him?? His face and silence the whole time??? He didn't know how to make sense of it. And I bet it was so freaking scary. He got so emotional and desperate. And I'm pretty sure it's not only about his business - he thinks his value only equals his ability to provide a job to M&M and his Loona and it's the only thing he's good at. Not only he cannot do his job without Stolas' grimoire but if they don't have this deal, he seems so SURE that Stolas won't want/need to see him anymore. If they don't have this deal, it means he isn't GOOD ENOUGH.

Loona says Stolas got tired of him and Blitz becomes insecure. Later on this same day, the first thing the bird says is that he wants his book back. Permanently.

In his perspective, nothing made sense from the moment he climbed up his balcony. (And can we talk about how this is so cute, how obvious it is he's being romantic like a prince from some fairytale or dramatic play). We can't be angry at him for being confused and slow.

GIVE HIM A FUCKING MINUTE-

But yeah, he went too far, fell back into old toxic patterns, probably got triggered not once but twice about being not enough.

AND AS SOON AS HE REALIZED HOW MUCH HE HURT STOLAS, HOW WRONG HE ACTUALLY WAS, HE WAS READY TO APOLOGIZE???

HE NEVER DOES THAT😭

Stolas:

Gives Blitzø crystal 😇🔮

Tells him he still wants to see him

Basically tells him how wonderful he is

Blitzø:

ITS BECAUSE IM SMALL ISN’T IT?! 👹

Like we know you’ve got some stuff to unpack Blitz… But not cool man.

[spectresbase]

Naughty November Day 11

Collected Tweetfics from the 11th day of my Naughty November project. Themes for this set: Bi-Curiosity - Primal/Rough - Bondage Hope you enjoy the little bites of smut!

It'd started as a game. Now JAlter was pushed to her limits just trying to keep up. She'd unlocked something wild in Jeanne, pushing her 'innocent' counterpart into a primal heat that threatened to scorch her to the core. Screaming, JAlter came again. Jeanne howled with her!

Wrists cuffed to the spreader bar behind her back, Kim knelt on the bed. Clamps teased her nipples and a bullet buzzed between her legs. Once she was set, Ron kissed the top of her head, ran a finger over her clit, then left to watch a movie. She'd be ready when he came back.

It's mating season, and Nidalee's chosen you as her mate. Down on all fours, her back arched impossibly, she throws herself back against you, meeting every thrust with a feral intensity that has you certain one load won't be enough to satiate this kitty. She'll want it all!

Catching Selina and Dick in the midest of the wildest, hardest sex she'd ever seen sent conflicting needs through Babs's head. She wasn't sure which of them she wanted more. So she split the difference. Offering her ass up to Dick, she sucked his cum straight from Selina's cunt!

When her assassination attempt failed, Cheshire found herself right up and personal with Batman, both of them breathing hard. They could've kept fighting... Pinning her to the bed, he drove his hips forward, pounding into her as she bucked up against him, growling for more!

"I'm not so sure about this..." Shikanosuke eyed the dick bouncing inches from his face. "Shouldn't this be a solo class?" "Nah!" Hebiko giggled, kissing Kotarou's head. "I like group lessons!" For somebody hesitant to start, Shikanosuke sucked dick like a pro! With Kelly's fat ass clapping with every thrust, B170 was too caught up in the moment to think about it when Jerome's thick cock slide into his ass. Only later, as cum ran down his cheeks, did he realized he'd just been fucked by a guy. Huh... He looked at Jerome. "Round two?"

Last night had been so wild Asuna hadn't bothered to untie herself after they'd finished. She'd just passed out. When woke she was sore, still tied up, and hungry. Knocking cereal into a dog bowl, she was three bites in before she realized eating like this was making her wet.

"Iigabis me!" A flick of her wrists sent a streamer of ropes shooting from the end of her wand. In seconds, Hermione was bound in intricate knots that displayed as well as restrained. Grinning, she looked at Luna and Ginny. "We doing this hen night right or what?"

She'd had plenty of guys tell her 'she just needed the right dick' but this was the first time Kate actually wanted to try one. Well, not one... Caught between Batwing and Azrael, her body their battlefield, Kate had to admit it was fun. Be better if they had tits though...

When it came time for Ben to perform his husbandry duty to Looma, she would not be content for a simple pump and dump. If he was to bed her, it would be like a warrior, with plenty of aggression and passion. He would breed her properly, or he would break in the attempt!

Accepting the dark side showed Rey the true pleasures of the galaxy. Pleasure she was eager to impart on her new subordinates. Phasma hung from the binders, legs spread. Power licked at her clit, and she moaned into the gag. Moans became screams as Rey took her fully.

It was purely for science. Stephanie had only dated women until now. So had Kevin. So this was new to both of them. They swore it. But if that was true, these two roommates were the two best natural cock suckers you'd ever met! Balls twitching, you came a fifth time.

Being created it was entirely possible his heat cycle had been engineered into Stitch. If it had, Nani was gonna have a long talk with Jamba. Just as soon as she got feeling back in her legs. And as long as she was stuck in bed anyway... She started sucking Stitch hard again.

Adam was a gentle lover, even as the Beast. It was sweet at first. Was... Grabbing his hands, Belle brought them up to her own throat. "Choke me! I want it rough. I want to hurt tomorrow. Fuck, I want to hide bruises when I talk to the girls next week. I. Want. To. FUCK!"

It wasn't just a fat ass the Imperial agent gave Bo-Katan. It was damned sensitive! Every time she got near him, he'd swat her ass and she'd double over fighting back a climax. She was gonna wring his little neck! Just *AH* as soon as she stopped cumming!

[geeky-politics-46]

Spooky

Pairing: Sinister Stephen Strange x Reader, Donna Strange

Summary: Even Halloween gives Stephen more reasons to love you & the life you've given him. Partly inspired by the song "Spooky" by Classics IV.

Warnings: Not much, mostly fluff. Allusions to smut. Reference to Sinister's not so pleasant past.

Let me know if you are interested & I will happily share my massive Halloween playlist. I name checked some fave songs in the story.

"Boo!" 

Stephen had popped out from behind a corner in the Sanctum and grabbed your daughter up in his arms. Her squeals and giggles echoing through the halls of the building. Making you smile where you stood in the large dining room, getting ready to crawl back up onto the  table to hang the rest of the paper bats you had cut so they dangled and "flew" from the chandelier. 

In moments like this it was easy to forget it was just the three of you in this universe. That outside of the walls of the grand building you had turned into a home full of love, the world was still in the early stages of stitching itself back together. That not so long ago you fell into Stephen's fractured world and changed the tortured lonely sorcerer into a brand new man. A better man than he could ever have dreamed of being.

He still found himself dumbfounded that you were actually there in his arms each and every morning. He was still not 100% convinced he hadn't conjured you up unwittingly somehow from his wildest desires and fantasies. Except now he had not just you, but your shared daughter Donna to marvel at and dote upon. 

There was absolutely no doubting that she was his either. Her dark hair and emotive blue eyes made that fact clear as day. A spitting image of her father from day one, and the absolute apple of his eye. His little perfect princess. He wanted to give her everything, which in your desolate corner of the multiverse was easier said than done. 

So you had both decided, in an effort to give Donna as much of a normal childhood as you could, you would celebrate all the normal holidays and life events as you would if you were back in your original universe. This included birthdays, Christmas, and your personal favorite Halloween. 

This would be Donna's third Halloween, but the first that she would actually be able to remember. So you went all out. Having her help you cut out ghosts, bats, and pumpkins to hang up around the Sanctum. Having Stephen conjure up all sorts of stuffed black cats and Halloween colored blankets. He had even managed to conjure up a couple real pumpkins for the three of you to carve together. He would never tell you just how long he had spent figuring out how to do that. The genuine joy on your face was well worth the time. 

You were even so close to getting him to dress up for your little Halloween celebration. He hadn't caved to that yet though, but you weren't giving up just yet. Telling him over and over how sexy he would look as your knight in shining armor, or that you would both be perfect as Gomez and Morticia Addams. Perhaps you could even just talk him into playing along with you after you put Donna to bed. It would still count even if only you saw it this year. 

You were pulled from your mischievous thoughts and plans for your own private party with your husband when your daughter ran into the dining room. Stephen was close behind her, a wide genuine smile on his face and his eyes bright with adoration. Donna was dressed in her sparkling purple princess dress, having picked out her own costume herself. Real twinkling sparkles courtesy of Stephen's magic. She could get him to do practically anything she wanted. 

"Alright princess, go give mommy a hug and a kiss then it's time to go get ready for bed. Tomorrow is Halloween and you want to make sure you are well rested for our spooky fun day."

You climbed down and plopped into one of the dining chairs, opening your arms as your daughter giddily ran into them. You squeezed her tight and gave her plenty of goodnight hugs and kisses. Telling her to make sure she told her daddy thank you for making her such a beautiful costume. 

Your heart fluttered when you looked past her and saw Stephen's cheeks blush a little at your compliment. He always looked like a lovesick school boy when you praised him, and you loved him even more for it.

After a few more minutes of twirling and excited bouncing around the room Stephen managed to corral your daughter. Holding her on one hip as she half-heartedly protested that she "really wasn't even that tired." Trying her darndest to stifle a yawn that hit her suddenly. It didn't get past either of you and eventually she relented. Letting her father take her to go find her favorite stuffed animal, a small white bunny, before getting her ready for bed. 

You knew it would take him a bit of time to get her put to sleep. There wasn't a single night that she didn't make her father read her a story, or two or three if she got her way. 

For Halloween he had started reading her a book very fitting for the holiday, and one that you always loved as a kid. Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery. She was probably too young for it really, but since she loved her little stuffed bunny so much you figured she would like it. 

Tomorrow you would surprise her with the small little collar and vampire cape you had made for her stuffed bunny. He might as well get to dress up for Halloween too. Now if you could just figure out how to make it look like he had sucked all the "blood" out of a tomato.

After a little bit the silence in the room felt weird. Going from hearing a toddler at nearly full volume to nothing always felt weird. So you went over to put on the playlist of Halloween themed and general spooky songs that you had spent years curating. Opting to hit shuffle instead of going in order. The playlist was so massive it made more sense that way.

Immediately "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder had you dancing in place and as you moved around putting up more decorations. Singing along at a low volume. Still doing the same when "Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult followed. After a couple more from Fleetwood Mac and Concrete Blondes you had totally lost track of time. 

You turned the volume up a little when you heard the opening melody of "Spooky" by Classics IV. It had always been a song that had a special place in your heart for some reason. It was easy for you to get lost in the smooth sounds of the guitar and the deep bass rhythm that ended each musical phrase.

Stephen snuck up behind you as you swayed and sang along with the song. Placing his arms around you and nuzzling into your neck. You could feel him smiling against your skin as he held you tight. His eyelashes tickling the juncture of your neck and shoulder. 

Eventually he looked up and noticed the little red devil horns you were wearing. He had to chuckle at the irony. He thought of you as his angel. Although he did enjoy your naughty side just as much as your nice one.

"You know, if either of us is suited to be the devil I'm pretty sure it's me. You, my love, are far too angelic to be a devil." 

You turned around in his arms and let your hands run up the lapels of his dark robes and come to rest around his neck. Tilting your head up to place a soft kiss on his chin and then letting your lips connect with his. It was long and sensual and easy. Letting your tongue dance across his lower lip before nipping at it just a little, enough to pull a quiet moan from the dark sorcerer before pulling back with a devious smirk on your face.

"I can still be your little devil though too. You seem to like it when I'm a little bit bad. After all, I've definitely picked up some tricks from the master."

You reached up and pulled off the headband the horns were mounted to. Moving them off of your own head and placed them on Stephen's. Giggling cheerily when he let you place them without protest. Taking care to leave the soft dark strands that fell against his forehead hang loose. Brushing your thumbs over the gray streaks at his temples that you found oh so sexy. Sighing in contentment as your husband started to sway to the music with you again. 

He noticed just how perfect the lyrics of the song were for this moment. How they so perfectly described what he felt for you. How you both bewitched and confounded him, but how you had him wrapped around your finger without even trying. How you seemed to occupy his every thought during the day and haunt his dreams at night. You were his perfect mix of devil and angel, his spooky little girl. 

He still wasn't sure about the idea of dressing up, although he knew that you would probably win him over eventually, but he was now going to insure that this became part of your yearly ritual.  Holding you in his arms and dancing with you to this song before scooping you up and carrying you off to your bedroom. So you could show him just how much of a little devil you could be for him, and so he could cherish you like the angel he knew you would always be in his eyes.

As the last verse started he pulled you into a series of passionate kisses. Letting his tongue dance with yours and feeling the fire between you grow. By the song's chorus he was starting to hoist you up, your legs wrapping around his waist and your hips starting to grind against him. Instead of stopping to turn off the music he simply opted to let it play as he carried you to your shared bed. Letting the lyrics imprint themselves over this moment and over the love you shared.

"Love is kind of crazy with a spooky little girl like you."

--------------------------------

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[undiscovered-horizon]

"The window seat" - TASM!Peter Parker x Reader

SUMMARY: It's one of those rare days Peter takes a bus home. To his surprise, someone asks to switch seats with him and, suddenly, New York has never been this beautiful.

[Check out the 500 followers special!]

Quote: "On the train, we swapped seats: you wanted to look out the window and I wanted to look at you." - Mahmoud Darwish

New York weather was downright awful. It's been raining for the past two days and there was no indication the storm would stop anytime soon. The grey, thick clouds hang low over the tall building and people in rush.

Whether it was the weather or the school day, Peter felt gloomy. His feet felt uncharacteristically heavy that day and so did his head. Time couldn't flow slower that day as if spitefully making him wait in the rain and cold wind.

Peter nearly ran into the bus, impatiently awaiting the moment he can sit, lean against the side of the vehicle and have a deep sigh for the first time that day.

The bus rolled along its usual route, only significantly slower due to the bad weather and the quickly forming traffic jams. He didn't pay attention to the consecutive stops the bus made.

"Excuse me." Peter was surprised to hear a timid voice call out to him. He whipped his head around, only to see you standing a few feet away from him. The cold rainwater was dripping from your umbrella. "Would you mind moving your seat? I'd like to sit by the window."

Something about you made words stuck in his throat for a moment before they escaped in an awkward, flustered ramble:

"No, of course not, take my seat, no problem."

Peter moved to the middle seat and you walked past him, careful not to wet him. When you sat down, staring at the rainy city zooming past the scratched window, Peter had an occasion to get a look at your profile. The way your eyes devoured the view of skyscrapers, shady alleys and brick buildings made him, although for a second, wish he was one of them.

"You're from around here?" he asked timidly. Peter wanted to strike up a conversation but was afraid you'd find him creepy.

"I moved here recently, actually," you turned to him and answered. "It does look like the movies."

Peter chuckled at your comment, feeling like his heart was going to jump out of his chest should he stare at you any longer. Looking at you, it felt as if Peter was seeing a human being for the very first time and couldn't quite satiate his fascination and curiosity. In his lovestruck mind, he believed he has never seen someone even remotely similar to you like you were a black pearl accidentally thrown among white ones, lost in the world you did not belong to. Because, truthfully, could you? Could he, Peter Parker, exist in the same world as the personification of Tristan's wildest dreams and Iseult's greatest envy?

"I'm Peter," he stuttered out. A bright smile entered your face, making Peter forever underwhelmed with the view of a rising sun.

"I'm (Y/N)."

The first rays of sun peeked from behind the dark clouds.

_______

@restingbitchsblog

[queenshelby]

Fan with Benefits (Part Two)

Pairing: Cillian Murphy x Reader

Words: 2,229

Warning: Smut

Notes: As usual, this is fiction and has nothing to do with Cillian’s real life.

Just after you gotten of the phone with Cillian, your friend and roommate Katherine asked you who it was and, when you told her, it almost blew her mind.

‘He is coming here? Oh my god’ she said almost shocked before asking you the all-important question as to whether you wanted her to leave when he did.

‘It’s fine. He is just coming here to sign the paperwork for the artwork he is buying’ you explained.

‘To your apartment? Common, don’t be so naïve. It’s a booty call’ Katherine said and you surely hoped that it was, although you didn’t want to get your hopes up. After all, you knew that he was married.

After a bit more conversation, Katherine convinced you to be prepared, freshly shaved and showered and told you that she would leave at around 6 o’clock.

***

At 4 o’clock you attended your usual yoga class and, in order to save some time, you had a shower at the gym following your class before making your way back home so that you could tidy up and apply some make up.

To your surprise, when you walked into the apartment building, you saw Cillian sit on one of the arm chairs near the elevators.

‘You are early’ you said as you returned.

‘Yes, I am. I ended up getting an earlier flight and texted you’ Cillian then said and you quickly pulled out your phone and realised that he had, indeed, texted you but you didn’t see this message until now.

‘Sorry, I have been out and didn’t check my phone’ you said nervously. You were worried that Katherine had left the apartment in a mess, giving you no chance to tidy up now before Cillian’s arrival.

***

‘Common in’ you said as you reached the second floor of the building and unlocked the door to your apartment. You were impressed that Katherine had not only picked up after herself as promised, but even had left on a couple small lamps to dim the living room slightly.

To your surprise, there also was glassware on the kitchen counter, a fresh bottle of red wine and a packet of condoms which you hoped Cillian wouldn’t notice. You could imagine the inevitable interrogation to ensue the next day, regardless of what happened and you were embarrassed beyond believe.

‘Red wine and condoms?’ Cillian chuckled as he looked towards the kitchen counter and your cheeks turned red immediately and you wanted to sink into the ground.

‘Oh my god. Uhm, this stuff belongs to my roommate’ you explained shyly and nervously, causing Cillian to laugh.

‘Are you sure? Because there is a note saying “Y/N, just in case you need them. Have fun”’ Cillian laughed, reading out the little note that Katherine had stuck to the packet of condoms.

‘Uhm, yeah, no, this stuff is hers. I know nothing about this’ you huffed out with total embarrassment.  

‘That’s a shame. I really felt like a glass of wine and perhaps something else as well’ Cillian winked as he placed the packet of condoms and note back onto the kitchen counter.

‘Uhm, well, you can…I mean we can…aren’t you married?’ you then stammered.  

‘My wife doesn’t mind. In fact, I told her about the nice young lady I met at the gallery last night’ Cillian then said, moving closer towards you.

‘So, is this why you are here?’ you asked nervously, biting your lip.

‘I thought that was obvious’ Cillian then chucked and you felt even more embarrassed than before.

You shook your head nervously. It wasn’t obvious to you at all.

‘Well, obviously your friend thought it was obvious’ Cillian then chuckled and, just as he did, one of his hands caressed your cheeks.

‘She did’ you said before taking up all of your courage and leaning forward towards him which is when his lips met yours in a tentative kiss

‘How did you know that I would want to sleep with you?’ you then asked after your lips drifted apart.

‘I didn’t. I was just being hopeful. Although, I saw the way you kept looking at me last night’ he then said as he leaned against you, pressing your shorter frame against the kitchen counter, and kissing you again.

Your mouths were totally connected now.Your tongues were swirling, darting and exploring each other while the kiss refused to end.

His hands were moving up your sides, gently pressing in against the swell of your ample breasts. At the same time, you digged your fingernails into his back and then grabbed hold of his neck, desperately pulling his face closer towards you.

The smell of his chest and cologne was intoxicating and you were lost in a trance. Was this really happening?

***

‘Where is your bedroom Y/N? I am all for comfort’ Cillian chuckled as your lips drifted apart and he pulled four condoms out of the packet Katherine had left on the counter for you.

‘Four? Do we really need that many?’ you asked surprised while Cillian’s fingertips had begun meandering up and down your forearm.

‘Well, as you have already pointed out, I am married so this will be a one-night thing and I really want to make the most of it’ Cillian then whispered into your ear as your skin bristled at the sensation on your arm and you relished his scent.

‘So, I guess I will be sore tomorrow then, hmm?’ you asked seductively, biting your lip.

‘It’s likely, but I will make it worth it for you. Despite, I will make use of all you have to offer so that your already soaking pussy can have a rest in between’ Cillian then said in between more and more kisses while he slid one of his hands beneath your dress and panties, collecting some of your juices with his fingers.  

You couldn’t help but moan and wanted him to keep his hands right there, in between your legs, but he didn’t.

‘Common, I want to taste you’ Cillian then said, taking you by the hand and urging you to show him to your bedroom.

***

Within less than a minute, you found yourself completely naked on your large Queen bed while Cillian stood in front of it, wearing nothing but his tight blue jeans.

You took it all in, his scent, the glow of his freckled skin and the feel of the little bit of hair on his chest.

Never, in your wildest dreams, did you think that you would ever get to have this man and, whilst you were a little inexperienced, you decided that you would let him have it all. All of you, just as he had requested.

‘What are you waiting for Mr Murphy? I am all yours’ you said eagerly, waiting for him on the bed.

‘Just admiring the view’ Cillian said as he was taking off his watch and placing it onto your dresser along with his phone before climbing onto the bed with you.

When he did, you anticipated him to kiss you but he had other things in mind.

‘Spread your legs’ he demanded and, without thought your legs parted and his head disappeared in between them almost eagerly.

Without warning, his tongue immediately located the hood of your clit, causing you to scream out loud.

Your reaction clearly made him smile as, with all of the anticipation and new sensations, a cold sweat beaded up on your brow.

‘So fucking wet, aren’t you?’ Cillian groaned as his tongue kept swirling around your clit and then, occasionally, slid up and down in between your slit, lapping up your juices.

You flooded your channel as Cillian almost sent you over the edge with his skilled tongue alone and, in that moment, two of his fingers slid over your wet folds, slowly parting your well lubricated lips and entered you.

‘Oh my god’ you groaned as your flower opened and the invaders found the way to your previously unexplored g-spot.

He manipulated you, edging you slowly with his thrusting fingers and tongue. He had you on the brink and you were about cum.

‘Oh god Cillian’ you moaned again as chills ran up both your legs and you trembled involuntarily. Your orgasm hit you right then and there, fast and hard and somewhat unexpectedly.

You came all around Cillian’s fingers within five minutes and, whilst you were almost embarrassed by how quick you came, he was rather pleased with himself.

‘So needy. I will have a lot of fun with you’ he observed as you finally came down from your high and allowed you some time to relax.

When you had finally recovered from your intense orgasm, Cillian pulled you off the bed.

Then he took a step closer to you and immediately started undoing his belt buckle and opening his fly. You instinctively dropped to your knees with a smile on your face and as he unzipped his pants you grabbed the waistband of his jeans and his Calvin Klein briefs and began slowly tugging them down.

First you saw his dark pubic hair, then the top of his cock shaft, and as you pulled his bottoms further down his cock sprang forth in all its erect glory. You actually jumped a little when it leaped out at you, a fact that he noticed.

‘Are you going to be a good girl and take my cock all the way into your mouth?’ he asked in a deep voice, sending shivers down your spine.

‘I sure will, after I have a little play with it first’ you replied as you took his cock in your hand eagerly. This was all you had ever fantasised about and wanted to take in everything, the look of it, the feel of it and its scent.

At first you just stroked Cillian’s cock slowly and observed it as it began to swell even more in your hand. You moved in closer to get your other hand on his balls and you could smell his musk. It was intoxicating to you! As you gently massaged Cillian’s testicles you could feel how full they were and you couldn't help it anymore. you needed to taste him.

You stuck out your tongue and licked his shaft from his balls all the way up to the tip. Then you swirled your tongue around the tip a few times as he growled under his breath. Finally, you completely enveloped Cillian’s cock head with your lips and started sucking him. You let lots of saliva dribble out of your mouth to keep the shaft lubricated as you continued to stroke him.

‘Fuck, that’s it’ Cillian groaned as you kept at it, working his shaft with one hand, massaging his balls with the other, and sucking him for several minutes. He had his hands on your head guiding his cock in and out of your mouth.

Eventually, Cillian tightened the grip he had on the back of your head and pushed you further down on his shaft until, finally, he bottomed out against the back of your throat.

You gagged, saliva dripping out of your mouth as the wetness in between your legs was building.

‘You are doing so fucking well’ he groaned again as you gave into his force and let him take your mouth as you were moaning around his thick member.

Eventually, Cillian released his grip against your head and let you get back to work at your own pace, and you continued giving him a slobbery blowjob. This time, you forced yourself further and further down his long shaft, making yourself gag and listening to him groan in approval.

One of your hands kept a firm grip on his balls while the other stroked him up and down in tempo with your head bobbing.

His groans were getting louder and you moaned softly against him, slurping loudly as you moved, letting his cock hit or lightly ease into your throat every time you sank down. You gave him long strides, really making sure all of his cock was getting some form of attention.

‘Fuck’ he murmured, starting to squirm. ‘I am close’ he then groaned and you were really curious what his cum would taste like.

Cillian’s groans and moans just made you work harder. You wanted his orgasm to be nice and intense, so you ramped up the speed and your slurping noises were getting even louder as you milked his cock faster.

Cillian’s hand found its way back to your head, his fingers getting locked in your hair as he got closer and closer until finally, he started to cum.

‘Fuck’ he groaned again as his hips twitched upwards, trying to get deeper into your mouth as he filled it with his load.

‘I want to watch you swallow it Love’ he groaned as he held your head against his cock while he filled your mouth. His cum was so thick and sweet and coated your tongue, making you drool even more as you collected it all in your mouth.

Then, finally, he released the grip on your head and pulled away from you and lifted up your cum filled mouth for him to see.

‘Show me’ he groaned, still coming down from his high and you complied with his request and opened your mouth, moving your cum covered tongue around seductively.

Then, you closed your mouth again and swallowed down his load, gulping slightly as you did before licking your lips clean seductively.

‘So fucking sexy’ Cillian huffed out before pulling you up and towards him.

He pressed his lips onto yours and practically growled, wrapping his arms around you and kissing you ferociously which was when, suddenly, his phone began to ring.

 Tag List:

@lilymurphy03 @deefigs @theflamecrystal @desperate-and-broken @weepingstudentfishhorse @livinginfantaxy @rosey1981 @atomicsoulcollecto @peakyboyslover @nerdy4itall@elenavampire21 @hanster1998@mariapaiva13 @fairypitou @harry-is-my-sunflower @zozeebo @lauren-raines-x @kasaikawa @littlewierdalien @sad-huffle-nerd @theflamecrystal @peakymalfoyscullymulder @themissthang@0ghostwriter0 @stylescanbeatmyback @1-800-peakyblinders @datewithgianni @momoneymolife @ntmynouis @lilymurphy03 @mcntsee@cloudofdisney@missymurphy1985 @peakymalfoyscullymulder @otterly-fey @janelongxox @uchihacumdump @basiclassy @being-worthy @chaotic-bean-of-smolness @margoo0 @ @vhscillian @ysmmsy @littlewierdalien @crazymar15  @stickyknightflowerbailiff @im-constantly-fangirling @goldensunflowe-r  @tellingyouastory  @captivatedbycillianmurphy​  @namelesslosers​  @littlewhiterose​  @ttzamara​  @ttzamara @cilleveryone  ​

@peaky-cillian​

@severewobblerlightdragon​  @ysmmsy​  

[pingutats]

at last!

it’s the morning after harry proposed, and here you are, in heaven.

warnings: some sexual content, not very graphic.

word count: 2k

.                               .                           .                               .                           .

As soon as you start to drift awake, you feel this overwhelming sense of bliss. Like everything is right in the world, properly aligned and in harmony. Your heart feels full, warm like the way a lover would cradle their hands around yours on a chilly winter night. 

The thing that pulls you completely from the gentle embrace of sleep into the morning is someone actually grabbing your left hand. Not just someone, but Harry. And, you remember suddenly like a crack of lightning bursting through your sleep-weary skull, he isn’t just Harry, he’s —

“Morning, love,” he murmurs, his voice croaky and slightly slurred from sleep still, as he pulls your hand over to him and slips the ring back onto your fourth finger. “Y’always look so pretty in the morning. ‘Specially today.”

“H,” you whisper back, barely able to form a coherent thought. He’s your fiancé. You blink your eyes open, rubbing at them as you adjust to the weak light streaming through a window. “Oh my god, Harry.”

He’s grinning at you, eyes still half-closed. He brings your hand to his mouth and kisses the ring. “Oh my god, Y/N,” he repeats back, and you giggle.

You hold your hand up to the light, twisting your wrist so the small, classic diamond sparkles.  You’ve seen it before, of course. You’ve known what it looks like for ages. The two of you picked it out together in a store a couple months ago. You’ve spoken about this moment, over and over — sometimes in practical terms to try and plan for your future, sometimes whimsically as you spelled out your wildest dreams to each other — but now it’s here. It’s real.

He was insistent on being the one to propose. You could pick the ring, the wedding venue, write the guest list and choose his outfit and even curate the reception playlist, he offered— as long as he got to propose. You accepted, of course, without the bargaining. You wanted him to do it anyway.

Harry isn’t one for grand gestures. When you first met him, only knowing him as the glamorous rockstar that he performs as when he’s on stage, you had assumed he would be into the massive displays of affection, the lavish gifts and the kind of relationship that no one can tear their eyes away from. But he isn’t really like that.

Harry is a cup of tea set out for you in the morning before you even ask for one. The last segment of the mandarin he was eating, held out for you to take. A hundred kisses to your cheek over the course of a night out, for no particular reason except that he’s tipsy and he loves you. A playlist that he texts to you with a sweet note in the description. Making the bed by himself before you’re done brushing your teeth. Carrying you from the car to the door at three in the morning because your heels are killing you and he’d rather roll around naked on broken glass than see you in any amount of pain at all.

That’s what Harry is. So it made sense that, rather than flying you out to Paris and organising a string quartet to play in the background while he got down on one knee under the Eiffel Tower at night (something you had joked about often), he did it in his own little unassuming way. 

You wanted a surprise. That was all you asked. If he was going to ask, he better make it good.

It wasn’t big. It wasn’t grand or especially beautiful. You had been baking together all afternoon: flour all over the place, a small pile of chocolate chips that you’d “accidentally dropped” on the counter and were snacking on, cookies in the oven making the kitchen smell all warm and cosy. The echoes of your laughs and playful banter still lingered in the room. An Etta James album was playing in the background — Harry’s choice, of course. You were bending in front of the oven to check on the cookies. 

“They’re looking good, H,” you said, gazing at them.

“Y/N,” he said from behind you.

“I think we’ve got a perfect batch on our hands.” You straightened up, reaching over to swipe a couple more chocolate chips from the shrinking pile. “Better than last time, those were all hard and —”

“Darling,” he said, a bit more firmly.

“Yeah?” You turned around, sucking on the chocolate, and froze.

There was Harry, on one knee on the kitchen floor, holding a little box and smiling gently up at you.

“Hi,” was all you managed to breathe out, once you regained the ability to move.

“Hello,” he said, smile growing. He cleared his throat. “I love you so much, you know?”

“Harry, you’ve got flour on your nose.”

“Do I?” He was grinning widely now, his tongue poking out the corner of his mouth as he tried not to laugh. “I’ll fix that later, love, got something more important to do right now.”

“Okay.” Your voice was shaking slightly.

He chuckled, and then took a deep breath to steady himself. “Y/N. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. You make my days better, every day. Most gorgeous, funniest, kindest, sweetest girl I ever met. You’re so fucking amazing — sorry, I shouldn’t swear. Probably ruins the moment.”

“It doesn’t,” you said quickly. You could feel tears threatening to prickle at your eyes. “Keep going.”

“Nothing’s going to stop me, angel,” he promised. He set his face, playing at being very somber. “I really need to ask you something.”

You bit your lip through a smile. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. ‘Cause every day I wake up and hug you and I think to myself that I never want to let go of you. Ever.” 

You nodded, unable to speak for fear that you would just collapse from how unbelievably sweet he is.

“Y/N,” he said, finally. He took a deep breath and pulled open the lid of the little box, and there was your ring. His smile returned to his face again, bright and dimpled and so Harry you nearly starting sobbing right there. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes.” You were saying it before he even finished his sentence. “Yes, yes, yes, yes—” and you kept saying it until he was back on his feet and had swept you up in the tightest hug, pulling you into his chest and spinning both of you around. 

You clutched at the front of his fuzzy sweater and pulled him into a kiss that made the world feel like it was shifting. Because it had. Everything had changed now. It felt like the two of you had taken the world and cracked it open like a walnut, finding a completely new kind of life inside. A kind of life where you both completely, irrevocably, belonged to each other.

When he pulled back from the kiss, he rubbed his flour-covered nose over yours, then pecked another kiss on your cheek. “Got flour all over you, love.”

“Best go take a shower, then,” you said to him, grinning.

He raised his eyebrows, that mischievous glint in his eye that you so adored appearing. “Yeah? Okay, whatever my beautiful fiancee wants.” He let you take his hand and start to pull him toward the bathroom, before he suddenly jerked you back, making you stumble into his chest. “Shit,” he murmured. “Give me your hand, darling.”

“Oh.” You held out your left hand, and gently he slid the ring onto your finger.

He looked up at you, eyes shining. “Can’t believe I nearly forgot the most important part.”

“Me too. Silly goose.” 

He snorted, and you leaned forward to kiss him again. He held his hands to the small of your back, pulling you closer to him. He was warm, his embrace firm, his mouth gentle. Tasting him, the sweetness of the cookie dough he had been stealing out of the bowl, the vanilla of the lip balm he used — you could have lived in that kiss forever. Any kiss, really. You weren’t picky when it came to Harry. But he pulled back, and ran his hands down to the back of your thighs.

“Jump, darling,” he whispered, and he pulled you up to wrap your legs around his waist, your arms looped behind his neck. He pressed his lips to yours again, then carried you to the bathroom, your giggles echoing through the house.

He got on his knees for you again in the shower — “Wanna treat my fiancee like a proper gentleman” —  with your leg thrown over his shoulder, your hand with the ring in his hair, your head thrown back against the tiled wall. He was always good (outstanding in the field, you would joke) but somehow today he was better. Like he was trying to tell you something just by the way he licked up your folds and sucked on your sensitive little bud until you were shaking and your hand tightened in his hair in a way that was surely painful. Like he was trying to show you just how much he loved you, as if everything else wasn’t already enough.

Later, you opened up the expensive bottle of champagne you’d been saving and split it over the takeout he had ordered over the phone in a rush while your hands were slowly creeping down his bare chest and playing with the waistband of the sweatpants he had thrown on after the shower. You ate outside. It was a pleasant night and as stars started to dust over the sky, you were sure they were shining just a little bit brighter.

And when you finally made it into bed, he was immediately over you, his arms snaking underneath you and hugging you to his chest while he thrust into you, deep and passionate. He had his head buried in your neck, his moans vibrating into your skin and you knew he was feeling more than just the physical. It was beyond that for both of you. Treasure this moment, you kept thinking. Keep this day safe forever.

You came together. As he got close, his steady rhythm starting to falter, he grabbed your left hand and pushed it down into the mattress, so you could feel the ring pressing into your skin. That was what sent the both of you over the edge.

Sleep came easily, your limbs still tangled together, your ring lying on the bedside table because you were scared to sleep with it. Harry must have fallen asleep after you — as you dozed off, you could hear the rustling of his pillow as he kept turning his head to look at the ring glinting in the full moon’s light coming through the window. His strong arm wrapped around you, holding you close, letting the rhythm of his heartbeat lull you to sleep.

“I’m so fucking happy,” he says now, in the morning, quietly, breaking the silence that had descended over you. He says it like it could be the last sentence he ever speaks. A neat epilogue.

You look at him, your arm still raised in the air between you. His eyes are trained on the diamond, and you could swear his eyes are sparkling just as much as the jewel is. He blinks, and glances back to you. “So, so fucking happy.”

“Me too,” you tell him. You let your hand drop, finding his and intertwining your fingers. “Love being engaged.” The word rolls off your tongue easily, and that was thrilling. You’re engaged. “’S better than I imagined. Better than anything else, ever.”

“Mm,” he hums, running his thumb over the ring, and then along the empty space of your finger just below it. “I think it just keeps getting better from here, love.”

.                               .                           .                               .                           .

hope you enjoyed!! i wrote this in barely two hours around midnight (obviously with at last by etta james playing in the background) because i just had to get this concept onto a page. it’s only been very lightly edited so if there were mistakes or it was structured messily ........ sorry. but i am just so in love with these very domestic, un-grandiose proposals because the important thing is the love between the two rather than the big displays... yeah. anyway hope you liked and if you want to send me a request or just chat, my askbox is very much open!!!

[jenstar1992-2]

A Light in the Darkness

Pairing: Echo x Mechanic! reader

Warnings: Language, loss, grieving, and slight mentions of sexual activities (nothing descriptive)

Word count: 9,989

A/N: So, I had to change the timeline a bit to make a few things seem more logical, and while writing this I envisioned Echo in his newest style of armor because I thought the armor he wore at the end of season 7 would have been too recognizable, and wouldn’t have furthered the story like I wanted. Also, props to my little sister @sgarrett49 for helping me make a big story decision, I couldn’t make up my mind, so she did it for me. Thanks sis! 😊💕

Part 2

Never in your wildest dreams did you think you’d be anything more than friends, let alone actually come to truly love one another, but here you were, deeply and hopelessly in love with a man who treated you as if you were his everything. Little did you know, you were.

You and Echo had been together for almost two years now, and it was honestly the best relationship you had ever been in, and you knew within that first year that he was the one, so you did your best to hold onto him, and to what you two had built together. However, this was usually easier said than done, as you came to find out that dating a soldier could be rather difficult, not to mention quite taxing on the nerves. Not a day went by where you didn’t worry for him, and the constant feeling of him being taken away from you every time he went off on another mission was hell. He would always reassure you before every departure that he would return to you, and that nothing would stop him from doing so, and you believed it every time, which is why when you’d gotten word that their ship would be returning soon from the mission on Lola Sayu, you ran to greet it, already waiting on the landing platform as the ship landed and everyone began to unload.

Your eyes scanned every face that exited the ship and when they landed on that of your friend, a smile grew on your face as you waved to him.

“Fives, hey”, you shouted.

He looked in your direction, making eye contact with you for a moment, and that’s when you noticed the sullen look on his face, which only deepened when he met your eyes. He then looked downward, avoiding your gaze, as he continued walking to the hangar, not saying a word. You thought that was strange as he was usually the one in a good mood and would often greet you with a smile and a hug after missions, but not this time.

Needless to say, you were confused as you watched him leave, until someone said your name from right behind you, startling you out of your daze, and you turned around to see who it was.

“Oh, Rex, hey, do you know what’s up with Fives, he’s acting off, did something happen”, you asked curiously, and that’s when you saw that the somber look you’d seen on Fives was adorning the captain’s features as well.

“Rex, what’s wrong”, you asked, then looking around, only to notice that people had stopped coming off the ship and the ramp was beginning to close. “Where’s Echo?”

Rex’s face dropped even more at your question, and he looked to the floor to avoid your gaze as he spoke.

“(Y/N), there’s something I have to tell you”, he said in a low voice.

A sudden cold chill ran through your body, and you felt a heaviness fall upon you.

“Where is he Rex”, you asked, already putting the pieces together, but desperately wanting it to be something else, anything else.

“He, he was trying to save the shuttle, so we could escape”, he said, pausing to place something in your hand. Looking at it you saw that it was the pendant you’d given Echo after you’d hit your one year mark, the word “Always” engraved in Aurebesh decorating it’s face, it hadn’t just been a simple gift, it had been a promise, a promise that, no matter what, you’d always be there for him, always love him, and it was something he’d treasured and kept on his person at all times, especially when he was away from you. He’d told you that having it allowed him to have a piece of you with him, which was a great comfort. As far as you knew, he was never without it, so when Rex placed the object in your hand, you knew what had happened before he even had to tell you. It was clear he knew this as well, as he didn’t proceed to state the obvious, but instead offered you a sorrowful, “I’m so sorry (Y/N).”

You stared at the pendent in your hand for a long moment, still trying to fully comprehend what this meant, because it didn’t feel real. It felt like your world was crumbling down around you and your senses started to fade until all you could see was blurs, everything you heard was muffled, and all you could feel was… nothing, you were numb. It took you a minute to come back to reality, and once you did, your senses returned like a hard punch to the gut, everything hitting you at once.

You closed your fingers around the object in your hand, its cold surface stinging your skin, and before you knew it, you were on the ground. You’d crashed to your knees, with such force that if you had been more aware you probably would’ve noticed the intense pain that ran through your legs at the impact, but you weren’t, so you didn’t. All you could do was kneel there, clutching the only thing remaining of the one you loved with all your heart, as you let out a noiseless cry, before finally inhaling and openly sobbing.

Seeing you like this broke Rex’s heart, you were one of his closest friends, him being one of the only people, besides Fives, who knew of your and Echo’s relationship, and had been so happy for the two of you, so supportive, it killed him to see you so distraught and know that there was nothing he could do to fix it. So, he did the only thing he could do, he kneeled down in front of you, drew you into his arms, and just held you, held you until the tears ceased, until you had nothing left to give. He held you for as long as you needed, and although he knew it would never be enough, it was all he had to give.

After a long while of crying and silent comfort, you finally managed to pull yourself together enough to stand. You then allowed Rex to take you back to your quarters, where you immediately fell into bed.

Rex left once he felt it was necessary, wanting to give you some time to be alone, time to think, to mourn in peace. Before he left, however, you stopped him and handed back the pendant, although he was unsure if he should take it.

“(Y/N) are you sure. This is all that’s left, you should keep it”, he said.

You shook your head. “I can’t”, you said, your voice almost a whisper. “It’ll just be a reminder of what I lost and seeing it every day will only make it hurt more.”

“If you’re sure…”, he began.

“I’m sure”, you said, stopping his next words.

He nodded then and turned to leave, only stopping at the door to look at you over his shoulder, his expression saddened.

“I’m sorry”, he repeated.

“Me too”, you replied, before watching him take his leave.

You spent the next few hours lying in bed, staring at the wall, trying hard not to burst into tears again as all the memories started flooding your mind. You’d wanted to spend your life with him, to give him the world, but that was no longer a possibility, and that hurt most of all. You weren’t sure how you were going to get through this, but you did know one thing; you couldn’t just give up. Yes, you lost the person you cared for most in this galaxy, but he wasn’t the only one that needed you, you had friends that needed you too, friends that had also just lost a big part of their lives; you’d lost your love, and they’d lost their brother. You would need each other, and so you would carry on, hard as it would be, and be there for them, like you knew they would be for you.

As you slowly began to drift from consciousness, the image in your mind was of him, giving you that perfect smile you adored, a smile you’d never see again, but knew you’d yearn for.

You then fell into a deep sleep, your last conscious thought being one that drew one last tear from your eye, which you let slide down the side of your face until it met the pillow beneath you.

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

***

It had been a long couple of years to say the least, so much had changed in your life, and you still felt like you were trying to catch up with it all.

A few months after the mission to Lola Sayu, you���d been asked to take on the position of field mechanic, which you had agreed to right away. You figured all the moving around and non-stop action would help take your mind off the overwhelming sadness that had become your new companion, and it did, for a time.

However, the universe has a funny way of forcing you to do what you need to, and after a couple of months in the field, you were sent back to work on Coruscant, and this lasted for about a year before you were able to be sent back out.

During that year you had done a lot of reflecting, planning, and most importantly, healing. It took time, but you were finally able to live with the grief that had once consumed you, and you had made it to a place in your life where you could be yourself again, even having someone new in your life that brought you a great deal of happiness.

You now shifted between field and on-world work, in order to maintain your new life, and the relationship thriving within it.

You had been away for a couple of months and had just returned to Coruscant not two days before getting right back to work. The bills never stopped, so neither did you.

You were currently working at your station in the hangar, doing your best to repair an almost completely totaled gunship, when your comm went off. You sighed and made your way down the ladder you had been propped up on, picking up the commlink from your worktable and lifting your welding mask before answering.

“Yeah”, you said, very unprofessionally. You couldn’t help it, you hated when someone interrupted your work, no matter who it was.

“Hey, it’s me, you think you could meet me outside, got a ship for you to look at.”

The voice was all too familiar, and you groaned internally. Of course, he would be the one to try and weasel his way into your busy work schedule.

You gave a heavy sigh before answering. “Look at, or fix? There’s a difference Anakin, and I’m a bit too busy at the moment to add anything else to the ‘fix’ list”, you told the jedi.

But, as always, he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Oh, come on, these guys really helped us out, the least we can do is help fix their ship, and we’re not even sure it’s anything major, could be a quick fix, especially if you’re the one tasked to it. Besides, I promised them the best mechanic the GAR has to offer, who else would I call”, he asked, yet again trying to sway you the only way he knew how, damn him, he knew you couldn’t say no when you had a reputation to uphold, not that you were vein about it, it was just nice to know all your hard work was noticed and what you put out was reliable and sought after.

“You know, flattery doesn’t get you everything you want, Skywalker”, you told him, but after a long pause, you responded. “Be out in 5.”

“You’re the best”, he said, and you could practically hear the triumphant smile through his voice.

“Yeah, yeah”, you replied, annoyed that he had you caving to a request for the umpteenth time.

You collected a few of your more commonly used tools and dumped them into your toolbox before closing it up and hauling it off the table, then begrudgingly making your way out to the landing platform. Once there, it didn’t take you long to spot them. Anakin was standing among a group of other men, all soldiers from what you could tell, including Rex, who you were actually happy to see, as it had been a while since you’d even spoken to him. They’d been shipped out to aid in the fight on Anaxes only a few weeks after you yourself had been shipped off to yet another distant planet in the Outer Rim. Honestly, you were just glad he returned, and was seemingly unscathed. However, the joy of seeing your friend couldn’t overpower the feeling of annoyance that had quickly built in you, and you pulled down your welding mask to cover your face in an attempt to hide the deep frown that you now felt pulling at your lips, you didn’t want that to be the first impression these men had of you, so you tried to get your emotions and your expression under control as you closed the distance between you and the group.

“Ah, there she is”, Anakin said, his tone jovial.

You came to stand before him, dropping your toolbox next to you, quite unceremoniously, and crossing your arms.

“What’s with the mask, you hiding from us now”, he asked jokingly, which only pissed you off more.

“Oh, believe me, you don’t want to see the face I’m giving you right now”, you replied.

“Come on, you’re really that mad?”

“Yes. You do know I don’t actually work for you right, you can’t keep asking me to drop everything because you need something. I have a gunship in there that needs a hell of a lot more than a tune-up, and if I don’t get it repaired within the allotted two weeks, they’re gonna scrap it”, you explained, unintentionally letting out some of your anger through your words.

“And, the Republic never seems to have an issue getting more, I’m sure we can get a new gunship in no time”, he said, not seeing your reasoning.

“That’s not it Sir, she doesn’t like waste”, Rex answered on your behalf.

You looked to him, then finally lifting your mask to smile at him.

“Thank you, Rex”, you said, before turning your attention back to Anakin, your eyebrow raised as you gave him a look. “At least someone gets it.”

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry, this’ll be the last time I interrupt you, promise”, Anakin said, raising his arms defensively.

“Yea, I’ll believe that when I see it”, you scoffed, then removing the mask completely and setting it beside your toolbox. You then turned your attention to the group of unfamiliar faces and gave them a warm smile. “Sorry, I’m not usually like this, it’s just that this one has a way of bringing out my inner bitch”, you told them, gesturing to Anakin, who just rolled his eyes.

“No need to apologize Ma’am, we understand”, said the man at the front of the group, clearly the leader of the bunch, as the others simply nodded their agreement. “I’m Hunter”, he said, offering you his hand, which you took and shook firmly.

“(Y/N), nice to meet you, I take it you’re in charge here”, you asked him.

“I am”, he replied.

“Good, so, what’s wrong with your ship?”

“Not quite sure, we were hoping you might be able to help us figure it out, that is, if you’re willing. We understand if you’re too busy”, he said, quickly adding that last bit to not seem demanding, and while you appreciated the possible out, you were already there, so you might as well follow through.

“It’s alright, I’m always busy. What’s one more project”, you said, giving him as cheerful of a response as you could muster at the moment, and you took the short moment of silence that followed as an opportunity to scan over the rest of his squad, getting a more detailed look this time.

They were definitely clones, but none like you’d ever seen before, their features slightly similar, but still differing from one another, and certainly from your typical clone. This was true, at least, for the four you could see. They had a fifth member, but it seemed he was taking your initial approach, as he had kept his helmet on, which was effectively blocking you from getting any decent view of the face underneath, so you were only left with your assumptions. All you could discern was that he was looking straight at you, unmoving, and you could almost feel the intensity of his stare, even through the visor. This caused you to shift, feeling a bit uncomfortable that a complete stranger was looking at you in such a way, the feeling only made worse by the fact that you couldn’t actually see the expression being sent your way.

“Great, it’s settled then. You’ll help them out and I’ll get started on keeping my promise by getting out of your hair”, Anakin said from behind you, causing you to turn and give him one last glare before he made his exit.

You shook your head before looking to Rex, who was now giving what looked like a slightly confused, if not frustrated, look to one of the men in front of you. When you looked back, you noticed the helmeted soldier looking back at him, and shaking his head slightly, as if saying a silent, “no”. You thought this was strange but didn’t have time to think about it in any depth as your attention was soon brought back to Hunter, who was now making his way to their ship and beckoning you to follow.

As you walked the short distance, the other three introduced themselves to you, and the one called Tech began explaining to you all the things he’d already checked and the causes he’d debunked, telling you he hoped this information would help you in finding the problem a little quicker, now that you knew all the things it wasn’t. You weren’t annoyed, as this did help to narrow it down, and once you’d made it to the ship, you got right to work.

As you rummaged around the innards of the ship you now knew to be the Havoc Marauder, you couldn’t help but notice the unidentified member of the group talking to Rex, although, it seemed as if they were having an argument of sorts, nothing too heated, but one that definitely had Rex frustrated, which was a rarity as far as you knew.

You shook off your curiosity and got back to your inspection, and soon your eyes lit with realization.

“Ah ha”, you exclaimed. “Here’s your problem, your flight stabilizer is shot”, you explained.

“Impossible, that was one of the first pieces I checked, and I saw nothing wrong with it”, Tech told you.

“Well, not to be rude, but you must not have checked thoroughly, because that’s definitely where your problem is”, you said confidently.

“And just what makes you say that”, he asked, seeming a bit insulted by your accusation.

You then grabbed the part and hauled it out of its compartment, then turned it so that the side that had not been easily visible when it was hooked up was now facing him, revealing a small puncture mark in its side.

He looked at the part in your hand, then back to you, a look of surprise now adorning his features.

“How did you…”, he began to ask, but you just shrugged.

“Just gotta know what you’re looking for. This problem is actually pretty common in Omicron-classes, and usually stems from the stabilizer not being installed correctly. My guess is whoever put it in made adjustments that were too tight, and this caused it to be too close to this here”, you explained, pointing to the piece of machinery that had been right next to the one now in your hand, and had a piece jutting out from it, “which allowed it to rub against the stabilizer until it eventually punctured it.”

The commando just stared at you for a moment, still trying to process how he could’ve missed that, but he soon composed himself and spoke.

“Oh, well, that makes sense”, he said.

“Can you fix it”, Hunter asked, coming to stand next to his comrade.

You scoffed. “Of course I can, and lucky for you guys, I just so happen to have a spare flight stabilizer back in my work station, I can grab it and have you fixed up in no time”, you told them.

“Then what are we waiting for, lead the way”, Hunter said, gesturing you forward.

You nodded and began the walk back to the hangar, heading for your work area.

Rex came to walk beside you soon enough, and you couldn’t help but inquire about the strange behaviors you’d just witnessed.

“Hey, is everything okay, do you know that guy”, you asked him in a whisper while subtly gesturing to the man in question.

Rex looked to you, then sighed. “It’s… complicated, I can’t really explain right now”, he whispered back.

You gave him a confused look, but decided you wouldn’t push the matter, Rex always had his reasons, and they were valid, you were sure this instance was no different.

“Okay”, you said, drawing out the word. “Well, in any case, I’m glad your finally back safe”, you said, smiling up at him, which he then returned.

“Thanks (Y/N), you too.”

***

Echo felt like he was glued to the floor as soon as you removed your mask, and he found himself looking at a face he never thought he’d see again.

You were still just as beautiful as he remembered, maybe even more so, and all he found himself able to do was stare at you, completely mesmerized, as you spoke to the general.

He saw the annoyed expression you were giving the man, and while he knew it was one given out of genuine upset, he couldn’t help but note the way your nose scrunched up and the corner of your mouth quirked up a bit, a look he had always found strangely adorable.

All he really wanted to do in that moment was run to you, scoop you up, and pepper your face with kisses like he used to, but he quickly reminded himself that, that wasn’t a good idea. It had been a long time since you two had seen each other, and he had changed, significantly. He wasn’t sure you’d even want him anymore at this point, hell, you’d probably already moved on. No, he wasn’t going to mess things up for you by exposing his identity, he’d simply admire you from afar while he could, much like he had all those years ago, before he’d plucked up the nerve to actually talk to you.

When Rex sent him a look that was clearly meant to coax him into revealing himself to you, he simply shook his head, earning him a look of confusion from the captain, but Rex wasn’t about to go against his wishes, and ended up keeping quiet about it as well, that is until he confronted Echo a short time later.

You had just started your examination of the Marauder’s inner workings, when Rex approached Echo, arms crossed.

“Alright, you wanna tell me what that was all about, why didn’t you say anything to her”, Rex asked, looking a bit disappointed.

“I couldn’t, I can’t, not like this, it would only upset her, and I don’t want to do that. It’s better if she just doesn’t know”, Echo explained.

“What are you talking about, that woman loves you with all she has, I know it, just like I know she’d be elated to know your alive”, Rex told his brother, desperately trying to convince him.

Echo sighed. “I’m sorry Rex, but I just can’t, please try to understand.”

“You know if she found out you were hiding from her, it’d break her heart.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing she won’t find out”, Echo replied.

Rex then let out his own sigh before responding. “Fine, I won’t say anything to her, but I still think that you should”, he said before going to catch up to you as you walked in the direction of the hangar, followed by Hunter and Tech; Crosshair and Wrecker deciding to stay in the ship as they figured it would be repaired shortly, and they’d be leaving soon.

After a moment of contemplation, Echo decided to follow you all, figuring that if this was to be the last time he’d see you, he’d better keep you in his sights.

***

You soon made it back to your workstation and began your search for the part, while Rex excused himself, saying there was something he needed to do, but he’d be back.

After a few minutes of searching, you were beginning to get irritated with yourself. While you were a great mechanic, you were lousy at keeping track of your things, and often misplaced parts and tools around your station, it was actually something Echo used to tease you about, often saying how you’d lose your head if it wasn’t attached. You’d always scowl and tell him to help you look instead of just watching you frantically search around like a crazy person, mumbling about how you knew it was around there somewhere. You would only get more annoyed when he would then find whatever you were looking for in less than half the time, not that this feeling lasted long as he always had a way of bringing a smile back to your face, usually by way of some cheesy joke, followed by some form of flattery. Where this never fully worked for someone like Anakin, it always worked for Echo.

“Are you sure you have the part”, Tech asked after a good ten minutes of watching you search the mess that was your workstation.

“Sure, I’m sure”, you replied, not looking at him as you continued searching, “and I’m pretty sure it’s over… here”, you said, moving to the far wall.

He and Hunter exchanged a look before deciding to help in the search, each taking a different section of the space, and before you knew it, all three men were looking around for the illusive piece of machinery. Soon enough you heard someone behind you clear their throat, prompting you to turn around.

You saw that it was the fifth member of the group, face still hidden, standing in front of you now, and before you could ask what he wanted, you noticed the stabilizer he was holding out to you.

“This what you’re looking for”, he asked.

You were a bit stunned to hear him speak after being so quiet all this time, but this short utterance did allow you to further your theory as to who was beneath that bucket. It was odd though, while he sounded a lot like your typical clone, there was something else there, something you couldn’t quite put your finger on.

You took the part from him and gave an awkward “thanks”, while he only nodded in response.

Just then, the sound of someone yelling cut through the hangar, causing you all to look in its direction.

“Hey, get back here you, I told you to stay close”, you heard Jesse yell as he chased a, surprisingly quick footed, child through the hangar.

She giggled at his attempts to reach her, her smile only growing as she caught a glimpse of you, and then made a b-line in your direction.

When she was only a few feet away she reached out her arms and called to you in a high-pitched voice.

“Mommy”, she screeched, as she launched herself at you.

You bent down, placing the stabilizer on the ground next to you, then catching and scooping her up in your arms, a bright smile now adorning your face.

“Hey”, you said with a laugh. “What are you doing here Little Miss?”

“Running from me for starters”, Jesse said as he approached, winded from the chase.

You looked to the young girl with a raised eyebrow.

“Is that true”, you asked her.

“Uncle Jesse slow”, she announced, giggling throughout her whole sentence.

You hummed and looked to the man in question, who then offered you a shrug.

“What, she’s a fast little thing”, he said, that being the weakest defense you’d ever heard.

“She’s two”, you told him.

“And a half”, he argued back, causing you to roll your eyes at him.

“Whatever you say, now, back to my question, what is she doing here, I thought you two were going to have a movie night back at the apartment, and has she even eaten dinner yet”, you asked him.

Jesse scratched the back of his neck, abashed.

“Well, we were going to do all that, but then I got Rex’s message and we came here instead”, he explained.

“What message”, you asked him, confused.

“The message I sent him, telling him to meet me here”, Rex said as he entered your station, “thought Lena might be missing her mother”, he explained.

Your daughter let out a small gasp when she saw him. “Uncle Rex”, she shouted excitedly, while absentmindedly reaching for him.

You set her down and watched as she attacked him with the same force she had with you earlier, the scene making you chuckle.

“I think she missed you more”, you told him.

He chuckled as well as he bent down to her level, catching her in a hug, smiling warmly at her when she eventually pulled away to stare up at him.

“And how’s our little soldier today”, he asked her.

“Good”, she told him, then gasping as if she’d just remembered something. “Uncle Rex, I been practice.”

“Oh, practicing what, little one”, he asked.

Lena then stepped back and straightened her posture before giving her uncle her best salute, all while desperately trying to keep a serious face. You both found it very adorable.

“Yes, you have been practicing, good job”, Rex told the girl, but when she didn’t change her posture, he gave her a confused look.

“You suppose to say”, she whispered.

Rex’s confused expression changed to one of understanding, as he now knew what she’d been waiting for.

“Right, sorry”, he said, then standing straight himself before clearing his throat and letting out an authoritative, “at ease”, which finally prompted Lena to relax her stance. He then bent back down and opened his arms to her again. “Now, as you were”, he said, and she once more launched herself towards him, hugging him with all the strength her tiny arms could muster.

***

Echo was left stunned.

Mommy, she’d called you “Mommy”, and Rex’s words only confirmed she was yours.

So, he had been right, you had moved on. You had a daughter, probably a husband too; you had a family. He’d be lying if he said this information didn’t leave him a little brokenhearted, but overall, he was truly happy for you, he was glad you had been able to find some happiness again. Why hadn’t Rex told him, did he think he wouldn’t be able to handle the news? Well, whatever the reason, he now knew, and he was glad he hadn’t revealed himself, for it certainly would’ve caused quite the mess.

He looked at the girl, taking in her appearance; big brown eyes, hair the same color as yours, and her skin was a lovely shade of copper; she was beautiful, just like her mother.

Seeing this child, who looked almost like a little version of you, brought back memories of late night talks you’d had about your plans for the future. How after the war, you both would leave and move to a quiet planet far away, get a house, start a family, and just cherish the rest of the time you had together. It seemed as though you at least had part of that dream now, and he hoped that one day you’d get the rest of it, even if it wasn’t with him, because as long as you were happy, then so was he.

***

Once Lena pulled away from Rex again, she looked around, finally realizing there were others besides her mother and uncles in the space around her. Her eyes came to land on one in particular, and she walked over to him, her eyes then going wide as she stared at his cybernetic arm.

“What happen”, she asked, pointing to the artificial limb.

Your eyes went wide. “Aileen (L/N)”, you scolded her lightly, knowing she didn’t mean anything by it, but wanting her to know it wasn’t polite to ask such things. “We don’t ask people things like that, it’s rude”, you told her, bending slightly and pacing a hand on her shoulder, before then looking at the man with an apologetic expression, “I’m sorry, she’s just…”, you began, but he soon cut you off.

“No, no, it’s alright, she’s just curious”, he said, trying to reassure you he wasn’t insulted by the question. He then bent down so he could speak to her without looking too intimidating. “Well, you see, I had an accident, and I lost my arm, so, I had to get a new one”, he explained in a soft tone, holding his arm up for her to see better.

Lena looked as if she was thinking this answer over before she finally asked, “You have boo-boo?”

You then heard the man chuckle from beneath his helmet.

“Yeah, yeah I had a boo-boo”, he confirmed.

Lena then stepped closer to him, kissing the palm of her hand before placing it on the forearm of the cybernetic limb.

“There go”, she said, then asking, “better?”

While you couldn’t see the man’s face, you were sure he was smiling, you could hear it in his next words.

“Much better, thank you Lena”, he told the child.

“You welcome”, she exclaimed.

You sent him a thankful smile as he stood once more, then turning your attention back to Lena.

“Not that I don’t love seeing you Sweetheart, but Mommy still has some work to do, and I believe you have a grumbly tummy to feed”, you said, starting to direct her back to her uncles, who still stood near where they entered.

She turned her head to look up at you, a pout now on her face.

“But Mommy”, she whined.

“No buts, now go with Uncle Jesse”, you told her.

“Actually”, Rex cut in, “Uncle Jesse can take the night off, I’ll take over babysitting duty”, he said.

“You sure”, you asked him, not really surprised at the offer, as he did this more often than not, but you always had to make sure. You never wanted to inconvenience them, and often tried to hire a babysitter instead of just relying on her uncles to take care of her while you were working, even though they told you time and time again that there was no need, and that they’d be more than willing to take on the responsibility. Even going as far as to try and get you to let go of your live-in nanny, who you’d hired shortly after your maternity leave was up, a leave that had been graciously extended due to the circumstances, to take care of Lena while you were away doing field work, but you wouldn’t budge on that one, seeing as you never knew who would be shipped out and when, not wanting to risk leaving her with a complete stranger as a result of having no other option, so you kept the nanny for those necessary times. However, when she would send you the weekly update, she’d always mention the numerous visits Lena had gotten from multiple uncles during that time.

You had come to realize rather early on that the clones took to the fatherly role very easily, and even the ones that didn’t, still enjoyed the company of their little niece, but they all protected her as if she was their own, and you couldn’t be more grateful.

“Of course, besides, I could use some quality Lena time, feels like I haven’t seen her in ages”, he said before bending down to make eye contact with the girl. “What do you say kiddo, you want to go get somethin’ to eat, I’ll let you pick, and maybe we’ll even pick up a special dessert on the way home, how’s that sound?”

“Yay”, Lena shouted.

“Alright, but be on your best behavior, okay”, you told her.

“Okay Mommy”, she replied.

“Seriously, do you have to one up me like that”, Jesse asked Rex, who just shrugged before picking up his niece.

“Gotta stay the favorite uncle somehow”, he responded.

Jesse scoffed. “Who said you were her favorite”, he asked.

“It’s pretty obvious who she prefers to spend time with”, Rex told his brother, being a bit smug in his delivery.

“Really, okay then, let’s see”, Jesse said before looking to the child now in Rex’s arms. “Lena, you pick, boring dinner with Uncle Rex, or fun movie night with lots of snacks with Uncle Jesse”, he asked her.

Lena thought about this for a minute, she then raised her arms in the air and excitedly yelled, “Both”.

The two men looked to one another before smirking at their niece.

“Well played Kid”, Jesse remarked.

Rex then lifted Lena, so she was sitting on his shoulders and the three of them left to begin their busy night.

You couldn’t help but laugh at their antics as you watched them walk off. Your daughter was turning into the most spoiled kid on Coruscant, but you didn’t have the heart to intervene.

After they were out of sight, you got back to work, going to pick up the previously discarded part off the ground before turning your attention back to the three men occupying your workspace.

“Sorry about that, now, let’s get that ship of yours fixed”, you said, now with a little more pep in your step. Your daughter had that effect on you, just like her father before her.

As you walked back to the ship, Hunter spoke up.

“Cute kid”, he said.

“Yes, and quite well spoken for someone of her age”, Tech added.

“Thanks, but I can’t take all the credit, she gets a lot of it from her dad, especially the brains”, you admitted.

Hunter hummed before asking, “And Lena’s father, where is he?”

You suddenly looked to your feet, your pace slowing a bit.

They noticed and Hunter now felt bad about asking, seeing it was clearly a touchy subject, and he tried to back track.

“Sorry, you don’t have to answer that, it’s really none of my business”, he said, but you shook your head and looked back up, picking up your pace once more.

“No, it’s alright, I just… haven’t talked about it in a while, that’s all”, you explained. “Lena’s father, he… he died a long time ago.”

You’d finally made it back to the ship and quickly adorned your work gloves to begin your repairs, trying to ignore the pitied looks you were now getting, as you started.

“Oh, I’m, I’m sorry to hear that, was he…”, Hunter began to ask, but you already knew the question, so you answered before he even finished asking it.

“A soldier? Yeah, he was, a damn good one too, saved a lot of lives… before he lost his own”, you told them, continuing to install the stabilizer.

“What happened?”

You huffed a bitter laugh. “Same thing that always happens, a plan goes awry and things get crazy, this time he just happened to be in the line of fire”, you said, not wanting to go into any more detail than that.

“I’m sorry, I know that must’ve been hard, and then having to raise a kid on top of it, I can’t even imagine how frightening that was”, Hunter said somberly.

“You’d think it would be, huh”, you said, your hands slowing as you thought back to that time in your life. “But you know, the crazy thing was, I didn’t feel that way at all. I thought I’d be scared out of my mind, but all I felt was… relieved.” When you noticed their confused expressions, you continued. “When I lost Lena’s father, I was a wreck, and I went to a very dark place for a long while, so, I threw myself into my work as a way to escape the pain, which could only work so well. But, when I found out that I was pregnant, it was like a spark was lit within my mind, and with it came a small light that slowly grew as time went by, and that light ate away at the darkness that had clouded my thoughts, then… she was here, and it was like she chased away what was left.” You had no idea why you were telling them all this, but once you started, you couldn’t seem to stop, it was like you were letting out the thoughts that had been trapped within you for years, and so you didn’t stop yourself. “The first time I saw her was an experience I can’t fully explain, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, and when she looked at me with those eyes, his eyes, everything felt right again. It’s like she was the piece of himself he left behind, so I wouldn’t be alone” you explained, taking a pause before finishing. “That’s why I named her Aileen; it means ‘shining light’, which is what she is, my light in the darkness, the one that always guides me home.”

You hadn’t realized you were crying silent tears until you felt them land on your exposed collarbones, quickly wiping them from your face with the back of your work glove and clearing your throat as you made the final adjustment, finishing your task.

“There, now you should be good to go”, you told them, and you began packing your toolbox back up, trying to avoid their gaze as you now felt a bit embarrassed for practically telling your life story to a bunch of guys you just met.

However, they didn’t seem to mind.

As you stood, you felt a comforting hand land on your shoulder, and you looked up to see Hunter smiling warmly at you.

“Thanks for the help”, he said, keeping his tone soft.

You smiled back. “No problem.”

He and Tech then walked to the ramp, the latter giving you a kind nod as he passed.

“Oh, and by the way”, Hunter said, turning back around. “While Lena may have gotten her smarts from her father, she definitely got her spirit from you. You’re a strong woman (Y/N), she’s lucky to have a mother like you.”

You just stood there for a moment, surprised by his comment, but also warmed by it.

“Thank you”, you said.

He nodded and then looked to the man behind you, giving him a questioning look.

***

Echo watched as the tears began to stream down your face, and he wondered if you even noticed them, although you probably didn’t; you were so wrapped up in your memories to notice anything at this point.

Throughout this whole conversation, the wheels in Echo’s head had been turning, and he had slowly begun to piece together the information you had been providing them, but it wasn’t until you said something about Lena being, “the piece of himself he left behind”, that it finally clicked.

You hadn’t moved on, you hadn’t found someone else, hadn’t been with anyone else, which meant…

***

“Hey, you coming”, Hunter asked, seeing him just standing there as if he’d been gob smacked.

You turned around and cocked your head, confused by the man’s odd behavior, and gave him a curious look. It seemed as if he were contemplating his next move, and after a moment he straightened his posture and walked over, stopping right in front of you. You couldn’t see them, but you felt his eyes on yours, could feel how intense his stare was; it was actually a bit intimidating, and you fidgeted a little where you stood.

Finally, after an intense and, quite frankly, awkward few seconds of silence, he spoke.

“I’m so sorry, for everything. You shouldn’t have had to go through that on your own”, he said.

This surprised you more than Hunter’s earlier comment, and your expression only filled with more confusion.

“Um, it’s okay, really, it’s not like it was your fault”, you told him, but he quickly shook his head.

“No, it is, it is my fault, I was the one who wasn’t careful, I was the one who risked everything, and I’m so sorry (Y/N)”, he said, emotion slowly growing in his voice.

“What the hell are you talking about, I don’t even know you”, you said, not knowing where this was coming from, or why this guy was even apologizing to you in the first place.

“Yes… you do”, he said, reaching into the pouch on his hip, pulling something out, and holding it out toward you, allowing you to look at the object laying on his palm. As soon as you laid eyes on the object, your heart stopped and it felt as if the breath had been stollen from your lungs. Lying on his open palm was a pendant, his pendant, the one you’d last given to Rex out of grief, the one you couldn’t bear to look at for so many years because it was a reminder of the promise that had been broken the day you thought you’d lost it all.

“Where did you get that”, you asked, your voice breathy, almost as if it were meant to be a whisper.

He looked down at the pendant in his hand before answering.

“Rex returned it to me, after they rescued me from the Separatists, but before that, you gave it to me, said it was a promise, a promise that you’d always be with me, that we’d always be together, that you’d always love me. I never thought I’d see it again, never thought I’d see you again, but I’m glad I was wrong”, he said, finally looking back to your eyes, noticing that they were filling with tears.

You walked closer to him, desperately searching for his eyes behind his visor.

“Echo?” Your voice was barely audible, as his name escaped your lips on a breath.

He nodded, not being able to vocalize his confirmation as he was trying to hold his own rising emotions back; he wanted to be strong for you, even though he knew you didn’t care if he expressed his emotions openly, and that you didn’t always need him to be the rock of the relationship, but he still tried, nonetheless.

You let out a mixture of a sob and a sigh before suddenly wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him into an eager embrace. When he reciprocated and wrapped his arms around your waist, you pulled him in tighter, holding on for dear life, afraid if you didn’t that he’d disappear before your eyes.

“How is this possible”, you asked over his shoulder.

He chuckled. “It’s a long story.”

“And you’re a damn fool if you think I’m not gonna want to hear it”, you said, a smile now tugging on your lips.

“You will, but later. For now, let’s just focus on this”, he said, giving you a light squeeze around your middle to emphasize his words, making you laugh.

You stayed like that for another few minutes before you spoke again.

“I missed you, so much”, you whispered, your face right next to his.

“I missed you too Cyar’ika”, he said.

The utterance of the Mando’a term of endearment widening your smile. You hadn’t realized how much you missed hearing the language roll off his tongue.

You loosened your hold and pulled back to once again search for his eyes before slowly reaching for his helmet, wanting nothing more than to remove it and finally see him after all this time, you needed to, needed to see his eyes looking back at you, then it would be real. Before you could attempt to do this, however, he lightly grabbed your wrist, his right arm laying on top of your other one, effectively blocking it from lifting.

“What’s wrong”, you asked him, confused, and a bit worried, by his actions.

“A lot has changed, I’ve changed, I’m not the same man you remember (Y/N)”, he told you.

“That’s pretty obvious Love”, you said, your eyes shifting to the cybernetic arm that currently lay atop the back of your left wrist.

“It’s not just the arm; that explosion took a lot from me, the Separatists even more so, and the whole thing left me, well, broken”, he admitted.

You paused as his words caused a wave of sadness to wash over you, then anger. What had they done to him? Whatever it was, you wanted to wring their necks with your bare hands, how dare they even think to touch him. If you didn’t hate those Seppie bastards before, you certainly did now.

You quickly tried to calm the growing fire building in you so you could give a response that wasn’t full of anger; he didn’t deserve that from you, truth be told, he didn’t deserve any of this, but that was a conversation for another time, right now you had to stay focused. You shook yourself from your thoughts and were finally able to find your words.

“So what, we’re all a little broken if you think about it, it’s just that not all of us wear it on our exterior, either way it’s nothing to be ashamed of”, you said, trying to sound reassuring.

“I know, it’s just… I guess what I’m trying to say is, you might not like what you see”, he explained.

You felt a small flicker of anger rise within you once again, but for a completely different reason. Did he really believe you to be so shallow, didn’t he know you better than that?

You suddenly grabbed the sides of his helmet and gently pulled his face closer to yours, a look of determination on your face.

“Now you listen to me, and you listen good. I don’t give a damn how different you look on the outside, you’re still the same man I fell in love with on the inside, I can feel it”, you told him, your expression softening. “I will always love you Echo, no matter what’s under that helmet.”

He considered this a moment before nodding and releasing your wrists, allowing his arms to fall to his sides.

You wasted no time in gently lifting the thing off, hearing a low hiss as it released itself and loosened, making the task much easier. You pulled it out toward you as you went so as not to catch it on his chin, then finally removed it, getting a glimpse of what lay beneath, the face of your lost lover.

It was as he said, he was different; his face was thinner than you remembered, eyes a bit sunken and their color dulled, looking more gold now than brown, his once tanned skin was now pale, and the hair you used to run your fingers through was now gone, allowing you to see the small metal protrusions that now scattered along the sides of his head. Yet, even with all these changes, you still found him to be the most handsome man you’d ever laid your eyes on, and you’d spend the rest of your days proving that to him if you had to.

Still, his appearance told you something; he had suffered, most likely in more ways than one, and probably to a degree you couldn’t even fathom. These thoughts brought the tears back to your eyes, how could something so terrible happen to such a good person. You would never understand it.

You brought your hands to his face, softly placing a hand on each side, using your thumbs to caress the skin under them.

“Oh, Echo”, you whispered, the tears making your eyes glisten.

He grinned a humorless grin.

“I told you it was bad”, he said, giving you a small shrug.

You shook your head.  “No, it’s not that”, you explained. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all that, and alone, no less.”

He then smiled a more genuine smile and placed his hand on top of yours.

“I wasn’t alone”, he explained, causing you to look at him curiously, but he continued. “You accompanied my thoughts every day, you were right there with me, encouraging me to stay strong and that everything was going to be okay, you were what got me through, you were my light.”

This only brought more tears to your eyes, threatening to spill over at any second.

You gently pulled his face closer, looking deep into his eyes.

“I love you”, you said softly.

“And I love you, so much”, he replied, voice just as soft as yours had been.

You then leaned in, slowly closing the gap between you.

The kiss started out much like the ones you both had shared in the past, soft and loving, but soon changed as something deep within you took over, and you moved your free hand to the back of his neck, then slowly moving it upwards until it rested at the base of his skull, as a means to take more control of the situation, using this new hand placement to pull him closer, effectively deepening the kiss. The action seemed to catch him a bit off guard initially as it sent small shocks through his system, something he hadn’t experienced in a long time, but he soon was able to regain some semblance of composure, then wrapping his right arm around your waste and using his forearm to push against your back, pulling you closer in the process, and allowing himself to melt into the kiss.

You two had, had some very intimate and emotional moments in the past, but nothing like this. You both were putting everything into it; the years of longing, feelings of loneliness and loss, as well as the utter relief and happiness of being together again, it was all poured into this one kiss.

It took you both a minute to realize you needed air, and even then, you were reluctant to pull away. You eventually did manage to separate from the kiss, but your hold on one another didn’t give, and you stood in that embrace for a while, foreheads touching, and eyes closed, both content to just bask in the presence of the one before you.

After a few minutes like this, Echo spoke the only other thought that had been on his mind.

“And Lena, she’s…”, he began to ask, stopping short, still slightly worried he might be wrong.

You opened your eyes and leaned back just a bit so you could look at him, a warm smile on your face.

“Yours”, you asked, finishing his question. He then opened his eyes and nodded. “Yes, she is. Although, I’m surprised that’s even up for question, who else’s would she be?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess my first thought was that you’d moved on, found someone who was actually worthy of your affection, it took me a minute to even consider the possibility that you hadn’t, and that she was my…”, he said, cutting himself off again, this time in an attempt to stifle the emotion welling in his voice. This was all so much in such a short span of time, and it was finally hitting him. He’d gone from thinking you were lost to him and that he’d have to let you go, to finding out that, in fact, you weren’t, and he didn’t, that you still loved him with your whole being, you were still his, and on top of all that, he now had a daughter, he was a father. So, getting a bit emotional was completely understandable, and you gave him a minute before continuing the conversation.

“I know, it’s a lot to take in all at once, but you don’t have to rush into anything if you’re not comfortable, we can take things as slow as you need to, she doesn’t need to know…”, you began to explain, quickly getting cut off.

“No”, he said with a sense of urgency. “No, I don’t want to hide this from her, don’t want you to have to hide it either. We’ll tell her, together.”

“You sure”, you asked.

He smiled and pulled your face closer, so your foreheads were touching again.

“I’ve never been more sure”, he responded, then slowly leaning back in, but before he could completely close the space he stopped and pulled back. “Well, almost never, there was that time I was very sure Rex would find us in that supply closet, really wish I hadn’t been right about that one though.”

This sudden change of subject surprised you, but also had you bursting out into a fit of laughter, both at the way he so casually brought up the embarrassing incident, and also at the memory of Rex’s face when he’d opened that door and found you both in a very compromising position. It had taken him a good few weeks before he could look you in the eye again.

“I still can’t believe he let that one slide, well, almost, I knew we wouldn’t get out of that without at least one of us getting a talking to”, you said.

Echo chuckled, remembering the twenty-minute-long lecture he’d received from his superior on the incident.

“Yeah, but it was worth it”, he said, lightly bumping your nose with his.

You let out a small laugh.

“You’re an idiot”, you told him playfully.

“As long as I’m still you’re idiot”, he responded, his eyes suddenly looking deep into yours once more.

You reached your hand, that had been released seconds ago, to find his, that was now resting on your cheek, then finding the pendant that was still hanging from his fingers by its attached leather cord and taking it. You held the metal piece in your open palm, looking down at it for a moment before taking the cord in both hands and placing it around his neck, allowing the pendant to rest comfortably against his chest plate. You then rested your hand atop the piece, rubbing your index finger along its engraving.

You looked back to his eyes.

“Always”, you said with a smile.

This time he didn’t stop as he leaned forward and captured your lips in another kiss, one that was just as passionate as the last, but that also held a promise of the future you both had hoped for, one that now had become possible again.

“Well, that was… unexpected”, Tech said from his place on the ramp, the two commandos having just witnessed the entirety of your interaction.

Hunter chuckled. “Go get the others, it looks like we’ll be staying for a while longer”, he told his brother.

Neither you, nor Echo, heard their brief conversation, too wrapped up in what you were doing, and too content to care about anything else. In this moment you were truly happy, as well as relieved, because for the first time, in a long time, you felt whole again.

 Clone boys taglist: @sgarrett49 / @dreamingofclones / @justanothersadperson93​​

[punkyflesh]

I love your fanfiction so much.. actually because of it I watched sofia the first couple of days ago and Cedric is so 😳😳 i just want to hug him and say that everything will be fine... speaking of the request for a story could you please write about how a completely-non-believing-in-magic s/o gets into their world (portal?? spell??) and they with a cedric look at each other like on mice for experiments until they slowly fall in love /i used google translate so sorry for mistakes/

AAAAA that literally made my day when i first saw it, i'm honoured to have encouraged you to watch the show & i'm glad you enjoyed it!

i’m going to make a part two for this fiction as it’ll be very long otherwise

don't apologise for the mistakes - as far as i'm aware, you're asking for the reader to be transported to enchancia who doesn't believe in magic, and cedric sees this as a good opportunity to use them for experiments blah blah love. let me know if i'm wrong about that, but enjoy!

TW: strong language used (swearing)

cedric x reader who doesn't believe in magic | oneshot - part one

"I'm just not convinced that this 'spell' of yours is going to work. You know I don't believe in that sort of crap." You said, shaking your head and folding your arms sternly. Your best friend had been trying to persuade you to try out a new teleportation spell they'd found online for many weeks now - according to the website, the spell would teleport you to a kingdom of magical opportunities and unique people - you simply did not believe the bullshit that came from a domain with a warning on the page.

It had taken a few weeks in order to gather all the equipment needed, and it amused you that your best friend was so easily swayed. You on the other hand? Well, let's just say you were only playing along to prove yourself right. As your friend finished up the alignment in which the equipment was supposed to be, they gestured for you to stand in the centre whilst they got the torn-up paper with the 'magic words' scribbled on messily. With a huff, you hesitantly stepped into the circle that had weird letters around it, glitter from the local craft place in town, and burning sage. "Alright! Are you ready to be transported to a place beyond your wildest dreams?!" Your friend exclaimed, holding onto the piece of paper excitedly and jumping up and down. Although you didn't believe that it was going to work, seeing your friend so excited ignited a sense of warmness in your heart. With a small smile, you nodded.

From then on, your hearing began to turn hazy. You could briefly hear the chanting of your friend, reading from the scrawny piece of paper, but could also hear a new ringing that was getting increasingly louder. You tried to shout out, tried to get your friend to stop and explain how you suddenly thought that this was a bad idea, but you could not hear any words escaping from your mouth. Your stomach began to churn as a bright, white light made you squint. You felt as though you were falling through a lifeless void before you hit a hard surface, your eyes still tightly sealed shut.

What the hell was that? You opened your eyes slowly to find that you were in fact laying down as if you had just got thrown against the surface of something hard. Your body felt numb. On the floor below you, you realised that you were laying upon a red carpet - you don't recall owning one, but then soon saw that the carpet was the length as one of the red carpets you'd see at a movie premiere. Using all your strength to lift up your head enough to support itself, you gazed down what seemed to be a long hallway with intricate designs and paintings decorating the walls. The ceiling was high. You couldn't tell if you were still tripping out or if this was reality but managed to gain more strength to push yourself up even further, looking around your surroundings and taking in the change of scenary. This definitely was not the dingy basement you were in 5 minutes ago. This was something a lot more elegant, posh - almost like the interior of a castle.

All of a sudden, the area you were sitting in was overcast by a shadow, a silhouette of someone. You turned your head expecting to see your friend, but instead saw the long legs of someone unfamiliar to you. They were quite tall and was wearing a long, plum-coloured robe that was tied into a neat knot above their abdomen. You gulped unconsciously and continued to raise your head until you saw the figure fully. They were looming over you, folding their arms into the sleeves of their robe and raising their eyebrow. The look on his face looked stern, but not confused or angry - more of a resting face. The figure had quite noticeable eye bags underneath his hazel eyes and a unique colouration to his hair - he had silvery-white bangs that heavily contrasted the darkness of his natural shade.

You found yourself staring at this odd hair colour before you heard him clear his throat, snapping you out of your trance and jumping slightly. "I uh.." You began, trying to pull yourself to your feet but achieving nothing in the process. The teleportation - or whatever nonsense had just happened, you were too confused to think about it - had obviously left you quite weak. "No need to explain. I'm already aware of your circumstances." The man spoke, cutting you off from what you were trying to explain. You stopped and gave the man a confused look - what did he mean he already knew the circumstances? If you were teleported...was he already aware of that? Hesitantly, you saw him offer you a hand. "It seems as though you've had quite a fall. Here." You looked to his hand - he was wearing black, fingerless gloves that were well fit against his slender fingers - and snuffled a laugh. A bold fashion choice.

Questioningly, you took the mans hand and he pulled you up onto your feet until you were able to look him in the eyes. Finally being able to share the same gaze as him set off a sudden spark in your body that ran from your heart to the hand in which was still interlocked with his own. You felt your heart begin to pound in your chest as you held onto him, not being able to take your eyes away. The same eyes that were looking down at you coldly seemed a lot softer now, gentle even. It was as if the whole world stopped. The figure stared at you for a moment longer, before clearing his throat for the second time and turning his head away, retracting his hand from yours and then offering you a small smile. “You must be my new apprentice. Marvellous to finally meet you.”

“I’m sorry, apprentice?” You questioned, your voice raspy and small. What did he mean apprentice? Apprentice for what? He raised his eyebrow at you once more and stifled a laugh. “Yes? Is there a problem?”

“I’m sorry, but you must be confused. I don’t even know who you are.”

The man looked taken back from your words, judging by the way his face transformed, you seemed to have offended him slightly. “Excuse me? I am Cedric the Sensational! Royal sorcerer of the Kingdom of Enchancia! I’ve saved a few people before and…”

Listening to the man drain on about his successes, you laughed, this time not holding it back. Your laugh caused him to stop talking and stare at you, as you shook your head and brushed off your clothes. “Sorcerer? Sorry pal, but I don’t believe in magic. Try fooling someone else with that story, because it sure ain’t gonna be me.”

Cedric listened to you as you laughed, freezing as he processed. You didn’t believe in magic, yet you had randomly appeared in the middle of the castle, dressed in clothes that’ll surely take you to the dungeon out of the blue? It just didn’t make any sense - unless…

He smirked. It had worked, his spell that he had sent out had actually worked! It was time for him to use this to his own advantage.

He was gonna have fun with his new little experiment.

[plus-size-reader]

Certifiable

Edmund Tolleson x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 1910 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Edmund tracking down the reader, a girl he used to love

—————————————————————————————————

You never thought you’d see him again.

After all, the last you’d heard, Edmund was on the run after breaking out of Lucia State Hospital in California. The chances of him ever even remembering you were slim, and the chances of him coming for you were even slimmer.

You doubted he could track you down if he wanted to, seeing as you’d moved around quite a bit in the time he’d been locked up at the psychiatric hospital.

He wouldn't know where to look, and you weren’t even sure why he’d want to.

...But there was no use denying what you could see with your own two eyes.

Right there, standing in front of you, plain as day, was Edmund Tolleson.

You had a million questions, each one more important than the last, and not one overriding your overall desire to run into your home and lock the door behind you. In the time since you’d last seen him, Edmund had really lost it.

This wasn’t the loveable young man you’d fallen in love with. No, he was a wanted criminal, a convicted felon and if they found out he had come here, you would surely be on a list somewhere, if you weren’t dead before that.

There was no good way this would end.

Still, you couldn't will your legs to move. As desperately as you tried to turn away from him and pretend you hadn’t seen a thing, you couldn’t make yourself do it.

He was really here.

It was impossible.

“Long time no see” he called, somehow managing to keep a low profile even though everyone in California knew exactly who he was and wouldn’t hesitate to call the police if they saw him.

There was no point in hiding.

He wasn’t in California anymore.

“What are you doing here?” you asked, your voice little more than a pathetic whisper, caught in the back of your throat. Never in your wildest dreams had you imagined seeing him again, and even then, you never thought it could really happen.

This had to be a dream.

You had finally lost your mind and it was only a matter of time before those men in white coats came to collect you. That would be a much easier reality to accept than the one you were currently stuck in.

He couldn’t be here.

“You know, I was real surprised you didn’t come and visit me. I missed you” he hummed, continuing on as if you hadn’t said anything at all. Edmund’ had more than enough time to think about what he would say to you if this time ever came, and it was important you heard him.

There was no telling what you had heard about him in the time since he’d been gone, and the less you really knew, the better.

Really, he was only here for one thing.

Edmund wanted his girl back.

He wanted you back, real bad.

“It’s a little hard to visit when I didn’t know where you were '' you reminded, finding yourself unable to hold your tongue, even in these most unsavory circumstances.

You couldn’t help yourself.

One day, you were happily waiting for him to come back, and the next, you hear over the radio that the man you love has been arrested for multiple murders. Murders, and of priests no less.

It wasn’t as if you were just going to jump at the chance to go and see him after that.

“Would it have really mattered? Would you have come to see me if you knew?” Edmund countered, well aware of the answer before the words even left his lips. You surely thought that he was a monster.

Just like everyone else did.

The fact that you had once cared deeply for him wasn’t going to change the fact that he had hurt all those people, and that he was a wanted criminal. Nothing was going to take away from the terrible things he’d done.

Not even the way his eyes twinkled as he looked at you.

It was just like it used to be and for a moment, you found yourself almost forgetting the horrific circumstances under which you were meeting again.

“I heard you got a new girl, I’m sorry about what happened to her” you hummed, once again changing the subject from your own feelings for him. You didn’t want to get into any of that with him, not now.

It wouldn’t change a thing.

The news of Edmund breaking out of Lucia the first time had been music to your ears, because whether you wanted to admit it or not, you didn’t want anything to happen to him.

If it didn’t matter, you wouldn’t have followed the radio so closely after catching wind of the murders he’d committed. Any sane person would have just closed that part of their life off and never thought of it again.

...but clearly, you weren’t as sane as you would have liked to think you were because you were still entertaining this conversation at all.

“Yeah, me too”

There was a sadness in Edmund’s voice as he thought about Dolly, and the Bonnie and Clyde relationship they had shared. It was over quickly, but left a lasting impression on him that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to shake.

She was special.

So were you.

That was why he was here in the first place. There was no way Edmund could live another day without you, the first girl he’d ever loved, now that he was free.

“I thought about you, every day when I was in there” he sighed, as if thinking back to all those days locked up like a caged animal. Knowing that you were out there somewhere, just waiting for him to come find you, was what kept him going.

He needed you.

“What do you want, Eddie?” you huffed, finally breaking down to the point where you just had to get it over with. Clearly, he came here for a reason and you just wanted to know what that was.

Surely, there wasn’t anything left of what you’d had before.

He had gone off and butchered people, he hurt people and if that wasn’t enough which it certainly should have been, he was currently on the run. There was no way you could have what you’d had before he ran off.

There was no way you could have anything anymore.

However, the male in front of you had yet to give up hope. He knew that deep down inside of you, there was always going to be love for him, and all he had to do was bring it to the surface.

He had never stopped loving you, and nothing was going to keep you from loving him back.

That was just the way you were.

“I want you baby, just like I always have” he confessed, closing the space between your two bodies until you could smell the musk rolling off of him. For the first time in months, he was right here.

You could reach out and touch him, and nothing was physically keeping you from doing that, but you just couldn’t.

It wasn’t right.

Every night, you went to bed hoping that Edmund would come to his senses and come find you so that the two of you could be together again but you never thought it would actually happen.

You never thought he would be standing in front of you, like nothing had changed.

If anything, you expected to bring him up in a memory many years from now, in front of your grandchildren or something. Surely they would get a kick out of the story of how you once loved the man they called the Clergy killer.

You weren’t supposed to ever see him again.

“What am I supposed to say? You’re a killer, Eddie” you reminded, feeling sort of foolish even saying it out loud. Surely a man who had taken as many lives as he had was well aware of what he was.

Still, it just seemed like he was forgetting.

If nothing else, he was assuming that you had forgotten.

“Darling, I made a mistake. You know I love you”

It was exactly what you should have been expecting from him. It was real and raw and emotional, tugging at your heartstrings in just the right way.  Just hearing him say it nearly broke your heart, but it wasn’t because you didn’t believe him.

It was because you did.

You knew that no matter what he did, Edmund had always loved you.

He wasn’t manipulative by nature, and didn’t have it in him to lie to you. Even when he was bad, he’d always been honest about it and even now, you found it hard to turn a blind eye to the way your stomach fluttered as he spoke.

He loved you.

Right now, standing in front of you, it was clear that he really, truly loved you, but that didn’t make it any easier to make sense of what he was asking of you.

You had a life, a job, and picking up and joining Edmund on his life of crime just didn’t seem like something you wanted to do. If your mother could see you now, she would be rolling in her grave.

...But it would be a lie to say that some part of you didn’t want to go.

Some part, no matter how small, wanted you to take Edmund’s hand and never look back but you just weren’t sure if it could work. It had been so long now, and so much had changed.

How could he even be sure he wanted you anymore?

“This is absolutely insane. Do you even have a plan? Where will you go?” you asked, doing your best not to give him, or yourself, any hope that you were going to accept the lunacy he was offering.

If you did, there was no telling what you would get yourself into.

Though, you knew that if you didn’t, you would always regret it.

All your life, Edmund had been what you wanted. From the moment you met, you knew that wherever he went, you would follow him and for a time, you had. There was nothing else in the world more important to you than him.

You just weren’t sure if you were quite ready to follow him into whatever this was.

“Don’t I always have a plan? Just get in the car, and I’ll take care of everything else” he grinned, well aware that he had already won you over. He could feel it in his gut and for once, it seemed like he was right.

This was going to work.

You were going to come with him, and as long as he had you, the rest would find a way to work itself out.

He was sure of it.

“Edmund Tolleson, you are certifiable” you decided, allowing yourself to stop worrying just enough to pull him into your arms, kissing him for what felt like the first time in a lifetime.

It was going to be messy, and difficult, but he had a point.

He had always taken care of you. All you had to do was trust him to do it one more time and everything was going to work out. 

If nothing else, you were together and that was all you’d wanted for a very long time.

[marauders-venting]

This Love

pairing: wolfstar (remus x sirius)

genre: fluff & angst

warnings: mentions of drowning, child abuse, physical abuse, death/murder, war, grief and guilt

words: 3679

note: based on the song ‘This Love’ by Taylor Swift

a/n: this is a request I got from someone on Instagram :)

okay I know that sirius ran away from home at 16 and they’re not supposed to use magic outside of Hogwarts until their 17 but uhhh idk just pretend that sirius ran away at 17. or that they can do magic at 16, whatever you prefer

Clear blue water, high tide came and brought you in and I could go on and on, on and on, and I will. Skies grew darker, currents swept you out again and you were just gone and gone, gone and gone. In silent screams, in wildest dreams I never dreamed of this

“Hey,” Remus said, waving as he saw Sirius approaching. His nervous expression rearranged itself into a smile when he saw Remus.

“Remus!” Sirius said, rushing towards him and hugging him. The embrace is quick and short, Sirius pulling back as quickly as he came in, but it’s enough to make Remus’ heart pound ridiculously fast in his chest. “I’d ask you how your summer’s been but I guess I already know,” Sirius added with a laugh. Remus smiled. They had been exchanging letters back and forth all summer long. Not that they didn’t usually write to each other over breaks but Remus was pretty sure this summer they had broken the world record for most letters sent in a month.

Remus had planned on using this time away from Sirius to try and get over his crush but the second he saw Sirius walking around the beach he knew he had failed. If anything, being away from Sirius, missing him, had only made Remus’ feelings of longing more intense.

“Come on, let’s sit,” Remus said. He had already spread a towel out on the sand near the water before when he was waiting for Sirius and they sat on it now. “How’d you manage to get away in the end?”

“I just snuck out the window,” Sirius said, shrugging. “And then I took a taxi like you taught me and I used the muggle money you sent me. I will pay you back for that by the way.”

“Don’t bother,” Remus said. “Think of it as me paying you back for all the chocolate you bought me on the last Hogsmeade visit at the end of last year. Nobody knows you’re gone?”

“Nah, they’re not expecting me down for dinner anyway so it’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” Remus asked nervously.

“Yeah,” Sirius said. Remus wasn’t convinced. “Hey, come on, don’t worry about them. We’re here now, let’s enjoy it.” Sirius flopped back on the towel, lying on his back, arms stretched up above his head, shirt riding up and revealing a strip of skin above the waistband of his pants that Remus was actively trying to avoid staring at. Sirius was right. They had discussed this all summer, planning exactly how they would make it work. He wouldn’t ruin it by worrying now that they were finally here.

“Yeah, okay,” Remus said, smiling. And lying down next to Sirius. He looked up at the sky. It was a brilliant orange now, the rays of the setting sun giving it the colour. “You feel like going for a swim?”

“Okay,” Sirius said, grinning. They raced into the ocean, spraying each other water so they were soaked before they even got in past their knees. Remus kept going deeper until only his head was above water.

“Come on, Moony, that’s not fair, I can’t stand here,” Sirius complained, treading water beside him.

“Then swim,” Remus replied.

“Swimming is the one thing that I’m not the best at,” Sirius admitted grudgingly.

“What, all that old family money and your parents never paid for swimming lessons?” Remus teased but he followed Sirius back to the shallows.

“I think they were hoping I’d just drown actually,” Sirius said once he could stand. “I wonder why Reg never got any swimming lessons though. Well, it’ll be on their conscience if he ever drowns. If they even have a conscience, that is.”

“What if you drown?”

“Oh, it definitely wouldn’t be a weight on their conscience. They’d probably pat themselves on the back and go ‘see, this is what happens to gay, Gryffindor, blood traitors.”

“That’s… really fucked up,” Remus said. Sirius shrugged and submerged his head in the water. When he came back up, Remus splashed him in the face, starting a short water fight that Remus had clearly won (no matter what Sirius said).

They didn’t stay in the ocean much longer because the lower the sun sank, the colder the water got. They got out of the water, dried themselves with their wands and then sat back down on their beach towel. The blue water was crystal clear and above it, the sky now looked pink. It was a beautiful sight. But Remus was watching Sirius’ face instead. His wind-swept hair, blue-grey eyes squinting at the setting sun, rays of orange light giving his skin a golden look. Remus’ heart was beating loudly in his ears.

“What?” Sirius asked when he noticed Remus’ staring. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Normally this would be the point where Remus would look away hurriedly, his face burning, claiming that he wasn’t looking at Sirius and joking that he should deflate his ego because not everything was about him. And maybe it was the way Sirius looked today, different from what Remus was used to, in a different setting or maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t seen Sirius in weeks and his resolve had weakened, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away today.

“Moony,” Sirius said. Remus’ heart skipped a beat. “What? Is it my hair?” Sirius’ hand reached up into his hair and ran his fingers through it. It looked both messier and neater somehow. Remus didn’t understand it. Remus would never admit it out loud, not after the number of times he had teased Sirius about it, but Sirius’ hair was every bit as perfect as his arrogant ass claimed it was.

“It’s you,” Remus said, without thinking. “Just… all of you.” Sirius looked at him, eyes wide.

“W-What do you mean?”

“I—” Remus started, when suddenly it hit him what he was about to do. What the fuck was wrong with him? He was going to tell Sirius. He was actually going to do it. “Nevermind,” he mumbles, looking away and blushing as he should’ve done a minute ago when Sirius had caught him staring in the first place.

“What? No, come on, Remus, just tell me,” Sirius teased. Remus shrugged. Sirius turned around so he was facing Remus.

“Remus,” he said, “whatever it is you can tell me. I’m here for you, no matter what.” Remus hesitated.

“Promise you won’t hate me?” he said. He felt stupid asking the question because even if Sirius did promise, it wasn’t a binding contract. Sirius couldn’t control his hatred. Nobody could.

“I promise,” Sirius said. “I could never hate you, Remus.” He looked genuine but Remus knew better than to believe it was true. Promises are broken more often than they’re kept. But not with Sirius, he thinks. Sirius has never broken a promise he made to Remus. Not once. Well, he’s about to, said a voice in his head. Remus tried to ignore that voice as he spoke.

“Okay,” Remus let out a shaky breath. “Okay. I… I like you, Sirius. Like, um, a lot.” Sirius remained silent for a moment.

“I like you too, Rem,” he said quietly. Remus felt his chest burn.

“You don’t understand,” he said, shaking his head. Because Sirius couldn’t… he couldn’t possibly… But his thoughts are interrupted when Sirius speaks again

“Oh, I think I do,” Sirius said. Remus opened his mouth to reply but Sirius got there first. “Can… can I kiss you?” Remus closed his mouth.

“W-What?” he stuttered, his brain taking several moments to process what Sirius had just said to him.

“We don’t have to,” Sirius said hurriedly. “I was only—” But Remus cut him off by pressing their lips together. In a rush of adrenaline, fear and excitement he ignores the voice in his head saying this is a bad idea, that he misunderstood something, that this isn’t really what Sirius wants and instead he listens to Sirius. He hears Sirius’ voice echoing inside his head. Can I kiss you? Can I kiss you? Can I kiss you? Yes, you bloody well can. This is all Remus has wanted, what he’s been dreaming about for months. But not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined what it would be like to really kiss Sirius. To have Sirius kiss him back. To thread his fingers in Sirius’ hair and feel Sirius’ hands pressing into his back, holding him close. And with all of Remus’ expansive vocabulary, he couldn’t think of a single word to describe this feeling that could even come close to how extraordinary it is. All he could think was Sirius. Sirius is touching me. Sirius is holding me. Sirius is kissing me.

When they break apart, they’re both breathless. Remus can’t think straight. Everything in his brain is one big mess.

“You— I— we just…” Remus has seemingly forgotten how to speak. And the grin on Sirius’ face is definitely not helping.

“Told you I understand,” Sirius said, taking Remus’ hand in his.

“You actually… like me?” Remus asked, bewildered.

“Um, yeah,” Sirius said, laughing as if it had been obvious. “For, like, a really long time.”

“I– why didn’t you say anything?” Remus asked.

“I could ask you the same,” Sirius said, shrugging. “But I don’t think it matters much. What matters is that I like you and you like me and…”

“And?” Remus prompted. Sirius looked him in the eyes and bit his lip.

“And I’d like to, um… take you out. On a date. Sometime. If that’s something that you might be interested in?” He said it like a question, looking nervous up at him.

“Yeah, I– of course, I–I’d love to go on a date with you,” Remus said. He could feel himself blushing. God, he was so awkward. Sirius cupped his cheeks with his hand, leaning towards closer again, ghosting his lips on Remus’.

“Your face is warm,” he said, his lips brushing against Remus’ mouth as he spoke, which only made Remus blush harder.

“Well no fucking shit,” Remus said, rolling his eyes. And then he kissed Sirius properly, fitting their mouths together like it was the most natural thing in the world.

When the sun had gone down, they finally left the beach, each going back to his own home. Remus hadn’t known how badly Sirius would be punished for sneaking out the following day; if he had he might have never agreed to it. Or might have told Sirius not to go home.

It was that summer that Sirius finally decided to run away from home for good. Remus couldn’t help but feel guilty no matter how many times Sirius told him that he would have done it anyway. Besides, meeting at the beach was Sirius’ idea, not Remus’. But Remus couldn’t forget the moment he finally understood just how terrible things had been at the Black household.

He remembered going over to the Potter’s house after getting a letter from James saying that Sirius was staying with him. He remembered being horrified when he saw Sirius’. Bruised and scarred from the blows that his own parents struck and curses that they fired at him. That night he cradled Sirius, holding him close and promising that he would take care of Sirius, that Sirius was safe with him. He told Sirius that he loved him and that he always will. It had never occurred to him that maybe Sirius wouldn’t say the same about him.

Tossing, turning, struggled through the night with someone new and I could go on and on, on and on. Lantern, burning, flickered in the night, only you but you were still gone, gone, gone

Everything had changed in a single night. In a single night, he had lost Lily, James and Peter. He’d lost Sirius too but not in the same way. He’d lost them all because of Sirius. Sirius had killed them. And in doing so, Sirius had been lost as well. He hadn’t died but Remus counted him with the losses. He might as well have died. He’s dead to me, Remus thinks, he doesn’t matter. He killed them. He killed them all. It was all him. The man that he knew had died. Remus had wondered how long ago it had happened.

He had been tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep from fear of the war, images of everyone he had lost, turning to Sirius for comfort. To someone he thought loved him. But this was someone else. Someone new. This wasn’t the boy he’d fallen in love with.

Remus remembered laying in bed the night before everything had gone to hell. It felt like a million years ago, but he remembered it all the same. He remembered how Sirius hadn’t spoken to him in the weeks before. He remembered devising a plan to find out if Sirius still loved him. Because that’s what he did best. At school, he devised plans for pranks. After school, he helped devise plans for the Order. He was good at planning ahead. So he made a plan. Because he couldn’t go on living in the same apartment as Sirius, sleeping in the same bed without exchanging a word, not knowing whether Sirius still reciprocated his feelings. His plan kept him sane. But his plan had failed. Or maybe it had succeeded. It just hadn’t given him the results he’d been hoping for. Because when he got into bed that night, he waited long enough that Sirius would think he was asleep. Then he turned towards Sirius and brushed his fingers on Sirius’ back. And Sirius got up and walked away. And just like that, the last flame of hope Remus had left flicked out.

Remus remembered thinking that Sirius had fallen out of love. But maybe he hadn’t. Maybe he had simply never loved Remus in the first place. Maybe this wasn’t someone new at all. Maybe this person, this murderer, was in fact the very same boy he’d fallen in love with all those years ago. Maybe this was all part of some sick scheme. Maybe Sirius had hated him all along. Sirius had promised he would never hate Remus. But what is a promise, really? Promises are made to be broken. Remus had to learn that time and time again. He should just stop believing people when they make promises. He wouldn’t believe anymore, he told himself. He promised himself. There was nobody left to believe. Nobody left to promise him anything anyway. Sirius was gone. They were all gone, all his friends. And they’re never coming back.

Your kiss, my cheek, I watched you leave. Your smile, my ghost, I fell to my knees.

Remus’ world is on fire. Everything has burned the ground and he’s left to scrape away the ashes and try to find something he can put back together. Alone.

He can still feel the sting of Sirius’ lips against his cheek. He can still remember Sirius’ easy smile, his light-hearted laughter ringing through the walls of the room that Remus is in right now. But then he blinks again and now he’s seeing Sirius’ face on a ‘wanted’ poster for the first time. He doesn’t remember how he found the poster that night. It’s not important anyway. All he remembers is the feeling of looking down and seeing a photo of the love of his life behind bars, arrested for the murder of his three best friends. He remembers collapsing. Literally, falling to his knees as quickly as the tears fell down his cheeks. He remembers crying, sobbing, screaming out. 

He remembers thinking of every happy moment he’d ever had with his friends, with his boyfriend. He’d never make any more memories like that. He had felt empty that day. Hollow. That feeling still hasn’t gone away. Remus feels like a ghost. A ghost of the memories from before this all happened. He haunts himself. But Remus is not a ghost. He’s the only one still left alive. He’d rather be a ghost right now. He’d rather be dead. At least then he wouldn’t feel this pain. At least then he wouldn’t feel like he’s been pulled apart. Nobody can glue him back together now. There’s nobody left alive that would try. There’s nobody left alive, period. Nobody but him.

This love is good, this love is bad, this love is alive back from the dead, oh, oh, oh. These hands had to let it go free, and this love came back to me, oh, oh, oh. This love left a permanent mark, this love is glowing in the dark, oh, oh, oh. These hands had to let it go free, and this love came back to me, oh, oh, oh

Sirius has been staying at Remus’ apartment for a couple of days now, sleeping on the couch in Remus’ living room. It’s been weeks since that night he found out the truth. The night he nearly killed everybody he cared about. The few still left alive. The night he saw Sirius again for the first time in twelve years. It’s been weeks but Remus can’t figure out how he feels about Sirius after everything they’ve been through. On one hand, Remus can’t believe how unbelievably lucky he is to have Sirius back. He can’t believe that Sirius is here. That he’s innocent. And he wants things to go back to how they were. He knows that’s impossible but he wishes it could happen.

But on the other hand, there are still so many complications, so many questions. Is being together wise? Is it advisable? Is it responsible? Even if Sirius wasn’t still a wanted criminal, would they be able to repair their relationship? To pick up their shattered love and piece it back together? They’d been through so much together and so much apart. Remus isn’t the same person he was 12 years ago and neither is Sirius. Does Sirius even still love him? Does he still love Sirius, after everything? He buried those feelings deep, deep down inside him on the night of Sirius’ arrest. Are they still there? Do they still exist, locked somewhere in the depths of his heart? Remus is sure they do. What else could be squeezing in his chest every time he looks at Sirius? It’s like a game of tug-a-war in his mind, back and forth. This love is good, this love is bad.

All this is why, right now, when Sirius is saying that they need to talk and they’re seated in the living room side by side on the couch, Remus feels like words are failing him. He’s disappeared into his own head until Sirius’ words snap him out of it, his voice ringing in Remus’ head.

“Remus?”

“Yeah?” he says, sounding dazed.

“I–I just want you to know that I never meant to hurt you. I would never intentionally hurt you, Remus, I promise.” His eyes pleaded with Remus to believe him. Remus had promised himself that he would never believe people when they make promises. But here he was, believing again. Never believe a promise, even when you’re the one making the promise to yourself. Especially when you make the promise to yourself.

“I—” Sirius starts again, seeing that Remus doesn’t know what to say. He closes his eyes and takes a breath before continuing. “I still love you, Remus. And I understand if you don’t feel the same anymore, really I get it. But I just thought you should know. I’ll always love you.” Remus can barely breathe. Sirius still loves him. This is a bad idea, says a voice in his head. Fuck good and bad. Remus doesn’t care. The important this is that this love is fucking alive. It died. And now it’s back. Back from the dead. Sirius is back. He came back to me, Remus thinks. He’s innocent. He came back and now he’s telling me he still loves me. Sirius is here. Remus desperately wants this to be real. He wants them to be real again.

Sirius’ love left a permanent mark on Remus. Not like his scars. This is something different. More like a tattoo. Something that he’d chosen at first and couldn’t get rid of later. In all the years that Sirius had been in Azkaban, in all the years Remus had willed himself to forget Sirius, to hate him, the tattoo had never faded. And now that Sirius is back, Remus doesn’t have to want it to fade. So in a lapse of judgement, he kisses Sirius. He kisses Sirius and that tiny flame that had flickered out all those years ago is back. Remus feels it fill him up as Sirius kisses him back, hands in hair, arms around waists, fingertips on bare skin. And when they break apart, Remus still feels the warmth of Sirius’ body against his.

“I missed you so much,” Sirius murmurs against his lips and Remus feels like he’s back on that beach the first time he kissed Sirius.

“I missed you too,” Remus says, a tear trickling down his face.

“Really?” Sirius asks, pulling away to look at Remus with his eyebrows raised. “But you thought I was a murderer?”

“I know,” Remus says. “I didn’t want to miss you. But I did. I couldn’t help it. I wanted you back.”

“I’m back now,” Sirius says, hugging Remus tightly. “I’m back and I’m never leaving. And I’m all yours, love.”

“I never stopped loving you,” Remus whispers in his ear, tears spilling from his eyes even though they’re squeezed shut. “I hated myself for it. But I loved you every day you were locked in that cell. And I still love you now.”

“I love you too,” Sirius whispers back.

It’s the only light in this crushing, suffocating darkness of death and war and grief and guilt. That flame, his and Sirius’ love, glows amidst the dark. And it’s what keeps Remus going. And this time, Remus will never let go of Sirius.

[jamilelucato]

Popcorn Taste [F.W]

Pairing: Fred Weasley x reader

Summary: It’s a bit awkward spending Christmas in the Burrow after what happened between you and Fred.

Warning: there’s a drunk scene, but the characters are not underage; fluffy;

A/N: of course I’m participating in my own challenge, why not? So this is Day 7- Making A Popcorn Garland for the A Very Harry Potter Christmas with @whack-ed​

Harry Potter Masterlist ||  Musical Hogwarts Series

Generally, being invited to spend the holidays with the Weasley was all you could’ve wished. This year, however, staying in that small house locked with tons of red-heads was not your first goal.

Nevertheless, when the letter arrived, there was nothing you could do but sigh and reply with “thanks for the invite; yes, I’m coming; no, I’m not bringing someone with me.”

Mrs and Mr Weasley had a special place in your heart — for all the days they allowed you to stay with them, particularly during the dark times of war, and after it, when you were alone. You had no choice but to show up and, fair enough, it wasn’t all that bad. You liked the older couple; you always laughed around Bill; Charlie had unique stories to tell, and even Percy remained quite pleasant and able to communicate when you were around.

It was the next son in line that worried your guts and caused the butterflies in your stomach to fly around.

You took one last look at your flat before holding tight to your luggage before Apparating to the Burrow. It was one week before Christmas, but it was the exact day — and time — that Mrs Weasley had written for you to show up.

CRACK!

The loud sound (of what probably used to be) a vase breaking echoed in the house, and you involuntarily ducked, even though there was no one in the living room to see you.

“[y/n]? Is that you?” Molly’s voice found its way to where you were still scared to move and break something else.

“It’s me, Molly,”— she would never allow you to call her Mrs Weasley in front of her — “and I think I broke something.”

She found her way to the living room, carefully stepping away from the broken pieces and reaching for you with her hands, firstly cupping your face and squeezing your cheeks before pulling you in a proper hug.

“It’s okay, dear! I’m so happy you came,” she whispered in your ear, before pulling you away and reaching for your luggage, not even asking if you wanted help.

“She’s been talking about you all week.”

At first, the voice seemed familiar, and it made you shiver until Molly stepped out of your sight and revealed the real speaker, standing near the door sill — and although he looked a lot like who you thought he was, he still wasn’t him.

“Hi, George,” you smiled sympathetically, slowly moving towards the younger twin, paying attention not to step on the broken vase.

He received you with a quick but tight hug. When you pulled away, your eyes searched for the other half of that pair, but you didn’t find the other identical face.

“Fred’s coming later,” George explained the question that you didn’t ask aloud.

“I wasn’t looking for him,” you denied with some charm, more out of fear of Molly listening and having second thoughts than fear of George finding out what was going on in the dark corners of your mind.

After all, you were pretty sure that George already knew.

When you surreptitiously looked back, however, Molly and her bags were no longer in the room.

“Since Mum’s taking care of your accommodation, come help me with de-gnoming the yard,” George suggested, putting one of his long arms over your shoulders and pulling you close.

“I thought this job was Ron’s,” you said, having a vague memory of a Christmas years ago, “and Potter’s.”

George smiled. “Ronniekins and Harriekins are only coming later in the night,” he explained, guiding you out of the Burrow. “But I think you’ll like to see who’s helping me out in the yard.”

As soon as he opened the door to the back, your eyes scanned the place, soon finding red hair in the wind, too long to belong to any other Weasley but: “Bill!!” you shouted, running towards him.

Bill smiled when he turned and saw you, and greeted you with a warm hug, as he always did when you spent days at the Burrow and felt left out.

“Hi, little one,” he stroked your hair before putting you back on the ground. “I think we have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Tell me about it! You’ll never know...” Bill let you vent until you saw the platinum blond woman coming towards the three of you, and she had a hand positioned at the end of her belly as if it was too heavy to carry. “Oh, my Merlin!!!”

Bill chuckled at your reaction at his pregnant wife.

You rushed to get closer to Fleur, afraid she was too slow because of the child she carried in her womb, but you slowed down when you got close, scared you could hurt her.

“Fleur! I can’t believe it! Can I...?” you looked down at where her hands were placed.

“Sure,” she said with her French accent still very strong. She smiled at you while you delicately pressed your hands on her belly, trying to feel the life growing on her. 

“How long...?”

“Four months,” Bill answered from behind you. “We wanted to be sure before telling the family.”

“And you were right in doing so,” you said between gasps of surprise — you were still very much fascinated with it. “Hey, George, when are you and Angelina....”

“Don’t even start!” he interrupted you in a protest and soon everybody was laughing, just like old times.

--

You weren’t surprised when, after a long two hours of de-gnoming the backyard and a well-deserved hot bath, you found your suitcase in the twins’ room.

Molly had installed you there for two reasons. The first was that gradually over the day, the rest of the Weasley siblings were arriving, and so the rooms filled up.

Bill and his wife stayed in his room; Percy and his wife switched places with Ginny in search of a larger one, so Ginny and Hermione were cramped in Percy’s old small room. Ron and Harry would share Ron’s room upstairs, and Charlie had his room to himself, as it was also a tiny room.

Therefore, the only room large enough to accommodate an extra mattress was the twins’.

The second reason was that you had been used to sleeping there since you were fifteen when on the hottest summer nights you ran away from Ginny’s room and were welcomed next to Fred and George. When you were a teen, you believed you did a great job being discreet, but now at 21, you reconsidered that maybe Molly always knew, but pretended not to see.

You quickly changed, afraid the boys could come in at any moment. You had heard Fred’s voice — Merlin, you’d recognize it at any distance — when you were getting out of the bathroom, so you were extra nervous when you left the room and headed to the kitchen, where the majority of the family was. Except for Fleur who needed to rest and Percy, his wife and Charlie that were in the living room.

“Here, she is!” Fred’s voice greeted you in that heartwarming way that only he had, and with just a couple of steps he reached you and held you in a tight hug, slightly taking your feet off the ground. 

“Hi, Freddie,” you whispered in his ear with a chuckle while he put you back on the floor. You saw his cheeks turning red because of the nickname and thought it was the cutest thing ever.

“Hope you’re hungry,” said George from behind Fred, but you couldn’t see him — Fred was your only view at that moment.

“Always am, Weasley,” you replied, placing your hands in the back pockets of your jeans and walking towards the smell of warm food. You had no idea what it was — you always sucked with scents — but it looked good. Fred turned in the direction you were walking, watching you.

Like you, he was scared to death that you both would be startled the next time you saw each other, but as soon as his eyes met yours, he couldn’t contain the joy and desire to at least embrace you.

The thing was, last time you two had seen each other was on a party in the twins flat, and, after a couple of drinks, you ended up kissing Fred in a bathroom. It actually happened like this:

“What are you doing here?” Fred asked when you stepped in the small bathroom of his room. He wasn’t angry, just surprised. Besides, he wasn’t naked or something — he had already done whatever he needed to do in the bathroom, but he needed to wash his hands before leaving.

“I know you said for us to use the guest bathroom, but whoever is in there hasn’t left since,” you sighed, staring at him slowly, taking your time to appreciate the view, “and I need to pee.”

“Oh, I’ll leave.”

“Please, don’t,” you said, a bit too fast. Even drunk, you noticed that you didn’t even hesitate. “It’s just... I’ll get lost in here alone.”

Fred looked around. He was drunk too, but he still had a clear idea that his flat wasn’t at all that big.

“Okay,” he agreed slowly, unsure of what else to say. He then turned to face the door, allowing you to do whatever you needed to do with some privacy.

Deep down, he loved the idea of being in a small room with you. It’s just, he was drunk, so it wasn’t the first scenario he had in mind.

“You can turn now,” you said; your voice followed by the sound of the flush. You stepped closer to the sink — there really wasn’t much space there — and after washing your hands, you were left to confront your darkest fears.

Fred stared down at you, his head above yours just like always, only this time, he was so close that it was almost terrifying. It made you weak in the knees. And you were so drunk...

“Kiss me.”

“Huh?” Fred shocked his head. He had heard you, he just wasn’t sure you wanted to make his wildest dreams come true.

“Kiss me, Freddie,” oh, the nickname — it was his weak spot, and he was so close now. Your hands cupped his cheekbone.

“You are drunk,” he stated, noticing that at any other circumstances, you wouldn’t have the balls.

“So are you,” you smiled, leaning closer to him and finally ending the last millimetres that were in your way.

Both of you remembered the kiss, even though the approach seemed to be like it never happened. It didn’t last much — someone knocked on the door, asking for Fred, saying they needed to say good-bye, and so he left you alone in that bathroom with just your thoughts and his smell all over you.

It had been two months since the kiss, and you two ignored each other since. Some nights, you wish you could’ve forgotten it, but how could you when every time you closed your eyes your brain replayed the moment?

--

“Lost in thoughts?” asked Molly as she placed some food in your plate during dinner.

You stared at her — truly lost in thoughts. She smiled, forcing you to smile back, but the corner of your mind was still thinking about Fred and the fact that in a couple of hours you’d be sleeping in his room. With him.

Dinner went well, and even the late hours by the fire — even though Ginny and Ron left you to sit on the floor. It was easy to distract yourself from Fred when he had like, a ton of other siblings to talk to. And unfortunately, that’s what you did — avoided talking to only him the whole night.

When you finally gathered enough courage, you went to the bedroom, already in your pyjamas. You came across a snoring George (how easy it was for him to sleep, it was a mystery), but Fred’s bed was still empty.

As you entered the room trying to make as little noise as possible, you realized that there was already a body on your mattress on the floor.

“Fred?”

Red hair fluttered, and in the dim light of the only candle in the room, you saw Fred’s eyes shine when they met you.

“What are you doing on my mattress?”

“Yours?” he asked in a voice not as low as yours. Perhaps he knew the limits of his brother’s hearing better than you. “You didn’t think I was going to let you sleep on the floor, did you?”

“Fred, please, it wouldn’t be a bother...”

“[y/n], just accept my bed for today. ’M already very well settled here to leave,” he debated, gesturing with his neck towards himself, where he really looked comfortable under a thick blanket.

You sighed, knowing very well, after years of being Fred and George’s best friend that there was no point with arguing. So you jumped on his old bed, trying to find a position, but already knowing it’d take you at least a couple of hours to finally sleep.

In a quick and not calculated movement, your head ended up turned on the pillow, making your breathing more limited, thus having to breathe through it.

It was a bad idea because, without warning, Fred’s scent invaded your nostrils. It wasn’t a bad smell, quite the contrary — it was very much inviting and, knowing that Fred was only less than a meter from you and remembering the taste of his kiss, sleeping was suddenly impossible that night.

You sighed, but could not move, paralyzed in that position — it was as if your body was addicted to his scent, and you wanted more and more. When you finally fell asleep, the dream that invaded your subconscious was not much different than what you imagined before you went to sleep.

--

“Popcorn duty?” asked Fred, catching up to you with just a couple of large steps.

“Yeah,” you sighed, trying not to sound so disappointed. Of course, spending time with Fred was marvellous, but since you kissed him and he never mentioned it again, it kinda seemed fair to you not want to be alone with him.

Fred didn’t notice something off with your tone, so he kept walking next to you towards the kitchen, where Molly had told you the popcorn was.

Placing yourselves next to each other, you were left responsible for holding the fishing wire, and Fred was in charge of the popcorn. You handed the point of the wire for him, who sought advice with his eyes.

You helped him with your hands — this time, you were the one to blush with the touch. You did not expect his hands to be so warm in the middle of winter.

“Do you reckon Mum would mind if we ate one?” he asked, raising a single popcorn up. “Or two?”

You chuckled at his worries, looking down at the bowl filled with old popcorn. You had no idea why he thought that was delicious. It still smelled like good popcorn, but you knew that, for these types of garlands, it needed to be ready, like, at least, one week earlier.

“They don’t look very appetizing to me,” you commented, tilting your head towards him, holding tightly to the wire since Fred seemed reckless with the thing.

“Ah,” Fred sighed, using the popcorn that he was about to eat to place in the garland. He seemed to be getting the hang of it by now. “Well, I’m just hungry,” he shrugged innocently.

“I bet. It’s not like you just ate breakfast, right?” you chuckled, and Fred joined, looking at you with the same sparkly eyes that captured your heart when you were just a kid. He had no idea that you have been liking him for so long.

“I’ll tell you what, before we go to bed, we can watch a movie and I’ll make you new popcorn,” you offered after a moment of silence. Fred wasn’t the quiet type of guy, so when the room was filled with it, something was definitely wrong.

He smiled with the opportunity you gave him. “Asking me on a date, [y/n]?”

You elbowed him, laughing nervous first, but when you realized that he was just teasing you, your laugh became more real. It was so easy to have fun with Fred.

After a few years of romantically craving him so strongly, you had forgotten that he was also a great friend.

“You wish, Weasley,” you chuckled.

Charlie walked in the kitchen, followed by Ron, and both of the brothers stared at you two for a while before getting back to what they planned on doing.

“Having fun?” asked Charlie with the cutest British mixed with Romanian accent ever.

You exchanged looks with Fred.

“No, he’s pretty boring,” you shrugged, before dropping your act and laughing out loud. 

“[y/n] won’t let me eat the popcorn,” Fred said, getting on board with your joke.

“That’s not what I said,” you raised a brow. Ron was about to roll his eyes, very much tired of your thing with Fred. He remembered you two back in school and how annoying and oblivious you two were. He was just like that with Hermione, but you were never the one to point it out. 

“I said that this popcorn is old,” you reached for one yourself, “and disgusting.”

“Are you complaining about Mum’s food?” Fred asked, dropping the wire over the table and crossing his arms, trying to look intimidating.

“She didn’t make it for us to eat it,” you pointed out. 

Charlie was leaned in the sink counter, watching the scene with a glass of water in his hands, trying hard not to laugh at the fact that you two were acting like an old couple. It kinda reminded him of when he was younger, and Arthur and Molly couldn’t stop arguing about what to do with the too-big-to-enter-the-house Christmas Tree.

“Let’s go, Charlie,” Ron called his older brother. “The ball ornaments won’t paint themselves.”

“You guys are painting the ornaments?” you expression suddenly turned blue. Fred looked down at you, feeling worried. “Oh, I wish I was painting.”

Fred bit his lip before suggesting “Why don’t you go with them? I think I can finish this myself.”

You looked from the bowl of popcorn still full with it to Fred, who had the cutest of faces. 

“Nah, you need me,” you said and then gulped at the double meaning of your words. “I mean, need me to finish this.”

Charlie and Ron exchanged suspicious looks while Fred stared at you, smiling with his eyes.

“Should we...?” Ron whispered to Charlie, who just placed his hands in the youngest’s back and pushed it.

“Just go,” Charlie whispered back, leaving you and Fred to get back to your own rhythm with things, distracted with each other.

--

When the popcorn garlands where ready, the tree was already inside the house — job done by Arthur and Bill. They had picked a beautiful tree (and to Charlie’s relief, this one fit the house).

Ginny and Hermione were the two focusing on placing the decorations on the right places, following the orders of Molly and Fleur (although the girls seemed to be paying attention only to Molly’s suggestions).

You were about to sit in the middle of Fred and George in the couch when Ron, Charlie, Percy and his wife walked in the house, holding a big transparent box filled with painted balls.

“Ow, let me see them!” you rushed next to Charlie and deepened your hands inside. “Are they still fresh?”

“No,” Charlie replied, noticing you were scared of ruining the ornaments.

The first one your hands touched you brought up, noticing it had two different names on it. In one side, [y/n] was written, but the other had Fred on it.

“Why two names?” you really wanted to ask why it was yours and Fred’s, but there were too many people on the room.

Ron and Charlie gulped, while Percy and his wife exchanged happy side looks.

“Mum wanted two names in each because she felt like our names were too short,” said Ron, but his explanation didn’t please anyone on the room, “or something,” he added a second later.

You placed the ball in your hands back in the box, and Charlie offered you a sympathetic smile.

You headed back to the couch, watching the girls finish placing the ornaments. Molly walked in, with a lot of bags on her hand, so Bill and George got up to help, leaving you and Fred on the couch alone.

“So... our date’s still up?”

You turned your face to him, at first confused, but then giggling.

“It’s not a date.”

“Did you invite anyone else?” he asked, leaning closer to you involuntarily.

“No,” you said as if it was clear.

“Then it is a date,” he smirked. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you asked me out.”

“Oh, shove off, Weasley,” you pushed him slightly, both of you laughing. Oh, how you wanted it to be a real date.

But sure it wasn’t. It couldn’t be, right? you wondered, staring at him from the corner of your eye.

--

“Okay, they’re gone,” Fred said, calling you from the stairs. You left his room on tiptoes, scared of waking the house up and reached him at the bottom of the staircase.

You two waited for everyone to leave the living room — where the only TV in the house could be found — and pretended to go to bed as well. When Fred’s watch pointed to one in the morning, he shook your arm slightly (waking you up but you’d never confess you had slept) and you both left for your adventure.

“So what movie did you get us?”

He turned to face you, who was sitting in the couch, bringing the blanket you had taken with yourself closer to your chin.

“While You Were Sleeping,” he answered. “Seemed to be the youngest Mum had around.”

“It’s a romance,” you pointed out, tilting your head provocatively.

“It’s not a...” Fred looked up to the TV where Sandra Bullock started walking around the streets. “It’s a romance,” he sighed, defeated.

You chuckled. “I like it. But do you?”

“Ahn,” he seemed lost in thought. “It doesn’t matter.”

You had no idea what that meant, but you gave him some room to sit next to you in the couch and for him to get under the covers, while the popcorn in your lap kept you two moving your mouths.

The movie seemed quite pleasant, but it was hard to pay attention when Fred’s smell was all over you once again, the only smell your body had no problem identifying.

You gulped in the dark. “Are you enjoying it?” you asked, sure that romantic movies could not possibly be Fred’s favourite genre.

“Yep,” he answered a bit too fast. Suspicious, you thought.

“Who’s your favourite character?” you decided to test him.

“The girl.”

“Why’s that?” his answers seemed too generic so when replied this last question you made, you were surprised.

“She likes the guy, but she’s afraid to give up what she idealized. She’s scared of the new,” he said, and although the answer appeared accurate to the movie, something told you he was not talking about Sandra Bullock’s character.

You turned to face him, noticing that he was way closer to you then you thought. Perhaps all the warm did not come from only the blanket. Fred gulped when he saw you staring at him.

“I think she has a valid reason for that.”

The corners of his lips raised just a little. “What’s that?”

“The guy hasn’t been very clear about what he wants either.”

Fred gulped, feeling his cheeks burn. You were right — he wasn’t talking about the movie character.

“Kiss me.”

Oh, the sentence that has been hunting both of you down this time was voiced by Fred Weasley and that could have not left you more speechless.

So you knew what you had to do, after all, the guy was being very clear about what he wanted.

Your lips met his, this time with no rush. It was like when a hummingbird meets a flower — delicate, even though deep down very much desperate.

At this moment, you two were alone, and you had time, and you weren’t drunk. This time was going to be perfect, and Merlin, how it was! Fred had this unique way of touching you softly but fervently, and each time his hands changed position, your body twisted, wanting more, wanting him to kiss you everywhere, hoping he wouldn’t go away.

When you two finally parted, after several attempts to do so, but neither wanting to stop kissing yet, he smirked down at you, leaving your body in his embrace.

“You taste like popcorn,” he said, breaking the silence of the living room since the movie had ended and neither of you had noticed.

“I hope it’s the good one,” you smiled too, feeling surrendered to his charms.

It was good to have him around you, his body twisted with yours, and it was even best to know that he wanted you as much or even more than you craved him.

“It’s the best one,” he said, before kissing you again.

[bookishofalder]

Unexpected [Prequel]

Summary: The night everything began.

Warnings: Language, Smut, sweet Spencer Reid (we know we need a warning for this). WC: 2,434

“Goodnight, Tesoro! Kid! Addio!” Rossi sang happily, leaning ever so slightly against the stoic as usual Hotch, who rolled his eyes at the BAU’s patriarch. He did grin though, which Spencer appreciated considering he was the only one at the party not to indulge in the multitude of mixed beverages you and Penelope had concocted. A rare smile from Hotch was certainly a good way to ring in the New Year, especially when it resulted in your sweet laughter before you closed and locked the door.

You sighed and Spencer glanced down at you, a smile pulling at his lips when he took in your tired, soft expression. It was probably the alcohol he’d enjoyed throughout the evening-seriously, why did he have so many margaritas? And what was in those peppermint drinks? They didn’t taste of alcohol! But a wave of affection for you so strong swept through him and Spencer didn’t think before pulling you close, his arms circling your shoulders as he pressed a kiss to the top of your head. Your hair smelled like roses.

You hummed happily in response, stepping into the embrace, relaxing against Spencer. “You know, I think it’s customary to kiss someone when you ring in the New Year, (Y/N),” He heard himself say, his eyes on a picture on the wall behind you. It was a favourite of his from when he’d taken you to the Santa Monica Pier after closing up a case in California. Spencer and you, arms around each other's shoulders as you stood on the beach with the Pier in the background. Spencer was stooped because he was so much taller than you, and you were laughing widely when the photo had been taken, golden sun kissing your features.

You leaned your head back to meet his gaze, your eyes glassy and wide. Giggling, you replied, “I always thought that was silly, meant for couples to just show off how happily domestic they are!” You rolled your eyes, but you hadn’t moved out of his arms. And actually, Spencer didn’t want you to, he liked how close you were, how safe and right it felt to hold you.

He cleared his throat, his voice deep despite the cringe-level response he came up with, “It can be...friends, who care deeply, too.” Christ.

Oh, but you didn’t cringe, or laugh, or pull away and affectionately ruffle his hair as he might normally expect. No, your response was anything but expected for Spencer, his words seemingly taking a moment to sink in and, still holding his gaze but with a much more intense one of your own, you wet your lips. He didn’t even hesitate, your subconscious response all it took for it to feel almost painful that he wasn’t already kissing you.

So he tightened his hold on you at the same time he dropped his head and captured your lips with his own. And as much as he must have caught you off guard, you weren’t done surprising Spencer; you moaned and parted your lips for him, allowing his tongue to explore your mouth. He felt your arms secure around his neck, your body arching into him as you pulled him closer, your bodies responding to one another with equal fervour.

With a groan of pleasure from the sensation and bliss that was you pressed against him, Spencer broke the kiss to trail gentle kisses along your jaw, his voice just a breath. “Sweet girl, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” He trailed down your neck, delighting in the sound of your whimpers, at the feel of you, his best friend, trembling with need and desire in the familiar front hallway of your apartment. It had been just so easy to cross that line that seemed to always cut between you both.

You tugged him suddenly, backing up and taking Spencer with you to your living room and your cozy couch. When your legs hit the edge, you stumbled slightly and giggled when Spencer clumsily steadied you. Breathless, you started eagerly working to undress him, your hands working to unbutton his shirt as your eyes burned into his with unbridled lust and desire, the longing so intense he was sure he’d burst into flame under your gaze. Spencer didn’t delay when you guided his hands to remove his pants, shoving them and his underwear down quickly and then dropping to sit on your couch.

He tried to pull you with him, but you gave him a coy smile, leaning out of his grasp. “You’re gorgeous, you know that Spencer? Fucking gorgeous.” You breathed, your eyes raking over his bare, lean body, fixing hungrily on his hard, weeping cock. Wordlessly, as Spencer gazed at you in reverence, you reached behind you and unzipped the back of your low-backed dress, which promptly fell to your feet. Your hands were shaking.

The fire within Spencer seemed to take a new hold over him when he realized that you were nervous. His heart swelled and stuttered at the intensity of his desire to care for you, to make you feel as safe as possible.

“Come here, sweet girl,” He reached out for you, helping to settle you into his lap, your matching underwear and bra still on. When your core rubbed over Spencer’s length you both hissed at the sensation; he pressed his large hands into your back, fingers splayed, and captured your lips again. He could feel himself coming undone as you quivered in his arms. He ground his hips into you, groaning, “Fuck, can I touch you?”

“Please Spence,” You whimpered, and he realized your hips were returning his urgency, seeking friction desperately. “N-Need you, please. I need you so much, Spence.”

Fuck, you didn’t have to tell him twice. With surprising ease and prowess considering how intoxicated he knew he was, Spencer dropped one hand to first trail his fingers teasingly across the outside of your cotton underwear, before he pushed the fabric aside and ran two fingers through your folds. Spencer grunted at how wet you were already, “You have me, you’ve always had me, sweet girl. Come on, touch me,” He urged you, groaning sinfully loud when you reached around to grip him, held his cock steady and sunk yourself onto him.

“Oh, shit, Spence,” You cried out, face tightening as you struggled to accommodate him, “Fuck you’re so much bigger than I ever imagined...filling me so well,” You gasped, more broken moans spilling from your lips, mixed with his name. Spencer took hold of your hips, helping you steadily take more and more of him, groaning in pleasure at the feel of your tightness enveloping his cock.

He had never seen anything in his entire life as beautiful as you.

It hurt him, your beauty hurt Spencer it was so raw and he couldn’t bring himself to look away from your face, as much as he wanted to see you taking his length. He just couldn’t tear his eyes away from your blissed-out expression, the way you tried to open your eyes and meet his gaze only for them to snap shut again as you took another inch of him. Spencer was hooked, obsessed, so much further fucking gone than he had been before when he was just a sad soul in love with his best friend.

Now he was a man on fire. And he never wanted to stop burning.

When you were fully seated in his lap, Spencer pressed one hand to your lower back and brushed the other over your face, pushing back some stray locks of your hair, “You’re doing so well, (y/n), take your time. Fuck, you feel so good,” He grunted when you clenched around him in response.

Interesting, he thought. It was almost as if his praise was...

Spencer tested out his theory immediately, “Such a good girl for me, aren’t you?” Clench. More wetness. A soft sigh spills from your lips. Fuck.

And just like that, Spencer lost it. Realizing that his praise, his assurances, turned you on more? That was a power, a level of mutual trust he never expected in his wildest dreams. With a gasp, his grip on your hips hardened and he started thrusting up, effectively forcing you to bounce over his length. Yet, you took it in stride, your hands instantly seeking his shoulders for support before you were rolling your hips almost lazily each time you landed back in his lap.

Neither of you was moaning any longer, no. Spencer was talking around his pleasured cries, pulling as much bliss from you as possible by keeping up a constant stream of praise and kind words that he meant, right down to his soul he fucking meant every word. And you...you were a goddess, his name on your lips between screams and gasps, nails digging into his shoulders from how hard you gripped him. It was funny-as much as you couldn’t keep your eyes open, Spencer was unable to do more than blink, unable to tear his gaze from your face.

To spend so long painfully in love with you, hiding the depths of his feelings for years, pushing back any hope that might have cropped up that you felt the same, had been torture. Torture he happily bathed in, day after day but now you were actually in his arms, whimpering his name. It was a gift, a treasure he couldn’t believe he deserved, and he wasn’t going to miss a moment of flawless, captivating you coming apart for him.

“Sweet girl, you are so beautiful,” Spencer moaned out, cursing when your velvet heat squeezed him impossibly tighter.

He adjusted his hips, tilting just so to perfect the angle. The most delicious sounds fell from you as he found the right spot, and that was when it happened. You managed to open your eyes, wide and bright, meeting Spencer’s and gasping at the expression on his face. At that moment, you sent one another toppling over the edge and falling into oblivion.

It was a paradise Spencer had never know the likes of. The universe opened up for you both, and he wondered how he could have spent his entire life deprived of such exquisiteness, the pleasure and love swelling and consuming him-fuck, was this Nirvana? Heaven? He didn’t know, couldn’t think straight as he roared, his movement stilling as your hands slipped into his hair and you started to crumble into him. He caught you, steadying you enough that he could keep watching your face as you broke into a million pieces, as you both shattered into millions and millions of pieces.

“Spencer! Oh! Ooooh...”

“(y/n), I love you, I love you.”

His eyes had snapped shut briefly from the overwhelming sensations, his orgasm overtaking him before he could check to see if you’d heard his quiet confession. He couldn’t bring himself to worry over it when he began to spill inside of you, holding you tight against him, his entire body jerking in bliss. It was easily the longest orgasm of his life, dragged out by the way you whimpered and clenched him as you were swept through your own.

It could have been minutes or months, truly Spencer couldn’t have quantified the time it took until he was slumping into the couch cushions and you were boneless in his arms, your face nuzzling into his neck. Still hard inside you, he could feel some of the overflows of your climaxes spill out and drip down his thigh.

You were gasping for air, trembling lightly as his hands came to hold your head and he finally closed his eyes properly. Colours, a never-ending rainbow of colours dancing behind his eyelids, the galaxy within his grasp with you in his arms. Nothing else mattered-it was only you.

Everything was you. You were everything.

Realizations of the depths of his love for you hit Spencer like meteors; he felt as though he’d never stand again from the weight of it all, his heart impossibly heavy in his chest. How could he ever be worthy of the trust and care you had just bestowed upon him? He simply could not be deserving of such a divine, world-shattering experience. Not with you, his funny, bright, deeply caring best friend. Not with the woman who had been with Spencer through the worst, had seen the darkest parts of him, it didn’t seem right. It must be a mistake, a fluke, and yet...

It wasn’t. You told him as much when you finally found the strength to lean back slightly and press your lips to his, cutting off his train of thought by thanking him, telling him it had been better than you ever dreamed, that you had never felt for anyone like you did for Spencer. As if he weren’t already completely obliterated, your admission now rocketed Spencer into orbit and he knew, he just knew there was no way he’d ever forget this moment.

He’d been on your couch many times before this, you cuddled in his arms, and yet it felt like the very first time. Here in the dark, early morning hours of the first day of the year, it was the beginning of something, of an adventure he couldn’t understand and yet wholeheartedly knew he was ready to leap headfirst toward, as long as it was with you.

With renewed energy, Spencer stood, gathering you in his arms and carrying you to your bedroom as he kissed your lips languidly, eager to continue dancing amongst the stars with you, for as long as you would allow. And as he lay you down on your bed, drinking in the expression of love on your face, he knew there could be no way he would ever lose these memories. He stripped you of your underwear and spread you, keenly aware of the level of trust and anticipation you held for him. Spencer knew he could never forget, happily spending the next several hours worshipping your body like a starving man with his lips, his tongue, his gentle teeth.

Some of the memories may slip away, but surely not even alcohol could steal the way you repeated that you loved him as he plumbed your sweetest depth. As he brought you to your peak, over and over. As he brought your bodies together again and you travelled the galaxy in one another’s arms even as the sky outside began to brighten and then, eventually, sleep lulled you both to its warm embrace.

No, there was simply no way he would forget. Spencer could never, ever forget.

Right?

Did you enjoy this story? Please consider reblogging or commenting to ease my inner turmoil as a writer. Likes are basically just a bookmark!

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